Cumbria Murders by Paul Heslop

Author:Paul Heslop [Heslop, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography, Historical, Murder, Non-Fiction, True Crime
ISBN: 9780752484174
Google: G4Y7AwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B007K80CZS
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2012-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

The Graham Arms, Longtown. (Paul Heslop)

Rudge, Martin and Baker were spotted by Alexander Maclean, stationmaster at Gretna, when they arrived on the 9.10 a.m. train. They carried three portmanteaus (large travel bags), which Maclean agreed to put into his office. They were seen again that evening at the Bush Hotel, Longtown, where they had dinner. At 11.20 a.m. the following morning they were seen by Mary Richardson at Netherby, wearing long, dark overcoats and distinctive hats. Rudge asked her if the master of ‘the big house’ was at home. She told him all the family were, whereupon he enquired of the name of the owner. ‘Sir Frederick Graham,’ she told him. Later, Rudge asked William Atkinson, a carter, if Sir Frederick was at home. ‘He was when I came away,’ Atkinson replied.

Later that day one of the gang returned to Gretna and collected one of the portmanteaus, which he took to the Graham Arms Hotel, Longtown. David Johnstone, the landlady’s son-in-law, observed the three in the hotel. The portmanteau was taken back to the station, where Baker took some ‘articles of apparel’ from it, before locking it again and telling the stationmaster, Maclean, they would require a cab for Longtown. They would have to walk, he was told. ‘In that case,’ said Baker, ‘you may as well forward them (the portmanteaus) to Carlisle.’ ‘In what name?’ Maclean asked. ‘Oh, A. Smith,’ said Baker. The portmanteaus were labelled accordingly and sent to Carlisle.

The protagonists anticipated correctly that dinner at Netherby Hall would be taken at about 8 p.m. When a housemaid, Annie Carnew, had occasion to visit the master bedroom at that hour she found nothing unusual and left the door unlocked on her departure. At 8.15 p.m. the door was found locked and the alarm was raised. Joseph Plenderleith, a valet, wasted no time. He ran outside, got a ladder and climbed up to the open window. His promptness was commendable, but he was too late. The lid of a dressing case had been broken open, and jewels to the value of £250 had been stolen. The following morning Plenderleith found another ladder. This one was shorter and had been placed on a bench to enable the intruders to climb through the window.

Information was quickly passed to the police at Carlisle, and from there ‘means were taken to raise the whole county’. The police would be watching the roads. At Kingstown, PC Johnstone had gone to bed, only to be woken by Sergeant Roche. When Roche stepped onto the road, he saw four men approaching from Longtown and called for Johnstone to join him. He did so in shirtsleeve order and no helmet. Rudge, Martin and Baker wore their dark overcoats; the fourth man, wearing a light overcoat, would never be identified or apprehended. Despite facing men with guns, both officers nevertheless attempted to arrest them, and were shot in the process.

Half a mile south, PC Handley had heard the shots. As a result he called upon two neighbours, Mr Armstrong and Mr Hetherington, for assistance.

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