Walter Dew: The Man Who Caught Crippen by Connell Nicholas

Author:Connell, Nicholas [Connell, Nicholas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2013-11-08T00:00:00+00:00

14

Magistrates and Coroners

… when she thought of the dreadful wickedness of that little American doctor who dismembered his wife the tears actually came into her eyes.

George Orwell, Coming up for Air

The train carrying Dew, Crippen and Le Neve from Liverpool arrived at London’s Euston Station, where Crippen was greeted by boos and jeers from a waiting crowd who clearly loathed him as much as the Canadian public had. He and Le Neve were whisked off to Bow Street Police Court for two nights, until the Monday sitting of the court, when they were to appear before Mr Marsham, whom Dew described as ‘a giant of a man with a ruddy face and an old-fashioned style of dress which gave him the appearance of a prosperous farmer. One of the finest gentlemen I have ever met.’

An anonymous Bow Street gaoler later recalled Crippen’s time there:

[Crippen] looked tired and jaded, completely worn out, but conscious of the great ordeal which he knew he must face once he was in the grip of the police.

I spoke to him about his journey, and he told me how glad he was in one way to have all the anxiety ended. But he never complained through all the monotony of the police-court proceedings, which lasted for many weeks. He was very keen to know what kind of treatment he might expect in Brixton Prison, and afterwards during his various visits to Bow Street he never once complained of the routine or the food or sleeping accommodation. In fact, he declared that the governor and warders did everything possible for his comfort and convenience. He had a great partiality for tea, and he always looked forward to this each afternoon of the Magisterial hearing.1

Dew breathed a sigh of relief after handing the prisoners over. He had achieved his goal of capturing the fugitive Dr Crippen and Ethel Le Neve. While his ‘personal responsibility was over’, he knew that his connection with the case was far from ended. However, there was a brief period of celebration as Dew received a letter of congratulation from Chief Constable Bigham, and was enthusiastically received by Sir Melville Macnaghten. Dew’s ‘best welcome of all’ came from his family, whom he rushed home to see.

Crippen’s solicitor, Arthur Newton, was a well known figure in legal circles. Travers Humphreys described him as ‘a public school boy, very good-looking, with a charming manner and considerable gifts of advocacy based upon an extensive knowledge of the world rather than a knowledge

of law’.2 He added that Newton possessed a ‘scheming brain’, and usually got what he wanted ‘by fair means or otherwise’.3

Newton had been avidly following the story of the North London murder in the newspapers, when he realised the missing suspect was a former client of his. Crippen had failed to make much of an impression on Newton back in 1906, when he had represented him in a trivial matter. Newton remembered Crippen as a ‘short, insignificant figure, with weak, goggly eyes, protected by gold-rimmed glasses, and a rather hesitating manner’.

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