The "impossible murder" of Julia Wallace in 1931

[Tiki Tom]

Fascinating case. 1931. Depression era England. Did William Wallace bludgeon his wife to death? On the one hand, his elaborate alibi could be taken to be a bit contrived. On the other hand, the timing between when she was last seen by the milk boy and when he had to board the tram seems too tight to allow for murder and the necessary clean up. And who was the mysterious "R.M. Qualtrough" who apparently lured William away from his home that evening? Raymond Chandler himself was fascinated by this "unbeatable case" and was apparently considering writing about it. (My favorite line from the article below: "Marriage is motive enough.")

http://gizmodo.com/the-story-of-the-1930s-impossible-murder-that-utterly-1732706999

I tend to think that William Wallace did not have enough time to do the despicable deed. But then again, we don't know exactly when Julia died, thanks to the incompetent Medical Examiner. Perhaps William somehow was able to manipulate events to commit the perfect crime.

Do any of you Lounge sleuths care to take a crack at it? Perhaps bring in additional evidence from other sources? The game is afoot! (or was afoot, 85 years ago.) I

 

[Stearmen]

Fascinating case. 1931. Depression era England. Did William Wallace bludgeon his wife to death? On the one hand, his elaborate alibi could be taken to be a bit contrived. On the other hand, the timing between when she was last seen by the milk boy and when he had to board the tram seems too tight to allow for murder and the necessary clean up. And who was the mysterious "R.M. Qualtrough" who apparently lured William away from his home that evening? Raymond Chandler himself was fascinated by this "unbeatable case" and was apparently considering writing about it. (My favorite line from the article below: "Marriage is motive enough.")

http://gizmodo.com/the-story-of-the-1930s-impossible-murder-that-utterly-1732706999

I tend to think that William Wallace did not have enough time to do the despicable deed. But then again, we don't know exactly when Julia died, thanks to the incompetent Medical Examiner. Perhaps William somehow was able to manipulate events to commit the perfect crime.

Do any of you Lounge sleuths care to take a crack at it? Perhaps bring in additional evidence from other sources? The game is afoot! (or was afoot, 85 years ago.) I

It twas Colonel Mustard in the parlor with a candle stick! Murder most foul.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I liked it (and the comment, "Was there a one-armed man seen fleeing the scene of the crime?"). And the suggestion that Wallace's sister-in-law posed as his wife, making it look as though she were alive when in that scenario she was already dead, is clever.

It's not that it's an "impossible" murder, a la John Dickson Carr and one of his locked room puzzles, but it's that any piece of evidence against Wallace seems to be countered by evidence for him. So the pointer of guilt swings back and forth like a pendulum, never coming to rest.

Motive? What about a serial killer in Liverpool? In the days before a central clearinghouse for crime information, a series of killings, widely spaced (one in Liverpool, say, one in York, one in Glasgow) would have been hard for the police to connect. Especially if they were as incompetent as the article suggests.

One wonders what kind of story Raymond Chandler would have made of it. It doesn't seem to fit the mold of his Philip Marlowe or other hardboiled tales. But he was educated in England; he'd have had some fun, I think, writing it as a 1930s Liverpool story.

ETA: I was thinking C.S. Forester's Payment Deferred might have been inspired by this case. But that novel precedes this case by 5 years. Oh well.