Case Study- A Sadist Women Killer

A SADIST WOMEN KILLER

Context

A man named Heath was a good looking handsome man who was accused of murder of two young women whom he met in his life course. He disguised his own identity to pretend to be someone else and was sought to be a psychic (but was not one). Unravel this story of murders through this detailed case study.

Heath’s background

Heath was a very attractive man but he had a very unusual life of military service. He was punctuated by crime. At the age of 20, he joined the RAF in 1937. He was soon dismissed by RAF because of his absence without leave, fraud and also because he used to portray himself as ‘Lord Dudley’. As the time passed by he was caught for dishonesty and was sent to a Borstal.

During a war, he volunteered for the Royal Army Service Corps. He was also given a commission for the same. And some time later he was found guilty for ‘false pretenses’, passing forged cheques, cashiered and therefore was sent back to England. He then slipped away from the guards in South Africa and soon joined the air force. He married and had a son. But at the end of the war he was soon court-martialed because of the decorations (badges) he wore which he was not entitled to. His first wife divorced him. He came back to England in 1946 and brought trouble on himself for pretending to be Lord Dudley and also for wearing decorations which did not belong to him.

Storyline

Neville George Clevely Heath and his very beautiful attractive wife checked-in for a double bedroom at the Pembridge Court Hotel, Notting Hill on Sunday, 16th June, 1946. They signed the hotel register. But the signature was somewhat weird as they signed it as Lieutenant-Colonel and Mrs. N.G.C. Heath. Although Heath used his name correctly, he was not Lieutenant-Colonel. The young woman (the wife), Evond Symonds, was actually not his wife but was expected to be her soul mate in near future.

Evond and Heath met at a dance hall in Chelsea on the previous evening. Heath proposed her and she accepted his proposal. They jointly decided to spend the night together. It became horrid when the fact was showcased that after Evond, the next women was about to be brutally murdered by him in the same week on Thursday.

On 17th June, Evond returned to her parents’ in Worthing. Heath lived on his own until Thursday, 20th. He spent that evening with another woman, Mrs. Margery Gardner while dancing and drinking at the Panama club, Kensington.

Gardner and Heath took a taxi at late night back to the Pembridge Court Hotel. Only a slamming door was heard around 1:30 am by the couple.

The next morning, chambermaid made multiple attempts to enter the room for cleaning purposes but was denied with any response each time. At around 2 pm, the assistant manageress opened the room using her pass key and found no sign of Heath. Margery Gardner was found dead in the bed of the hotel room. Gardner was brutally beaten with a very specific diamond patterned weave riding whip. A total of 17 visible whip marks on her breasts, torso and back were observed. Both her breasts and nipples were much bitten cruelly. A 7 inch wound was found in her vagina (later found to be induced using a poker from the fireplace). The cause of death was asphyxia. She was gagged using a scarf. She was tied up at ankles and wrists prior to her death. The wrist ties and the gag were removed after her death.

Many attempts were made by Heath to clean up every minute traces of his presence but missed by one. The recovered print from the crime scene was compared to the print records with the C.R.O.

The door slam which was heard at mid night at around 1.30 am was Heath leaving the hotel room after he committed the crime. He left for Worthing, for his ‘wife-to-be’, Evond’s home.

Soon the news of Margery Gardner’s death hit the newspapers; Heath left Worthing and went to Bournemouth. He booked in a room at Tollard Royal Hotel. He now signed the hotel register as ‘Group Captain Rupert Brooke’.

Heath being an exceptional man, wrote to the Scotland Yard explaining that he had loaned the key of the hotel room in the Pembridge Court Hotel to Mrs. Margery on 20th June night. Heath told them the reason he lend the keys to Margery was because she wanted to entertain a male friend there. When he returned to the room, he found her dead. He panicked and took the whip and ran away. He entrusted the officials that he would forward the whip to Scotland Yard but actually he never did.

Eventually Heath’s lie did not sustain for a long time and a staff from the Panama club identified him and Mrs. Margery dancing and drinking together and also the taxi driver who took them to the hotel confirmed that it was Heath who accompanied Margery at the first place.

Meanwhile, Heath, as ‘Group Captain Rupert Brooke’ was at Bournemouth, he invited an ex- wren Doreen Marshall for a dinner at his hotel, whom he just met. After the dinner when Doreen was about to leave and book the taxi for the same, Heath persuaded her to cancel the ordered taxi and that he would walk her to her hotel.

The next day, Norfolk Hotel manager reported to the police that one of his guests, Doreen Marshall has gone missing and also informed the police that she took a taxi to Tollard Royal Hotel for dining purposes the previous evening.

‘Group Captain Rupert Brooke’ was called upon for help to search the missing girl. At around 5.30 he came to the police station and was interviewed by DC Souter soon after. He identified Doreen and told that he walked her till the garden of the Norfolk Hotel and came back.

DC Souter soon realized that ‘Group Captain Rupert Brooke’ is very similar to Heath. He took the confirmation from the Scotland Yard and asked “Broke” to remain at the police station. As an excuse to flee, he asked the officials if he can go back and get his jacket as it was getting cold. The police obliging, asked him not to worry and that they would collect the jacket on his behalf.

A thorough search was done for Heath’s belongings. A ticket for a railway left luggage locker was found. The locker was then checked and they recovered an attaché case. It had a leather riding whip with the same distinct diamond pattern used over Margery’s body, a blue woolen scarf (later proven to have contained Margery’s saliva and blood) which was sought for gagging.

Heath was brought back to London with charges of Margery’s murder.

Meanwhile, the Bournemouth police managed to discover the dead body of Doreen Marshall. The body was found hidden in rhododendron bushes at Branksome chine. Her injuries were much disastrous. She was knocked down by multiple blows in her head. The defensive marks in her hand concluded that she also resisted a knife attack. Her wrists and ankles were tied in similar fashion and breasts savagely bitten. One of her nipples was even bitten off. Her breasts were slashed up multiple times using a knife. Her ribs were buckled and throat was cut. After her death, her killer also split open her vagina using a rough instrument.

Verdict

The jury took very little time to decide that Heath was guilty after a psychologist was unable to prove his insane mentality during the commission of the murders. He was found guilty and was sentenced to death. He was ordered to be hung by the neck until dead.