what happened to desmond cussen

At the beginning of her performance, which she began without being asked saying, "It all started about two years ago when I met David Blakely at the Little Club, Knightsbridge," Superintendent Crawford had to stop her and ask "Would you like this to be written down? Forensic expert LC Nickolls said in his police statement, but did not repeat at the trial, that the Smith and Wesson he examined was oily. Cussen, who moved to Australia after the trial, has since died. From a young age, Desmond Doss, born on February 7, 1919, radiated the kind of empathy that he'd display as a soldier later in life. Also the "Letter officer" at Holloway prison would have blanked out names on letters that Ruth sent from prison, yet names are clearly mentioned in Ruths correspondence. There was no need for forensics on Ruth or her possessions or for investigating the case properly. ", Seemingly this was Blakelys habit. One month and thirty phone calls after beginning my detective work I traced Cussens accountant. Her eyewitness account challenged the authenticity of letters that Ruth apparently wrote and sent from the condemned cell. We now know it was a pack of lies. Any decent lawyer would play on the fact that no ballistics were done. "Let me make this abundantly plain: there is no question here but this woman shot this man.You will not hear one word from me or from the lady herself questioning that.". 1 Practice area Intellectual property 100% Licensed for 32 years StateCA StatusActive Acquired1991 Updated12/01/2022 After Bickfords confession a police investigation followed but no further action regarding Cussen was taken. He said, "Ive remembered the young mans name, it was Cussen.". The imposing Desmond Castle and Banqueting Hall in the centre of Newcastle West is the town's obvious historical landmark and a must-see for any visitor but there are also many other wonderful places of historical significance worth checking out. Jakubait believes that her sister protected him during the trial because he had promised to look after her family. He looked like a spiv with dark, greased back hair; with a round boyish face and an unnatural looking thin moustache. Mr Bickford, Ruths solicitor, had evidence but "felt it unwise to call it. They had to be tight. Quite by chance, in December 2003 I made another major discovery. From my point of view publication of the book was just the beginning. She had not admitted it before because of getting "someone into possible trouble. At this point I should mention the afternoon of 10th April, the day Blakely was shot. This was Cussens one and only trail left anywhere since 1955. The case would be guaranteed open-and-shut. She could have followed Blakely in her taxi if murder, "was on her mind." In Tales of Tatsfield, author Doris Geary wrote, "I had known Ruth Ellis as a kind, good looking woman; we had laughed and talked together and we had liked each other." The business address is 130 Sutter St Fl 4, San Francisco, CA 94104-4003. Somewhere hidden in books written about the Cold War, Cussens other identity is waiting to be uncovered. Recently released hospital prison records reveal that Ruth fabricated the main thread of her defence. what happened to janelle on all of us; faith hedgepeth crime scene photos; why does spawn have one big boot. She was pointing it towards Blakelys dead body. She said Ruth was wearing spotlessly clean, pale coloured clothing that night. Let alone repeatedly pull the trigger on a heavy man-size .38 Smith and Wesson gun that required a 10lb pull for each shot fired; it would have been impossibly large in her hand, its recoil would have knocked her backwards. But it was not. Nobody has ever put two-and-two together before.The trumped up murder charge that Ruth admitted to and for which she was hanged obscured the truth about Britain "in the grips of a spying scandal.". Found 250 colleagues at Gracenote. A statement made by Police Constable Thompson caught my eye. There was no need to consider if 28 year-old Ruth, the 52," 7-stone woman with tiny bird-like hands, one gnarled as a result of rheumatic fever, with poor eyesight and suffering the after effects of a recent miscarriage, was physically capable of shooting anyone. They had tapes back and front to pull. There are many unanswered questions about who Cussen really was; very little is known about him. Secondly he was wealthy, became a director of a family-owned retail and wholesale tobacconist business called Cussen and Co. And thirdly from the early 1950s he lived in a prestigious apartment in Goodwood Court near Harley Street. Norman Beaton's wasn't the only tragic death to come out of the Desmond's cast. what happened to desmond cussen. The trumped up murder charge protected people at the heart of the establishment. Related Hubs. They regularly practised shooting 303 rifles on a local rifle range. This could have been a turning point in the trial yet Ruths defence gave the prosecution an easy ride. Doris Gearys brother, Frank Watson was the Tatsfield "cabbie" for 60 years, and chauffeur to Donald Maclean when he lived in the village from December 1950 to May 1951. My mum said, 'Don't ask any questions and let Ruth do the talking.' Statements from new witnesses had one thing in common. The only way to find out about RAF personnel is to call up their service record. He was usually portrayed as Blakely's scathing rival for Ruth's affections. Bear in mind foreign travel then was fairly limited apart from business matters. what happened to desmond cussen. Trivia (1) Cousin of Edward Cussen. The Castle itself dates back to the 13th Century but the main . She claimed at the time to have been given the gun by an American serviceman as security for a nightclub debt, and to have taken a taxi to the pub. Suspiciously he didnt mention the gun breaking during testing. There are no answers to any of these questions in any police file about the case. If the gun had a long-standing defect, why did it not break on the first firing at the scene of the murder? One bullet was fired at close range, therefore the other three bullet wounds in Blakelys body, had been fired accurately from a distance, out of arms reach. David Blakely was away at the Le Mans races. It was organised like a military exercise by experts. In March 2002 I contacted Companies House in an attempt to find information about Cussen and Co. Whilst examining hand-written documents on microfiche (luckily still available from Companies House archives) I discovered that Desmond Cussen lived in Garlands Road, Leatherhead with his parents, in a detached house called Dapdune. In it was a small, tatty notebook-cum-address book (now kept safe in a bank vault). She blended in with the special people who congregated there, including nuclear weapons bigwigs from nearby Fort Halstead, top ranking RAF and spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean.I have tracked down witnesses in London, Northumberland, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Buckinghamshire and Australia who have memories of the characters involved in the story. Theyd been housed there since 1996. During her comeback at Carroll's, Ruth had made friends with a man named Desmond Edward Cussen. ", In 1955, Ruth Ellis was hanged for murder. At the time she was employed as a hostess at Carrolls Club in Duke Street in Mayfair. At the magistrates court, when asked how long hed known Blakely, Cussen lied saying just over two years. The trial in June, only two months after the shooting, lasted just over a day. What is even more interesting is an important discovery I made in a Metropolitan Police document recently released at the Public Record Office and has never been made public: the gun broke during testing. Jakubait could be in line for compensation - awards are discretionary - as could her niece Georgina's six children. If that had succeeded, she would have been found guilty of manslaughter and spared the gallows. Ruths defence counsel Melford Stevenson did nothing for her.Later when I found this statement that Stevenson made on the first morning of the trial, I asked myself what was going on. ", she sealed her fate by responding: "It is obvious that when I shot him I intended to kill him.". WHAT HAPPENED TO DESMOND'S FLASHES OF THE FUTURE? On 11th April the prison medical officer noted that as a teenager she had "rheumatic fever, which was followed with arthritis in the fingers of the left hand and of the ankles." It would have been crucial in confirming that Cussen was near to the scene of the crime.The authorities appear to have ignored any explanation of events other than the one that would lead to Ruths execution. He added, "He was a cut above the rest of us, well spoken and well educated, a gentleman" and lived next door at Dapdune. At the end of the first day of the trial, Melford Stevenson, with no jury present, gained a new lease of life. Ruth was hanged to protect the shadowy characters she mixed with and took her secrets to an unconsecrated grave at Holloway prison. Ruth Ellis did not kill David Blakely. A few days before the murder he had brutally beaten Ruth and she suffered a miscarriage . "This was the opinion that Christmas Humphreys, the prosecuting counsel at Ruth Elliss murder trial, was still vehemently defending twenty-seven years later when he spoke to Ruths son Andre McCallum. I am rather confused. Altogether there are 33 subtle changes.Where did the instructions come from, for Christmas Humphreys to make those changes?Its obvious now; Ruth was being set up. By early June 2002 I had pieced together quite a dossier of first hand evidence about Cussen; a bigger picture was developing. Sylvia remembers how the landlord, Ernie Dumbleton, would say, "Ruths here and boyfriend has hooked off again and shes quite tearful. This was Cussens one and only trail left anywhere since 1955.After Ruths death, Cussen and Ward moved from their Devonshire Street flats where they were close neighbours, to Bayswater addresses in London; Cussen to Lanterns Hotel in Craven Road, Ward to Orme Square. Ruth Ellis was a London bar hostess and call girl, from Rhyl in North Wales originally, who took up with an ex-public schoolboy called David Blakely, a motor-racing enthusiast and, like her, a heavy drinker. Might the results of the test firing of the gun have planted a seed of doubt in the minds of the jury about Ruths shooting capability? Clare Dyer talks to Ellis's sister, who is leading the fight to have the conviction changed, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Did Stevenson choose not to explain this evidence to the Old Bailey jury? Garlands Road is less than two miles from my home. She recalled that on occasions "Ruth would come in on her own, invariably crying saying David had vanished. When Cussen signed the business document in London in 1964, he was still a free man. I recently came across a question in parliament dated 8th December 1955. It was my first lesson in detective work: examine every local connection. This led to a discovery of a secret service stronghold there in the early 1950s.Commentators of the Ruth Ellis story focused on Blakelys mother Anne and stepfather Humphrey Cook when they lived at the Old Park in Penn in 1955. Constable Thompson was inside the Magdala when he heard "a succession of bangs" outside. The jury taking 23 minutes to find her guilty. I was sooo surprised to see that Abstergo got their hands on Desmond's body, he deserved more, not to be experimented on.--------- Monthly giveaway: May 2022. Ruth made Muriel promise never to tell anyone about his obscene behaviour.Ward, the "vice peddler" created Ruth Ellis. 27,814: Are they going to charge him? There was no official explanation.The Donald Maclean connection with Penn illustrates just one of the complicated trails typical of my findings. Nickolls did not say what distance. Desmond Cussen was an expert liar, disguised as a boring businessman and usually portrayed as Blakelys rival for Ruths attention. It would appear that he was doing nothing. He groomed and transformed them into somebodies. He was never called to account. Also residing in the same block of flats in Devonshire Street was a man by the name of Desmond Cussen. "Fifty years on, government turn down reprieve for hanged Ruth Ellis. ", At her second court appearance on 28th April she said that she saw a lady in front of the two men. She became the lover of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar before being killed in a mysterious car crash in January 1955.By chance I discovered Ward won Ruth a walk-on part in the 1951 film Lady Godiva Rides Again a comedy about beauty contests. It was a long shot. At other times they were taken in a lorry to Bisley to practise with Sten guns. In 1949 David Blakely began his National Service but within weeks was released and on his way to Penn. The day after our first interview I had a call from Mr Steel. 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