intelligence who was given to lying and self-aggrandising fantasies. He was a heavy drinker with a very bad temper and he and his wife often engaged in loud and sometimes violent arguments, mostly over Beryl’s inability to make ends meet. Evans’s low wages barely covered the rent and their bills. Matters were made worse in late 1949 when she informed her husband that she was pregnant again.
Beryl insisted immediately that she wanted an abortion, but Evans, a Roman Catholic, was against the idea. She took pills and did what she could to abort the baby, eventually confiding in Christie who, although he had absolutely no previous experience, told her that he knew how to carry out abortions, having learned how to do it during the war. He persuaded her to let him undertake the procedure, but it ended disastrously. When Evans came home later that day, 8 November 1949, he was horrified to learn from Christie that Beryl had died during the operation. Christie told Evans that he would dispose of her body down a nearby drain and that he would also find someone to look after Geraldine. He ordered Evans to leave London.
Christie later told the police that he saw Beryl leave with her baby around noon and never saw her again. Later, Timothy Evans came home and the Christies went out for the evening. Around midnight, he claimed, he and his wife heard a loud thump from above them. As the man in the second floor flat was away, it could only have come from the Evans flat on the third floor and it was followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor.
The following day, Christie told the police, Evans told him his wife had gone to Bristol and the day after that, he came home saying that he had packed in
his job and was selling up and moving to Bristol to join her.
Evans actually returned to Wales, coming back on 23 November to Rillington Place where, Christie claimed, he told him that Beryl had left him.
What had actually happened was that Christie had gone up to their flat after Evans had gone to work. Beryl laid a quilt on the floor in front of the fire and lay down on it. He may then have tried to gas her and she had panicked and begun to lash out at him. He took out a cord and strangled her. He then tried to have intercourse with her.
It was all too much for the uncomplicated Evans and he eventually went to a police station a few weeks later to tell the police that he had disposed of his wife’s body after she had taken something to make her abort her baby. He was afraid to bring Christie’s name into it and said that he had obtained the substance he had given her from a stranger. The police did not find the body down the drain outside the front door where he said he had put it, and in fact they could not see how one man, especially a small man like Evans, could have moved the extremely heavy manhole cover that took three of them to shift. They confronted him with this and he confessed that it had been Christie who had administered the abortion pills and put Beryl in the drain. Police searched the house at 10 Rillington Place but it was no more than half-hearted and they even failed to notice the human thigh bone that was being used to prop up the garden fence.
They found a stolen briefcase, however, which gave them an excuse to arrest Evans. Christie was questioned and he emphasised how much of a liar Evans was and how violent his marriage to Beryl had been.
There was still no sign of Beryl and a more thorough search of the property was carried out. Eventually, in the washhouse, they discovered her body and that of her daughter. They had been dead, it was estimated, for three weeks. During lengthy police interrogations Evans inexplicably confessed no fewer than four times to killing his wife.
At the trial, six weeks later, Christie denied that he had agreed to perform an abortion on Beryl and his testimony, plus Evans’s poor performance in the witness box, resulted in a guilty verdict. Timothy Evans
Beryl insisted immediately that she wanted an abortion, but Evans, a Roman Catholic, was against the idea. She took pills and did what she could to abort the baby, eventually confiding in Christie who, although he had absolutely no previous experience, told her that he knew how to carry out abortions, having learned how to do it during the war. He persuaded her to let him undertake the procedure, but it ended disastrously. When Evans came home later that day, 8 November 1949, he was horrified to learn from Christie that Beryl had died during the operation. Christie told Evans that he would dispose of her body down a nearby drain and that he would also find someone to look after Geraldine. He ordered Evans to leave London.
Christie later told the police that he saw Beryl leave with her baby around noon and never saw her again. Later, Timothy Evans came home and the Christies went out for the evening. Around midnight, he claimed, he and his wife heard a loud thump from above them. As the man in the second floor flat was away, it could only have come from the Evans flat on the third floor and it was followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor.
The following day, Christie told the police, Evans told him his wife had gone to Bristol and the day after that, he came home saying that he had packed in
his job and was selling up and moving to Bristol to join her.
Evans actually returned to Wales, coming back on 23 November to Rillington Place where, Christie claimed, he told him that Beryl had left him.
What had actually happened was that Christie had gone up to their flat after Evans had gone to work. Beryl laid a quilt on the floor in front of the fire and lay down on it. He may then have tried to gas her and she had panicked and begun to lash out at him. He took out a cord and strangled her. He then tried to have intercourse with her.
It was all too much for the uncomplicated Evans and he eventually went to a police station a few weeks later to tell the police that he had disposed of his wife’s body after she had taken something to make her abort her baby. He was afraid to bring Christie’s name into it and said that he had obtained the substance he had given her from a stranger. The police did not find the body down the drain outside the front door where he said he had put it, and in fact they could not see how one man, especially a small man like Evans, could have moved the extremely heavy manhole cover that took three of them to shift. They confronted him with this and he confessed that it had been Christie who had administered the abortion pills and put Beryl in the drain. Police searched the house at 10 Rillington Place but it was no more than half-hearted and they even failed to notice the human thigh bone that was being used to prop up the garden fence.
They found a stolen briefcase, however, which gave them an excuse to arrest Evans. Christie was questioned and he emphasised how much of a liar Evans was and how violent his marriage to Beryl had been.
There was still no sign of Beryl and a more thorough search of the property was carried out. Eventually, in the washhouse, they discovered her body and that of her daughter. They had been dead, it was estimated, for three weeks. During lengthy police interrogations Evans inexplicably confessed no fewer than four times to killing his wife.
At the trial, six weeks later, Christie denied that he had agreed to perform an abortion on Beryl and his testimony, plus Evans’s poor performance in the witness box, resulted in a guilty verdict. Timothy Evans
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