Charles Walton (12 May 1870 – 14 February 1945) was an English man who was found murdered on the evening of 14 February 1945 (St. Valentine's Day), at The Firs farm on the slopes of Meon Hill, Lower Quinton, in Warwickshire, England. The foremost police detective of the era, Chief Inspector Robert Fabian, led the investigation into Walton's death. The chief suspect for the murder was the manager of The Firs, Alfred John Potter, for whom Walton was working on the day he died. However, there was insufficient evidence to convict Potter and the case is currently the oldest unsolved murder in the Warwickshire Constabulary's records. The case has earned some notoriety in popular culture due to its supposed connection with the local belief in witchcraft.
Background Charles Walton was born on 12 May 18701939 England and Wales Register to Charles and Emma Walton.Warwickshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813–19101871 England Census An agricultural worker, he lived in Lower Quinton all his life. He was a widower who shared a small cottage, 15 Lower Quinton, with his 33-year-old niece Edith Isabel Walton, whom he had adopted thirty years previously upon the death of her mother.Metropolitan Police File MEPO 3/2290 Walton was described as something of a loner who had earned a reputation as a trainer of horses in his youth. It is said that he did not socialise with his neighbours but was not disliked.
Walton walked with a stick because of his rheumatic joints. However, he sought casual farm work wherever he could find it and, for the previous nine months, had been working for a local farmer, Alfred Potter, whose farm was known as The Firs.
Edith Walton had lived with Charles Walton since she was three years old, although her father was still alive and lived at 30 Henley Street, Stratford. Walton had occupied his cottage since World War I and his wife had died on 9 December 1927. Walton had given Edith £1 per week housekeeping but also paid the 3s. per week rent on the cottage, as well as buying their coal and meat. In addition to his casual earnings, Walton received 10s. a week old-age pension.
Day of the murder On 14 February 1945 Walton left home with a pitchfork and a slash hook – a double-edged pruning implement with a sharpened straight edge on one side and a concave cutting edge on the other. Edith stated that Walton had left his purse at home on 14 February. He was witnessed passing through the churchyard between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. On this particular day he was slashing hedges in a field known as Hillground on the slopes of Meon Hill.Murder Casebook Issue 71 – Ritual Killings
That day Edith Walton was working as a printer's assembler at the Royal Society of Arts, which had relocated to Lower Quinton for the duration of the Second World War. Walton was expected to be home by 4:00 p.m. Edith returned home around 6:00 pm and found that Walton was not there. His solitary nature and regular habits gave her no solace that he might be in the local pub or visiting a friend.
Edith went to see her neighbour, an agricultural worker by the name of Harry Beasley who lived at 16 Lower Quinton. Together they made their way to The Firs to alert Alfred Potter. Potter claimed to have last seen Charles earlier in the day, slashing hedges in Hillground. The three of them set out in the direction of the spot where Charles had last been seen and eventually found his body near a hedgerow.
The murderer had beaten Walton over the head with his own stick, cut his neck open with the slash hook, and driven the prongs of the pitchfork into either side of his neck, pinning him to the ground. The handle of the pitchfork had then been wedged under a cross member of the hedge and the slash hook had been buried in his neck.
Edith was overcome with grief and began to scream loudly: Beasley tried to pacify her and to make sure that she did not venture too close to the scene. At that moment Harry Peachey was walking along the other side of the hedge. Potter called to him, directed his attention to the body and told Peachey to go and alert the police.
Potter stood guard over the murder scene until the police arrived, while Beasley took Edith back down the hill. The first policeman on the scene was PC Michael James Lomasney who arrived at 7.05 pm. Members of Stratford-upon-Avon CID arrived later in the evening, while Professor James M. Webster, of the West Midlands Forensic Laboratory, arrived at 11:30 p.m. The body was removed at 1:30 a.m.
Initial investigation At 11 pm on 14 February Detective Inspector Tombs took a statement from Alfred Potter. Potter stated that he had been at the farm for about five years and had known Walton for all that time. He had employed Walton casually for the previous nine months and said that Walton had worked when the weather permitted. Walton had been engaged in hedging for the previous few months and Hillground was the last field needing attention.
Potter stated that he had been in the College Arms with Joseph Stanley, a farmer of White Cross Farm, until noon that day. He had gone straight across to a small field adjoining Hillground and saw Walton working about 500–600 yards away. He said he noticed that Walton had about 6–10 yards of hedge left to cut and that, when he found his body later that day, about four additional yards of hedge had been cut, which would be about half an hour's work.
Potter stated that he knew that it was Walton's habit to stop for lunch at around 11 am and that he would then work continuously until about 4 pm. He described Walton as an "inoffensive type of man but one who would speak his mind if necessary".
The decision to request assistance from the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) was made at an early stage. The Deputy Chief Constable of Warwickshire sent a message on 15 February which stated:
The Chief Constable has asked me to get the assistance of Scotland Yard to assist in a brutal case of murder that took place yesterday. The deceased is a man named CHARLES WALTON, age 75, and he was killed with an instrument known as a slash hook. The murder was either committed by a madman or one of the Italian prisoners who are in a camp nearby. The assistance of an Italian interpreter would be necessary, I think. Dr Webster states deceased was killed between 1 and 2 pm yesterday. A metal watch is missing from the body. It is being circulated.
The details of the watch that were passed to pawnbrokers and jewellers described it as: Gents plain white metal pocket watch, snap case at back, white enamel face, with "Edgar Jones, Stratford on Avon" thereon. Second hand. English numerals. Valued at 25/- about ten years ago.
On 16 February Chief Inspector Robert Fabian and his partner, Detective Sergeant Albert Webb, arrived to assist the investigation. Later that day, Detective Sergeant Saunders of Special Branch, who was a fluent Italian speaker, also arrived.
Alfred Potter quickly came under suspicion. PC Lomasney, the local policeman who knew Alfred and his wife, Lillian Elizabeth Potter, was asked to stay close to them to see what they might unwittingly reveal.
Detective Sergeant Saunders began interviewing the Italian prisoners of war held at Long Marston. Prisoners were apparently able to roam the area at will and although there was a schedule for work days and free days no record was kept of these movements. On the afternoon of the day of the murder some prisoners had gone into Stratford to see a play, while others had visited the cinema. However, it does not appear that any of the Italians were ever seriously considered a suspect.
Post-mortem Professor Webster's post-mortem on Walton found that Walton's trachea had been cut and that he had bruising to his chest and several broken ribs. Walton also had defensive wounds: a cut on his left hand and bruises on the back of his right hand and forearm. Webster concluded that Walton's wounds had been caused by two weapons; a stabbing weapon and a cutting weapon, presumably the pitchfork and the slash hook. Walton had also been hit over the head with his own walking stick which was found three-and-a-half yards from his body with blood and hair adhering to it. It was determined that Walton died between 1 and 2 pm. Walton's shirt had been opened, his trousers had been unfastened at the top and his fly was unbuttoned. Webster's report makes no specific mention of the cross supposedly carved on Walton's chest mentioned in some later accounts.
Alfred Potter's account of events On 17 February Potter was interviewed for a second time, on this occasion by Detective Sergeant Webb. Potter stated that Walton had usually worked about four days each week, but never in wet weather. Potter stated that he paid him eighteen pence an hour and usually at the end of each fortnight, although sometimes by the week. He said that he left it to Walton to say how many hours he had completed and implied that Walton was sometimes paid for hours he had not actually worked. He had last paid Walton for the fortnight ending 10 February, when he had given him £2.15s.0.
Potter stated that on the day of the murder he had left the College Arms and gone across to a field known as Cacks Leys to see to some sheep and to feed some calves. When he reached the field it was 12.20 pm and he then saw Walton, working in his shirtsleeves. He was sure of this because it was the first time he had seen him so dressed and had said to himself, 'He's getting on with it today'. Potter added that he would have gone over to see Walton were it not for the fact that he had a heifer in a ditch nearby that needed attention. He went straight home and arrived there at about 12.40 pm. He then went to attend to the heifer.
On 20 February PC Lomasney was at The Firs and mentioned the fact that the police were still hoping to take fingerprints from the murder weapons. At this, Alfred Potter said that he had touched the handle of the slash hook, and possibly the pitchfork, when he first came across the body, and claimed that he had already mentioned this to the police. He said that he had handled the weapons in response to a comment from Harry Beasley that "You'd better have a look to make sure he is gone." Mrs Potter had displayed considerable annoyance at this revelation, stating that the police were bound to suspect him if his prints were on the murder weapon. Potter, meanwhile, told Lomasney that the murder was "the work of a fascist from the camp". A short time later a serviceman came to the door and asked for Potter who was in the yard. Lomasney recorded that when Potter came in he said, "That soldier has just told me that the military police at the camp have caught an Italian coming out with a suit of clothes and detained him and sent for the civil police, who came dashing out. They have taken him away with them." At this, "Potter affected great glee and his wife became almost hysterical with delight".
According to Fabian's initial report, Potter stated on 23 February that after his visit to Cacks Ley he had come home, read the paper for five minutes, and had then gone to help one of his workers, Charles Henry "Happy" Batchelor, to pulp some mangolds for a few minutes. Subsequently, both men had gone to look at the church clock and saw that it was 1 pm. This account was confirmed by Mrs Potter who stated that Alfred Potter had arrived home soon after 12.30 pm and had read the paper for a few minutes. He had then asked how long dinner would be and she had replied "Not long". On hearing this, Potter had gone to help Batchelor at about 12.40 pm and returned at 1.05 pm. Batchelor also confirmed that Potter had come to help him at around 12.40 pm.