And what a theme tune! I've included the full track at the beginning of this weeks episode but going forward we will be using a shorter version. I had to include the full thing at least once, because... I love it.
Full credit to Lea from Choonabox on this because I sent him over a couple of very short and very shit recordings and from that he created something which exceeded my own limited expectations and has blown me away. Lea is in the process of setting up his new venture with Choonabox, but you can still get in touch with him; and I highly recommend doing so via our email until he's fully set up. So Thank you Lea, from both of us here at Wives & Knives - we are well impressed and well grateful, cheers.
This week it's another mini episode for our lovely listeners, we have two cases for you. Dani covers Chloe Ayling and I tell you about Sarah Ricketts.
Please remember that we mean no disrespect to anyone mentioned in this episode, or across any of our platforms.
We have an interest in true crime and related topics and whilst we may offer our own personal views on certain items it is meant to be educational and as light-hearted as possible. The information we present is collated from research gathered from the internet and we reference and credit our sources wherever possible.
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I have a case for you today, a solved case that I have been utterly obsessed with, I find this case fascinating. It reads like a film plot and at point seems unbelievable but at the centre of it is a girl who has been judged by the media and the public. Some believe this is rightly so and point to contradictions in her story that indicate her involvement in the case. Others myself included think this is an example of victim blaming and rape culture and the media’s reaction to a girl who doesn’t fit the conventional image of a crime victim. Maybe you will agree, maybe you won’t?
Let me start from the beginning, Chloe Ayling was born June 1997 in South London. She always wanted to be a model but went to college and studied sports Science, she really enjoyed the course. Chloe became pregnant at 17 and had her son, Ashton at 18. Having a son to provide for she decided to give modelling a go. She knew she would never be a super model as she is only 5”5 but was happy doing commercial and glamour. She wanted to make money to provide for her son and the idea of getting to travel and see the world was always something that Chloe had been excited by. Chloe was quick to be signed and rose to fame in 2016 through Instagram and appearing in newspapers and lads’ mags. Chloe was represented by Phil Green, whose agency called “supermodel agency” had been established 10 years before she was even born. Prior to establishing his agency Phil Green was a lawyer and part time DJ. By 2017 his agency was a huge success, he had some of his girls featuring in Playboy. Phil sent girls all over the world, auditioning in roles on TV as well as the usual modelling shoots. He was good at networking and setting up publicity for his girls and the girls he represented had huge followings on social media and Chloe was no exception.
On Friday 7th April 2017 Phil Green received an email from an Italian photographer named Andre Lazio. Andre Lazio personally requested a shoot with Chloe in Paris. He wanted Chloe to model leather goods for a motorcycle magazine that he was working with. His email was straight forward and professional. The job included travel, overnight accommodation, a spa treatment, and spending money. As her agent it was Phil job to vet these offers for Chloe. He Checked Andre Lazio's address and it seemed legitimate. He corresponded with Andre Lazio who sent him photos of previous work and the studio. Chloe was thrilled to be given this job and excited to visit Paris.
On April 20th she landed in France and a driver was waiting for her, she was driven to her hotel where she left her things and then she went out to explore the famous sights. Outside the Eiffel tower she called Phil to let him know she had arrived safely, and she also took a selfie next to the famous landmark. She ate dinner and went back to her hotel, later on she heard emergency vehicles outside. Chloe stayed in her room as a gunman roamed the shopping boulevard just 1 km away. It was a terror attack. The Champs Elysees attack.
Andre Lazio contacted Chloe the next morning and told her that his studio had been ransacked in the horror of the previous night therefore he would have to cancel the shoot. A taxi would be sent to take her back to the airport. Chloe checked out and jumped into a car that was waiting for her. When she got to the airport, she realised she had got into the wrong car and this car had not been pre-paid. she got Andre’s phone number from an earlier email and called him to see if he could resolve the situation she was asked to wait in the car. After a wait of about 45 minutes a young thin white man who introduced himself as Andre Lazio arrived, he paid for the fare and apologised to Chloe for cancelling the shoot. He gave Chloe £90 for expenses and then left. Back home the daily star had written an article about how one of their best page 3 girls had been caught up in the terror attacks and there was a big topless picture of Chloe covering the page.
A few months later Chloe was in Dubai when she received a call from Phil Green saying that the shoot with Andre Lazio had been rescheduled and this time, he wanted her at his studio in Milan on July 11th. Chloe was excited to get to go to Milan. Like last time Andre had sent pictures to confirm the authenticity of the shoot location. Again, Chloe flew over and was treated to a luxury spa treatment and a beautiful hotel. On the day of the shoot, she checked out of her hotel and travelled to the studio. When she arrived at the building it wasn’t what she expected and she couldn’t work out how to get in, so she called the number she had used a few months before to contact Andre Lazio. A man answered and called himself Daniel, he told her to walk further down the road and enter a small building that looked like a garage. She was used to shooting in all sorts of locations, so she didn’t find this strange and entered the building, she walked in and down a corridor she noticed it was really quiet for a studio space. Just as she was about to go through the door a gloved hand grabbed her from behind and a 2nd person appeared in front of her wearing a ski mask. She was then injected, and everything went black.
The next thing she knew she was in a small dark space, she could hear the sound of a car engine and worked out that she was in the boot of a car. She was bound and wearing just a body suit and socks. Her mouth was gagged with tape. She managed to wiggle free and open the zip of the bag she was inside. She was then able to bang on the side of the boot. As soon as she started banging the car stopped and the boot opened, standing over Chloe were 2 men in ski masks, they then zipped her back into the bag and carried on driving. This drive would go on for hours and the men would stop periodically to give Chloe water and replace the tape over her mouth. After a while one of the men climbed in the booth with her. This man led next to her and spoke in a whisper. Chloe asked him questions, but he would just reply saying he didn’t know. She was terrified and crying but the man didn’t assault her he tried to comfort her and removed her handcuffs to provide a little momentary comfort. When the car stopped, she was ordered back in the bag and threatened with a syringe. She complied and was carried up what felt like a hill. When the bag was next unzipped, she was in a small kitchen. The man who had been in the boot with her had taken his mask off, but the other man remained masked. Chloe was led to a small room with a large chest of drawers, a sleeping bag, and a small bed. Chloe was handcuffed by the arm and ankle to the chest of drawers then both men left her alone and went downstairs. She was all alone, tired and shaken, she didn’t know where she was and all she could hear was the two men speaking in a foreign language.
Later the unmasked man returned and told Chloe that his part of the job was done but something had gone wrong, and his boss was on the way. She heard a commotion downstairs with men shouting. Then a small brown-haired man entered the room, he released Chloe’s wrist and sat on the bed opposite her. It was Andre Lazio. He re-introduced himself as MD, he explained that the 2 Romanians that had kidnapped her, the two men from the 2nd leg of the journey and himself all worked for an organisation called Black Death Group.
Back in the uk an email had been sent to Phil Green explaining that Chloe had been taken and was due to be auctioned as a sex slave, in order to stop this happening he would have to pay three hundred thousand euros, the message had 3 named men that he should ask for the money. The person sending the email claimed he was called MD and was risking his life by writing to Phil. He said that both himself and Chloe could be killed and that he could not let her go without the money by order of the Black Death Group. The Black Death group claimed to be an organised crime group dealing in everything from drugs, assassinations to human trafficking. They claimed to auction people on the dark web changing web addresses to avoid detection. They used the image of the plague doctors on their site. Have you seen the imagery for the black death group? Long pointy crow beak masks.
According to the Black death group a doctor would check out all girls before they were auctioned, and they would also kidnap to order for the right price. This wasn’t the first time Black Death group have been mentioned on the internet and it was said that they had been involved in auctions of young girls - these were investigated but no one was ever able to confirm if these sales really happened or who was behind them. Phil Green replied to the email with one word: Received.
Chloe’s Mum was already sure something bad had happened to Chloe when she didn’t arrive home, she checked the plan and contacted Phil, who confirmed that Chloe had never boarded a flight home. Her mum knew it wasn’t like her to change plans. Phil then alerted Italian police to Chloe’s kidnapping. The Italian police went to Andrei’s studio, but it was empty. Police found some of Chloe’s belongings and a piece of paper with the black death group written on it and depicting the image of the Plague doctors. Police in the uk then got on the case, taking over Phillips Greens email to continue negotiations with the Abductor. The Abductor provided a link to an online auction which contained pictures of Chloe unconscious and pale. The piece of paper that had been found and the fake studio was on her chest. It was 5 days until she was to be auctioned.
In Italy MD had told Chloe that he was an assassin who worked for the Black Death Group and that his specialisation is in poisoning. He explained that she had been abducted to be sold on the dark web in 5 days’ time. MD explained the group regularly did this and once the girls were sold, they were passed around for sex until the buyers family got bored of them Then they would be killed. To prove his claim MD showed her an advert for herself and the pictures that had been taken when she had been abducted. She noticed that the abduction site said she was being held in Germany. H told her that there was a problem and those above him in the Black Death Group where not happy because one of the many rules on the sight started that all the girls for sale must not be mothers. The group hadn’t realised that Chloe had a young son. This meant Chloe Ayling could not be sold. He said that there had been a communication issue among Black Death members, and she should never have been abducted. MD said that now she had already been listed on the sight she must secure her own starting bid in order to be released. Chloe didn’t have access to such money but MD pressed Chloe asking for names of wealthy associates that might pay for her safe return - these are the three men that appeared in the email to Philip Green. MD said if the money weren’t secured, she would still go to auction.
That night Chloe was handcuffed by her ankle and wrist to the chest of drawers, she couldn’t sleep and spent the night very aware of MD watching her. At points he would talk to her, telling her what a good guy he was trying to look after her, at one point he even offered to give her some of the money if she was able to raise the bulk. He told her she was being hold in a very isolated location and she would be hunted and killed if she escaped. HE said that he would also be killed if he harmed her because she was now the property of the Black Death Group.
He promised her that he would look after her. He’s building a relationship with her. Convincing her of the gravity of both their situations and she’s going along with it probably because she’s so scared, I guess it’s a matter of survival. On the second day MD told Chloe that Phil Green had got the email and replied. That afternoon MD invited her to lie on the bed. They both slept back-to-back on the bed. Chloe was not allowed downstairs or to go to the bathroom with the door closed. When MD would leave, he would give Chloe strict instructions to stay in the bed. Chloe was too scared to try and escape. MD would return annoyed at the lack of progress in securing the money and kept telling Chloe that they must start to prepare for her auction, this would mean photos and an examination from a doctor. Chloe noticed that MD would tell her stories about all the jobs he had completed for the Black Death group, his previous jobs, and the huge amounts of money he earns. Chloe could tell he was trying to impress her, and she thought this could be a way to get on his good side. Chloe pretended to warm to MD and feigned interest in everything he said. He spoke about how he really wanted to get out of The Black Death Group but would have to pay 1.5 million to leave as well as transfer his many properties. MD began to soften and open up to Chloe. This is the first time she accepted food off him. She tried to humanise herself talking about how much she missed her little boy and her mum. By day 4 MD asked if they could kiss. Chloe said that they could only kiss if they were free. This promise seemed to spur MD on in to finding a way to free Chloe. MD said he would ask the Black Death Group to strike a deal for her release. The next day MD handed Chloe a letter - it read - you are being released. The letter contained strict instructions that when Chloe returned to London, she was not allowed to investigate her kidnapping. She would have to send them money via a crypto currency and she would have to promote them by sneaking messages into the newspapers during interviews. She would not be allowed to speak about the Black Death Group and if she did, she would be killed.
Chloe was escorted to a nearby shop to get some shoes, she had been told member of the Black Death Group where everywhere and not knowing who she could trust she did as she was told and clung to MD believing he was the one getting her to safety. When he had got her a pair of shoes, he took her on the long journey to the British consulate. When they arrived, it wasn’t open yet, so MD took Chloe to a nearby café. Chloe was to tell everyone she had been released and contacted her friend MD to take her to safety and this is what Chloe told them until she was alone. Then she began to tell them everything she had been through over the past 6 days. Chloe was subjected to forensic testing, no drugs were found in her blood, but ketamine was found in her hair, she was questioned and examined, a pin hole was found on her wrist and bruises around her wrists and ankle. Police found the run-down farmhouse in which Chloe had been kept. Chloe was told she had not been taken out of Italy and that she had been kept in a tiny hamlet in northern Italy close to Touraine. MD didn’t own this property it was rented. Locals in the small village identified MD as having been there, eating in a local restaurant every evening. On the morning of Chloe's auction/the day she was to be released witnesses spotted the two in the village together in a local shop, the pair were holding hands. MD had been seen buying Chloe a pair of shoes. This was shown to Chloe and she said that MD had taken her shopping for shoes as she didn’t have any. MD told her that Black Death operatives where everywhere, so she was too scared to ask for help. Chloe was taken to the house and everything was just as she had described however, she was upset to see that the house was not as isolated as MD had said and maybe if she had have screamed someone would have heard her. I think that’s viable to believes this Black Death group and everything they’ve told her. I mean I guess she had no reason not to. As soon as the news broke in the uk the press fought to get interviews with the model.
MD was identified as Lukasz Herba a 30-year-old polish national and was detained for questioning. Lukasz Herba had a false ID for Andre Lazio and a business card for a business called permanent solutions with its emblem being the grim reaper and a complicated dark web email for MD on the other side. He eventually confessed to a part in the abduction but said it had been run by a group of Romanians. He said all he had done was rent the farmhouse for them, he never mentioned the Black Death Group. He said he had only done it for the money as he was needing it for treatment as he had Leukaemia, however he had no proof he had ever been diagnosed with this. During his time in prison, he was beaten badly and when Chloe heard of this, she was concerned, she thought it was the Black Death Group and they would also be after her. This was when the police told Chloe that the Black Death Group didn’t even exist and there was only 2 men that ever had anything to do with her abduction, just Lukasz Herba and his older brother Michal Herba. Lukasz Herba was the silent masked man that had then revealed himself as Andre then MD. It was Michal Herba who had climbed in the boot of the car with Chloe when she was originally taken, this was confirmed with hair samples found in the boot of the car. Lukasz Herba had told Chloe he had never been to England but actually he lived there, in Oldbury a 20 min drive from Cadbury world, just west of Birmingham. He had become obsessed with Chloe following her on Social media. Police think that Lukasz Herba abducted Chloe in order to get the ransom money but also to save her and win her heart. In Poland, the Herba brothers were considered polite young boys but their neighbours in England described then as odd, Lukasz Herba was known for walking around the streets with his pet rat on his shoulder and being obsessed with computer games. One of his exes said he was a compulsive liar and lived to impress others. He also made jokes about spiking drinks with drugs, he impressed her with lies about owning business. He told his girlfriend he was away on business when he was in fact in Milan abducting Chloe.
When Chloe returned to the UK, she arrived smiling happy to be home. She gave a short statement about being through an awful experience and thanked the Italian police. Phil Green was getting bombarded with phone calls trying to book Chloe but when he contacted Chloe, he was told that he was no longer her agent. Perhaps she was advised to change agents after all it was him who had arranged the meeting that led to her kidnap or perhaps, she just didn’t feel she could trust him anymore and wanted a fresh start.
Either way Philip Green was furious and took to the media claiming that Chloe had left him out of pocket. He told the Jeremy Kyle show that he was ‘hacked off ‘because Chloe had the most amazing year with his agency, and he had done everything in his power to ensure that she was safe. He also claimed that he had been her lifeline when she had been with the police for questioning and that she had called him for several hours a day. Chloe claims he was unhelpful and even told her mum to stop calling him whilst Chloe was still missing. Lukasz was sentenced to 16 years. In December 2017 Michal was in court and Chloe had to attend the trial via video link. She stuck by every word of her story. He was also sentenced to 16 years.
Chloe's story was all over the papers and the public backlash was harsh. Chloe was accused of not being a real victim. For being so happy and continuing with her work. Every news story wrote kid napping and victim in inverted commas and people took to the internet to accused her of faking the whole thing for attention. Screen shots of Chloe and Lukasz Herba in the shoe shop were shown to try and make out Chloe and Lukasz Herba where in a relationship and when the press found out she had met Lukasz Herba before in Paris that ran the headline ‘Chloe knew her kidnapper.’ It turned out that Lukasz Herba was Friends with Chloe on Facebook. Chloe explained this saying she accepted everyone on social media as a way of raising her profile. Chloe’s new agent took huge fees for interviews, many which treated her story of scepticism. Piers Morgan accused her of lying on good morning Britain, for this interview alone Chloe received £5000. The public labelled her an attention seeker. In Feb 2008 Lukasz Herba went to trial in Milan, he said that although Lukasz Herba was obsessed with Chloe but that the whole thing was set up by them both to raise her profile. He said he loved her. He said that they had planned to do the abducting in Paris, but Chloe was not happy with the location, so it had changed to Milan. He said she had helped him write the emails to Philip Green. However, his story changed and contradicted itself, he denied telling the police he ever had leukaemia and his claims became so outlandish he had to undergo a mental health assessment. Evidence was taken from his laptop that showed him planning the attack months in advance. During a recorded phone call from the police stating Lukasz Herba called his mum and told her to dump his car and delete all his emails. Police accessed his files and found emails between him and his brother about buying a big bag. In another email they talked about being kind to Chloe to make her more compliant. There was no evidence of any contact with Chloe and no evidence that Chloe had any involvement in her own abduction. despite this the press never stopped insinuating Chloe had something to do with her abduction but Chloe never wavered and continued to make money out of the situation, appearing on pay per view TV and traveling the world. She appeared on celebrity Big Brother for a fee of £75000.
The main reason I find this case so fascinating is because I truly believe that if this had happened to someone else the media would have reacted differently. The media don’t like a strong woman and Chloe’s reaction and strength is not in line with the victim the media wanted to see. She was demonised for making money from her trauma and blamed for putting herself in what the media deemed was a vulnerable position. I feel it is wholly unacceptable, being a model and having a large online presence does in no way give anyone the right to abuse you and having a level of celebrity however big or small does not mean you should expect dangerous situations to present themselves. Chloe has since given several interviews on prime TV slots including this morning where she explains that it took her until the trial to truly see what had been going on - she says she will never forgive Lucasz and holds her former agent somewhat responsible for not conducting better checks before sending her off on the job. So, Kelly what do you think? It’s a good case in terms of what a victim should be or how they are perceived to be. Okay so this week I have a bit of a historical case as well as a linked recommendation. I came across this case after seeing a post on a Facebook group - history of Blackpool.
So the original post came from a lady called Deborah Contessa, you can also address her as the Countess of Drachenberg. She’s an entire vibe and I am very much here for it.
Deborah is a cemetery tour guide, a graveyard detective, dilettante historian, ghost botherer & blogger. Her blog is called tales of the Black Pool - I’ll put the links in the sources to that and her YouTube but basically, she has some good posts on there, all historical cases from the local area, so if that’s your thing go check her out. She also regularly posts in the Blackpool group I mentioned and the post that I came across the other day is the one I’m going to talk about today.
So thanks Deborah because I’m slightly ashamed to say. I had never heard of this case, along with others on her site, and It’s the 1953 case of Sarah Ricketts and her murderer Louisa may Merrifield. Louisa was the third to last woman to be hanged in the UK and was executed by Albert Pierrepoint at Strangeways Prison in Manchester 18th September, for poisoning her elderly employer.
Notorious at the time as 'The Blackpool Poisoner', today her case is largely forgotten. Miss Sarah Ricketts lived in a bungalow on 339 Devonshire road in Blackpool, she had been alone for 10 years following the death of her last husband. Sarah had been married before that, so had clocked up two husbands in her lifetime, both of which had committed suicide by placing their head in the gas oven.
Despite her diminutive height (she was only four feet eight inches tall) Ricketts was said to be a difficult woman with a short temper who had a habit of changing her will whenever a beneficiary annoyed or upset her, which was often.
in March of 1953, Louisa and her husband Alfred Merrifield were employed to fill the positions of companions cum housekeepers to Sarah Ricketts.
Louisa was born Louisa May Highway in Wigan, 1906. Not much is known about her early life, she first shows up on records when she gets married in September 1931 to Joseph Ellison. She worked as a Salvation Army Captain which was an admired position, however Louisa’s life wasn’t necessarily respectful because in 1946 she was convicted and imprisoned for ration book fraud and refusal to pay the £10 fine that came with it. She had six children with Joseph, two died in early childhood and the remaining children were taken off her and placed with foster families.
She spent 84 days in prison being released in November 1946, her husband died in October 1949 of a medical condition. Louisa married soon after in February 1950, eloping with an aged widower Richard Weston who was 78. He died 10 weeks later of a heart attack. Louisa had claimed “that she had set the bed so that when he got into it, it would collapse; it did so, and the shock killed him."
Was she playing a joke on him and killed him?
That’s taken from police records and later used by the media to imply suspicion around Louisa. I genuinely can’t decide if she’s just a bit of a seriously unlucky joker in all of this or if she is just the bluntest serial killer and no one is taking her seriously.
I can see why Sarah hired her as a companion. They’ve got things in common.
Louisa married Alfred Edward Merrifield in September 1950 in Wigan. She was 44, he was 68 and a widower
Alfred hadn’t been the greatest husband to his first wife and had left her and the kids over twenty years before she died.
Louisa had first met Alfred when her first husband was dying in hospital but had the relationship with her second husband Richard Weston before later meeting up with Alfred again and marrying him.
During 1950 and 1953 Louisa had 20 different jobs, many domestic roles where she constantly disappointed Losing each position due to her poor attitude, laziness, and suspected thefts.
That may have been part of the reason why they took the live-in positions in Blackpool as well, get away from Wigan. Although she was affectionately remembered in Wigan by all accounts. People would have still talked about her no doubt. Oh yeah, I wonder if Alfred didn’t like the inevitable rumours but whatever they leave Ince, Wigan and move to Blackpool and start working for Sarah on the 12th of March 1953 and within a few weeks she’s complaining about them, the Merrifield’s weren’t feeding her enough, were spending a lot of her money on alcohol and were generally bad company. I also read that Louisa and Sarah got on well, I know we joked about their having things in common but apparently it was something that connected them. And they developed a friendship of sorts. This is a woman, Sarah, known for changing her will regularly, so they can’t have been that bad? I find it hard to believe this feisty firecracker would include a woman who was abusing her.
by late March 1953 Louisa had talked or tricked Sarah into writing a will which left the bungalow on Devonshire Road to her. On April 9, Louisa Merrifield got Mrs Ricketts' doctor, Dr Yule, to certify that Ricketts was mentally competent to make a new will.
Louisa is said to have boasted about her impending inheritance to friends in the pub and was often heard bad mouthing her employer. One of these friends, Veronica king once asked Louisa if her employer was okay and even alive, and the response was that she was, but she wouldn’t be for long.
On April 12, Louisa told her friend Mrs Jessie Brewer that she had to return home to 'lay out' an old woman. When pushed as to who had died Louisa said, "She’s not dead yet, but she soon will be."
On April 13 Doctor Albert Victor Wood was called out to the bungalow with the Louisa fearing that Sarah was seriously ill. The doctor diagnosed mild bronchitis and told Louisa off for calling him out.
The next day, April 14, during the evening, the 79-year-old Mrs Sarah Ann Ricketts died. Louisa didn't call a doctor until the next day, saying she had not wanted to bother him, bringing him out to an obviously dead woman late at night. newspapers report that while crowds gathered to watch the investigations. Louisa apparently organised songs and refreshments for all and even enlisted the Salvation Army to play ‘Abide with Me.’ People described Louisa as ‘short, thick set, middle-aged,’ in sporty hat and glasses.
She openly talked to reporters throughout, even when it was clear the police were suspicious of her. In photographs Louisa appears to have resting bitch face, confident, even perhaps lacking any full understanding of the gravity of the situation she was about to find herself in. The couple wasted no time in trying to claim the inheritance, this prompted interest from the police and the family, Newspapers reported Sarah had two daughters, one in Bishpam, the other in Congleton.
Dr G.B. Manning, consultant pathologist from the North West Forensic Science Laboratory, conducted a post-mortem and found haemorrhage points on Sarah’s organs and mouth, poisonous substances in her liver and oddly dark fluids in her stomach, all strongly indicating death by poisoning. then a dirty spoon coated in phosphorous, a key ingredient in rat poison, was found in Louisa’s handbag.
It’s said that Louisa came up with the plan to use Rodine, more commonly known as rat poison. Which was readily available and widely used back then?
The especially strong smell of ‘Rodine’ means disguising its presence from potential victims can be difficult. Alcohol and jam would therefore mask the ‘garlic aroma’ perfectly. Sarah was known to be a fussy eater her staple diet of eggs, brandy, rum, and Jam attracted attention from the doctors treating her during the last few weeks of her life. Sarah particularly enjoyed her jam, often eating it out of the jar by the spoon.
On 30th April, Louisa was arrested at the Bungalow after coroner Detective Sergeant Norman Steadman put his theories to the boroughs police chief constable. His men combed the neighbourhood, digging up the bungalow garden in the search for tins of poison, probably ‘Rodine.’
In mid-May, whilst visiting his wife awaiting trial, Alfred was also arrested. that July an eleven-day trial commenced, and the jury were informed of a so-called subjugated relationship between Louisa & Alfred. It was said that she had ruled him, and he had done whatever she said; Implying coercive control. Evidence of her boasting locally about a forthcoming inheritance. One witness quoted Louisa’s claim of “she’s not dead yet, but she soon will be.” Other evidence about Sarah’s varying states of health during her last months, mentioned tangled tales of various mysterious handbags, sneering allusions to Alfred’s light-coloured suits, worries about someone – either Sarah or Louisa- unable to afford insurance premiums, all accounts by various home delivery drivers who regularly visited the victim, and the evidence of the doctors, including the coroner attending Sarah.
The jury couldn’t decide if Alfred had played more of a part in the murder, so he was released without re-trial. Louisa was the only one convicted, leaving Alfred free to claim his part of the inheritance. Which he did moving straight into the bungalow; in which he now had a half-share. On 31st July, after five and a half hours of deliberation the jury produced a verdict of ‘guilty,’ Justice Glyn-Jones donned black cap to pronounce the death sentence. There was an appeal but, it failed.
The anti-death penalty campaigner Violet Van der Elst petitioned the Home Secretary David Maxwell Fyfe by letter to commute Louisa's death sentence to life in prison. She wrote: The husband ... posed as a kindly and simple old man, never spoke - and it seemed as if this old man had been made use of by his wife and had been made to do things under her stronger will. This was not true, he was a cunning old man acting a part in court, but if one could judge of the two people, I would consider that the old man was the most guilty ... He never troubles about his wife being condemned to death. He thinks, to look well he will take her a few flowers, but she can see through him and refused to see him. There was a witness that testified at the trial a Mrs Barrowclough at a bus-stop complained that she had found her husband in bed with the old lady and “it got her vexed.” Mrs Merrifield added: “If he does it again, I will poison the old **** and him as well.”
I also read that Louisa was concerned that Sarah Ricketts would change her will in favour of Alfred, or that Mrs Ricketts’ daughter would dispute the will. There are loads of theories and differing versions of events.
Days before her execution Louisa and Alfred were reconciled and she was visited in the condemned cell by her husband to whom she said, "Goodbye Alfie. Look after yourself and God Bless."
On 18th September, Louisa was hanged by the neck until she was dead.
I looked a little bit more into this case and Alfred comes across as a bit of a Prat to be fair. Like Chloe he did not comfortably fit the role - for him of the grieving widower, he donated his wife’s clothes to Louis Toussauds; as in madam Toussauds.
Until his death he used to give talks on the incident. He came to an arrangement with Mrs Ricketts’ family and left the bungalow in Devonshire Road. He took to hiring caravans and getting into disputes with his neighbours. He died aged 80.
It’s interesting for sure, I’m not convinced as others weren’t about Alfred. And then there’s the wider conversation on the death penalty. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted that as a juror in this case – too many questions from what I’ve read. Judge for yourselves of course. Could it be that Louisa May Merrifield was loud-mouthed and her behaviour a consequence of stress or even some kind of breakdown, but not a murderer? Despite pre-murder bragging, Louisa did not confess to the crime after Sarah actually died. Apart from the spoon, no trace of any poison was found at the murder site. And like I said before it was common to have this in your home, it was the favoured above the more traditional arsenic and strychnine for use in rodent infestations.
Could it have been “tragic simpleton” Alfred Merrifield and Louisa had no clue what he was up to and was genuinely concerned for her employer? Did he strike up a relationship with Sarah? I also wonder if he had heard about her tendency to change her will and that had prompted the move, Sarah had advertised the position so long shot no doubt. Or not poison at all as one of the medical experts thought? similar symptoms to cholera. Although death certificates were often easily issued in cases of symptoms manifesting those of ordinary diseases such as cholera, the doctor examining the corpse of Sarah Ricketts had refused to issue the certificate until a police enquiry was conducted. On the evidence available he gave a verdict of ‘death by yellow phosphorous poisoning.’ There’s a lot to unpack there.
Well two very fascinating cases there for our lovely listeners, we hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s episode.
Join us next week, when we discuss the case of Kendrick Johnson, until then make sure you check out our socials, and get in touch.
Sources.
https://www.heritageblackpool.co.uk/post/murder-in-the-bungalow
https://www.cdc.gov/cholera/illness.html
https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/blackpool-poisoner-drunkard-who-murdered-17079890
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14312459/chloe-ayling-kidnapper-cut-sentence/
60-minute Australia - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kOdF_142Tw
Casefile - Case 116 Chloe Ayling -https://casefilepodcast.com/case-116-chloe-ayling/ https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/chloe-ayling.html
The untold story of my abduction - Chloe Ayling Chloe Ayling - Eye of the storm - BBC Radio 5 Live
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4774096/Kidnapped-model-hasn-t-seen-son-return.html
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