Murder of Frances Levin

Photo of the Crime Scene

On the afternoon of July 19, 1933, 61-year-old Frances Levin was at home her home at Cheetham Hill Rd. in Manchester, England, with her maid Ms. Phillips. Frances was reading a novelette in the living room and her maid went to sew her bedroom around 2:30 p.m. Before going upstairs she opened the back door to let fresh air in. There was no one else in the home at the time. When the maid saw a man walking along the side passage of the house she figured it was the same man asking about the chickens Frances's brother kept behind the house. 

Ms. Phillips knew something was wrong when she came down around 4:20. She would go downstairs to the kitchen and see the poker on the hearthrug. There was blood on it and then she saw a bloodied cricket shirt on the table. Instead of staying investigating she left the home to an electrician, Samuel Woodcock, working on a car next door. He would find Frances in the living room on the settee. She had been bludgeoned but was still alive at the time. When Samuel tried to speak to her she would open her eyes and move her head, but nothing else. She would later die that evening.

Frances was a wealthy widow. Just before her death, she counted 9 shillings in her purse in front of her solicitor. Someone likely saw the door open and took the opportunity to rob the place. There was no evidence of a fight over her purse, but the money was gone. It could have been that she spooked the intruder and they killed her in surprise or fear of being caught. The man was described as of average height and weight. 

Hundreds of people were Police would come upon a suspect who matched the subscription that the maid had given. 47-year-old William Burtoft. He had one eye, a stocky build, and was white-haired. He was an unemployed seaman with no fixed address. He had a history of theft, in 1924 he attacked a woman during a robbery. He was an alcoholic and was addicted to meth. 

They detained him in Hyde a town about 7 miles away. William was questioned for many hours in the third degree. At one point police offer would allegedly offer a bottle of whisky to him in order to ease a confession. Police would deny that they had done this. William will give a confession as follows:

"I admit being the murderer of Mrs. Levin. Owing to drinking methylated spirit and also to the maid being where she was the old lady lost her life. I was cool, calm, and collected. Of course, when I got in the front room there the old lady got up and asked who was this. And I went back and get the poker off the fire range and struck her repeatedly.

I was not three minutes or so in the house. I was selling discharged soldiers' cards. Big Bertha will tell you I left her to sell some. I had no intention to do it, but—well I did it. I was sorry when I thought about it after. After I did it I took the poker back into the kitchen and wiped it on a shirt to remove any fingerprints""

There was an identification parade for her to pick out who she thought had done the crime. She had to do it by the way the walked because she did not see the man's face. She did not pick William and picked someone else.

On November 12, 1933, William went on trial and plead not guilty. The trial would last for two days and he was found guilty. The police used the "voluntary statement" from him in court, and William was never called up to give evidence to defend himself. This lonely and what today would be considered incompetent evidence condemned him. He was set to be executed by hanging. After he was convicted he protested from his cell that it was a false confession and even wrote to Home Security for help.  His appeal on December 4th was rejected. On December 19, 1933, William was hanged at the Strangeway Goals in Manchester.

It's unknown if William had done the crime, but it's known that he did not get a fair trial. On March 6, 2018, the show Murder, Mystery, and  My Family looked at the case. Using a present-day analysis the confession was deemed to have been manufactured by the police and was written in a style as if it was a story. It was unethical for William to be offered an alcohol incentive and unethical for the Judge to direct the jury and praise the police for the confession showing bias.

Photo of William Burtoft

SOURCES:

British Executions

Find a Grave

Midland Daily Telegraph July 19, 1933

Evening Dispatch August 3, 1933

Western Morning News  August 4, 1933

The Western Daily Press and Bristol Mirror August 4, 1933

The Guardian November 29, 1933

The Western Daily Press and Bristol Manor December 30, 1933

The Daily Mail

Murder of 12th/13th century Archer

Archeologists were investigating the historic Kirk Ness, which was the site of a church and cemetery in North Berwick, Scotland. The dig was organized by the Scottish Seabird Centre and latterly supported by Historic Scotland. It revealed structural remains including stone tools, lead objects, ceramic material, and butchered bones of seals and sea birds. This suggests that it was once a settlement.

One discovery was that the skeletal remains of a young man from the 12th or 13th centuries were found. He was over 20-years-old with a slightly better build than average. He had worn to his shoulder that suggests that he might have been an archer.

His death was brutal and seemed to have been professional. He had been fatally stabbed four times in the back, twice in the left shoulder, and twice in the ribs. The injuries suggested that the weapon used was a dagger-like weapon with symmetrical lozenge-shaped sections with sharp edges and at least 2.75 inches long. This suggests that the weapon may have been a dagger that was a specialist military weapon carried mainly by military men. With the weapon and the accuracy of the stab wounds pots towards a degree of professionalism and arguably a degree of calculation.

SOURCES:
Archeology Magazine

BBC February 21, 2014

The Herald February 21, 2014

The Mirror February 21, 2014

The Courier and Advertiser February 22, 2014

UNIDENTIFIED: May 11, 1923 Southern Pines, North Carolina Stranger

 On May 11, 1923, a man was found shot to death near the corner of New Hampshire Ave and Leak St.in Southern Pines, North Carolina. He had been shot to death with a pistol either on the 10th or the 11th. There is little information in this case. I'm not sure if anyone was arrested for the murder only information is from the Find a Grave. 

John Doe is a black male. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

UNIDENTIFIED: September 19, 1902 Detroit, Michigan Unknown Man

At 7:10 p.m. on September 19, 1902, an accident would happen on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. No 176 Woodward car heading west hit an unknown man was leaning over the side of the platform of a Rapid Railway car that was heading East. 

He was still alive and would lay on the road in the rain. He had been bleeding from his ears and had internal injuries. It was said that medical help for him was overlooked, and would soon die. The coroner arrived he was in the same place he died. Angry at the crowd that was watching the spectacle he asked why no one took him off of the road. This caused the crowd to go silent. 

In the man's pocket was an article from the Toledo Blade, the article was about a similar accident. It is possible he was recently in Ohio City. A jury found that the man's death was an accident from his own carelessness. 

The man was a white male and was around 35-years-old. He had black hair and a sandy almost red mustache. He had the tattoo J.M.C. on the upper part of his right arm. He was 6 ft and 190 lbs. He was wearing a black worsted coat, light striped trousers, a black topcoat, black flannel overshirt, black lace shoes, black socks, and a black fedora. 

It's unknown if he had been identified or not, but his grave is still marked as "Unknown Man". 

SOURCES:

Find A Grave

Detroit Free Press September 20, 1902

Detroit Free Press September 26, 1902

INFANTICIDE: August 24, 1880 Worcester, Massachusetts Baby Doe

 On August 24, 1880, a baby girl was found dead in the jail yard on Vine St. in Worcester, Massachusetts. She was about a month old and had died from exposure. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

UNIDENTIFIED: April 8, 1866 Evansville, Indiana Jane Doe

  On April 8, 1866, boys playing on Chesnut Street in Evansville, Indiana found toes sticking out of the dirt. Recent rain had washed away and revealed the body of a woman in a shallow grave. Her head was not found with the body. It was believed that she had been dead for at least 2 months. It was strange that she was undiscovered even buried where found because Chestnut St. was a busy street.

Her race was unknown. She was 5'6". She was wearing a nightgown.

In 1873 a Frederick J Smith who used the alias Meyer was indicted for the murder. He had lived in Evansville at the time, but moved by the time he was indicted. 

I'm not sure if she was identified articles would just refer to the woman as the headless woman. I'm not sure if he was convicted or not it just states he was indicted. It doesn't even state why he was suspected.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Evansville Daily Journal April 9, 1866

Seymore Times March 20, 1873

Fort Wayne Daily Gazette March 13, 1873

UNIDENTIFIED: April 5, 1889 Texarkana, Arkansas John Doe

 His killers had made his grave too small and had to cut off his head where it was buried separately. Inside his body was lying on its side. He had been stabbed as a common and sharpened kitchen knife was found between his ribs. Three pieces of oak wood were placed around the body. His clothes had disintegrated and a leather belt was found. He had red hair. He had been dead for at least 2 years. 

I'm not sure if this John Doe was ever Identified or if his killers had been. There was only one source for this murder. 

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Austin Weekly Statesmen April 11, 1898

Murder of Harriet Bell

37-year-old Harriet Bell was a widow by 1882 and worked as a seamstress to support her and her daughter. On morning of March 7, 1882, Harriet left her home of Kirkland Street in Boston, Massachusetts.13-year-old daughter stayed at home as she headed out to do errands.

The witness saw a man following behind Harriet and she was unaware until she got home around 8 a.m. When she got to her doorway the man attacked her, but not before the witness heard her say "I don't know you." He then took her arm and shoved her inside. The witness then heard her scream and the man leave the home. What he didn't know is in that short time he had stabbed her to death.

They quickly found two police officers nad stated the man just attacked a woman. They did nothing and let him go. They didn't stop the man nor did they do anything about it at the time saying it was a family matter. They had not known that she had been murdered and that they let the killer walk free.

Later the witness asked another officer to check on the woman. This was when the officer found her body. Several people were suspected, but none were charged in this case.

He was described as a white man around 45 or 50-years-old. He was 6'1" and 165 lbs. He had very broad shoulders and sandy side-whiskers, and mustache with a grey tinge. He was wearing a dark blue smooth overcoat with a velvet collar, a black worn high round derby hat, and dark pantaloons.

10 years later in late 1892, a man came forward with some information. The morning of the murder he and a woman who looked similar to Harriet had robbed a drunk sailor. They kicked him out in the street and he slept in a doorway near where the woman lived and where he was kicked out. It was believed that the doorways were similar and when he saw Harriet he believed her to be this other woman and killed her in revenge.

I couldn't find if this sailor was identified and arrested, but it could be possible the case was never solved.

SOURCES:
The Boston Globe March 11, 1882
Chicago Tribune March 9, 1882
The Boston Globe May 16, 1892
Democrat and Chronicle December 24, 1892
The Cape Girardeau Democrat December 31, 1892
The Anaconda Standard Jan. 3, 1893