The quiet house at 10 Rillington Place in west London became the setting for a sequence of murders carried out over more than a decade by a single resident who exploited both trust and official oversight.
John Christie moved into the ground-floor flat of the property in 1938 with his wife Ethel. The address later drew national attention when police uncovered human remains hidden in the garden, under floorboards and inside a wall. The discoveries revealed a pattern of killings that had gone undetected for years, partly because Christie presented himself as an ordinary, if somewhat reclusive, man.
Contemporary records show that Christie’s victims included neighbours, acquaintances and his own wife. Each case involved the use of coal gas to subdue the victim before manual strangulation. The method left little outward sign of struggle and allowed Christie to conceal bodies within the small property or its grounds.
Background
John Reginald Halliday Christie was born in Halifax in 1899. He served in the First World War, suffered injuries that affected his voice and later worked in a series of clerical and manual jobs. He married Ethel Waddington in 1920. The couple experienced periods of separation but reunited and took the flat at Rillington Place during the late 1930s.
The street itself consisted of modest Victorian terraces in Notting Hill. Many residents shared the same outdoor lavatory and washhouse, a common arrangement at the time. Christie’s flat occupied the ground floor while the first-floor rooms were let separately. This close proximity meant any unusual activity could easily have been noticed, yet Christie maintained an unremarkable routine for years.
The Crimes
The first confirmed killing occurred in August 1943. Ruth Fuerst, a 21-year-old Austrian nurse and munitions worker, visited the flat and was strangled after being rendered unconscious with gas. Christie buried her remains in the garden.
In October 1944 he killed Muriel Eady, a 31-year-old colleague from the same factory. She had sought treatment for her bronchitis. Christie administered what he described as a “special mixture” of Friar’s Balsam and Friar’s Balsam through a makeshift inhaler connected to a gas pipe. Once she lost consciousness he strangled her and placed the body beside Fuerst’s in the garden.
In 1949 the Evans family occupied the top flat. Beryl Evans, aged 20, and her infant daughter Geraldine became Christie’s next victims. Timothy Evans, Beryl’s husband, was away when the killings occurred. Christie later claimed he had attempted an abortion on Beryl that went wrong, then killed both mother and child to prevent discovery. Their bodies were found in the washhouse.
Ethel Christie died in December 1952. She had lived with her husband throughout the earlier crimes. Christie gassed and strangled her in the bedroom. He continued to occupy the flat with her body beneath the floorboards for several weeks.
Three further women were killed in early 1953. Kathleen Maloney, Rita Nelson and Hectorina MacLennan each visited the flat and were murdered in the same manner. Their bodies were concealed behind a wall in the kitchen.
Investigation
Timothy Evans was arrested in 1950 after reporting his wife and daughter missing. He gave conflicting statements and was convicted of the murder of his daughter. He was hanged at Pentonville Prison in March 1950. The conviction rested heavily on his own confessions, some of which he later retracted.
Police searches of the property at the time did not extend to the garden or the kitchen wall. Christie remained in residence and committed three more murders before the final discovery.
In March 1953 new tenants noticed a foul odour and a loose wall panel. Police were called and recovered the three recent victims. Further excavation of the garden and examination of the flat revealed the earlier remains. Christie had already left the address and was arrested days later in a café in Putney.
Capture and Trial
Christie was taken into custody on 31 March 1953. During interviews he admitted to seven killings, later adding an eighth. He showed officers where each body had been placed.
The trial opened at the Old Bailey in June 1953. The prosecution presented evidence of the gas administration method, the locations of the remains and Christie’s own statements. The defence argued diminished responsibility on grounds of mental illness, but the jury rejected the plea after less than two hours of deliberation. Christie was sentenced to death and hanged at Pentonville on 15 July 1953.
Psychological Profile
Medical reports prepared for the trial described Christie as possessing average intelligence with a history of hypochondria and sexual inadequacy. He displayed a pattern of selecting vulnerable women and using deception rather than physical force. The consistent use of gas suggests a desire to avoid confrontation and maintain control.
No formal psychiatric diagnosis was accepted by the court. Later reviews of the case files have noted traits consistent with a personality disorder, though such assessments remain retrospective.
Legacy and Cultural Impact
The case prompted a re-examination of the Evans conviction. A 1965 inquiry concluded that Evans had not killed his wife or daughter. He received a posthumous pardon in 1966. The miscarriage of justice contributed to growing public debate over capital punishment, which was suspended in 1965 and abolished for murder in 1969.
Rillington Place was renamed Ruston Close and the houses were eventually demolished. The site is now occupied by a small park and part of the Westway flyover. The address itself has become synonymous with one of the most serious failures of police investigation in twentieth-century Britain.
Contemporary newspaper archives and official records continue to serve as primary sources for researchers. The case remains a reference point in discussions of wrongful conviction and the reliability of confessions obtained under pressure.
Conclusion
John Christie’s offences at Rillington Place spanned more than ten years and claimed eight lives. The prolonged concealment of the crimes exposed limitations in both policing methods and the safeguards surrounding capital cases. The eventual discovery of the bodies and the correction of the Evans verdict stand as lasting reminders of the need for thorough investigation and careful scrutiny of evidence in every homicide inquiry.
Bibliography
Kennedy, L. (1961) 10 Rillington Place. London: Victor Gollancz.
Eddowes, M. (1955) The Man on Your Conscience. London: Cassell.
The National Archives (1953) Central Criminal Court: Depositions relating to John Reginald Halliday Christie. Kew: TNA, CRIM 1/2446.
The National Archives (1950) Regina v Timothy John Evans. Kew: TNA, CRIM 1/2107.
Camps, F.E. (1953) Medical evidence in the Christie case. Medico-Legal Journal, 21(3), pp. 75-82.
Gaute, J.H.H. and Odell, R. (1986) The Murderers’ Who’s Who. London: Harrap.
Wilson, C. and Pitman, P. (1962) Encyclopedia of Murder. London: Arthur Barker.
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