Lentune Probus Ladies Club sat down to an enthralling tale about the killing of Elizabeth Ridgley by Paul Stickler, a retired police officer. 

Paul’s interest was sparked when he was handed an envelope containing photos from January 1919 about the killing of Elizabeth Ridgley in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Police Officer Alf Kirby had been called to the corner shop after neighbours found the door locked. He found the body of Elizabeth in the narrow hallway, beside the body of her dog, both with severe head injuries. It was inexplicably decided that it had been a tragic accident! 

It was decided that the body should be exhumed and Bernard Spilsbury performed a post-mortem. He stated that it had been murder and the murderer An anonymous letter suggested the police look at John Healy, who lived 100 yards away. They found that the day after the murder he had paid off his debts, and he had dog bites on his hand and buttocks. DCI Fred Wensley from Scotland Yard arrested and charged John Healy.

John Healy was Irish and had been acquitted of a brutal attack in 1910. He was a violent drunk and it was reported that Healy and his brothers were “all strange in their manner”. 

Healy pleaded not guilty and stated that all the witnesses were liars and had accused him because they hated the Irish. Despite a strong case the jury took only 11 minutes to find him not guilty. There is no record of what happened to Healy, until his death in 1927, aged 40, from pneumonia. 

Superintendent George Reed, one of the officers on the case who had decided that it was a tragic accident, had written a pencilled report of the incident. He said that Elizabeth Ridgley had been drunk, had fallen and then wandered around dazed and bleeding until she fell again, landing on the dog and killing it. She had hit her head on the weight which killed her. This bizarre explanation could have been because he wanted to retire from the police force and didn’t want to start a murder investigation. 

Paul has since written a book about the case. The Murder that Defeated Whitechapel’s Sherlock Holmes: at Mrs Ridgley’s corner. 

This was a fascinating if gruesome tale, one of many that Paul gives, and the audience expressed a wish that he comes back to Lentune Ladies Probus Club with another talk.