Gordon Cummins

Gordon Frederick Cummins (1914 – 25 June 1942), known as the Blackout Killer and the Blackout Ripper, was an English spree killer who murdered four women in London in 1942.^[1] The Ripper tag came from similarities with the Jack the Ripper murders, as both killers mutilated their victims.^[2]

Background

Cummins was born in York in early 1914.^[3] He married a theatre producer's secretary in 1936. He was a Leading aircraftman in the Royal Air Force where he was nicknamed The Count because of his claims to have noble heritage.^[2]

Cummins had volunteered to retrain for aircrew duties and had been posted to RAF ACRC (Aircrew Reception Centre) Regents Park, London. There, serving members of the RAF and new recruits were assessed for training. This intake ran from 2 to 25 February when trainees were posted to ITW (Initial Training Wing) at home for three months ground training before commencing flying training, or to Blackpool prior to going overseas for training. At the time of his arrest, Cummins had neither a previous criminal record nor a known history of violence.^[4]

Victims

Over six days in February 1942, Cummins took advantage of London's night-time blackout conditions to murder four women and attempt to murder two others.^[1] He mutilated the bodies of three of his victims.^[2]

Evelyn Hamilton

On Sunday 9 February 1942, the body of 40-year-old pharmacist Evelyn Hamilton was discovered in an air raid shelter in Montagu Place in Marylebone. She had been strangled and her handbag stolen.^[1][2]

Evelyn Oatley

On Monday 10 February, the naked body of 35-year-old Evelyn Oatley (also known as Nita Ward) was discovered in her flat on Wardour Street. As well as having been strangled, her throat had been cut and she had also been sexually mutilated with a can opener.^[1][2] Fingerprints found on the can opener confirmed earlier suspicions that the strangler was left-handed.^[2]

Margaret Lowe

On Tuesday 11 February, a 43-year-old prostitute, Margaret Florence Lowe (also known as Pearl), was murdered in her flat in Gosfield Street, Marylebone. She had been strangled with a silk stocking and her body mutilated with a variety of implements including a razor blade, a knife and a candlestick. The pathologist, Bernard Spilsbury, after seeing her injuries commented that they were "quite dreadful" and that the murderer was "a savage sexual maniac".^[2]

Doris Jouannet

On Wednesday 12 February 1942, 32-year-old Doris Jouannet (also known as Doris Robson) was murdered in the ground floor flat that she shared with her husband. She had been strangled with a scarf and her naked body sexually mutilated.^[2] It was at this point the newspapers began to describe the killer as the Blackout Ripper, in reference to the similarities with Jack the Ripper.

Greta Hayward

On Friday 14 February 1942, Greta Hayward was attacked in a doorway near Piccadilly Circus by a man in RAF uniform whose sexual advances she had previously rejected. She managed to escape as her attacker was interrupted by the arrival of a delivery boy making his rounds. The attacker then ran off.^[2]

Mrs. Mulcahy

Shortly after the attack on Greta Hayward there was another attack. Mrs. Mulcahy, a prostitute (also known as Kathleen King), was attacked by a customer in her flat near Paddington Railway Station. She managed to fight off her attacker, who gave her an extra £5 before running off leaving his belt behind.^[2]

Arrest and trial

When Cummins had been disturbed by the delivery boy during the attack on Greta Hayward, he left behind his RAF–issued gas mask case.^[1] The gas mask container had the service number 525987 on the side, identifying it as belonging to Cummins.^[2]

He was arrested on 16 February and, when his quarters were searched, various items belonging to his victims were found.^[2] His fingerprints were found in two of the flats where the killings took place^[4] and his fingerprints also matched those found on the can opener used to mutilate Evelyn Oatley.^[2]

Cummins's trial for the murder of Evelyn Oatley began on 24 April 1942 at the Old Bailey, with Denis Nowell Pritt KC,^[5] the Member of Parliament for Hammersmith North, acting in his defence. However, due to a legal technicality,^[6] the trial had to be restarted with a new jury on 27 April, the defence now being undertaken by Mr J Flowers. The evidence against Cummins was conclusive and, after a one-day trial, the jury took just 35 minutes to find him guilty of murder; he was sentenced to death by hanging. An appeal in early June 1942 was dismissed^[5] and he was executed by Albert Pierrepoint on 25 June 1942 at Wandsworth Prison, during an air raid.^[2]

Charges for the other three murders remained on the file; Scotland Yard later claimed that Cummins had murdered two more women during air raids in London in October 1941.^[4]

The foremost fingerprint expert of the day, Detective Chief Superintendent Frederick Cherrill, was instrumental in proving the case against Cummins.^[1]

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Read, Simon (2006). In the Dark: The True Story of the Blackout Ripper, Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-425-21283-7