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This list is intended to give both an historic and a modern look at murder. With both new and old cases included it is hoped that a more complete picture will be available. This list only contains murders committed by men.   This section currently has information on 50 cases

 
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 Queen, Peter
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Queripel, Michael
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Queen, Peter

Peter Queen was the son of a Glasgow bookmaker. He had married whilst still quite young and this had turned into a disaster with the couple separating after his wife had become an alcoholic. Queen's father hired a nursemaid, Chrissie Gall, to look after the children and it wasn't long before Peter and Chrissie became attracted to each other. Unfortunatley like her predecessor, Chrissie had an affinity for the bottle. Peter Queen and Chrissie moved in together with some friends, James Burns and his wife, but got their own place in the summer of 1931. Chrissie was not happy about the fact that they were living in sin and this made her drink heavily.

Mrs Johnson, who was a friend, called on Chrissie on 20th November and found her drunk. Mrs Johnson returned later with her husband, when Queen had come home and found that Chrissie was sleeping it off in bed. The couple left around 11pm. In the early hours of the next morning, Peter Queen rushed into a local police station and told them 'I think you will find my wife dead.'

When the police went around to their house it was to find Chrissie lying dead in bed, she had been strangled with a clothes line. There were no signs of a struggle but Queen was charged with her murder. The defence obtained the services of Sir Bernard Spilsbury and Sir Sydney Smith who both decided that , because of the lack of signs of a struggle, the woman had committed suicide.

One theory which could explain the lack of a struggle would be that Chrissie was still drunk when Peter strangled her and never actually regained consiousness.

At Queen's trial, at Glasgow in January 1932, their testimony failed to persuade the jury of Queens' innocence and Queen was found guilty, but with a recommendation to mercy. Queen was sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was later released and died in 1958. 


Queripel, Michael

At dawn on 29th April 1955 the battered body of Mrs Elizabeth Currell was found in the rough near the 17th tee on Potters Bar Golf Course. It was Mrs Currell's habit to walk her dog on the course each evening and her husband had reported her missing when the dog returned alone the previous evening. A stocking had been tied around the dead woman's throat and she had been killed by blows from a heavy iron tee-marker that lay nearby. On the marker was a bloody palm print.

When the palm print was not found in police records, police decided to fingerprint local employees. Eventually over 9,000 sets of prints were taken and, on 19 August, a print was found that matched. It belonged to 17-year-old Michael Queripel, a clerk with Potters Bar Urban District Council. Initially he told police that he had only discovered the body but then admitted the killing. He told police that he was out walking trying to clear a migraine, had seen the woman and hit out at her.

His trial for murder was at the Old Bailey on 12 October, where he pleaded guilty. He was ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure. 


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