Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast - "one of the best British & UK True Crime podcasts"
  • PODCAST
    • About the Host
    • About the Music
    • About the Sound
    • About the Research
    • Legal Disclaimer
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • LIVE SHOW
  • TICKETS
  • Contact

The Killer who 'almost' took his Confession to his Grave

23/5/2016

2 Comments

 
In July 2015, a ninety-one year old British ex-pat living in a care home in Canada was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and given just a few months to live.

Wracked with guilt, plagued by nightmares, and unable to pass away peacefully because of the bloody burdens of his past, he promptly walked into a local Police station and admitted to the murder of Soho prostitute Margaret Cooke, outside the Blue Lagoon club at 50 Carnaby Street, on 10th November 1946. 


This is the longest gap between a crime and a confession in British criminal history. 
What started as a relatively straight-forward murder - a local prostitute / exotic dancer / singer in a suspected argument with a punter is shot to death outside of nightclub - soon descended into urban myth, local legend and journalistic farce, as once again the tabloid press, keen to increase sales with a salacious story, attributed her death with a convenient character who'd proved profitable before, causing panic amongst the peddlers, prostitutes and populous of the seedy streets of Soho. 

His name was "The Soho Strangler". 

From 1946 to 48, four sex workers had been murdered within streets of each other, gripping Soho in fear, as their brutal slaying seemingly echoed not only Jack the Ripper, but also The Blackout Ripper, and The Soho's Strangler's original killing spree just a decade earlier. 
  • Helen Freedman alias "Russian Dora" on 5th Sept 1948
  • Margaret Cook (no alias) on 10th November 1946
  • Rita Green alias "Black Rita" on 8th September 1947
  • Rachel Fennick alias "Ginger Rae" on 26th September 1948
So, was The Soho Strangler back to finish his gory masterpiece of murder? Was this a sick copy-cat trying to recreate an homage to his hero's horrific killing spree? No. There was no connection what-so-ever, even though the press were desperate to make a convenient connection. The original 1935-36 Soho Strangler killings were:
  • Paulette Estelle alias "French Marie" on 16th August 1935
  • Josephine Martin alias "French Fifi" on November 4th 1935
  • Marie Jeanette Cotton (no alias) on 16th April 1936
  • Constance Hind alias "Dutch Leah" on 8th May 1936
And yet, just like the 1948 so-called Soho Strangler killings, there were more than enough factual inaccuracies to dispute these killings as connected. It was suggested that all four victims were strangled (all were, albeit using very different methods - an electrical flex, a scarf, a pair of silk tights and a thin copper wire). All lived in Soho (except French Marie who lived in Euston). All were prostitutes (except Marie Jeanette Cotton who has no prior convictions, no pimp and no alias or street-name). And two were solely strangled, where-as one had her tongue symbolically severed and the last - "Dutch Leah" - had her head brutally bashed in with a flat iron. 

But then again, following the sensational murders of a still disputed number of street-walkers in London's East End of the 1888's, to a convenient character concocted by the newly formed tabloid press, dubbed Jack the Ripper, fact was far less important than a good story, some gory details and a sinister name to strike fear into a gullible public and - more importantly - increase sales. Therefore the 1948 so-called Soho Strangler killings were just as inaccurate:
  • Helen Freedman alias "Russian Dora", strangled
  • Margaret Cook (no alias), shot in the chest (not strangled)
  • Rita Green alias "Black Rita", shot in the head (not strangled)
  • Rachel Fennick alias "Ginger Rae", symbolically cut open (no strangled)
The only unifying features of these four Soho Strangler killings are that; none of them were strangled, and  - just like a decade earlier - at least two of these victims were Police informers. 

In 1935-36, suspicion for the killings of "French Fifi", "French Marie", Marie Jeanette Cotton and "Dutch Leah" fell onto their pimp, known locally as "Red Max Kassel", even though - hardly reported in the press - he'd actually been murdered on 24th January 1936 by his partner "Roger Vernon" who was subsequently imprisoned just two days later, meaning neither man could have possibly committed all four murders. 

in 1948, suspicion for these four murders of "Russian Dora", "Black Rita", "Ginger Rae" and Margaret Cook, again fell onto those of their pimps - The Messina Brothers, even though only the symbolic murder of "Ginger Rae" matched their very specific method of enforcement, and by 1948, The Messina's were long gone. 
The Messina Brothers had dominated Soho vice since the mid 1930’s, but by the late 1940’s, a Police Task Force had been set up to stamp out prostitution, shut down the brothels and convict those who had a strangle-hold on Soho. The Messina's; Alfredo, Attilo, Eugene and Carmelo all fled Britain, they were hunted, captured and imprisoned, with each serving a paltry four to six years before being deported back to Malta. The remaining brother, Salvatore went into hiding and was never found.
And yet, in the case of Margaret Cook? The facts is, that she was last seen, outside of The Blue Lagoon Club at 50 Carnaby Street, arguing with her boyfriend - a local hoodlum - who owned a revolver. He fled the country, no-one knew where, just a few days later. 

And yet... the murder, up until a few months ago, remained unsolved. 


Along with the murders of "French Fifi", "French Marie", Marie Jeanette Cotton, "Dutch Leah", “Ginger Rae”, “Russian Dora”, and “Black Rita”. None of these cases has ever been solved, none of their killers were ever caught, and many of these murders attributed to prostitution being a notoriously dangerous profession*. Over the last ten years in the UK, sixty prostitutes (both male and female, that we know of) have been murdered, meaning that if you are a sex-worker you are forty-two times more likely to be murdered than anyone else, and yet, it is sixty-four percent less likely that your case will lead to a conviction.
 
As of today, the - still unnamed - 91 year old British ex-pat who confessed to the murder of Margaret Cook outside of the Blue Lagoon club in 1946 is currently awaiting extradition for his crime. But given his age, infirmity and declining health, British Authorities are unsure whether he’s fit to stand trial for murder, or whether the case will even go to trial... at all.

* on average there are 562 murders in UK per year, that’s less than two per day, but that accounts for one prostitute being murdered every two months.

Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten quirky & unusual things to do in London” and featuring 18 murderers, 3 serial killers, across 21 locations, totalling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.
2 Comments
Dr Jonathan Oates
30/6/2020 21:31:42

Very interesting about the elderly man. Is he now deceased? Is his name known? I am interested as I have had books published which include chapters on the 1930s killings and that of Rachel Fennick; I am now researching a book on London serial killers before 1966 and both these sets of murders will be included in the 'Possible serial murders' chapter, along with the West Ham murders of the 1890s.

Reply
Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast
3/7/2020 15:49:45

Sadly not. I covered this case in full in Episode 13 of Murder Mile, but back then and even now, the elderly man's details were never released. Whether he's still alive is unknown.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a crime writer, podcaster & tour guide of Murder Mile Walks, hailed as one of the best "quirky curious & unusual things to do in London". 

    Become a Patron!
    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016



    Picture
    Subscribe to the Murder Mile true-crime podcast

    Categories

    All
    Adverts
    Assassinations
    Canalkillers
    Celebrities
    Curious-stuff
    Deadly-families
    Execution Sites
    Forgotten Disasters
    Head Injuries
    Killer Interviews
    Killer Profiles
    Killer's Books
    Killers By Age
    Killers By Birthday
    Killers By Birth Name
    Killers By County
    Killers By Diet
    Killers By Drink
    Killers By Height
    Killers By IQ
    Killers By Job
    Killers By Lunar Cycle
    Killers By Marriage
    Killers By Motive
    Killers By Music
    Killers By Nickname
    Killers By Star Sign
    Killers By Weight
    Killers = Dead Or Alive?
    Killer's Kids
    Killers Last Meals
    Killers Last Words
    Killers Mothers
    Killers Not Caught
    Killers On TV
    Killers & Pets
    Killer's Religion
    Local History
    Mass Graves
    Murder
    Murder Mile
    Podcast
    Poisoners
    Q & A
    Serial Killers
    Soho Murders
    The Dangers Of Booze
    The Innocent
    The Law

    Note: This blog contains only licence-free images or photos shot by myself in compliance with UK & EU copyright laws. If any image breaches these laws, blame Google Images. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

BUSINESS ADDRESS

ABOUT MURDER MILE UK TRUE CRIME

(c) Murder Mile Walks, P O Box 83
15 Ingestre Place, Soho, W1F 0JH
Murder Mile UK True Crime is a true-crime podcast and blog featuring little known cases within London's West End but mostly the square mile of Soho, with new projects in the works
  • PODCAST
    • About the Host
    • About the Music
    • About the Sound
    • About the Research
    • Legal Disclaimer
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • LIVE SHOW
  • TICKETS
  • Contact