|
AKA: |
The Ten Minute Alibi. |
D.O.B. |
1910 |
Kill
Total: |
1 |
Kill date: |
31 December 1934 |
Kill
Place: |
Durham |
Status: |
Single |
Occupation: |
Soldier |
M.O. |
|
Victim: |
Edward Herdman 75 |
December 1934. 24-year-old Private Bainbridge was
on leave from the Durham Light Infantry. He travelled
home for Christmas to Bishop Aukland where his family
lived and where he had previously worked as a clerk to
local solicitors at 47 Salisbury Place. The chief clerk
there was 75 year old Edward Frederick Herdman.
31 December 1934, John Stephenson Bainbridge
murdered Edward Frederick Herdman 75 by battering him
and cutting his throat at 47 Salisbury Place, Bishop
Auckland.
John Bainbridge was friends with the daughter of Edward
Herdman. She stated that she and John Bainbridge left
her father in the house at 7.55pm stating that the clock
was 10 minutes fast. Edward Herdman was supposedly
murdered between 7.50pm and 9.50pm. Later at the trial
the judge noted that if that were true and the clock
were not fast then John Bainbridge was innocent. The
case was known as the Ten Minute Alibi.
Edward Herdman was found dead at his home about 10pm on
that New Years Eve with his head battered and his throat
cut. Close by was a broken brass poker covered in blood
and on his lapel an open penknife. It was Edward
Herdman's penknife that he had used for years. The
walls, ceiling and furniture was besplattered with
blood. The back of his hands were beaten to a pulp
indicating that he had used them to protect his head as
he was being beaten. On the table, partly underneath his
body was a wallet containing £40 which had not been
taken.
Some days after the murder a fellow soldier, Private
McNally, received a letter, postmarked Gateshead,
containing £36 in one pound notes, three of which were
bloodstained. The handwriting matched that of
Bainbridge.
8th March 1935 Trial starts.
John Bainbridge allegedly met his girlfriend later that
evening at the hotel where she worked at 10pm after
which they went to a party where they stayed until the
early hours.
The girlfriend said that she did not see any blood on his
clothes on that night.
The pathologist said he found blood on the outer cuff of
John Bainbridge's shirt as well as on the left sleeve
and the front. The pathologist confirmed it was human
blood and could not have come from John Bainbridge's
pimple on his face. On his overcoat they found human
blood on the left sleeve just below the elbow, some on
the outside of the right cuff and also some on the
inside of the right cuff. there was also blood on his
jacket.
The prosecution stated that John Bainbridge had killed
Edward Herdman to get money to buy an engagement ring
but John Bainbridge denied that there was any need for
money in his life. John Bainbridge had used a £5 note to
buy some jewellery on New Years Eve after the murder,
money which the prosecution said he had stolen but which
John Bainbridge said he had borrowed from a woman whose
name he could not give.
John Bainbridge maintained his innocence until the end.
The newspapers also reported that John Bainbridge said
he had borrowed £5 from a woman but didnt give her name
because she was married and that the mysterious woman
had sent letters to the John Bainbridge's solisitors
supporting his innocence. Also that after the murder
John Bainbridge was at a party playing a game called
Murder where he played the part of the murderer. The
judge also noted that it was remarkable that John
Bainbridge didn't call his mother to give evidence in
his favour suggesting that perhaps she could not back up
his claims.
9th May 1935
Executed by Albert Pierrpoint
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