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Podmore Case

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The '''Podmore case''' was a controversial landmark United Kingdom British criminal case. It involved a murder conviction based on a painstaking police investigation, and from careful forensic evaluation of the evidence.

The crime
On January 10, 1929, two men found the decomposing, rat-bitten body of a man behind some boxes in a locked garage in Southampton; the garage was used as a storeroom by the local agent of the Wolf's Head Oil Company, and the body was identified as that of the agent, Vivian Messiter, who was missing for some time. The victim was reported as missing for nine weeks prior to his body's discovery, and while police had checked the garage, they did not pursue the matter thoroughly since they found it locked. It was only when a new oil company agent came to take over the garage when it was opened and the body discovered. Preliminary examination of the body revealed a puncture over the left eye, which led police to think that Messiter had been shot, but further examination by Sir Bernard Spilsbury indicated that the real cause of death was multiple severe blunt force trauma to the skull, so much so that "it was fractured everywhere except on top". The examination of the crime scene further revealed the presence of extensive blood splatter to the height of several feet, which meant that the man was murdered in the same location. A bloodstained hammer was found near the scene, and upon examination Spilsbury found a hair consistent with that of the eyebrow hair of the dead man. And since the wounds on the victim were consistent with the hammer, it was Spilbury's conclusion that the hammer, wielded with great force, was the murder weapon.

The hunt
Among the papers that were found was a reply to an advertisement for local agents signed, "William F. Thomas". In pursuing that lead the police were able to discover that a man of that name had worked for a Wiltshire building contractor who disappeared after allegedly absconding with a large amount of wage packets. Detectives assigned to the case next went to the lodgings where "Mr. Thomas" had stayed in before his disappearance. Apparently his departure was so hurried that he negligently left a lot of clues behind. From this the police were able to determine that "William Thomas" was an alias for one '''William Henry Podmore''', who was known to police, being wanted for a charge of fraud in Manchester. Suspicion immediately fell on him, and he was subsequently brought in for questioning. It was determined that Podmore did indeed work as Messiter's assistant, but the police did not have enough information to make a murder charge stick, but he was convicted for six months for the earlier charge of fraud. In the meantime, a breakthrough in the case came with a careful examination of a receipt book for oil sale commissions. Based on a study of indentations between the lines of a genuine receipt had been made by pencilled writing on the sheet above—which had been torn out—it was determined that Podmore had been reporting to Messiter sales of oil to non-existent customers, and collecting commissions on these sales. Police theorized that upon learning of this, Messiter confronted Podmore about the swindle, and Podmore, being aware of the Manchester charge, lost his nerve and murdered him with the hammer.

Resolution
Fourteen months after murder, the police deemed that they had enough evidence to bring Podmore to trial on March 1930 at Winchester Assizes. Because it was obvious that Messiter was still being repeatedly battered with the hammer even when unconscious, public opinion was overwhelmingly against Podmore. While the hair evidence was played up by the media, it was only part of a painstaking police investigation. It unquestionably identified the murder weapon. Of greater importance was the receipt book as well the testimony of two fellow prisoners of Podmore, who stated that he confessed in their presence.

The end
William Henry Podmore was found guilty, and was subsequently hanged after some public outcry against the verdict. Category:British murderers Podmore, William Henry see Podmore case

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