A collection of correspondence written by William Herbert Wallace himself. Transcriptions attempted by myself, may have some inaccuracies.
Response to a Letter of Condolence
Transcript:
83 Ullet Road,
Sefton Park
Lpool
25/1/31Dear Mrs ____,
Please accept my sincere thanks for your very kind letter of sympathy.
It is such a dreadful ordeal that I scarcely know where I am.The whole thing was so brutal and unnecessary that I can barely yet realize it, and at the moment I don’t actually realize that my dear wife has really gone from me. We were so much to each other and so completely happy together that I fear it will be the uprooting of everything.
Nothing can bring her back. My only hope now is that the criminal may soon be brought to book.
Very Sincerely Yours
WH Wallace
No need for this charade if he is the killer as double jeopardy existed. At the very least we could have expected a death bed confession or in his diaries if we are to give credence to all this master chess player mumbo jumbo (which he wasn’t) Surely getting away with the perfect murder would have been his to gloat about if we are to believe he was cunning and conniving.
Hi GED,
Isn’t it ironic that if Wallace, with terminal kidney disease, had admitted his guilt either on his death bed or in his diaries it would have been accepted as final proof that he did it. Whereas the death bed confession of Mr Johnston has been generally disbelieved due to his dementia.
I’m with you on the question of gloating. If guilty, I’m sure Wallace patted himself on the back for having gotten away with it. Towards the end of his life he did remark to Hector Munro: “Well sonny, we won, didn’t we!” I’ve always seen this remark as being as close to gloating that Wallace dare go.
Double jeopardy not withstanding, there was nothing to be gained by a guilty Wallace going public either alive or dead. It would be a betrayal of all those who had believed him to be innocent and if done while he was alive it would make him a pariah and destroy the lucrative libel actions which he brought against several magazines etc.
In spite of being told by the police that Parry’s alibi with Ms Brine had been checked out and was sound, Wallace continued to maintain that Parry did it. Having been freed on appeal however he did nothing to have Parry’s alibi checked independently by a private detective. At this point he had money from the libel actions so why not put some of it where his mouth was?
I hope your evening with fellow Wallace case followers was enjoyable.
Mike
Thank you Mike, yes a nice little get together. Our next one soon will take us up to the Allerton area and the route he took on the Monday evening.
Yes, I was thinking more a death bed confession rather than when he was still alive and relatively well. One of the libel cases of course died with him as it was only made in 1933 and he ran out of time on that one. I take the ‘we won’ in the spirit I think it was said as in ‘we won’ my freedom – rightly.
The mistake W makes in believing Parry ‘Did it’ is the same mistake I think the Police made and that is assuming Q was the murderer and not giving any thought that Q had an accomplice.
Keep up your enthusiasm for the case.
Cheers,
Ged.