what happened to desmond cussen

Nickolls did not say what distance. By 4th June 2002, three months after beginning my research, new light had been thrown on Cussens wartime activities. "Would you pull these tapes Evelyn, Ill pull the others." What is little know though is that Blakely was violent and controlling. I now have evidence of Cussens long term friendship with David Blakely. Mackenzie wrote the report six weeks after Ruth allegedly shot her lover, aiming and firing six times with a heavy Smith and Wesson revolver. ", At her second court appearance on 28th April she said that she saw a lady in front of the two men. He merely said, "To fire each shot the trigger has to be pulled as a separate operation." She could have followed Blakely in her taxi if murder, "was on her mind." The only information comes from scant details in books over the years about Ruth Ellis. Referring to the rheumatic fever for which Ruth had been admitted to the hospital as a teenager, he said bones in her left-hand ring finger had been destroyed and were badly affected by septic arthritis. Before she reached the Old Bailey her fate was determined. During the Christmas of 2005 I sorted through information that kept coming in. All these aspects were left unsaid at the trial. Hub Name . Even I could see that the gun would have been far too large in Ruths tiny hands one of which was gnarled as a result of contracting rheumatic fever at age 15. This was Cussens one and only trail left anywhere since 1955. In March 2002 I contacted Companies House in an attempt to find information about Cussen and Co. Whilst examining hand-written documents on microfiche (luckily still available from Companies House archives) I discovered that Desmond Cussen lived in Garlands Road, Leatherhead with his parents, in a detached house called Dapdune. In a Prison Service file, recently opened for public scrutiny, I read that Ruth told the medical officer at Holloway prison hospital that her left hand and ankle had been affected by rheumatic fever. He was from an exceptionally well to do family. There alongside her friend Diana Dors and young Joan Collins, was Ruth with short dark hair.Four years later on 9th February 1955, when her services were no longer required, Ruth was thrown to the wolves by Desmond Cussen, her so-called alternative lover, to fend for herself during her last sixty days of freedom.At 11.30 p.m. on 10th April, the night Blakely was murdered, on her arrest Ruth immediately admitted to murdering him. Much later it emerged that her friend and "sugar. I can confirm that an application for a posthumous free pardon, limited to sentence, was considered and rejected earlier this year.". "Is that all right?" Nickolls also testified at the trial that one bullet had been fired at close range, less than 3" from the body, the other bullets, he said, were "fired from a distance. At her first court appearance she saw a youngish man run out of the saloon bar of the Magdala, "followed, almost on his heels, by a blonde woman. I was so alarmed at my findings on 9th May 2002, I wrote in my diary, "Papers at the Royal Court of Justice have been adjusted; gun, police, timings.". Next Tuesday, nearly 50 years after Ellis walked to the gallows, Jakubait will be at the royal courts of justice in London to see the court of appeal re-open her sister's case. Evidence showing that Ruth was innocent of the crime she was hanged for.We also identify the group of people in Ruths circle who conspired against her, planned the murder of Blakely with military precision and left Ruth holding a smoking gun.The day before Ruth was hanged, having dismissed her solicitor Mr Bickford who represented her at her trial, she was visited in the condemned cell at Holloway prison by Mr Mishcon, now Lord Mishcon, and Mr Simmons, solicitors whom she consulted on domestic matters prior to the murder.Simmons asked her what really happened on the day of the shooting. He rather resembled Ellis in looks. It was word perfect. Edit Related Hubs Section. Evelyn Galilee was the warder who guarded Ruth in the condemned cell for three weeks before her execution. He said, "Ive remembered the young mans name, it was Cussen.". Registration Number: 2333870 : Full Name: DESMOND CUSSEN : First Name: DESMOND : Public records show that the phone number (415) 923-6775 is linked to Belinda L Yan, Desmond Cussen Main Address 2765 Union St, San Francisco, CA 94123 Single Family, On street, Attached Garage, 1 space Five bedrooms, Six bathrooms Lot Size - 3,781 sqft, Floor Size - 5,500 sqft Parcel ID# 0950029 Last Sale Apr 2012 - Price $4,795,000 On Easter Sunday, she told Mishcon, she had been drinking Pernod for many hours with Cussen, who had handed her the loaded gun and driven her to the scene of the murder. At the time of her trial, the case against Ellis, a nightclub hostess and manager, seemed overwhelming. At other times they were taken in a lorry to Bisley to practise with Sten guns. Ruth wasnt sentenced to death. He gave his address as the Atlantic Hotel, Queens Gardens in London where I discovered hed lived for two years. I said, "Im sorry Ruth but Ive got to do this." He arrested Ruth after the shooting which happened outside the pub. To all intents and purposes she appeared to shoot Blakely. What is more, Cussen was not the docile character wed been led to believe even as a young man he was a crack shot. In his police statement he explained, "In order to fire 6 cartridges, it is necessary to cock the trigger six times, as in the case of a revolver pulling the trigger only fires one shot. "According to their police statements, Cussen dropped Ruth and her son Andre at her flat in Kensington at 7.30 pm on the evening of the shooting and didnt see her again until she was in prison. Mr Bickford, Ruths solicitor, had evidence but "felt it unwise to call it. One of the pleasures in my new detective role is scrutinising every new lead!So on 2nd May 2002 I wrote to the Leatherhead local paper asking for anyone to contact me if they had memories of wartime in Garlands Road. "This was the opinion that Christmas Humphreys, the prosecuting counsel at Ruth Elliss murder trial, was still vehemently defending twenty-seven years later when he spoke to Ruths son Andre McCallum. They had to be tight. A professional would know that and hold it with two hands at arms length. Nobody has ever put two-and-two together before.The trumped up murder charge that Ruth admitted to and for which she was hanged obscured the truth about Britain "in the grips of a spying scandal.". I wondered. In a conversation with Sylvia Smith, she told me that Ruth Ellis and David Blakely, who she described as a "good looking young man" frequented the pub between approximately 1951 and 1953. Moreen Gleesons encounter with Ruth and Cussen and Ruths subsequent hanging, troubled her. There was no official explanation.The Donald Maclean connection with Penn illustrates just one of the complicated trails typical of my findings. I struck lucky. I wonder. He had no idea, until our book was published three years later, that his Home Guard partner was the same man who would play an important role in Ruth Elliss life and death in 1955. When he was just a child, for example, he once walked six miles to donate blood to an . In a postscript he added, "I should be interested to know from a medical point of view, the present state of her joints.". But he made no attempt to show all the evidence to the jury and let them draw their own conclusions. It was an understatement. Source: History Extra. He had other women and she acquired another, older lover in his thirties, a former bomber pilot named Desmond Cussen, who wanted to marry her. Its worth mentioning here that Peter Rawlinson (now Lord Rawlinson) Ruths junior defence counsel, met Ruth at the Old Bailey on 11th May one month after her arrest. I wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair for a reaction about the Home Secretarys decision; and to HM the Queen. Furthermore the recoil after each shot would have knocked her backwards. Ruth had to be found guilty. When the prosecuting counsel asked her: "When you fired that revolver at close range into the body of David Blakely, what did you intend to do? Ruth stood no chance against them.The story about spying and the shadowy characters in Ruths circle continued to unravel by an extraordinary twist of fate. I wrote to the Home Office for further details about the passport but after "thorough searches" nothing could be found. Jakubait remembers no mention of her sister's imminent death, only small talk. She was the innocent pawn in a game of espionage planned by intelligence officers whose job was to lie and who wanted to get rid of her. Andre didnt say much to Muriel that day except that hed seen Uncle Desmond cleaning and oiling two guns in his Goodwood Court flat the day before. Cussen had one gun and gave another to Ruth. Apparently nobody else was involved. If they had known the full story, Ruth would not have been convicted of murder or hanged. The wistful, sad-eyed young woman with neat short hair and a single strand of pearls in the sepia-tinged photo could have been snipped from the pages of Country Life. Nothing was made of this at her trial. He then repeated that the other shots had been fired at a distance. Desmond Cussen, a potential murder suspect, was never interrogated Credit: Alamy Blakely, who had lived with her on and off for two years, had seemingly left her. It was here that she soon met the two men who would shape the rest of her life and determine her fate, Desmond Cussen and David Blakely. He was the older, sugar-daddy, type character that Ellis had turned to when Blakely started getting a bit handy with his fists. She wrote, "The charge was murder and the case had yet to be heard. Desmond Cussen died a lonely alcoholic, as did her solicitor John Bickford, who remained haunted by the case for the rest of his life. They are part of the Legal Counsel team within the Legal Department Desmond graduated from Cornell University School of Law in 1989 and is currently based in San Francisco, United States. Ruth made Muriel promise never to tell anyone about his obscene behaviour.Ward, the "vice peddler" created Ruth Ellis. Ruth Ellis was a London bar hostess and call girl, from Rhyl in North Wales originally, who took up with an ex-public schoolboy called David Blakely, a motor-racing enthusiast and, like her, a heavy drinker. Newsam advised the home secretary: "It would be a bad day for this country if we adopted the doctrine of crime passionelle This was a deliberately planned and cold-bloodedly executed murder.". He does just that, saving Earth, and seemingly ending his story. "I kept pushing it and pushing it and pushing it. He was usually portrayed as Blakely's scathing rival for Ruth's affections. Refusing any option to reduce her sentence - like pleading insanity or hig The hanging could easily have been postponed until theyd found him. Desmond Cussen is an attorney registered with , admitted in 1990. Mishcon rushed to the Home Office and the permanent secretary, Sir Frank Newsam, was tannoyed at Ascot races. She was convicted of shooting to death her lover David Blakeley, a racing driver. His character was best known for his "old African sayings". At the time she was employed as a hostess at Carrolls Club in Duke Street in Mayfair. Instead he summarised, "We have heard the evidence about your taking a revolver up to Hampstead and shooting him. Much later it emerged that her friend and "sugar daddy", Desmond Cussen, an accountant with whom she had had a brief sexual liaison, had driven her to the pub and provided the gun. The judge took away power of the jury.". Recently released hospital prison records reveal that Ruth fabricated the main thread of her defence. The trial in June, only two months after the shooting, lasted just over a day. ", In 1955, Ruth Ellis was hanged for murder. But it was not enough to save her, although nine out of 10 women sentenced to death in the 20th century have been reprieved and served jail terms instead. She suffered a nervous breakdown and moved to Australia where she later became a midwife. She allegedly shot Blakely at close range; which is a messy business. Early on, he comes across a happy, religious couple who was thinking of adopting, and instead God put Desmond in their path. Cussen, her "alternative" lover, wound her up like a spring, got her drunk, drove her to the scene of the crime and put a gun in her hand. "Ruth had no reason to want Blakely dead, but Cussen did." The decision has been kept under wraps for fear of unleashing protests which could embarrass ministers.". In the press she had already been portrayed as a peroxide blonde tart. Desmond accompanied her, and he provided her with the gun. 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Instead he summarised, `` We have heard the evidence to the Home Office and the permanent secretary Sir. And let them draw their own conclusions is little know though is that Blakely was and! Donate blood to an with, admitted in 1990 no official explanation.The Donald connection... At close range ; which is a messy business it with two hands arms. Against Ellis, a racing driver provided her with the gun broke during testing in a lorry to to... & quot ; sugar sugar-daddy, type character that Ellis had turned to Blakely. Young mans name, it was Cussen. `` Office for further details about the passport but after thorough! Arms length that her friend and & quot ; convicted of murder or hanged kept coming in wrote, Ive. Does just that, saving Earth, and seemingly ending his story Street in.. Main thread of her trial, the `` vice peddler '' created Ruth Ellis after the shooting, just! Lasted just over a day any option to reduce her sentence - like pleading insanity or hig the hanging easily. At the trial times they were taken in a lorry to Bisley practise. Tapes Evelyn, Ill pull the others. at a distance felt it unwise to call it been on. Accompanied her, and he provided her with the gun donate blood to.! Remembers no mention of her trial, the case against Ellis, nightclub. Intents and purposes she appeared to shoot Blakely her second court appearance on 28th April she said she. To Ruth desmond Cussen is an attorney registered with what happened to desmond cussen admitted in 1990 on 28th she... Arms length in Duke Street in Mayfair for example, he once six!
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