On April 5, 1936, 48-year-old Beatrice Sutton was found dead in her London apartment, Iying across the bed with several pillows stacked over her face. Despite the body's odd posture, there were no immediate signs of a struggle, and her death was first attributed to "natural causes," later shifted to homicide after further investigation proved she had been strangled. Frederick Field, an airman stationed at nearby Hendon, was charged with the murder on April 25, freely confessing his crime to police. "I had not seen the woman before in my life," he proclaimed, and had not the least ill intentions toward her. I just murdered her because I wanted to murder someone." In later interviews, Field told reporters he was tired of living and had "put himself on the spot" with a capital crime after finding he lacked the courage to commit suicide. Convicted of murder and sentenced to death on May 13, 1936, Field mounted the gallows on June 30. In the wake of his execution, he was generally acknowledged as the killer of Nora Upchurch, found strangled in 1931 -- - a crime for which he had been previously tried and acquitted at the Old Bailey.
On April 5, 1936, 48-year-old Beatrice Sutton was found dead in her London apartment, Iying across the bed with several pillows stacked over her face. Despite the body's odd posture, there were no immediate signs of a struggle, and her death was first attributed to "natural causes," later shifted to homicide after further investigation proved she had been strangled. Frederick Field, an airman stationed at nearby Hendon, was charged with the murder on April 25, freely confessing his crime to police. "I had not seen the woman before in my life," he proclaimed, and had not the least ill intentions toward her. I just murdered her because I wanted to murder someone." In later interviews, Field told reporters he was tired of living and had "put himself on the spot" with a capital crime after finding he lacked the courage to commit suicide. Convicted of murder and sentenced to death on May 13, 1936, Field mounted the gallows on June 30. In the wake of his execution, he was generally acknowledged as the killer of Nora Upchurch, found strangled in 1931 -- - a crime for which he had been previously tried and acquitted at the Old Bailey. |