Rillington Place

- She pretty, Reg? - Hard to say from this angle.

Well, you keep your bloody hands to yourself.

We're not long married, Mr Christie. Could do with some privacy.

I'm not having any more.

If you get rid of it, you'll have rid of me.

I have... helped couples in similar situations.

He's trained as a doctor, Tim. I trust him.

You've just got to tell Mr Christie everything's all right.

Bad news, I'm afraid.

What did you do to her?

They'll think you killed her. You could hang for this.

If anyone asks, you just say... Beryl's gone away.

They found the bodies.

Your wife, and your daughter.

- No. No. - To make this easy on yourself,

I suggest you make your confession now.

I never done it, Mum. Christie done it.

Christie's the one saying you done it.

...short pieces by anonymous composers.

They're based on a plainsong setting and are taken from

a volume of organ music printed by the 16th century publisher Attaingnant.

The prosecution calls witness John Reginald Halliday Christie.

I do solemnly declare that the evidence I shall give

shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,

so help me, God.

On the 8th November last year, you said in your statement

that you recalled being woken by something in the night?

Yes.

We were in bed, both in bed, my wife and I, and...

we were startled by a very loud thud,

like something being dragged across the floor.

And is it true or is it not true

that the next time you saw Timothy Evans

he told you that Mrs Evans had gone to Bristol with the baby?

Yes, that's true.

What kind of character would you say the defendant was?

At first he seemed decent enough.

What changed your opinion?

The drinking.

And the rows.

It was so bad once that I... I had to call the police out.

Another time he almost pushed Mrs Evans out the window.

Your witness.

Mr Christie.

Did you know that Mrs Evans was pregnant in November of last year?

My wife told me.

I'm sorry, could you speak up?

My wife told me.

Well, I'd like to suggest to you

that you attempted to perform an illegal abortion on Mrs Evans.

And in the process thereof, Mrs Evans lost her life.

In fact, I must suggest to you that not only are you responsible

for the death of Mrs Evans, but also for her little girl.

That on the Tuesday evening, with Timothy Evans' help,

you carried the dead body of Mrs Evans down to Mr Kitchener's flat.

No, no, no. That's absolutely ridiculous.

At the time, the fibrositis in my back

was so bad I could scarcely bend.

I had to crawl out of bed, and if I wanted to pick something up

off the floor, I had to get down on my hands and knees.

It's physically impossible.

In fact, I am still under a great deal of treatment for the pain.

Would you like a seat, Mr Christie?

Oh, yes, please, Your Honour.

You are, are you not, a man of good character?

Well, I have had some trouble.

Would that be the conviction for the malicious wounding of a young woman?

A crime for which you were sentenced to six months' imprisonment?

Yes, yes. But... it was an act of self-defence.

No further questions, Your Honour.

Who was she, Reg?

I didn't want to worry you, Ethel.

I was renting a room from her for three and tuppence.

A not immodest sum,

which I felt should include hot water and a mattress.

She disagreed with me and came at me...

with a cricket bat.

They should've taken her away there and then,

but she told them it was all me.

I'm just glad you weren't there to witness it.

I've witnessed it now, haven't I, all right?

Along with every Tom, Dick and Harry in that courtroom.

Oh, Ethel.

I've been through enough today. I need you by my side.

I can't be more than ten paces from a WC,

never mind my fibrositis.

It is most inconvenient.

It's incapacitating is what it is.

I can imagine.

I should be at home in bed,

not facing the Spanish Inquisition in a crowded courtroom.

I can give you some more pills. Strengthen the dose.

I don't need more tablets. I need a doctor's note.

I can't be expected to stand there in my condition.

I'm unfit to testify, Dr Odess, that's the long and the short of it.

Mr Christie, for me to sanction your absence from court,

you would really need to be gravely ill.

At death's door, so to speak.

What is it, Ethel?

How do we know it weren't the builders?

The builders?

We both know it wasn't the builders, don't we?

How do we know?

Well, the noise. The thud...

that woke us up. It was on a Tuesday, wasn't it?

About... midnight.

He must've been moving her across the boards.

The weight of her. He must've done it when he came in from work.

She was fine when I left her.

She said... she didn't want to go through with it,

and by the time I'd packed my bag, she was fast asleep from the pill.

You should never been up there in the first place.

Don't I know it?

Telling her you're a doctor!

I was just trying to help, Ethel.

Showing her those medical books,

like you know the first thing about it.

Now that's enough!

I'm a bag of nerves, Ethel.

Let's not mention helping Beryl

with her... Well, her problem.

Or we'll be dragged into this good and proper and before...

before you know it, they'll be saying I killed her.

Honestly, I don't think I'll sleep a wink tonight.

Not a wink.

I do solemnly declare that the evidence I shall give

shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,

so help me, God.

Mrs Ethel Christie?

Yes.

You are the wife of the last witness.

Do you remember one night in November being wakened by a bump?

Yes, I do.

Did you hear anything unusual after the noise which woke you up?

Well, afterwards...

I heard a noise as if...

furniture was being moved about.

Did you ever go into the Evans' flat after the bump in the night?

No, I don't think so.

So far as you know,

did Mr Christie ever go into the flat after that night?

No, I don't think so.

Thank you, Mrs Christie.

Your name is Timothy John Evans?

Yes, sir.

How old are you?

25.

Is it true you confessed to the murder of your wife and child?

I have confessed it, sir, but it's... it is not true.

So you did not put your wife's body down a manhole?

- No, sir. - Well, why did you say you did?

Well, that's what Mr Christie told me he was going to do with her.

Why did you suddenly go to the police?

Because I was getting worried about my daughter Geraldine.

So, you confessed to murder because you were worried about your daughter?

No...

When I found out my daughter was dead I had nothing else to live for.

And wasn't it also a lie that you helped Mr Christie carry your wife's body downstairs,

when we know he was physically incapable of doing that?

Or even carrying the child?

I heard what he said...

but I still say I helped him carry my wife's body.

I did it all on the advice of Mr Christie.

And this is the same Mr Christie you allege performed an illegal abortion on your wife?

And yet we know she was killed by strangling, not by abortion.

Can you suggest why Mr Christie should have strangled your wife?

Well...

He was home all day.

That is a circumstance. It is not a reason.

Again... Can you suggest why he strangled your wife?

No, I can't.

Then can you suggest why he should've strangled your daughter, two days later?

No.

The prosecution recalls John Reginald Halliday Christie.

It appears from what we have heard today

that Mr Timothy Evans' sole line of defence rests on attacking you...

A perfectly innocent man.

He alleges that you killed Mrs Evans while performing an abortion.

Whereas, no evidence of any abortion exists.

Mr Humphreys is making the assumption that his witness

is innocent and the defendant is not.

You cannot describe Mr Christie as a perfectly innocent man.

What were you doing in the First World War, Mr Christie?

I was in... Duke of Wellington's Regiment

and Notts and Derby.

And I was gassed twice.

I was blinded for three months.

I never spoke for three-and-a-half years.

Blinded?

And you could not speak for three years?

Three-and-a-half years.

The last time you were in trouble with the police

for any offence was in 1938, correct?

- Yes. - 12 years ago.

And in this last war, despite your disabilities,

you served with the Reserve Police for several years?

Is that right?

Yes, sir. I was commended on two occasions.

So, you are an injured war veteran and a commended officer of the law.

The man who accuses you of murder