Wednesday 5 th December 2007 and Ladies Christmas Lunch
HOW I CAME TO GHOST WRITE 'RUTH ELLIS MY SISTER'S SECRET LIFE'
by Monica Weller
This was a most unusual presentation to over 70 members and guests for the Christmas Lunch, a much intriguing and thought provoking case about Ruth Ellis who was the last woman to be hanged in Britain about fifty years ago. She was found guilty of shooting her lover David Blakely outside the Magdala pub in Hampstead on Easter Sunday 1955.
It was described as an open and shut case of cold blooded murder, BUT the authorities still keep files on the matter closed until 2031, Monica raised the question why? This is the punch line Monica left with us, but back to the beginning of Monica's story.
Monica Weller (shown left)
Really to absorb all the facts, then please purchase the book etc details (below) which covers all the salient points in much greater detail than this short report can convey, but in essence after an illness that needed a change of direction Monica by a convoluted route came into contact with Ruth Ellis sister.
Monica continued to unravel the web of untruths, myths and lies in a most logical manner, supported by photographs, copies of the Daily Papers, with micro film negatives to support and explain her research before ghost writing the book in conjunction with Ruth's sister who over the last fifty years has been convinced of the injustice done to Ruth. Monica perhaps should be better described as a criminal investigator; the title ghost writer does her an injustice.
She continues I was stunned when I stumbled across Dr Stephen Ward's name linked to Ruth Ellis (left the high life beauty, please compare with the peroxide blonde prostitute shown on the book cover below) just 23 days after beginning research for the book back in 2002. No one else has come across this before. Stephen Ward was the secret agent who introduced Christine Keeler to John Profumo, the Minister for War, in the early 1960's.This one clue set off a chain of events about Ruth Ellis started slotting into place. Ruth Ellis had a secret double life.
Facts unearthed by Monica's diligent and painstaking research, are based upon the revolver used, the words of Ruth's warder the lack of blood at the scene of crime, or at least not on Ruth's clothing and conflicting medical statements with actual hospital records.
The Gun Used:- It also claims the slightly-built Ruth could not have pulled the trigger of the powerful Smith and Wesson once, let alone multiple times, Monica stated that authorities knew Ellis had suffered from rheumatic fever as a young girl which affected her left hand - showing she would have had difficulty using the gun. However, the jury was not told this and that she was used as a scapegoat by Desmond Cussen, described at the time as her 'alternative lover', who was also a crack shot with a range of weapons. Cussen himself proved an intriguing figure, having visited Ruth every day in prison up until her trial, and then testifying for the prosecution, Monica outlined the odd change of residences and house names immediately after the execution of Ruth, again the question of why was this?
Ruth's Clothing: - Monica contacted the policewoman who guarded Ellis in her cell at Hampstead Police Station, this officer said Ellis's clothes were "spotless" despite the blood spattered at the scene, and her unwashed hands were perfectly clean with no trace of material from the gun. It was alleged that Ruth had delivered the final shot at point blank range, as she was wearing a light coloured costume which she had apparently been wearing to shoot David Blakely in, and there wasn't one blood spot on her at all, this is rather strange were these facts not mentioned in court?
The Myth: - While Monica was researching the book at the Public Record Office in Kew she came across Ruth's life story which had been published in the Woman's Sunday Mirror. She had supposedly written it herself in jail. Evelyn Galilee who was a prison warder said that was impossible, she said there was no way that article was written by Ruth, everything Ruth did, and everybody she saw, was written down and recorded. There was no way she had written her life story and there were pieces to the story that didn't fit with Ruth's character.
In the story her son and parents were mentioned, and Evelyn said Ruth would not have wanted to involve her family. "She wanted privacy for them," she had told Monica. It was recently discovered the story was written by a reporter, but there was also no possibility of a journalist having spent time with Ruth during her stay in prison either. Evelyn said there were only officials and her family who went in and out, journalists could not have got in and seemed to be making up their own story for their own gain. A few days after Ruth's death, Evelyn was called into the prison governor's office and was told she was being transferred immediately to Manchester Prison. She was offered no help with the cost of moving and as a result left the prison service. Everybody had to take transfers, but this timing was highly irregular. They obviously wanted her out of the way, but why?
Monica believes Ruth was drawn into Ward's spy-world, she socialised in the same place at the same time as Guy Burgess and Donald MacLean, who defected to Russia, Monica thinks some group had done some serious planning and believes Ruth was made to take the blame for Blakely's killing, with the only punishment for murder being death because Ruth was being run by Stephen Ward, at least a decade before his name became public in the Profumo Scandal. (More about this below in case you need a reminder?)
Medical Miss-match:-Medical reports also appear to contradict Ellis' claim that she had a miscarriage after being punched in the stomach by Blakely ten days before the murder. At Holloway prison a day after the shooting, she said she had had an abortion, this again was not reported
Monica concluded an excellent professional presentation which held the Probus Club of Ewell membership enthralled with an episode in history that we all had lived through about the secret double-life of Ruth Ellis and the Establishment cover-up that led to her unjust hanging Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, convicted fifty years ago for shooting her lover David Blakely. This was a presentation about power, espionage, lies, loyalty, poverty, sex and betrayal. It suggested a third man may have pulled the trigger for the fatal shots and shows that Ruth was somebody damaged at a very early age, who made something of herself, only to be caught up in something much bigger and end up paying with her life.
The President then called upon Doug Clarke to sum up the case for innocence of Ruth to the jury of the membership, 'Lord Justice Clarke' summed up Monica's excellent presentation and her skills of an outstanding talk but ensured that fair play was in the best tradition of the Probus Club, by asking all to go home and make up their minds to conclude that Ruth had a poor or fair deal in our court. This vote of thanks was supported by all those present with fair but very generous applause. I got the impression that most sided with Monica's case and many took the book home for further consultation, so many thanks Monica.
Ruth Ellis, My Sister's Secret Life by Muriel Jakubait with Monica Weller
Published by Constable & Robinson of London. ISBN 1-84529-119-0
Tells the story of a young woman who was unwittingly caught up in a world of spies, espionage and, of course, murder, many people know the story of Ruth Ellis, the prostitute who shot her lover, David Blakely, in an 'open-and-shut case' of cold-blooded murder; Monica Weller and her sister Muriel have uncovered in their three-year mission to see that the true story of Ruth Ellis.
From Book back cover:-
At Ruth's trial, the jurors took just 23 minutes to find her guilty, after a case substantially lacking in forensic or ballistic analysis. Now after fifty years, Ruth Ellis's sister has revealed crucial evidence about the third man in the case - the man who she believes pulled the trigger for the fatal shots and the man who was part of a web of British secret agents and double agents into which Ruth Ellis had fallen. At the heart of these new findings is the startling evidence that Ruth was being run by Dr Stephen Ward, a decade before his name became public in the infamous John Profumo-Christine Keeler scandal.
A few more photos of the occasion by Pat Hunt.......here.
Open only if you are on broadband, if not be patient for the downloads
Background to the Profumo Affair:- with thanks to the BBC website - Copyright © BBC
The relationship between Conservative Secretary of State for War John Profumo, and Christine Keeler shocked the nation in the early 1960s. The public queued up to scorn the morality of the upper classes, as the newspapers dished the dirt on what was undoubtedly the biggest political sleaze story of the decade. A photograph of Keeler, naked across a chair, has even become an iconic image of the swinging sixties era. The scandal seemed to mark the end of the straight-laced fifties and usher in a new era of sexual liberation. At the height of the Cold War, the fact Keeler had also slept with Eugene Ivanov, a naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy, was political dynamite. It was enough to force the resignation of Profumo, who was felt to have compromised British security. However, there was more to the story than initially met the eye.
Keeler has since written her autobiography, 'The Truth At Last', where she alleges she was used as a cover for an Anglo-Soviet spy ring.
Worlds apart
John Profumo was a charming and respected Tory politician who was educated at Harrow and Oxford. As well as being a rising star in Macmillan's Conservative government, he was married to the movie actress Valerie Hobson and moved in sophisticated London circles. The wild-living Christine Keeler had run away from home at the age of 16 and become a showgirl at Murray's cabaret club in Soho where, as she put it, she was employed "to walk around naked" (actually the showgirls wore very elaborate Cleopatra-style costumes with gold and feathers). This was where she befriended another showgirl, Mandy Rice-Davies. Keeler, a strikingly beautiful young woman, also befriended Stephen Ward, a fashionable London osteopath who enjoyed sketching the rich and famous. Ward introduced Keeler, a feisty, but impressionable teenager, into a world which she had never before encountered. A world peopled with the rich and famous, aristocratic, charming and powerful men, all eager to meet her and take her out. Keeler lived the high-life, but her attractiveness to men would ultimately lead her down a dangerous path.
Difficult relations
Keeler cohabited with Ward platonically at his Wimpole Mews flat. The well-connected doctor had a fondness for art and liked to surround himself with beautiful women. He liked to throw sex parties, which were attended by high-ranking and influential members of the establishment. Keeler had a tempestuous relationship with Ward. She often ran away, but always came back and seems to have placed all her trust in him. At Ward's trial in 1963, Keeler told the court: "We were like brother and sister. My life really used to revolve around Stephen. He had full control of my mind. I used to do more or less everything that he said. I thought I could never stand on my feet unless he was there and supporting me mentally." Ward courted the prominent and the powerful, and made friends easily. In fact, Roger Hollis, the then head of MI5, was said to be a frequent visitor to his flat. Ward was also known for introducing women to men and there are lurid stories told of parties held at his home, involving two-way mirrors, sado-masochism and orgies. The most infamous tale is that of the "man in the mask", a high-ranking member of the establishment. He would serve guests at Ward's dinner parties, naked, except for a mask and eat his dinner from a dog bowl. Despite rumours he was a Cabinet minister, he has never been identified.
Friends and enemies
Keeler (left) and Ward often spent weekends at a cottage belonging to one of Ward's friends, Lord Astor. It was at a party at Lord Astor's Cliveden country residence in Berkshire in 1961 that Keeler and Profumo first met. According to Keeler, they flirted around the swimming pool and jokingly tried on suits of armour in the rooms of the mansion. The War minister was smitten and the couple subsequently had a passionate affair. Keeler often visited Profumo's home and his offices, but their affair was only brief. It would probably never have come to light were it not for a few complications in Keeler's love life - namely, that she had also slept with Ivanov, a solemn and patriotic Muscovite who was a spy. According to Keeler, Ivanov received information and documents stolen by Ward and passed them onto his spy chiefs in Moscow.
Lies in parliament
When the story broke in 1962, Profumo initially tried to deny the affair, but his efforts were futile. Once the whiff of sex, spies and scandal was out, the media hounded him. In March 1963, he made the crucial mistake of lying in the House of Commons about it, telling the chamber: "Miss Keeler and I were on friendly terms. There was no impropriety whatsoever in my acquaintanceship with Miss Keeler." However, ten weeks later he appeared before MPs again to say "with deep remorse" that he had misled the House because he wanted to protect his wife and family, and that he would resign. Meanwhile Keeler, who was also the victim of a vicious stalker called Lucky Gordon, had fled to Spain. A ludicrous car chase ensued, with Keeler at the head of an entourage of reporters pursuing her through Europe. She was on her way back to Britain, after agreeing to sell her story to the Express newspaper.
American investigation
Keeler's relationships with Ivanov, Ward and Profumo, also attracted the attentions of the US. The FBI kept copious dossiers on their relationship under the codename, Bowtie, which have now been made public. During a trip to America, FBI agents followed Keeler and Rice-Davies. When the Profumo Affair became public, Ward was charged with living on the immoral earnings of Keeler and Rice-Davies and of effectively running a brothel in his home. This has been strenuously denied by Keeler, who claims Ward used women and sex not for cash, but to gain influence among his peers. However, she did make a statement saying Profumo gave her money "for her mother", and Rice-Davies admitted having sex for money in Ward's flat. Ward was prosecuted but committed suicide on the very last day of the trial, before the jury reached their verdict. At Ward's trial, the prosecution alleged Mandy Rice-Davies had received money from Lord Astor in return for sex. When she was told Lord Astor had denied ever sleeping with her, she uttered the immortal line: "He would, wouldn't he?"
Spies like us
In Keeler's autobiography, she claims Ward was a spy for the Soviet Union and asked her to get information from Profumo about the placing of nuclear warheads in West Germany. She also claims Ward asked her to drop off letters at the Soviet Embassy and at one point tried to kill her while she was water-skiing, because he feared she would blow the whistle on him. More than this, she claims Ward and herself were used as a smokescreen by the establishment, who wanted the media to focus on the racier aspects of the story in order to cover up a serious breach of British security. Keeler was found guilty on unrelated perjury charges - for not attending as a witness for the trial of a man who was shot at her home - and sentenced to nine months in Holloway Prison.
The official report
The government ordered an official report into the scandal from Lord Denning , then Master of the Rolls, on September 25, 1963. When the report was released at midnight a couple of months later, hundreds of curious members of the public queued to buy a copy. However, it contained few salacious details. Lord Denning criticised the government for not dealing with the affair more quickly, but he concluded that there had been no breach of national security. Shortly after this, the Conservative Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, resigned, his ill health exacerbated by the scandal He was replaced with Earl Home, who renounced his peerage to become Sir Alec Douglas-Home in order to take up office.
The player
John Profumo has kept a low profile since the sensational events of the 1960s, mainly occupying himself with charity work. He was named Commander of the British Empire in 1975 for his charitable work. After the scandal broke, the Naval attaché Ivanov was called back to Moscow and never heard from again. Keeler lives quietly in North London, and says she still feels "bewildered" by what happened, Rice-Davies is a grandmother and lives in America.