Rayleigh bath chair murder

The Rayleigh Bath Chair Murder occurred in England in 1943.The victim was Archibald Brown, aged 47. He and his wife Doris Lucy Brown lived in London Hill, Rayleigh and had two sons, Eric and Collin. Due to a motorcycle accident Archibald Brown lost the use of his legs at the age of 24 and thereafter required the use of a bath chair and was cared for by three nurses.cite news
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title = Anti-Tank Mine Under Bathchair - Son Charged with Murder
url =
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publisher = The Manchester Guardian
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page = 6
date = 1943-09-21
accessdate = 2008-07-09
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archivedate = ] cite web
url = http://www.essex.police.uk/museum/history_35.htm
title = The Rayleigh Bath-chair Murder
accessdate = 2008-07-10
author = Fred Feather
date =
work = History Notebook
publisher= Essex Police Museum ]

Incident

At 1:45 pm on Friday 23rd July 1943 nurse Doris Irene Mitchell went to the air-raid shelter where Brown's bath chair was kept. She found that the door was locked from the inside and upon returning with Mrs Brown they had met Eric Brown, then aged 19, coming out. Eric was irritated and evasive. Both women took the wheeled chair to the house and helped Archibald to get in. Brown was dressed in pyjamas and a dressing grown and was covered with a plaid travelling rug. Mitchell took Archibald Brown out of the house. After walking for about a mile, Brown had shifted his weight apparently while feeling for a cigarete in his pocket. Mitchell, having stopped to light the cigarette returned to the back of the chair and pushed it forward. Within half a dozen paces there was a violent explosion. Mitchell suffered leg injuries and as far as she could see Brown and his bath chair had completely disappeared. The police found portions of the body at the side of the road and in nearby trees and gardens.

Investigation

Enemy action was soon ruled out as the cause of the explosion. Experts found the cause to be a British Hawkins grenade - a type of anti-tank mine that is detonated when an acid filled glass ampoules is broken. The device had been placed under the bath chair's cushion. A formal murder investigation was begun. Doris Brown was interviewed at length at Rayleigh Police Station. It emerged that although Archibald Brown had been crippled and unable to walk, his will power was undiminished: he ruled his wife and elder son with a rod of iron. His wife was not allowed to visit her mother in nearby Rochford and Archibald Brown would constantly ring a bell to get his wife's attention, even if he perceived that a single flower was out of place in a vase. Eric Brown was constantly beaten and humiliated. Doris Brown stated that her husband had increasingly appeared to take a dislike to her. Eric too, had noticed the deterioration in Archibald's behaviour, he had taken a liking to his new nurse and their walks together.

Arrest and trial

The blame fell on Eric Brown. He had previously attended lectures on the same mine used in the murder, and, having joined the army some years previously, had access to a weapons store in Spilsby. Eventually Brown gave a confession in which he blamed his actions on Archibald Brown's abusive attitude to both him and his mother. On 21 September 1943 he was committed to trial at the Essex Assizes. The trial started on 4 November Eric Brown was tried at Shire Hall, Chelmsford and declared insane.

References

Notes

General references

See also

*Patricide
*Land mine
*Rayleigh, Essex
*Bath chair
*Insanity defense

Other reading

Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths In & Around Southend-on-Sea by Dee GordonISBN 1-845630-47-5