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1M the examiner Friday April 1979 MAX HAINES 1979 Toronto Sun Syndicate Rare mysterious case may be perfect murder Has the perfect murder ever been committed am alluding to those rare and mysterious cases where murder most foul is committed and all clues lead to dead end We have to go back in time to another day and another world to find such pure murder mystery Come along with me now to the tranquility and pastoral beauty of rural England Youll be presented with all the circumstances and clues left at the scene of the crime You can even pass judg ment on the on suspect in the case much as Scotland Yard did so many years ago Major General Charles Edward Luard had served in the British Army for 30 years with the Royal Engineers His distinguished military career concluded when he retired to lead the life of country squire His devoted wife was thrill ed when the old warrior purchased large brick manor house Ightham Knoll in beautiful Kent county Situated on Maidstone Road between the quaint village of Seal and lg htham their home held nothing but the promise of security for their twilight years Mrs Luard the daughter of prosperous property owner was quite accustomed to such lifestyle After so many years of leading the comfortable but unsettling life an army officers wife she enjoyed every minute of retirement By 1908 the General was firmly entrenched as country gentleman He took an interest in local affairsand sat on the Kent County Council But it was strolling through the woods hand in hand with Mrs Luard that the old gentleman loved most Abrupt change On August everything abruptly changed for the General Luard later gave clear concise statement of the events which unfolded that day Time is of the essence We will dissect his day much as Scotland Yard did during their investigation At 230 pm Mr and Mrs Luard left their manor house to BARRIES COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING STATION Apr 15 Apr 19 Sunday Apr 157 200 St Andrews Presbyterian hurch Ser vice 300 Look What Did In School TodayPortage View t200 Its Your Business Family Law 430 Barrie Big Sisters 500Church Service 600 Easter Seals 630 KeepnMovin 800 Celebrity BilliardsCorby Adams 330 Plants For FunBrays Garden Monday Apr 16 130 Plants For FunBrays Garden 100 amp Simpresca look at the lnited hurch amp 30 Les Enfants Francais Library French Program 000 Jim Cross and Friends Glenn Miller 630 Barrie Gem and Mineral Society Rock Polishing 700 enturer Special look atScouts i30 Plants For Fun Maple syrup 300 Family Matters Check in Time AA x30 Performance llouse Folk Music Tuesday Apr 17 130 Ventiirer Special look cable at Guides 00 Talking About Cancer 230 Eckanar investigating the Science of Soul Travel 600 Talent Gallery 630 IIector of Sirus Hillcrest Public School Play 700 Making Pizza 30 Sports Forum live phonein show Wednesday Apr 18 1230 Jim Cross and Friends Glenn Miller 100 Canadian Bible Society 200 Sports Forum see Tues at 730 pm 600 Look What Did In School Today Portage View 630 Barrie Big Sisters 7001ts Your Business Fami ly Law 730 Talk To City Council live phonein show 830 Senior Fitness exercises 1230 Les Ianants Francais 100 Music With Children 130 Performance House 200 Talk To City Council See Wed at 730 pm 100 Hearing Loss 700CanipSimpresca 30 Fashion Show 800 Barrie Big Sisters x30 Plants For Fun Brays Greenhouse Channel it Volunteer of The Week DON LOWE Watch Don Wednesdays at 30 pm CNIB announces tickets available for Stones show take walk through the woods Both had definite plans for the balance of the day Accompanied by their Irish terrier they crossed Fish Pond Woods which was located on the property of their closest neighbor Horace Wilkenson They Tummn 32000 registered blind people Stones group would perform have until Monday to apply for two concerts at Oshawa two free tickets to the Rolling ERm TORONTO CP Canadas He said the entire Rolling then took footpath they had used many times before The General planned to continue to the Wildernesse Golf Course at Godden Green which was about three miles distance from Ightham Knoll Mrs Luard planned on accompanying her husband part way She had told him that she expected an acquaintance Mrs Stewart back at the manor house for tea and would leave him around oclock for the return stroll home As they walked hand in hand through Fish Pond Woods they came upon Mr Wilkensons summer house The couple had often had tea there that summer They had just passed the empty summer house when Mrs Luard felt it was time to return to meet Mrs Stewart It was about oclock Luard reached the golf couse at 325 He spoke to member of the golf course staff at that time Five minutes later the club house stewart Harry Kent gave the General his golf clubs The General practiced short while and then decided to walk home using the road rather than the foot path through the woods Rev Cotton picked up Luard and the Irish terrier in his car and gave them lift back to Ightham Knoll They arrived homeat precisely 430 pm General Luard shocked when he found his Wifes guest Mrs Stewart waiting at the house Mrs Luard had not returned homo She had left him at oclock and shouldnt have ta more than half hour to return The General had tea Mrs Stewart feeling that his wife must have inexplubly been detained Finally he could wait no longer He int down to the footpath and started out once again on the path he had taken earlier that day As he approached the WikuISons summer home he saw his wifes form stretched out the veranda of the summer house Thinking she had swered fall or had fainted be rushed to her side Mrs Luafl had not met with an accident She had been brutally murmd Pool of blood Mrs Luards head lay in pool of blood Her left glove had been removed The killer had obviously wrenched three valuable rings from her fingers The glove was found inside out not far from the body The glove on her right hand was in place and undisturbed Strangely someone had cut her en tire pocket from her dress in order to remove her purse General Luard ran to the Wilkensons He arrived there at 525 pm and gave them the alarm Later doctors examined the body at the scene The noted that Mrs Luard had been beaten about the head wit some kind of stick or club There were bruises and abrasions on the fingers of her left hand where someone had violently rip ped away her rings She had been shot twice with small calibre revolver once behind the right ear and once over the left temple Powder hlrns were evident indicating that she had been shot at close range From the position of the body it was ascertained that the second bullet probably entered her head as she spun around in the act of falling No club or revolved was found General Luard was genuinely distraught by the brutal murder of his wife He was interrogated by the police and wrote out statement which included all the facts as have outlined them here Every fact was verified by the witnesses involved The crime was an unusually vicious one for peaceful Kent County Scotland Yard uncovered two separate witnesses who proved they had nothing whatever to do with the crime but who were in the woods at the time of the murder Both independently heard two shots at precisely 315 pm Detec tives felt certain these were the shots which had killed Mrs Luard Another witness Thomas Diirrant respected citizen of the area had seen General Luard at 320 pm walking in the direction of the golf course He was well over five minutes walking or running distance from the Wilkensons summer home Who had killed Mrs Luard and why Detectives walked and even ran the distances involved between manor house and summer home and from summer home to golf couse The general and all the witnesses were telling the truth He was where he said he was and it was impossible for him to have been at the summer home at 315 the time of the murder He was just about at the golf course having arrived there at 325 The General the last known person to see his wife alive was eliminated as suspect Mrs Luard had only been couple of minutes beyond the summer house when she left her husband at oclock yet she wasnt killed until 315 Police felt that unknown to her husband she may have been waiting for someone on the veranda of the summer house Extensive search Police conducted an extensive search into the backgrounds of both the General and his wife They were what they appeared to be retired devoted couple with no known enemies Why did the murderer cut away pocket containing the victims purse The purse could have easily been extracted from the pocket without cutting it Scotland Yard had theory They felt it may have been an attempt to promote the murder for robbery motive the surface the cut away pocket and the missing rings indicated robbery but police thought that the killing was cool calculated one made to look as if it had been committed during the commission of robbery There were those who felt that tramp may have just hap pened upon Mrs Luard Do tramps carry revolvers Would tramp cut away the meket of dead woman Everyone seems to have seen General Luard that day Surely someone would have spotted stranger All the surrounding villages were canvassed without uncovering anyone unusual Weeks went by and no direct progress was made in solving the case The murder weapons were never found Mrs Luards jewelry was never located Despite the evidence to the contrary many believed that General Luard had murdered his wife steady stream of hate letters poured in to Ightham Knoll The General read each one He became so depressed that close friends feared for his health One such friend Col Warde invited the General to get away from it all and visit with him at his home near Maidstone The General accepted the invitation but the change didnt help On Sept 17 the old gentleman could stand the harraSS ment no longer He threw himelf into the path of an oncom ing train Luard left suicide note to his friend Warde In it he told of his unhappiness since the death of his wife and how he now chose to join her rather than live without her It was hardly the letter of murderer Who killed Mrs Luard Why did they do it The brutal murder which took place in Kent County in 1908 is as much mystery today as it was the day after it was committed Stoncs concert in Oshawa nt later this month for the Canadian National In stitute for the Blind said Tues know the number of blind peo ple attending Jim Sanders spokesman day the tickets will be sold to the public only when organizers Application forms must be completed to allow organizers to check that applicants are registered blind people The groups guitarist Keith Richards was ordered to play the concert after being con victed last fall of charges in volving heroin possession to remember SERVICE Service Electrohome thats us Well repair your TV whether its color or black and white no matter what major brand it is Fix your stereos too ur traina technicians really know their stuff Best of all theres just one number Wmflmwfllcallon you ELECTROHOM 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