Thanks to one of the guys from Battrick, who kindly searched The Times archive for me, I now have some more information about Marion Hartley, a distant relative who was killed in 1966 aged 15.
The transcription from the article above, which appeared on page 8 of The Times on Saturday August 13, 1966:
Girls’ Death In Forest
Irishman charged with murder
An Irishman seized a schoolgirl, aged 15, pulled her into Epping Forest and strangled her, it was alleged at Stratford Magistrates Court, E., yesterday.
Joseph Kiely, aged 20, unemployed, of no fixed address, appeared on a charge of murdering Marion Joan Hartley, of Forest Glade, Walthamstow, E.
Mr. Philip Radcliffe, for the prosecution, said Kiely told the police: “It is me. I was drunk. I did not know what I was doing. I just saw the girl and I grabbed her and pulled her into the forest. It just came over me. She went all limp and funny.”
Kiely was said to have told the police that he was frightened. Later he went back to have a look, but the police were there, and he went away.
Mr. Radcliffe said Kiely’s home was in Ireland and most of his life had been spent there. He came to England early in July.With Friend At Dance
Mr. Radcliffe said the girl went with another girl friend to a dance at Woodford memorial hall on Saturday, July 23. She left with her friend.
They parted at 11.25 p.m. At 11.55 p.m. she was seen by a man at Forest Glade. The man heard some sort of commotion outside his house and when he looked out of the window he saw someone carrying something into the forest.
He telephoned to the police, who later found in the roadway a bottle of beer, the girl’s shoes, and a black pullover. Thirty-eight feet into the forest they found a coat, and 10ft. farther on a body. The girl died of asphyxia from manual strangulation.
Through Mr. John Daybell, his solicitor, Kiely pleaded Not Guilty and reserved his defence. He was sent for trial at the Central Criminal Court.
Six weeks later, on Tuesday 27th September 1966, another article appeared in The Times on page 9:
The transcription is:
Fifteen years for forest killing
Joseph Kiely, aged 20, Irish labourer, of no fixed home, who according to the prosecution dragged a girl aged 15 from near her home into Epping Forest where he strangled her after indecently assaulting her, was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court yesterday to 15 years’ imprisonment.
He pleaded Not Guilt to a charge of murdering the girl, Marion Joan Hartley, of Forest Glade, Chingford, E., but Guilty of manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility. The plea was accepted.
I’ve also found index entries for a couple of local newspapers held in the British Library, and the National Archives should have something on the court events, but if you know anything else this story, please get in touch.
Hello
my name is Lynne Kiff I have just seen this and thought I would contact you,though I don’t know anything much about the terrible murder of your Relation Marion,we,ourselves are doing our family tree and I know how important it can be to have any snippet that you can obtain about events in your Families lives .So I apologise for the intrusion and I don’t know if I can help in your search but here goes.
I was 11 when Marion Died,her Father who I only knew as Mr Hartley had a shop in Either orford road walthamstow or one of the adjoining roads ( I can find out by going there if you need me to and let you know ) his shop was if my memory serves me well was an electrical shop that sold televisions and radios,I seem to remember a white sign over the shop that said Hartleys and I think Mr Hartley did repairs,he was ( to me ) a tall thin man with white hair ,I don’t remember seeing his wife ,My mum was quite friendly with the family and was often in the shop,
All I remember from the time of her Death were the coversations in our house at the time ,it was the most shocking thing and actually is different from the above news story ,Mum said that she had gone to a school dance and that there had been a bit of an arguement between Marion and her parents,they had wanted to pick her up after the dance and she had showed off ,saying that she was old enough to come home by herself ,they had in the end relented.
The other thing ( which is where it differs ) is that my parents were saying she had been found hanged from a tree,
Quite obviously her parents were devastated,I particularly remember this time because,a short time afterwards Mr Hartley gave my mum.Marions clothes,School blazer etc,I refused point blank to wear them and my mum eventually threw them away – I remember the shop being closed for a while but I have the impression that he then reopened and was working in there but I don’t remember how long for
Hi Lynne,
Thank you for taking the time to let me know your experiences about this event. As you know, all information is useful, so I greatly appreciate it!
My Nan also says that the newspaper article was a little wrong too regarding why she was walking home. The point about being found hanging from a tree is new to me, but would be interesting to investigate. I did contact the police and asked if they had any records, but the ones from that period have been lost or destroyed, so other than the newspaper, there appears to be no other documentary evidence available other than witnesses like yourself who knew the family.
Again, thank you for taking the time to reply, and I wish you well with your own research
Gary.
Hi Gary,thank you for your reply.im not sure if she was actually hanging or ‘suspended’,sort of hooked into the tree,if you can understand that,but as I said it was conversations around the event so may be misleading,but it still is something my mum was always adamant about I do have a little more background information for you,although sadly,not in relation to her Death , we Live in Chingford now,my husband has always lived in Chingford,He had a paper round with Marian,together they were employed by Bill Lands newsagents in Hatch Lane Chingford My husband was around 14yrs old at the time and used to be at the house in Forest glade often with Marion and fondly remembers picking gooseberries with her in the Garden and ‘hanging out’ together with her at Highams park boating lake,he said her character was very bubbly and she was always laughing and happily playing around and that her character was very much of a Tom boy and he remembers she usually wore shorts and t shirts in the summer,I wish you well in your searches,for our own part,our family journey through investigation,is very consuming and at times frustrating and we tend to hook into every finite detail,which is why I decided to contact you . Lynne