As so often happens in the case of a murder it is events that are completely outside of the control of the murderer that can often lead to his downfall. It was May 1947 and Mrs Doughty decided to pay a visit to two of her friends, Percy and Alice Baker. They lived in a house in a remote part of the Pennines.

When she arrived she was surprised to find the furniture from the house being loaded into a removal van. When she questioned the driver he told her that the Bakers had parted after a quarrel and decided to sell up.

Mrs Doughty didn't believe this and so got in touch with the removal firm. She was told that a young man had called and told them that he was separating from his wife and he was rejoining the Air force. He had a houseful of furniture to dispose of. The dealer offered him £300 and he accepted. He signed a receipt in the name of P Baker. When Mrs Doughty inspected it she believed it to be a forgery and informed the police.

The dealer was able to inform the police that as well as buying the furniture he had also been asked to deliver a number of suitcases to a shop at Saddleworth. When police checked they found the shop to be rented by 24-year-old John Gartside. When he was arrested he was actually driving Mr Baker's car. When questioned he said that he had bought both the furniture for £250 and given a further £200 for the car. The suitcases were found to contain large quantities of clothing, household linen and personal items which were identified as the property of Mr and Mrs Baker.

The police conducted a thorough search of the house and found bloodstains in the dining room and a mark of a bullet on the floor. The police were not happy with his answers and persevered with their questions.

Eventually Gartside broke down and took the police to a spot on the moors about three quarters of a mile from the house where they recovered the bodies of both Mr and Mrs Baker. When the bodies were examined it was discovered that both had been shot, Mr Baker had been shot twice in the head and his wife once. Both bodies were naked when discovered.

He was tried at Leeds Assizes in July 1947 where he made a feeble attempt to show that the shooting had not been intentional. Gartside told the court that he had arrived at the house while the Bakers were arguing. He intimated that he was a regular caller at the house as Mr Baker was a friend of his. On this occasion he had taken two guns with him which they were going to try out later. Again he suggested that Mr Baker might have wanted to buy the guns.

He maintained that Mrs Baker had attacked Mr Baker with a poker. Mr Baker, in trying to defend himself had grabbed one of the two loaded guns and shot Mrs Baker with it. Gartside said he had then grappled with Mr Baker trying to get the gun away from him and it had gone off accidentally and shot Him.

Apparently Mr Baker was writhing in agony on the floor and Gartside had picked up the gun and shot him twice to put him out of his misery. This was at odds with the forensic evidence. Gartside then said he panicked and decided he would have to get rid of the bodies.

His story was soon pulled apart by the prosecution and he was found guilty. He was subsequently hanged at Armley Gaol in Leeds on the 22 August 1947.

Real-Crime.co.uk