The Dark & Disturbing Case Of Henry Jacoby

Brief Case

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Transcript

00:08Before I tell you where and when we'll be going in today's case, I first want to introduce you

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01:17and check that appointment off your to-do list. Today we are looking at a case from the first

01:25part of the 20th century. So sit back as we go to England. Henry Julius Jacoby was born in Hoxton,

01:35in the London borough of Hackney, on the 28th of June 1903. He grew up in a violent and abusive

01:41household, a situation further destabilised by a mother who was forced into prostitution,

01:47by the family's desperate financial circumstances. Seeking a reprieve from this hostile environment,

01:53he went to live with his aunt and uncle, where he managed to find some stability.

01:57However, when he was 14 years old, that peace was cut short, when his father forced him back into the

02:03same violent family home once again. 14 was the standard age that many children legally left school

02:09to enter the workforce, and desperate to try and escape his turbulent home life. Henry sought out

02:14immediate employment opportunities, taking whatever manual labour or entry-level roles he could secure,

02:20to help keep him away from the house for as long as possible. Eventually, he secured work at a

02:24respectable hotel in Portland Place. It was a good position for a teenager who had left school at 14,

02:30but the job demanded long hours and constant attention to the needs of the guests.

02:35Henry was expected to carry luggage, deliver messages and parcels, escort visitors through the

02:40building, answer bells, perform errands for both guests and management, and to assist wherever required.

02:47The work often began early in the morning, and continued late into the evening, and as a junior

02:52member of staff, he was expected to be available whenever needed. Like many employees of the period,

02:58Henry lived at the hotel itself. His sleeping quarters were in the basement, alongside other members

03:04of staff, and this meant that he could be called upon at any hour. Although the work was demanding,

03:09this arrangement provided him with both accommodation and a regular income, something he had never had

03:14before. Among the hotel's permanent residents was Lady Alice White, the widow of Sir Edward White.

03:21Sir Edward had been a prominent public figure, serving as chairman of the London Council from 1909 to 1910,

03:28before his death in December 1914. Following his passing, Lady White engaged in charitable pursuits,

03:35and had taken up residence at the Portland Place Hotel in November 1921. She was 65 years of age,

03:42and had become well known to both the management and the hotel staff. She occupied room 14, a comfortable

03:48first-floor suite which overlooked the streets, and she was regarded as a courteous and considerate guest,

03:54who treated the hotel employees with much kindness.

03:58Monday the 13th of March 1922 had been an entirely ordinary day. During the evening,

04:05Lady White had entertained a small group of female friends with a bridge party in her suites. According

04:10to those who attended, the gathering was a pleasant social occasion, and there was nothing unusual about

04:16Lady White's behaviour. She appeared to be in good health and excellent spirits throughout the evening.

04:21Shortly before 11 o'clock, the guest departed, and Lady White went to her bedroom. By this time,

04:27most of the live-in staff had also gone to bed, although the night porter stayed near the hotel

04:32entrance, occasionally walking the corridors of the building. At around 2 o'clock, he heard footsteps

04:38approaching through the hall. He looked up, and saw 18-year-old Henry Jacoby walking towards him.

04:45He asked him why he was up, and commented that he looked very nervous. Keeping his voice low,

04:50Henry asked the night porter if he had heard anything unusual. The porter replied that he

04:55had not. Henry then explained that he believed he had heard two men whispering outside his room in the

05:00basement, and concerned that someone may have entered the building during the nights. He suggested

05:05that they both go and investigate. The two men searched the basement corridors together. They checked

05:10every area that they believed someone could conceal themselves, and carefully looked through the

05:15passageways and storage areas. Despite their efforts, they found no trace of anyone, with nothing

05:21suspicious discovered. The night porter concluded that Henry had probably mistaken ordinary sounds for

05:26voices, or perhaps imagined them. After being suddenly woken up, satisfied that there was no immediate

05:33cause for alarm, he advised the young man to return to his bed, before assuming his own overnight duties.

05:39By 8am, it was noted that Lady White had not come down for breakfast, so a maid was sent to

05:45knock on

05:45her door. The maid waited outside for a few minutes, but received no response. At first, there seemed little

05:52reason for concern. Guests sometimes chose to sleep later than usual, particularly when they had entertained

05:58visitors the previous evening. However, Lady White was always up early, so at around 8.30 that morning,

06:04the chambermaid was instructed to enter her room. The door was unlocked, so the maid walked inside,

06:10but when she drew back the blinds, she was confronted with a horrifying scene. Lady White was lying in the

06:16bed with blood covering her face. As she looked closely, she saw that blood had also soaked into her

06:22nightdress. She knew that something terrible must have happened, and quickly raised the alarm. A doctor was

06:28summoned, and the police were contacted. When the doctor arrived, he confirmed that Lady White

06:34had suffered a large wound to the left side of her scalp, and that her skull had been fractured by

06:39blows delivered with a heavy blunt object. Although she was alive, the doctor described her condition

06:44as critical, and requested an ambulance to take her to hospital. Later that night, Lady Alice White

06:51succumbed to her injuries. As this was now a murder case, Chief Inspector Cornish took charge of the

06:59investigation. He instructed detectives to begin the task of examining Lady White's room, but their

07:05initial findings only deepened the mystery. There were no signs of anyone who had forced their way

07:09into the room. There was no murder weapon, and there was no evidence of a violent struggle. Furniture

07:15remained in place. Drawers had not been ransacked, and valuables, including Lady White's jewellery and money

07:21that she had in her purse, were still where they should have been. This presented the investigators with an

07:26immediate problem. Why had nothing been taken? However, detectives did not dismiss the possibility

07:32that the intruder had intended to rob from Lady White, but had been interrupted before having the

07:38opportunity. The building itself also presented a puzzle. The hotel occupied an old property that

07:44had been converted from two separate houses, and had two exits. Every evening the gates were locked,

07:50and the entrances secured. Detectives inspected the doors and windows leading to Lady White's suites,

07:56together with the balcony outside her room, and tried to find the slightest indication that

08:01someone had entered from the outside. However, they did not find anything. No lock had been forced,

08:07and no windows showed any signs of interference. These findings led Chief Inspector Cornish to believe

08:13that rather than entering the building during the night, the person who had attacked Lady White

08:18had been inside the hotel before the doors and gates were secured. If this were true, the killer would

08:23have been familiar with the layout of the building, and could have easily avoided the night porter by

08:28moving quietly through the back staircase, after the other guests and staff had gone to bed.

08:33From the position of the injuries, and the evidence within the room, detectives concluded that the

08:38attacker had been standing between the two beds. When Lady White suddenly awoke, they believed that as she

08:44raised her hands, in an attempt to protect herself, she received defensive injuries. Before the blows to her

08:50head were delivered. Building work was being carried out on the premises, and the workmen stored their

08:55equipment in the cellar. Inspector Cornish ordered every tool to be examined, and soon noticed something

09:01unusual. One hammer appeared to be much cleaner than the others. While the remaining tools showed the

09:07ordinary grime expected from regular use, this particular hammer looked as though it had recently

09:12been washed. The hammer was subjected to close examination, and when put under a microscope,

09:17minute traces of blood were found. It looked like the police had found the likely murder weapon,

09:23but they still had no clear suspect. Every member of the hotel staff had been interviewed,

09:28but the night porter had forgotten to tell the police about seeing young Henry Jacoby in the early

09:32hours of the morning, when he did eventually inform Inspector Cornish. The young man was once again

09:38questioned by officers. He confirmed that he had heard voices during the night, although he now suggested

09:44that they may not have come from inside the hotel after all. Instead, he proposed that the sounds

09:49could have come from men talking in the street above his basement room. Detectives decided to test this,

09:55and find out if voices from the street could indeed be heard below. Their tests showed that this was

10:00entirely possible. For the moment, Henry's account could not be disproved, and investigators reluctantly

10:06accepted that the mysterious whispering might have had no connection with the murder whatsoever,

10:11and they seemed no closer to identifying Lady White's attacker.

10:17Scotland Yard continued in its methodical elimination of every possible suspect.

10:22One of the first stages in that process involved carrying out background inquiries into every

10:27person who had access to the hotel on the night of the attack. They checked references, family

10:33circumstances, and previous histories, looking for anything that did not fit. It was during these

10:39inquiries that questions arose about Henry Jacobi. He had told detectives that his grandmother, who

10:45supposedly lived in St. Albans, gave him an allowance of five shillings every week. Police inquiries

10:51failed to confirm this. Detectives also discovered that Henry had run away from his father's home after

10:57stealing ten pounds from one of the lodgers. Although the theft had no direct connection with Lady White's

11:03murder, it demonstrated a willingness to steal and cast further doubt upon his credibility. Officers once

11:09again searched his room, and this time they found a handkerchief that had been stained with blood. When

11:14he was asked to explain it, Henry stated that he had suffered a nosebleed after some friendly sparring with

11:20another porter. Initially, the police thought that this was unlikely, but when they asked the porter, it was

11:26confirmed that the incident had taken place exactly as Henry had described. Once again, what had initially appeared a

11:32suspicious, turned out to have an innocent explanation. Even so, Chief Inspector Cornish found himself

11:39increasingly concerned about Henry Jacobi. It was not simply the inconsistencies in his background that

11:44attracted his attention. It was a young man's general behavior. Whenever the inspector had spoken to him,

11:50Henry seemed unusually eager to discuss the case. He repeatedly offered his own ideas about what had

11:56happened, and appeared fascinated by every stage of the investigation. Instead of limiting his answers to

12:01questions he had been asked, he volunteered theories and observations without prompting. The inspector

12:07considered this quite strange, and the more Henry talked, the more he became convinced that something

12:13about his conduct was not quite right. He ordered one final search of the hotel, and told his officers

12:19to pay particular attention to both the basements and Henry Jacobi's living quarters. This time the police

12:25found something of interest. Hidden away in the cellar was a blood-stained coat, which hotel staff had no

12:31difficulty in identifying. They all knew that it belonged to Henry Jacobi. Unlike the blood-stained

12:37handkerchief, which had already been explained, this was far more difficult to account for. Combined with

12:43the inconsistencies uncovered during the background inquiries, and the suspicious interest that Henry had

12:48shown in the investigation, the Chief Inspector knew that he had sufficient grounds to arrest Henry, and

12:53escorted him to the police station. At first, Henry remained largely silent. Detectives pressed him on

13:02the evidence that had been found, and the contradictions in his earlier statements, but he offered little in

13:07reply. For a time, it appeared that the investigation had stalled once again. Then Henry made an unexpected

13:14request. He asked to speak directly to Chief Inspector Cornish. When the Chief Inspector arrived, Henry told him that he

13:21wished to make a statement. What followed finally provided investigators with an explanation of the

13:27events that had taken place during the early hours of the 14th of March. Henry said that after searching

13:32the basement with the night porter, he had returned to his bed, but found himself unable to sleep.

13:38He said that as he lay awake, his thoughts turned towards stealing money from one of the hotel's wealthy

13:43residents. He said he did not want jewellery, only cash, as money would be much harder to trace.

13:49Speaking quite quickly, he said that he made his way to the cellar, where the workman's tools were

13:54stored, and picked up a hammer. He then described how he walked through the hotel using the back

13:59staircase, until he reached the first floor. He said that he tried one bedroom, but found it locked,

14:05so continued along the corridor until he came to another room, where the door had not been secured.

14:10He then told how he entered the room, but as he looked for money, the lady in the bed woke

14:15up and

14:15started to shriek. He said this frightened him, and he panicked and struck her on the head with the

14:21hammer. He went on to say that afterwards he left the room and washed the blood from the hammer,

14:26before drying it with a handkerchief and returning it to the workman's toolbox,

14:30believing that no one would notice that it had been used. Henry also admitted that despite entering

14:35the room intending to steal, he had actually taken nothing. This confession explained where there had been

14:41no signs of forced entry, why valuables had been left untouched, and why the killer had apparently

14:46vanished without attracting the attention of the night porter. Satisfied that the evidence

14:51supported Henry's own omission, the 18-year-old young man was charged with the murder of Lady Alice White.

15:00News of the arrest quickly spread across London. For days, newspapers had reported the mystery

15:06surrounding the murder of a prominent widow inside what was considered a respectable and secure hotel.

15:12Public speculation had centred on the possibility that an unknown intruder had somehow entered the

15:17building unnoticed. Few suspected that the man accused of carrying out the attack would prove to

15:22be one of the hotel's own staff. Following his appearance before the magistrates, Henry was committed

15:28for trial at the Old Bailey throughout the proceedings that began on the 28th of April 1922.

15:34The courtroom remained crowded, as journalists, members of the public, and legal observers,

15:40followed every part of the trial. The case was heard before Mr. Justice McCarty, and the prosecution

15:46was led by Mr. Percival Clark, assisted by Mr. H.D. Room, and Mr. Bentley Purchase, while Henry was

15:53defended by Mr. Lucien Fuhr. When Henry first arrived in court, he was wearing a grey overcoat, a collared shirt,

16:00and a black tie, and many people commented that he looked quite pale. When the judge asked him how he

16:06pleaded, despite his earlier confession, Henry replied, not guilty. Newspapers reported that although

16:14still a teenager, Henry looked to be younger than his 18 years, and there seemed little about him to

16:19suggest that he was capable of such a brutal attack. Before the jury heard the evidence, Henry's lawyer

16:25challenged the statement that he had made to Inspector Cornish, arguing that he had not given it voluntarily.

16:30The judge, however, said that he would not make a decision on the matter, until he had heard the

16:35evidence from both the police and Mr. Jacoby. Justice McCarty later excluded parts of the statement relating to

16:41an earlier alleged offence, and false claims about Mr. Jacoby's past, but let other parts of the statement stand.

16:47The prosecution laid out the events of the 13th and 14th of March 1922, explaining how Lady

16:53White had retired to her room after entertaining friends at a bridge party. Before being fatally

16:59attacked during the early hours of the morning, the jury heard that there had been no sign of forced

17:03entry, no valuables had been taken, and that the detectives had concluded the attacker had remained

17:08inside the hotel after it had been secured for the night. Chief Inspector Cornish outlined the

17:14investigation, including the discovery of the workman's hammer, which bore microscopic traces

17:19of blood, despite having been washed. The prosecution also highlighted Henry's false story about receiving

17:25money from a grandmother in St. Albans, the blood-stained coat found hidden in the cellar,

17:30and his confession, which closely matched the physical evidence recovered during the investigation.

17:35As various exhibits were shown to the jury, observers noticed changes in Henry's behaviour.

17:41When Henry entered the witness box, he offered a different version of events from the one he had

17:46previously given detectives. He claimed that when he entered the bedroom, he did not realise the

17:51occupant was Lady White. According to him, he thought someone who had no right to be in the room was

17:56inside, and he told the court that after striking the figure in the darkness, he switched on the

18:01lights and was horrified to discover that the victim was in fact Lady White. He said that the shock of

18:07what had happened had affected his state of mind, and during questioning, had led him to tell

18:12detectives things that he had not meant to say. The prosecution challenged this explanation, arguing

18:18that it was entirely inconsistent with both his earlier confession and the physical evidence.

18:23They maintained that Henry had entered the room intending to commit theft, and had armed himself

18:27with a hammer before leaving the basement, which he had only done in the case he may have encountered

18:32resistance. After hearing all the evidence, the judge summed up the case, before sending the jury

18:37away to consider the verdict. They deliberated for some time, before returning to the courtroom to

18:43seek further legal guidance. They informed Mr Justice McCarty that they had unanimously reached the

18:49conclusion that Henry had entered Lady White's room intending to rob her. Rather than intending to

18:54murder her, they asked whether in those circumstances they could return a verdict of manslaughter

19:00instead of murder. The judge however informed the jury that the crucial issue was not whether Henry

19:05had planned to kill before entering the room, but whether he had initially struck the blows that

19:10caused Lady White's death. He said that under English law, if a person intentionally inflicted

19:15serious bodily harm, and the victim died as a result, the offence amounted to murder. Following this

19:21legal direction, the jury retired once more to continue its deliberations. After further discussion,

19:27they returned with the unanimous verdict. They found Henry Jacobi guilty of willful murder,

19:33but added a strong recommendation for mercy due to his young age. Following this, the judge sentenced

19:39Henry Julius Jacobi to death. The jury's recommendation for mercy was forwarded to the Home Secretary for

19:45consideration, but after reviewing the case, he decided that there was no grounds to interfere with the

19:50sentence passed by the court. This was appealed by the defense, as they claimed that when the jury came

19:57back before giving their verdict, they'd asked for instructions from Mr. Justice McCarty as to whether

20:02in certain circumstances they could return a verdict of manslaughter. The defense claimed that the judge did

20:08not properly direct them on the question as to whether Henry Jacobi had any intent to do bodily harm.

20:14The defense also claimed that when he made the confession, the young man was in such a hysterical state of

20:19mind that he knew little about what he was saying. Despite these claims, the appeal was dismissed,

20:25and with no reprieve forthcoming, on the 7th of June 1922, 18-year-old Henry Jacobi was hanged at Penteville

20:32Prison.

20:35Hello everyone, and thank you so much for listening. As usual, please leave any comments or feedback you may have,

20:42and I hope to see you all again in the next brief case.

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