DeepSummary
This episode covers the investigation into the brutal murder of 74-year-old farmhand Charles Walton in Lower Quinton, Warwickshire in 1945. Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian is brought in to lead the case, which proves challenging due to the secretive nature of the villagers and strange local folklore surrounding Meon Hill where the murder occurred. Fabian struggles to make progress until he discovers disturbing accounts of witchcraft beliefs leading to similar murders decades earlier.
Fabian interviews key people like the victim's niece, his employer Alfred Potter, and local residents, but encounters evasiveness and superstitious references to bad crops, animal deaths, and Walton's perceived ability to communicate with nature. He finds the crime scene near the legendarily evil Meon Hill and a mysterious black hound. Strange local books hint at past incidents involving accusations of witchcraft and ritualistic killings with pitchforks.
As Fabian becomes increasingly perplexed, local detective Alex Spooner grows uneasy, recognizing the potential significance of the rural superstitions and folklore that Fabian is oblivious to. The episode sets up an air of mystery and dread around the baffling murder case and its apparent ties to ancient beliefs about witchcraft and black magic.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The 1945 murder of Charles Walton in rural England was carried out in a ritualistic, brutal fashion reminiscent of historical witch-hunts.
- Local folklore and superstitions about witchcraft, the "evil eye", and communicating with animals/nature surrounded Walton and the location of his murder.
- Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian struggled to make progress due to villagers' secrecy and seeming indifference to a potential serial killer.
- Historical accounts uncovered by Fabian revealed shockingly recent incidents of violence motivated by accusations of witchcraft in the same region.
- The urban detective failed to grasp the significance of the rural area's deep-rooted pagan beliefs that his local counterpart recognized.
- An ominous, dread-filled atmosphere pervades the tale, with intimations of black magic and the resurgence of ancient customs.
- The murderer's motive and identity remain unclear, but appear tied to the region's dark folkloric history of ritualistic violence against suspected "witches".
- The story sets up an exploration of how the early 20th century era's rationalism collided with the lingering medieval irrationality of witch-hunts.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “The natives of Upper and Lower Quinton and the surrounding district are of a secretive disposition and they do not take easily to strangers. Therefore, I have borne in mind the possibility of there being some local history attached to the murdered man or his neighbors, which we have not yet touched upon and which may have a direct bearing upon the murder.“ by Robert Fabian
- “During the course of his defense, John Haywood said, 'if you had known the number of people who lie in our churchyard, who, if it had not been for them, would have been alive now, you would be surprised. She was a proper witch.'“ by Carter Roy
- “He touched the handle, just to see. And sure enough, he was gone.“ by Alfred Potter
- “If you had known the number of people who lie in our churchyard, who, if it had not been for them, would have been alive now, you would be surprised. She was a proper witch.“ by Robert Fabian
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Episode Information
Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories
Spotify Studios
8/22/23
Two years after the unidentified skeleton known as Bella was found in a hollow tree in Hagley Wood, a second bizarre murder struck the West Midlands. On February 14th, 1945, a 74-year-old Farmhand named Charles Walton was brutally slain in the nearby village of Lower Quinton. Scotland Yard deployed master detective Robert Fabian to lead the investigation. But what he hoped would be an open-and-shut case soon revealed itself to be an impenetrable web, made only murkier by centuries of superstition. From the outset, the case seemed to be cursed, whether by the phantom hounds that traipsed the countryside, or by the whispers of witchcraft and black magic that followed whenever anyone spoke of Charles Walton. This episode originally aired in October 2019.
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