Benjamin Ward

Benjamin Ward was killed in Kings Cross in the early hours of Tuesday 1 January 1963.

He had been a watchman on a London County Council building site at Wynford Road off Caledonian Road.

He was battered to death in a wooden hut. His body was found slumped in a chair by the relief watchman at 8am. When the relief watchman arrived at the site, he went to look in a secret hiding place for the key to open the gate, but it wasn't there. he then looked through the window of the hut and saw Benjamin Ward sprawled  in his chair with blood all down his face.

He then ran off and told a passer-by to ring the police.

It had been snowing at the time and the police took photographs of footprints in the snow. The footprints were said to have been a size 9½ to 10½.

A pathologist was called to examine his body before it was removed.

His murder was described as motiveless as there was no sign of robbery and nothing was missing at the building site where he worked.

A timekeeper at the site said:

The police questioned hundreds of people in the Caledonian Road area, including tenants on local housing estates.

Benjamin Ward had lived with his wife, daughter and son-in-law in Allison Road, Turnpike Lane, Hornsey.