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Walter Williams

Age: 39

Sex: male

Date: 12 Aug 1961

Place: Audlem, Crewe, Cheshire

Walter Williams died from cyanide poisoning.

He was found dead in a field in Audlem on 7 July 1961 by a farmworker.

The police found a beer bottle and a phial nearby containing two pieces of a white-coloured substance.

He had been a railway fitter and had lived at 23 Liverpool Terrace, Crewe and it was heard that there was no known reason why he should have wanted to take his own life as he was happily married, had no money troubles, had a steady job and was in good health.

An open verdict was returned at his inquest with the Coroner saying, 'As a result of investigations it is quite clear that the deceased died of cyanide poisoning which must have been self-administered'.

However, he noted that it had been impossible to discover where he had got the cyanide from. It was noted that cyanide of the same type had been used in the Crewe Works but that the police were satisfied that the people in authority there had not allowed him to have any.

It was also heard that every single chemist in Crewe and Nantwich had been visited but that nothing was found to show that he had got the cyanide from there either.

The Coroner said, 'There are so many imponderables here that I don't feel justified in saying that he took his own life or that he died by accident or misadventure. There are too many unsolved questions'.

An assistant pathologist said that his death had been consistent with cyanide poisoning, adding, 'A dose of more than a match head in size is fatal'.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Crewe Chronicle - Saturday 12 August 1961