The Bombshell and the Battle-Axe: Two women who killed the UK death penalty
Ruth Ellis and Violet Van der Elst. Two very different women who ended the 1000 year tradition of capital punishment.
A bombshell waits
On the evening of the 12th July 1955 a pretty 28 year old blonde sits alone in her cell. She’s writing a letter to the mother of the man she killed. Tomorrow she will hang for her crime.This is the punishment for murderers and she remains convinced it’s what she deserves. Outside she can hear the sound of protestors calling for her release
The battle-axe arrives
A Rolls Royce pulls up outside Holloway prison and a second lady gets out. Police officers grimace as a 73 year old self-confessed battle-axe steps out of the car. Heavy set and clothed entirely in black.Her presence hardly comes as a surprise to the officers. This lady has attended most public executions in the last thirty years, often with a brass band in tow.
These two women are the condemned murderer Ruth Ellis and millionaire eccentric Violet Van der…
