The Eight-Day Bride
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First, the cottage burned down. Then, Christina Kettlewell’s body was found in the river.
Christina Cecelia Mocon was a 21-year-old bank worker living in Mimico, Ontario, Canada. On May 12, 1947, she married John Ray Kettlewell, a 26-year-old U.S. Army Dental Corps better known as Jack.
The couple decided to have a last minute ceremony and as a result, their families did not attend. However, hours before the wedding, Christina’s two sisters showed up at the apartment where she was staying and tried to convince her to not go through with the marriage. The police were called by neighbors and the sisters eventually left.
Christina’s family didn’t have an issue with Jack but were worried about his best man.
Ronald Eugene Barrie was Jack’s lifelong friend and business partner. The 28-year-old Italian immigrant, formerly known as Ronnie Ciufo, had tried to establish construction and insurance businesses but was unsuccessful. He was a ballroom dancer and hairdresser.
Christina’s sister, Helen Mocon, thought Ronald was in love with Christina especially after he accompanied the newlyweds on their honeymoon.
The first few days of the honeymoon were spent in Jack and Ronald’s apartment in Toronto. The trio then traveled to Ronald’s cottage in Severn Falls on May 17. About two hours away from Mimico, the cottage was only accessible by boat.
While at the cottage Christina was noticeably moody. She had numerous crying fits and seemed to be dazed at times. She also talked to Ronald about her uncertainty whether Jack truly loved her.
At 6:30 PM on May 20, Ronald returned to the cabin from sunbathing to find Jack dazed and with a head injury. As he took his friend outside, he noticed smoke coming from the kitchen. He returned inside to search for Christina but couldn’t find her.
Ronald took Jack to a hospital while neighbors tried to put out the fire. An hour later, the fire had been extinguished but the cottage was completely destroyed.
At around 10 PM that night, a neighbor found Christina’s lifeless body lying in nine inches of water, 150 miles away from the cottage in a bank of the Severn River.
Ronald was questioned by authorities for 13 hours. He wrote two statements, including one that was 3000 words — authorities described it as “fantastic”.
Meanwhile, Jack had to be treated for a head injury and drugging. Upon his release from the hospital, he was interrogated for 3 hours. He told authorities that he could not remember anything after having breakfast with Ronald and Christina at 11 AM on the day of the fire.
The authorities were particularly interested in Ronald’s close friendship with the couple. They were convinced that Ronald had arranged the marriage. He vehemently denied this, claiming he didn’t even want to go on their honeymoon but did do out of convenience — he drove them and helped with the baggage.
An inquest to determine if foul play was involved in Christina’s death began on June 19.
Due to her death being highly publicized, the inquest drew large crowds. The courtroom was full and dozens of people gathered outside of the courthouse. Jack and Ronald were even swarmed by fans and asked to sign autographs as they arrived.
Cause of Death:
Christina’s death was ruled a drowning. However, toxicology reports also showed traces of codeine in her stomach.
Though investigators could not rule out the possibility of suicide, they were curious about some signs that suggested foul play.
- Major Lawrence Scardifield, who fought the fire while Ronald took Jack to the hospital, claimed he had not seen Christina’s body when he was getting water to put out the fire, even though he had been fetching water from the same spot where Christina's body would later be found.
- Christina’s bare feet had no marks on them despite her supposedly walking to the river from the cabin. She also had no burn marks or any other signs of violence on her body.
It has been suggested that she was placed in the river after the fire was put out.
Ronald and Jack’s relationship:
Jack confessed to having had a long-term affair with Ronald, however, he later claimed he had been coerced into making the statement by authorities.
Under pressure, Ronald caved and admitted to having experimented out of curiosity with Ronald but that nothing had happened between the two since 1939.
Severn Falls locals had noticed that Jack and Ronald took frequent trips to the cottage and thought it was peculiar.
There is also evidence in letters written by Christina that she was bothered by the men’s close relationship.
Murder and Suicide:
It is believed by many that Christina was suffering from a mental illness and committed suicide. In the months leading up to her death, she had written several alarming letters. A handwriting expert at the time was sure that they had been written by Christina.
On April 6, Easter Sunday, Christina wrote a letter and addressed it to Ronald. In it, she talks about Jack not having yet proposed and she admits to having tried to commit suicide by poisoning herself. “This will be the best way out, as I cannot bear to see another girl have him,” she wrote.
During the inquest, Jack claimed that he knew Christina had been sick that day but had no idea that she had tried to kill herself.
Toward the end of April, Christina wrote another suicide letter addressed to Ronald in which she expresses her desire to kill herself and Jack.
“When you love someone you really loved him, and I know there is no one for me but Jack, and if I cannot have him, I do not intend anyone else to… I waited as you might say, in the hope that Jack would ask to marry him, but I now realize I am just a passing facing.”
That day, she poisoned a meal she had prepared for herself and Jack. The couple got extremely sick but Jack was not aware that they had been poisoned.
Christina wrote a suicide letter the day before her death and addressed it to Mrs. Thomas, the woman who owned Jack and Ronald’s apartment in Toronto. She asked Ronald to mail it.
“Ronnie is in the boat outside somewhere. By the time he gets back everything will be all over with. He must have been afraid something would happen because he is staying an extra day, to make sure we go back to Toronto with him.”
Interestingly, Ronald was able to save the letters from the fire. Some people view this as suspicious and wonder if he took advantage of her poor mental health and killed her — saving the letters as proof of her previous attempts.
Drug Trafficking:
Though authorities later discredited the involvement of drug trafficking in Christina’s death, they investigated the whereabouts of $10.000 (CAD).
It was reported that Ronald and Jack, and possibly Christina, had been involved in a drug trafficking business that required them to travel to the US various times.
Moreover, reports claimed that they had a luxury apartment in Toronto that served as the operation’s headquarters.
Insurance Policies:
Before getting married, Jack and Christina took out two $5000 (CAD) life insurance policies that had a double indemnity provision in case of accidental death. Ronald was named the beneficiary on both insurances.
Also around the same time, Ronald got a fire insurance policy on his cottage worth $5000 (CAD).
Moreover, Jack turned over his wartime gratuities to Ronald. It is unknown why he removed his family from his will.
Wedding Ring:
Reports differ on who bought Christina’s ring. Some claim it was Jack while others state it was Ronald. It is said to be worth around $1000 to $1300 (CAD).
However, Mrs. Thomas, who was a witness at the wedding, later said it was actually hers. Since the couple did not have a ring for the wedding ceremony, she loaned her own to Christina.
Nonetheless, the ring was never found after Christina’s death.
Abuse:
Helen Mocon, Christina’s sister, believes Christina was drugged before the marriage and when she “came to”, she accepted it out of the fear she had for both men. Various people claimed that she had not seemed normal before her death — either from medication or drugs. Christina had also lost a lot of weight.
Mrs. Thomas remembered Christina mentioning being afraid of something bad happening if Barrie went on the honeymoon. She also thought Jack was Ronald’s assistant and characterized Ronald as a manipulator.
Loans:
Given Ronald’s financial troubles, authorities were baffled by some of his recent money transactions.
According to Ronald, Christina had asked him for money after she had been attacked at a church in Toronto in April of 1946. Four men had blackmailed her, threatening to tell her father that they had raped her.
He loaned her a total of $12.500 (CAD). Authorities questioned why he would loan such a large amount of money to a bank worker who made very little. Ronald claimed that he had not expected to get the money back and did it to help a friend.
When she gave him some of the money back, he asked her to deposit it in the bank. She would later admit that she had not made the deposit but faked the entries in his bank book.
On the day of her death, Christina gave him a note for $15.000 (CAD) — the amount she owed him, plus interest.
On May 26, Christina Kettlewell’s funeral took place in the same Mimico Church she had married in.
Jack remarried three years later and had a son named Richard. The couple separated in 1969 but never divorced.
In 1992, Richard’s wife Sharon was going through the microfilm of a local newspaper when she came across the story of the eight-day bride. Jack had never spoken about it to his family and they decided not to ask him as he was in poor health. He died in 1998.
Jack, a quiet and reserved man, was known to avoid confrontation. Richard and Sharon believe he was manipulated by Ronald and “strung along on a grand scheme”.
In 1956, when Richard was two-years-old, Ronald left him his dog, Ling. He headed to New York and was never heard from again.
