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Kill Total: |
1 |
Kill place: |
Glasgow |
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Kill date: |
November 1931 |
Victim(s): |
Chrissie Gall |
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Date of Birth: |
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Marital Status: |
Married |
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AKA: |
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Occupation: |
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Peter Queen had married
whilst still quite young and this had turned into a
disaster with the couple separating after his wife had
become an alcoholic.
Queen's father hired a
nursemaid, Chrissie Gall, to look after the children and
it wasn't long before Peter and Chrissie became attracted
to each other. Unfortunately like her predecessor,
Chrissie had an affinity for the bottle. Peter Queen and
Chrissie moved in together with some friends, James Burns
and his wife, but got their own place in the summer of
1931. Chrissie was not happy about the fact that they were
living in sin and this made her drink heavily.
Mrs Johnson, who was a friend, called on Chrissie on 20th
November 1931 and found her drunk. Mrs Johnson returned
later with her husband. The couple left around 11pm.
In the early hours of
the next morning, Peter Queen rushed into a local police
station and told them 'I think you will find my wife
dead.'
When the police went to the house they found Chrissie
lying dead in bed, she had been strangled with a clothes
line. There were no signs of a struggle but Queen was
charged with her murder. The defence obtained the services
of Sir Bernard Spilsbury and Sir Sydney Smith who both
decided that , because of the lack of signs of a struggle,
the woman had committed suicide.
One theory which could explain the lack of a struggle
would be that Chrissie was still drunk when Peter
strangled her and never actually regained consciousness.
At Queen's trial, at Glasgow in January 1932, their
testimony failed to persuade the jury of Queens' innocence
and Queen was found guilty, but with a recommendation to
mercy. Queen was sentenced to death but the sentence was
commuted to life imprisonment. He was later released and
died in 1958.
