Charles Walton and the Evil Eye

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I can't wait to see you there. Mm. You're listening to part two of Unexplained, Season 9, Episode 12. Eyes that shine burning red. After 25 years on the force, Chief Inspector Robert Fabian was days away from retirement. when he got an urgent call at his office in London, Scotland Yard. headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police. Fabian was widely considered the most accomplished detective of his time. He sat listening patiently as the caller laid out the horrific details of a strange murder. that occurred only the day before. The victim Seventy four year old Charles Walton. had been butchered in broad daylight while at work. Near his home in Lower Quinton. A small village in the county of Warwickshire. On the northern fringes of the Cotwalt. About a hundred miles north west of London. In short, as the caller explains, The Warwickshire Criminal Investigation Department. it in to help the local police force. Had never dealt with anything like it before. They needed someone with Fabian's expertise to help. Chief Inspector Fabian. After all. better way to end his career. than helping to solve a murder. that might just be the most unusual and brutal you'd ever come across. The following day. February sixteenth. Just as dawn was breaking. Fabian and his partner. Detective Sergeant Albert Webb. Set off together for the village of Lower Quinton. Robert Fabian was a city man through and through. And very much a city police officer. Born in South London in nineteen oh one. He joined the London's Metropolitan Police at the age of 20, and had dedicated more than half his life to the service. Contrast to his usual gritty city beep. Quinton appeared the epitome of pastoral bliss. with its chocolate box cottages and thatch roofs, and its two pubs around a quaint village square. However As he stepped out of the car on that first morning and took it all in. There was no reason for Fabian to expect the investigation to be different to any other that he dealt with. But it wasn't long before he'd be proved very wrong indeed. It began with a debrief from Superintendent Alex Spooner of Warwickshire's CID, who was on hand to assist them with anything they needed. Spooner explained. Charles's niece Edith, and her neighbour, Harry Beasley, for the first on the scene. along with local landowner and Charles' employer, Alfred Potter. All three had trampled liberally over the site. as had many of the law enforcement officers who'd arrived later. Some, including Alfred, had even handled the murder weapon with their bare hands. In the end, two police officers had worked together. pitchfork out of Charles' neck. Trying to find a print for the culprit would now be near impossible. What the local police had managed to secure, however, was a fairly decent idea of Charles' last known movements. According to Alfred Potter. on the night Charles' body was found, The first investigator to arrive was Detective Inspector Toomes. With Edith and Harry having gone home already, it fell to Alfred to fill the detective in on what he knew. After introducing himself as Charles' employer, he explained shakily that he, Edith, and Harry had found the body at about 630 pm that evening. He was as shocked as anyone to find Charles in that state, and had no idea who could possibly have done it. potentially the last known person to have seen Charles alive. Inspector Toomes asked Alfred to give a statement on his movements that day. Alfred explained that after a fairly standard morning overseeing the farm and tending to some animals, he stopped in at the village's College Arms Pub around 11.45am to meet his friend and fellow farmer, Joseph Stanley. Then, about fifteen minutes later, the pair walked back to Stanley's farm. Potter said he stayed for about ten minutes, before he made another round of his own fields, tending again to his sheep and cattle. And that was when he apparently saw Charles, dressed in a long sleeved shirt, 500 yards away. in a field adjoining hill ground Near being hill. That must have been around twelve thirty, he thought. Alfred then claimed to have returned home, where he helped another of his employees, before he broke for lunch around 1 o'clock. It was shortly after that that he received the news that one of his heifers had been spot in a ditch. Alfred said he then drove to the nearby village of Lower Clopton to borrow a tractor from another farmer. to use to remove the heifer and return it to his feel. Later, on returning home, he thought he saw Charles again through the upstairs window of his farmhouse, which would have been sometime around 2 pm. Thinking on it then, he reckoned at that time. Charles couldn't have had more than ten yards of hedge left to trim. He estimated that he'd only made it another four or five yards before he was murdered. Since that would have taken about half an hour, he figured that Charles must have been murdered around 230 pm. Long after he'd last seen him. Alfred was finally allowed to go home too. At one thirty AM. Charles Walton's body was lifted onto an old farm gate and transported to Stratford for an autopsy. There, medical examiner Dr. James Webster determined that he had indeed most likely been killed around 1 or 2 pm. Just as Alfred Potter's account attest it. all the savager of the crime. The Met Police's Inspector Fabian couldn't help but notice there was also something unnervingly personal about it. The way Charles had been slaughtered with his own belongings. pinned to the ground by his own pitchfork. felt like his assailant was deliberately mocking him. Suggesting the possibility that the murderer was well known to Charles. From what Superintendent Spooner had gleaned so far. Charles didn't appear to have any enemies. At least no one that anyone in the village was aware of. Though Fabian knew only too well. Stood for very little. Others began to suspect that Charles was simply the victim of a random attack. A mugging gone awry, perhaps. When Charles's body was searched by officers, they found the chain of a pocket watch hanging from his waistcoat. but no sign of his actual watch. Edith told police he never went anywhere without it. They wondered. money belt was also found around his waist that appeared to have been loosened. But Inspector Fabian wasn't sure. As he knew well, most murders were committed by people known to the victim. So despite Spooner's insistence that the man had no enemies, he and Detective Webb resolved to find out for themselves. Together, they interviewed every single one of the villagers from Lower Quinton, as well as some from the adjoining villages of Upper Quinton and Amdington. All four hundred and ninety three of them. And almost without exception, no one wanted to say anything. It was hard for the urbanite Fabian. to tell if this was by design or simply the way of the people out there. Few offered more than a requisite grunt. When asked if they'd known Charles or not. and when pressed on whether they had any idea why he might have been murdered. No one appeared to have the faintest clue. But slowly, one possible angle did begin to emerge. Despite his humble appearance, it was discovered that Charles was an astute saver and was apparently seen taking a sizable sum of money out of a savings account only the day before he was murdered. While some said he never went anywhere with money on him. Others said he often carried in his money belt. The same he'd been wearing the day he died. Which was found empty. Another rumour that sprung up among the residents of Lower Quinton. was that Charles had been lending money to someone in the village but it suddenly reneged on the agreement. Perhaps this had driven the Loney to murder him in return, they speculated. Either way, no one was prepared to say who that mystery person might have been. One local resident said cryptically that the man who did it was still in the village. But again, frustratingly refused to offer a name. It was all news to Charles's niece, Edith. As far as she knew, Charles rarely carried on him. evidenced by the fact that he'd even left his purse at home on the kitchen table the day he died. Though she made no mention of the apparent money belt he was found to be wearing. Another possibility that routinely came up in Inspector Fabian's interviews with the villagers was that Charles might have been attacked by a prisoner of war. As it happened, there was a sizable POW camp just a few miles away at Long Marston. Holding men from Germany, Italy and the Ukraine. After all, as some of them said, The way Charles had been murdered. It just wasn't very English, was it? One local vicar even went as far as to suggest that There was something distinctly Italian about the way he'd been brutally mutilated. Although no one had recently escaped from the prison, it wasn't entirely out of the question that one of them might have been responsible. Many prisoners were put to work on farms and were occasionally allowed out to attend the local theatre and cinema. And so, over the next few days, All 1,043 inmates were asked for their whereabout on the day in question. Most had cast iron alibis, or were nowhere near the scene at the time. Then a report came in from a local baker's assistant who claimed to have seen a man who he knew to be an Italian POW. close to the scene of the murder, right about the time that Charles Walton was thought to have been killed. The man was said to have been seen crouching in a ditch, washing blood off his hands. Incredibly, the prisoner in question was quickly by the police. When they searched its bunk. Despite his protestations of innocence, a jacket was found. Stained with blood. With great anticipation, the jacket was sent to a lab for analysis, while a team of soldiers were dispatched to the spot where he'd been sighted to help the police look for more clues. A short time later. One soldier was scouring the area with a metal detector, looking for any potential contraband or further murder weapons. Pointing the device into a hedgerow, a loud squeal rang out of his headphones. He jumped excitedly into the bush. Pushed back the foliage to find a crude rabbit trap. Sure enough. on the Italian POW's coat. It was found to be rabbit blunt. The prisoner had merely been poaching rabbits. In truth. It was virtually unheard of for a POW to attack a civilian member of the public, let alone murder them. Italian soldiers in particular had a respectable reputation for being well behaved. Day after day. Police returned to the scene of the crime to comb the area for more clues. Every distinguishable footprint they could find was filled with plaster and cross checked with possible owners. as were the huge array of fingerprints on the murder weapons. Or were traced back to owners that appeared to have solid alibis. Inspector Fabian, it seems In late February, Charles Walton's body was laid to rest in the cemetery of St. Swythern's Church. Just across from his home. as his flesh was lowered into the earth. Numerous members of the community. far more than would have likely been present, had he died under usual circumstances. Watch on somebody. Among them was Inspector Fabian. casting his suspicious eye over the moor. No one gave anything away. Long after A devastated Edith left Lower Quinton. to live with her fiance in Stratford. And over time, life steadily got back to normal in the village. Certainly for those who worked in the fields, there was little option but to get back to tending to their crops and animals, whose needs never let up. No matter the circumstances. It was about this time. But a man named Smith from the village of Upper Quinton, fifteen minutes walk away from Lower Quinton. was found dead in his garage, having gassed himself. Perhaps this was the murderer, some wondered. Driven to suicide due to the guilt of his actions. When it was later revealed that the man had beaten up his wife and another man in an apparent jealous rage only a few weeks before, He was quickly dismissed as a suspect. at the inquest into Charles's death on march twentieth, Dr. James Webster gave a more detailed account of what had happened that day. He theorized that Charles had most likely been knocked down by his attacker first, before being pinned to the ground with the pitchfork. Then his throat was slashed, with the attacker holding his head as he wrenched the hook. across his track here. Later, Alfred Potter was once again asked for his version of events. Despite a few minor discrepancies, it tallied pretty closely with the original statement he gave to Inspector Tombs the night Charles was found. There was one interesting difference, however. In Potter's first statement, he claimed to have removed a heifer from a ditch just after 1 pm. before returning it to his field and heading back home, sometime around 2 p.m. When asked about this again at the inquest. Potter revealed instead that although he did remove the heifer from the ditch on the day of the murder, Not only had it actually died the day before he got to it, but he didn't actually pull it out until 3 pm. A good two hours after he originally claimed And then there was the shirt that Charles died in. At the inquest, Potter repeated his claim that he'd seen a man that he took to be Charles around 1230. working in the fields, wearing a long sleeve shirt. This the coroner interrupted. and ordered the actual shirt that Charles was wearing at the time of his murder. to audible gasps, the garment was revealed to have in fact been a short sleeve shirt. At which point Potter reminded the court that he never said for sure it was Charles Walton that he'd seen in the field. Only that he assumed it was. Potter was asked by Inspector Fabian to clarify the discrepancy in the story about the heifer. He confirmed that the version he was giving then What's the true account? In Potter's defense, the coroner granted that it was highly likely that he wasn't thinking straight on the night of the murder. given the stressful circumstances. Alfred Potter was also asked if he ever knew Charles to carry money on him. implied that he did, but never more than a pound. equivalent to roughly forty pounds, or just over fifty US dollars in today's money. The jury returned a verdict. of murder by some person or persons unknown. As the days passed, with little to show for his time spent in Lower Quinton, Inspector Fabian found himself becoming increasingly desperate. One evening. He strolled out alone to the crime scene. Something he did often. Hoping to find something, anything that might help crack the case. He made his way to the spot under the willow tree, where Charles' body was found. Breathed in the crisp early spring air. Tasting the earthy tang of it on his tongue. Gazing down toward Lower Quinton, he was suddenly struck by the stillness of it all. The chimney smoking silently. The occasional Robin darting about in a nearby hedgerow. Sheep bleating intermittently in an adjacent field. All of it. Seemingly so incongruous with the brutality of what had occurred right under his feet. But in reality. The brutality of Charles's death. Perfectly in keeping with nature. Consider the fox that thinks little of sentiment. When it rips the rabbit's throat out. With its bare teeth. bird that cares little for discretion when it plucks another worm from the earth. And what of the livestock that peppered the fields in their gentle, graceful ways? Are they not merely awaiting the butcher's cleaver? In truth. Beyond nature's bucolic veneer. The earth is always a wash with blood. As dusk fellow. Inspector Fabian began making his way back to the village. When a large black dog Suddenly a P Running toward him from the direction of Mean Hill. The inspector froze as it shot past. Followed moments later by the appearance of a young farmhand. When the inspector asked if he was looking for the black dog, The boy went deathly pale. And shot off in the opposite direction. not stopping to look back once, despite Fabian's efforts to call him back. Later that day, when Fabian supposedly relayed this peculiar story to some locals in the pub, There were few looks of surprise. It was only then that he is said to have learned all about the strange history of Mean Hill. Devil was said to have once stalked the area. and how terrify black dogs. We're often cited there. Not long after. Police were called back out to the murder site. to find a black dog hanging dead from a tree. Strangled by its own collar. Shortly after that. Some officers involved in the investigation were driving along a narrow country lane. When another strange black dog. Shot out suddenly in front of them. It was struck and killed. As Inspector Fabian's investigation dragged on, one police officer, Inspector Hinksman of the Warwickshire CID, decided to do a little digging into the village's history. During his research, he came across a book titled Folklore, Old Customs and Superstitions in Shakespeare Land. by Reverend James Bloom. That was first published only a few years before, in nineteen twenty nine. One passage was especially interesting. It's red. Talvaston in eighteen eighty five. Plough met a dog on his way home. Nine times in successive evenings. When he told the shepherd with whom he worked. He was laughed at for his pains. Then, on the ninth encounter, a headless lady rustled past him in a silk dress. Stay. He learned that his sister had unexpectedly died. The so called plough. Another term for a farm labourer. was named as one Charles Walton. As the passage states, according to author James Bloom, When Charles was just a boy of 15, he apparently encountered a phantom several nights in a row on his way home from work. This event was seemingly a dark omen. for warning Charles of the death of his sister. Was this the same Charles Walton who'd be murdered? the police wondered. It was all a little strange to say the least, but Hinksman thought it significant enough to bring to the attention of Inspector Fabian. Hern wasn't quite sure what to make of it. But with little else to go on, he figured there was no harm in pulling this tiny thread to see where it might lead. Over the next few days, Inspector Fabian and Detective Webb once again made the rounds of the villagers. Asking if anyone knew any more about the story. or could confirm whether it was the same Charles Walton or not. And once again, the investigators hit a brick wall. No one seemed willing to talk about it at all. Bye. as they teased the odd scrap out of the occasional local. A more bizarre picture of Charles Balton. Began to fall. So no one was able to confirm unequivocally that the Charles in the story was the same Charles who was murdered. As it happened, there had been strange whispers about our Charles Walton long before he was killed. tallied with the eerie tale about the ploughland. Chief among the local rumors was the belief that Charles had the gift of foresight. appeared to be both a blessing and a curse. Depending on who one talk to. Charles was either born with this ability or or he developed it later, after communing with the forces of darkness. Charles was also said to keep a knot of Natajak toads, which he apparently routinely used in magic spells. of the crops and livestock of any local farmer he had a disagreement with. Some claim to have seen him, letting the allegedly enchanted creatures run loose over freshly ploughed soil, with the intention of corrupting the seeds that lay underneath. Indeed, in the year leading up to his murder, Rumors swirled that Charles and his black magic ways were to blame for last year's poor harvest. Even more harmful for Charles's reputation, however. And perhaps most pertinently for Inspector Fabian. that he also had the ability to cast the evil eye. The power to curse people with little more than a malevolent stare. It was said that children in the area would often dare one another to knock on old man Walton's door and run away before he could open it and curse them on the spot. Then the investigators came across another interesting story found in Reverend Bloom's folklore, old customs and superstitions in Shakespeare Land. This one concerned the murder of an elderly woman named Anne Tennant, some seventy years previously. which took place only a few miles away from where Charles Walton's body was found. Tenant was said by some of the Being a witch. Could her shocking murder be the key that finally unlocks the truth? About Charles. You've been listening to part two of Unexplained, Season 9, Episode 12. Eyes that shine burning red. The third and final part will be released next week. Friday february twenty seventh. This episode was written by Richard McClain Smith. James Connor Patterson. And Emma Dippon. Thank you as ever for listening. Unexplained is an AV Club Productions podcast created by Richard McClain Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music. are also produced by me. Richard McClain Smith. Unexplained the book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble. Waterstones and other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts. and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or a story of your own you'd like to share. You can find out more at unexplained podcast dot com. and reaches online through X and Blue Sky, but unexplained pod. And Facebook at facebook.com. Forward slash. Unexplained podcast. Oh