Patricia Curran - "the taint of incest hanging in the air." - the noir and true
In 1952, 19-year-old Patricia Curran was murdered.
"Judge Curran's circle was very high-profile and if for example there was a potential scandal involving high-ranking government and military personnel ( maybe some bizarre homosexual / masonic cult) and Patricia got wind of it, there would be any amount of people with the motivation to exterminate her, and the means to cover it up.
In 1952, 19-year-old Patricia Curran was murdered.
"Judge Curran's circle was very high-profile and if for example there was a potential scandal involving high-ranking government and military personnel ( maybe some bizarre homosexual / masonic cult) and Patricia got wind of it, there would be any amount of people with the motivation to exterminate her, and the means to cover it up.
Old Belfast 8...
Patricia Curran's body 'was found by her 26-year-old brother, Desmond' in the grounds of the Curran family home, in Whiteabbey, in Northern Ireland.
"I was at a social function at the Curran house years ago and I was told that in the kitchen there is a stain on the floor, thought to be blood which suggested the murder took place inside the house."
Judge Curran's Daughter - Belfast Forum
Old Belfast 8... In the 1500s, "Sir Walter Hungerford was ... charged with 'unnatural vice', becoming the first person executed under the Buggery Act of 1533." "I was at a social function at the Curran house years ago and I was told that in the kitchen there is a stain on the floor, thought to be blood which suggested the murder took place inside the house."
Judge Curran's Daughter - Belfast Forum
Patricia was the daughter of Major Sir Lancelot Ernest Curran, a top Northern Ireland judge and politician.
Patricia "was found in the driveway of the Curran home, having been stabbed thirty-seven times".
Old Belfast 8...
"Very little blood was discovered at the site, despite the multiple stabbings, suggesting she was not killed where she was found and that her body had been moved.
"Her books, papers, a beret and a handbag were found at the edge of the driveway, 10 yards from the body.
"They were dry, despite the rain. Patricia, a student, did not have these items with her on the bus.
"Very little blood was discovered at the site, despite the multiple stabbings, suggesting she was not killed where she was found and that her body had been moved.
"Her books, papers, a beret and a handbag were found at the edge of the driveway, 10 yards from the body.
"They were dry, despite the rain. Patricia, a student, did not have these items with her on the bus.
The portfolio of books stacked neatly at the side of the road. Old Belfast 8
"Police have been criticised for the way they carried out their investigation; they did not examine the judge's home for evidence because he would not allow them in until more than a week after the murder.
A senior policeman wrote at the time: "It was decided to pursue every other line of inquiry before allowing our thoughts to concentrate on something which seemed too fantastic to believe, namely that the Currans were in fact covering up the murderer and telling a tissue of lies."
Independent 26 April 2000
"Judge Lance Curran, was weighed down by gambling debt...
"Doris Curran, Patricia’s mother, was consigned to a mental hospital after her daughter’s murder and remained there to her death.
"Doris Curran had been brought up in Broadmoor Prison for the Criminally Insane.
"Doris Curran’s father was the Superintendent of the hospital."
Crime Beat: Irish crime: the noir and true | Crime Beat
"Sir Lancelot Curran presided over the trial of Robert McGladdery for the murder of 19-year-old Pearl Gamble, near Newry, in 1961. McGladdery protested his innocence but was found guilty and hanged."
Lancelot Curran - Wikipedia
"Police have been criticised for the way they carried out their investigation; they did not examine the judge's home for evidence because he would not allow them in until more than a week after the murder.
A senior policeman wrote at the time: "It was decided to pursue every other line of inquiry before allowing our thoughts to concentrate on something which seemed too fantastic to believe, namely that the Currans were in fact covering up the murderer and telling a tissue of lies."
Independent 26 April 2000
Airman Iain Gordon
Iain Hay Gordon was framed and convicted of the murder of Patricia.
"Det Supt John Capstick, who obtained the 'confession', was lying when he told the original trial that Mr Gordon had voluntarily dictated his statement."
Detective 'lied about 1953 killing' - Telegraph
In 2000, Iain Hay Gordon had his sentence overturned.
Who really killed Patricia?
"Patricia Curran's mother, Doris, disapproved of her headstrong daughter's unconventional lifestyle, particularly her relationships with older men."
Anyone recognise this house
"A friend of my Mother who lived in Jordanstown, behind the Curran estate,told the story that Iain Hay Gordon and the brother Desmond were having a homosexual relationship.
"Desmond was a member of a crusading religious group, Moral Rearmament, into which he tried to recruit Iain Hay Gordon, a rather naive 20-year-old RAF technician, whom he met at the local Presbyterian church...
"Desmond underwent a dramatic conversion to Catholicism five years after his sister's murder and his Orangeman father broke ranks with the loyal order to attend his ordination as a priest in Rome in 1964...
"Now in his 70s, he ministers in a black township just outside Cape Town, South Africa, where he lives in a tiny prefabricated hut with no electricity and is known as 'The Lamp' by his flock."
Website
Iain Hay Gordon was framed and convicted of the murder of Patricia.
"Det Supt John Capstick, who obtained the 'confession', was lying when he told the original trial that Mr Gordon had voluntarily dictated his statement."
Detective 'lied about 1953 killing' - Telegraph
In 2000, Iain Hay Gordon had his sentence overturned.
Who really killed Patricia?
"Patricia Curran's mother, Doris, disapproved of her headstrong daughter's unconventional lifestyle, particularly her relationships with older men."
Anyone recognise this house
"A friend of my Mother who lived in Jordanstown, behind the Curran estate,told the story that Iain Hay Gordon and the brother Desmond were having a homosexual relationship.
"She said that Patricia was going to blow the whistle on the relationship so the mother murdered her."
The Patricia Curran Murder
"Ian Hay Gordon ... was a member of a homosexual ring of men who met in the glen area of Whiteabbey. Something that Gordon admitted too and never retracted."
Judge Curran's Daughter
The Patricia Curran Murder
"Ian Hay Gordon ... was a member of a homosexual ring of men who met in the glen area of Whiteabbey. Something that Gordon admitted too and never retracted."
Judge Curran's Daughter
Iain Gordon at the time of his release from prison.
"Desmond was a member of a crusading religious group, Moral Rearmament, into which he tried to recruit Iain Hay Gordon, a rather naive 20-year-old RAF technician, whom he met at the local Presbyterian church...
"Desmond underwent a dramatic conversion to Catholicism five years after his sister's murder and his Orangeman father broke ranks with the loyal order to attend his ordination as a priest in Rome in 1964...
"Now in his 70s, he ministers in a black township just outside Cape Town, South Africa, where he lives in a tiny prefabricated hut with no electricity and is known as 'The Lamp' by his flock."
"Doris Curran, Patricia’s mother, was consigned to a mental hospital after her daughter’s murder and remained there to her death.
"Doris Curran had been brought up in Broadmoor Prison for the Criminally Insane.
"Doris Curran’s father was the Superintendent of the hospital."
Crime Beat: Irish crime: the noir and true | Crime Beat
"Sir Lancelot Curran presided over the trial of Robert McGladdery for the murder of 19-year-old Pearl Gamble, near Newry, in 1961. McGladdery protested his innocence but was found guilty and hanged."
Lancelot Curran - Wikipedia
Who killed Patricia?
Gunshot wounds! Old Belfast 8