On This Day in Murder... April 11th, 1921

Russell Campbell is Shot to Death Trying to Stop Bank Robbers

James Russell Campbell was born March 2nd, 1887 to John Donald Campbell and Elizabeth Markle in Ekfrid, near London, Ontario. He served in the army, and worked as an electrician. He was 34 at the time of his death, unmarried and without children.

Sidney Ernest Murrell, and his brother William George Murrell were both born in England in 1900 and 1898 respectively, to William & Mabel Murrell. The family moved to Canada in 1906. Both of the brothers and their father served in the army. Their father would claim afterward that it changed them; that you can't expect to tell a man it is okay to kill one day, and then expect him to come back home and tell him it isn't okay. Sidney & William made some sketchy friends when they came back; it is with two of those friends, Jack Henry "Slim" Williams and Pat Norton, that their world would collide with Russell Campbell, and his life would tragically end.

On April 11th, 1921, in Melbourne, Ontario, Sidney, William Slim & Pat set out to rob the Home bank. Sidney the purportedly ring leaders of this pack of bandits. While inside, the alarm is sounded, and a number of villagers arrive in an attempt to intercept the bank robbers before they can escape. A number of bullets are fired in the bank at the ceiling, and then the bandits try to make a getaway.  Amongst the villagers trying to capture the villains were Stuart, Robert & Russell Campbell.  More shots were fired; some by the villagers, some by the bandits. There is a scuffle, the men fight, but the villagers prevail, and three of the four men are caught, and tied to telephone poles with rope to await the arrival of police. Sidney, William & Slim were in a lot of trouble, and not only for the bank robbery. The fourth man, Pat Norton, got away. He would never again be seen, or apprehended by police to face punishment, though they searched for him for years.

Photo of the captured Sidney Murrell, awaiting arrival of police

Although most of the bandits didn't escape and the bank robbery was foiled, the villagers victory was bittersweet; laying in the alleyway by the bank, lay the body of Russell Campbell, who had been shot and killed during the melee of the robbery and apprehension. His death registration records lists his cause of death as "internal hemorrhage caused by being shot by a burglar", and notes it was an "instant death".

Death Registration Record for Russell Campbell

It didn't take long after they were put in jail before they started causing trouble. Sidney and William apparently tried to burn the jail they were being held with in May. After that, they apparently displayed excellent behaviour; undoubtedly trying not to raise suspicion, and it seemed to work. On September 2nd, 1921, Sidney and William Murrell, using a handsaw that was somehow smuggled into the jail, sawed the bars off their cell, vaulted over a wall, and escaped. Their bank robber accomplice, Slim Williams, remained behind, left alone to be punished for the robbery and murder.

It was almost 2 years later, in May 1923, when the news broke that Sidney Murrell had been apprehended in California. It turns out that he had been picked up on an auto theft charge, using the alias "Robert W. Brooks". The police in California had distributed his fingerprints to other law enforcement agencies in an attempt to find out if he had a criminal record; that was how the Canadian authorities identified him as Sidney Ernest Murrell, wanted for bank robbery and murder.

Sidney and Slim were finally put on trial, and 33 witnesses were called to testify. They reported seeing the men with guns, trying to escape, and 3 women said that the two men they saw running out of the alley where Russell Campbell was found dead were Sidney Murrell and Slim Williams. No one actually saw either man shoot Russell. It was on this piece of the evidence the defense focused, arguing that any of the shots that the villagers themselves had fired at the bandits could very well have been the fatal shot that hit Campbell. The verdict was not what either man wanted to hear; guilty of murder, and both sentenced to hang on April 10th, 1924, nearly 3 years to the day of Russell Campbell's death.  

When that day came, two executions would take place, but only man would pay with his life for the death of Campbell. The day before the execution Jack Henry "Slim" Williams would receive word that his execution was commuted to life inprisonment. On April 10th, Sidney Ernest Murrell would walk instead with Clarence Topping to the scaffold to face their deaths. Topping was sentenced to hang for the shooting death of his sweetheart Geraldine Durston in November of 1923. Sidney's last words reportedly were, "My time has come to part with this world. Good luck and God bless you". The cord was pulled, and Murrell and Topping were together hanged at 5:30am. It was reported they spent the night beforehand signing hymns and offering prayers of repose for their souls with Rev. Mr. Warner, and Slim Williams. Sidney said he had no confession to make, that he did feel remorseful, but only for the worry and anxiety he caused his family.

Death Registration Record for Sidney Ernest Murrell

After Sidney was hanged, the Murrell family was struck with even more tragedy; in 1926, their 16 year old son Thomas was killed in an automobile accident, and another son drowned around the same time.

What happened to William? Well, a story similar to that of Sidney would play out for him, with one big difference. In January of 1928, he was also caught in California, picked up for an auto theft charge using the alias "Cecil Chester Miller" and identified in the same manner. He had absolutely no idea that his brother had been caught and executed nearly 4 years earlier, and was apparently very upset at the news. He also faced trial for Russell Campbell's murder, and his father expressed his anger at the fact that one son had already been found guilty and hanged, it wasn't fair to also charge his namesake for the same murder. His father said, "Isn't one life enough to take? A cannibal kills only what he can eat, we kill what we cannot even use".  William was also found guilty and sentenced to hang for his crime. Unlike his brother Sidney however, he was granted a commutation to life in prison, and would not see the gallows. He was eventually let out of prison, and lived a quiet life in London, Ontario after he was released. He died February 8th, 1958. He was found slumped over the wheel of his vehicle after a grocery shopping trip by a police officer; he had died of a heart attack.

On This Day in Murder... March 20th, 1921

Louisa Warlow is Shot and Killed by Her Husband, Who Also Attempts Unsuccessfully to Take His Own Life

The tragedy unfolded on the night of March 19th, 1921, in the former town of Walkerville, now part of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. When Hiram Walker, the owner of Canadian Club Whiskey, founded the town in 1890 with the intent of making it a "model" town, one that would be the envy of others, he probably did not envision the story of family betrayal, and infidelity that would occur 30 years later, and result in a man on trial for the murder of his wife.

Walkerville, Ontario, the Hiram Walker Distillery, taken between 1895-1899 (Library of Congress)

John James Warlow was born in 1883 in Egham, Surrey, England to John Warlow & Mary Harrington. He moved around a bit when he was young, living in both London & Wales, where he worked as a bricklayer before he met and married Louisa Tree, daughter of Henry Tree in the town of her birth, Croyden, Surrey, in 1911. He & Louisa came to Canada sometime around 1913. They settled in the Walkerville/Windsor area, where John's sister Gertrude and brother George, who was a police officer before becoming a Windsor Police court clerk in 1917, also settled. His cousin Norman Warlow, who was also a Windsor Police court clerk, lived in the area as well.

On that night 91 years ago, 37 year old Louisa Warlow was just leaving Clegg Bakery located on Ottawa St., after a long day of work, and was walking to the house of a friend Mrs. John Tierney at 67 Ottawa St., whom she was staying with. Louisa had worked at the Clegg Bakery for a number of years, as had her husband John, whom she was separated from in January of that year. The bakery was owned by the family of his brother-in-law, James Clegg, who had married his sister Gertrude just 11 months before the shocking story unfolded.

When Louisa Warlow started her walk home from work that night, she had no clue it would be her last. She knew her estranged husband John was angry. She was planning to leave Walkerville and move to Windsor the next day, it was rumoured, to live with Norman Warlow, her husband's cousin. Unfortunately, the rumours reached John before she left, and she was at the corner of Ottawa St. and Kildare Rd., which was a very short distance from the bakery, when John approached her. Apparently, he approached her with the intent to make a plea with her to return to him. That is when she refused and turned to walk away, getting just as far as the outside of the Tierney house, which was just a short distance away on Ottawa St.

Photo of Kildare Rd. in Walkerville, looking north, taken between 1905-1915 (Library of Congress)

It was 10:30pm when he followed her to the Tierney house, and continued to quarrel with her.  Mrs. Tierney testified in the trial that she turned on the porch light, and went outside to see what was going on. Seeing the pair together, she tried to break up the argument, telling Warlow to "leave her alone tonight", and pulling Louisa by the arm to try and bring her inside the house. To which Warlow apparently replied "No you don't!", pulled out his gun, and fired at his wife. Mrs. Tierney described how Mrs. Warlow had slumped over her arm and fallen over, the bullet having pierced her abdomen. Then she heard another shot, and looked over to see John Warlow lying on the lawn, bleeding from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the chest. They were both rushed to the hospital, Louisa was unconscious at the time and feared dead, but she was revived briefly, and was able to tell the police what had occurred. Louisa Warlow died less than two hours later, at 12:20am on March 20th, 1921. John Warlow, though seriously wounded, had not caused any fatal damage, and recovered from the wound. He was then charged with the murder of his wife, on March 25th, he was moved from the Hotel Dieu hospital and taken to Sandwich jail to await his trial.

Death registration record of Louisa Warlow (Archives of Ontario)

Mrs. Tierney also told the court that there had been frequent visits between Louisa Warlow and Norman Warlow, her husband's cousin.  James Clegg, John's brother in law, testified against him in the trial as well. He told the court that he had seen frequent arguments between John and his wife Louisa. They had agreed to separate in January, which is when Louisa went to live with the Mr & Mrs. Tierney. He further testified that 10 days before the murder, John Warlow had shown him the revolver, and had explained that he was carrying it because his cousin Norman was "carrying on" with his wife.

The defense did not deny that Warlow had shot his wife, but they argued that Louisa had provoked the crime. The jury was out for more than three hours before returning with a verdict. John Warlow was found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to serve 15 years in prison.