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James CAMB

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 


A.K.A.: "The porthole murderer"
 
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Pushed the body through the cabin's porthole. The body was never recovered
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: October 18, 1947
Date of birth: 1916
Victim profile: Eileen Isabella Ronnie Gibson, 21 (her stage name was Gay Gibson)
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: In the sea
Status: Sentenced to death on March 23, 1948. Commuted to life in prison. Released in September 1959. Sentenced to 2 years probation for indecently assaulting a young girl. Sending him back to prison to complete his life sentence. He was released from prison in 1978. Died on July 7, 1979
 
 
 
 
 
 

photo gallery

 
 
 
 
 
 

Crimes: The murder of Eileen Isabella Ronnie Gibson (her stage name was Gay Gibson) on board the Union Castle liner Durban Castle, which was sailing from Cape Town to Southampton.

Sentence: Camb was sentenced to death. However, luckily for him, at his time of execution, parliament was debating the aboliton clause that had recently been put in the Criminal Justice Bill - so all executions were suspended. The clause was finally deleted and hanging started up again. Camb was released from prison on licence in September 1959.

In 1967, he was sentenced to 2 years probation for indecently assaulting a young girl. Not long after, he was found guilty of indecently assaulting minors, and his licence was revoked, sending him back to prison to complete his life sentence. He was released from prison in 1978 and died from heart failure on 7/07/79.

Interesting facts: Being on a ship, it was easy to dispose of the body. The murder took place in Gibson's cabin. He then pushed the body through the cabin's porthole. The body was never recovered. It was thought at first that Gibson had just fallen overboard and drowned. However, it seems that during the struggle with Camb, Gibson had managed to press both the steward and the stewardess buttons, summoning them to her immediately. When the steward arrived, he knocked on the door, opened it, and a man closed it. Camb was an employee of the ship, and the steward, Frederick Steer, recognised him. When Gibson could not be found the next day, he remembered the incident with suspicion. If the occupant had rung both bells, she must have felt she was in danger.

At the trial, Camb claimed that she had died of natural causes whilst having consensual sex with him. The defence expert agreed that this was a possibility - in fact he had been employed by the prosecution to prove their case, but he decided that it may well have happened the way Camb said. The prosecution claimed she was strangled - the expert saying that bloodstained saliva on the sheets and the fact that she urinated just before death, staining the bed, showed that she had been strangled.

When Camb was examined by the ship's doctor, he was found to have scratch marks on his body: on the right side of the neck, on his shoulder, and on his wrist. This was consistent with a struggle having taken place, and Gibson scratching him whilst trying to defend herself.

MurdersDatabase.co.uk

 
 

Camb, James

Camb was a ship's steward who was found guilty of the murder at sea. His victim was an actress named Eileen Isabella 'Gay' Gibson. Camb worked aboard the liner 'Durban Castle' and Miss Gibson was returning to England aboard it from South Africa.

On 18 October 1947 Miss Gibson was reported missing. The vessel was then off the coast of West Africa and, though the vessel was turned about, all searches for her proved fruitless. At 3am on the 18th a ship's watchman had answered a call from Miss Gibson's cabin. When he got to the cabin he found Camb in the doorway. Camb had called out 'All right' and the watchman had left. When the vessel docked at Southampton police immediately interviewed Camb. He claimed that Miss Gibson had invited him to her cabin and that they had sexual intercourse. He further claimed that Miss Gibson had had a fit and died. He said that he had panicked after failing to resuscitate her and pushed the corpse out of the porthole.

He appeared charged with murder in March 1948 at Winchester Crown Court. Forensic evidence was given that stated that saliva and blood traces were found on the bedding in the cabin and that this suggested strangulation. There were also, at the time, scratches on Camb's wrists that could have been caused by the woman as she struggled. The defence had a hard time explaining why Camb had not tried to summon help and why he had disposed of the body out of the porthole.

He was duly found guilty and sentenced to death. At the time a no-hanging bill was being debated in Parliament and, because of the uncertainty of the outcome, he was reprieved.

 
 

James Camb - 18th October 1947

MuderUK.com

Camb was working on the Durban Castle liner sailing from Cape town to Southampton.

He had gone to the cabin of Gay Gibson for sex. Whether this was consensual is not clear. What is clear is that when Camb was examined by a doctor he had scratch marks on him, consistent with a struggle. Gay had disappeared and the body never found. It is believed Camb pushed her body through the porthole.

At the trial, Camb claimed that she had died of natural causes whilst having consensual sex with him. The prosecution claimed she was strangled - the expert saying that bloodstained saliva on the sheets and the fact that she urinated just before death, staining the bed, showed that she had been strangled.

Camb was sentenced to death.

However, he had a lucky escape, parliament was debating the abolition clause that had recently been put in the Criminal Justice Bill - so all executions were suspended. The clause was finally deleted and hanging started up again. Camb was released from prison on licence in September 1959.

In 1967, he was sentenced to 2 years probation for indecently assaulting a young girl. Not long after, he was found guilty of indecently assaulting children, his licence was revoked, sending him back to prison to complete his life sentence.

He was released from prison in 1978 and died from heart failure in July 1979.

  


 

Don Jimmy

Time.com

Monday, Apr. 05, 1948

Whatever inner agonies had assailed 21-year-old Eileen Gibson, known as "Gay," they were forever resolved in the early morning of Oct. 18. Ninety miles off the coast of Portuguese Guinea, she was pushed through a porthole into the ocean —perhaps alive, perhaps dead—from a first-class cabin on "B" deck of the steamship Durban Castle. Eight days later, when the Durban Castle put into Southampton, detectives came aboard and arrested James Camb, a deck steward, for the murder of Eileen Gibson.

Five months to the day after Gay's disappearance, Camb went on trial for his life. He sat in the dock at the Hampshire Assizes in a shedlike courtroom of canvas and plywood, incongruous amidst stained glass and granite pillars, within the 13th Century Great Hall of Winchester Castle. Most of the space in the public gallery was occupied by fashionably dressed women, many of whom appeared daily at 5:30 a.m. to make sure of a seat. The press made much of this welcome diversion from the European crisis.

Eileen Gibson, an actress of sorts, had been playing Lorna, the prizefight manager's floozy in a South African production of Golden Boy. Some testified that she was something like Lorna in real life. Others testified that she was given to inexplicable bouts of hysteria and fainting; that she had said she was pregnant; that she had accepted her fare home and £350 from a nightclub owner.

And what of Camb? At 31 he was a self-assured rounder with a Lancashire accent and a high shine to his black hair. Shipmates called him "Don Jimmy." A married man, he had boasted of an affair a voyage; two girls had accused him of rape. Said a fellow steward: "Jimmy was always saying we were jealous of him."

At a dance on the last night of Gay's life the steward had murmured that he had half a mind to take a drink to her cabin. At 2 a.m. he did. When she had finished it, Camb said, "I climbed on the bed beside her. She raised no objection." Later, she fainted. Camb could not revive her. In a panic, he snaked her body through the porthole into the sea. It was never found.*

The Crown contended that the steward had strangled the girl and had disposed of the body to hide his crime.

Last week, after four days of hearing the evidence, 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury found the steward guilty of murder. Mr. Justice Hilbery donned the black cap. Did Camb have anything to say before he was sentenced? "My Lord," replied Camb coolly, "at the beginning of this case ... I pleaded not guilty. I repeat that statement now. That is all."

Mr. Justice Hilbery pronounced sentence of death on Don Jimmy.

* Many whodunit addicts think that a suspect cannot be held for murder unless there is a corpus delicti—"often used erroneously to designate the physical body of the victim of a murder" (Webster). Actually, corpus delicti is the "substantial and fundamental facts necessary to the commission of a crime." Britain's last murder-without-body was in 1934, when a poultry breeder, Thomas Joseph Davidson, drowned his eight-year-old son. He was sent to prison for life.

 
 

The porthole murder

By Paula Thompson - DailyEcho.co.uk

Thursday 10th January 2008

He was a handsome deck steward with a penchant for female passengers, she a glamorous actress with dreams of making it in London's West End.

Both were sailing aboard the Durban Castle from Capetown in October 1947 but only one would reach their destination.

When the ship docked in Southampton it was met by police officers, eager to search cabin 126 where actress Gay Gibson had mysteriously disappeared - and to question steward James Camb, suspected of killing the 21-year-old and pushing her body out of the porthole into the sharkinfested Atlantic Ocean.

Camb, 31, was a sexual predator who had attempted to seduce many female passengers.

Gay Gibson - real name Eileen Isabella Ronnie Gibson - had quickly caught his eye. The daughter of an English businessman, Gibson had always hankered after a life on the stage. She made a name for herself in South Africa playing the lead in The Man With a Load of Mischief opposite former British boxing champion Eric Boon but was keen for fame and fortune on a larger scale.

Missing Camb could not resist her and flaunted ship's regulations by being seen with her near her first class cabin on B deck. Even a ticking off from a senior officer failed to deter him.

On October 18 1947, when the liner was about 150 miles off the west coast of Africa, the striking actress was reported missing. The captain immediately turned the ship about but a desperate search of the water found no trace of the young woman. Gibson was last seen alive at 1am, leaning against a rail and smoking a cigarette, still wearing the black evening dress and shoes she had worn for dinner that sultry night in the tropics.

She told the night watchman it was "too hot down below" and she couldn't sleep. At 3am the same officer, James Murray, answered a call from her cabin and saw two lights on, indicating she had summoned both the steward and stewardess. Thinking this was strange, Murray tried to enter the cabin but his passage was blocked by Camb who opened the door a crack and assured him, "It's all right".

Assuming Camb was answering Gibson's call, Murray left. But his suspicions were aroused the next morning when Gibson failed to appear, and he reported the night's events to the captain.

Camb denied being in Cabin 126 that night but, when examined by the ship's surgeon, was found with scratches on his wrists and shoulders.

He claimed the wounds were self-inflicted, saying he had scratched himself in the night and rubbed himself with a rough towel. But when the ship docked in Southampton, Camb changed his story, claiming he and Gibson had enjoyed consensual sex but that she had suffered a sudden fit and died.

When he could not revive her, he claimed, he panicked and pushed her lifeless body through the porthole. But a second contradictory statement suggests Gibson may not have been dead when Camb threw her overboard.

"It was the hell of a splash when she hit the water," he supposedly told a witness the next day.

"She struggled, I had my hands around her neck and when I was trying to pull them away she scratched me. I panicked and threw her out of the porthole."

Camb was charged with Gibson's murder and on March 10 1948 his trial opened before Mr Justice Hilbury. An array of exhibits lay in front of the jury including a replica of Cabin 126 and - crucially - cabin linen smeared with Gibson's blood and saliva.

Camb confidently took the witness box but throughout his testimony he could never adequately explain why he had not summoned help and why he had disposed of the body. His defence began to unravel further when, under cross examination, he admitted he had changed his story no less than six times as a matter of self preservation.

"Don't you think that was curious conduct from a truthful person?" the barrister suggested.

"I should say it was beastly conduct," Camb admitted.

But it was one final piece of evidence which sealed Camb's fate. Dr Frederick Hocking discovered dried urine on the linen. He explained it was common for the bladder to discharge its contents during strangulation.

Camb was doomed and it took jurors just 45 minutes to find him guilty.

It may have been quicker had they known he had accosted three other women on three different trips, but the evidence had been deemed inadmissible.

Camb was sentenced to hang but cheated the gallows. At the time a no-hanging bill was being discussed by Parliament so his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

In September 1959 Camb was released on licence and got a job as a waiter. He kept out of trouble for several years but was eventually arrested for sexual offences against school girls and was sent back to prison for the remainder of his original sentence.

He was released in 1978, still protesting his innocence, and died a year later from heart failure.

Gay Gibson's body was never discovered.

 
 

Web of lies fails to save the porthole murderer

ThisIsHampshire.net

Wednesday 19th Mar 2003.

Khaki Roberts played the spider to James Camb's fly.

"Would you consider yourself an honest man?'' the eminent KC asked.

"I think so, sir,'' he replied.

It was the first question he posed under cross-examination - but was deadly. From that moment, Camb became inextricably trapped in the web of deceit.

It was an altogether different Camb who had first entered the dock at Winchester Assizes: confident, even jaunty as the indictment was read out, completely at odds with his extraordinary defence of how he had panicked and lost his head after his sexual conquest had virtually died in his arms.

The 31-year-old ship's steward stood accused of the murder of actress Eileen Isabella Ronnie Gibson, professionally known as Gay. The case made history as the infamous Porthole Murder in which the victim of his lust was never found, her grave the shark-infested warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Camb desired her and thought nothing of a little shipboard romance from the moment she stepped on board the Durban Castle which sailed from Capetown for Southampton. But did romance turn to rape?

Gay Gibson first came to prominence in South Africa but she decided to try her luck in London's West End, embarking on her fateful voyage on the Union Castle liner on October 10, 1947.

Camb could not resist her, even flaunting ship's regulations by being seen near her cabin. Even a ticking-off from a senior officer failed to deter him.

Gay Gibson was last seen alive at about 1am, leaning against a rail and smoking a cigarette. She told the night watchman it was "too hot down below" and she couldn't sleep.

At 3am, the same officer, James Murray, answered a call from her cabin and saw two lights on, indicating she had summoned both the steward and stewardess. Murray thought this was strange and tried to enter. But his way was blocked by Camb standing in the doorway, who assured him "It's all right.''

The following morning, Gay Gibson could not be traced and although the liner was turned around, a search proved fruitless. Murray reported his supicions to the captain.

Camb denied he had been in her room but when examined by the ship's surgeon, was found with scratches on his wrists and shoulders. He said they were self-inflicted, as he had repeatedly scratched himself because of the intense heat.

When the boat docked in Southampton, the police were waiting. Again he initially denied he had been in her room but then changed his story, saying they had enjoyed consensual sexual intercourse. She suffered a sudden fit and died. He panicked when he could not revive her and pushed her lifeless body through the porthole.

Camb was charged with murder and on March 18, 1948, his trial opened.

Camb confidently took the witness box but throughout his testimony he could never adequately explain why he had not summoned help and why he had disposed of her body, if there was an innocent explanation.

That defence began to unravel further when, under skilful cross-examination from the wily Roberts, he admitted he had changed his story no less than six times as a matter of self-preservation.

His callous demeanour did little to impress judge and jury and it was a defence expert who provided the crucial evidence against him. Dr Frederick Hocking discovered the presence of dried urine - missed by the Crown's pathogists - on the bed linen. He explained it was common for the bladder to discharge its contents during strangulation.

Camb was doomed and it took jurors a mere 45 minutes to find him guilty.

It may have been quicker had they known that he had accosted three other women on three different trips but the evidence had been deemed inadmissible.

Camb was sentenced to hang but cheated the gallows. At the time a no-hanging Bill was being discussed by Parliament and he had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

He was released on licence in September 1959. He kept out of trouble for several years but was eventually arrested for sexual offences against schoolgirls and was sent back to prison for the remainder of his sentence.

He was released from prison in 1978 and died a year later.

 
 

James Camb

The Porthole Murder

There are several famous tales of murder aboard ocean liners - two or three of them are linked to RMS Queen Mary (though, for various reasons, they are likely to be inventions rather than actual events). Another story  (possibly closer to the truth) is about  a certain Mr Poderjay who may have smuggled his dead wife aboard RMS Olympic in a trunk and disposed of her out of a porthole. A couple of decades later, another ship, another porthole and another body hit the headlines...but this time there could be no doubts about what really happened.

James Camb, a ship's steward on board the Union-Castle Line vessel Durban Castle which plied between South Africa and England, was a predator who had attempted to seduce many female pasengers. On one fateful voyage, attractive 21years old actress Gay Gibson caught his eye. She had recently appeared in a number of plays as part of her duties with the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. Gibson (‘Gay’ was a stage name - her real name was Eileen Isabella Ronnie Gibson) sailed for England from Cape Town in October, 1947; she occupied Cabin 126 on B deck - a First Class berth.

On the 18th of that month, when the liner was about 150 miles off the West Coast of Africa, she was reported missing. It was initially assumed that Gibson had fallen overboard; Captain Arthur Patey ordered the ship turned about. Despite desperate searches of the shark-infested waters, no trace of her was found.

Captain Patey conducted an investigation on board as Durban Castle continued to steam toward Southampton. Watchman Frederick Steer reported that the service bell of Cabin 126 had been pushed several times - as if frantically - at 2:58 am on 18th October and he had responded to the call. He stood outside the cabin and knocked.

Steer noticed that both lights (red and green bulbs positioned outside the cabin) were on - indicating that the occupant had called for both the steward and the stewardess. Usually passengers rang for only one or the other. The door opened a crack and the watchman caught a brief glimpse of a man in uniform - James Camb - who quickly closed the door and said through the grille of the door: "It's all right." Steer went back to his duties, assuming that Camb (whom he knew to be a steward) had answered the passenger’s call.

Camb flatly denied having been in Gay Gibson's cabin, insisting that Steer was mistaken. He drew suspicion, however, during the rest of the voyage by wearing a long sleeve jacket when short sleeve uniforms were commonly worn in that tropical zone. When asked to bare his arms, Camb revealed scratches which he claimed resulted from a tropical heat rash.

The Captain had promptly informed his chiefs at the Union Castle Line’s head office about the actress' disappearance. Scotland Yard’s Criminal Investigations Department relayed instructions: "...padlock and seal the cabin...disturb nothing...CID officers will come aboard at Cowes Roads."

When the ship the drew into the waters at Cowes Roads, off Southampton, police officers came aboard and quickly gathered information about Gay Gibson and James Camb. The actress had not had a happy experience in her most recent role, playing ‘Lorna’, a prizefight manager's morally-ambiguous girlfriend in Golden Boy, a South African production that paid very little in salary. Witnesses were later to state that Gay Gibson was, in real life, close to the role she had last played. She had proved to be an emotional actress subject to fits of hysteria and fainting. Before leaving South Africa, she had allegedly told a friend that she was pregnant. One account had it that she had accepted the fare of £350 for the voyage from a less-than-reputable nightclub owner.

Passengers attended a dance on the first night at sea; Gay Gibson was present, she danced with several male passengers and was noticed by Camb who remarked to another steward: "I have half a mind to take a drink to her cabin tonight."

This kind of remark was typical of the 31-year-old Camb who wore his black hair slicked back like some Latin lover from the 1920’s. He thought of himself as irresistible to young women - though they tended to find his Lancashire accent more amusing than arousing. To his shipmates, Camb was known as "Don Jimmy" - a notorious womaniser who, though married, boasted about having an affair with a female passenger on every voyage. Two women had accused him of rape in the past, but this did not lessen the ardour and efforts of Camb in approaching female passengers; he took great pride in attracting the prettiest women on each trip. Said one of his fellow stewards: "Jimmy was always saying that we were jealous of him."

Camb was brought before Detective Sergeant Quinlan who interrogated him slowly; telling him that if he had any explanation for Gay Gibson's disappearance, this was the time to volunteer such information. The steward then asked: "You mean that Miss Gibson might have died from a cause other than being murdered, she might have had a heart attack or something?" He said that Gay Gibson had invited him to her cabin that night and he had brought her a drink. She was wearing a nightgown with nothing on beneath it; she removed this garment and he climbed into bed with her. During sexual intercourse (Camb said), her body suddenly stiffened, then went limp. He climbed out of the bed and described how he saw that she was foaming brownish froth at the mouth and that only one eye appeared to be slightly open.

"I tried artificial respiration on her," Camb claimed. "While doing this, the night watchman knocked at the door and attempted to open it. I shut the door...I panicked. I did not want to be found in such a compromising position." He related how he went to the door of the cabin and told Steer that everything was "all right." When Steer went away, Camb returned to the actress on the bed, saying that he "could not find any sign of life...After a struggle with the limp body, I managed to lift her to the porthole and push her through."

In another police interrogation, Camb was quoted as saying that the body, upon hitting the water surface "made a helluva splash," thus revealing his cruel, indifferent attitude toward Gibson. In the first police interview aboard the Durban Castle, Camb expressed wonder at the service bells having been pushed. "I cannot offer any explanation as to how the bells came to be rung as I most definitely did not touch them myself." He admitted lying to the Captain about being in the actress' cabin, stating he had decided to tell the truth later. "I realised," Camb admitted, "that I was definitely incriminated by the witness Steer."

On 29th March, 1948, Camb was tried for murdering Gay Gibson before Justice Hilbery at the Winchester Asizzes, prosecuted by G.D. Roberts and defended by J.D. Casswell. His defence was a feeble one. He had already admitted shoving the body of Gay Gibson through a porthole for a lonely burial at sea. Camb undoubtedly and mistakenly thought that by getting rid of the body, he would be getting rid of the evidence of his crime, and that conviction was not possible without the presence of a body.

This, of course, was not the case; the previous murder-without-a-body case in England was that of Thomas Joseph Davidson who was convicted of drowning his 8-year-old son in 1934 and who had been sent to prison for life for the murder. In 1949, John George Haigh - The Acid Bath Murderer - was convicted despite his belief that no jury could find him guilty because he had dissolved his victims in sulphuric acid.  

But there was evidence against Camb. The scratch marks on his arms had been examined by the ship's physician, Dr. Griffiths, after Captain Patey had ordered the steward to submit to a medical examination. Griffiths testified that he found these marks on Camb's shoulders and wrists and these scratches, in his opinion, had been made by a woman defending herself, not by someone undergoing some sort of seizure. Stains on the pillow in the cabin were examined by Dr. Donald Teare, a well-known pathologist and he testified that these were bloodstains. The blood was Type O. Since Camb's blood was Type A, it could be assumed that this was blood from Gay Gibson's body, not Camb's. Dr. Teare stated that these stains, along with emissions of urine could be expected from one who had been strangled to death, emissions that would not stem from someone having a heart attack. Ironically, Dr. Frederick Hocking, a defense witness, reported that, indeed, urine stains had been found on the sheets of Gay Gibson's bed.

Camb was caught in a number of untruths. He insisted that the actress had been wearing only a flimsy yellow nightgown with no undergarments when she lured him into her room. Yet Gay Gibson's black pajamas which she was known to have packed and taken with her on the sea voyage, were missing and it was concluded that she had been wearing these when Camb pushed her through the porthole which further suggested that she had not invited the steward to have sex with her.

The prosecution insisted that Camb had invented the story of being invited into the cabin; that he arrived at the actress' door under the pretext of delivering a drink to her and once she opened her door he forced his way inside and tried to rape her. She had fought back furiously, scratching his arms and wrists and he strangled her. Somehow, during the struggle, Gibson had managed to press the service buttons and this brought Steer to Cabin 126. By the time he arrived Camb had just finished murdering the actress and pretended that nothing was amiss when he sent away the watchman. Some writers have suggested that the watchman Steer, though he knew that Camb was in the cabin, did not ask to see Gibson, the legitimate occupant, since he was accustomed the steward's numerous "shipboard romances".

Several people acquainted with Gay Gibson were brought from South Africa to testify for the Defence. Mike Abel, an actor who'd worked with Gay Gibson, swore that she had fainting fits five times in his presence. Henry Gilbert - the actor-producer - and his wife Dr Ina Schoub (who had seen her in her medical capacity) also stated that she suffered from a number of complaints - including Asthma. All three described Gibson as neurotic and sexually-active. The Defence evidently wished to make Camb's story of accidental death sound more plausible by attacking the dead girl's moral standards. 

The steward's own admission that he had callously shoved the victim's body through a porthole worked against him, along with the impressive forensic evidence provided by the prosecution. After four days of trial and following a forty-five-minute deliberation, the jury found Camb Guilty of murdering Gay Gibson. The steward, who had posed like a peacock in the dock, was stunned at the decision. Before sentence was passed by Justice Hilbery, he was asked if he had anything to say. He replied in a quavering voice: "My Lord, at the beginning of this case...I pleaded not guilty. I repeat that statement now. That is all." He was then sentenced to death.

His attorneys filed an appeal and while this was being considered, the House of Commons added an amendment to the new Criminal Justice Bill then before Parliament, one which would abolish capital punishment. The Home Secretary, while this bill was still being debated in the House of Lords (which later rejected it), decided to commute all capital sentences still pending to life terms and Camb was one of the condemned who cheated the hangman due to this briefly-open legal loophole.

It was after this commutation that several women came forward to tell how Camb had sexually attacked them on previous voyages of the Durban Castle, two of them claiming they had been raped. Another woman said that she had been attacked on deck by Camb who dragged her into a tool room where she fought desperately as he tried to strip her clothes away. He had lost patience and strangled her. She passed out, she claimed, and when she regained consciousness, she said that Camb was standing over her, grinning.

Camb was paroled in 1959; he changed his name to Clarke and was working as a head waiter in May 1967 when he was convicted of sexually attacking a 13-year-old girl. He was, incredible as it may seem, merely placed on a two-year period of probation. He later went to Scotland where he worked once more as a head waiter in a restaurant. A short time later he was charged with sexual misconduct with three schoolgirls; this time Camb's parole was revoked and he was returned to prison to serve out a life term.

Bedlam Asylum Crime Files

 
 

Murder Ahoy!

On 18th March 1948, James Camb, a 31 year old ship’s steward, married with one daughter, stood trial for murder at Winchester Assizes.  What made the case unusual was the absence of a corpse.  What made the case unique was the allegation that Camb had disposed of the body through the ship’s porthole.

It was about eleven o’clock on a fine, tropical evening, somewhere in the shark infested waters off the West African Coast.  The Durban Castle, a passenger vessel of the Union Castle line, steamed its way from Capetown towards the docks at Southampton.  The ship was carrying only half its complement of passengers, most of which were of an elderly disposition.  One exception was Eileen Gibson, a small -time actress travelling under her stage name of Gay Gibson.  An attractive, twenty-one year old,  she was returning to London after a brief flirtation with South Africa, to try her luck in the West End.  A wealthy patron had put up the fare for her first class cabin, cabin 126 situated on the port side of B deck.

It was outside this cabin, as she turned from closing the door, that she almost bumped into James Camb, a deck steward, who had appeared, unseen behind her.  “Excuse me… oh, hello its you,” she said, recognising Camb as the steward who had flirted with her earlier that day.  Not that she minded.  A good-looking, young man was a welcome change, although his slicked back hairstyle was perhaps a little overdone.  She smiled as he spoke to her.

“Good evening Miss Gibson.  Going up on deck again?” His eyes frankly admired the black evening dress she was wearing and the figure beneath it.

“Yes.  It’s so hot down here I thought I might go swimming, but I can’t find my swimsuit.  So  I’ll just have a stroll on deck instead.  By the way, you said you had a bone to pick with me?”

“That’s right, a very big bone,” replied James with a laugh. “You didn’t use your supper tray last night, nor your tea tray this afternoon.”

“Oh, is that all.  Well, you know how it is, sometimes you don’t feel like drinking alone.”

“In that case I’ve a good mind to bring down a drink later, when I come off duty.”

“Please yourself – it’s up to you,” she said, leaving him wondering as she headed up the stairs.

Some two hours later, at one o’clock in the morning, Mr Conway, the Bosun’s mate, was on the after deck with his night work party when he saw Gay Gibson leaning against the rail,  smoking a cigarette.  He noticed she was still wearing her black evening dress. 

“Good evening Miss,” said Conway, “I’m afraid I’ll have to disturb you.  We’re about to wash the deck and you’ll get wet if you stay there.”

“Thanks for the warning.  It was hot down below but I may as well go back now.”

Just before three o’clock the bell rang a number of times in the night-watchman’s cabin, and his assistant, Frederick Steer was sent to investigate.  Both indicator lights outside cabin 126 were lit, denoting that both the steward and stewardess had been summoned.  This was most unusual, for normally a passenger would only require the attention of one or the other.  He knocked and tried to enter.  The door opened only a short way before being abruptly shut, but not before Steer had seen James Camb, wearing a sleeveless vest and holding up his trousers.  As the door was closing,  he heard Camb say, “It’s all right.” 

Steer reported back to the senior night-watchman and together they returned to cabin 126 where they spent some time listening at the door.  Hearing nothing, they left, but felt it their duty to report the incident to the officer on watch.  Not wishing to get a fellow-officer into trouble they did not name the steward involved.  Not that the officer was concerned.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.  “If a passenger chooses to entertain someone in their cabin at this hour, that’s their affair.  We’re not responsible for their morals.” He might have felt differently had he known Camb was involved, for twice previously passengers had accused him of attempted rape.

At seven thirty, when the stewardess knocked on the door of cabin 126, the room was empty.  At first she thought Gibson had gone to the bathroom, and it wasn’t until later that she reported her missing.  Despite a thorough search, no trace of Gibson was found and though the ship did put back it soon became apparent that searching for a body in that vast expanse of water was futile.  The police were notified and they came on board as soon as the ship docked at Southampton.   Following their investigations, James Camb was charged with murder.  Mr Justice Hilbery presided over a court which heard conflicting accounts of the incident.

The Case for the Prosecution 

James Camb knocked on the door of cabin 126, a glass of brandy in one hand.  The sleepy voice of Gay Gibson called out to him.  “Who’s there?”

“I’ve bought you a brandy, Miss,” replied James Camb.

“Just a minute.”   Her pyjama-clad figure opened the door to take the drink from him.  Suddenly he pushed her backwards, closing the door behind him.

“The brandy can wait,” smirked James Camb, “Other things take precedence.”

“What do you mean?” asked Gibson, backing away from him.  “Get out of my cabin.”

“You must be joking,” Camb replied, as he leapt at her, forcing her down onto her bed.  He loosened his trousers before climbing on top of her.  As he ripped at her clothing she pressed desperately on the bells above her head, before frantically clawing and scratching at him.  Realising help had been summoned, Camb stood up off the bed and, placing his fingers round her throat, strangled the life out of her.  To hide the evidence of his murderous assault, he threw her body out of the porthole.  It was then that Steer, the assistant night-watchman knocked on the door.

The Case for the Defence

James Camb knocked on the door of cabin 126, a glass of brandy in one hand.   The wide awake voice of Gay Gibson called out to him.  “Come in.  What kept you?  I thought you were never coming.”  Although she had on a flimsy yellow dressing gown, he could see she wasn’t wearing pyjamas.  She said, “Put that drink down, I’ll have it later.”

“Give me a kiss,” demanded Camb as he climbed on the bed.  He unfastened her dressing gown and was delighted to find her naked underneath.   Quickly he removed his shirt and trousers.

She sighed as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her.  As their lovemaking intensified suddenly he felt her heave beneath him and start gasping for breath.  Her body stiffened for a fraction of a second and then relaxed completely.  He immediately stood up off the bed and  saw at once her mouth was ringed with blood-flecked foam.   One eye was just slightly open.  He tried to revive her but to no avail.  She was dead.  He panicked and threw the body out of the porthole.  It was then that Steer, the assistant night-watchman knocked on the door.

Further Evidence

Found in Gibson’s belongings was a contraceptive device, a version of the Dutch Cap.  The jury was invited to believe that as the appliance was not used, she did not intend for sex to take place.  In rebuttal, the defence produced witnesses who claimed Gibson, though sexually experienced, was naive in such matters and may have decided not to use it. 

The defence produced a number of witnesses purporting to show Gibson suffered from a number of ailments, including asthma and fainting fits, which might have caused her death. 

Crucial to the case was forensic examination of the sheets on Gibson’s bed.  This revealed the presence of stains that proved to be lipstick, dried blood and urine.  The blood group was identified as Type O, whereas Camb’s was Type A.  It was therefore accepted  the blood came from Gibson’s body.  The presence of urine stains was shown to be consistent with death by strangulation but not by heart attack.  Moreover, if Camb had been in the process of making love to Miss Gibson in the manner he described, the urine would have been ejected over him and not over the bed.  The supposition was that at the time of death Camb was not on the bed at all, but standing over the body.  Nobody seems to have questioned why Miss Gibson should have been wearing lipstick at three in the morning unless she was expecting someone.

Verdict

Camb’s arrogant approach and callous attitude towards the events counted against him, the jury taking only three quarters of an hour to find him guilty.  Asked by the judge if he had anything to say before sentence he replied, “My Lord, at the beginning of the case I pleaded not guilty.  I repeat that statement now.  That is all.”  He was sentenced to be hanged. 

Postscript 

Camb in fact escaped execution.  Whilst waiting for his appeal to be heard, an amendment to the Criminal Justice Act was passed, suspending the death penalty for five years.  Although this was later to be rejected by the House Of Lords, in the interim the Home Secretary commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment.  Camb was released from prison on parole in 1959, but in 1967 he was convicted of sexually assaulting a thirteen year old girl for which he was put on probation.  Shortly after, he faced a charge of sexual misconduct with three schoolgirls and he was sent back to prison to serve out his life sentence.  James Camb died of heart disease in 1979, aged 62, a man broken by his prison experience.  To the end he maintained his innocence of the muder of Gay Gibson.

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