Introduction

Gunter Podola was the last person executed in this country for the murder of a policeman. Such a crime was a capital offence under The Homicide Act 1957. During the period 1900 and 1975, 33 men serving with London's Metropolitan Police were murdered on duty.

Gunter Fritz Erwin Podola was born on 8 February 1929 in the Templehof area of Berlin. His Mother, Elizabeth, died in Berlin on 12 February 1955 at the age of 62. His Father, a barber by trade, was killed fighting with the German army on the Russian Front during World War Two. Podola grew up in the working class district around Alexander Square, Berlin. Although he was too young to fight in the war, Podola was known to be a fanatical member of the Hitler Youth movement.

Podola's Life in Canada

On 17 June 1952, Podola applied at The Allied Travel Office in West Berlin to travel to Canada. After obtaining his Canadian Immigrant’s Visa on 4 July 1952, Podola arrives at Halifax, Canada, on 14 August 1952.

• August to October 1952 - Podola worked as a general labourer at the Mount Gabriel Club, Quebec.

• October 1952 to May 1953 - Farm labourer for Mr. McArthur Kelly, Huntingdon, Quebec.

• May to July 1953 - Auto Mechanic with Messrs. Budd & Dyer, Montreal.

• July to October 1953 - Shipping Labourer with St. Lawrence Warehouse, Montreal.

• October 1953 to May 1954 - Welder with Canadair, Montreal.

• May to October 1954 - Delivery man with Messrs. Photographs Ltd, Montreal.

• October 1954 to March 1956 - Shipper with Messrs. Segals Regd, Montreal.

• March to June 1956 - Shipper with Messrs. Molly Clare Lingerie, Montreal.

• June to October 1956 - Shipper with Messrs, Popular Gowns, Montreal.

Podola was sentenced to 10 days’ imprisonment. following a conviction for theft by house-breaking in Montreal on 1 March 1957. This was quickly followed by a conviction on 26 March 1957 at Montreal, for 11 counts of theft & house-breaking. On this occasion Podola was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment. On 25 July 1958, Podola was released from prison and deported back to West Germany.

Podola arrives in England

On 4 August 1958, Podola arrives back in West Germany. He lives in Gerlingen and Stuggart working as an unskilled labourer.

On 21 May 1959, Podola flies from Dusseldorf to London Airport. He spends his time unemployed, staying in various hotels in the Kensington area of London.

On 13 July 1959, Podola was in a telephone box by South Kensington Tube Station, attempting to blackmail a Mrs. Schiffman. She had already warned the police about Podola’s previous blackmail attempts. Detective Sergeants Purdy and Sandford went to the phone box and arrested Podola. As they were walking to the police car, Podola escaped and ran into the hall of a block of flats in Onslow Square, Kensington, where he was re-captured. Detective Sergeant Sandford went to get the Police Car, leaving Detective Sergeant Purdy guarding Podola in the hall of the flats. While Detective Sergeant Purdy was distracted, Podola pulled out an automatic pistol and shot Purdy in the heart. Detective Sergeant Purdy, aged 43, died almost immediately, and Podola escaped.

On 16 July 1959, after several enquires in the Kensington area, Police were led to a hotel in Queen’s Gate, South Kensington. The Police charged into Podola’s room, were there was a scuffle, during which Podola was knocked over. After being arrested, Podola was taken to Chelsea Police Station. At the Police Station, Podola seemed to be shocked and appeared to be fainting. He was then taken under guard to St. Stephen’s Hospital, Fulham Road. The automatic pistol which killed Purdy was found in the hotel’s attic.

Podola’s trial commences

At the Central Criminal Court, London, on 18 July 1959, the trail of Podola for the capital murder of Detective Sergeant Purdy took place before Mr. Justice Edmund Davies, with the Prosecution led by Mr Maxwell Turner and Podola represented by Mr Frederick Lawton.

The defence attempted to prove that the defendant was not fit to plead, through his loss of memory of events prior to the 13th caused by the scuffle during his arrest. If the jury decided that Podola’s loss of memory was genuine, then the judge would rule on whether the loss of memory constituted being unfit to plead. After 3½ hours, the jury decided that the loss of memory was faked.

The next day, 19 July 1959, Podola’s trial began before the same judge, but a fresh jury. Podola’s counsel stated that he been unable to get any instructions from his client. So he confined himself to testing the prosecution’s evidence. He suggested that the automatic pistol had gone off accidentally as Podola handed the gun to Purdy. Mr. Nickolls of the Metropolitan Police Forensic Laboratory gave evidence which eliminated this theory.

In his evidence from the dock, Podola stated that he could make no defence as he could not remember the alleged crime itself or the circumstances leading up to it. After an absence of just 35 minutes, the jury found Podola guilty of capital murder, and Mr. Justice Edmund Davies sentenced Podola to death.

Appeal and Execution

Although Podola did not appeal his conviction, the Home Secretary referred the case to the Court of Criminal Appeal under section 19(a) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1907 for consideration of the question whether the onus of proof of unfitness (or fitness) to plead rests on the prosecution or defence.

On 15 October 1959, The Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the appeal, reserving its judgement for a later date. Podola’s request for an Attorney-General’s Fiat was rejected.

The Home Secretary then established a Medical Committee, which consisted of Drs. Snell, Mather and Pearce, to examine Podola’s mental condition. They reported unanimously that Podola’s amnesia had been faked, and theyhad no medial recommendation to make.

Podola then claimed that his memory had recovered and that he had been house-breaking at the time of the murder. He also claimed that he had a "double" called Bob Levine. This was investigated by the police, but they did not find any such character, neither here nor in Canada.

On 20 October 1959, the Court of Criminal Appeal announces its judgement in the Podola Case. It basically states that Podola’s trail was fair and just.

On the 2 November 1959, The Home Secretary then decided that the law should take its course.

On 5 November 1959, Podola was hanged at Wandsworth Prison. Later that day, after the Inquest, Podola was buried in the prison graveyard (grave 59).

Cop-Killer Executed

TrueCrimeLibrary.com

Guenther Podola was a burglar with a difference. Not content with the £2,000-worth of furs and jewellery he stole from Mrs. Verne Schiffman’s South Kensington flat, he then had the nerve to phone her. Posing as a private detective, he claimed he had photos and tape-recordings placing her in a compromising situation, and he tried to blackmail her, demanding £500.

She informed the police, and they tapped her phone. “Next time he calls,” detectives told her, “keep him talking. We’ll see if we can trace where he’s phoning from.”

When the blackmailer rang again on July 13th, 1959, his call was traced to a South Kensington kiosk where he was arrested by two detectives. He broke free and made a dash for it, but was recaptured shortly afterwards when he was cornered on a window-sill in the hallway of a block of flats.

One of the detectives went to phone for a patrol car, leaving his colleague Detective Sergeant Raymond Purdy guarding the prisoner. Seconds later the man produced a gun, shot Purdy dead and escaped.

The police knew neither who he was nor where he had gone. But they had a clue, provided by Purdy’s widow. When her husband’s personal possessions were returned to her she found a small notebook among them which wasn’t his. She handed it back to his colleagues, who realised that Purdy must have taken it from the wanted man.

The notebook was full of phone numbers. Calling them, detectives learned that Purdy’s killer was a German who had spent time in Canada. A palm-print had been found on the window-sill where he was cornered, and a copy of it was sent to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They reported that it belonged to Guenther Podola, who had been deported as an undesirable alien, and they also supplied Scotland Yard with his photograph.

Then the manager of a South Kensington hotel reported that a Paul Camay of Montreal had booked in on June 25th, but since July 13th — the day of the shooting — he had not left his room. Shown the photo of Podola, the manager said, “That’s Paul Camay — he’s in Room Fifteen.”

Arrested and charged with Purdy’s murder, Podola had a novel defence when he appeared at the Old Bailey. His counsel Mr. Frederick Lawton QC told the court: “I rise at the very outset of this case because this case is not a usual case at all. It has one very, very unusual feature. I stand here today, my learned friend by my side, Podola’s solicitor in front of me, and the three of us have no idea what his defence is at all. We have no idea whether he wishes to say the witnesses for the prosecution are mistaken, inaccurate or lying; no idea whether he wishes to say the gun was discharged accidentally.

“We have no idea whether he wishes to say he was provoked, and we have no information about his past. This is because he has been unable to give us any instructions, unable to tell us because he has lost his memory. And the consequences, members of the jury, of losing his memory are that he is unable to defend himself.”

Police who arrested him had broken down Podola’s door, knocking him over, and he had been taken to hospital apparently semi-conscious. On recovering he claimed he could remember nothing.

The court heard from four doctors who thought he was afflicted by amnesia, and two who believed he was faking. But the prosecution claimed he had given himself away in a letter written while he was on remand, and Purdy’s partner Detective Sergeant John Sandford testified that he had seen the shooting. Moreover, the fatal bullet was proved to have been fired from a gun found among Podola’s possessions.

Nevertheless, Podola told the jury: “I cannot put forward any defence. The reason for this is that I have lost my memory of all these events. I cannot remember the crime. I do not remember the circumstances leading up to the events or to this shooting. I do not know if I did it or whether it was an accident or an act of self-defence. I do not know if at that time I realised the man was in fact a detective. I do not know in fact whether I was provoked in any way. For these reasons I am unable to admit or deny the charge against me.”

Unimpressed, the jury retired for only 30 minutes before returning to find him guilty, and he was sentenced to death. The Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that loss of memory does not constitute unfitness to plead, and Podola was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on NOVEMBER 5th, 1959.

Podola was born in Berlin on 8 February 1929. He was the only child living in difficult times. His father was a banker who died in 1943 at Stalingrad and his mother was raped by Russian soldiers during the fall of Berlin. He escaped to the West in 1952, abandoning a woman with whom his was living, and his son. Podola moved on to Canada but was deported back to West Germany, in July 1958, after being jailed for theft and burglary. In May 1959 he moved to London and became a gangster. He changed his name and was known as Mike Colato.

On 3 July Podola burgled the Rowland Gardens, South Kensington, flat of Mrs Verne Schiffman. She was a 30-year-old model who was in London on holiday. Podola's haul from the burglary included jewellery and some furs with a total value of about £2,000 which was a lot of money. Posing as an American private investigator named Levine, Podola wrote to Mrs Schiffman offering to return some compromising photos and tapes, that he said he had, for £500.

Mrs Schiffman received the letter on 7 July and, having nothing to fear from the blackmail threats, informed the police. Podola, posing as Mr Fisher who, he said, was acting on behalf of Levine, rang Mrs Schiffman on 12 July and wanted to know her reply to the offer. She informed the police and they placed a tap on her telephone.

When Podola called again at about 3.30pm the next day everything was in place to catch him. Mrs Schiffman managed to keep Podola talking while the call was traced. It was made from a telephone kiosk at South Kensington underground station. Mrs Schiffman was still talking to the man when she heard him say 'Hey, what do you want?' After the sounds of a scuffle a man came on the line and said to her, 'This is Detective Sergeant Purdy. Remember my name.'

Raymond Purdy, and his colleague Detective Sergeant John Sandford, had been alerted to the situation and driven to South Kensington from Chelsea police station. They had apprehended Podola at the station and, as they emerged into the street, Podola broke free. He ran into a block of flats at 105 Onslow Square and tried to hide behind a pillar in the hall. He was soon spotted and recaptured.

Purdy told the man to sit on a window ledge, which he did. DS Sandford went to summon assistance from the caretaker of the flats. He was unable to find the man and called out to Purdy to tell him. His call distracted the detective and Podola, taking advantage of the policeman's loss of attention, drew a gun, a 9mm FB Radom V15, shot Purdy in the heart and fled. Identification was not difficult as Podola had left his fingerprints in the hall of the building.

A couple of days later the manager of the Claremont House Hotel, Kensington, informed the police that one of his guests, Paul Camay, was behaving strangely and seemed to be hiding. The manager identified Podola and Camay as the same man from photos taken by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the time of his deportation.

At 3.45 that afternoon, Thursday 16 July, police hammered on the door of the room Podola was hiding in and shouted for him to open the door. Police heard a clicking noise, like the sound of a gun cocking though it was probably Podola removing the key to look through the keyhole, and sixteen stone DS Chambers charged the door. The door burst open, the handle struck Podola in the eye and Chambers landed on top of him. He was quickly overpowered and he was removed to Chelsea police station.

He was examined by the police surgeon who described him as 'dazed, frightened and exhausted.' The following day he was removed to St Stephen's Hospital where he seemed only vaguely aware of his surroundings.

His medical trial opened at the Old Bailey on 10 September 1959 and over the next nine days the jury heard submissions that Podola was suffering from amnesia as a result of the injuries he sustained during his arrest and could not, therefore, present a coherent defence. The jury concluded that Podola was not suffering from a genuine loss of memory and that he should stand trial for Purdy's murder.

The second trial, on a charge of capital murder, began on 24 September and lasted two days. The jury took half an hour to find him guilty and he was sentenced to death. Podola was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on 5 November 1959. Podola became the last man to be executed in Britain for the killing of a policeman.

Real-Crime.co.uk

Verdict on Podola

Time.com

Monday, Oct. 05, 1959

For nine days the murder trial of Berlin-born Gunther Fritz Podola, 30, was postponed while a London jury considered a plea the like of which had never before been heard in an English court of law. The plea: in "the very severe fright" caused by the violence of his arrest, Podola had lost his memory, and so was unfit to plead to the charge of shooting a London cop. Last week, after a procession of experts had offered conflicting medical opinion on whether Podola was, in fact, suffering from "hysterical amnesia," the jury finally decided that he was fit to stand trial.

Next day, when the full trial finally got under way, Podola coolly persisted in his disclaimer: "I do not remember the crime for which I stand accused ... I am unable to answer the charges." The jury spent only 38 minutes in arriving at a verdict of guilty. Covering his wig with the dread black cap, Judge Edmund Davies slowly told Podola: "You have been convicted on evidence of the most compelling character and certainty of the capital murder* of a police officer by shooting him down in the prime of his manhood. For that foul and terrible deed but one sentence is prescribed, and that I now pronounce."

Before anyone else in the courtroom could move, Gunther Podola turned calmly away and stepped quickly and surely down the steps from the dock to the cells below. Faithful to the last to his profession of emotional shock and indifference, he showed no sign of realizing that he had just been sentenced to die on the gallows.