The 'true crime' story of Walter Rowland who was twice sentenced to death
The discovery of 40-year-old Olive Balchin's body in a bomb site in central Manchester sent shockwaves through the city. The brutal and highly publicised murder led police to suspect Walter Graham Rowland, a labourer from the Midlands.
Olive Balchin's life was shrouded in mystery, with the M.E.N. revealing she had used four different names and possessed two separate identity cards. Despite her Manchester residence, Olive was also known in Birmingham and described in an archaic term as a 'spinster'.Raised by foster parents in a vicarage, before her death Olive turned down an offer from her foster brother, a Christian missionary, to live with him.
'Strangled his two-year-old daughter' Originally from Mellor, now part of Greater Manchester, 38-year-old labourer Rowland had a significant criminal record. He had previously been charged and convicted of wilful murder in May 1934, having strangled his two-year-old daughter Mavis with a stocking. Although he avoided the gallows, Rowland's fate was converted to life in penal servitude; he was condemned to spend his remaining years engaged in hard labour. While some inmates' work was potentially valuable – like manufacturing fishing nets or postal bags – it was far more probable that Rowland faced punishing, fruitless tasks such as turning the crank machine or performing the notorious shot drill.
Olive's distinctive grey hairs were also found on Rowland's overcoat, although no bloodstains were found on his clothes. The evidence seemed stacked against Rowland, but the defence had its own arguments to present. He was held at Strangeways Prison awaiting execution. The labourer planned to appeal his sentence, preparing to challenge the death penalty for the second time in 12 years.
'Worthwhile being hung to be a hero' Each one was reported on by the M.E.N. as anticipation built for Rowland's appeal. Then, on January 26, something extraordinary occurred. 'What can happen to a man through mistaken identity' Furthermore, no forensic evidence linking Ware to the crime scene led to the decision to reject Rowland's appeal. Rowlands maintained his innocence until the end, penning letters to the prosecution warning them that he would haunt them.
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