The McKenzie Murder
| Author | T. H. Spencely |
| Published date | 01 July 1934 |
| Date | 01 July 1934 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3400700304 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The McKenzie
Murder
By
T.
H.
SPENCELY
Liverpool
City
Police
BROWN LOW Street is situated in a drab slum area in the
heart of the city of Liverpool. When built at the close of
the rSth century the houses were good-class residential pro-
perty-three-storey
cellar-kitchen
houses-but
to-day most
of them are poor-class apartment houses, many of ill-repute.
Generally speaking, the tenants occupy the basement quarters
and live on the proceeds of sub-letting.
No.
14
Brownlow Street is occupied by Mary Pannell.
The
house, like others in the street, consists of a kitchen and
scullery in the basement, two rooms on the ground floor
furnished and used as bedrooms, two bedrooms on the first
and again two bedrooms on the second floor. Pannell uses
the kitchen in the basement and reserves the top front bed-
room for her own use.
The
rest of the rooms she sub-lets.
At the beginning of May,
1921,
the back room on the
ground floor became vacant and was advertised in the local
press, with the result
that
the room was let at ten shillings
per
week to a man who stated he was called John Brown, a traveller
in woollen and cotton goods.
When Brown arrived at the house he brought no luggage
with him.
He
was a middle-aged man with two peculiarities,
a large ragged brown moustache and aslight foreign accent.
His room was furnished simply and contained a bed, table, a
couple of chairs and a few other necessities.
He
was supplied
with a key for the door of his room, though during the day he
left the door unlocked in order
that
Pannell might enter to
s
~3
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