case 4

Hey, guys. I hope this post finds everyone well. I'm sorry for the lack of a post this week, but with the holidays and work, it was just too much to swing. I have an interesting one for you today though. enjoy!
Stay curious,
Dahlia

Who Put Bella Down the Wych Elm?

Location: Hagley Woods, England (Worcestershire)

Date: April 18, 1943

Victim: unidentified female approx. 35-40 years old

Details:

                A war was raging. A World War. In April of 1943, four teenage boys stumbled upon a scene that they would never forget. After climbing an old elm tree and peering inside, one boy saw a human skull. Though the boys swore an oath never to tell of what they found, the youngest among them couldn’t clear it from his conscience. After telling his father, the police were contacted, and further remains were found in the tree.

Crime scene & evidence:

                Deep within the heart of the tree, skeletal remains of an adult woman were found. James Webster, a pathologist, concluded the remains were of a woman approximately 35-40 years old who had been dead for 18 months and had been placed in the tree shortly after her death. He concluded that her cause of death was asphyxiation, as was evidenced by the piece of cloth stuffed down her throat. One hand of the victim was not located with the body. It was instead spread out around the base of the tree, having turned to a skeletal form as well. Found with the remains were label-less clothes, well-worn shoes, and a gold wedding ring. The body itself yielded the most clues, though they turned out to be fruitless. The woman would have been small with mousy hair and messed up front teeth. She would have only been around five feet tall. She also had given birth at some point. Police contacted countless dentists, hoping to identify her by her distinctive teeth. They had no luck. And then the graffiti started.

Who Put Bella Down the Wych Elm?:

                The famous question, “Who put Bella down the wych elm?” began appearing everywhere. Seemingly a cry for attention to the case, police chased the lead; arriving at a dead end. The original graffiti labelled the victim as “Luebella”, which led the police to believe that someone who knew intimate details of the case was the one posting the graffiti. The artist was never found.

Theories:

                An early theory posed that Bella had been killed ass a sacrifice to the Black Arts. And it was a popular theory for a long time, seemingly supported by the removal of Bella’s hand, which was believed to be a black magic ritual.

                Another popular theory is that Bella was a Nazi spy (or at the very least, associated with one), and she’d been murdered because of her dangerous ties. This theory was proposed by a woman who called herself Anna in a letter she sent to a journalist; Wilfred Byford-Jones. The letter is quoted as saying, “Finish your articles re the Wych Elm crime by all means. They are interesting to your readers, but you will never solve the mystery. The one person who could give the answer is now beyond the jurisdiction of the earthly courts. The affair is closed and involves no witches, black magic or moonlight rites…” The famous “Anna” eventually revealed herself to be Una Mossop. Mossop claimed her husband had been a paid informant for the Nazis and witnessed Bella’s death. He claimed to then have helped put her in the tree. Apparently, Mossop’s husband was so disturbed by the events that he was institutionalized in 1941 for horrible flashbacks. All of Una’s account was never confirmed by authorities. However, 15 years later, Donald McCormick built on this theory by claiming to have obtained evidence from German military information. McCormick claimed that a Nazi agent had lived in the area at the time. The agent, Lehrer, had a girlfriend named Clarabella Dronkers, who lived not far from Hagley Woods. Apparently, Clarabella was close to 30 years old and had crooked teeth, like Bella. Interestingly enough, a spy by the name of Johannes Marinus Dronkers was captured and executed in 1942. A relation to Bella is possible. However, I’d like to remind you that stories like this one are sensationalized so much that much of what people pass off as “fact” should be taken with a grain of salt. While it’s entirely possible that Bella could have been Clarabella Dronkers, a spy herself, or associated with one, it is also possible that she was not.

                Out of these two theories, the spy theory is more believable to me. That does not mean; however, that I’m going to jump on the spy bandwagon. Obviously, there is only so much about each of these theories that I could get into in one post, so I encourage you to look into it further, as the theories tend to go pretty deep, especially the spy angle.

                Spy or not. Innocent or guilty. Nazi or Ally. Bella was a human being. She deserves justice. And I hope that one day she gets it.

References:

www.independent.co.uk

https://theunredacted.com

Additional resources:

Cayleigh Elise- Nameless # 3- “Who Put Bella Down the Wych Elm?”- YouTube