Murder of Harry Baker

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Harry Baker (1897 – 6? June 1958) was a 61-year-old British credit draper whose murder led to one of the biggest manhunts Merseyside has ever known. His murder in 1958 remains unsolved.[1]

Background information[]

Baker was last seen alive on Friday 6 June 1958. The 61-year-old Jewish credit draper had made his way from his home in Southport to Bootle, as he did every Friday call on his housewife customers in the town. The mild-mannered Harry, a "perky little sparrow" as one man described him, the 'club man' who never pushed his customers hard if they could not pay, had made about 50 calls on customers in the Bootle area during that morning. He had 63 other calls to make in Bootle and the adjoining north Liverpool district that day. Then he vanished, apparently into thin air.[2]

His last confirmed sighting was at 1.45pm when witnesses saw him talking to an unidentified thin-faced man at the number 23 bus stop on Strand Road, Bootle. It is unclear if he boarded the bus into Liverpool, as some eyewitness reports suggest he may have stopped off in one of the city's cafes for a quick lunch, as he had work in the north of the city. There were unconfirmed reports that the clubman had been seen walking along rather morosely with his head bowed near the Pier Head.[3]

Murder[]

On 23 June, seventeen days after he vanished, Baker's body was found, amid pink and purple rhododendrons, wrapped in two sacks on a plantation off the main A50 trunk road at High Legh, near Knutsford, Cheshire.[1] He had been beaten and strangled. The police ascertained the body had been there at least two weeks. Missing from his person were £25 (£484 in today's money), two watches, and a fountain pen, which were unaccounted for on his person when his body was found.[1]

One of the biggest manhunts Merseyside has ever known was mounted by the police. At the height of the investigation, 20,000 people were interviewed, 9,000 statements were taken and replies were obtained to 10,000 questionnaires. Unfortunately, positive placing of Baker's movements while he was alive came to a dead stop at that number 23 bus stop.

In 1966, eight years after the murder, Detective Chief Inspector , head of the Bootle C.I.D., ruefully remarked to the Echo: "The Baker death is still very much in the minds of police officers. The file will, of course, remain open until the killer or killers of this man come to book, even if it takes another eight years".

Suspects[]

One theory that was propounded by detectives on the case was that the killer (or killers) had fled abroad before the body was discovered. This led police to check departures from the UK as well as overseas as the inquiry proceeded. Information still trickled in about the crime from time to time in the years following Baker's murder, but no significant headway or leads was ever made.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Details of unsolved murders in Knutsford and across Cheshire released by police". Knutsford Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Unsolved Murders: Harry Baker". unsolved-murders.co.uk. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  3. ^ Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths Around Southport ISBN 978-1-845-63061-4 ch. 3
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