The unsolved murder of Eileen Gladys Walsh and Marquis Cumming, 23 Dec 1926

Date: 23 Dec 1926 to 23 Dec 1926
Location: South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Surnames/tags: CHRISTIE WALSH CUMMING

Eileen

Sometime between 9 and 10pm on 23 Dec 1926, Acting Police Sergeant Marquis Cumming and Mrs. Eileen Gladys Walsh, were shot at point blank range on a small and deserted common bordered by a railway embankment, the back of Boggo Road jail and some factories.

The bodies were discovered by passengers on the first train from Sunnybank, which came to a halt just before Park Road Station at Woolloongabba, waiting for a green signal to continue. Passengers on the left side of the train were startled to see a man and woman lying together partly undressed on a bank next to the railway line.

The fireman got off the train and walked over to the couple to investigate. Getting closer he saw that they were lying in pools of congealed blood and obviously dead. The train proceeded to Park Road Station from where the police were alerted.

The victims were soon identified by police as Mrs Eileen Gladys Walsh, née Christie and Acting Police Sergeant Marquis Cumming.

The double murder of two married individuals in a compromising position produced a media frenzy, even more so because two inquests into the murders failed to reach a verdict, nor point towards a likely suspect(s).

The text below appeared in Smith’s Weekly on 29 January 1927:

Cummings-Walsh Murder MORE LIGHT ON THE SOUTH BRISBANE DOUBLE MURDER Pitiful Letters of Destitute Woman to Her Husband TRAGEDY OF THE FRAIL DRUDGE OF THE WASHTUBS

THIS is THE STORY of a woman who sinned and was paid with death. It discloses the most tragic feature of the grimmest tragedy of Queensland's past quarter century of crime.

HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME is unfolded a chapter that is a poignant recital of life's most pitiless phase - the hopeless struggle of a woman against adversity.

SINCE THE MURDER of Acting-Sergeant Marquis Cumming, of the Queensland Police Force, and Mrs. Eileen Gladys Walsh, at Dutton Park, on the night of December 23, public opinion has judged both victims harshly.

In the case of the man, that opinion is a matter of judgment yet to come. As far as the woman is concerned, there is no such certainty.

That she was the victim of circumstances has been established by investigations carried out by "Smith's," and the conclusion formed is based upon most careful sifting of a mass of evidence. To visualise the manner in which fate conspired to bring this woman to so terrible an end, it is necessary to traverse step by step her married life.

In 1919 she married James Walsh, a returned soldier who had served in France as a member of the 15th Battalion, and for a year and 10 months was a prisoner of war in Germany. Walsh had known her before he went to the war, and had kept company with her.

Reference was made last week to the fact that there had been an affair with another man, and this seems to have occurred just before Walsh returned to Australia. However, they were married early in 1919 and one month after the union a baby was born, but lived only for three months.

For the father of this child - it was not Walsh's, though registered in his name - the police are now inquiring. While in Queensland, he had been chauffeur to a member of the Federal Parliament, but some time ago he disappeared, and efforts to trace him have been resultless. Whether he could throw any light on the tragedy if he were found is problematical. Still, it is just one of those avenues of investigation that cannot be neglected.

The married life of the Walshes was chequered. Walsh could not be called a strong character, and his career as a husband was interspersed with bouts of drinking and spells of unemployment. It was inevitable that in such circumstances the pinch of poverty should be felt far too frequently to permit of uninterrupted marital happiness.

On top of all this, Mrs. Walsh never enjoyed the best of health. While her husband was out of employment, she took engagements as charwoman, but the work was too hard for her, and she had several spells in hospital, a serious operation being necessary on one occasion.

It was after one of these that the final breach occurred, and Mrs. Walsh, taking her two children, went to the home of her mother, Mrs. Christie, and remained there until her death.

The peculiar part about the affair is that even though the unfortunate woman endured so hard a married life, there existed between man and wife a bond of affection which endured, despite the separation and events associated with it.

Walsh, when interviewed by "Smith's," had nothing harsh to say against his wife. He considered that her decision to leave him had been influenced by a relative with whom he had never been on friendly terms.

Letters which passed between him and his wife were couched in an affectionate strain, and in the early part of last year plans were on foot for a reconciliation and a return to the joint domicile. On January 9 of last year, Mrs. Walsh wrote as follows:

Dear Jim,

I tried my best to get down to you yesterday, but was too sick. The bad news I had for you was this. The Monday after I saw you I went out washing, and with the lifting of the tubs I burst the stitches in my side and had to have five more put in. I have been in bed up to last Tuesday, and still feel weak on it, so you can guess how I feel. I will be down on Monday at dinner time. I can tell you better when I see you. I will be down for sure, as I have to go over to the hospital at one o'clock. I hope you are keeping off the drink, and saving all you can, as I am. Trusting you are well.

Eileen

A week or so later Walsh received another letter:

I am writing this in bed, it said, so I hope you will excuse this note. I went to hospital on Monday after leaving you, and the doctor said my wound was far from well. He told me to go home and go straight to bed, and that he would come up at night, which he did.

I have got to lay up for a while, so you see, Daddie, I am in for a bad time, but will write later and let you know how I am getting on. Don't worry, I will be all right, and no more lifting of heavy tubs for me when we are together again. I will leave that for you.

I will only be a few more weeks, then WE WILL BE TOGETHER FOR GOOD. I am not able to go to that place in the Valley, so will write instead, and will send you what answer I get.

Daddie, don't take any drink, and save all you can. Hurry up to get your new suit. I suppose it will be another week before I am out, but it is for the best.

Well, son, I think I will close, hoping you are well, and don't worry. I will soon be all right.

Love, EILEEN

A third letter received by Walsh was dated from the G.P.O., Brisbane, on February 9 of last year, and read:

Dear Son,

Your letter came at last. I am still laid up, and thought I was going to kick the bucket last week. My head and back were so bad I thought I would go mad. My wound was enough on its own without getting the other aches.

The doctor said he thought my headaches were caused by my eyes, so he brought Dr. Wallace Hoare over, who said I needed glasses badly. More expense. Look out I am not on you for something towards them. I am glad you are still in work, and for God's sake keep off the drink. The kiddies are both well. Did you get your suit yet? Write by Friday to above address, and Mrs. — will call for it. She does not know who it is from.

Love,

EILEEN.

This was the last letter that Walsh ever received from his wife. There ensued a silence, that he says he can not account for, but the fact that he had allowed arrears to accumulate in respect of a maintenance order she had obtained against him some time before may have had something to do with it. Then, about the middle of last October, he received a telephone message from her at his place of employment, and, in response to it, met her after work near, the Park Road station.

She appeared to be very agitated over something, and was crying, said Walsh, but when I asked her what was the matter, she would not tell me. We talked for a while, and crossed the road into the school grounds. Here she put her arms around my neck and commenced to cry again. She said she was terribly worried, but would not tell me what about. It struck me at the time, and had on several occasions previously, that she was afraid of something. At last I got from her that she had been threatened, but she would not tell me who by. I fancy it was by means of anonymous letters.

If there were threats against Mrs. Walsh, by whom were they, made? This is a matter that should engage the attention of the police.

What Walsh avers is borne out by a statement made to "Smith's" by Mrs. Christie, the mother of the murdered woman:

My daughter grew extremely nervous said Mrs. Christie, and I said on more than one occasion that she seemed to go in fear of her life. She would not even cross the yard at night-time by herself.

The meeting at Park Road station was the last occasion on which Walsh saw his wife. The next news he received concerning her was that she had been shot dead.

From Mrs. Christie much has been learned concerning the struggle of the husband who had allowed his maintenance payments to fall into arrears and for the first time light is thrown upon the manner in which Mrs. Walsh first made the acquaintance of Acting Sergeant Cumming.

Mrs. Walsh was in such sore straits that she found it necessary to seek Government aid and to Cumming, as officer-in-charge of the South Brisbane Police Station, she applied for ration tickets. From the reputation borne by Cumming in Brisbane and elsewhere, it is possible to deduce what followed. His quid pro quo for such assistance as he rendered in securing sustenance for her, was her personal surrender to his desires. He had done such a thing on previous occasions and maybe the poor creature who appealed to him this time was desperate enough to go to the limit for the sake of her children.

Mrs. Walsh was to have received 16/- from the court on Xmas Eve, the day after she was murdered, and she had discussed with her mother how she could spend this to provide the little ones with the treat that every youngster looks forward to on Xmas morning. What a ghastly Xmas was that which dawned for the two motherless babies!

On the night of December 23, Mrs. Walsh left her mother's home about eight o'clock with the intention of posting a letter. She appeared to be nervous and asked her niece to go with her. The niece could not and Mrs. Walsh went alone.

This does not look as though her meeting with Cumming was pre-arranged and here again is found an instance of the unexplainable whims of fate. Had Mrs. Walsh been accompanied by her niece the chances are that she would not have met Cumming. Had she not met Cumming she would have been alive to-day.

The conclusion is that Mrs. Walsh may have sinned but she was not wilfully bad. Her affection for her husband is shown by the tone of her letters, and her love for her children was obvious. She fought for them, a bitter fight against destitution and strove by all means in her power to keep them neat and happy.

Never was the life of a woman more fraught with travail. On the night she was murdered she did not have one penny piece in her purse and had to borrow a stamp for the letter she intended to post.

Whoever killed this woman committed a reprehensible crime the more terrible in that a life was taken which could not he said to have done such harm as to merit the punishment. The slayer could have had no choice, however. The killing of the man made it necessary that the woman should be wiped out so that there, should be no living lips to tell the story of the murder.

Day after day, the police file bearing upon the tragedy is added to by further reports of Cumming's illicit alliances. There is a woman living in Brisbane who formerly resided at Mt. Morgan. She was interviewed by the police and made no secret of the nature of her relationship with Cumming when he was stationed at Mt. Morgan, and in addition she was able to give the names of several other women with whom he had been on terms of familiarity.

Strangely enough the authorities knew of Cumming's amorous proclivities and at least two of his transfers followed upon complaints made concerning him. There is a moral obligation upon the Government to see that the private lives of its police officers approach at least an average standard of morality. Why Cumming was allowed to remain in the force in view of what was known about him, is difficult to comprehend.

Whether the mystery of the murder will be solved by the present methods of investigation, is hard to say, but the indications are that will not. There appears to be a strange reluctance to pursue inquiries as vigorously as the serious nature of the crime demands. As witness the fact that there has not yet been such a search of the home of the dead man as most people would consider essential in such circumstances.

The duty of the police to the State should not be hindered by fear of a mistakenly placed public sympathy but that undoubtedly is what is standing in the way of the Criminal Investigation Branch at the moment.

Not only is it regarded now as certain that the murderer had a more than ordinarily close knowledge of the movements of Sergeant Cumming and was able to follow him without fear of detection, but the opinion has been formed that the clothes of the man and woman were disarranged and their limbs disposed after death in such a manner as almost to approach exaggeration of any act in which it was desired to indicate they had been discovered. These features add to the foulness of the crime and justice demands that no pains shall be spared to establish the identity of the murderer.

Notwithstanding the fondness expressed between the couple, there was also testimony to the contrary from Eileen's sister.

Wedding Ring Was Missing – New Feature In Murder Inquiry – CUMMING-WALSH MYSTERY Continuing her evidence yesterday afternoon at the inquiry into the murder of Acting-sergeant Cumming and Eileen Gladys Walsh, Madeline Jones, sister of the late Eileen Gladys Walsh, said her sister was wearing her wedding ring when she left home on the night of December 23. At the morgue she did not notice if the ring was still on her sister's finger. She had since learned that there was no ring on her finger. She had no idea what had become of it.

Witness said the only occasion she knew when her sister had gone without the ring was when she pledged it to take out a summons. When she received the first payment from her husband she redeemed it. Asked if she knew who had shot her sister and Cumming witness replied that she had an opinion. Sub-inspector Meldon: I am not asking you for an opinion now, but if you know. Witness: No. Regarding a threat against her sister, Mrs. Jones, said she was with her sister in Edward-street at Christmas, 1926, when they met Walsh, who asked his wife if she were going back to him. She answered No, and Walsh said, If you don't, you will get this, producing a razor. Walsh afterwards said he had only done it to frighten her.^[1]

For more details about the circumstances of the murder and the bungled enquiry, I recommend the following sources:

Sources

• 60-page booklet describing the outcome of the inquest: The True facts of Australia’s greatest double murder mystery : who murdered Act. Sgt. Cumming and Mrs Eileen Walsh at Brisbane, 23rd December, 1926?

• The circumstances of the murder and the subsequent investigations are the subject of a book by Anthony Rogers, a descendant of Eileen: Scaffold of Shame, 2018

• Paul's Blog, 23 Dec 2019: A Mystery Murder of Married Lovers

• Boggo Road Gaol podcasts (Episodes 13 and 14): Season 1 Podcasts

• Stanley Cummins 1951 interview disclosing new information: Truth (Brisbane), 25 Feb 1951, Page 1, NEW MOVE ON 1926 CITY MURDER: CUMMINGS-WALSH