LONG LIFE OF CRIME

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 929, 24 March 1930, Page 11

LONG LIFE OF CRIME

FOX, FACING DEATH, HAS SHADY PAST JEWEL THIEF AND FORGER LONDON, Saturday. The passing ot the death sentence on Sidney Harry Pox for the murder of his mother at the Metropole Hotel, Margate, closes one of the most curious murder trials in recent years. Mrs. Fox’s body was buried after an inquest at which the verdict was to the effect that her death had been the result of misadventure. Apparently everybody was satisfied that it was an accident. Deceased’s son was awaiting receipt of the £3,000 insurance on his mother’s life v hen a former Scotland Yard detective employed by the insurance company became impressed by certain curious features in the policies, also-by the circumstances of the fire. The officer went quietly to Margate to investigate. Practically everything that was in the room at the time of the murder had been removed to a rubbish tip. This was searched diligently until every article had been recovered. The detective’s investigations caused him to telegraph to the head office of his company: “Extremely muddy water in this business.” The message caused the compajiy to lay the facts concerning the fire and the insurance before Scotland Yard. NO BILLS PAID Investigations also showed that the very company which issued the policy had previously paid Fox £S for au overcoat alleged to have been lost from the cloakroom in the hotel. Fox was arrested and held in gaol on a charge of not paying his hotel bills throughout a lengthy period. Simultaneously with the sentence comes the news that Fox was convicted of forgery and the theft of jewels 10 years ago. On one occasion, under the alias of Owen Smythe, Fox posed as an old Etonian and boasted that he could stay without paying at any hotel in-England. He did so on numerous occasions. Invariably Fox deposited a sealed packet, the contents of which he declared to be valuable, in the hotel safe. This and his pleasant, confidential manner and clever stories disarmed the suspicion of the various managers.