Styllou Pantopiou Christofi (1900 - 13 December 1954) was a Greek Cypriot woman hanged in Britain for murdering her daughter-in-law. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Greek Cypriots ( Greek: Ελληνοκύπριοι Turkish: Kıbrıslı Rumlar are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus. Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries In law and in cultural Anthropology, affinity, as distinguished from Consanguinity, is kinship by Marriage. She was the second to last woman to be executed in Britain, followed in 1955 by Ruth Ellis. Ruth Ellis ( October 9 1927 — July 13 1955) was a British Murderess who was the last woman to receive the Death penalty

Contents 1 Background 2 Murder 3 Trial and execution 4 Burial 5 In popular culture 6 Footnotes 7 References

Background

Christofi was tried in Cyprus in 1925 on a charge of murdering her mother-in-law by ramming a lighted torch down her throat. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A person's mother-in-law is the Mother of his or her Spouse. A person is a son-in-law or daughter-in-law to the mother-in-law ^[1] She was found not guilty and released. In Criminal law, an acquittal is a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict

She came to Britain in 1953 to see her son, Stavros, whom she had not seen for 12 years. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He was working as a waiter in London and was married to a German woman, Hella, with whom he had three children. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. ^[2]

Murder

Christofi did not get on with Hella and on the night of 29 July, 1953, hit Hella on the head with an ash pan from the boiler. ^[2] She then strangled her and in order to dispose of the corpse, dragged it into the garden, poured paraffin over it and set it alight. A cadaver or corpse is a dead Body. "Cadaver" is normally used as a more formal term for a body being used in medical training or research In chemistry paraffin is the common name for the Alkane Hydrocarbons with the general formula C n H2 n +2 A neighbour witnessed this but did not realise the article being burnt was a body. ^[3]

Christofi, who spoke little English, later ran into the street to raise the alarm and stopped a passing car saying: "Please come. Fire burning. Children sleeping"^[4]. When the police arrived they became suspicious on finding blood stains in the house. ^[5] Christofi explained: "I wake up, smell burning, go downstairs. Hella burning. Throw water, touch her face. Not move. Run out, get help. "^[6]

Trial and execution

Christofi was charged with murder and her trial started at the Old Bailey on the 28 October 1954. The Central Criminal Court in England, commonly known as the Old Bailey, is a court ^[2] Her counsel offered a defence of insanity but the jury rejected it. A counsel or a counsellor gives advice more particularly in legal matters Traditionally insanity or madness is the behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to himself and others ^[2] Christofi was sentenced to death and hanged at Holloway prison by Albert Pierrepoint on 13 December 1954. HM Prison Holloway is a Prison in the London Borough of Islington, London, United Kingdom. Albert Pierrepoint (30 March 1905 &ndash 10 July 1992 is the most famous member of a family from Yorkshire who provided three of the United Kingdom 's official Pathologist Francis Camps examined the body^[7]. Pathology (from Greek grc πάθος pathos, "fate harm" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study and Francis Edward Camps, MD FRCP FRCPath DTM & H DMJ ( 28 June 1905 &ndash 8 July 1972) was a famous British Her wish to have a Maltese Cross put on the wall of the execution chamber was granted. The Maltese cross or Amalfi cross is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta ^[8] It remained there until the room was dismantled in 1967. ^[2]

Albert Pierrepoint claimed in his autobiography, Executioner: Pierrepoint, that Christofi failed to attract much media attention or sympathy because, unlike the pretty Ruth Ellis, she was less glamorous. Ruth Ellis ( October 9 1927 — July 13 1955) was a British Murderess who was the last woman to receive the Death penalty A "blonde night-club hostess" was much more alluring than "a grey-haired and bewildered grandmother who spoke no English. "^[9]

Burial

The body of Christofi was buried in an unmarked grave within the walls of Holloway Prison, as was customary. The phrase Unmarked grave has Metaphorical meaning in the context of cultures that mark burial sites. In 1971 the prison underwent an extensive programme of rebuilding, during which the bodies of all the executed women were exhumed. With the exception of Ruth Ellis, the remains of the four other women executed at Holloway i. Ruth Ellis ( October 9 1927 — July 13 1955) was a British Murderess who was the last woman to receive the Death penalty e. Styllou Christofi, Edith Thompson, Amelia Sach and Annie Walters were subsequently reburied in a single grave at Brookwood Cemetery. Edith Jessie Thompson ( 25 December, 1893 &ndash 9 January, 1923) and Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters ( 27 June, Amelia Sach (1873-1903 and Annie Walters (1869-1903 were two British Serial killers better known as the Finchley baby farmers Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood Surrey, England.

In popular culture

London artist Freddie Robins included the house where the Christofi family lived in her cycle Knitted Homes of Crime.

Footnotes

References

• Eddleston, John J. (2004): The Encyclopaedia of Executions: The Stories Behind Every Execution in Twentieth Century Britain, John Blake, ISBN 1844540588 ISBN 978-1844540587, page 861.

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