Ronald Roberts

Ronald Roberts murdered Nellie Pearson 37 who he battered and stabbed at 2G Brig Street, Barrow-in-Furness on 5 October 1942.

Nellie Pearson worked for the Midland Clothing Company Club and her job was to go from home to home collecting payments. Her last customer was the woman who lived at 2G Brig Street where at the time Ronald Roberts was staying. she had been a member of the Club for about 2 years. On 5 October 1942 she called at the address to make a collection where he beat her to death. Her normal collection time was between 4-4.30pm on Mondays. When the woman was at work she would give the money to Ronald Roberts to give to Nellie Pearson.

He told police making enquiries that he had been out at the cinema at the time but they found her body behind a camp bed that he had placed in an alcove several weeks earlier. When police found her she had been dead 2-3 days. She had been stabbed in the neck and hit on the head with a hammer. The cause of death was a slow haemorrhage. the neck wounds were caused several hours after the head wound and it is thought that he inflicted them when he thought that she was not quite dead.

He had also removed her knickers and cut her blouse and rolled her skirt up to her waist although it is not known why.