Episode description

February 14, 1945. Lower Quinton, England. 74-year old farm labourer Charles Walton leaves his home in order to spending the day slashing hedges on the slopes of Meon Hill. Later that evening, Charles’ body is discovered next to the hedgerow and he has been beaten with his walking stick, had his throat slashed with a billhook, and been stabbed with a pitchfork. While the original investigation turns up a potential suspect, there is not enough evidence to implicate him, but as the years go on, Charles’ death becomes surrounded with stories involving witchcraft and the occult. Was Charles Walton’s murder some sort of ritualistic killing? If not, what could the actual motive have been? On this month’s first Halloween-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore an infamous unsolved cold case from the United Kingdom which has been clouded by sensationalistic urban legends.

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Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Walton_(murder_victim)

“The Case That Foiled Fabian: Murder and Witchcraft in Rural England” by Simon Read

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8662635.stm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/weird-warwickshire/1945-witchcraft-murder.shtml

https://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/content/articles/2006/06/26/weird_witchcraft_murder_feature.shtml

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/gory-valentines-day-murder-remains-12600398

http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/charles.htm

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“The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.