Donald Merrett

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John Donald Merrett (1908–1954) was a British murderer and convicted fraudster also known under the name of Ronald John Chesney in later life. He left a wide trail of damage with him escaping with minimal punishment. Despite being immensely rich his crimes were mainly driven by greed. In his second guise he was also known as the Amazing Mr Chesney. A highly flamboyant character, his later friends and lovers knew him as "Ches".^[1]

Early life

Merrett was born on 17 August 1908 in

From 1920 to 1923 Merrett lived with his mother in Oamaru, New Zealand and attended Waitaki Boys' High School, as recalled by a former master at the school who tutored him.^[4]

In 1924 Bertha returned to England and rented a cottage near Reading. Donald was then educated privately at Malvern College as a boarder. He had a reputation as being clever but badly behaved. He was expelled for being found in bed with a girl.^[5]

In 1925 they moved to rental accommodation in

Merrett began an affair with Elizabeth (Betty) Christie, who was paid for dances at the Dunedin Palais de Dance at 10 Picardy Place at the top of Leith Walk. in February 1926 he began forging cheques in his mother's name to fund his lifestyle. His mother had an income of £700 per year but by mid-March he had forged cheques to the value of £450. The bank informed Bertha that her account was in debit. She was puzzled and queried how Donald had afforded his new motorcycle. She had also queried his need for a Spanish automatic pistol.^[6]

At 9.30am on 17 March 1926 an argument was precipitated by a second letter from the bank. Bertha was shot in the head. She was in the main first floor living room, where she had a writing bureau. Donald told their maid that his mother had shot herself due to her worries over debts. The police were called and constables Middlemass and Izatt attended along with an ambulance. Bertha was not dead, however but, as a suspected suicide, was placed in "the custody ward". This was a controlled area in

After Bertha's death Donald persuaded other relatives that he wanted to go to London. Only when the Clydesdale Bank informed police that Merrett was still receiving cheques from Bertha after her death did the police investigate.^[3] He was arrested in December 1926 on charges of murdering his mother and forging cheques to the value of £457.^[8][9]

His trial began at the High Court in

The inactivity on the part of the police was said to stem from not believing that a 17 year old could commit such a crime and their preference for the suicide theory. The evidence of the maid (Rita Sutherland) was inconsistent and also somewhat supported the suicide theory.[10]

Police conduct of the investigation was heavily criticised by Lord Alness. The gun had not been fingerprinted, the bank letters had been destroyed and no copies had been requested. Although there was a wealth of circumstantial evidence, the jury of 15 voted in a ratio of 5 as guilty and 10 as not proven (a specific judgement in Scottish law). Donald was found not guilty of the murder charge but guilty of fraud in relation to the cheques. He served 12 months at Saughtonhall Prison in west Edinburgh.^[11]

Later life

Merrett was released in 1928 and moved to

On his 21st birthday he inherited £50,000 from his grandfather, the money having been held in trust until that time. He gave Vera £8400 from this sum. He adopted the new name "Ronald Chesney" to distance himself from his criminal past. The couple moved to the Portsmouth area and bought a large country house. They adopted two children: a 2 year old and 5 year old.^[8]

Merrett bought a yacht, the Armentares, and grew a beard. Very unusually for the time he wore a gold ring in his ear, adopting the look of a pirate. He bought a further yacht, the Gypsy May and learned to fly at Brooklands. His stated career was given as a stockbroker but he spent most of his time smuggling cigarettes. He purchased Colleton Hall in Devon.^[13]

Meanwhile, Vera's mother married Thomas Chalmers Menzies, a Scot who styled himself "Baron Menzies" but had no realistic claim to any such title. This relationship did not last long but Mary loved to call herself "Lady Menzies" and continued to do so.^[8]

"Lady Menzies" joined Merrett and Vera during a period living in Malta during when Merrett (now calling himself Ronald Chesney) began gun-running boat trips from North Africa to Spain in the build up to the Spanish Civil War. He also smuggled cigarettes and liquor into Italy. In 1938 he converted the Armentares into a floating casino.^[3]

In the

Merrett was discharged from the RNVR in 1946 for stealing property. He served 4 months in Hamburg in a military prison.^[8]

On his release he sought a divorce from Vera in order to marry Gerda but Vera was a Catholic and refused. Under the name of Ronald Chesney, Merrett was jailed for a further 4 months in 1946 for larceny He was jailed in Paris in 1947 for smuggling, then again in Paris in 1948 for currency trafficking and then in Bern in Switzerland for dealing in forged currency. In 1949 he was fined 30,000 francs for offences against aliens. Gerda also spent time in prison for her part in his crimes.^[3]

In 1952 he served time in

In June 1953, Merrett obtained a passport in the name of Leslie Chown. Chown was a real person whom Merrett had encountered in a pub and to whom he bore some similarity. He travelled to England to see Vera using this false passport at the beginning of February. He stayed briefly ensuring he would be remembered by a policewoman during his exit from England, He spent four days in a hotel in Amsterdam under the name of Mr and Mrs Milner (his mother's maiden name). He flew back to London on 10 February.^[8] He went to find Vera in West Ealing intending to get back the £8000 he had given her. He reached her on 11 February 1954. He got her drunk and drowned her in the bathtub. His mother-in-law confronted him as he left and he struck her with a metal coffee pot, then strangled her to death. The event was labelled the Ealing Double Murder.^[8]

He immediately went on the run and returned to Continental Europe. After a flight to Amsterdam he took a train to Germany. He spent a final two nights with Sonia in her home town of

He was found dead on 16 February 1954 in a wood near Cologne with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head from a Colt 45. He left a letter to Sonia Winnikes, then aged 28. Only Gerda attended his funeral in Germany on 23 February 1954. She paid for the burial but Sonia received all his worldly goods. He is buried in an area reserved for suicides in the churchyard at Duren.^[15]

The German police removed his forearms and sent them to London for confirmation that it was Merrett. They are preserved in the liquid in which they were delivered in the Crime Museum (formerly known as the Black Museum) at Scotland Yard.^[16]

Aftermath

Vera and her mother were buried together on 5 March 1954 in Hastings Borough Cemetery.^[17]

His adopted daughter Ann Trull survived all the events.

John Merrett senior had not died in the Russian Revolution as Bertha claimed but had returned to England. He followed the trial and double murder scandal with dismay. He died in 1966.^[18]

The Dunedin Palais de Dance was converted to garage use and is owned by