Today is Saturday, April 11th, 2020.

On this day in 1955, 28-year-old English nightclub hostess and escort Ruth Ellis was charged with murdering

her lover, 25-year-old race car driver David Blakely.

The lurid details of the Ellis case attracted widespread public attention

and permanently changed the British justice system.

Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original.

Due to the graphic nature of today's crimes,

listener discretion is advised.

Extreme caution is advised for listeners under 13.

Today we're covering Ruth Ellis's murder of her lover David Blakely.

Let's go back to London, England on April 11th, 1955 at 1230 PM.

Ruth Ellis stood before the magistrate, his eyes seemingly boring into her soul.

It seemed almost incomprehensible that the slight platinum blonde woman could be capable of such a cold-blooded crime, but the facts

were indisputable.

The night before, Ellis had tracked down David Blakely at his local haunt, the Magdala Pub.

The two of them had been in an on-again-off-again relationship since 1953.

Even though Blakely was engaged to another woman,

he briefly moved into Ellis's apartment,

right above the nightclub where she worked.

Things even got serious enough for him to break up with his fiance and proposed

to Ellis instead. Although she was going through a divorce of her own, Ellis accepted.

But it wasn't long until trouble started brewing in paradise.

...