Guenther Podola - the last man hanged for killing a policeman

 Guenther Podola was the last person to be hanged in Britain for the murder of a policeman. He was born in Berlin, Germany, on 8 February 1929. In 1962, he moved to Canada but he was deported for burglary. He then moved to Britain. Podola arrived on 21 May 1959. 

Podola burgled Verne Schiffman's flat, stealing jewellery and furs worth £2,000 (a huge sum in those days). Later, bizarrely, he tried to blackmail her. He wrote to her claiming he had photos and tape recordings of her. He did not. Since she had nothing to hide Mrs Schiffman told the police. (Why Podola tried to blackmail her when she had nothing to hide is a mystery. If he had not done something so strange, he might well have got away with the burglary). 

On 13 July 1959, Podola phoned her from a public phone box and again he tried to blackmail her. This time her phone was tapped and Mrs Schiffman kept him talking until the police traced the call. Two policemen, John Stanford and William Purdy arrested Podola at the phone box. However, Podola broke free and ran into a nearby block of flats. 

The police captured him again and one of them, Stanford, went to fetch the patrol car. Podola then produced a gun and shot William Purdy.

Podola fled the scene, and he hid in a hotel for the next three days. However, in the dead policeman's pocket was an address book. It belonged to Podola. He must have dropped it when he was arrested, and the policeman picked it up. The police soon identified the book's owner and traced him to the hotel where he was hiding. On 16 July 1959, armed police went to the room occupied by Podola, and they forced open the door. Podola, who was standing by the door, was hit on the head as it opened and was knocked unconscious. 

When he recovered, Podola said he had no memory of shooting a policeman. Before, he was tried for murder; a court hearing was held to decide if he was fit to stand trial. A jury had to decide if he was genuinely suffering from amnesia. Expert witnesses testified for both the prosecution and the defence, but after retiring for three hours the jury decided he was faking it. Podola then went on trial for murder. He still claimed he could not remember what happened, but he was found guilty and was sentenced to death on 26 September 1959.

Guenther Podola was hanged on 5 November 1959.