Bio

Walter Graham Rowland was born in 1907 in England. He grew up in the town of Mellor in Derbyshire. He worked as a labourer, a job that required hard physical work.

He was convicted for the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Mavis Agnes, in 1934. His conviction at that time carried a death penalty, but he was later reprieved and released from prison. 

On October 20, 1946, Rowland's life took a dramatic turn when a woman named Olive Balchin was found dead. This event would lead to his arrest, trial, and eventual execution.

Murder Story

On October 20, 1946, the body of 40-year-old Olive Balchin was found at a bomb site in Manchester, England. Her skull had been crushed with a hammer, which was left at the scene. The hammer was a leather-beater's hammer, stained with blood. Witnesses described a man seen with Olive on the night she died, which led the police to Walter Graham Rowland.

Rowland was questioned by the authorities. He admitted to knowing Olive but denied that he had killed her. Forensic tests on his clothes revealed bloodstains that matched Olive's blood type, along with dust particles from the bomb site. This evidence contributed to his arrest.

Rowland was put on trial at Manchester Assizes in December 1946. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. It was revealed during the trial that Rowland had previously been convicted of murdering his two-year-old daughter, Mavis Agnes, in 1934. He had received a death sentence for that crime but had been reprieved.

While he was on death row, David John Ware, a fellow inmate at Walton Jail in Liverpool, confessed to the murder of Olive Balchin. Rowland appealed his conviction based on this new confession, but the appeal was denied. An inquiry revealed that Ware had lied about his confession. Rowland's original sentence was upheld.

On February 27, 1947, Walter Graham Rowland was executed by hanging at Strangeways Prison.