The man who robbed the small Lloyds Bank branch at Broad Walk, Bristol, on Friday, January 7th, 1949, and killed the manager, George Black, was nothing if not a cool customer. He seemed to want to draw maximum attention to himself, leaving behind fingerprints and a handwritten note.
He was young, bespectacled and smartly dressed when he arrived at the bank at 2 p.m. He explained to Mr. Black that he was waiting for a friend called Murray, and spent most of the afternoon seated at one of the tables. At 3 p.m. he wrote a note to Murray, which said, See your Monday. Missed you today. Joe.
One customer, John Rowe, was convinced the young man was up to no good. He dialled 999 and left a message relaying his fears.
At 3.30 Mr. Rowe saw the young man flee from the bank and jump into a car. Mr. Rowe jumped on the running board, was punched by the driver, fell off into the road and despite his injuries dialled 999 again to say: A rough-looking man has just rushed out of the bank and driven off in an Austin 16 car JHY 812. When the police arrived they found George Black dead and £1,430 missing from the tills.
Nine months later another bank manager was shot dead, this time at Alston, near Penrith. Realising he was cornered, the killer shot himself. He was identified as an ex-army officer, Charles Corbett Kennedy, 25. Was he the vital link to the murder of George Black?