Evelyn Victoria Holt was 22 and infatuated with Alexander Anastassiou, a 23-year-old Cypriot waiter whom she had known for several months. They often slept together at his lodgings in Warren Street, Euston, London, and he said he would marry her. But then he told her this could not be, as he intended to return to Cyprus.
On the evening of FEBRUARY 26th, 1931, they went to a cinema, and after returning to Anastassious lodgings they began to quarrel, probably because he repeated his intention of going back to Cyprus. According to his account, Evelyn said she never wanted to see him again and attacked him, so he slashed her throat and chest with a razor.
He was charged with her murder, and at his Old Bailey trial in April his counsel sought a verdict of manslaughter, claiming that Anastassiou had acted in self-defence. But the jury convicted him of murder, Mr. Justice Swift sentenced him to death, and on June 3rd, 1931, Anastassiou was hanged at Pentonville Prison.