I am convinced, Lance Corporal Abraham Goldenberg told reporters, that my evidence will be very important, and that it will be through me that the murderer or murderers will eventually be arrested.
The murder victim was William Hall, the 28-year-old cashier at a sub-branch of Lloyds Bank at the armys Bordon Camp in Hampshire. On APRIL 3rd, 1924, he had been found shot dead behind the banks counter. The two bullets that killed him had been fired from an army issue revolver.
Goldenberg, 18, had cashed a cheque at the bank at 1.45 p.m., an hour and a half before the murder was discovered. He told the police he had seen a car outside the bank, and he described its occupants.
More than £1,000 had been stolen, and within two days some of the missing banknotes were found to be in local circulation. Then on April 8th Goldenberg was observed acting suspiciously. Seeing footprints on a window-sill inside the latrines which Goldenberg had just left, a warrant-officer stood on the sill and saw a parcel concealed in the huts roofwork. It was found to contain £500 in notes stolen from the bank, and a second package containing more stolen banknotes was found hidden in the orderly room where Goldenberg worked.
He admitted the shooting in a statement to the police, but pleaded not guilty when he appeared at Hampshire Assizes charged with Mr. Halls murder. He had now changed his story, claiming that the robbery had been set up by an accomplice named Meredith, who had fired the revolver.
The defence submitted evidence suggesting that Goldenberg was insane, but a prison medical officer testified that on examining him he had concluded that he was sane.
Convicted of murder and sentenced to death, Goldenberg was hanged at Winchester Prison on July 30th, 1924.