In 1899 Miss Friederika Alwine Maria Buls came from Germany to be a ladies maid to Emmy Maria Franziska, the wife of Mr. Frank Tiarks. When World War 2 started the Tiarks were living in Loxton and Mrs. Tiarks was an invalid. As she was German Miss Buls was not allowed to work in England during the war and was interred. Miss Noreen O’Connor, a State registered nurse, was engaged to nurse Mrs. Tiarks and after she died in 1943, Miss O’Connor became nurse-secretary to Frank Tiarks, who was confined to a wheel chair after a hunting accident. After the war Miss Buls returned to the district but Miss O’Connor stayed on as Frank Tiarks’ housekeeper, nurse and general companion. She accompanied him on holidays to Persia and South Africa, and drove him around in a specially adapted car. They were often seen at cricket matches and horse shows in which Frank Tiarks took a great interest.
Miss O’Connor was a very popular figure and is remembered as a person who was very kind and took a great interest in the activities of the village. [Image: Noreen O’Connor alongside Canon Christelow]She took a keen interest in the village school and would make chicken broth for any child who was ill. In 1947 on the occasion of the Royal Wedding between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Frank Tiarks and Noreen O’Connor held a party for the school children at Loxton Lodge. She also distributed savings stamps at the school at Christmas on behalf of Frank Tiarks, and after his death she made cakes for the children for an impromptu party and gave each child a small gift. She was well known as a fundraiser and helped to raise over £1,200 for an extension to the village hall in 1952. In June 1954, just three months before the tragedy happened she helped to transport the schoolchildren to Weston-super-Mare to see a film of the Royal tour of Australia.
Frank Tiarks died in 1952 and in his will he bequeathed a cottage at Loxton known as ‘Gardeen’ to Miss O’Connor. He also left her cars, his shares in the Callow Rock Lime Co., Ltd and the income from land which he left in trust to his grandson Caspar Tiarks.
After Frank Tiarks’ death Miss O’Connor moved into ‘Gardeen’ and asked Miss ‘Marie’ Buls to live with her. Miss Buls, aged 77, had had one small stroke, had also broken her leg and was confined to her bedroom. Miss O’Connor, aged 46, nursed Marie with great care and affection.
At 7.20 a.m. on Wednesday, September 1st 1954 Mr. Peter Tiarks, the youngest son of the late Frank Tiarks was in bed at his home at Bridport, Dorset when he received a telephone call from Miss Noreen O’Connor. She asked him to ‘come at once as something terrible had happened to Marie and that she was in the power of some evil’. Realising that there was something very wrong Peter Tiarks set out for Loxton. Meanwhile at 8.15 a.m. Mrs. Eva Simmons, the daily help, arrived and noticed that the curtains in Marie’s room were still closed. She was also told that ‘something terrible had happened’ and that Miss O’Connor had been awake all night, but she assumed that Marie had had another stroke and did not take up her breakfast.
On his arrival at 10 a.m. Mr. Peter Tiarks entered the house and found Miss O’Connor lying on a sofa, fully dressed. He had a conversation with her and she told him that Marie had an evil look in her eye and that the evil was so strong that Miss O’Connor had plucked her eyes out. Mr. Tiarks then asked Miss O’Connor if Marie was now dead and the reply was ‘I plucked out Marie’s eyes, but it is not Marie that is dead. It is the evil that was in her.’ Mr. Tiarks then called Dr. Cooper of Winscombe.
The doctor asked Miss O’Connor what had happened and she told him that there had been a lot of evil influences in the house during the previous evening. She said that she was concerned about Marie and sat with her upstairs, holding her hand. She was praying very hard to protect Marie from evil and after a while saw something happen to Marie’s eyes. She told the doctor that she realised that Marie’s eyes were evil and that she had to get them out. Miss O’Connor also said that she had experienced electric shocks from the bedspread and the door of the bedroom. When she was asked if she knew what she had done, she replied that she had got rid of something evil, but did not feel that she had done something awful.
The inquest at Axbridge magistrates’ court took two and half-hours and six witnesses were called. Mr. Peter Tiarks was the first to be called and after describing what had happened was asked if Miss O’Connor benefited from Miss Bul’s will. He said that he knew she did not and on being cross-examined further stated that as far as he was aware there was no motive for the alleged crime. Mrs. Eva Simmons identified underwear and a striped dress belonging to the accused, and thought that the accused would be very upset if anything untoward had happened to Miss. Buls. Dr. Cooper said that he had known both Miss O’Connor and Miss Buls for a number of years and that he had always found the accused level-headed, competent and willing to help people.
Police Sergeant C. Woodriffe said that he had searched the bedroom found a tooth, some hair and a broken comb. He also examined the bathroom and found a brassiere, underslip and striped dress, which were all wet at the top. He found a towel that appeared to be bloodstained. All these items and a phial of scrapings from Miss O’Connor’s nails were taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory.
The pathologist gave his report and reported that he had found loose hair clutched in the right hand of the deceased and that one hand was swollen and covered in blood. The eyes had been ruptured and in his opinion, death was due to shock following violent injuries to the face and eyes. He stated that it was possible that the tooth found on the floor was loose in its socket and was removed after death.
Inspector Long stated that after Miss O’Connor was detained at Weston super Mare she was quiet until the evening when she began repeating religious expressions, started moving furniture about and knelt down to pray. She became very violent and a doctor was called and she was removed to the cells where she shouted out prayers and religious phrases for several hours until about 10 p.m. when she became exhausted. The next day she showed more signs of mental aberration during the journey to Exeter Prison.
At the end of the hearing the charge was read to Miss O’Connor and she pleaded not guilty and reserved her defence. She was sent for trail at Somerset Assize, Wells on October 15th, 1954. The hearing took two and quarter hours and Miss O’Connor sat impassively in the dock and rarely raised her eyes.
The first witness called by the defence was Mr. Maurice William Bailey, a former clerk of Axbridge Rural District Council and a director of the Callow Rock Lime Co. He told the court that he had known Miss O’Connor, also a director for about six years. When she went into his office on August 31st they discussed a business trip that she had made to Plymouth. She told Mr. Bailey that she had had lunch and sat at the same table as she had sat with the late Mr. Frank Tiarks and said that Mr. Tiarks was helping and guiding her. There was further discussion about the car journey to Plymouth when Miss O’Connor spoke about an escape from sudden death after a near collision, which she blamed on another passenger. Mr Bailey was asked by the defending counsel, Mr. Norman Skelhorn, Q.C., what he thought her state of mind was. Mr. Bailey asserted that he thought that she was mentally deranged.
The second witness was Dr. Thomas Christie, medical officer at Holloway Prison who said that since her transfer to the prison on September 25th she had been kept under observation. He told the court that in his opinion Miss O’Connor was suffering from acute mania, a recognised disease of the mind. This condition meant that she would be incapable of knowing that what she was doing was wrong. The third witness Dr. Desmond Curran, Psychiatrist at St. George’s Hospital; London had two long interviews with Miss O’Connor and agreed with Dr. Christie that it was very dubious whether she knew what she was doing.
The defence witnesses were not cross-examined by the prosecution and Miss O’Connor was not called to the witness box. Mr. Skelhorn then addressed the jury of ten men and two women. They were told that there was no motive to the crime because the two women had always been on friendly terms and that Miss O’Connor had nothing to gain from the death of Miss Buls. [Image: Noreen O’Connor presenting Prizes]Everyone knew that Miss O’Connor was a kind friendly person. The injuries to Miss Buls were probably inflicted when she was unconscious and that she did not suffer. He pointed out that Miss O’Connor did not know what she was doing because she was suffering from a deep defect of reasoning. Mr. Skelhorn suggested to the jury that they were entitled to find a special verdict.
In his summing up the judge, Mr. Justice Byrne advised the jury that if they were satisfied with the evidence they would not have any doubt that Miss O’Connor was guilty of the murder of Miss Buls. However, he asked them to consider the second aspect of the case that the accused did not know what she was doing, or if she did know then she did not know it was wrong. If they thought she was guilty then he advised them that the proper verdict would be ‘Guilty but insane’.
The jury did not retire and took a minute to decide their verdict of ‘Guilty but insane’ and the judge ordered Miss O’Connor to be detained as a Broadmoor patient until her majesty’s pleasure be known. After her release she visited Loxton and had regained her normal pleasant personality. She spent the rest of her life in St Andrews Hospital in Northampton and died in 1983.
