As is often the case, though, the reality was somewhat different. Weldon and Monica separated by 1899, and he then started a relationship with a younger American actress, Elizabeth Earle \u2013 known as Bessie \u2013 and was a regular visitor to her flat, in a terraced house in Battersea. Weldon was arguably obsessed with Bessie, and after a few years, she started to find his jealousies rather wearying. She had retired from acting and started teaching at what would become the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but he didn\u2019t like her tutoring young men. One evening, Weldon accused Bessie of having had another man staying with her, and then hit her. Later, in 1909, Weldon threatened to cut her throat. He moved out of her flat, but their relationship continued in fits and spurts.<\/p>\n
![\"Black](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/ThomasWeldonAtherstone1910-0731b2b.jpg?quality=90&resize=281%2C413\" "\\"A")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>On the evening of Weldon\u2019s murder, his elder son, Thomas Frederick, 21, had gone to Bessie\u2019s about 8.30pm for supper. The jealous Weldon may have suspected that something was going on between his son and his lover, for on that night, he had got into the empty flat below Bessie\u2019s, armed with a cable or cosh, and changed his boots for \u2018silent\u2019 carpet slippers. He then made his way to the iron staircase that led from outside the house to Bessie\u2019s first floor flat. It was at the foot of this staircase that he was shot twice at close range, after a \u201csevere struggle\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tormented by jealousy<\/h3>\n
All this emerged at the inquest into Weldon\u2019s death, where, although both Bessie and Thomas were questioned, and Bessie openly admitted to the couple\u2019s issues, there seemed to be no doubts raised about the theory of the \u201cburglar\u201d. A witness denied that the man seen fleeing over Bessie\u2019s garden wall was Thomas, but he was not rigorously challenged about the reliability of his sighting.<\/p>\n Murder in the year of the Ripper<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The strange case of \u2018Mr Francis\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nRead recent instalments of Nell Darby\u2019s historical cold cases:<\/h4>\n