Ralph Brydges
Ralph Lyonel Brydges (born 1856 - April 18, 1946) was an English Protestant pastor, paedophile and suspected serial killer who, between 1923 and 1928, kidnapped, attacked, raped and killed 5 girls in Rome. Brydges was never convicted for these crimes, but another man, Gino Girolimoni, was initially wrongly convicted for them.
Ralph Brydges | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ralph Lyonel Brydges 1856 |
| Died | April 18, 1946 (aged 89–90) Daytona Beach, Florida, United States |
| Other names | "The Monster of Rome" |
| Conviction(s) | Never convicted |
| Criminal penalty | Never convicted |
| Details | |
| Victims | 9 |
Span of crimes | 1923–1928 |
| Country | Italy, Switzerland, Germany, South Africa |
| State(s) | Rome, Geneva |
Biography
Born to parents Charles Edward Brydges and Eleanor Brydges (née Lowe), Brydges became a deacon of the Anglican church. Between 1910 and the outbreak of the First World War, he served in New York State, where he was repeatedly reported to local authorities for child molestation. Returning to England during the war, he held the office of military ordinariate and reported a serious injury to his head. In 1922 he moved to Rome, where he and with his wife, Florence Caroline Jarvis, took an apartment in Via Po until spring 1927. Here he became a ministry pastor of the "Holy Trinity Church of England" in via Romagna.
During this period, the capital was the scene of atrocious crimes, the perpetrator of which was dubbed "The Monster of Rome" by the press.
On April 24, 1927, while on holiday in Capri, Brydges was arrested by the island supervisor, after being accused of harassing an English girl from his own hotel. The commissioner of Capri was convinced that he had a profile compatible with that of the murderer who was still at large in the capital, and was also suspicious of Brydges's firm refusal to have his fingerprints taken.
The connections and influence enjoyed by his wife Florence's family (the daughter of a powerful man who was elected Mayor of Toronto) several times) and the discrepancy between the actual age of the pastor at that time and that of the maniac (roughly around 40 years old), convinced the English consul of Naples to press for his release, which finally took place in a supervised manner in August of the same year. This was enough for Brydges and his wife to leave immediately and return to Rome, and despite a report to the police station, they disappeared without trace.
On April 13, 1928, while Brydges was on board a ship from Portuguese Africa, moored at the port of Genoa and headed to Canada, Commissioner Giuseppe Dosi found him on board and questioned him. Dosi came to him following a witness account from the maid of the Brydges' house in Rome and numerous witnesses (one of whom specified that the mysterious man could only extend one of the fingers on his left hand) in cases of kidnapping and rape of Roman girls. Piecing this together, Dosi came to the conclusion that the culprit was a middle-aged man with a history of sexual crimes, above the average Italian height, with a foreign accent and who occasionally changed his hair and moustache colour.
During the search of Brydges' cabin, the commissioner was able to collect evidence: notes that referred to times and places of crimes (including "Piazza S. Pietro" from which Rosina Pelli was kidnapped, and "Charleri": surname of another victim) and especially encrypted handkerchiefs absolutely identical to the ones used in strangling the victims. Moreover, he personally ascertained what the Commissioner of Capri had told him: Brydges' left hand, with the exception of one finger, was totally paralysed.
Commissioner Dosi could then ask the suspect an important question: he was aware of the fact that beside the body of one of the victims, little Armanda Leonardi, crumpled and burnt pages of an ascetic catalogue in English had been found. When asked if he used to order catalogues of sacred art and ascetic books, Brydges' answer was: "Yes! From Mowbray Library!".
Despite the protests of the British Consul present at the time, and the ship attempting to set sail, with this evidence it was possible to arrest the pastor and later send him to a psychiatric institute where he underwent an expert assessment. The conclusion was that the subject had a profile perfectly compatible with that of the "Monster of Rome".
Despite this, the constant pressures of the Anglican Church and British Consulate to release Brydges meant that the man could only remain imprisoned for three months before being released from prison and sent to Toronto, Canada.[1]
On October 23, 1929, Brydges was fully acquitted of the crimes by the Court of Appeal in Rome, but he had already left Italy, never to return. Officially, therefore, the crimes of the Monster of Rome remain unsolved. Thanks to Dosi's investigations, however, the theory was strengthened that in the years before his stay in Rome, the man had been guilty of murders in other countries he had visited. All of the crimes (one in Geneva, another in Germany and two in Johannesburg) had common features and all, of course, remained unsolved.
Due to Dosi's work, Girolimoni was silently acquitted by the newspapers, even though he is still incorrectly remembered as the Monster to this day.
References
- Bassini, Fausto (9 May 2012). "The monster and the commissioner who chased him to Genoa" (in Italian). ilgiornale.it.
Bibliography
- Fausto Bassini, The monster and the commissioner who chased him to Genoa, Il Giornale, 9 May 2012.
- Cristiano Armati, Yari Selvetella. Criminal Rome, pp 62–76. Roma, Newton Compton, 2006. ISBN 88-541-0706-9.
- Damiano Damiani, Gaetano Strazzulla. Girolimoni: the monster and fascism. Bologna, Cappelli, 1972.
- Giuseppe Dosi, My autobiographical will, Vasto (Chieti), 1938.
- Giuseppe Dosi, The monster and the detective. Firenze, Vallecchi, 1973.
- Massimo Polidoro, Chronicle, p. 23-68. Casale Monferrato, Edizioni Piemme, 2005. ISBN 88-384-8132-6.
- Fabio Sanvitale, Armando Palmegiani: A monster called Girolimoni: A story of serial killers, girls and innocents. Roma, Sovera, 2011, ISBN 88-6652-003-9.
- Federica Sciarelli, Emmanuele Agostini. The innocent monster. The truth about Girolimoni condemned by the news and history. Milano, Rizzoli, 2010. ISBN 88-17-03546-7.
External links
- "The chain of crimes of the children's tortizer". La Stampa. 12 May 1927. p. 4.
- "Dead Girolimoni the innocent accused of having tortured and killed seven girls". La Stampa. 20 November 1961. p. 3.
- Adelfi, Nicola (21 November 1961). "Victim of a police error lived thirty-three years alone and in misery". La Stampa. p. 9.
- Pacicco, Luigi (January 2008). "Ralph Lyonel Brydges". occhirossi.it.