She was stuffed inside a tree and left to die. No name. No explanation. Then the graffiti appeared: “Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?” A chilling mystery was born — one that has haunted England for 80 years.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: Who was found in the Wych Elm?
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Lamont Jones is shattered when his cousin dies just weeks after entering prison. The official report says natural causes, but bruises and missing teeth tell a different story. Wondery presents Death County PA, a chilling true story of corruption and cover-ups. Follow Death County PA on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
No air raid sirens tonight, just an eerie silence. The trees loom around you, gnarled, barren branches reaching out like witches' fingers. You pull your coat tighter around you and continue your rounds. You're a member of the Home Guard. You can't get spooked by empty woods. Up ahead, you see a car by the side of a country road. It's an unusual sight.
There's been a fuel shortage since the war broke out, so you're not used to seeing cars this far out in the woods. You approach and knock on the window. The driver, a man, looks surprised to see you, but he doesn't hesitate to hand you his ID when asked. Looking at his papers, you're in for a surprise of your own. He's a member of the Royal Air Force.
You're about to apologize when you see someone else in the car. The driver's coat is covering an adult-sized shape in the passenger seat. Whoever this is, she's clearly trying her best to stay out of sight. Your face flushes with embarrassment. You realize why he wanted such a secluded spot after all. You ask no more questions and continue your rounds.
Years later, you'll begin to wonder if you should have asked for the woman's ID as well. You assumed that she was undressed and hiding from shame, but she had been lying so still, as still as a corpse. In time, you'll grow convinced that you were mere inches away from one of England's most notorious unsolved murders. England, April 18th, 1943. Hagley Woods is an eerie place in the growing dark.
The sun has just set, and mist obscures the silhouetted trees. Tommy Willits follows three of his schoolmates through the undergrowth. His eyes are wide, shooting from tree to tree. He's nervous because they're not supposed to be here. The gate was locked, but his friends went right over the top. Tommy, the youngest, had little choice but to follow the older boys.
Tommy tugs on the shirttail of the friend ahead of him, Bob Farmer. Tommy asks if he can turn on the flashlight now. It's getting really dark. Bob shakes his head. Not yet. Not until they absolutely need it. Every shadow looks like a person in the gloom. Tommy has to remind himself that there's no such thing as ghosts.
If he sees the shadow of a person, it's probably one of the travelers who sometimes camp nearby. There's nothing to be afraid of. The only people they'd be afraid to see are constables or members of Lord Cobham's staff, as he would not be pleased to learn that four teenage boys were trespassing on his estate. The four of them fan out, checking every tree. They're searching for bird eggs.
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Chapter 2: What eerie events led to the discovery of the skull?
Tommy and the others tell him to put it back, and not wanting to touch the gross thing anymore, Bob puts it aside. He finds a stick on the ground nearby and lifts the skull up with it, and once it's wedged back inside the tree, the four boys flee as fast as they can. They don't stop until they've found their bikes by the edge of the forest, and are well on their way back to Hagley.
Tommy wants nothing more than to go directly back to his house, but he notices the other boys pulling over, and so he does the same. Now safely in the comfort of the village lights, they talk about what they had just seen. None of them can believe it. It's a skull in a tree, like a hidden treasure, or an offering to some pagan god. Every possibility only makes the discovery more unsettling.
Then and there, they swear to each other that they won't breathe a word of what they saw. Whatever had happened to the poor owner of that skull, it's none of their business. With the promise made, the boys all peddle home. As he goes, Tommy passes a handful of desperate-looking strangers in the street.
Ever since the bombing raids began on the nearby city of Birmingham, many people have been displaced, which means a lot more unfamiliar faces around Hagley. When he gets back to his house, Tommy lets his parents know that he's returned safe and sound. Yet as he settles in with a cup of tea by the window, he realizes that that's not true. He feels neither safe nor sound.
He keeps thinking back to it. The skull in the elm tree. It had been old, at least a year, and who knows really how long it was laying in there. What are the odds of finding something so carefully hidden? Soon, overpowered by guilt and anxiety, Tommy goes to his dad.
He tells him everything about the bird eggs, the trespassing with his friends, and as he speaks, he can see his father's expression shift from disapproval to concern. When Tommy mentions the skull, his father's eyes widen. For a moment, he fears that his dad won't believe him. But then Mr. Willits puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
He assures Tommy that he did the right thing, before leaving to ring up the police. Tommy goes back to staring off into the night. He isn't nearly as certain, and there's an awful feeling in his gut. Whatever happens next, it won't lead anywhere good. The next day, August 19th, 1943. It's the West Mercia police's turn to navigate the thick undergrowth.
They follow Tommy as the boy guides them to the skull's hiding place. In the light of day, the tree looks far less threatening than the boy had described it. It's a witch elm, spelled W-Y-C-H, which comes from an old English word for supple plant. There's nothing inherently spooky about the tree, at least from the outside. The policemen peer into the hollow where Bob had found the skull.
The first officer shouts out an alarm. There's more than just a skull in here. It's tough to see, but it looks like there's an entire mausoleum in the hollow. However, they can't safely extract them, so they call a lumberjack to cut open the tree. The officers remove nearly a whole skeleton from the splintered wood. It's clearly been there a while.
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Chapter 3: What were the forensic findings of the remains?
He writes that he does not accept the theory of Romani travelers committing a murder among their own. He acknowledges that the area has a large population of travelers, but they're always the first people blamed in every crime. The theory is wild speculation based on prejudice. The woman's clothing, the taffeta dress and crepe shoes, are not the sort of thing a traveler would wear.
She was likely from a lower economic class, but the fabrics are out of step with Romani fashion. As for the evidence of witchcraft, he deems all of that fairly circumstantial. In his articles, Byford Jones implores the person who wrote the graffiti to come forward. He figures, much like the police had 10 years ago, that whoever wrote the message knew Bella personally.
The individual is the only one who can give a definitive answer to the graffiti question. In late 1953, a letter arrives at the Express and Star offices. Bifer Jones opens it, expecting it to be an ordinary letter from one of his interested readers. But he's wrong. It comes from someone who claims to have inside info on the case. And so, gripping the letter tightly, he reads it over and over.
It states, "...finish your articles regarding the Witchelm crime by all means. They're interesting to your readers, but you'll never solve the mystery." The one person who could give the answer is now beyond the jurisdiction of our earthly courts. The affair involves no witches, black magic, or moonlit rites.
The only clues I can give you are that the person responsible for the crime died insane in 1942, and the victim was Dutch and arrived in England illegally about 1941. I have no wish to recall anymore." Bifer Jones stares at the mysterious letter in shock. It's signed Anna from Claverley, though the author admits that this is nothing but a pen name.
And for the first time in 10 years, someone finally has a lead. The Express and Star alerts the West Mercia police and offers a 100-pound reward for any new information in the case. Byford Jones and his colleagues hope that additional incentives would bring new information from their anonymous source. Eventually, Anna contacts them again.
She's willing to tell the entire story, but not to the Express and Star. She's taking what she knows directly to the police.
Lamont Jones' world is shattered when his cousin dies in custody just weeks after entering prison. The official report says natural causes, but bruises and missing teeth tell a different story. From Wondery comes Death County, PA, a chilling true story of corruption and cover-ups that begins as one man's search for answers but soon reveals a disturbing pattern.
Lamont's cousin's death is just one of many, and powerful forces are working to keep the truth buried. With never-before-heard interviews and shocking revelations, Death County PA pulls back the curtain on one of America's darkest institutional secrets. This isn't just another true crime story. It's happening right now. Follow Death County PA on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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