On one cold January evening in 1953 elderly Elizabeth Thomas was found fatally injured at her home . The 78-year-old had been beaten on the head with a stick and stabbed numerous times in her front and back. Unable to recover from her injuries she died the next morning in hospital.
The stick was left behind in the hallway of her home in Clifton Street in the tranquil surroundings of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire. The stick was found to have had human hair on it but the knife was never found. George Roberts, a deaf and mute man, was tried for her murder but acquitted. While he was in custody a woman from the deaf institute in Llanelli acted as his interpreter.
At the time Mr Roberts lived in Ferry House with his three uncles and had worked in the district as a gardener. He was unable to read or write and had no knowledge of sign language. He had been deaf and mute since birth.
