When Govan born man Archibald Thomson Hall left prison, he was ready to reinvent himself - using his new alias to climb the social ladder, and eventually become one of Scotland’s most notorious serial killers.
After spending much of his teen years committing a series of thefts in London, he was arrested at the age of 17. On release in 1975, he changed his name to Roy Fontaine - inspired by Joan Fontaine, the star of the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film Rebecca.
Under his new identity, he found work as a butler and mixed with the rich and famous of the time. Now able to get into the grandest houses around the country, ‘Roy’ mingled with the likes of composer Ivor Novello, Lord Mountbatten and playwright Terrence Rattigan.
He began working for Margaret Hudson, widower of Sir Austin Hudson - a Conservative member of parliament. Initially planning to steal her valuables, he changed his mind after realising he was a fan of his employer and the butler job.
His first kill came at the Hudson house, when inmate friend and ex-lover David Wright showed up on the estate and got a job as a gamekeeper. Wright stole some of Mrs Hudson’s jewellery, and threatened to tell her about Hall’s criminal past if he dobbed him in.
Taking him out into the fields under the premise of going on a rabbit hunt, Hall shot Wright dead and buried him next to a stream.
Fleeing to London shortly after, he found a new role working as a butler for Labour MP Walter Scott-Elliot and his wife Dorothy. After an initial plan to rob the couple, he ended up killing them both after Dorothy walked in on him discussing his plans with an accomplice - Michael Kitto.
The men packed the bodies into a car and drove them up to Scotland, burying Dorothy in Perthshire and her husband near Tomich. They were assisted by the Scott-Elliot’s housekeeper, Mary Coggle - an act which they repaid by killing her.
Mary had discovered some of Dorothy’s expensive clothes and jewellery, and was risking all three of them being exposed. Hall killed her with a poker, and left her body in Dumfriesshire.
Hall’s final kill came when his half-brother Donald was released from prison, when he tied him to a chair and used chloroform to knock him out - before drowning him in the bath. It was disposing of Donald’s body that ultimately saw Hall’s murder spree come to an end.
Heading to North Berwick in East Lothian, Hall - still with accomplice Kitto, checked into the Blenheim House Hotel. Their shifty movements made the receptionist concerned, and he quickly called the police.
Sign up to our daily Glasgow Live newsletter here to receive news and features direct to your inbox
When they arrived, the duo were taken in for questioning - and the police checked their car, discovering Donald’s body in the trunk.
The police traced the car to the Scott-Elliots’ address, and on arrival at the property discovered the apartment robbed and blood spattered. This led them on to link the men with the murder of Mary, whose body had already been found.
Hall eventually confessed to the whereabouts of all the bodies, and was convicted of the murders. Both the men were given a life sentence,
The Belfast Telegraph told readers of his sentencing in May 1978, reporting the judges words: “Having regard to your cold-blooded behaviour and undoubted leadership in these dreadful matters, I recommended that you shall not be considered for parole during the rest of your natural life.”
In 1999, Hall published his autobiography titled A Perfect Gentleman - a tell all book of how he conned his way into high class homes and carried out cold blooded murders. Two years later - in September 2002, he died of a stroke at Kingston Prison at the age of 78.
Join Glasgow Live's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
This story was originally published on 09/10/2022
