Faking His Own Death
Stonehouse maintained the pretence of normality until he faked his suicide on 20 November 1974, leaving a pile of clothes on a Miami beach. He was presumed dead, and obituaries were published despite the fact that no body had been found. In reality, he was en route to Australia, hoping to set up a new life with his mistress and secretary, Sheila Buckley.
Using false names, Stonehouse set about transferring large sums of money between banks as a further means of covering his tracks. Under the name of Clive Mildoon he deposited $21,500 in cash at the Bank of New Zealand. The teller who handled the money later spotted "Mildoon" at the Bank of New South Wales. Inquiries led the teller to learn that the money was in the name of Joe Markham and he informed the local police. Stonehouse spent a while in Copenhagen with Sheila Buckley, but later returned to Australia, unaware that he was now under surveillance. The police suspected him of being the fugitive Lord Lucan who, two weeks before Stonehouse faked his death, had disappeared following the murder of his children's nanny, Sandra Rivett. Investigators noted that the suspect was reading British newspapers that also included stories attacking the "recently deceased" John Stonehouse. They contacted Scotland Yard, requesting pictures of both Lucan and Stonehouse.
Stonehouse was arrested on Christmas Eve 1974. Due to the possibility that they might be arresting Lord Lucan, who had a six-inch scar on his inside right thigh, the police instructed him to pull down his trousers so they could be sure they arrested the right man. He applied for the position of Bailiff and Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds while still in Australia (one of the ways for an MP to resign), but decided not to sign the papers.
Six months after he was discovered, he was deported to the UK, though he had tried to obtain offers of asylum from Sweden or Mauritius.
He returned in June 1975, and was remanded in Brixton Prison until August. He continued to act as an MP. Although unhappy with the situation, the Labour Party did not expel him. On 7 April 1976, three weeks before his trial, he resigned the Labour whip, making them a minority government. A few days later he joined the English National Party.
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Famous quotes containing the words faking and/or death:
“It especially helps if you know that we’re all faking our adulthood—even your parents and their parents. Beneath these adult trappings—in our president, in our parents, in you and me—lurk the emotions of a child. If we know that only about ourselves, we become infantile; if we understand that about everybody, then we have nothing to be ashamed of—unless, of course, we go around acting like a child and expecting everyone else to act like grownups.”
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