Murder
On 9 August 1967 Halliwell killed Orton with nine hammer blows to the head and then overdosed on Nembutal sleeping pills. Halliwell died first. Their bodies were discovered late the following morning, when a chauffeur arrived at the door of their Noel Road flat in Islington to collect Orton for a meeting with The Beatles regarding a screenplay he had written for them.
Halliwell's suicide note referred to the contents of Orton's diary as an explanation for his actions:
"If you read his diary, all will be explained. KH PS: Especially the latter part."
This is presumed to be a reference to Orton's description of his promiscuity; the diary contains numerous incidents of cottaging in public lavatories and other casual sexual encounters.
Read more about this topic: Kenneth Halliwell
Famous quotes containing the word murder:
“Arrive in the afternoon, the late light slanting
In diluted gold bars across the boulevard brag
Of proud, seamed faces with mercy and murder hinting
here, there, interrupting, all deep and debonair,
The pink paint on the innocence of fear;
Walk in a gingerly manner up the hall.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“Anybody who’s been through a divorce will tell you that at one point ... they’ve thought murder. The line between thinking murder and doing murder isn’t that major.”
—Oliver Stone (b. 1946)
“A joke, even if it be a lame one, is nowhere so keenly relished or quickly applauded as in a murder trial.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)