Edward Francis Ball

Timeline

• 17 February 1936 — Edward Ball, aged 19, murdered his mother, Lavinia (Vera), at their home in Booterstown.
• 23 February 1936 — The Irish News reported that Edward Ball was charged with the murder of his mother following her disappearance and the discovery of her blood-stained car.

Background

Edward Francis Ball was 19 years old when he murdered his mother, Lavinia (Vera), at their home in Booterstown on 17 February 1936. Lavinia (Vera) was 53 years old. Their home was in St Helen’s Road, Booterstown, Co Dublin, where Edward Ball had lived with his mother. The house was closely guarded by detectives after the discovery of Mrs Ball’s blood-stained car.

Edward Ball completed his studies in England some time before returning to Ireland to live with his mother. Dr Charles Preston Ball was in practice in Dublin and did not know of his wife’s disappearance until he was informed by the police. St Helen’s Road was described as being in a fashionable residential area of Booterstown, a few miles from Dublin. Mrs Ball was described as a woman of means and well known in the social life of the city.

The offence

Edward Ball murdered his mother, Lavinia (Vera), at their home in Booterstown on 17 February 1936. Her body was never found.

At his trial, Edward Ball pleaded “not guilty.” He said that he returned home to find that his mother had committed suicide by cutting her own throat with an open razor. He said that he had decided to hide the suicide by disposing of the body in the sea. Evidence pointed towards a struggle, despite his account and despite him working hard the night of the murder to destroy it. The prosecution rejected his story.

The prosecution showed it as more likely that she had been killed with a bloodstained axe found at the house.

Investigation

A man delivering newspapers noticed a car strangely parked facing the sea with the car door partially open. Inside the car were bloodstains and a bloodstained towel. The man reported the matter to the police, who went to the house and searched the premises. They found bloodstained linen wrapped in newspaper in Edward Ball’s room.

After Edward Ball was confronted, he stated that his mother had committed suicide and cut her throat. He also stated that when he found her body he decided to dispose of the body at sea. He said he had taken the body to the shore at Shankill and let the tide take it out to sea. The prosecution dismissed this story.

During the search for Mrs Ball, aeroplanes were used by the police. A widespread search of the surrounding countryside took place but no trace was found of the missing woman.

As a result of information received, the Civic Guards devoted their search to the sea at Shankill close to where the blood-saturated motor car had been found abandoned. The police were engaged sweeping the sea between Shankill and Killiney with row-boats and grappling apparatus. They were inclined to discard the suggestion that the body may have been weighted, but they accepted the probability that it may have been enveloped in a rug. They believed that the weight of the rug had prevented the body from being washed ashore. A hairpin, some human hair and blood stains were found along the lane leading to the sea, and it was believed that the body had been dragged along from the car and thrown into the water.

Arrest

Edward Ball was arrested at 7pm and taken to Bridewell police station where he was charged with murder.

Trial

Edward Ball pleaded “not guilty” at his trial. He was found guilty but insane. Evidence pointed towards a struggle, and the prosecution dismissed his account that his mother had committed suicide.

Edward Ball was charged with the murder of his mother, Lavinia (Vera), although her body was never found.

Sentencing

Edward Ball was found guilty but insane and was ordered to be Detained During the Pleasure of the Governor General.

Outcome

Lavinia (Vera) Ball’s body was never found. The prosecution treated the disappearance and evidence as connected to her death, and the case resulted in a finding of guilt but insanity.

Other details

Mrs Ball’s blood-stained car was abandoned near the seashore at Shankill early on Wednesday morning. Her car was recovered at the coast in Shankill, Dublin. Ball was reported to have been charged as the son of Mrs Ball, a 53-year-old wife of a Dublin specialist, Edward Ball, the 19-year-old son, was charged with the murder of his mother. The disappearance was described as having a sensational sequel.

A likely motive was described as relating to Mrs Ball suffering from Dementia and it becoming too much for a young man of 19 to put up with. Edward Ball died in 1987.