Vere St Leger Goold

Career

Vere Goold was born into a wealthy family. In his early life, he apparently had boxing skills as well as tennis skills. In June 1879, he became the first Irish tennis champion after defeating C.D. Barry, 8–6, 8–6 in the final. Later that summer, Vere tried his luck at the third Wimbledon Championships and made it to the All-Comers final in which he was defeated by John Hartley, 2–6, 4–6, 2–6.

A few months later, he competed in the first open tournament held at Cheltenham. He again reached the final and lost to William Renshaw, 4–6, 3–6, 6–5, 6–5, 4–6. He had a 4–1 lead in the final set.

After an illness, he failed to defend his Irish title in 1880, losing out in the Challenge Round, again to William Renshaw 1–6, 4–6, 3–6. St. Leger's career went downhill, and he disappeared from the tennis scene by 1883.

Personal life and murder conviction

Vere Goold's life after 1883 was wasted on drink and drugs. One day, he was asked by a relative to pay a bill at a dressmaker's shop in the Bayswater section of London that was owned by Marie Giraudin. This French lady (from most accounts) was not beautiful but could charm people when she wanted. It was not too difficult for her to charm Goold, who was from a prominent Irish social family. The accounts of the case are not always in tandem, but she had been married twice before, and she was a woman of expensive tastes. The dressmaker's shop was not a real success, especially as Giraudin apparently borrowed money from many of her customers.

In 1891, Goold married Giraudin. The couple quickly descended into debt. They moved to Montreal, Canada in 1897 where Marie had a dressmaking establishment before moving to Liverpool in 1903 to manage a laundry business.

In 1907, Mrs. Goold persuaded Vere Goold to go to the casino of Monte Carlo. She thought she had a winning method for the gambling tables. They took with them her niece Isabelle Giraudin. They also used the titles of "Sir" Vere and "Lady" Goold, which they claimed they were entitled to use. According to a book by Charles Kingston, their system did not work, but Leonard Gribble's account suggests that it worked for at least a couple of days or a week. However, the Goolds soon were without funds. At the casino, they met a wealthy Swedish woman, Emma Levin, the widow of a Stockholm broker. Mrs. Levin already had a parasitical "friend" named Madame Castellazi, but soon the widow had Mrs. Goold as well. The two "hangers-on" detested each other, and finally had a public dispute in the casino. This got into the social columns at Monte Carlo, and Madame Levin decided she had to leave the city because of the publicity.

At this point, the sources on the case vary again. Either Marie Goold or her husband Vere Goold borrowed 40 pounds from Madame Levin, and she wanted it repaid. Kingston makes it seem that, when confronting Marie Goold, the widow saw what a dangerous person the latter was. Gribble suggests that the demand to Vere Goold for repayment played into Marie Goold's scheme to murder the widow for the purposes of theft (of her cash and jewels). On 4 August 1907, Madame Levin went to their hotel to collect the debt before she left Monte Carlo. Madame Castellazi was waiting for her at Madame Levin's hotel, and when she did not come by midnight, she went to the police. They went to the hotel of the Goolds. Vere and Marie Goold had left for Marseille, but they left Isabelle behind (explaining that Mr. Goold had to see a doctor there). Blood-stains were found in the suite as well as some items, such as a saw and a hammer, with blood on them. Also Madame Castellazi recognised Madame Levin's parasol.

The Goolds were in Marseille in a hotel (they were going to head for London). They had left a large trunk at the railway station at Marseille, and one of the clerks at the station named Pons noted it smelled of blood that was leaking out of the bottom. The trunk was traced to the Goolds, and Pons confronted them. Again the details of the sources vary: Kingston says he wanted them to explain why it was leaking blood and come to the station to open the trunk; Gribble says that Pons sought (and got) a small bribe to sty quiet about it. Either Pons told his superiors and the police of his suspicions (the Goolds said the trunk was full of freshly slaughtered poultry) or he talked too much and the story of the trunk got out. In any case, before the Goolds could leave Marseille, they had to face the French police. The trunk was opened, and the remains of Madame Levin were found.

Vere Goold apparently loved Marie Goold deeply. He confessed that he was the murderer. However the relative strengths of character of the two came out in the course of the trial, which attracted great attention. Marie Goold was sentenced to death, and Vere Goold was sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. However, Mrs. Goold's sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. It did not do either of them much good. Vere Goold committed suicide on 8 September 1909, within a year of arriving at Devil's Island. Marie Goold died of typhoid fever in a Montpellier jail in 1914.

In popular culture

The murder case of Vere St. Leger Goold is the subject of a theatrical play called Love All. His life was also the subject of a 2012 docudrama on Irish station TG4 entitled Dhá Chúirt ("Two Courts"), produced by Shane Tobin and directed by Cathal Watters.