100 Murder Cases

Who Put Bella Down the Wych Elm?

Driving along the A456 (Hagley Road) between Central Birmingham and Woofferton, Shropshire you'll pass the border of Hagley Wood. From the road, it looks forbidding. It's easy to think of a gothic heroine trapped in the shadows of the trees as dark falls, misty and menacing. Naturally, it's home to a mystery that's endured since the early 1940s.

On April 18, 1943, three boys hunting birds' nests spotted an enticing Wych elm—one of the most common breeds of European elm tree. The tree's wide trunk was virtually hollow, and as one boy climbed he looked down and through a knothole he saw a skull, hair attached to the skull, and inarguably human teeth. Someone's body had been stuffed inside the tree.

The boys didn't notify police right away; they'd been trespassing. Finally, one did.

Along with the skull, investigators found most of a skeleton, a wedding ring, and a shoe. In the skull's mouth, they found crumpled taffeta. Forensic investigation revealed she'd been smothered then hidden inside the tree almost immediately after death.

Bella Thorne's skull.

In 1944 someone scrawled graffiti on a wall in Birmingham: "Who put Bella down the Wych Elm – Hagley Wood."

The same question has appeared over and over again —often written as "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm" since the 1970s on the side of an obelisk not far from the site.

In the forties, one theory suggested witches sacrificed Bella in a ritual. It was wartime, so it was possible she was a spy or a woman who knew too much. But to this day, no one really knows.