The Crime

On the evening of 30 May 1946 Robert was at work sitting in his office.  The cinema was showing a film called The Light that Failed.  The 1939 film featured gunshots in several places near the start of the film, and it is believed that the two shots heard around 6.40 fired in real life in at Mr Parrington Jackson by person or person's unknown happened shortly after the start of the film.  It is believed that they had been timed so that the sound of the real gunfire would be masked by the movie soundtrack’s gunshots.

The odd sound was heard by staff and they began to hunt for the cause.  The cinema manager was soon found lying in a pool of blood and groaning. One bullet had missed him but another caused a head wound.

Once he had been found a message was flashed up on the screen asking for a doctor to come and help.  Mr Parrington Jackson  was quickly rushed up to the Bristol Royal Infirmary, but tragically died despite medical help.

Although the police rushed from the nearby Bridewell Police Station, the killer was not apprehended.  The suspected murder weapon was later found in a water storage tank but as it had been in water no evidence of the killer was left behind.

There were a few reasons suggested for the killing including a jealous lover, or a robbery (though the takings were still in the safe). 

Although there was a nation wide man hunt and all the staff were questioned, no one was ever arrested for the crime.

Many years later a man named Jeff Fish walked into a police station and said his father, a petty criminal called Billy the Fish, had confessed on his death bed to killing Robert during a botched burglary.  However as it was a death bed confession, Billy was never arrested so the case remains