Hi, and welcome once again to History Weeks. I'm Tim. Welcome to the podcast where we take a lighthearted look at the dark side of history. The title of our podcast today, we've got a true crime slash mystery today.
It's The Man on the Green Bicycle, The Murder of Bella Wright. It's about a murder that took place in 1919 over in jolly old England. Randy, well, somebody finally found Mrs. Wright and the bastard's killed her.
Oh, come on. This is a victim here. But she wouldn't be dead anyway. Well, by now, our rule is that we can make fun of victims as long as they've been dead.
That's not our rule. We don't make fun of victims. It's already dead anyway. If you're thinking about Mrs.
Wright, now you can't find her because some bastard killed her. Yeah, she was born in 1897. She wouldn't I would like to... Nope.
Rules conference. Nope. There'll be no rules conference. Let's see what it is.
She don't make the rules. I'm the queen. Well, did you? I do the introductions.
The hierarchy. I do the introductions. Without me, there's no show. Oh, he's got a computer.
I've got a computer. I've got one over there. I also write scripts. To make the whole world sing.
I do. All right. Well, let me remind everyone, Randy, while you're really interrupting me, is that we do not always use proper language on this podcast. Proper English.
We never use proper English. But we sometimes use adult language. And if adult language offends you, as it does me, then you should check out one of the other wonderful true crime podcasts out there, like our friends with They Walk Among Us. The number one...
Well, you know what you should do? You should do your little... What are those things? Those...
You put the ring around the fabric. Needlepoint. Do some needlepoint, you tight-ass motherfuckers. Well, first of all, we have many listeners that do needlepoint.
Okay, yeah, I like needlepoint, but they're not all... Mary Ray does needlepoint. I love Mary Ray, but she's on a fan device. Yeah.
Yeah, Jen Wicks does needlepoint that says whore on it. Whatever. It's still needlepoint. Jen Wicks and I have been friends officially for a year.
I want to say, at least over in England, she does that really cool needlepoint. I think, yeah. I'm pretty sure. Well, we do not mean to offend those of you who do needlepoint.
But we already have. We are not anti-needlepoint on this page. But we would like to say, if you... If foul language offends you, then you probably want to check out a different podcast because we're not very couth on this one.
Yeah, we're not. No, we're not at all. I would like to introduce a lady who is known as Brandy the Benevolent. Her Majesty, Queen Brandy first.
How are you today, Brandy? I'm all right, Timmy. How are you doing? Well, you're over there issuing edicts.
Oh, I am. I don't think... I'm issuing the hell right out of them. You issued a dick over there.
You're not allowed to issue edicts? I am. As the monarch, it is my job. As the sovereign, it is my job.
How have you been, if at all? I'm okay. I'm all right. Okay, let's move along.
Hang it in there. See, we would have to do more time on Brandy Time if you ever had anything interesting. You know what? Here's the thing.
We have a whole week. Like two minutes of... Here's the problem. Right now, my life is a dumpster fire that I really don't want to get into.
So just know that it's kind of a one day at a time kind of thing we've got going here right now. Just plug it through. What do you have to do? It's like Mackenzie Phillips.
Is it? Yeah. One day at a time? Yeah.
Bonnie Franklin? Yeah, I think Bonnie time. Valerie Brutinelli. Valerie Brutinelli is hot.
She looks the same now. She does. She's like Marie Osmond. Marie Osmond's had some pretty obvious work done.
I still, I don't care what kind of work she is. I work her over. Of course you would. I do some work on her.
Bonnie's an handsome man. He's an handsome man. I got to have a guess on. I'd like to introduce a man who's really the moral...
He's one of your tribe, ain't he? He is. I'd like to introduce a man who's considered the moral color. So is she, Brandy?
He is not. Of our podcast, a man who has been... Well, he's been described as an oasis in the desert of despair. By no one.
I do what I can to do. Very honorable. I would even... He hasn't called your holiness before.
Never. I have. The Reverend Colonel Charles Bolrigard, Hawk Waters III, affectionately known as a Southern gentleman. There's a lot for this world.
First of all, he has many burdens. He has no burdens that you cannot even imagine. However, I do want to hear how you fucked yourself. Please tell us this story.
Yeah, because I was lame to Brandy for this. Oh, you were. I made a remark. Brandy threatened to text...
No, wait, no. The last podcast... The last podcast, I made a remark. I gave away some personal information.
Family information. About Mrs. X. And Brandy.
About Mrs. X. Someone you may or may not be married to. Yeah, maybe, yeah.
And Brandy pretended to text her to tell her what you were saying because, of course, she has very good face but never listened to this shit. Well, not in a million years. Oh, but she gets to hear him ramble, you know. She gets to hear him for free.
So then... So then, after I got out of the thing... Out of the recording. Out of the recording.
I got a phone call, and I immediately assumed I was guilty, so I went back and... You assumed that you were in trouble. Re-edited it. And told on yourself.
You're skipping a whole part here. Can we just get to the part where I had to edit this on Bitch three times? You told on yourself, basically, is what happened. You told on yourself, and then had to go back and edit because she was pissed.
Wait a minute. So you get a phone call. Yeah, and it may have been Mrs. Kerner.
It may have been Cody DiPablo. Okay. And this person said what to you when they called? Have you lost your goddamn mind?
No, no, no. What's the first thing she said? Just what are you doing? You know, I'm done with this.
I'm done with this whole thing. So she says, what are you doing? And Chuck immediately spills his guts. So first of all, we know.
Yeah, confess. So we know, hey, we can't take him to war. No, no. Because, you know.
Well, no. I mean, it's great for our listeners because then he had to edit it, of course. And he did do a good job. And he did do a good job.
And he edited, like, the last ten minutes of the show, he cut off. It was boring. The last ten minutes were boring. I had to go in and load this thing, like, four times.
So everyone's getting, if you've got, like, multiple versions. Yeah, you get this thing on your feed, like, four times. It's because Chuck told himself. Chuck fucked himself.
I was trying to give us more downloads to me. Chuck fucked himself. Other than that, Timmy. And let me say that when I heard this story, it was the most.
Oh, I was mad at you. The single most amazing thing I'd ever heard. Why the hell did she do that? Why did she text her for her?
Why? Why wouldn't you clear that up? I didn't know. You didn't know I didn't text her?
No. Oh, my God. All right. Well, I'm sorry you heard that, Colonel.
I hope things are better at home. Again, it was Mr. Pablo to call me. Right.
She don't want to be on TMZ. Anyway, he gives enough shit about you to be on TMZ. How's Rudy doing? You know, Rudy, it's been snowing.
Rudy loves the snow, and I've been taking him out, and he's just been frolicking. Frolicking? Frolicking. There's nothing like a dog frolicking in the snow, Timmy.
Oh, by the way, he sent a message. Yes. He said he hates you, devil. I don't care.
I don't care. He said if he ever sees you on the street, he's biting you. He will not. He said he will.
Nope. You know what? It's my fur nephew's. It was his second birthday.
First birthday? Second birthday. This is where we've gone with this. We're finding out about fucking dog birthdays that don't even belong to you.
I know, but I love him so much. All right. I bet you do. This is fascinating.
But let's talk about the story. Because you hate your cat. No, my cat is a fucking lady. The cat's going to eat you when you die.
Yes. He hopes. My cat, it attacks me every time I go to the kitchen. And it's like, it's clever.
It's like, I walk to the kitchen. He hides, or she hides by the chair. I walk past. She jumps out.
Every time. It's like, you know, are you so stupid? I know what's going on. You keep walking past the chair, though.
So is she stupid? Or? No, she's stupid. All right.
The man on the green bicycle. Let's get into the story. Enough of this nonsense. She's in training.
She's in ninja training. The murder of Bella Wright, Randy. Okay. Bella Wright.
By the way, that means pretty. Bella, pretty. Okay. Right means correct.
She was pretty incorrect. Or the opposite of left. Yeah. The green bicycle case was a murder investigation, Randy.
Is there no resolution to this? I hate those. Yeah. Well, really, there is.
I mean, I've got a. Oh, I know who did it. Yeah, I know who did it, too. I read the script.
But it was never. If you had read the script, you never did it. Okay. The green bicycle case is a rather famous case, I think, in jolly old England.
I'm going to go to England. I'm going to go see Ben and Rosanna. By the way, Rosanna's birthday is coming up on the 19th, so happy birthday, Rosanna. Happy birthday.
Chuck? Happy birthday, my lovely English rose. And? Princess Rosanna.
Princess Rosanna, yeah. And my friend Sherry's birthday is also coming up, so happy birthday. Well, our birthday's coming up, too. How are we going to do this?
Our birthday's not coming up for six more months. Whatever. Evidently, that's what we're doing now. Come on.
All right. The green bicycle case was a murder investigation and trial pertaining to the fatal shooting of a young woman named Bella Wright. It was a primary bicycle. It was a drive-by.
She lived near Leicestershire, Dillage, in England, and it occurred she died on July 5th, 1919, which is one day after we were celebrating the 4th of July here in the United States on 1919. Do they have a July 4th in England? I doubt it. Yeah, they do.
They celebrate it. Bella Wright was killed. What the fuck? They have a July 4th?
Bella Wright was killed by a single bullet, Randy. For our English friends, that's the we kicked your ass there. Yeah. No, that's the.
Yeah, open a can of whoop-ass. Whoop-ass. But don't you think now. They're celebrating now, man.
Looking back at the Founding Fathers, do you think, maybe we should have just hung on. Oh, my God. I think that all the time. Believe me.
Look how cool Canada is. Look how cool. We should have been in Dominion. We should have been.
We'd be much better off. We should have been. But you know what? Now Canadas can't come because of that whole.
Now Canadas can't come? Canadians can't come because that whole, you know, shithole comment thing. Everybody knows Canada is a shithole country. No.
It isn't going on. Christy Lee isn't in Canada. Except for she's in Toronto. No, you have to remember.
True. They kicked him out of Canada. Oh, yeah, they did. Yeah.
And some bitches, you get back here, you can't even turn the money back in. American banks won't take Canadian money. The loonie. The loonie.
I got loonies. I got loonies all over me. I got household loonies. I can't turn the some bitches in.
Some loonies in this room. No, we love our Canadian listeners. Oh, my God. Just get on with it.
Build the wall, Jimmy. Build the wall. Build the wall. I think you're going to need to build the wall.
But you know, after we look at the building of the wall because we're at full employment. There ain't nobody to build the wall. We're going to have to build the wall like in Panama? I just have to build the wall around my garden.
All right. All right. Bell, right. July 19, 19.
She's dead. Bella was killed by a single bullet. Yes, I heard. You know, typically a story.
God damn it. At the beginning, a climax and an ending. I would love a climax about any time now. I could give you one.
Oh, I could give you one. I could do a spontaneous one over here. That's okay, too. Bella White was killed by a single bullet.
Oh, for fuck's sake. I know. To the face. Oh, to the face.
On the evening of her day. Luckily, it was definitely the evening of her death. She would have gotten shot the evening after her death. We wouldn't be doing this.
Well, yeah. You don't know. We could have been doing it, but, you know. Single gunshot to the face.
She died. She had been seen riding a cycling in the company of an unknown man, Brandy, riding a green bicycle. The man or her? The man was riding a green bicycle.
Okay. So do you think it's a coincidence that she got shot in the face on the night of her death? That's a hell of a coincidence. Well, you know.
Am I a stretch? I swear to Christ. Tell me one more time she got shot in the face. Oh, why did we get bad reviews?
Our latest review. I don't even like talking about bad reviews because it encourages them. But we got five stars. And the person, this is their favorite podcast, and they go on in the review to say everything is wrong with it.
What? It's a long list. We'll get five stars. That's all right.
It's a great podcast. Yeah. All right. Annie.
Annie. Annie Bella Wright. Annie Bellum. Lady Annie Bellum.
No, Annie Bellum. Annie Bella Wright. Why didn't you use that in the first place? Why are we just now learning this?
So that she's rolled too? She's born. I'm giving you her early life. All right.
Okay. She was born on July 14, 1897. So she died just after her birthday. Right?
She's 22. I've been. No, right. The horrible days before.
She was the eldest of seven children of an illiterate agricultural laborer and his wife. Armor, basically. Dumb bastard. Aw.
He said illiterate. Perhaps he didn't have the educational opportunities that you and I had. He can make babies. He can make babies.
You can teach himself. How do you grow corn without knowing how to read? Are you kidding? Can you grow corn?
Yeah. You can. When have you ever grown corn? I have grown corn.
I have grown barley. I have grown hops. I've grown. I've seen his barley.
First of all. Ew. Second of all. You couldn't identify corn out of a lineup of one.
Good. No. You can't. I think if it was on a plate, you could.
I think I stretched it. I know corn. I know what corn seeds look like. Corn's a lot of work, man.
You know, it's not too bad if you get it. So both of you are gentlemen farming out. Tell me. We got a bib over on the other one.
If you get corn out of a can, it's pretty simple. But when you have to shuck that stuff, it's a lot of work. It is. It is.
I would just like, fuck it. I would just get it. Fuck the shuck. Fuck the shuck.
I'm getting a can. You know what would fuck you up to? I was trying to. You can't plant the shit from the can in the yard and grow corn.
No. Yeah. I learned that my first two seasons. Your first two seasons.
It was the great corn famine. Yes. The great corn famine of 1984. All right.
There was no peas. She lived in a cottage, Brandy. There was no bees. She lived in a college, Brandy.
A college? A college. Okay. In the village of Stratton.
I wonder if I've been in Rosanna where Stratton is. I don't know, but Jesus Christ. They're not the only listeners we have. They're my favorite.
Will you come on? Four miles outside of Leicester. Okay? I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right.
Probably not. No, you're not. I'm going to go to England and I'm going to learn how to speak over there. I'm going to see Rosanna and Ben this year.
And Matt Johnson. I'm going to go see Matt. Oh, I would not see Matt Johnson. What about Beverly?
Oh, Beverly, yeah. But I'd be afraid to see Matt. No, that's cool. No, I think Matt's a little unhinged.
Oh, I think you're unhinged. He was here. You didn't talk to him here? He's not unhinged.
That's a wee bit unhinged. He's a nice guy. We're all a wee bit unhinged. But he's a good guy.
Bella Wright had attended school until the age of 12, Brandy. And then she began work as a domestic servant. After that, she obtained a job at a factory. And she worked at Bates St.
Mary's Mill. It was a rubber factory. They made rubber. Right?
And that's hard to do in England because there's not a whole lot of rubber plants. I've grown rubber before. You take an inventory of rubber plants in England? Well, have you ever seen rubber plants in England?
No. in South America. So you have to go all the way down there and get them first and then bring them to England to, you know, assemble them. I can't even stand that you are Cameron on.
Her job was approximately five miles. Let's just see her when she dies. Be a little respect. Her job was approximately five miles from her home.
Take this and hit my jugular. That'd be spectacular. Where'd she run a screwdriver that Tommy Lane sent you? There at home.
I've got to put him in my purse. You know Tommy Lane's in Hawaii. I wonder if she was going underground when they had the... I don't know.
Did you just see a fucking nickel on the ground? What the hell? No, I'm saying. I don't know where the hell the people were running to.
Where are you going to run? You're on an island. I go into the water. That's smart.
Smart. Can't get hurt in the water. Can't get hurt in the water. Smart guy.
Yeah. Fucking brilliant. You were following him when shit goes down. You follow him.
Oh, the great corn farmer. I'm sneaking away. I grew rubber, too. They threw me a tire in the backyard.
Watch me grow. First few years was tough. Fucking damn. All right.
So she worked in a rubber plant. Mill or whatever. Dude. Her job was approximately five miles from her home.
She jogged it. Her work was primarily because she rode a bike. Her work primarily consisted of constructing tires. That's interesting work.
It's usually what happens. I've got a great deal of respect for her. People work with their hands. Bella regularly traveled to and fro from her place of appointment on her bicycle.
Seems reasonable. Smart. Economic. Is it a vital part to the story?
Well, yeah, it is because I want to get into that. In addition, at the time of her murder, I think establishing that she could ride a bike is good enough. At the time of her murder, she was working at the lake shift at the factory, Randy. Nothing good happens on the lake shift.
Not riding your bike through the countryside. You can usually go out and get stoned on the breaks. By the dumpster. Don't be in a shower.
You might as well be a hitchhiker in Oregon in the early 70s. Exactly. Be a hitchhiker up in Seattle. In addition, as such, in the summer of 1919, she is known to have cycled between villages and hamlets around Little Stratton, where she was from, to perform errands in the late afternoon.
Okay, so she was a bicyclist, Randy. She may have been a prostitute. No, she's performing errands. But we don't know what those errands are.
She's like Grubhub. I love Grubhub. It's my favorite. I know, it's changed her life.
It has. I never have to go out again. No, you don't. 21-year-old Bella Wright was considered a very attractive colonel and self-assured young lady.
What do you think about that, colonel? Well, I like attractive. Does it say what a breast is like? No, I didn't get that in the research.
I'm not sure if I saw a picture of her, actually. I'm trying to Google that and see if you can get a picture of her. She was often seen riding a Bella Wright. Bella Wright.
How did you not get that by now? She was often seen, Brandy, riding alone through the countryside on her bicycle. See, there you go. Just kill me.
Bella Wright. Okay, that's two L's. Yeah. Bella was engaged to be married, Brandy, to a Royal Navy stoker.
A stoker? Named Archie Ward. Archie. Oh, yeah.
It's hard to get laid when your name is Archie. Or Cortland. Or Cortland, either one. She was not an overly attractive woman.
Well, he served... God damn, this picture of her, she's 21 years old. They had hard lives back then, but she looks like she's a good 45. Yeah, but she worked in a rubber factory.
It'll do that. Yeah, it'll work out. Working with rubbers all day. Yeah, that was about it.
Archie, her fiancé, he served on Her Majesty's Ship, the Diagram. It was a training ship in Portland, England. So, you know, she's got a job. She's got a boyfriend.
Fiancé. Yeah, he's a stoker. So, you know, thanks for looking up for young Bella. She had it going on.
Sweet. She was known to have at least one other suitor, though, Randy. Uh-oh. Yeah.
And told her mother of an officer who had fallen in love with her. And this is important to the story. Okay? This may have been a man by the name of Ronald Light.
She can't find a decent name. Although he denied... So, hold on. Mrs.
Wright found Mr. Wright. No, no, no. His name is Light.
Oh, Light. Yeah. So, okay. So Bella has a...
She's engaged to be married to the guy in the Navy, Archie Ward. Okay. But there's rumors that she's got a beau. Another guy who wants...
Who is trying to get her affection, right? His name is... Well, we don't know his name. She told her mother he was an officer.
And a gentleman. We don't know about if he was a gentleman or not. I can check on the face. But this is...
The people in that little village suspected that this was by a guy by the name of Ronald Light, although he would deny this allegation. On Saturday, July 5, 1919, she set out on her bicycle to mail some letters in the village of Evanston a few miles away, Brandy. She returned home and then proceeded to the village of Galilee to visit her uncle, George Majors. Now, you with me so far?
I'm following you. She's pedaling around. She's just on her bike. She got a little dog on the front of the basket.
When she arrived at her uncle's, she was accompanied by an unknown man. Brandy. He was riding a green BSA bicycle. He was living large.
And he was wearing a raincoat, even though it was a clear day. He's a flasher. Ain't nothing impressive a girl like a green bicycle when you pull up. Or a raincoat.
Or a raincoat, yeah. All right. So, you with me so far? I'm with you.
All right. George Majors, her uncle, expressed concern about the stranger, but Bella, he took her aside and said, hey, I'm concerned you're hanging out with this guy, this raincoat. I can see his dick. He could get that trick up in his boat.
Exactly. Anyway, he told her he was concerned and Bella said not to be alarmed. So, she wasn't that concerned at this point. She wasn't concerned when she left her uncle's cottage an hour later.
She again met up with a stranger and the two of them rode off together. Into the sunset. All right. You've done one page?
One page. Holy shit. Around 930 that night, Brandy. Yes.
These are important clues. Come on. Stay with us here, Cluso. Around 930 that evening, a farmer by the name of Joseph Caldwell came across the body of a young woman lying in the road.
Who was it? While he was driving his cattle along. That's what they do over there. They drive cattle.
Cattle or cattle? Cattle. Okay. So, he was hurting cows and found her body.
Okay. There was a pool of blood around her head, Brandy. Indicating. And her face was covered with blood.
He noticed her bicycle laying nearby. Okay. When he lifted her up, he quickly realized that she was dead. Well, yeah.
That'll do her. And he moved her to the side of the road. You don't want her in the middle of the road. He's got his cows on through there.
They're on the road either. All right. No. So, he moves her out of the road, takes her to the side of the road.
Now, you shouldn't move the body, right? Yeah. This is back in the day, didn't there? All right.
He arranged for two farm hands to guard the body while he summoned the police. I don't know where she was going to go, but you don't want vandals coming by. With her body limp and her face extensively bloodied, she had deep gouge marks visible on her cheeks and jaw, Brandy. Sucks.
So, they initially thought it was an accident. She fell off her bicycle and was vaguely injured. When the police arrived with Dr. E.K.
Williams, the local... He's very good. He made an examination, a curtsy examination of the body, and also concluded... What kind of examination?
Courtesy. Cursory. Excuse me. Examination.
And he concluded that the young lady had met her face by an accident. So, clearly, we got Quincy in here doing this shit. She fell. She was right too fast and fell on a bullet.
The body was taken to a nearby chapel in Little Stanton. Stanton. Where? How the fuck do you get shot in the face and people don't know it?