Styllou Christofi

The case was re-examined in 2019 in episode 2 of series 2 of BBC One's Murder, Mystery and My Family. In it barristers Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass re-investigated the case on behalf of her grandson, Pantopios (Toby) Christofis a.k.a. Tobias Christopher, hoping to prove her innocence. Although question marks were raised over Christofi's execution and mental health, insufficient evidence was uncovered to suggest her conviction should be overturned.

The new grave (in plot 117) remained unmarked for over twenty years. It was acquired in the 1980s by René Weis and Audrey Russell, who had interviewed Avis Graydon (Edith Thompson's surviving sister) at length in the 1970s. On 13 November 1993, a grey granite memorial was placed on plot 117 and dedicated to the memory of the four women buried there. The grave and plot were formally consecrated by the Reverend Barry Arscott of St. Barnabas, Manor Park, the church in which Edith Thompson was married in January 1916. Edith Thompson's details appear prominently on the face of the tombstone, together with her epitaph: "Sleep on Beloved. Her death was a legal formality". The names of the other three women are inscribed around the edges of the tombstone.

The body of Christofi was buried in an unmarked grave within the walls of Holloway Prison, as was customary. In 1971, the prison underwent an extensive programme of rebuilding, during which the bodies of all the executed women were exhumed. With the exception of Ruth Ellis, the remains of the four other women executed at Holloway (i.e., Styllou Christofi, Edith Thompson, Amelia Sach and Annie Walters) were subsequently reburied in a single grave (plot 117) at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. The remains of Thompson were exhumed in 2018 and laid to rest in the grave of her mother and father in the City of London Cemetery.

Styllou Pantopiou Christofi (Greek: Στυλλού Χριστοφή; 1900 – 15 December 1954) was a Greek Cypriot woman hanged in Britain for murdering her daughter-in-law. She was the penultimate woman to be executed in Britain, followed in 1955 by Ruth Ellis.

On the evening of 29 July 1954, after Stavros had left for work and the children had been put to bed, Christofi went to the kitchen, where Hella was going about her chores, and knocked her unconscious with a blow to the back of the head with an ash pan from the boiler. She then strangled Hella to death with a scarf, removed the wedding ring from her finger, dragged the body into the back garden and attempted to cremate it by pouring paraffin over it and setting it on fire. The flames caught the attention of next-door neighbour John Young, who was passing by the house walking his dog. He saw Christofi burning Hella's body over the fence. However, he believed that the article being burnt was a mannequin, and seeing that Christofi was attending to the fire, believed there was no cause for alarm.

Christofi was arrested on suspicion of murder. During her interrogation, she offered an explanation: "I wake up, smell burning, go downstairs. Hella burning. Throw water, touch her face. Not move. Run out, get help." Christofi was charged and remanded to HM Prison Holloway soon afterwards. Her trial began at the Old Bailey on 28 October 1954. Her counsel offered a defence of insanity but the jury rejected it. Christofi was found guilty and sentenced to death by Mr Justice Devlin. There was a limited campaign for clemency, but to no avail. Her executioner, Albert Pierrepoint claimed in his autobiography, Executioner: Pierrepoint, that Christofi failed to attract much media attention or sympathy because, unlike the pretty Ruth Ellis, she was less glamorous. A "blonde night-club hostess" was much more alluring than "a grey-haired and bewildered grandmother who spoke no English." While on death row, she requested that a Greek Christian Orthodox cross be put on the wall of the execution chamber, which was granted. It remained there until the room was dismantled in 1967. She was also shunned by her son Stavros, who did not make any requests for clemency, and later said "I cannot find it in my heart to forgive my mother. The word 'mother' has become a mockery to me".

Christofi was hanged at Holloway Prison by Albert Pierrepoint on 15 December 1954. Pathologist Francis Camps examined the body.

In 1953, Christofi came to London to reunite with Stavros, whom she had not seen for 12 years. She had trouble adapting to her new lifestyle, and began extensively arguing with her daughter-in-law. In particular, Christofi resented the fact that her grandchildren were being raised as typical English children with no regard for their Greek heritage. She would frequently criticise Hella's parenting and fly into tantrums. In July 1954, Stavros and Hella agreed that Christofi needed to leave. Hella planned to take the children on a visit to Germany, during which Stavros would try to persuade his mother to return to Cyprus. Christofi, who probably became aware of the plan, soon resolved to murder Hella so she could raise the children her own way.

Her son Stavros later left the village for Nicosia to work as a waiter. In 1941, after saving up enough money, he moved to Britain, settled in London, and found a job as a wine waiter at Café de Paris, a prestigious nightclub on London's West End. He married Hella Bleicher, a German-born fashion model, and the couple had three children.

In 1925, Christofi was arrested and charged with murdering her mother-in-law by ramming a lighted torch down her throat, after the two women had extensively bickered. According to varying accounts, she was either found not guilty, or the court found that she had been provoked to such an extent that a criminal penalty was inappropriate.