John West, who lived alone, had returned to his home on 6th April 1964. At about 3 a.m. the following morning his next door neighbour was awoken by a noise in West's house and, looking out of the window, observed a car disappearing down the street. The neighbour called the police who found West dead from severe head injuries and a stab wound to the chest. In the house, the police found a raincoat with a medallion and an Army Memo Form in the pockets. The medallion was inscribed G.O. Evans, July, 1961 and the memo form had the name Norma O'Brien on it, together with a Liverpool address. Norma O'Brien was a 17 year old Liverpool factory worker who told the police that in 1963, while staying with her sister and brother-in-law in Preston, she met a man called 'Ginger' Owen Evans. She also confirmed that she had seen Evans wearing the medallion.
48 hours after the murder, two men had been arrested and charged with West's murder. They were Gwynne Owen Evans (real name John Robson Welby) and Peter Allen. Evans was found to have a watch inscribed to West in his pocket. Evans lodged with Allen and his wife in Preston. They were both of below-average intelligence and both had criminal records.
Although Evans blamed Allen for beating West, he admitted stealing the watch and it became clearer as the questioning went on, that Evans had masterminded the whole incident. In his turn, Allen stated that they had stolen a car in Preston and driven over to West's house so that Evans could borrow some money from his onetime work mate.
Allen and Evans were both tried together at Manchester Crown Court in June 1964, for the Capital Murder of John West (murder in the course or furtherance of theft). During the trial, the judge asked the jury to decide whether it was Allen or Evans who committed the murder. The jury found both men guilty of murder, and they were both sentenced to death by hanging.
Gwynne Owen Evans was hanged by executioner Harry Allen at Manchester's Strangeways Prison at 8.00 a.m. on 13 August 1964. At the same time, Peter Allen was hanged at Liverpool's Walton Prison by Robert Leslie Stewart.