The Mad Axe-Man’s Correspondence
Frank “Mad Axe-Man” Mitchell wrote his confession (below, left to right) to the murder of Daisy Wallis while in
Broadmoor but when on the run in 1966 he sent a note explaining his case to The Times (bottom left)B
y 1966 Frank Mitchell (inset below) had spent 18
of his 32 years in prison. A muscular giant with
a reputation for violence and burglary, Mitchell was
friends with Ronnie Kray, whom he had met 10 years
previously in Wandsworth.
In 1955 he had been certified
insane and sent to Rampton
high-security mental hospital. Going
on the run in 1957, he assaulted the
home owner during a burglary, and
when recaptured was sentenced to
nine years. Placed in Broadmoor
hospital – where he confessed to
the murder of Daisy Wallis – he
soon escaped again and earned his
nickname “The Mad Axe-Man,”
by threatening an elderly couple with the weapon while
burgling their house.
He was recaptured and, with little hope of release,
the Krays arranged Mitchell’s escape from Dartmoor
Prison on December 12th, as part of an attempt to force
the authorities to provide a release date – going as far
as encouraging him to write to the editor of The Times
detailing his plight – and hid him in a flat in London.
However, Mitchell’s conspicuous bulk and precarious
mental state made him a liability and his disappearance
remains a mystery. Although accused of his alleged
murder at the Old Bailey, with no body, the three Kray
brothers and Freddie Foreman were found not guilty.