About Alec Eist: Military Personnel (n/a – 1982)
Alexander Anthony Esther (known as Alec) (26 March 1929 – 27 January 1982) was a Scotland Yard detective in the 1960s and 1970s. He is particularly notable for the many corruption allegations against him. These include participating in jewelry heists and providing false alibi to criminals. He later testified to the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassination about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose killer James Earle had been in his custody after Ray fled to London in 1968.
Esther served in the Merchant Navy during World War II, for which he was awarded the Order. As a police officer, he was awarded the Medal of Valor after disarming a man with a rifle in 1968. Despite being accompanied by corruption allegations for most of his career – leading him to return to uniform police duty before retiring and then face a failed prosecution – Esther has never been convicted of any such crime. Throughout his career, Astor has received several medals for character and bravery. After retiring, he ran a “green man” pub in the Six Mile Valley, Cambridgeshire.
Early life and career
Alec Eist Medal Records from the Trade Commission Merchant Marine Database
Alec Astor was born in Cardiff on September 26, 1929. In May 1945, at the end of World War II in Europe, he joined the merchant fleet as a sailor. After serving for nearly three years, Astor joined the Metropolitan Police as a constable in June 1948.
Order of the British Empire
Old Wembley Police Station, now converted into a restaurant, 2017
In 1967, Sergeant Eist, then stationed at Cheshunt, was awarded the OBE for single-handedly disarming suspects. On February 14 of that year, london gazette Esther was one of many officers called in to provide support after the suspect’s car was found after a series of robberies, the report said. A man with a rifle was observed in the basement of the property before fleeing to the back garden before sitting on a wall threatening to shoot him if police approached. Esther identified the man as a jailbreaker, known as a “vicious and ruthless criminal,” according to the Gazette. The man jumped into a nearby garden and continued to threaten police, who threw flower pots at him. Around the corner at the end of the garden, the man pointed a rifle at each police officer and threatened to shoot if they got close. “Despite the threat”, Gazette, Eist and a colleague tackled and disarmed the man. The rifle was found to be loaded with three .22 caliber bullets, with a fourth in the breech.
Join the Flying Squad
In May 1968, Eist joined the flying squad under Harold “Tanky” Challenor and was quickly promoted to Detective Sergeant (Second Class). Eist eventually reached the rank of Detective Chief Inspector. He was appointed head of the Wembley Robbery Squad along with Chief Superintendent James Marshall, where they met Bertie Morse, the head of the Wembley gang. Eist has a deep and broad knowledge and understanding of London’s underworld and the geographic location it occupies. Gangster Freddie Foreman described Eist as a “rebel cop” who would get drunk and sing while standing on a bar table. Police historian Dick Kirby described Esther as “always controversial”, as was his relationship with the senior office. In an anecdote from Eist’s tenure at Holloway:
At one point, Astor was summoned to a high-ranking officer, and he was reprimanded for doing something, or possibly being negligent. Instead of apologizing, Esther went on the offensive, pointing out the number of stolen trucks he had recovered. “Alec,” the other said wearily, “we didn’t have any fucking stolen trucks before you came!”
Participated in the investigation into the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
There is no doubt from the conversation he told me that he has admitted to me that he committed the murder…anyway, I have no doubt that he was on his own. For whatever reason, he did it…he did it himself. If it’s anything, or anyone who’s behind him in his particular job…in the various and many conversations I’ve had with him, it’ll come out.
Eist testimony to HSCA, August 1978
In May 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, James Earl Ray fled to London. Ray was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport on June 8, trying to travel to Brussels with a fake Canadian passport. Ray was held in the personal custody of Eist, first at Canon Street Police Station and then at Wandsworth Prison. Esther spent the first nine hours with Ray on Canon Street, and they were handcuffed whenever Ray was taken to Old Bailey. Astor later recalled, “Initially, [Ray] Don’t want to say anything to anyone”, just stared at Esther. Esther thinks that, possibly because of their frequent contact, Ray “started to see me as someone he could talk to”. Esther helped Ray adjust to the UK The prison service, for example, by arranging for him to receive cutlery (initially detained for fear of suicide) and bring him magazines. Ray’s later biographer Gerald Posner argues that because of these details, “slowly the two established It’s rare for Ray to have a rapport with anyone,” Esther later recalled. Even then, Ray wouldn’t answer specific questions, preferring to speak in general terms. When Esther told Ray When King’s death had little impact on Britain, Astor said, Ray’s response was “you haven’t seen anything yet”.
During Ray’s subsequent extradition, trial and sentencing, U.S. authorities were unaware of Esther’s relationship with Ray. Astor had discussed it with a number of colleagues and peers over the years, but it wasn’t until 1976 that he met a U.S. Air Force officer who was living in London at the time. Esther mentioned his relationship with Ray, and the official suggested he contact the FBI. At that point, Congress plans to launch a new investigation into the association.
HSCA testimony
Two years after retiring, Esther testified under oath to the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassination (HSCA) on November 9, 1976 — the first day of public evidence — that Ray had mentioned because Ray “saw a police officer or a police car handlebar.” The gun was thrown.” Posner said Esther’s testimony “stunned Ray and his then-lawyer Mark Lane.” Journalist Pat McMichael speculates that because Eist or his evidence is unknown and unsuspected in the United States, his evidence is “particularly damaging.” observer Esther’s evidence was the “biggest blow” to Ray, it wrote at the time. Esther testifies on Ray’s blatant racism: Esther says not only did Ray call African-Americans “niggers,” but “he also told me that at some stage he tried to get into Africa — he said he was going to kill more people die.” Esther also reported that while in British custody, Ray “appears to be happy” – “full of confidence” – especially because he believes he will be paid for his TV and media appearances.
Chief crime reporter at the time daily mail, Owen Summers, who gave Eist a character witness at the HSCA, told the committee he had known Eist for more than 18 years and had “never been deliberately misled by Alec Eist, and always believed his information to be completely reliable”. However, Chris Dodd, a member of the House committee, said he was “very disturbed” that Esther did not present evidence about Wray when the HSCA reopened its investigation in 1977. Esther’s answer – “in a low tone” – was that he had been involved in domestic affairs, namely his recent corruption trial. Summers also disputed Dodd’s allegations that Astor kept silent about Ray. Summers said Astor told him 10 years ago that he remembered Astor telling him that Ray was “coughing” about Dr. King’s killing. Summers argued that in Eist’s defense, he did not submit it because he did not think his paper would consider it newsworthy. Eist claimed he had taken the advice of his US contacts in the UK and reported it to the FBI’s London station; however, the House Committee noted that it found no record of Eist’s report.
Whistleblower and corruption allegations
Eist freely uses informants within the criminal community. Among his whistleblowers, he counted the likes of Roy Garner, who was later convicted of cocaine smuggling and became a superhero and millionaire. Eist tries to avoid court appearances, but makes sure that reward payouts always include 10% of his informant. He often attends in person, though Kirby describes it as “it’s questionable whether it’s all over the nose”.
Investigative journalist Martin Fido argued that Eist was described as the “most corrupt or knowledgeable” Scotland Yard detective of his generation, noting that Eist “allegedly offered sliding payment tariffs”. The payments would be in return for dropping or otherwise failing the investigation (though drawing a line on murder and rape, Fido said). protector Journalist Paul Lashmar described Eist as “notoriously the most corrupt yard official from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, no small feat in such a crowded field”. Likewise, intelligence scholar Duncan Campbell argues that Esther was “one of the most active officers” of the period. Kirby also hinted that “Ester’s honesty is also questionable” and described individuals who have been arrested for crimes committed by whistleblowers. Reg Dudley – a North London “career criminal” wrongly convicted of double murder in 1977 – was a fencer in the 1960s, writing that he had Eist has a “close relationship”, which he calls “bending.”Dudley asserts that “for some [Dudley], Alec would do everything in his power to make the evidence “disappear”. Kirby asserted that Astor was close enough to Dudley and the other villains of the day to socialize with. He noted that Astor was at Holloway The contemporaries said, “Obviously… there were surveillance photos of various London gangsters on a cruise ship, in which “clear features of Alec Astor can be seen lurking in the shadows”. Esther was also allegedly linked to the perpetrators of the Baker Street robbery, preventing some from prosecuting, and was later paid off with jewellery from the robbery.
Eist began testifying at the HSCA in late 1978 about his custody of James Earl Ray a decade earlier
Corruption allegations also put Eist in front of the HSCA. His evidence was challenged by Ray’s defense attorney, Mark Lane. Lane…
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