Chappelow moved with his family to Hampstead at the age of 14, to the house, 9 Downshire Hill, in which he lived for the rest of his life except for his school and student years.
Chappelow's books included Russian Holiday (London, George Harrap, 1955) – he was a member of the first party of 'ordinary tourists' to be allowed to visit the USSR after the Second World War.
A recluse and (according to media reports) a millionaire, the elderly Chappelow was found murdered in his house after a sum of money was discovered to have gone missing from his bank account.
In October 2006, a British citizen of Chinese birth, Wang Yam, a financial trader also resident in Hampstead, was arrested in Switzerland and charged with the murder.
[5] In the Court of Appeal on 28 January, the 'gagging order' was upheld, with the Lord Chief Justice insisting that a fair trial would be possible even if some or all of it was held 'in camera'.
[9] One of the theories put forward, and confirmed by "sources close to the investigation", is that Wang was a "low-level informant" for the security services and planned to rely on this as part of his defence at trial.
Wang had declared bankruptcy in September 2004, and was believed to be having financial difficulties; he had been due to be evicted from his house for rent arrears in June 2006.
[19] In 2023, the CCRC confirmed that they would review Yam's case a second time in response to new developments in DNA testing which had led to the exoneration of Andrew Malkinson earlier in the year.
[19] In January 2018, a book on Chappelow and the murder trial was published: Thomas Harding's Blood On The Page, William Heinemann (London, 2018).