He was regarded by his superiors as an ambitious individual, although his boastful attitude and false claims of nobility made him unpopular with his fellow servicemen, who derisively nicknamed him "the Duke".

Her death is believed to have occurred at approximately 9:15 p.m.[30] Four days later, on 17 October, a 48-year-old widow named Edith Eleanora Humphries was found lying on her bed at her Regent's Park home.

[31] At the time of these two murders, Cummins was stationed in Colerne, although when on leave, he is known to have frequently visited London, residing at an address in nearby St John's Wood.

[4] Cummins left his home shortly after 6:30 p.m.[34] The following morning, the body of 41-year-old pharmacist Evelyn Hamilton was discovered by an electrician named Harold Batchelor in a street-level air raid shelter in Montagu Place, Marylebone.

Scuff marks on her shoes and broken sections of mortar scattered near her body indicated Hamilton had fiercely struggled with her attacker, who had raised her skirt above her hips, pulled her underwear below knee level, and exposed her right breast.

[36] The day prior to her murder, Hamilton had resigned from her position managing a Hornchurch chemists, which had experienced financial hardships due to the onset of the war, and travelled to London via train.

At 6:40 p.m. on 8 February, she is known to have informed a Mrs. Maud Yoxall of her plans to leave London and travel to Lincolnshire the following day, as she had been offered a manageress position at a pharmacy in Grimsby.

She was last seen alive by a waitress at the Maison Lyons Corner House in Marble Arch shortly before midnight, drinking a glass of white wine to celebrate her 41st birthday.

[38] Shortly after 8:30 a.m. on 10 February, two meter readers discovered the naked and mutilated body of 34-year-old Evelyn Oatley lying upon her bed in her flat at 153 Wardour Street, Soho.

[11][n 3] In addition, the contents of Oatley's leather handbag were strewn across the floor of her bedroom, and seven unused Gillette safety razor blades were recovered from the small nightstand beside her bed.

Detective Chief Superintendent Frederick Cherrill was able to determine that fingerprints recovered from the bloodstained tin opener and upon the corner of a broken section of mirror found within Oatley's leather handbag which had also been used to mutilate her body indicated that her murderer was a left-handed individual.

[45] Oatley was a married woman who, at the outbreak of World War II, had turned to prostitution, using the alias Nita Ward,[46][n 4] to supplement the income she earned as a nightclub hostess.

[48][n 5] Three eyewitnesses later informed investigators Oatley had been approached by a young, clean-shaven and moustachioed airman with chestnut brown hair, approximately 5 ft 8 in (170 cm) in height, outside a restaurant in Shaftesbury Avenue late in the evening prior to her murder.

"[50] Oatley was last seen alive by a fellow tenant of 153 Wardour Street named Ivy Poole, who observed her enter the stairwell to the property in the company of this individual at approximately 11:40 p.m.

[59] A large serrated bread knife protruded from a wound close to Lowe's groin, a wax candle had also been inserted six inches into her vagina, and her uterus had been slashed.

[11] Divisional Detective Leonard Clare arrived at Sussex Gardens shortly after 8 p.m.[n 9] His examination of the body at the crime scene revealed Jouannet's jaw had been broken before she had been strangled with the stocking knotted beneath the left side of her chin.

Her abdomen, genitals, left breast, and thighs were extensively mutilated with a razor blade and knife in a similar manner to the bodies of Oatley and Lowe.

Via examining the spillage of blood from Jouannet's wounds, Spilsbury was able to determine the decedent had been strangled to the point of death before her murderer had first mutilated her breast and left thigh as she died.

She had married her husband—who had previously been a client of hers—in November 1935, and had remarked to other West End prostitutes that she would only sell sexual favours when she needed "a few extra shillings" to supplement the money given to her by her elderly husband, who managed a hotel in Sloane Square.

[78] Due to wartime restrictions on newsprint, the murders committed by Cummins initially received only limited press coverage, largely because of the ongoing global conflict.

Nonetheless, the murders quickly became the prime topic of conversation among West End prostitutes, many of whom became increasingly reluctant to offer their services to individuals they did not consider regular clients.

Heywood later stated that, at this point, Cummins became "unpleasantly forward" toward her: pushing her into a doorway near Piccadilly Circus and groping her waist as he attempted to persuade her to accompany him to a nearby air raid shelter.

He protested his innocence and claimed he had spent the evening drinking whisky and bitter with a corporal whose name he could not recall at the Volunteer Public House in Baker Street before the two took a taxi to Shaftesbury Avenue.

[84] Immediately after Cummins provided a written statement of his account of the previous evening's events, he was arrested and held on remand upon a charge of causing grievous bodily harm.

Detective Chief Inspector Edward Greeno further discovered Cummins and another airman named Felix Sampson had left the billet via a fire escape after midnight on each of the dates in question, and both had not returned to base until the early hours of the morning.

Furthermore, an examination of the trouser turn-ups of Cummins's military uniform revealed traces of a distinctive brick dust mixture found at the air raid shelter in which Evelyn Hamilton's body was discovered.

Cummins continued to protest his innocence, claiming Heywood was mistaken and that another airman must have switched his own gas mask and haversack with his, and may have left the items at the site of the attempted murder in an effort to frame him.

[99] Cummins himself seemed uninterested in the legal proceedings; occasionally chatting in a light-hearted manner with his lawyers or turning from the bar to smile and wave at his wife, who steadfastly believed in his innocence.

"[101] The first witness to testify on behalf of the prosecution was Detective Chief Superintendent Frederick Cherrill, who stated he was prepared to publicly stake his reputation that the fingerprints found upon the tin opener and broken mirror at the crime scene which had been used to extensively mutilate Oatley's body belonged to Cummins.

[8] In reference to Sampson's testimony, Cummins admitted to having lied in his statement to Detective Chief Inspector Edward Greeno that he and Sampson had reconvened outside the Monico Restaurant at approximately 10 p.m., adding the primary reason was that he had been afraid because Greeno had intimidated him in his initial questioning on 16 February, stating to him: "We have a rope around your neck, and we are going to hang you with it" after he had admitted having been in Oatley's company shortly before her murder, but had insisted she had been alive and well when he had last seen her.