Neil Rutherford


Lt Cmdr Neil Rutherford, DSC, was a British Royal Navy commander. He saw active service in the Second World War and in Korea. In 1958 he served with the Underwater Weapons Material Dept. He committed suicide in Penmaenmawr, Wales, after killing four people at a hotel.

Naval career

Commander Rutherford retired from the navy 5 January 1959.
He was son of Neil Perry Rutherford and after his father's death, Neil took over the family firm as head of A. Rutherford and Co, until it was liquidated in the 1960s. By April 1975, he was working as a gardener/handyman at the Red Gables Hotel, Penmaenmawr, North Wales.
Married 7 August 1948 Joan Margery Colville-Hyde. Divorced 2 May 1972.

Death

Rutherford died at Red Gables Hotel, Penmaenmawr, Wales 24 September 1976. He was clutching a gun. Also killed by gunshot wounds were the hotel owner, Linda Simcox ; ex merchant seaman Johnny Gore Green, an antique dealer from Bay City, Texas; Simcox's daughter, Lorna ; and her husband, Alistair McIntyre. The hotel was ablaze when the police arrived.