Identified! Canada - Casselman, Ont, 'Nation River Lady' WhtFem 239UFON, 25-50, May'75 *POI charged* - Jewell Parchman Langford

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branmuffin said:
During that era, the 60s, a lot of people were still coming to Canada, for new job opportunities. Traveling by plane was still expensive, but booking a transatlantic crossing on a ship could still be pretty cheap below decks. Depending on the cruise lines they stopped in different areas. I traveled back and forth from England several times when I was a kid on ships because my mom was terrified to fly. Sometimes we landed in Quebec City, sometimes in New York City but Halifax was also a port of entry to Canada. Which might be where he concocted his born in Nova Scotia narrative. I'm really beginning to wonder about this guy.
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I was wondering whether he'd had a British accent back in the day. Hard to lose that, though I guess it can be done if motivated.

JMO
 
Cedars said:
I was wondering whether he'd had a British accent back in the day. Hard to lose that, though I guess it can be done if motivated.

JMO
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Actors do it all the time. As a matter of fact, British actors can fake a Canadian or American accent much better than the reverse. I don't know why that's true. I've always been shocked when I find out some 'American' character in a movie or tv show are actually from the UK. Christian Bale, Hugh Laurie, Andrew Lincoln and Damien Lewis come to mind. Other than Paltrow, Streep and Zellweger who are dead on, most attempts are pretty bad. And the reality is that a lot of people in the eastern provinces during that time still had some mix of Canadian and British accents. You can watch old movies from the 30s and 40s and even Americans didn't speak the way they do now.
 
branmuffin said:
I wonder if the investigating officers are aware of this article and the possibility that Nichols has attacked women before, if in fact, this is the same person. The combination of the two names would be pretty rare, I would think.
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He has an assault record in FL. He also has a bunch of unspecified arrests in NC
 
branmuffin said:
You can watch old movies from the 30s and 40s and even Americans didn't speak the way they do now.
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The reason American actors spoke that way on film was because Hollywood studios hired British-Shakespearean diction coaches to teach Americans how to "speak properly" on film. (Sorry, a little pet-peeve of mine.LOL)

Many 1930's American actors had accents that studios didn't feel would sit well with the rest of the US. Actors tended to come from the New York area. (They had nasal New York, Eastern and Southern European accents etc. Many actors had Yiddish and Italian as their first language. Many actors such as Edward G Robinson etc were immigrants...he was from Romania). Robinson became adept at many accents. Actors who couldn't adapt were cast aside. Shakespearean actors were also brought in. (It was an awkward time in Hollywood history)

The Lina Lamont character in "Singing in the Rain" typifies this. Google "singin' in the rain- diction coach or Lina Lamont speech.

In real life people spoke the way they do now more or less.

Anyway, I think if Nichols had a British accent, he would kinda stand out in the US. But, those accents could be used to "con" people that he was "high class".

I was born in 1956. My parents were born in the 29 and 32. My grandparents were born much earlier. One set from Fl and one set were immigrants. Regional and foreign accents flourished.

​

 
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Friday Fan said:
The reason American actors spoke that way on film was because Hollywood studios hired British-Shakespearean diction coaches to teach Americans how to "speak properly" on film. (Sorry, a little pet-peeve of mine.LOL)

Many 1930's American actors had accents that studios didn't feel would sit well with the rest of the US. Actors tended to come from the New York area. (They had nasal New York, Eastern and Southern European accents etc. Many actors had Yiddish and Italian as their first language. Many actors such as Edward G Robinson etc were immigrants...he was from Romania). Robinson became adept at many accents. Actors who couldn't adapt were cast aside. Shakespearean actors were also brought in. (It was an awkward time in Hollywood history)

The Lina Lamont character in "Singing in the Rain" typifies this. Google "singin' in the rain- diction coach or Lina Lamont speech.

In real life people spoke the way they do now more or less.

Anyway, I think if Nichols had a British accent, he would kinda stand out in the US. But, those accents could be used to "con" people that he was "high class".

I was born in 1956. My parents were born in the 29 and 32. My grandparents were born much earlier. One set from Fl and one set were immigrants. Regional and foreign accents flourished.

​

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I'm from England and live in Canada. I have come to believe that all accents have been affected by the homogenization of the English language that's been influenced by decades of movement from English speaking countries as well as non English speaking ones.

I don't know about actors not making it in 'talkies' because of their accents. There may have been a couple but a lot of actors famous in silent films became famous in 'talkies', too. People like Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson, Carole Lombard and Bela Lugosi. Marlene Dietrich had an accent and it didn't affect her career.

You have to remember that silent films started very early on in the early 1910s so by the time talking films came into being, some of these actors had been making films for 20 years. Making the transition from them could be hard. It changed everything. Flubbing lines that you never had to learn before. Doing retake after retake. The whole time they were acting in silent films the director was probably yelling at them: "Turn your head!" "Get down on your knees now! Look scared!" "Put your hand up to your head!" "Look into her eyes then kiss her!" etc, etc. Obviously, you can't do that in talkies so some of those actors didn't make the cut because technically they really couldn't act without constant direction or the whole process was too hard for them to make the transition.

However, to get back on track regarding accents. Some actors may have had voice coaches but not all of them. For every movie made that had a male and a female lead, there were probably a hundred other actors that no one's going to be paying a voice coach for. I believe our accents are a living testament to our life experiences and change according to our environment. They continue to change the more cosmopolitan we become.
 
Cedars said:
I was wondering whether he'd had a British accent back in the day. Hard to lose that, though I guess it can be done if motivated.

JMO
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If he did, it probably would not have had much impact on Jewell. Back then many Americans didn't know what a Canadian accent sounded like. I didn't know what it sounded like until Dan Aykroyd became popular. Aykroyd wasn't a household name until after Jewell was killed.


I could have just assumed that Canadians also had British accents because Canada was part of the British Commonwealth. Canadian coins with Queen Elizabeth were often in circulation in Wisconsin. shrug...so what would I know?

Also a slight British accent was often associated with money back then, so it could have worked to his advantage..
 
Friday Fan said:
If he did, it probably would not have had much impact on Jewell. Back then many Americans didn't know what a Canadian accent sounded like. I didn't know what it sounded like until Dan Aykroyd became popular. Aykroyd wasn't a household name until after Jewell was killed.


I could have just assumed that Canadians also had British accents because Canada was part of the British Commonwealth. Canadian coins with Queen Elizabeth were often in circulation in Wisconsin. shrug...so what would I know?

Also a slight British accent was often associated with money back then, so it could have worked to his advantage..
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No, I agree, it wouldn't matter to Jewell.

My comment was more about whether we here and now, could link the man in the news report, who allegedly robbed and assaulted a woman in the UK, to this man accused of killing Jewell.

I remain unconvinced that someone can conceal their native accent 24/7. For example, when shouting at your mates during a rugby game or carousing after at a bar.

Canadians knew all about UK accents from TV and radio, the Queen, etc. I remember I recognized it right away, when I met a family friend at age 12.

However the point is moot unless a former acquaintances signs in and says whether he did or didn't have a British accent.

JMO
 
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Cedars said:
No, I agree, it wouldn't matter to Jewell.

My comment was more about whether we here and now, could link the man in the news report, who allegedly robbed and assaulted a woman in the UK, to this man accused of killing Jewell.

I remain unconvinced that someone can conceal their native accent 24/7. For example, when shouting at your mates during a rugby game or carousing after at a bar.

Canadians knew all about UK accents from TV and radio, the Queen, etc. I remember I recognized it right away, when I met a family friend at age 12.

However the point is moot unless a former acquaintances signs in and says whether he did or didn't have a British accent.

JMO
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Yeah, I think a close Canadian connection would be able to tell.

Better yet, maybe LE could get records from the UK
 
Cedars said:
No, I agree, it wouldn't matter to Jewell.

My comment was more about whether we here and now, could link the man in the news report, who allegedly robbed and assaulted a woman in the UK, to this man accused of killing Jewell.

I remain unconvinced that someone can conceal their native accent 24/7. For example, when shouting at your mates during a rugby game or carousing after at a bar.

Canadians knew all about UK accents from TV and radio, the Queen, etc. I remember I recognized it right away, when I met a family friend at age 12.

However the point is moot unless a former acquaintances signs in and says whether he did or didn't have a British accent.

JMO
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Almost everyone I know who are transplanted Brits lose their accents over time if they come over when they are young. I lost my accent, both of my older sisters and other kids I went to school with who came from England. Maybe our parents didn't completely lose their accents but most people who emigrate before the age of 20 lose their accents. However, if you go back to England for a visit after about three days you've got an accent. It may not be the one you had when you left England but you do unconsciously pick it up again. I don't think people conceal their accents, it's a natural progression, although there are people who cultivate their accent because many people find it attractive.
 
dotr said:
Noting, Nichols and Nicolls, maybe he took advantage of that that slight variation? speculation.
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Media often gets details wrong!

Just looking at a case where an UID victim was wearing a "class ring" dated 1917. The media reported the ring as being dated 1916. The date on the ring was right there and obvious to anyone looking at a photo, but nope, they had the year wrong!
 
StarrChance said:
Yes I was soIt frustrated that I couldn’t find any further follow up, then looked into the victims name.
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It's impossible for me to search for anything outside the US, except really old stuff in Family Search. (Long dead people)
It appears the UK and Canada don't release info publicly. I don't even think they have their ship/flight manifests public. If someone knows how to find them, there would likely be info there. I think the US releases ship/manifests up to 1970 or so.
 
Friday Fan said:
It's impossible for me to search for anything outside the US, except really old stuff in Family Search. (Long dead people)
It appears the UK and Canada don't release info publicly. I don't even think they have their ship/flight manifests public. If someone knows how to find them, there would likely be info there. I think the US releases ship/manifests up to 1970 or so.
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Yeah, I don't think you're going to find him on a ship manifest after 1960 unless you can query directly to the shipping lines. I crossed three times on the Empress of England, the Empress of France and one time on the SS United States, the fastest ocean liner in the world, still. Both of these shipping lines are defunct so a direct query is pointless and airlines passenger manifests didn't survive. I guess we're out of luck. :(
 
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branmuffin said:
Yeah, I don't think you're going to find him on a ship manifest after 1960 unless you can query directly to the shipping lines. I crossed three times on the Empress of England, the Empress of France and one time on the SS United States, the fastest ocean liner in the world, still. Both of these shipping lines are defunct so a direct query is pointless and airlines passenger manifests didn't survive. I guess we're out of luck. :(
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There are airline manifests into NYC. Most are US citizens coming and going on travel. (I also do genealogy, so will see a name that came over in the 1920's on a boat, only to be coming and going years later)
 
Friday Fan said:
There are airline manifests into NYC. Most are US citizens coming and going on travel. (I also do genealogy, so will see a name that came over in the 1920's on a boat, only to be coming and going years later)
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Oh, that's interesting about airline manifests to NYC. I've read that with the onset of air traffic the ship crossings decreased drastically to the point that most crossings were more in the line of todays cruising. There was no reason anymore for having passenger manifests that were related to emigration. Both the Empress ships and the SS United States I crossed on turned to tourist cruises to survive. Most ocean liners of that era were sent to the breakers which is so sad. We went back and forth to England because I believe my mother felt guilty leaving her mother there as she was an only child. She also couldn't make up her mind whether she actually wanted to live in Canada so I can see that some of that coming and going you mentioned may have had their nexus as mine did.
 
StarrChance said:
Oh found another article March 1968

View attachment 440201
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Wow, just checking in to see what was new. This is a very interesting find, also very tragic. It certainly sounds like an MO similar to what may have happened to Jewell. He may have a history of taking advantage of women business owners. Turning them into "girlfriends" then murdering and robbing them.
 
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