The Jeremy Thorpe scandal explodes, stunning Britain

Liberals' ex-leader accused of murder plot

New York Times

LONDON Jeremy Thorpe, 49. the former leader of the Liberal party, was arrested yesterday and charged with conspiring to murder Norman Scott, 37, a onetime male model who claims to have carried on a homosexual relationship with Thorpe.

Although the Thorpe-Scott case led to Thorpe's resignation as leader of his party in May, 1976, and has been the subject of constant speculation in the London newspapers since then, Britain was stunned by the arrest of so prominent and well-connected a figure on so grave a charge. If convicted, Thorpe could be sentenced to life imprisonment.

He has represented North Devon in the House of Commons since 1959. He is a skilled parliamentarian, liked and respected by his peers, a witty Speaker with a gift for mimicry. Small and dark, with strong features, he was once described as "the last of the Edwardians" because of the homburg, waistcoats and heavy watchchain he wears.

The former Liberal leader is a typical product of the English establishment. His father and grandfather preceded him to the House of Commons. After attending the rectory school at Pomfret, Conn., during World War II, he was educated at Eton and Oxford and elected president of the Oxford Union, a position that often leads to eminent positions Täter in life.

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His second wife, Marian, was formerly married to the Earl of Harewood, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

Charged along with Thorpe were David M. Holmes, 47, of London, a former deputy treasurer of the Liberal party, who was best man at Thorpe's first wedding and is the godfather of his son, Rupert; and two Welsh businessmen John M. Le *Mesurier, 44, a former carpet sales-

man, and George W. A. Deakin, 35, a nightclub owner and slot-machine distributor.

The four arrived separately yesterday morning at the police station at Minehead, a resort town in southwest England. All except Thorpe covered their faces as they went in.

Later they were charged with conspiracy to murder Scott and freed until Sept. 12 on $9,500 bail each, after they surrendered their passports.

Thorpe's campaign manager said Thorpe would not resign his seat and would stand for re-election. Only a criminal conviction would disqualify Thorpe from sitting in or standing for the House of Commons.

Key figures in the Liberal party said privately, however, that the party, already sagging badly in the polls, might be gravely wounded if Thorpe remained in parliament.

The wider political ramifications of the charges against Thorpe, the most serious lodged against a major political figure here in this century, are not yet clear. But it was widely recalled that Sir Harold Wilson, who headed the Labor government in office when the case first broke, had told the House of Commons that the charges against Thorpe were the work of agents of the South African government. He has since disavowed that view.

The decision to prosecute Thorpe was taken by Tony Hetherington, the director of public prosecutions, a civil servant appointed by the home secretary. He acted after a 10-month investigation here and abroad.

Andrew Gino Newton, an airline pilot, sparked the investigation. In newspaper interviews last year he said he had been paid $10,000 by a prominent Liberal money-raiser, whom he did not name, to kill Scott. He made the charge after leaving

prison, where he had been serving a two-year sentence for shooting Scott's Great Dane dog.

Newton said he traveled in October, 1975, to lonely Dartmoor, where Scott lives, to carry out the contract. He shot the dog, he said, but could not quite bring himself to shoot Scott. Scott said he was convinced that. Newton's gun had jammed.

Thorpe has always denied homosexual involvement with Scott, although he conceded that "a close and even intimate relationship developed" between them in 1961. And he stated, at a dramatic news conference last October, that "not a

scrap of evidence has been produced to implicate me in any alleged plot to murder Norman Scott."

Risking a lawsuit, Private Eye magazine reported last month that Peter Bessell, a former M.P. and a friend of Thorpe, had provided critical evidence about the case to police.

According to Private Eye, Bessell, who now lives in Oceanside, Calif., told of his repeated efforts all during the late 1960s to prevent Scott from discussing his relationship with Thorpe. He recalled one instance when Thorpe, finding it impossible to send Scott to the United States,

said: "Then we'll have to get rid of him."

The magazine said Thorpe contacted Holmes as the 1974 elections approached. Holmes went to Le Mesurier, a business associate, who approached Deakin, who found Newton.

Holmes has admitted paying Scott $4,500 for a packet of letters from Thorpe.

Police said that the mutually suspicious people allegedly involved in the plot had made tape recordings of their meetings and telephone conversations. Police have more than 20 hours of such tapess.

Associated Press

Jeremy Thorpe....