Gordon Cummins, known as the "Blackout Killer," confessed to his crimes just thirty minutes before his execution in 1942, a revelation uncovered more than eight decades later by author Robin Jarossi. Cummins, a Royal Air Force airman, was responsible for the brutal murders of four women during a week-long killing spree amid the wartime blackout in London.

The confession, penned in a note to a prison chaplain shortly before Cummins was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on June 25, 1942, had remained hidden in official archives until Jarossi discovered it at the London Metropolitan Archives. In the note, Cummins acknowledged the overwhelming evidence against him but offered little else, asking that the matter not be pursued further by his wife.

The murders took place over several nights in early February 1942, during the blackout that concealed London from German air raids but also created cover for criminal activity. Cummins exploited this environment to commit acts of theft, assault, and ultimately murder.

The first victim, Evelyn Hamilton, a 41-year-old chemist passing through London, was strangled in an air-raid shelter on Montagu Place on February 8. She had been seeking lodging after being turned away from a house and was found dead with her belongings stolen. The following night, Evelyn Oatley, a 34-year-old former poultry farmer’s wife turned sex worker known as Lita Ward, was killed and mutilated in her flat on Wardour Street.

Two nights later, Margaret Lowe, a widow who supplemented her daughter's education expenses through sex work, was strangled and stabbed in her home. On the same day, Doris Jouannet, 32, was murdered in her Sussex Gardens flat, found by her husband with signs of strangulation. Jouannet was known to occasionally engage in sex work despite being married to a hotel manager.

The pattern of violence shook Scotland Yard, with investigators describing the murders as unprecedented in their brutality. Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the pathologist consulted during the investigation, reportedly told the lead detective, Ted Greeno, that Cummins was a "madman on parade."

Cummins, described by acquaintances as charming and well-spoken, led a double life. While respected by his RAF peers and recommended for pilot training, he was secretly committing violent crimes under cover of darkness. The dichotomy between his public persona and his actions baffled his family and colleagues.

The investigation gained critical traction when two women survived attacks by Cummins. Greta Heywood escaped after Cummins attempted to strangle her near the Haymarket, interrupted by a passing night porter. Cummins fled, leaving behind his RAF gas mask bearing his service number. Later, Catherine Mulcahy fought off an assault in her flat, identifying Cummins to police.

Arrested at dawn on February 13, 1942, Cummins initially believed he was in trouble only for losing his gas mask. However, stolen property from the victims was discovered in his quarters, and forensic evidence placed him at the crime scenes. He was tried for the murder of Evelyn Oatley, with his first trial aborted due to a jury error over fingerprint evidence. He was ultimately convicted on April 28, 1942, maintaining his innocence until the end.

His appeal rejected, Cummins was executed less than two months later. Despite the initial lack of confession, lead investigator Greeno remained convinced of Cummins’s guilt, though no direct admission had surfaced until Jarossi’s discovery.

The newly revealed note adds final confirmation to one of Britain’s most notorious wartime murder cases, shedding light on the darkness both literal and figurative that shrouded the crimes of the Blackout Killer.