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On 20 November 1974, clothes found in a pile on Miami Beach seemed to mark the tragic drowning of British MP John Stonehouse. However, just over a month later, the politician resurfaced alive and well in Australia on Christmas Eve. According to the BBC, his bizarre disappearance and subsequent capture became one of the most remarkable stories in British political history.
At the time of his disappearance, Stonehouse was facing numerous troubles. His political career had stagnated, his business ventures were failing, he was accused of being a communist spy, and he was embroiled in an extramarital affair with his secretary, Sheila Buckley. Seeking escape, he devised an audacious plan: to fake his death and start anew.
Drawing inspiration from the novel The Day of the Jackal, Stonehouse stole the identities of two dead men, Joseph Markham and Donald Mildoon. Using forged documents, he created new identities, opened bank accounts, and transferred funds from his businesses. During a business trip to Miami in November 1974, he staged his disappearance, leaving his clothes on the beach to suggest he had drowned. He then boarded a flight to Australia under one of his false identities.
Stonehouse’s wife, Barbara, believed he had drowned, and his disappearance shocked the public. While the police in London harboured suspicions, Stonehouse’s secret was kept by Buckley, who had been in contact with him and had even sent him coded letters.
In Australia, Stonehouse’s activities as Joseph Markham and Donald Mildoon eventually drew attention. Authorities initially suspected he might be Lord Lucan, another high-profile fugitive who had disappeared weeks earlier after being implicated in a murder. However, when Stonehouse was caught signing suspicious checks, his double life unravelled.
On Christmas Eve 1974, Stonehouse revealed his true identity to police in Melbourne. In a taped phone call to his wife, he confessed, saying, “You would realize from all this that I have been deceiving you. I’m sorry about that, but in a sense, I’m glad it’s all over.”
He attempted to justify his actions as a result of a “divided personality” caused by the stress of his political and personal life. Stonehouse even claimed his disappearance was a “fact-finding tour” of his own psyche. Despite remaining an MP, he refused to relinquish his salary, arguing that his experiences were valuable to his political role.
Stonehouse was eventually deported to the UK, where he faced trial on charges of theft, fraud, and deception. After a 68-day trial, he was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1976. He left prison three years later while recovering from open heart surgery, having suffered three cardiac arrests during his time inside.
Stonehouse’s wife divorced him in 1978, and three years later he married his former secretary. The MP died for a second time in 1988 but for real. The 62-year-old politician had collapsed three weeks earlier, just before his appearance on a television show about missing people.
