George Weiss, who had played backgammon with Lord Lucan on the day before the attack, believes the kitten’s death ‘tipped him over the edge’
One of the last people see Lord Lucan alive has claimed he was driven to kill when a pet kitten he had bought from Harrods for his children had its throat cut and was posted through his letter box.
George Weiss, who had played backgammon with Lord Lucan on the day before the attack, believes the kitten’s death ‘tipped him over the edge.’
He said Lucan, who vanished in 1974, had bought the cat and sent it to his estranged wife Veronica – who was found dead last week – and their three children at their home in Belgravia.
But when he discovered the kitten had been returned with its throat cut – and thinking it may have been done by Veronica – it pushed him into attacking Lady Lucan and killing his children’s nanny Sandra Rivett, it is claimed.
Mr Weiss, now 76, from Hampstead, who was part of Lucan’s gambling circle at the Clermont Club in Mayfair, believes he was plotting the attack as they played backgammon the day before.
He told The Sunday Express: ‘I believe he was plotting his wife’s murder. He was in a dark frame of mind. All his old confidence was gone. It was like he’d been completely traumatised over something.’
In a previous interview he said: ‘Seeing him sitting across from me on our usual backgammon table the day before the murder is an image that has stayed with me for the last 40 years,’ said Mr Weiss, who was also friends with the late comedian Peter Cook and Charles Saatchi.
‘I believe he was plotting his wife’s murder. He was in a world of his own, playing as if he were on autopilot.’
Lord Lucan (pictured with his wife Veronica Duncan in 1963) famously disappeared from their home in Belgravia 43 years ago
Lady Lucan was the last person to see her husband before he disappeared on the night of November 7, 1974, after bludgeoning to death their nanny Sandra Rivett (pictured)
Mr Weiss then asked another friend, financier Stephen Raphael, if he knew why Lucan was acting so strangely.
He said Mr Raphael told him Lucan had bought the cat for his children during the acrimonious separation from Lady Lucan and their bitter custody battle.
The couple had married in 1963 and had three children together, but the marriage collapsed in 1972 and he moved out of the family home and into a house on a neighbouring street.
Mr Weiss said Lucan had taken the cat to the family home, but just hours later it was posted through his letter box with its throat cut.
Lady Lucan (pictured) was found dead at her home in Belgravia, London on Tuesday
He said: ‘He went to his house that day with his mind set on killing his wife. He saw no way back into family life and the life of his children.’
Last night a close friend of Lady Lucan, who had been helping her complete her autobiography, told The Sunday Express: ‘Veronica always felt very guilty about what happened with the kitten. It also explains why the children turned against her – understandable in a way, when you’ve being given a lovely pet and then your father tells you that it’s been killed by your mad mother.
‘At the time John was genuinely worried that Veronica’s mental instability made her unsuitable to look after the children. He was at his wits’ end.
‘Veronica was only too capable of killing the kitten. She could be cold and detached and was able to compartmentalise her emotions.’
The following day Lucan famously disappeared after bludgeoning their nanny Sandra Rivett to death, in the mistaken belief she was his wife.
The countess was in the house watching TV in her bedroom that night when the 29-year-old nanny was killed as she went downstairs to the unlit basement to make her employer a cup of tea.
Lady Lucan contends that she disturbed her husband after the fatal assault. He hit her four times with a length of bandaged metal piping before she managed to stop him.
Then, after she had persuaded her husband to get her a glass of water, she fled to a nearby pub and raised the alarm.
Lord Lucan fled the murder scene in a car he had borrowed. His body has never been found.
Following Lord Lucan’s disappearance the children George, Camilla and Frances continued to live with their mother but custody was transferred to their uncle Bill Shand Kydd and aunt Christina in 1982 when Lady Lucan suffered a mental breakdown.
Lady Lucan had five grandchildren but never met any of them.
Lady Lucan was photographed with her children Camilla, Frances and George at Christmas in 1974