The curious story of the British parliamentarian with multiple identities

John Stonehouse was a British parliamentarian who starred in one of the most curious stories of multiple identity of all the ones we have news about. He faked his own death and was then “reborn” twice, under two different identities. When he was discovered (because yes: they discovered him), he argued that his schemes had been a “psychological suicide” originating from an “existential crisis.”

Who was John Stonehouse? He was a man who discovered his passion for politics from an early age and was a member of the British Labor Party from the age of 16. He became an MP in 1957, beginning a successful career that would end up making him prime minister.

However, things did not go as well as Stonehouse had hoped. Although he stood out as a parliamentarian, his contribution was far from brilliant. Besides, several of his initiatives became scandals. Everything together precipitated his plan to adopt a multiple identity.

John Stonehouse coldly calculated two alternative identities for himself.

John Stonehouse, an MP under suspicion

The first major difficulty that John Stonehouse had to face was an accusation of espionage made against him by a former Czech intelligence officer. named Josef Frolik. He assured that the parliamentarian had provided information about the British government’s plans and sensitive data on military technology. In exchange, he would have received the sum of £5,000 in total from the Czech government.

The accusation gained strength and it began to be rumored that the politician had acted under the secret name of Agent Kolon. Apparently, he would begin to handle different identities very early. Stonehouse always denied that this was true. Even the prime minister at the time publicly denied the accusations. However, documents declassified years later seem to confirm that he was indeed a spy.

Once the mess was resolved, Stonehouse became a businessman. He created a company called British Bangladesh Trust (BBT), with which he intended to do exports and imports between the United Kingdom and Bangladesh. However, accusations of fraud in some transactions would soon begin to arrive; thus, our protagonist I would end up in debt and frustrated. This increased their motivation to handle different identities.

A journey without return: multiple identity

At 49, John Stonehouse began impersonating middle-aged men who had recently died. To do this, he spoke with his widows and gathered details of his lives. In particular, he would end up acquiring a large volume of information on two deceased people: Joseph Arthur Markham and Donald Mildoon. Thanks to his influence, she managed to falsify their passports and obtain false birth records for each of them.

He also opened a bank account in Markham’s name. On November 19, 1974, Stonhouse left for Miami, in the United States, along with his lover, Sheila Buckley, who was also his secretary. Before leaving he purchased life insurance worth £125,000. Upon reaching his destination, he entered first with his real name; then he left and came back in, this time as Joseph Arthur Markham.

One morning he went to the beach, undressed and left his clothes neatly folded. Then she entered the sea and began to swim. He was not heard from again and weeks later he was presumed dead.. One of his colleagues in parliament claimed that he had been murdered by the enemies of democracy and it was even suggested that the mafia was involved. They did not know that they were victims of a case of multiple identity.

An unexpected outcome

John Stonehouse swam to a place where he had hidden documentation, as well as clothes. From there he went to the airport to catch a flight to Houston. He wanted to go to Mexico City, but he missed the plane. So he decided to go to Los Angeles and from there travel to Australia.

Upon arriving in Australia he decided to stop being Joseph Arthur Markham and become Donald Mildoon.. For this reason, he withdrew the money that he had in the accounts of the first, to transfer them to those of the second. He was unlucky: a bank employee, who had contact with both entities, noticed the anomalous situation. The same person was using multiple names.

The parliamentarian was discovered and in 1975 sent back to the United Kingdom to be tried for various crimes. It is said that Stonehouse took on his own defense at the trial, and that his argument lasted no more and no less than six days.

He argued that his multiple identity was a case of “psychological suicide” caused by the pressure he had been subjected to.. However, the judge did not believe him. The man went to prison and was released three years later. He married his lover and would end up passing away in 1988, after several years of happiness.

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