HENRY KING gunned down his wife and the head of Blackburn CID in cold blood, a double killing that became known as "The siege of Brewery Street." In the second of his six-part series retracing the steps of some of East Lancashire's most notorious killers, crime reporter NICK EVANS looks back at the case and talks to some of those involved...

AFTER a heavy drinking session in the pubs of Blackburn, labourer Henry King turned to an acquantaince, handed her a shotgun cartridge and told her he was going home to kill his wife and baby.

"Ta-ta. You won't see me again," he said. "You will read about it in tomorrow's papers."

His words turned out to be a chilling prophecy as the next morning King's wife, Sheila, lay dead, gunned down in a brutal killing, and Detective Inspector James O'Donnell, head of Blackburn CID, was left fighting for his life. He later died from his wounds in Blackburn Royal Infirmary.

The shootings were no drunken rage, however, for several hours earlier King had already been planning the killing when he bought an automatic shotgun and cartridges from a shop in Blackburn.

It was these cartridges he showed to his acquaintance in the bar of the Dun Horse Hotel along with his boast of the carnage to come.

The real drama began at about 10pm on December 12, 1958 when King went to see his wife at her parents' house.

The couple had married just a year before, but had separated with Sheila and the baby moving to Brewery Street.

The first sign that things were about to go tragically wrong came when taxi driver Harry Barker, dropping a fare in the road, heard a woman shout "Get away, he has a gun."

Three plain clothes officers were sent to the house, led by PC Jack Covill. As they entered the house PC Covill led the way into a back room.

A shot was fired and PC Covill staggered back, wounded in the groin. The two other officers, PCs Jack Riley and Peter Helliwell, helped him from the house and called for assistance. The siege of Brewery Street had begun.

Seconds later, another shot rang out when King blasted his wife in the back. She died instantly.

The King's six-month-old baby son David was lying in a pram outside the house on that night of death, rescued by a brave neighbour who crawled along the front of the house and dragged him away.

At the time, Mrs Blanche Cowell, neighbour and friend of Mrs King, described how the King's turbulent relationship ended in tragedy.

"I had a feeling for a few days something was going to happen," she said. "I knew it would be something terrible and I knew Sheila was frightened.

"About a quarter to ten there was a knock at the door. Sheila answered and then ran back into the kitchen. Henry King came in afterwards."

Following the shots that wounded Jack Covill and killed Mrs King, Det Insp O'Donnell was called to the scene. He entered the house in an attempt to negotiate with King.

After a brief conversation, and without warning, King raised his shotgun once more and shot O'Donnell in the chest.

The house was stormed with tear gas bombs and police dogs and King was arrested. He had tried to shoot himself by rigging the gun with a belt and tying it to a hinge on the door.

When he was charged with the murder of his wife King said: "I have nothing to say." When charged with killing Det Insp O'Donnell he said: "He was a good man."

Today, one of the officers on the case, a PC at the time who asked not to be named and who has now retired, said: "The whole town was absolutely shocked at the murder. The feeling was one of horror and outrage." King was later found not guilty of murder by a jury at Manchester Crown Court but was sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter.

During the trial the court heard that King had forced his wife to stand under a crucifix on the wall before asking her: "Do you love me? Will you kiss me? Because you have got to die tonight."

Blackburn became a town in mourning on the day of the funeral of Det Insp O'Donnell when his body was taken from his home in Higher Croft Road to Pleasington Cemetery.

As the cortege passed through the town centre, hundreds of people and up to 100 CID officers lined the streets in tribute.

Friends still remember him as a perfect gentleman. The officer said: "He used to come into our office for a brew and he was an absolute gent.

"When the news came through that he had died the whole force was devastated. It was very tragic and everyone was down for weeks."

Det Insp O'Donnell was later awarded the posthumous Queen's Police Medal for gallantry. Four other officers -- the wounded PC Jack Covill, Inspector John Harrison and PCs Peter Helliwell and Jack Riley -- received the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct for the part they played in the seige.