In a bid to clear his conscience before meeting his maker, an elderly man has admitted to shooting a prostitute in a London back-ally because she swindled him out of some cash. The man, who now lives in Canada and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, had to identify his victim from a series of photos, as he had apparently forgotten her name.

The unfortunate lady turned out to be 26-year-old ‘exotic dancer’ Margaret Cook, whom he shot outside Soho’s Blue Lagoon Club with a Russian pistol.

It seems he fled to Canada to escape his crime, which would’ve gotten him the death penalty back in the day. However, as the Metro reports:

The Crown Prosecution Service has begun extradition proceedings but it is not yet known if the man is physically fit enough to stand trial.

It’s hard to say what motivated the unnamed veteran to ‘fess up – one would hope remorse, but considering he revelled in his guilt for nearly seven decades I’d say it’s more likely fear of the fiery depths that may or may not await him.

[sources: The Metro and The Sun]