Letter threat

It purported to come from a South American missionary and warned of death within four days for anyone who dared to break the chain.

One of the chain letters was sent to a housewife in Enniskeen who passed it on to the ‘MAIL’.

The letter, typed and posted anonymously from Lisburn, advised the woman to continue the chain by sending 20 identical copies to friends and neighbours.

It went on to cite the cases where people failed to do so and died mysteriously several days later.

But it also said that those who continued the chain would be rewarded with financial windfalls.

The letter had, allegedly, been around the world nine times and was, again allegedly, written by a missionary from South America.

People who send on the letter, it claimed, received up to £2 million in financial windfalls.

But a youth in the Philippines and another man failed to do so and died. Others had bad luck or lost their jobs.