Brandon Hill Park Murder - Unsolved

39 year old Derek Grain was found in a pool of his own blood by a nurse walking to work 

On the morning of Halloween 1980 a nurse was making her way to work When she made the gruesome discovery of the body of a visitor to the city of Bristol UK, murdered and dumped.

The man had been battered to death using a road traffic cone filled with sand. Derek Grain had been visiting Bristol on business with British Aerospace in Filton.

Mr Grain had been staying at The Unicorn Hotel for approximately two months and in fact his car was parked there, not used for more than 24 hours before the murder.

Grain had been out for the night at Vicki's and Curves, two nightclubs in the city, where he had been drinking heavily. It seems that he had enjoyed a good and entertaining night with nothing to suggest any problems.

He was last seen leaving Curves nightclub at around 2am, when he headed off alone toward Brandon Hill Lane. There is no explanation as to why Mr Grain took that route and this has become part of the baffling case that ultimately ended in his murder.

The motive for the killing seems to have been robbery as Derek Grain's jacket had been ripped off and approximately £60 stolen, not a massive sum in modern day, but a considerable amount back then. Considering that I started work around my college studies in the mid-eighties and my hourly rate was £1.80.

Grain's bank cards had also been scattered intentionally around his body and were covered in blood. 

It appears that when Grain was drinking he was quite lavish and a little too open in flashing money around, but it was the ferocious way that he had been murdered that was of very real concern. He had literally been kicked in the head and chest as he lay dying and whilst it is unlikely, there is the possibility that in fact he may either have been attacked by two different thugs or the original assailants returned to make sure that they had "finished the job".

Detective Inspector Brian Theobald said at the time "There is a strong possibility that more than one person was involved and the assailants would have at least been spattered with blood as it was a particularly vicious and brutal murder" .

Mr Grain was not a fighter and according to his work colleagues although he enjoyed going out drinking he would never get involved in fights or pub brawls.

There was a massive murder hunt and a number of people were questioned about the savage killing but nothing led to the assailants being identified.

A major lead that seems of great importance features calls made to the police and a local paper, The Bristol Post claiming that a red Jaguar car had been seen in the area at around 3am but the owner was traced and it was confirmed he was not anywhere near Bristol on the night in question.

However, it is very interesting that Mr Grain's hometown was Hitchin, Hertfordshire and that is where the red Jaguar was registered. 

Sadly , despite the progress of forensic science and the fact that some 40 detectives worked on the initial investigation, this murder has never been solved.

Derek Grain was not married and as far as I can ascertain was not in a relationship with anyone. He was not and had not been involved in any illegal or criminal activity.

There seems to be just robbery as the only true motive for this killing but, why such a vicious murder? Had Derek maybe got into an argument, maybe knocked into someone whilst drunk or even chatted innocently to a lady who was with a jealous partner?

The curious thing is that Grain was going in the completely opposite direction to his hotel and there is nothing to suggest why. I feel that this is a very indicative reason for his being murdered in the early hours of that Halloween morning.

Surely even after all this time someone will recall a night when a friend or loved one came home with blood on them, maybe you recall a person dumping some clothes without real explanation, maybe burning clothes and shoes? 

If the red Jaguar was involved, does 

anyone remember being paid to clean it? Loyalties change, even 40 years on, someone knows who was responsible for the cruel and vicious murder of this Aeronautical engineer. If you have that knowledge, even if the assailants are now retired or dead, you should come forward and help the police close their files.

If you do have information then contact UK Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 

If you want to contact me about this story or to take up my professional services as a cold case reviewer/investigator then please pop me an email.. .

jarad.adams@lollytruecrimeworld.co.uk 

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jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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