This case has bugged me for quite a long time so having recently studied some material on Christopher Halliwell, a serial killer, thought by some to be a suspect in the case and watched a documentary about Linda's husband Glyn, who was convicted of her murder (despite there being no body found) I thought I would post on this one before I write about Halliwell as a blog.
Before I get into this blog I want to say that something about this story just doesn't sit right with me and that is why I am considering the possibility of producing a documentary on the case. There has already been a couple broadcast but it is my opinion that due to the way they were put together very little new information has been forthcoming.
The biggest issue with the documentaries concerned has been that they have mainly targeted the story of Mr Razzell's innocence and not really studied Linda Razzell's disappearance. The makers of documentaries, in this case, have decided to follow the news media and assume that because Glyn Razzell is serving a life sentence for the murder of his estranged wife that she must, in fact, be dead, well I don't really buy it. One of the documentaries examined Glyn Razzell's case with a view to trying to appeal his conviction so once again appealed to only a relatively small audience. Bearing in mind that it has been well publicised that a person was convicted of Linda Razzell's murder many people have taken their eyes off the ball so to speak.
I am sure there are people out there that may well have seen something or may remember something that sticks in their mind about the day in question but kind of dismissed it as Glyn Razzell is serving a prison sentence for a murder so "That must be what happened". well not necessarily.
Read on and I will try to bring all the details as well as explain my reasoning as to why I do not necessarily believe Linda Razzell to be dead. . .
Linda Razzell was 41 years old at the time of her disappearance. She lived in Highworth on the outskirts of Swindon and disappeared on her way to work on Tuesday 19th March 2002. Linda left home with her children at approximately 8.40am in her red Ford Escort and drove 7 miles into Swindon to work, dropping the children at school and her boyfriend at his work on the way. She parked her car in a residential street, Alvescott Road and set off to walk an approximately 20-minute journey to the nearby college where she was a teaching assistant, but she never arrived and has never been seen again.
Mother of four Linda was married but in the process of getting divorced. Her estranged husband. Glyn Razzell had recently been made redundant from his job in finance. Linda had become unhappy in her marriage and started an affair with a man that had been working on an extension to the family home. As a result Glyn also spread his wings so to speak and found himself a lover. Linda and Glyn separated in August 2000 and Glyn left the family home. The affair with the builder didn't last and Linda moved on to a new boyfriend Greg Worrall.
According to friends of Glyn & Linda, the divorce negotiations became pretty ugly and Glyn stood to face a huge financial loss. Just a few days prior to Linda's disappearance she was granted a court order that saw a freeze put on her estranged husband's personal bank accounts, which lead to Glyn changing his plans for a French "booze cruise" at short notice in order that he could work with his solicitor to get that problem resolved.
You may well think, here is the motive for Glyn Razzell to murder his wife before she destroyed him altogether but I will explain reasons why that doesn't seem quite as simple as we may think, so do read on. . .
OK so as I just mentioned, on the morning of Linda's disappearance her husband Glyn had been scheduled to go on a booze cruise with some friends to France, but those plans fell through at short notice as he had to swear an affidavit with his solicitor in connection with the divorce. As a result, he loaned his car to his friends due to its size and capacity (it was a Ford Galaxy people carrier) and agreed to use their Renault Laguna whilst they were away. As he found himself at something of a loose end early that Tuesday morning he decided to go for a long walk and do some thinking.
He took a brief telephone call from his girlfriend at 8.24am then went on his way, leaving the Laguna in his driveway and apparently unaware of any problem with Linda. Glyn was not made aware of the fact Linda had not reported for work that day until around 5pm that day when a missing person report was filed.
This is where things take a bit of a twist as we can be absolutely certain that the time of the telephone call received by Glyn on his home 'landline' telephone is accurate and therefore he could not have driven across Swindon in rush hour traffic in time to have reached Linda in time. Now add to that the confirmed fact that Linda left home later than normal on that particular day as one of her children had forgotten their homework and had to go back into the house for it, of course, there was no way Glyn would have known that. Further to this Linda had only started parking in the street where she was last seen since her separation from Glyn due to the cost of parking being expensive and her struggling financially, none of these facts were known to her estranged husband. Even if he had managed to drive across Swindon in time, he would have gone to her old parking area and not found Linda or her car.
So this information rules him out, right? Wrong as none of it could be absolutely proved.
I am not overly familiar with the layout of Swindon but I have been reliably informed that Alvescott Road was a good 20 - 25-minute walk from the college where Linda worked, so why park so far away? Maybe it truly was the nearest area where she could park her car for free but it must have proved a problem in bad weather. Apparently, her routine seems to suggest that she would normally arrive in Alvescott Road around 0850 and reach the college at approximately 0915. According to the children and Greg Worrall, Linda had left home late that day so even her own routine was changed.
On the day before her disappearance, Linda had visited 3 separate banks, with her boyfriend and had made cash withdrawals at each one. A little indicative of something unusual in my opinion particularly as she was experiencing a lot of financial hardship so would have been short of funds as it was. The bank visits and withdrawals suggest to me that she was planning a particular use of the cash and that could well have been to go away with. Her bank visits and withdrawals were confirmed by CCTV yet Wiltshire police seem to not take much consideration or relevance of this. In my opinion, this bears great importance to the investigation.
One very curious and somewhat indicative occurrence on the day before Linda disappeared was that she visited Glyn's bank where she claimed that she wanted to pay money in. Of course, she knew that his accounts had been frozen. but nonetheless managed to obtain information by deception, Not only was this borderline illegal, it was quite an odd thing to do as she had been separated from Glyn for some 19 months and was almost divorced. The process was nearing its end and the divorce was due to be completed within a matter of weeks.
Bearing all this in mind combined with the fact that Linda already had possession of the family home she had no legitimate reason to go to Glyn's bank and as far as I can ascertain it was not something that she had done before. I do wonder what she had hoped to do with any information gleaned from her actions that day and I feel it demonstrates that Linda was behaving somewhat irrationally. So what was behind that visit to Glyn's bank? What did Linda gain from it? Questions that we may never get a definitive answer to, certainly not unless we find Linda alive.
Linda was apparently quite a hot-headed woman that became flustered and angry quite quickly and was often seen to be stressed, yet statements from her children suggest that on the morning of her disappearance she was much calmer than usual and when she dropped the children off she would always say "see you at five". On this occasion, the children say that on that last journey with them when they reached school Linda simply said goodbye.
Now it is perfectly reasonable to say that she knew they were running late so she just said "goodbye" so that she get on her way to work, but when a routine is in place it seems a little strange to change a parting comment like that. I know as a child my mum always said "see you tonight" whether she was dropping us at school or we were walking or riding away up the drive if she had suddenly said something different I would have been surprised and concerned.
The next points that seem suggestive that Linda Razzell may have been planning to vanish on 19th March 2002 are that firstly she had 2 mobile telephones, 1 for every day and work use and 1 which she always carried which was specifically used for her children to contact her in an emergency, a phone which she left switched on even at work. On the day in question, Linda did not take that mobile with her, in fact, it was found in a drawer at home, switched off.
Secondly, Linda had been issued with an identity badge which she had to wear at work, this was also in the drawer at home. Now surely it is reasonable to suggest that she would have had both the phone and badge in her handbag as she knew she was going to work and would need both with her. I can see a possible but somewhat unlikely explanation that she was running late on the morning of March 19th and absent-minded left them behind but my thinking is; why were such important items in the drawer? Surely during weekdays, those things would remain in Linda's handbag? A little strange in my thinking to suggest that every evening she would remove them from her bag or pocket, place them into a drawer, only to get them out again the very next morning, knowing that they were important and needed every day. I know we all do things differently but this really sticks with me as just a little strange.
Curiously the calendar at Linda's home had been marked with a ? question mark on the date of 19th March 2002, that seems a little indicative that she had something that she was at least considering doing on that date. The children and Greg Worrall had no explanation for the marking so obviously, Linda put it there, but why I guess we may never know unless we find Linda Razzell.
I can only surmise that she had something that she had been considering for that day and the question mark was asking her shall I do that or not? Maybe something on the lines of "do I go"? or "am I ready to go"? " have I got everything ready to leave"? These are of course only assumptions and could not really be seen as stand-alone strong evidence in an enquiry, but combined with other markers it's just another thing to add to a list of indicators that Linda Razzell planned her own disappearance.
I have had it suggested to me that Linda not only planned to disappear but as part of this she would frame her estranged husband for her murder as she knew with enough circumstantial evidence he could be convicted without her body necessarily being found. These are after all the actions of a lady with various mental health problems since the 1970s and which had reportedly started to return prior to her vanishing. Linda's children reported that she had been upset a lot more and would often go off alone and would not want them with her or want their cuddles. It was discovered that she had been prescribed anti-depressant medication but she had not been taking it leading up her disappearance.
An analysis of Linda's home PC turned up that there had very recently been internet searches for cheap flights to French-speaking countries, again not necessarily relevant but this combined with the fact that Linda spoke French fluently, loved holidays to France and she had lived in France for a year during her life. The fact that she vanished without a trace after these searches is a little more than suggestive of something that should in my opinion have been looked at much more closely.
Add to this information that Linda was good friends with a couple of which the husband had worked on projects in the French-speaking country of Burundi and Linda had helped with his understanding the language. Further to that, a pad of Linda's was found with the address of the official residence of the ambassador of Burundi written on it. This could have of course been because she had helped her friend out that had worked there but again this potential lead indicator should be examined and given more consideration.
Now I come to a particular point which I firmly believe to be very, very suggestive and concerning. Linda Razzell was an avid reader, particularly of crime novels and prior to her disappearance, she had been reading Trial & Retribution 3, which she had read almost three-quarters of the way through. The book features details of the methods used by police during murder investigations and the plot of the story features a body in a boot of a car and planting of evidence in order to frame someone for murder.
Is it just me or is this relevant and indicative of something a little suspicious? After all, let's bear in mind that Linda was very bitter towards and held something of a grudge against her estranged husband Glyn. The fact that one of the main pieces of "evidence" relied upon by the prosecution at Glyn Razzell's trial was bloodstains found mainly in the boot of the car.
So on that note let's return to Glyn Razzell and his potential involvement in Linda's disappearance and mysterious murder. . .
Now in order for Glyn Razzell to have got across town to meet and abduct Linda in that Tuesday morning, he would have had to pass some 25 traffic cameras on the way and despite the police examining all of them, there was no sign of the Renault Laguna or indeed Glyn Razzell. There is no alternative route from Glyn's home to the area where Linda parked her car so that should have ruled him out as a suspect but it did not. He would have had to have left home no later than 0820 in order to get to Alvescott Road in time but in fact, he was on the telephone on his home landline until approximately 0826 talking with his girlfriend.
I am not here to debate whether Glyn Razzell is guilty of his wife's abduction and possible murder but I will look at as much evidence as I can to try to draw a conclusion as to where Linda Razzell is and if indeed she was murdered and by whom.
I will explain further in I do not agree with the supposition that serial killer Christopher Halliwell had anything to do with the matter. I do see some possibilities but I am aware that an organisation called Inside Justice recently examined the disappearance and were unable to establish any links to the killer either.
Louise shorter CEO of Inside Justice and her team interviewed many people including the building contractors that undertook the extension building work on the Razzell's home but there was nothing to suggest that Christopher Halliwell ever worked on the property despite false media reports suggesting that he did, even suggesting that he was the man that Linda had an affair with is not the case as far as can be ascertained.
Linda's boyfriend at the time of her disappearance was not the man with whom she had the affair with during the building work in the family home but there is still no evidence to link the building work on Razzell's house, an affair with Linda or even to suggest that Linda and Christopher knew one another.
As far as I am able to establish Christopher Halliwell was, in fact, making his living pretty much full time as a taxi driver at the time that Mrs Razzell vanished.
There are indications that Halliwell may well have been actively killing in 2002 there have so far been no crimes actually linked with solid evidence to him and that includes the disappearance of Linda Razzell. We cannot even suggest that she was abducted in Halliwell's taxi as Linda parked her own car in Alvescott Road and as far as I am able to understand there is no record of her using taxi services.
There is a brief mention of a beige coloured car being parked in Alvescott Road, near to where Linda parked and a man was apparently sitting in the driver's seat. I am not currently able to find any evidence of this being considered during the investigation into Linda's disappearance nor anything to particularly suggest that there may have been any reason to think anything was particularly suspicious.
Let's come back to the story so far as Glyn Razzell's conviction for his wife's murder is concerned. . .
According to other corroborating evidence Linda suffered from varying degrees of mental health problems and as the divorce from Glyn became more protracted and bitter she made allegations that on at least two occasions her husband had physically assaulted her. In both cases, Glyn was acquitted at trial by jury and the cases closed.
Now the relevant points need to be examined:
- Some 16 hours after Linda disappeared Wiltshire police went to Glyn's home to ask him some questions about the matter, during which time they examined his car.
- Glyn volunteered information to the police by telling them that he had in fact driven a different vehicle that day and advised them as to where the Laguna was, surely if he had something to hide he would have simply allowed them to examine his own car knowing that it had been in France on the day in question.
- The police then examined the Renault Laguna but found nothing indicative to suggest Linda may have been in the vehicle either being abducted or otherwise on TWO occasions, only after it had been returned twice to its owner in a filthy state covered in forensic powders and the owner had thoroughly cleaned it inside and out was it then taken away again, examined and large amounts of blood splashes found that were found to belong to Linda, hmmm something wrong there me thinks.
- Interestingly there were no hairs, DNA, skin flakes, etc connected to Linda in the car at all and as far as I can establish there was nothing found on Glyn's clothes either.
- An eyewitness that knew both Linda Razzell and her boyfriend states that she saw Linda's boyfriend sitting on a wall in Queen's Park in Swindon at 0930 on Tuesday 19th March 2020. This park is close to Alvescott Road where Linda parked her car and she would have normally walked through that park on the way to work.
- Linda's boyfriend Greg had been monitoring Glyn's movements for some two weeks leading up to Linda's disappearance and this is confirmed by a statement from Glyn Razzell's neighbour saying that Greg Worrall had been asking her questions about Glyn and his movements. Apparently, Greg Worrall had knocked on her door assuming it was Glyn's house and enquired if Glyn still lived there, this behaviour has never been explained
- Very interestingly when Greg was interviewed by the police on 20th March 2002 he somehow knew that Glyn had been using the Renault Laguna on 19th March and told the police so. Once again it seems rather suspicious that the police did not seem to consider this as odd or indeed raise any question as to how and why a man that was in no way connected to Glyn knew such information or indeed why.
- Mobile telephone records clearly indicate that Greg Worrall was not where he claimed to be on the day that Linda disappeared. There are at least 3 occasions where mobile telephone masts indicated that they had identified the phone in use in their coverage area yet he had claimed to be elsewhere at those times. Worrall was never cross-examined about this despite clear cell site analysis from his phone confirming him to be a liar, why is this I ask myself?
- Now the prosecution did not pursue this or find it suspicious, yet when it was mentioned that Glyn Razzell's mobile phone was switched off at the time that Linda went missing they submitted this to the trial jury as very suspicious, why is that? See why I feel things really do not add up?
- One more very important point is that Linda Razzell reported allegations on two separate occasions that her husband had violently attacked her. On both times Glyn Razzell was acquitted at trial. He did admit to the team of Inside Justice that there had been a violent incident once during his marriage which had got a little out of hand but he fully admitted that and never attempted to hide anything.
- Linda's mobile phone was found in the alleyway where it has been suggested she was abducted from and police say that the phone had fallen out of Linda's bag in the struggle when she was abducted. The problem with this is that the phone received a number of calls on Tuesday 19th March 2002 from people trying to find Linda but one particular stands out as at 2215 on the night of 19th March a phone mast over a mile away from where the phone was found picked up a call to Linda's phone. According to expert witnesses, this mast could NOT have received the signal from where the phone was located.
- The phone was found under a plank of wood suggesting that it was planted there, this, in my opinion, is backed up by the fact Greg Worrall was seen in Alvescott Road "checking to see if Linda's car was still there" that same night and the phone was found the next morning 20th March 2002.
- It is even more indicative of foul play when we consider that there had been a heavy police presence in the said alleyway during that Tuesday yet the phone had not been spotted but surprisingly it was found the very next morning. So was it planted there sometime after 2215 on Tuesday night? I think it is highly likely yes, is the answer to that question.
- The Renault Laguna was forensically examined on 3 separate occasions, the first two found nothing, yet the third time a large quantity of blood staining was found around the boot area of the car but rather surprisingly NONE was found on any of the driving controls or doors of the vehicle, not even the boot lip.
I think I have covered pretty much every angle of this story, suffice to say I do not believe that Linda Razzell is dead, there is very little evidence to suggest that she is. Some would say her bank accounts and finances have not been used since, but it was quite simple in 2002 to vanish and assume another identity, all the more so in a foreign country like Burundi for example. To be fair the old adage is true "If a person does not want to be found, even the best detective will struggle to locate them"
There have been witnesses that have claimed to see Linda Razzell since her disappearance including a lady that was a long term friend of Linda's and knew her very well who claimed that she had seen her driving in a silver Ford Fiesta on the day after she vanished and that Linda had appeared very angry that the woman had seen her and that the witness attempted to make contact by waving. The police refused to accept this witness story and even set about trying to find the Ford Fiesta but despite 70 vehicles being checked the car was not traced. I do believe this witness to be correct and she DID Linda the day AFTER she disappeared.
So has Glyn Razzell served 17 years in prison for a murder that he did not commit? Yes in my opinion he quite likely has done.
Was Linda abducted and murdered on Tuesday 19th March 2002? In my opinion, no I doubt it
Was Linda murdered by Christopher Halliwell or did she even know him? No in my opinion and based on researched evidence that is very unlikely.
Is Linda Razzell still alive and living a life as someone else? Yes, in my opinion, I think that is highly likely
Did Linda Razzell and her boyfriend possibly frame Glyn Razzell for her murder? In all honesty, I don't know at this stage, but I would not be at all surprised
Please leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on this and of course, watch out for updates
Documentary: During the time that I have been researching and writing this blog an independent TV company have replied to me with a view to making a documentary; so I now begin the process of contacting relevant people, conducting interviews and preparing a script. I shall, of course, keep you updated as time passes.
Glyn Razzell and his new partner Rachel Smith
Linda Razzell and her boyfriend Greg Worrall
