The Tattingstone Suitcase Murder - Unsolved since 1967

 

Sexually Assaulted, Strangled and Chopped up into 8 pieces, This is the case of Suffolk Police's most gruesome & longest-running cold case which remains unsolved to this day

Bernard Oliver, born and raised in Muswell Hill London was 17 when he was sexually assaulted, strangled then clinically and very neatly cut up into eight pieces and put into two large suitcases, which were found in a field in the village of Tattingstone, Suffolk on 16th January 1967. The field in which the two suitcases were dumped was just one hundred yards from the main road between Manningtree and Ipswich.

Bernard had left home in Muswell Hill, London on January 6th 1967, was reported missing by his father the next day and had been missing for some 10 days before his remains were found. Of course, there were no clues to identify him at the time, so police took the unprecedented step of releasing a photograph of the head in hope that someone would recognise the young man. The family of Bernard Oliver contacted the police quite soon after the photograph appeared in the news and gave details as to his identity.

Bernard had been a bit of a loner and had some difficulty in learning, according to his younger brother, Chris who told the media; "He was a little bit backward, he found it difficult to pick up reading and writing". He did not do well at school or indeed afterwards. 

Chris found out about his brother's murder from a newspaper whilst getting on a bus in Muswell Hill. Now in his 60s and living in Whetstone, Chris said: "It's just tormenting, not knowing what happened to him. We were all just boys at the time, I was 15. Bernard was a very gentle, friendly person".

Speaking of the day he found out about his brother's murder Chris Oliver said: "I was waiting for a bus going up to Muswell Hill, there was a clipping of this boy, just the head was showing, a friend that was with me said 'he looks like your brother', I couldn't believe it".

Bernard was one of six children born to George and Sheila. Maureen was his only sister and he had four brothers Andrew, Philip, Chris and the youngest was Tony, who was just 13 at the time of the murder. 

Mum and dad, George and Sheila had separated just a year previous so things were extremely stressful for the Oliver family, 

Chris Oliver said: "It had a massive impact on us, you cannot describe it. Even today it really upsets me. To be honest I don't think any of us have ever really sat down and spoken and grieved about it" 

Of course, there would have been no counselling services back then, people just kind of carried on, it must have been really difficult for such a family. 

According to Chris Oliver; he and his brother Tony believe that the murder was somehow connected to the notorious London gangsters, The Kray Twins. Chris told the media "They all used to go down to this house in Suffolk, there were rent boys brought in and there were all sorts of people that went there".

Following the media stories being released, various leads were given to the police within the first month of the murder, including several reported sightings of Bernard in and around the Muswell Hill area between when his disappearance and the body being discovered in Suffolk. Police were always of the mind that the murder and dismembering had taken place in Suffolk.

The enquiry was initially kept very busy and was soon being investigated by local police but had attracted the interest of Scotland Yard so their detectives were brought in to investigate but despite such in-depth enquiries, the case remains unsolved.

Suspects

There have been suspects in the case, one being Doctor John Byles, a 38-year-old former ship's surgeon, he was found dead in a hotel room at The Prince of Wales Hotel, in Northern Queensland, Australia on 19th January 1975. The doctor had been one of 2,000 people interviewed as possible suspects in connection with Bernard Oliver's murder. He had booked the room in the name of John Mathews and is believed to have taken a fatal drug overdose. 

At the time of his suicide, Byles had been wanted for extradition back to England as he had been alleged to be part of a paedophile ring known as "Holy Trinity" ring which featured around a church in Huddersfield. Several members of the ring had already been arrested for child sex offences and convicted at Leeds Crown Court in 1975 

It was alleged that Doctor Byles had invited teenage boys to his surgery in South London, where he plied them with alcohol and bribes in order to get them to commit sexual acts, whilst they were doing so the doctor would take indecent photographs of them and then sell on as pornography in Denmark.

According to information given to Scotland Yard after Byles death, it was said that the doctor had once admitted killing a ship cabin boy and dismembering his body, but this story has never been confirmed. 

The other suspect was Doctor Martin Reddington who had previously owned a surgery in Muswell Hill in the 1960s. In 1977 he was charged with committing an indecent assault on a young man between December 1971 and July 1973, He was dealt with at the Central Court in Sydney Australia.

Two years prior to Bernard Oliver's murder an arrest warrant was issued for Martin Reddington in which he was wanted on suspicion of Buggery and sexual assault on two males in 1965. Unfortunately, before the arrest could be made Reddington managed to slip the net and flee to South Africa. He apparently owned a surgery practice in Muswell Hill which was situated on one of the last streets that Bernard was even seen walking down. The doctor allegedly managed to return to England several times after he had initially fled but the warrant was never executed and thus he could never be tried. 

In 1977 a female private investigator claimed to have recognised the suitcase with the initials P.V.A marked on its side, She said that she believed it belonged to one of three men that had regularly visited Muswell Hill Launderette, one of those men was Doctor Reddington, the investigator had recognised him from a photograph.

Police did not feel that there was sufficient evidence at the time to be able to extradite Reddington from Australia so he was never questioned about the murder. 

In 2004 original documents from the Tattingstone Murder revealed that both Herrington and Byles had been wanted for a string of serious offences, one of which was the murder of a boy in London in 1973 after a homosexual relationship had failed.

Doctor Herrington apparently died in Suffolk in 1995 aged 63, no one official knew that he had returned to England and thus he was never even formally interviewed about the 1967 murder.

New Theories

Until 2018 the location of the actual murder and dismemberment of Bernard Oliver had a always remained uncertain but following an article that looked back at the 1967 murder being published in The Ipswich Star newspaper on 6th January 2018, a female witness came forward with new information.

The woman insists that she recalled seeing Bernard Oliver Alive in Tattingstone, The lady is now in her 60s but was advised by her daughter to go to the police with the information after they chatted about the newspaper article.

The woman who asked to remain anonymous told the paper "I was 16 at the time and worked as a groom in Freston. One of my duties was to exercise the horses every day. On the morning in question, I was riding one horse and leading the other. As I came up the hill in Tattingstone near to The White Horse, I saw a young man carrying two suitcases. I knew he was not someone that I had seen before in the area, he had freckles all over his face".

Obviously in the 1960s in small villages, everybody knew one another so I can imagine the woman would have realised straight away that the boy she saw was not a local person. 

The witness goes on to say "A few days later I saw the photograph in the paper and thought 'oh my goodness that's the chap I saw. I still believe it was him. I think he must have been murdered close to the Tattingstone area and someone else must have seen him".

Another witness that came forward as a result of the 2018 appeal suggested that the suitcases were most likely linked to the military, The witness said: "The large lightly coloured suitcase resembles a military issue suitcase of the time. I was issued one on my enlistment in 1969". 

This is an old, interesting murder with a somewhat novel way to hide the body. I would love to see this case get the justice that it deserves but as both of the main police suspects and the Kray Twins are all dead it is highly unlikely we will ever see anyone convicted in the physical sense. It would certainly be good to see the case solved so that the family has some kind of closure after all these 53 years. 

If by chance you do have any information that you feel would help the Oliver family to get the closure that they deserve then get in touch with Crimestoppers 0800-555-111 or call 101 and ask for The Metropolitan Police. It's never too late to speak out and help solve a murder.

That's all for this one. If you'd like me to review a UK Unsolved Serious Crime then please do get in touch. I specialise in unsolved and cold cases here in England and am always keen to review, research and write about a case for you. I write for films, documentaries, books, reports, podcasts and of course blogs so do get in touch.

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The Mysterious Disappearance of Trevaline Evans

 

Trevaline Evans left a note in her shop window on 16th June 1990, she never came back

Just over 30 years ago, an owner of a small antiques and collectables shop in Llangollen, North Wales "just popped out" and left a note in the shop window to advise her customers that she would be back in just 'two minutes', but she never returned. The shop remained closed throughout the day and customers that bought small things from the bric-a-brac baskets outside the shop even put the money through the letterbox of the shop. 

Mrs Evans is thought to have left the shop now as 'Attic Antiques' at around 12,40pm on 16th June 1990 to get a bite to eat, this is backed up by the fact that she bought an apple and a banana from a shop on the High Street and was then spotted crossing Castle Street, It was presumed that she returned to the shop at some point as a banana skin was found in the bin, but there is also a possibility that she had eaten one earlier in the day. 

People who saw Trevaline on 16th June reported that she seemed happy, relaxed and had been talking of plans to go out in the evening.  Several of her friends and customers had popped into the shop to chat, as was the norm when they were out shopping. Police estimated that between 0930 when Trevaline opened the shop and when she left at 12.40 approximately 30 people had been in and spoken with Mrs Evans.

A bunch of flowers that she intended to take home were found in the shop along with her jacket and handbag, I do have to ask here, would she not have taken her handbag to the shop? I don't know, just in my mind, a lady goes to the shop, she takes her handbag.

The police treated the enquiry as a murder investigation, pretty much from the beginning, despite there being no body and no sign of attack or struggle, but it seems that with it being such an odd thing for Trevaline to do I guess it seemed logical. 

No money was ever taken from her bank account and after one last confirmed sighting at 2.30pm on the same day in Market Street, very close to her home Trevaline Evans simply vanished. Her car was left parked just 30 yards or so from her shop, so this would indicate she did not leave the area by choice. Once again this seems more than a little odd as if she had used the car to drive to her shop then surely it is reasonable to assume the 52-year-old would have driven back home not walked. Keys to both her car and her home were found at the shop so how would she have got in? 

Interestingly Trevaline's husband Richard was away from home at the time, renovating their holiday bungalow in  Rhuddlan, approximately 40 miles away. Trevaline had spent a few days there herself but had returned on Wednesday 13th June in order to open the shop.

On the evening of 16th June, Richard Evans tried in vain to contact his wife by telephone at their home and after having received no reply on several occasions he rand a family friend and neighbour to ask them to call by the house and see if everything was alright. When the friend called back and told Richard that Trevaline was not at home he became very worried and asked if the search could be extended to Attic Antiques. 

The neighbour went to the shop and that's when things had begun to unfold. Discovering the shop was locked up with the note "Back in 2 Minutes" still in the window and Trevaline's car parked just along the road, the concerned neighbour rand Richard back and it was decided that the police should be called.

The enquiry focused a lot on the days between her return to Llangollen and her disappearance. The police spent hundreds of hours taking over 330 statements from every single household in the area, some 700 cars were all checked out and eliminated from the investigation. 

Of course, in 1990 CCTV was in use in shops and businesses but not to the level that we know it today so it was not so easy for the police to track Trevaline's movements. They had a statement from a market trader where she bought here apple and banana but were unable to state with certainty if she had returned to the shop at all. This seems unlikely as locals that knew Mrs Evans said if she had returned, the very first thing that she would have done would have been to remove the note from the window. 

The police spoke to a local shopkeeper who told them that earlier in the morning of 16th June Trevaline had gone to buy milk and he noticed that when she opened her purse she had a considerable wad of cash in there. She partially removed the money in order to get to the 32 pence for the milk. Curiously this money was not in her purse later in the day. The cash had not been banked, so where was it? 

Witness statements said that on 14th June 1990 Trevaline had been seen with a very smartly dressed, grey-haired man in her shop. Again on 15th June, she was reportedly seen walking through the town with the same man, he was wearing a smart suit and carrying a briefcase. To add to the mystery two tourists contacted police and told them that they had seen Trevaline in a wine bar drinking in the company of a smartly dressed, grey-haired man. Clearly, this man seems to hold a key to the investigation as he has never come forward to be eliminated. 

It was suggested that perhaps Trevaline had been having some kind of an affair but surely knowing that her husband was well known in the town, as were her family surely she would have been a little more discreet. Although locals dismissed the idea of an affair as 'preposterous', there was a large bunch of flowers at the shop of which no evidence was ever found of Trevaline buying. Was there a secret lover? It was said that she was happily married but, the couple had one car and her husband was left somewhere close to 40 miles away. 

The local canal, mine shafts and caves were searched in the hunt for Trevaline, divers even scoured the river Dee but there was simply no sign of the shop owner. 

BBC Crimewatch took up the search and ran two appeals in hope that someone may know something, once again police drew and blank. Detective Chief Inspector Colin Edwards said in 1992 "How a happily married woman could vanish without a trace on a sunny Saturday afternoon in a busy town centre is simply baffling. It is, without doubt, the strangest enquiry I have ever dealt with".

It has been reported that Trevaline was very happy in her life and had family living locally, as Llangollen was her home town from birth in 1937 until the day she disappeared. She had married Richard in 1958 and lived a good and comfortable life, so there is no clear reason why she should want to up and leave, except for the slight possibility of some kind of an affair that maybe went wrong somehow.

Richard Evans offered a reward of £5,000 (Five Thousand Pounds) for information relating to his wife's disappearance, in a hope that the money may draw someone out that held the important clues. He made a public appeal in which he said that "Trevaline doted on her elderly father and would not leave him behind" but still no new information came.

After two years of investigation, appeals and searches police still had no clue as to the whereabouts of Trevaline Evans and they announced that they believed that Trevaline had been lured away somehow, possibly by someone that she knew or at least believed she knew. They said that they did not believe the missing woman to still be alive. She was not declared as legally dead until 1997. 

By 2001 forensic science had progressed considerably so the case was reviewed and Richard Evans was arrested. However, he had a rock-solid alibi in that he was miles away at the couple's holiday bungalow and several witnesses confirmed that they had seen him there on the day in question. He was released without charge and Trevaline's brother told the media that he believed her to have been abducted. Richard Evans died in 2015 aged 83. 

In 2019 two brothers, Andy and Lee Sutton suddenly came forward to the police saying that they believed that Trevaline had been murdered and her body buried under the floor of the Ridding Golf Club. On March19th 2019 the police began to excavate the club, but no remains were ever found. 

To date, there is still no concrete evidence to indicate what happened to the antiques shop owner back in 1990 and no trace of her has ever been found. I personally think that the police may find it useful to do some digging at the family's old holiday home, just a hunch but for some reason that is my take on things. 

Of course, if you do have any information that will help to close this slightly unusual case then pick up the phone and call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or contact them online www.crimestoppers-uk.org

If you have any unsolved UK true crime case that you would like me to review for a documentary, film, podcast, report or blog do please get in touch.

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The Newcastle Halloween Murder - Unsolved

 

Number 12 Goldspink lane, in Sandford, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne was the scene of an absolutely horrific murder on Halloween night 1963

Hi everybody and firstly my apologies for not blogging recently but I have been busy working on some very important research which has taken up a great deal of my time,

As it's the month of Halloween I think it is time that this case was given some time. . .

The horrifying murder of a retired school teacher, Katherine Lillian Armstrong sent a huge shock through the ordinary lives of the people of Newcastle, UK, but the case remains unsolved to this day. 

The murder was so gruesome that it caused police leave to be cancelled, special detectives to be brought in from London and some 16,000 people to be interviewed. 

The police were called to the corner property on Goldspink Lane by Ada Ridley, Miss Armstrong's cousin when she called at the house to find all the curtains closed and the door locked at 10.30am. Ada knew that her cousin was an early riser by habit, she knocked repeatedly but got no answer and decided that something was wrong. 

Police officers arrived to find no sign of a break-in, but when a sergeant entered the house he was met with a sight that even he found hard to believe. Spinster Katherine had been viciously beaten, stabbed all around the face and head at least 28 times, had a nylon stocking tied around her neck and various defence cuts on both hands. A post mortem examination confirmed that she had died from shock and blood loss, not from strangulation, so the reason for the stocking being around her neck was not clear, particularly as there was no evidence of a sexual assault.

The chief constable of Tyneside Police force made up his mind that his squad needed the help of Scotland Yard and despite cancelling all local police leave, including recalling officers that were on holiday arrangements were made for the murder squad lead by Eric 'Jock' Reid to travel to Newcastle.

Six years prior to the murder, Katherine Armstrong had retired from her post as headmistress at Denton Road Junior School and had dedicated a great deal of her time to the Central Methodist Church in Northumberland Road, Newcastle, Having been a regular at the church for over 40 years she sung in the church choir and was very well thought of. She was known as a very proud and independent woman, as were many ladies of that generation. 

70-year-old Miss Armstrong had last been seen looking out of the window of her house at 6.30pm on the evening of 31st October 1963 and had been due to attend church at 7.30pm but failed to show up, she was found dead some 16 hours after the last sighting of her, The police had forced their way into the house and discovered her body at 10.50am on November 1st. 

Police said that they were looking into the possibility that Katherine, known by her second name of Lillian, could have been killed by some teenagers that were troublesome in the area but were also looking into the movements of several men that had been released from prison soon before the murder who had convictions for violent attacks against older women. One of the suspects in the case had also been a chief suspect in the murder of Amy Barratt a 71-year-old who had been found beaten to death in Churchill Street, Newcastle in 1962. That suspect was later ruled out of the enquiry.

Just 3 days after the discovery of the murder, on November 4th more officers were drafted in to join the hunt for Katherine's killer and the weapon. Detectives of the time vowed that they would if necessary search the entire city to find the weapon that ended Miss Armstrong's life. The description of the implement used in the murder was 'A long-bladed instrument', possibly a large knife.

Police followed the theory that the killer would most likely have discarded the weapon soon after fleeing the scene, so they et about searching all the drains, dustbins, gutters and grates in the local area. Gardens, streams and parks were all thoroughly hunted for the dangerous implement that could have easily been used again at any time but to no avail.

There was never any motive for the murder and by the time the extra officers had been brought in some 2,000 statements had been taken but the police were still no closer to finding the killer. Police utilised the local media with Detective Superintendent Reid regularly speaking to the Newcastle Chronicle.

St Barnabas Church, Sandyford was commandeered as a working base for the police in order to be, as Detective Superintendent Reid said, "on the spot". Police carried out one of the biggest ever house-to-house enquiries ever undertaken in Newcastle, using specially prepared questionnaires, they spoke to over 5,000 people within a half-mile radius of the murder scene. 

By the end of November 1963, there were still 50 police officers working 18 hours a day on the investigation. The officers interviewed a total of just over 16,000 people in Newcastle, an inquest was held into Miss Armstrong's death in January 1964 but all attempts drew a blank.

Why would any person kill an elderly lady who had lived through two world wars? There was no motive for the murder and the whole thing seems so dreadfully sad.

The house had not been robbed, there was no sign of any form of ransacking, nothing had been stolen. Miss Armstrong had not been sexually assaulted, her clothing had not been disturbed in any way. There were blood marks found throughout the house so it does seem like the killer may have at least gone through the house looking for something or maybe someone but left empty-handed except for the murder weapon.

I have very little opinion on this case but I do think that the attack was deliberate, maybe a former school pupil, who had a held a long term grudge and waited until into adulthood to seize the moment and attack their target. They may well have used Halloween as a deliberate time to commit their heinous crime, knowing that if they knocked on the door, Katherine (Lillian) would be very likely to open up, assuming it to be 'trick or treaters'. The front door was solid wood so she would not have been able to see who was there until she opened up. 

I suspect that there were two killers, one who did the stabbing and one did the tying up, I also suspect that Miss Armstrong may well have been upstairs when the attack began and that she either fell or was pushed down the stairs, hence her body was found at the foot of the stairs. As to the weapon, it is quite likely that it was taken with the assailants and retained as a trophy. I wonder if you visit an elderly person in the Newcastle area who has a very large knife or even a wartime sword as a collector's item? 

I doubt very much if this crime will ever be solved now due to the length of time having passed but we never say never. Just as a little fun note to finish. . .

After the murder, 12, Goldspinks Lane stood empty for quite a long time before someone moved in, they only stayed a few weeks and left saying that they felt very uncomfortable there and believed the place to be haunted. The next family to move in often reported that they felt like there were small movements just like they would see out of the corner of their eye, but there was no one there. A lodger claimed that he felt a ghostly presence in the house and always at the bottom of the stairs. 

Miss Armstrong was said to have loved her house and ignored her cousin's regular pleas to leave the big old house and take a flat close to hers, maybe the killer never quite forced the retired headmistress to leave her beloved home after all

Until next time. . .

If you would like me to research any unsolved UK crime/cold case for a documentary, film, podcast, report or blog then please don't hesitate to make contact.

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Guys just had it highlighted to me that there are so many similarities between this murder and the unsolved murder of Esther Soper in Plymouth in 1976. Hardly likely to be the same killer but there are many factors including;

Both women lived alone

Both women were Christians

Tights were used in some kind of strangulation ritual

No sign of any forced entry

Both found in the hallway of the house

No sign of sexual assault

No motive

The list goes on

Please check out Lolly True Crimes Blog for yourself. . .

The Plot Thickens - Esther Soper

Victoria Hall - unsolved murder 1999

Victoria Hall was 17 when she was abducted on her way home from a night out in Felixstowe, Suffolk, her body was found five days later in a ditch, the case remains unsolved

This unsolved murder investigation by Suffolk Police was re-opened on 9th September 2019, the twentieth anniversary of Victoria's disappearance.

The teenager had been on a night out with her friend Gemma Alger at the Bandbox Nightclub, in Bent Hill Felixstowe but never returned home. The two friends had left the club at around 0100 hours, made a stop at Bodrum Grill take away, then walked two miles back to their home area of Trimley St Mary. 

The pair had reached the junction of Faulkners Way and High Road at around 0220 and said "Goodnight" to one another just 300 yards from Victoria's home, but she is thought to have been snatched from the roadside before she reached her house. 

Victoria's body was found in Creeting St Peter, Stowmarket, which is some 25 miles from where she lived. Her body was found naked and in a deep water-filled ditch on 24th September 1999. Autopsy investigations were unable to clarify exactly how the A-level student teenager had met her death and could only confirm that she had suffered some level of asphyxiation 

Since re-opening the investigation in September 2019, police have reported that they have received over 50 calls from the public in relation to the case, but it's 21 years ago so things are never going to be straightforward. 

Suffolk police said that they cannot elaborate or give details yet but some good new lines of enquiry were generated from those calls and investigations are ongoing. They have said that the case was made 'live' again and was being fully re-investigated by a new team of officers after new information came to light. 

Victoria's father who still lives in Trimley St Mary near Felixstowe said "They are sifting through those calls and the information that was given but it's a painstaking process but it gives us hope"

As a part of the new investigation, Suffolk police released details of items that belonged to Victoria Hall that have so far never been recovered, along with some CCTV footage of people visiting the area where the body was dumped (pictures at the bottom of the page, courtesy of the BBC)

Parents of Victoria describe her as a vivacious, teetotal "Model daughter", a description that I am slightly confused by as she had been to a nightclub, but I guess not everyone has to consume alcohol to attend a club. The main thing is that as it sounds like Victoria would have been completely sober, so she must have been literally forced into a vehicle of some kind, rather than getting into a car with a person under the influence.

There are one or two points of interest that I am not clear on with this case; one, in particular, is her friend Gemma said that she remembered hearing a scream but "never really gave it a thought", hmm a little odd in my estimation. Two girls have just walked back from town together, just after parting company for the night one hears a scream but doesn't think "Oh hold on I just left my friend, maybe I ought to see if she is OK". 

Interestingly reports from local residents say that they also heard screams and a car with a heavy sounding exhaust roar off at around the same time that Victoria was thought to have been abducted but they also "Never really took much notice". Forgive me maybe I am just nosey but despite living in the suburbs surrounded by busy railway and not far from major road networks, if I was awake at that time of the morning and heard screams I would at the very least have a lookout and maybe even contact the police. Sorry I digress, I just thought I'd put it out there

Moving on . . .

CCTV clips released by police that are thought to be relevant show a van pulling up by the gates to the field where Victoria's body was found, The van reverses back then drove forward again to the field entrance. The driver is then seen leaving the van, entering the field and looking around on the ground close to the entrance as if looking for something. Did this man drop something on the night of Victoria's murder and return in hope that he would find the item perhaps?

A second clip shows a group of people with torches going into the field by the same entrance under the cover of darkness, I can't help but wonder what they were looking for, maybe considering moving the body or retrieving evidence. So far the people in the CCTV clips have not been identified or come forward for elimination as far as I can establish. 

The curious part of this case is that a man was arrested on December 18th 2000 and charged with Victoria's abduction and murder but was later acquitted at trial. It seems that the trial in November 2001 relied very much on geological soil samples a scientific argument went on between the prosecution and defence counsels which lead to a jury finding the suspect not guilty and he was acquitted. 

Adrian Bradshaw, the man charged with the murder of Victoria Hall was the owner of a local newspaper company The Felixstowe Flyer and said that he was relieved to have been rightly acquitted but he expressed his sympathy for the family that are left behind, grieving for their much-loved daughter.

During the two week trial at Norwich Crown Court, counsel for the prosecution said that Mr Bradshaw was seen near to Victoria Hall's home on the night that she disappeared. Evidence was submitted to the court that showed soil samples taken from Mr Bradshaw's Porsche car matched the soil from the area where Victoria's body was found. The court also heard how other witnesses from the local area said that they had heard "horrifying" screams, followed shortly after by a "throaty" exhaust sound which was alleged to have come from Mr Bradshaw's Porsche 944.

The accused did admit to drinking 10 pints of beer and several shots of Vodka at the same nightclub where Victoria ad Gemma had been drinking that night. Prosecution witnesses said that Mr Bradshaw had taken a taxi ride from the club and dropped off just a few hundred yards from the Hall family home.

There were no sightings of the Porsche at the time when it is thought Victoria was taken and it was argued by a "specialist witness" geologist that the soil traces found in the car could have come from other areas of East Anglia, despite the samples being almost absolute matches for the soil in the field where Victoria was found. A friend of Mr Bradshaw, a 27-year-old hairdresser, Peter Dugdale told the court that when the accused went out drinking, he was a 'happy drunk' and never had a malicious bone in his body. 

The jury took just 90 minutes to find Mr Bradshaw not guilty of abduction and murder which seems a little strange, after all the evidence was all there, but that is the difficult part of trials by jury, cases that seem really obvious can go completely the opposite way. 

Outside court Mr Bradshaw said, "Obviously my sympathies go out to Vicky Hall's family. A jury of 12 normal people have reached their verdict, I had confidence in myself. I did not commit this crime. I am innocent". 

I am quite struck by Mr Bradshaw's choice of words "I had confidence in myself", hmmm not really the words that I would have chosen if I believed myself to be an innocent man, but I cannot accuse the man, he was acquitted and that's that, I will just say "I don't necessarily agree with the jury's verdict in this case" particularly when a senior police officer Detective Superintendent Roy Lambert who lead the massive murder hunt at the time said, "I believe we have obtained as much evidence as we can. We have been investigating this case for over two years and I believe we have looked down every avenue for the person who did this offence".

Victoria's father Graham Hall said "We are numbed by the verdict, whether Adrian Bradshaw was found not guilty or not made very little difference to us. Unless someone owns up to their actions on that night and tells us exactly what happened, that is the only little bit of help we could have".

So readers, have I told you a story of an unsolved murder or has it been solved but the killer has escaped justice? Well, the jury said that justice was done and that the police got the wrong man, I will leave you to decide. Just bear in mind that with the case very much active again new evidence apparently came to life so if I get any updates I will, of course, bring the information to you but one thing that is almost certain Adrian Bradshaw can sleep easy in his bed as laws of double jeopardy will ensure that unless really exceptional circumstances arise he can never be re-tried for Victoria's murder. 

If you do have any information on this case then please do contact The Major Investigations Team at the incident room on 01473 613513 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 

If you would like me to review a case for you for documentary, film, radio, podcast or for future blogs then please get in touch 

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Clothing similar to that from Victoria Hall's case:

 

Where is Leah Croucher

 

Leah Croucher vanished on February 15th 2019 from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England 

This case is very strange with several twists and turns that I will try hard to make sense of as we go along. Let's start with the basic details. . .

19-year-old Leah Croucher was last seen by her parents at 10pm on Valentines Day, February 14th 2019 and reported missing the following day when she did not return home from work. 

During the early evening of February 14th 2019, Leah made her usual walk back from work but, interestingly during that walk, the 'Location' setting on her mobile telephone was switched off, Something which according to her telephone network service provider Leah had never done before and from that time onwards the location was never turned back on. 

At 6pm that evening Leah arrived home, changed her clothes and left the house again wearing a tracksuit, she left on foot and told her mother that she was going to a friend's house for a short time.

By 7.15pm Leah was home again and according to her parents her behaviour seems absolutely normal, but for some reason, she was lying to her mum as it was later discovered that Leah's friend did not see her that evening at all, so for at least 75 minutes of February 14th 2019, there remains a question as to where the 19-year-old went.

She left home at 8am on 15th February 2019 to make her usual journey to work, she was wearing a black padded coat, black skinny jeans, black Converse high top shoes and carrying a small black rucksack. Beneath her coat, Leah was wearing a very distinctive grey hoodie, bearing the logo of a Taekwondo club run by her dad "Stewartby". 

At 8.13am that morning Leah Croucher was seen by CCTV walking along Buzzacott Lane, Furzton, Milton Keynes, this is the last actual confirmed sighting of her and at 8.43am her mobile phone was switched off.

Leah should have been at work by 9am but failed to arrive, she had not called in sick or booked any time off so that absence was unexplained.

During that same morning, three separate witnesses reported seeing a girl fitting Leah's description walking by Furzton Lake, The times of these sightings range from 9.30am to 11.30am and all three said that the girl was "visibly upset and crying" whilst talking on the phone, of course, none of the "witnesses" attempted to approach the girl and enquire if she was OK. 

Police have never been able to confirm if this was Leah Croucher, but if it was then she had to have been using a different mobile phone, as previously mentioned hers was switched off. Incidentally despite appeals, no other young female has come forward to say that it was them by the lake on that morning.

When 6pm came and Leah failed to arrive home her concerned parents contacted the police and reported her as a missing person and they began to look for the teenager, but there was no sign of her. Local friends were unable to help with any leads so on 17th February 2019 the police held a press conference to officially declare Leah Croucher as missing. During the conference, the police described Leah as white, slim with shoulder-length brown hair and said that she sometimes wore glasses.

The police made hundreds of house-to-house enquiries, made a fingertip search of the area surrounding Furzton Lake and even sent divers down to search the waters, but not a single trace of Leah was found. Further appeals for information were made in the hope that someone would be able to shed some light on the whereabouts of the missing girl, but nothing came. 

On 9th October 2019, a woman came forward to say that she remembered walking by the Blue lagoon Lake in Bletchley in February 2019 where she saw a grey hooded sweatshirt hanging from a tree, it had the "Stewartby" logo on it, Police launched a full-scale search at the Blue Lagoon with divers going into the lake and sniffer dogs used to search the woodlands that surround it. The search was declared complete after 10 days, nothing at all was found. I suspect that the woman concerned gave the police a hoax story, something which often happens in these cases. 

Leah's parents described her as bright, confident and loving, very much a 'creature of habit', even when she did go out for an evening out she always made certain to be home by 1am. They went on to say that Leah was a family-orientated person who cared greatly for her family and friends.

Unfortunately, all is not as sweet as it first appears; Leah was involved in a relationship with a man that was engaged to be married and had lied to her parents by telling them that the relationship was over, when in fact she is thought to have spent a night with him at a local travel lodge just 12 days before she disappeared. even on that occasion, she lied to her parents, particularly her father as he dropped off at the Jury's Inn hotel in Central Milton Keynes and waved goodbye as she walked off into the hotel. Leah had told her family that she was spending the night at a hotel with two other girls as they were planning "a girly night", drinking, chatting and gossiping.

It was only much later after Leah had vanished that her parents realised they had been lied to when Leah's bank statement came which showed that in fact, Leah had booked into a much cheaper hotel, The Travel Lodge. Unfortunately by the time, this information came to light the CCTV for the hotel had been overwritten so it could not be established who Leah spent the night of February 3rd 2019 with, but it seems likely it was the engaged man. When questioned, none of Leah's friends knew anything about a night in a hotel and had definitely not stayed with her anywhere.

Leah Croucher's mother Claire said that the relationship had begun in 2018 when Leah suddenly began to talk about this man constantly, unfortunately, this man cannot be named here due to legal restrictions.

Mrs Croucher said that Leah was talking about this man all the time, "it was X this and X that, it was quite obvious she had a soft spot for him, She would go to see him in the evenings, paying £13 each way by taxi in order to spend time with him". "It just wasn't like Leah to do that kind of things, she was such a home-loving sort of person and didn't like going out much". 

Claire went on to say "Then we found out that he was engaged, I remember saying to her, don't go falling for him, he will never be yours". "We were under the impression that she had finished with him then".

Continuing her story Mrs Croucher said, "I didn't take much notice at the time, but now having had the time to think about things I realise she had become moody, which was totally out of character". "She would sometimes be snappy and would go up to her room and sulk. We just put it down to teenage angsts and didn't really take a great deal of notice". 

Police have apparently spoken with the man concerned and ruled him out of any enquiries as he had a solid alibi for the date and time that Leah vanished, although I have to say this doesn't necessarily sit right as there is a big window of time that would need to be accounted for. 

Let's be fair, we believe that she had been to hotels with this man before so could easily have started off at a hotel somewhere for a few days, particularly if she stayed in a "cash-paying" place, "no questions asked", so to speak.

One very interesting point here is that her mobile phone records do not show any sign of secret relationship arrangements for clandestine meetings, etc. I am sure that there must have been telephone calls, text messages, maybe messages on services such as Whatsapp, but according to the telephone company there is nothing at all

Mrs Croucher did say that Leah had Snapchat and that she was aware that within minutes of things being posted there they are literally wiped, but I am sure that the police would have been able to recover anything if they felt it necessary, I only wonder if perhaps this teenager had a separate 'secret' mobile phone that she used to contact whoever she was seeing.

I am not sure why but don't think that Leah has come to any harm and is most likely still alive. There is the possibility that she has somehow been abducted and murdered but I really am not convinced. The area where Leah was last seen and known to have walked was a busy area, particularly at the time of morning that she was last seen. The area is used by school and works traffic, both vehicles and pedestrians so I am more than convinced that she has taken off with someone or indeed alone to start a new life.

There was a scenario that crossed my mind in that if Leah had been having a relationship with this 'engaged' man then did his fiance find out, track Leah down, enticed her to a meeting in the belief that she would be meeting her man and then killed her. Whilst no possibility should be ruled out in a serious case like this, I don't think this is a likely outcome. 

There are many things that have been hidden in this case and Leah's own father said that he knows that someone from the local community holds key information about what has happened to Leah and in fact, he quite recently threatened to put the name out there if the police don't. 

It strikes me as very curious that Leah's family homes were searched, their cars and workplaces, yet "Mr X", the engaged man has never had his home searched, his workplace or car and Leah's parents recently told the local newspaper "The MK Citizen" that police even refused to forensically examine the engaged man's clothing that he wore on 14th and 15th February 2019. Why is that I wonder? Someone is hiding something in this investigation of that there is no doubt.

One other question that does play in my mind is based on a small point, but I feel may be of importance. and that is: On February 3rd 2019 just 12 days before Leah vanished she stayed at a hotel which she had lied to her parents about, she didn't turn off the location on her phone, yet on 14th February whilst on her way home from work she did, she then vanished the very next morning.

I have a feeling that when Leah went out on the evening of February 14th she was supposed to leave then, but something went wrong, hence the reason for her swift return within just 75 minutes. After all, she had lied to her mum in saying that she was going to a friend's house, there had to have been a reason for that. 

My gut feeling is there is a great deal that is not in the public eye and there was a great deal happening in Leah's life that her parents knew nothing of. I feel in all honesty she is out there somewhere and I would say to her to get in touch with her family and let them know she is safe, even if she does not want to return home. She will be 21 now of course and very much a woman, not the teenager that left home on 15th February 2019, maybe has a child, who knows.

I have read the tragic news that Leah's brother Haydon committed suicide as he was consumed with the loss of his sister and not knowing what happened to her. He was found hanged and taken to hospital but after two days his family had to make an agonising decision to switch off life support equipment due to multiple organ failure. I am so sorry for the family and my heart goes out to them but this is not the place to discuss that further. 

I just hope that Leah makes contact with her family if at all possible and as always in these cases, I will say if anyone does have any information as to Leah Croucher's whereabouts or any information about that may help police on solving this case and getting closure for the family then call Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111 

If there is a case that you would like me to blog on or indeed undertake research for a documentary, film, podcast or publication then please do pop me an email up: jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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What Happens When Murder Goes Cold

 

According to recent research, there are more than 1,100 unsolved murder cases in the UK

Many of the unsolved murders in the UK are quite old, with some dating back several generations whilst others are much more recent. Police forces claim to never truly close cases, they leave them on file and review them from time to time. Is that truly good enough? In my opinion "no it is not", but funding is simply not made available by the government to keep officers active on cases and that combined with the factor of evidence drying up forces a case to become cold.

Sadly many people, even the dedicated true crime fans that I am proud to be associated with will have cases that they have never heard of, cases such as Emile L'Angelier from Glasgow, poisoned in 1857 or Emma Jackson of St.Giles, London, she was a sex worker who was stabbed to death in a room at a brothel in 1863. Both of these cases remain on file with the police but are cold and unsolved.

Of course, there are also the more famous cases of murder that still send a chill down the spine of many to this day, cases such as Jack The Ripper. Those cases have had so much input from members of the public, detectives, armchair detectives, writers and more that the chances of the true killer ever being identified are extremely unlikely. 

According to research figures provided by the BBC London's Metropolitan Police have the largest number of unsolved cases per individual force with 341 cases being unsolved and on the cold case list. It is worth pointing out that this figure only covers the dates from 1996 to the present day, so the actual number of unsolved murders within the Metropolitan force is considerably larger.

So why are so many cases unsolved? Well in murder investigation there are some important points that make a huge difference to the outcome of a case. 

Firstly it is very important to remember that "Time is of the essence" at the outset of any criminal investigation, even more so in the case of murder. It is very important that a crime scene is secured as quickly as possible these days to allow an in-depth investigation by forensic scientists. The first few hours truly can 'make or break' the outcome of a murder enquiry.

The first 24 hours, can sometimes be pushed to as much as 48 hours but as soon as the crime scene is freed up so that anyone can access it then the game is over and things deteriorate. Of course in older times there was either very limited or no forensic science of any sort so a crime scene inspection would have relied on the eyes of the police and detectives to spot particular aspects of a crime,

Victimology says that in many cases of murder, the killer will be known to the victim so if an investigator can establish what put an assailant and a victim in the same place at the same time then a case will begin to build. Establish a reason for the killing and the case is well underway, sadly this is one of the key elements that lets an investigation down as there is seems to be no reason at all for the killing. 

The victimology of a murder enquiry combined with the piecing together of the final days, hours and minutes of a victim's life are the major part of modern investigation. This combined with the forensic investigation is the reason that many more cases are solved in modern times, but still, there are cases that for one reason or another are unsolved. 

Unfortunately, there are many cases of corruption, whereby a person will be "fitted-up", made a scapegoat of and the murder will seem as if it is solved, sadly the true assailant will be out free and roaming the streets. There is wrongly a line of belief in some police officers and other officials minds that "As long as there is a name in the frame, that's all that matters". 

There is a case that I recently reviewed; The murder of Judith Roberts saw a young man with various mental health disabilities (Andrew Evans) sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering the teenager. Despite his confession during a delusion episode, there was absolutely no other evidence to convict Andrew the police still took the case to trial, They obviously knew that Andrew was not guilty of murder but "they had their man they could close the file". Of course, now that Andrew Evans is free and his conviction overturned the case remains unsolved.

Judith Roberts Blog post

There is a theory that the murder was committed by Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, but it is just that, a theory without foundation. 

There is another issue with unsolved cases, one that often leads to cases going cold, that is the group of people that either investigate a case so much that they become desperate to name an assailant or really do not do their research properly and just name a particularly well-known killer for many crimes. This then causes the pubic to "take their eye off the ball" because a case appears solved when it is not. 

There is a writer out there selling his books in which he claims two or three serial killers to be responsible for a number of crimes, his theories are unfounded and lack evidence but "hey he's selling his books", and that is so wrong. 

Moving on. . .

When a case has gone cold with no new evidence coming to light and enquiries pretty much exhausted, senior police officers, meet to decide whether the case should be "shelved" and the desks cleared to make room for more active cases. Of course, that is not the end of a case by no means, current police policy is to review cases every two years to see if there is anything new or to see if the ever-progressing world of forensic science can offer anything new. 

Cases are often reviewed by private organisations, independent investigators and the like, sometimes that route can prove fruitful as an independent investigator may just pick up on that little thread of evidence that was either missed by the police or presumed not to be relevant to the enquiry. Once again with the advancement of various forms of science and the ever-growing power of the internet, particularly social media new things come up and cases are solved. 

There are also times when certain things change, a member of a criminal gang leaves or is shunned by his group so he feels it is time to open up and give information about a murder that he previously would have stayed quiet about, loyalties change with time.

A recent post by a journalist from the BBC said: "For many of the cases that are unsolved, it is too late to ever get to the bottom of what happened". I absolutely disagree with that writer, in my professional opinion it is never too late, a case is always worth reviewing, always worth looking over again even old ones. 

Unsolved UK crime, particularly murders are a passion of mine and I will always be more than happy to review a case, just in case, there is one person out there or one scrap of evidence hidden somewhere that can be uncovered and a case turned around. 

Cold cases should never be allowed to go completely cold and more funding should be made available to ensure that they are not forgotten, that's my opinion. 

On that point, I will close this one but don't forget; If you have a British unsolved/cold case that you would like me to review for a documentary, film, podcast, report or blog then please get in touch via the contact form below or e-mail me: jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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Who Killed Patricia Grainger?

 

Patricia Grainger was 25 and a young mum when she was viciously raped and murdered in Sheffield on 10th August 1997, to date no one has ever been convicted of this heinous crime

Okay readers, so here we have an interesting and in some ways a still-active case, being kept alive by Patricia Grainger's son, Daniel. 

Let's have a delve into this one and see just how much we can learn. . .

Despite this case being some 23 years old, there is still a great deal of activity it, which is very encouraging, as we know so many cases like this have been allowed to go cold and almost forgotten.

Patricia Grainger was seriously sexually assaulted, strangled, stabbed multiple times and her breasts and genital area were badly mutilated. These dreadful injuries that resulted in her death were inflicted just a few minutes from her home, her body was then dumped in a local woodland brook. The young mother was found face down and forcibly submerged under the base of a divan bed, but to date, the dangerous killer responsible has never been identified. 

Daniel Grainger was just a small child, aged 5 when his mum's life was so tragically ended but he is still campaigning hard to get justice for her and the family, He has been very critical of South Yorkshire Police in regard to their investigation of his mother's murder. I can fully appreciate his anger and disappointment as the police say that although the matter is "subject to review" they no longer have some of the original evidence in the case. In response to this allegation, South Yorkshire Police said that they had submitted items of clothing that Mrs Grainger had been wearing at the time of her murder to the Forensic Science Service for examination, hence the police were no longer in possession of the items. 

The BBC asked South Yorkshire Police about the missing evidence and asked if they had followed correct procedure in sending the clothing to the FSS but other than confirming that a complaint from Daniel Grainger was being looked into, the force did not provide a comment. Sadly the Forensic Science Service closed down in March 2012 so there is no chance of the evidence being recovered. 

One of the worrying things in my research into this case that I find really disturbing is that apparently there was no sign of any defence wounds on Patricia's body, so either she was made unconscious somehow very early into the attack or taken by surprise, maybe attacked from behind with great physical force, The only other possibility is that Patricia was somehow made to fear her attackers so much that she simply did not fight back, but I have to say that seems unlikely as the human instinct is fight or flight.

Unfortunately, South Yorkshire police still refuse to give Daniel Grainger a copy of his mother's autopsy report, they apparently claim that it is to "protect the public from distress" I have to say that my opinion is the same as Daniel Grainger in that the police won't give up the report for fear he may post it on his website and let the truth out.

There were sightings of Patricia up to just a few hours prior to her body being found and although she had been missing from home during the final few days of her life and her family did not know where she was staying during that period. I cannot help but wonder if she knew her killer, had she been staying with him/her? Her body was found by local youths playing by the brook, known locally as 'Tongue Gutter', I can only imagine the shock and trauma that those kids must have experienced in finding a woman so badly mutilated, that is something which will live with them forever. I feel that maybe more than one person was responsible for such a vicious attack, but the ultimate question is why? 

Here is a little timeline of things to assist with understanding the story:

Patricia had not stayed at her home address in Buchanan Road, Parsons Cross since Monday, August 4th 1997, but her parents said that she often visited friends and stayed over, so it wasn't until after in the week that she was reported missing.

Tuesday 5th August 1997 saw a possible sighting of Patricia close to the place where her body was found, but this is unconfirmed

Thursday 7th August 1997 Patricia was confirmed as seen at Northern General Hospital, but the reason for her being there remains unclear

Saturday 9th August 1997 A possible sighting of Patricia at 7.45am when she was seen talking to a man at the junction of Holgate Crescent and Holgate Road, again that sighting was never confirmed.

A very important piece of evidence is that a very scruffy male was seen in the early hours of Sunday, August 10th 1997 in the Collinson / Adrian Crescent area very close to Patricia Grainger's home address and indeed quite close to where she was found dead. The scruffy man is reported to have intimidated a woman who was passing through the area, he stared directly at the woman who feared for her safety and moved away quickly, The man was described as white, about 30 years old, 5ft 6 inches tall with dark greasy or gelled back hair.

According to the post-mortem report, in this case, Patricia had been strangled, stabbed four times in the neck as well as being sexually assaulted, the actual cause of death was recorded as "inconclusive" because it was also noted that water from the brook was found in her lungs, which suggested that an attempt had also been made to drown her or she had at least been alive when her body entered the water. The report went on to state that Patricia had been badly beaten.  

It seems that Patricia Grainger, who had learning difficulties, the mental capacity of a 12-year-old girl, was partially deaf and was thought to suffer from ADHD was far too trusting and according to local people she would trust anyone that showed an interest in her. Clearly, someone abused that trust and destroyed a young innocent woman's life. Someone in the community where Patricia lived with her young son must be carrying around a really heavy burden of a secret through all these years. 

Has the person or persons that killed this young woman gone on to kill again? Had there been other murders that the same people were responsible for prior to the killing? I mean in my experience it is quite rare that a killer will only strike once in a lifetime unless of course there is a reason to just kill that one person i.e. in anger or deliberate targeting in some kind of 'payback'. As there appears to be no real reason to murder such a nice lady, it hardly seems like a 'gangland killing' or something of that sort. 

In an article originally printed by 'The Star', (a local Sheffield newspaper), David Stopford, head of South Yorkshire's major incident review team said: "Mrs Grainger's murder remains incredibly distressing for those who knew and loved her. Throughout our investigation into her death, specific details about the nature of Mrs Grainger's injuries have not been disclosed for a number of reasons". 

Detective Stopford goes on to say: "We did not feel it appropriate to place potentially harrowing, upsetting information into the public domain, where it could cause additional pain to Mrs Grainger's loved ones". He said "In addition, the release of sensitive information could compromise the ongoing investigation"

I personally do not see how releasing details of injuries in a murder case will do much harm to an investigation, except for time wasters who may come forward purporting to be the killer because they had knowledge of the injuries but any good murder investigator knows that there would be more detail about the victim known by police that would not be known to anyone that was not there and ultimately responsible for the murder. Therefore, it is my submission that the reasoning for withholding such information was if anything counter-productive.

On Monday, August 10th 2020 ITV announced that there is a renewed appeal to find Patricia Grainger's killer some 23 years after the horrific murder took place and a £10,000 reward has been offered to help solve the murder. 

Within the report by ITV, Patricia's son Daniel made an impassioned plea: "No-one can ever imagine the pain and suffering our family have had to suffer as a result of my mum's brutal murder. Whilst many years have passed, the memory of what happened to my vulnerable mum hasn't gone. She was treated as if she wasn't human and brutalised in the most sickening way. She trusted anyone that showed her interest and they abused that trust". 

Daniel went on to say: Someone in the community must know what happened to Pat and has sat on the secret for decades. We are appealing to your better nature. With our reward through Crimestoppers still available for three more months, there is still time for you to do the right thing, to tell the truth, and help us get answers".

In the same ITV appeal, South Yorkshire police gave a statement which reads:

"On the 23rd anniversary of the death of Patricia Grainger, we continue to appeal for information which could lead to us bringing those involved in her death to justice. The investigation into Mrs Grainger's death remains under "continual review" by the force's Major Incident Review Team who look at any new leads or lines of enquiry".

Despite this renewed appeal and the regularly updated "Who killed my mum" website set up by Daniel Grainger in 2008 and now the renewed appeal with an offer of a £10,000 reward, there is still no information coming forward and that is very sad indeed. 

It is worth noting that there have been people questioned and even charged with Patricia Grainger's murder but no one has ever been convicted. . .

In August 1997 three people were held by police in connection with Patricia's murder but they were later released without charge. Apparently, they had been held because they had given conflicting statements as to where she had stayed during her last week of life.

In September 1997 a 45-year-old man was arrested and charged with the murder of Patricia Grainger, he was later released. After he was charged the man's house came under attack by residents of the local council estate where he lived, threw stones threw his windows. The married man took his wife and children to another estate and left his home boarded up, it was consequently set in fire, The case against the 45-year-old collapsed.

In 2008 two ore people were arrested in connection with the murder and placed on bail, the case against them was closed in April 2009, no charges were ever brought against them. 

So we are back to the question "Who killed Patricia Grainger"? Someone somewhere must know what happened, obviously, someone out there has Patricia's blood on his or her hands and her son Daniel is desperate to put the case to rest with closure as to what happened to his mum and who is responsible for it. 

Do you know something? Maybe you remember someone suddenly acting differently? Did someone you know suddenly have a big impromptu bonfire in August 1997? Did someone you know suddenly over away from your area in Sheffield? Did someone arrive in your area in a rush in August 1997? 

There is a young man out there, desperate for answers, there is a reward available for information leading to the conviction of Patricia Grainger's Killer. Maybe you have held the terrible secret all these years? If you have any information then, please call Crimestoppers right now 0800 555 111 and do the right thing

Don't forget if you have any unsolved/cold UK rue crime cases that you'd like reviewed, like me to blog on or you need research undertaken for a documentary, film, book or even a podcast do please get in touch. 

You can email me: jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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