Unsolved Murders in Devon & Cornwall

 

Reading clockwise from top left the victims of these unsolved murders are: Lyn Bryant, Peter Solheim, Esther Soper, Kate Bushell, Les Bate, Genette Tate, Monica Hughes and Peter Hughes

Because of the in-depth research going on into a specific case that we are working on at present, I have not been able to dedicate quite as much time as I would like to this site, I thought I would just pop this one up to keep our true crime fans grey matter busy.

In these times cases never really, truly go cold because modern policing allows for regular case reviews and of course computerised databases are updated every time a new clue or lead comes to light, combined with that is the amazing forensic science, which just changes every day.  Sadly with the passing of time and as media input lessens even the most serious investigations get left behind and remain unsolved.

The counties of Devon and Cornwall are one of those areas where there have been some pretty notorious murders that despite rigorous investigation appear to have been somewhat forgotten and are now just laying on file waiting for a clue to be "miraculously" uncovered to bring them back to life.

This particular area of the UK is made up of some towns, a couple of cities and an abundance of rural area. The road and rail links to other parts of the UK leave a lot to be desired and many locals seem to be quite a way behind in their approach to life.  I am of the opinion that this could be at least part of the reason for such a number of serious crimes being unsolved for a long time. 

Please don't be concerned I am not suggesting that there is a bunch of lunatic murderers out there waiting to pounce, far from it. To coin a phrase from BBC Crimewatch; "Remember these cases are extremely rare". Nonetheless, there are a significant number of major crimes, particularly murders that remain open and in need of attention.

Here are just a few of the most serious cases that are seemingly cold and unresolved.

Lyn Bryant

This is a case that I have blogged on previously you can read the full story Here

The 41-year-old victim of this seemingly pointless murder was killed on October 20th 1998 whilst out walked her dog in Ruan High Lanes, just outside Truro in Cornwall. 

Her body was found by a tourist in the gateway of a field, her clothing had been disturbed indicating a possible sexual element to the killing and she had been viciously attacked with multiple stab wounds to her neck, throat and back.

There seems to be quite a lot of very useful pieces of information and witness statements suggesting who Lyn Bryant had been in contact with prior to her murder, even some indication as to a vehicle that was thought to have followed her earlier that day, but the case ran cold due to lack of investigation combined with theorists suggesting extremely unlikely links to other murders based purely on a singular point of the victims had also been walking dogs. 

Peter Solheim 

This is what you may deem a partially solved murder as the victim's partner of some 9 years is currently serving a prison sentence for "Conspiring to Commit Murder" by planning and arranging the killing but not actually carrying out the deed. 

Solheim has been revealed to have been a very unsavoury character with an evil and very dark side to him. During a trial at Truro Crown Court in 2012 involving two notorious paedophiles, Jack Kemp and Peter Petrauske it was revealed that Peter Solheim had been involved in a vile ring that had abused children for a considerable number of years in ritualistic pagan and satanic settings.

Peter Solheim's former partner, Margaret James was convicted of conspiracy to arrange his murder, despite none of the motives really adding up and is rightly still appealing her 20-year sentence to this day. You can read more on her story by clicking Here

A very interesting blog looking at the unsolved murder was published by lolly true crime which you can read here why not take a look? 

Peter Hughes

Peter Hughes, Monica Hughes and Joan Harper were found dead in the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall after a fire on 18th August 2007.

Four members of staff from the hotel were arrested; Two hotel managers, the bar manager and the hotel porter but The Crown Prosecution Service said that it was not possible to bring charges due to insufficient evidence and the four were released without charge.

Local council took private prosecutions against the hotel owners for breaches of fire safety alleging a contravention of The Regulatory Reform Order (Fire Safety) Act 2005. The court ordered the owners to pay a total of £142,000 (One hundred & forty-two thousand pounds) in fines and costs. Two company directors denied any personal responsibility for the deaths and the prosecution felt it was not in the public interest to pursue the charges to trial. 

The hotel had been inspected in 2006 and several issues were raised including the lack of the appropriate L2 alarm system, only 26 of the 52 rooms had self-closing doors and some windows around the fire escape area did not have the fire-resistant glass fitted. 

The company admitted that it was fully aware of the faults but did not deem them as urgent but had begun to look into making arrangements for the upgrade works to be carried out. 

Fire investigators said that evidence pointed to the fire being started deliberately on the ground floor in the hotel bar's drink store using a naked flame. There was no evident motive for the arson but as a result of the ferocity of the fire, flames spread fast and at times leapt 30 feet into the air. 100 firefighters tackled the blaze with the first crews arriving within 4 minutes of the 999 call being received at 0017 hours, the first officers to reach the scene reported that "the hotel was already well alight". 

The hotel was demolished after it was deemed too badly damaged to be repaired 

Kate Bushell

The murder of 14-year-old Exwick schoolgirl Kate Bushell has never been solved despite a massive police investigation and a renewed appeal for information on the 20th anniversary of the killing. 

Kate was murdered on November 15th 1997 as she walked a neighbour's dog just a short distance from her home. Her body was found in a field just off Exwick Lane by her father on the same evening after he went out to look for her because she had failed to return home. 

The teenager had been killed by a vicious knife wound to her throat and when found her jogging bottoms and knickers had been pulled down to below her knees, yet there was no evidence of a sexual assault. It is my belief that the lowering of clothing may well have been for some sick glorifying of the murder or even to take photographs. 

I recently published a full article on this case which you can read by clicking this link

Esther Soper

51-year-old Esther Soper was a widow living alone in Plymouth, Devon. She had a slightly unusual lifestyle due to her religious dedication as an Exclusive Brethren a very strict sect of the Christian church.

The widow had been in the process of trying to sell her house in Trematon Terrace, Mutley Plain when she was brutally murdered on New Years Day 1976. Her body was found, wrapped in curtains in the hallway of her home by two fellow members of the Exclusive Brethren when they came to check on her well being after she had failed to attend a church meeting. 

Mrs Soper had been bludgeoned to death with a heavy glass or ceramic cider bottle and strangled with her own tights, the latter being some kind of weird and unnecessary act that is thought to have some kind of sexual overtone. It is possible that there was some sort of link between her religious beliefs.

Esther and her husband had both been regular members of the church for a long time and it is quite obvious that one way or another her murder had a connection to her membership of the Exclusive Brethren (aka The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church). Whether she was killed by someone from the church or someone who took umbrage at her beliefs it is not yet clear, but I am delighted to be working with a team who are passionate to further review this unsolved case, so we hope to have more answers in the fullness of time. 

Two recent blogs published by Lolly true crime make very interesting reading, you may like to read them for yourself. Blog one is Here (blog one) and the second updated blog is Here (blog two). There are ongoing enquiries in connection with those two blog posts, so I recommend you subscribe to the blogs so as to keep up to date.

The Esther Soper murder is not what I deem a "normal case", there are a lot of questions where the answers are so obvious, yet the police did not even seem to ask. One thing that really rattles the team is that not a single person has ever been arrested or even questioned about this murder, the truth is there and must out.

Les Bate

On April 12th 2002 Les Bate had been out for drinks at one of his favourite public houses The Maltsters Arms in Chapel Amble in Cornwall. Witness statements say that he had been waving a wallet around containing an estimated £1,000 in cash and a cheque for £11,000.

The next day Mr Bate's daughter had tried to contact him from her home in Australia and having constantly got no reply had become very concerned so she called her brother Martin who lived close to Les Bate and asked him to check on their father.

When Matin Bate eventually got into his father's home he discovered the body of Les Bate in a pool of blood on the floor of the utility room. There was no sign of a weapon, no evidence of a fight and no indication of forced entry. 

There was no immediate police investigation until some ten days had passed when the second post-mortem examination found that Les Bate could not possibly of died by accident.

His head had been smashed into the washing machine an injury that the Home Office pathologist said could not have been caused by a simple fall. He had deep bruising to his back which was conducive with having been knelt on or stood on and rib fractures indicative of someone kicking him from above. The injuries had caused a major blockage to a coronary artery which ultimately caused death.

The 71-year-old was described as "larger than life" character whose brusque manner could sometimes alienate people, but he was a "true Cornish character" by heart.

He was a farmer and self-made millionaire, owner of four farms and hundreds of acres of land. 

Detectives believe that the target of the murder was most likely the wallet that Les had been waving around in the pub on the night before he was found dead. 

Officers worked extremely hard to try to find Mr Bate's killer and forensic scientists found traces of blue suede in the rear pocket of his trousers where he kept his wallet but despite this, neither the wallet nor indeed the killer has ever been found and the case remains unsolved.

Genette Tate 

This case was one of the most high-profile investigations of the time. 13-year-old Genette Tate was out on her relief paper round job in the village of Aylesbeare, near Exeter, Devon when she simply vanished without a trace. 

It has been suggested that the serial killer Robert Black may have been responsible for the disappearance and presumed murder of the child on 19th august 1978 but I really don't think so. I feel there is a much more local connection and I feel the person responsible has lived with this for the past 42 years if they are even now still alive. 

I published an article on this case not long ago which details the case which you can read by clicking here. It is worth noting that this is one of the longest-running and best known missing person cases and has been described by Devon & Cornwall Police as a murder enquiry. Despite those factors, the case of missing schoolgirl Genette Tate remains unsolved.

In conclusion

These cases are all extremely serious and the fact that so many remain unsolved and somewhat cold is of very real concern. I am of the opinion that one or two unsolved murders on a particular police force books are a little concerning, but when it comes to several then questions do start to need answers. 

As I mentioned previously at least one of these cases is receiving serious attention but aside from writing blogs and chasing down the media to help in keeping the cases in the public eye, there is only so much that we as individuals can do. 

Please if you have any information on any of these cases that you have just read about, even the smallest thing then do contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or contact them online via their web page www.crimestoppers-uk.org 

I will leave it there and remind you as always if you have any UK case unsolved/cold or active but simply not getting anywhere do get in touch. I can offer case studies, reports, case reviews, writing for publications, research and scripts for film, documentary, podcast or even just a simple blog. 

My email address is: jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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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.

Email me: jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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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.

To contact by email write to:  jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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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.

You can email me:  jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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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 

My secure email is: jaradcoldcases@protonmail.com

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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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