Sunday 9 June 2013

Who Killed Jackie Ansell-Lamb & Barbara Mayo?

The killer of both Jackie Ansell -Lamb & Barbara Mayo still walks free, though his DNA was established in 1990, and even today it is possible that a match will be found on the national database.  The killer will be of an older age but that does not matter;  he ruthlessly murdered two young women.  What had happened to the victims?

    Jackie was hitch-hiking from London to Manchester, and the 18 years old vanished on 18th March 1970.  She was discovered by a farmer six days later, in a copse known as Square Wood, near Knutsford.  She had been raped and murdered.  Chief Superintendent Arthur Benfield took charge of the investigation, and through the media, initially received a good response from the public, but it did not generate any good leads.  One person reported seeing a girl matching her description, getting into a car at Keele Services, between 4.00 & 5.00pm.  She was distinctive in her dress;  she wore a blonde wig, a dark blue maxi coat and maroon shoes.  This lead did not yield any more information.  That weekend, Manchester City had been playing at Wembley in a European match, and it was speculated that the killer may have been to the match, so appeals were made by loudspeaker at the next home match, but again, no leads came.  The Police then had 4,000 posters printed up and distributed them, but to no avail.  Detectives and plainclothes officers then mingled with punters at discos and nightclubs in Manchester, hoping to catch any possible gossip.  The case eventually ran cold.

    Then in October 1970, another woman, 24 years old Barbara Mayo, set off from London to hitch-hike north.  Six days later, her body was discovered in a wood, not far from Mansfield.  She too, had been raped and strangled.  This case too, ran cold.  But with the advent of DNA testing, it was established through swabs being kept, that a match was made in 1990. They had been murdered by the same man.

    What conclusions can we draw from these cases

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