A point of looking back at obscure unsolved murders is to show that victims may be long deceased, they should never be forgotten, and the fact that a murderer, or murderers, have gotten away with it. You cannot turn back the clock and get a result, Dr Who & the Tardis are not real. But it is putting the case back into the public view. Gone but certainly not forgotten. The first case goes back to 1931 and the murder of Dewsbury prostitute Margaret Schofield. Store manager John Sprentall was closing up on a cold, misty night on January 2nd. He decided to take a shortcut through a yard that was close to his shop. But it was then he spotted two bare legs. It was a woman. He immediately called the Police, and soon they identified her as Margaret Schofield. She was naked from the waist down and some of her upper clothing was missing. She had been repeatedly struck over the head. A bloody beer bottle was found by her body, as was an axle from a pram, but these were determined not to be the murder weapon. She had a fur trimmed coat, which was later discovered in the nearby River Calder.
Then Police had two men confessing to the crime. One was a cobbler who was now in desperate circumstances and a man with a history of mental health issues. Both were quickly established as innocent. Cynical old Scousers would have undoubtedly said that if they had confessed to Bert Balmer, both would have hung, as he had a reputation of just needing an admission, rather than evidence of guilt. A suggestion was made that the killer may have been a woman. Could it have been a fit of jealousy over a whore owning a very fashionable coat? Possible. But why was she naked from the waist down? And why were some of her top clothes missing? Miss Schofield would have had to have been a very hardy person to go fur coat, no knickers, on an extremely cold night. Plus, her extremities being cold, would that have not helped dampen the ardour of a potential client? Another possible explanation is, to strip a woman to humiliate her, but she was not totally nude. Was it a jealous wife finding out her husband has been places he should not have been? Then again, it could have been a freak with odd sexual proclivities. A killer who had a taste for clothes worn by prostitutes. Knickers and such. The choices are endless. But this is only speculation, and anybody who says they never speculate or offer an opinion on a subject, is an out and out liar.
The second case does not have much going for it information wise. It took place on January 5th 1947. The victim was a shop owner, John Brown. His store was in College Road, in Harrow, and as was the norm in those days, the shop owner lived above the shop. But on this night, it was deemed by Police that it was twp perpetrators that broke in. They savagely attacked Mr Brown. He was discovered the next day, horrifically beaten. Police scientists scoured the crime scene, and discovered fingerprints that obviously belonged to the killers. But there was no match on record, despite a very extensive search of records.
Burglary has always been rife, never more so these days with junkies and crackheads desperate to get money for their non-addictive habits. It can be a truly frightening experience to confront an intruder in your home, and every year, dozens of people are killed by intruders. Does it register as important, to authorities? Apparently not. But god help you if you kill a burglar that attacks you. Then YOU will be hit with the full force of the law. In Birkenhead, during the 80`s, it was common for burglars to break in, and the first thing they did, was boil a pan of water. To throw over the victim if they disturbed them. Not very nice. Of course this would not matter to the bleeding hearts and whingers, it would be the price the occupants would have to pay for disturbing the poor, deprived, penniless scum who think robbing homes is justifiable. John Brown was an occupant who lost his life.
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