This brutal double murder at least had one redeeming factor and that is the twisted bastard who committed it was caught and received a minimum of twenty five years. What drove the killer to murder two women was that he was a gambling addict who owed around £16,500 to banks and credit companies, and thought that their place of work would provide a nice sum of money. They worked at Rachael`s Health Studio, a massage parlour, in Shrewsbury town centre. Annie Eels, 55, was simply the receptionist and not involved in any illicit goings-on. The other victim, Samantha Tapper, 23, was a prostitute.
Garry Harding, 22, from Welshpool, Powys, had waited in Shrewsbury Town Centre, passing the time reading a newspaper, and keeping observation on the parlour until he knew they were alone. He had a blunt instrument with him. Before he had spent time scouring the internet on various methods of killing, showing premeditation. He knew the studio as he had used it for sex with prostitutes. It was July 1st 2006 when Harding made his move. He entered the studio posing as a client but immediately attacked Mrs Eels, from LLansantffraid in Powys, striking her at least 16 times with what may have been a hammer. He then attacked Samantha Tapper, from Wolverhampton, striking her at least 14 times. Harding then searched for money, finding money that Miss Tapper had made from her clients. The deceased were found in a front room, in the early hours of 2nd.
Harding was quickly arrested and put on trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Three hours into the trial, he pleaded guilty to both murders and was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years, which considering the research into killing he did, was a bit light. He should have got a whole life sentence, meaning he leaves prison in a pine box. A pity.
Monday, 21 October 2013
Sunday, 20 October 2013
The Unsolved Murder of Brenda Evans
Another unsolved Chester murder was that of 17 years old Brenda Evans on October 7th 1977, in the village of Poulton, south of Chester. Brenda, of Yew Tree Cottage, Poulton, worked at the village Post Office & General Store, and what was customary for her, was during her lunch break, she would walk to her aunt and uncles` house, for a bite to eat, then return to work. On this particular day, she bade farewell to her relatives to return to the Post Office. She never made it. Her boss, Sam Roberts, was surprised that she had not returned, and later, her mother popped into the Post Office. Mr Roberts told her of Brenda`s absence, which surprised her and she immediately became concerned.
Mrs Evans organised a search party with relatives and friends. Later, the mother of Brenda`s boyfriend, John Pritchard, discovered her body in a wooded area. Edith Pritchard found her body, dumped down a 12 foot manhole. She had been strangled with her own tights. John Pritchard, a farm worker, was working just over a quarter of a mile away, cutting hedges. This prompted Police to question him intensively, which they did for 27 hours. He was not released from Police bail for four weeks, but the investigation ground to a halt. The case gets the standard periodical review and with the advances in DNA and forensic technology, Police hope that something may surface. As with the hundreds of unsolved murders, maybe one day the guilty will be caught. Let us hope so.
Mrs Evans organised a search party with relatives and friends. Later, the mother of Brenda`s boyfriend, John Pritchard, discovered her body in a wooded area. Edith Pritchard found her body, dumped down a 12 foot manhole. She had been strangled with her own tights. John Pritchard, a farm worker, was working just over a quarter of a mile away, cutting hedges. This prompted Police to question him intensively, which they did for 27 hours. He was not released from Police bail for four weeks, but the investigation ground to a halt. The case gets the standard periodical review and with the advances in DNA and forensic technology, Police hope that something may surface. As with the hundreds of unsolved murders, maybe one day the guilty will be caught. Let us hope so.
The Unsolved Murder of Lynne Trenholm
This edition of the murder casebook opens with the unsolved murder of 29 years old prostitute Lynne Trenholm at a massage parlour in the Broughton area of Chester, down the road from where I originate. It was at 10am on a sunday morning, 9th June 1991, when her body was discovered in an upstairs room at Pinky`s Massage Parlour. She had been stabbed to death in a frenzy. The parlour, understandably, closed soon after.
The Police launched an intensive manhunt in which more than 700 people were interviewed, including a number of men who used Pinky`s solely for sexual purposes. They were sure that many more men who used Pinky`s had not and would not come forward. The solitary clue Police have, is a fingerprint that cannot be eliminated. This from time to time, is entered into the fingerprint system but it still fails to find a match. After some time, the case ran cold, but it is reviewed at least every two years, with public appeals for any information. A review and appeal in 2001 did produce 18 phonecalls from the public, but this did not result in any arrests. There have been further appeals in 2011 & 2012, with the Police hopeful that somebody may pass on that vital piece of information.
The mother of Lynne, who hailed from Failsworth, outside of Manchester, has made her own appeals to the public to come forward. She said "It did not matter what she did at Pinky`s". At the end of the day, she was the victim of murder, and twenty two years on, hopefully, the perpetrator will be brought to justice.
The Police launched an intensive manhunt in which more than 700 people were interviewed, including a number of men who used Pinky`s solely for sexual purposes. They were sure that many more men who used Pinky`s had not and would not come forward. The solitary clue Police have, is a fingerprint that cannot be eliminated. This from time to time, is entered into the fingerprint system but it still fails to find a match. After some time, the case ran cold, but it is reviewed at least every two years, with public appeals for any information. A review and appeal in 2001 did produce 18 phonecalls from the public, but this did not result in any arrests. There have been further appeals in 2011 & 2012, with the Police hopeful that somebody may pass on that vital piece of information.
The mother of Lynne, who hailed from Failsworth, outside of Manchester, has made her own appeals to the public to come forward. She said "It did not matter what she did at Pinky`s". At the end of the day, she was the victim of murder, and twenty two years on, hopefully, the perpetrator will be brought to justice.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
The Mysterious Death of Herbert Wilkinson
This unsolved murder goes back to 1967, and the Cheshire village of Middlewich. Herbert Wilkinson had been a Solicitor but he found himself in trouble over his practice, which led to him being struck off by the Law Society at the end of 1966. It was also alleged that Wilkinson had homosexual tendencies. The Law regarding homosexuality was changed in 1967, when sex between consenting adults above a certain age was no longer a criminal offence. It was on June 2nd 1967, that Wilkinson wrote out a note for his housekeeper and then he vanished. His body was discovered in October 1967 by two men looking for fox earths. Wilkinson had been buried in a shallow grave beside the Trent & Mersey Canal at Whatcroft. He was later identified by pieces of his clothing and his shoes. Autopsy could not conclusively prove the method of death, but it was thought to by strangulation or a blow from a blunt object.
The murder investigation was headed by Chief Superintendent Arthur Benfield, a man who came to prominence by leading the Moors Murders enquiry. During an intensive hunt, lasting more than six months, Benfield could not produce a suspect to be charged. The hunt became one of the biggest in the country, with Police taking more than 800 statements, and interviewed 8000 people in Middlewich and 9000 people across the country. Later, at an inquest at Northwich in March 1968, the Jury delivered a verdict of wilful murder by person or persons unknown. The location of the grave was in a remote spot so Police believed that Wilkinson had been taken there by boat. The case remains open.
The murder investigation was headed by Chief Superintendent Arthur Benfield, a man who came to prominence by leading the Moors Murders enquiry. During an intensive hunt, lasting more than six months, Benfield could not produce a suspect to be charged. The hunt became one of the biggest in the country, with Police taking more than 800 statements, and interviewed 8000 people in Middlewich and 9000 people across the country. Later, at an inquest at Northwich in March 1968, the Jury delivered a verdict of wilful murder by person or persons unknown. The location of the grave was in a remote spot so Police believed that Wilkinson had been taken there by boat. The case remains open.
An Unsolved Ripper Murder?
It has just emerged that an unsolved murder from 1979 MAY have been committed by Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe. This is the belief of retired Police Officer Chris Clark. What goes against it is the fact it was the same day Sutcliffe murdered Barbara Leach in Bradford. The murder was that of Alison Morris, a 25 year old teacher from Ramsey in Essex, who went for a walk on September 1st 1979. She was repeatedly stabbed in a frenzied attack. Police ruled out the Ripper as it was the day that Miss Leach was butchered by Sutcliffe in Bradford, and despite an intense manhunt, the case remains open and unsolved.
Retired cop Chris Clark who served with Norfolk Police for more than 30 years, is examining 17 unsolved cases, and is doing his own detective work. What he has unearthed is very interesting. He has discovered that Sutcliffe had been seen in the area of the murder around the time of it. What should be remembered is that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, and they travel around the country. A couple spoke to a lorry driver looking for directions for nearby Harwich, and when he was arrested for the murders in the north, they recognised the picture of the accused, as the man asking them for directions. He had time to get back to Bradford.
Alison was stabbed with a single edged blade. Now those people whose way of looking at things "Criminal Minds" style who say that Sutcliffe used a hammer and screwdriver and it does not fit his MO. Well, let us be logical. Criminals do not work to an MO set in stone. Who is to say that Sutcliffe did not keep a knife in his lorry and his murder tools in his car? Remember that in 1969, Sutcliffe was arrested carrying a hammer and screwdriver but was charged with being "equipped for theft". He was arrested in the red light area of Bradford. Was he "looking for a place to rob" or was he looking for a vulnerable victim? Earlier in 1967, a Bingley taxi driver was brutally attacked by a young bearded man with a hammer, and was left with injuries that left him unable to work again. On a hunch, detectives took all the photofits they had compiled during the Ripper hunt, plus Sutcliffes` 1981 AND 1969 arrest pictures. The taxi driver immediately picked out the 1969 photo as his attacker. This was shot down by a senior detective with "He only attacks women!" Obviously, as author Michael Bilton pointed out, he changed his attacks from men to women, as they would not fight back as much, as the taxi driver did. Michael Bilton also links Sutcliffe to an unsolved 1964 murder of a Bingley bookmaker.
There are retired cops who find retirement boring and look for tasks to keep them and their minds active. Doing their own cold case reviews is a very good way ala "New Tricks" and they are capable of unearthing more and new evidence. More power to men like Chris Clark.
Retired cop Chris Clark who served with Norfolk Police for more than 30 years, is examining 17 unsolved cases, and is doing his own detective work. What he has unearthed is very interesting. He has discovered that Sutcliffe had been seen in the area of the murder around the time of it. What should be remembered is that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, and they travel around the country. A couple spoke to a lorry driver looking for directions for nearby Harwich, and when he was arrested for the murders in the north, they recognised the picture of the accused, as the man asking them for directions. He had time to get back to Bradford.
Alison was stabbed with a single edged blade. Now those people whose way of looking at things "Criminal Minds" style who say that Sutcliffe used a hammer and screwdriver and it does not fit his MO. Well, let us be logical. Criminals do not work to an MO set in stone. Who is to say that Sutcliffe did not keep a knife in his lorry and his murder tools in his car? Remember that in 1969, Sutcliffe was arrested carrying a hammer and screwdriver but was charged with being "equipped for theft". He was arrested in the red light area of Bradford. Was he "looking for a place to rob" or was he looking for a vulnerable victim? Earlier in 1967, a Bingley taxi driver was brutally attacked by a young bearded man with a hammer, and was left with injuries that left him unable to work again. On a hunch, detectives took all the photofits they had compiled during the Ripper hunt, plus Sutcliffes` 1981 AND 1969 arrest pictures. The taxi driver immediately picked out the 1969 photo as his attacker. This was shot down by a senior detective with "He only attacks women!" Obviously, as author Michael Bilton pointed out, he changed his attacks from men to women, as they would not fight back as much, as the taxi driver did. Michael Bilton also links Sutcliffe to an unsolved 1964 murder of a Bingley bookmaker.
There are retired cops who find retirement boring and look for tasks to keep them and their minds active. Doing their own cold case reviews is a very good way ala "New Tricks" and they are capable of unearthing more and new evidence. More power to men like Chris Clark.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
The Unsolved Murder of Victoria Hall
The murder of young Victoria Hall remains an open case after fourteen years, and Police seem to be no nearer to a successful conclusion. A young man was charged with her murder but the evidence relied totally on bits of dirt, which was challenged by defence lawyers, and the Jury agreed by acquitting him fairly quickly.
Vicky Hall was just 17 when she vanished on Sunday night 19th September 1999 after a night out with her friend Gemma Algar to the nightclub The Bandbox in Felixstowe. They were on their way back to their homes in nearby Trimley St Mary, when they parted company. Vicky was just two hundred yards from her home. Gemma said she heard some screams but did not know who it was. Vicky was found twenty five miles away in Creeting St Peter near Stowmarket. She was unclothed and dumped in a water filled ditch. An autopsy revealed she had been suffocated but not sexually assaulted.
Police launched a huge inquiry but did not get any suspects until the case of a young businessman was prosecuted that ended in acquittal. One very interesting person did emerge years later due to his notoriety; Steve Wright, the Suffolk Strangler. He lived in Trimley at the time and the night before the disappearance of Vicky, a car was seen following a young woman. A witness could only give a partial registration number, so the Police used their national computer to get matches of partial car numbers in the area and surrounding areas. This flagged up Wright but he was never interviewed and not considered a suspect. I wonder what they think now. Hopefully, one day the Hall family will get the answers they have been seeking.
Vicky Hall was just 17 when she vanished on Sunday night 19th September 1999 after a night out with her friend Gemma Algar to the nightclub The Bandbox in Felixstowe. They were on their way back to their homes in nearby Trimley St Mary, when they parted company. Vicky was just two hundred yards from her home. Gemma said she heard some screams but did not know who it was. Vicky was found twenty five miles away in Creeting St Peter near Stowmarket. She was unclothed and dumped in a water filled ditch. An autopsy revealed she had been suffocated but not sexually assaulted.
Police launched a huge inquiry but did not get any suspects until the case of a young businessman was prosecuted that ended in acquittal. One very interesting person did emerge years later due to his notoriety; Steve Wright, the Suffolk Strangler. He lived in Trimley at the time and the night before the disappearance of Vicky, a car was seen following a young woman. A witness could only give a partial registration number, so the Police used their national computer to get matches of partial car numbers in the area and surrounding areas. This flagged up Wright but he was never interviewed and not considered a suspect. I wonder what they think now. Hopefully, one day the Hall family will get the answers they have been seeking.
Gangland - The Sons of Silence MC
This outlaw bike club is now one of the major OMGs in the US, which puts them amongst the Angels, Pagans, Outlaws, Bandidos, Mongols, Warlocks, Gypsy Jokers & Galloping Goose. They were formed in 1966 in Niwot, Colorado, and formed a second chapter in 1968 in Iowa, then adding more chapters in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North & South Dakota,Tennessee & Wyoming.
The club later on took the route that other big clubs have taken by establishing clubs in other countries, and set up their first European chapter in Munich in 1998, then setting up three more German chapters in Freising, Gangfoken & Nurnburg, then in 2007 another chapter in Viernheim. They suffered a number of arrests and jailings of members over the last ten years for firearms and drug offences, but they did cement friendships in Scotland by a contingent visiting the Blue Angels in Glasgow.
There was a documentary about the annual Sturgis Rally shown on TV years back, and there was footage of the SOS. One was trying to properly interpret the Latin logo that is on their colours and one other kept correcting him, annoying him so much that he threatened to have the knowall knocked back to being a prospect. Expect more European chapters from this club.
The club later on took the route that other big clubs have taken by establishing clubs in other countries, and set up their first European chapter in Munich in 1998, then setting up three more German chapters in Freising, Gangfoken & Nurnburg, then in 2007 another chapter in Viernheim. They suffered a number of arrests and jailings of members over the last ten years for firearms and drug offences, but they did cement friendships in Scotland by a contingent visiting the Blue Angels in Glasgow.
There was a documentary about the annual Sturgis Rally shown on TV years back, and there was footage of the SOS. One was trying to properly interpret the Latin logo that is on their colours and one other kept correcting him, annoying him so much that he threatened to have the knowall knocked back to being a prospect. Expect more European chapters from this club.
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