The murder of Anne Theresa Noblett (1940 – 1957) has been dubbed the “Deep Freeze Murder” because when she was found, her body was frozen. Introduction On Dec 30, 1957, just after 6pm, Anne Noblett got off the bus. The bus stop was on the corner of Lower Luton Road and Cherry Tree Lane in […]
UK
Sally Shepherd, more details
My readers are the best. I said it before and I will keep saying it. Three readers have contacted me about the Sally Shepherd case providing more details. The Case Sally Shepherd was picked up somewhere in Peckham, South London, stripped naked, raped, and beaten to death at the end of 1979. She was struck […]
Suzy Lamplugh: excavation unsuccessful
The Metropolitan Police is still trying to find answers in the case of Suzy Lamplugh (25) who went missing in July 1986. She was officially declared dead and presumed murdered in 1994. Suzy Lamplugh was a realtor and had left her office in London to meet a client only known as Mr. Kipper. The case […]
Margaret Lightfoot: more details
Thanks to a UK reader we have these two newspaper clippings about the 1975 cold case of Margaret Lightfoot. I posted about her here. The clipping on the left is hard to read when I enlarge it. From these two clippings, I got the following details that I missed in my earlier post. Cause of […]
Mary Flanagan (June 9, 1943 – missing Dec 31, 1959)
The case of Mary Flanagan is probably the oldest missing person case in the United Kingdom. There is very little online about this case. That’s why I made this the Case of the Month for March 2018. Let’s start with a description of Mary. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall, white, medium build, hazel brown eyes, […]
The 1914 murder of David Ombler
David Ombler was 72 years old when he was beaten to death in his own home. His murder is possibly Britain’s oldest unsolved homicide. It happened May 30, 1914. The Case On May 30, 1914, Mr. Ombler (72), a market trader from Hull, was found by his neighbor lying on his back on his kitchen floor […]
Sally Shepherd, Margaret Lightfoot, and Clara Kirton
The unsolved homicides of Sally Shepherd, Margaret Lightfoot, and Clara Kirton feature as Cold Cases of the Month for September 2017. My friend Steve Morton told me about the unsolved homicides of Sally Shepherd and Margaret Lightfoot. I googled their names and found information on the BBC’s website from December, 2016. While reading about Sally’s […]
The cold case of Bernard Oliver (1950 – Jan 1967)
The Bernard Oliver case is known as the Tattingstone Suitcase Murder. Suffolk Police is reaching out again to the public for help. No one was ever charged for this murder. Bernard went missing January 6, 1967. He had not come home from an evening out with friends. His dad reported him missing the next day. […]
The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale
The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale describes the life and crime of Robert Allen Coombes (1882-1949). The book is a journalistic overview of the crime and trial that followed but it also explores human behaviour. Yes, Coombes killed his mother but what moved him isn’t as clear-cut as it seems in the beginning of the story. At […]
Guest blogging for GMA
Guest blogging for GMA was my pleasure and absolute honour. This UK based blog on human rights is from Global Minorities Alliance, a non-profit, non-governmental human rights organisation. They believe that all human beings, regardless of race, colour, religion or belief, faith or no faith, gender, or membership of another particular social group, should be treated […]
Jacobs not guilty of Blakelock murder
Nicholas Jacobs was found not guilty of the Blakelock murder during the 1985 Broadwater Farm Riots. From the Huffington Post: “Nicky Jacobs, who was 16 at the time, went on trial at the Old Bailey accused of being one of the rioters who together stabbed the officer more than 40 times and tried to decapitate him. There […]
Case of the Month: Julia Wallace
Case of the Month: Julia Wallace. One of the most famous unsolved homicides in UK history is the murder of Julia Wallace. Her case inspired many movies, books, and television programs. Julia Dennis married William Wallace in March of 1914. She was older than Wallace. By how many years exactly is not clear to me. […]
Recap #CrimeChat Dec 6, 2014
Recap #CrimeChat Dec 6, 2014 with Sue Carney about the Alfred Moore case. Sue and I did not follow any chronological order to discuss the case. We went from first impressions to every detail that bothered us. As you can imagine, the hour flew by and … we are left with more questions! Some of […]
WorldSkills: Inspiring the Next Generation
WorldSkills: Inspiring the Next Generation, a guest post by Sue Carney! Last week I took part in an event that proved to have massive impact, not only on me, but on the others taking part, the organisers and all those observing, and there were about 100 thousand of them. My involvement began in the cells […]
Jacobs scheduled for Plea Hearing
Nicholas Jacobs appeared for a Plea and Case Management Hearing at the Old Bailey. He is charged with the murder of Pc Keith Blakelock who was butchered during the Broadwater Farm Riots in 1985. Pc Blakelock and his colleague Pc Richard Coombes were attacked during the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham in 1985. Coombes was seriously […]
Case of the Month: Josephine Backshall
Case of the Month: Josephine Backshall (39) who was last seen at about 6pm on Tuesday October 29, 1974, when she left her home to keep an appointment in Witham, Essex, UK. She was found dead Nov 1, 1974. Today marks the 39th anniversary of her unsolved murder. Josephine Backshall left three children: Christopher, Sarah, and Emma. Her […]
Trial started for 1985 Blakelock murder
Trial started for 1985 Blakelock murder, something we did not think we would see any time soon. Nicholas Jacobs will stand trial for this murder. Blakelock was 40 when he died. he was married with three children. Three men – Winston Silcott, Mark Braithwaite and Engin Raghip – were convicted in March 1987 of Pc Blakelock’s […]
Recap #CrimeChat Feb 16, 2013
Recap #CrimeChat Feb 16, 2013 Subject: King Richard III A fascinating 90+ minutes with a line-up of great people on Twitter all discussing the finding of Richard’s skeleton, his armour, his reign and fate, and of course … could he have killed his older brother’s children. As requested, some links: my mini-series on the cold […]
Recap #crimechat Feb 10, 2013
Crimechat recap from Feb 10, 2013. Our subject: Richard III & the Princes in the Tower. There was so much to talk about. We did not even have time to talk about the recent discoveries, the facial reconstruction, where to rebury the King and more. Richard III (October 2, 1452 – August 22, 1485) was King of England […]
King Richard III: Part 3
In Part 3: we continue to explore possibilities to determine whether King Richard III was guilty of regicide. We conclude this mini-series on the the Princes in the Tower and whether their uncle, King Richard III, is justly accused of being their murderer. While I was pondering whether to discuss some more books that I […]