| Year |
Name of victim(s) |
Location of murder |
Notes |
| 1888 |
Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes & Mary Jane Kelly |
Whitechapel, London |
"Jack the Ripper" victims. |
| 1902 |
Rose Harsent |
Peasenhall, Suffolk |
William Gardiner, a married man who was thought to be having an affair with the pregnant victim, was found not guilty. |
| 1908 |
Marion Gilchrist |
Glasgow |
Oscar Slater was wrongfully convicted in 1909 and this conviction was quashed in 1928. |
| 1908 |
Caroline Luard |
Ightham, Kent |
Mrs Luard was shot in a summerhouse in the middle of the wood at near Sevenoaks, Kent. Her husband was accused by some, and he later committed suicide in despair. Later it was suggested that murderer John Dickman, hanged for a shooting on a train in 1910, was the guilty party. |
| 1919 |
Bella Wright |
Little Stretton, near Leicester |
Known as the Green Bicycle Case as the victim was last seen with a man owning one. A green bicycle was found in a canal and its owner Ronald Light traced. He stood trial, but was found not guilty of murder, thanks to the brilliant defence by Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC, who had Light in the witness box admitting to every allegation made against him, except her murder. |
| 1931 |
Julia Wallace |
Liverpool |
Known as The Wallace Case. Julia's husband William Herbert Wallace was convicted, but this was quashed when he successfully appealed. Recent books have named a suspect. |
| 1934 |
Unknown female |
Brighton |
Torso found in a trunk at Brighton Station. This is known as the Brighton Trunk Crime no. 1. |
| Year |
Name of victim(s) |
Location of murder |
Notes |
| 1970 |
Jackie Ansell-Lamb |
Mobberley, Cheshire |
An 18-year-old hitch-hiker who disappeared on 8 March 1970. Six days later the girl's body was discovered by a farmer in Square Wood, near Mobberley. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. |
| 1970 |
Barbara Mayo |
Ault Hucknall near Bolsover, Derbyshire |
In October 1970 Barbara Mayo set off from her London home to hitchhike north. Six days later the 24 year old's body was found in a wood by the north-bound carriageway in view of Hardwick Hall. The teacher been raped and then strangled. Twenty years later, in 1990, detectives were able to confirm using DNA that Mayo's killer was the same man who raped and strangled 18-year-old Jackie Ansell-Lamb. |
| 1972 |
Judith Roberts |
Tamworth, Staffordshire |
A 14-year-old girl was battered to death not far from her family home in Tamworth. A young soldier stationed at Whittington Barracks confessed to the murder and served 25 years in jail. However, he later claimed that his confession was a result of psychological problems he was experiencing at the time; there being no other evidence against him, his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal. The real killer remains unknown. |
| 1973 |
Wendy Sewell |
Bakewell, Derbyshire |
A 34-year-old legal secretary was savagely beaten in a churchyard, and later died of her wounds. The church groundskeeper Stephen Downing was convicted and served 27 years for the murder, but the verdict was eventually overturned on appeal. The case was re-investigated by police, but no further arrests were made. |
| 1975 |
Lesley Molseed |
Ripponden, West Yorkshire |
The 11 year old girl left her Rochdale home at midday on 5 October 1975 on an errand for her mother, but never returned. Three days later her mutilated body was found on the moors just off the A672 in Ripponden, West Yorkshire. Tax clerk Stefan Kiszko was convicted of the killing, but cleared in 1992. |
| 1978 |
Carl Bridgewater |
Yew Tree Farm, Prestwood, Staffordshire |
The Bridgewater Four were originally convicted in 1979, but they were acquitted in 1997. A possible suspect is Hubert Spencer, who was convicted of a shooting murder at a nearby farm a month later. |
| Year |
Name of victim(s) |
Location of murder |
Notes |
| 1985 |
Phil Nickson |
Stoke Newington, London |
A 32 year old civil servant killed by a blow to the head in Newington Green Road at about 5 pm on 6 November.An extensive police investigation including a reconstruction on the BBC programme Crimewatch failed to solve the case. |
| 1986 |
Suzy Lamplugh |
Fulham, London |
An estate agent aged 25 disappeared after she went to meet a "Mr Kipper". She was last seen at 12:40 BST on 28 July 1986. So far her body has not been found. |
| 1986 |
Nicola Fellows & Karen Hadaway |
Moulsecoomb, north of Brighton |
A local roofer, Russell Bishop, was tried for the rape and strangulation of the two schoolgirls, but was acquitted. Bishop was convicted in 1990 for the kidnapping and attempted murder of a seven year old schoolgirl. |
| 1989 |
Peter & Gwenda Dixon |
Near Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire |
Married couple in their 50s who were on holiday in the area. They were found shot dead near a coastal cliff top. One theory is that they stumbled across the IRA smuggling weapons. |
| Year |
Name of victim(s) |
Location of murder |
Notes |
| 1991 |
Penny Bell |
Ruislip, London |
Body found in a car in Gurnell Grove Leisure Centre car park. The victim was a 43-year-old businesswoman and mother of two. |
| 1992 |
Rachel Nickell |
Wimbledon Common, London |
Nickell, an ex-model, was stabbed 49 times while walking on Wimbledon Common with her young son. A local man, Colin Stagg, was brought to trial for the murder, but the case was quickly thrown out of court. In 2006 Scotland Yard began questioning a convicted killer in Broadmoor Secure Mental Hospital who they believe may be the real murderer. |
| 1993 |
Jean Bradley |
Acton, London |
Stabbed to death in Carbery Avenue. Victim was a 47-year-old businesswoman. A man was charged, but due to a lack of evidence the case was dropped. |
| 1993 |
Harry and Megan Tooze |
Llanharry, South Wales |
Shot at point blank range in their home at Ty Ar y Waun Farm. Jonathan Jones, the boyfriend of their daughter Cheryl was convicted of their murder, but the verdict was quickly overturned on appeal. Since then South Wales Police have made several attempts to solve the murder, but no further arrests have been made. |
| 1993 |
Stephen Lawrence |
Eltham, London |
Lawrence, an 18-year-old son of Jamaican parents, was attacked and stabbed to death by a gang of white youths. Numerous witnesses identified five individuals as the attackers, but failings (and possibly corruption) on the part of investigating officers have thwarted all attempts to prosecute them. |
| 1994 |
Lindsay Jo Rimer |
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire |
Teenager, Lindsay Jo Rimer, lived with her parents at Cambridge Street, Hebden Bridge. She was a pupil at Calder High School. At around 10pm on 7 November 1994 she left home to visit the local Spar Supermarket in Crown Street, Hebden Bridge, to buy cornflakes. On the way to the shop she visited the Trades Club in Holme Street. According to CCTV footage in the supermarket Lindsay paid for the cornflakes at 10.22pm. Five months later on 12 April 1995, her body was recovered from the Rochdale Canal, approximately one mile upstream from Hebden Bridge town centre. |
| 1994 |
Tracey Mertens |
Eaton, Macclesfield, Cheshire |
Aged 31, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, died 24 hours after being left on the steps of a church by her killers, who abducted her when she returned to pick up belongings from her former home in Nechells, Birmingham. She suffered horrific burns and was found by a man who heard her cries as he walked past the churchyard on December 23, 1994. It was a bitterly cold evening but her clothes were still smouldering. A petrol can was found nearby. Mertens was taken to hospital but died in the early hours of Christmas Eve. |
| 1995 |
Janet Brown |
Hall Farm, Spriggs Holly Lane, between Radnage and Chinnor, Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire border |
Aged 51, a mother of three who worked as a nurse in Oxford, was found gagged and handcuffed at her home. |
| 1996 |
David Spencer & Patrick Warren |
Chelmsley Wood, West Midlands |
Thirteen-year-old David Spencer and 11-year-old Patrick Warren went missing on Boxing Day 1996 after going out to play on Warren's new bike. In the afternoon, the boys went ice skating with a group of friends on Meriden Lake. At 3.40pm, a policeman warned them off. They went to a friend's house and eventually returned to Spencer's house at 11.30pm, but didn't stay long. They said they were going to stay at Warren's brother's flat, but they never arrived. They were last seen at 12.30am scrounging for biscuits in a petrol station. The bike was found behind the petrol station. They were reported missing at 4am. No bodies have ever been found. |
| 1996 |
Richard Watson |
East Grinstead, Sussex |
On the evening of December 10, business tychoon Richard Watson was shot dead by an unknown gunman as he arrived home. Charges were brought against the victim's wife and stepdaughter, but these were eventually dropped. (Sussex Police later apologised to the two women and acknowledged their total innocence.) Another suspect has since been identified, but no charges have yet been brought. |
| 1997 |
Billie-Jo Jenkins |
Hastings, East Sussex |
Foster father Sion Jenkins was originally convicted of murder in 1998. This conviction was quashed in 2004 and a retrial was ordered. The first retrial in 2005 and a second retrial in 2006 both ended when the juries were unable to reach a verdict. Jenkins was formally acquitted. |
| 1997 |
Kate Bushell |
Exeter, Devon |
Schoolgirl Kate Bushell was murdered as she walked a neighbour's dog a short distance from her home in Exwick, on the outskirts of Exeter. Bushell, aged 14, set off from her home in Burrator Drive, at 4.30pm on 15 November 1997. When she failed to come home, her parents called the police. A search located her body in a field next to Exwick Lane at 7.35pm that evening. She had been brutally murdered. |
| 1998 |
Julia Webb |
Sandiway near Northwich, Cheshire |
Housewife Julia Webb, 52, was battered with a blunt instrument while walking her dog near her home in Sandiway on 22 July 1998. |
| 1998 |
Lyn Bryant |
Truro, Cornwall |
Lyn Bryant was murdered as she was walking her dog along a country lane at Ruan High Lanes near Truro in Cornwall on 20 October 1998. Her body was found at 2.40pm. She had been stabbed several times. |
| Year |
Name of victim(s) |
Location of murder |
Notes |
| 2001 |
unknown boy |
River Thames |
Torso in the Thames victim |
| 2002 |
Amanda Dowler |
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey |
Amanda "Milly" Dowler, was 13 years old when she was abducted from Walton-on-Thames on 21 March 2002. At 4.08pm a school friend waiting for a bus saw her walking along Station Avenue towards her home. This was the last confirmed sighting of her alive. Her body was discovered on 18 September 2002 by a couple picking mushrooms in Yateley Heath Woods, near Fleet in Hampshire. |
| 2003 |
Shafilea Ahmed |
Warrington, Cheshire |
Ahmed disappeared on September 11, 2003 and had been missing for a week before her teachers informed the police; subsequently there was a major campaign to urge people who had any information to come forward. Actress Shobna Gulati was persuaded to front the media campaign, and read some of her poems on television. In February 2004, Ahmed's corpse was found in the River Kent near Sedgwick, in proximity to Kendal in the Lake District (70 miles away from Warrington). Police believed that members of her family knew something about the case but were witholding evidence, her parents were arrested and later released and 8 of her extended family are currently awaiting trial for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice[1] in relation to the case, in addition there is still confusion regarding exact events of the trip she made to Pakistan regarding an arranged marriage. |
| 2004 |
Jenny Abbot |
Eastbourne, East Sussex |
Jenny Abbot was 15 years old; she was last seen alive getting into a car just 100 yards from her house. Wearing cropped blue tracksuit bottoms, trainers and a baggy white top. She was on her way home from a gym club when she got into a blue transit van, with the number plate missing. Her body was discovered on 6 June 2004, 30 miles away left in a ditch. her body was battered and her hands tied behind her back. 4 days later a blue transit van that was believed to be the same van that abducted Jenny was spotted by CCTV in Birmingham. |
| 2004 |
Alistair Wilson |
Nairn, Inverness |
Alistair Wilson , 30, was shot dead on the doorstep of his home in Nairn near Inverness in November 2004. He was shot in the head at his home in Crescent Road one Sunday evening after his wife opened their door to the killer. Police have stated there appears absolutely no motive for the murder. |
| 2006 |
Jesse James |
Moss Side, Manchester |
Jesse was murdered in a drive by shooting in October 2006. It is believed his murder was a case of mistaken identity. Police have been worried about the lack of witnesses coming forward, possibly due to fear of the repercussions. |
| 2006 |
Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell & Annette Nicholls |
Ipswich, Suffolk |
"Ipswich Ripper" victims. A 37-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murders on 18 December 2006.[2] A second suspect, Steven Wright, was charged with all 5 murders on 21 December 2006. [3] |
