Peggy Lye Bristol 1951

Southville Bristol 1949 - Ronald Lye a railway worker marries his 21 year old bride Patricia Marsh known as Peggy. The couple move into parents Mr and Mrs Marsh' home in Lynton Road, Bedminster which is also the home of Peggy's' two sisters and brother and despite being already overcrowded Peggy gives birth to a son, Michael.

Things at home were most probably hectic and Peggy did not adjust well to being a wife and mother and by 1951 she was more likely to be found out with friends hanging about the streets of central Bristol of an evening than at home with the family. Bristols centre was as buzzing then at it is now with the Hippodrome and Colston Hall theatres, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops and the post war city dwellers enjoyed the freedom to walk around without the fear of air raids.

One Denmark Street with its back entrance to the Hippodrome had at the time a reputation locally for prostitution and "women of low moral standing". It is not known if Peggy actually worked as a prostitute but she did like men and having a good time. It was the afternoon of 22nd of September when she met a 19 year old homeless drifter named Percy Harold Sanders originating from Southall in London in the centre of Bristol. They got talking and before long Peggy was smitten with the boy with the London accent which seemed so exotic to her. Sanders needed a place to stay as he had been thrown out of his lodgings for non payment and although he had found work as a baker he did not seem to keen to go to it.

Sanders at first was more than happy to impress the gullible Peggy with his stories of his life in London and probably gave the impression of being well heeled and well connected but still spent an uncomfortable night on a park bench on the centre when Peggy left to go home after arranging a rendezvous for the next day.

Peggy would walk the distance back to the centre of Bristol the next day bumping into friends on the way and telling them excitably all about her new beau from London who was going to whisk her away and give her a luxurious and exciting life. The reality of the situation was sadly much less happy. Peggy met her weary and dishevelled Percy, hungry and feeling rough on the afternoon of 23rd September and inexplicably they decided to walk to his place of work in Bishopston to tell his boss he was not coming into work that day. The reception was not good but despite Percy's darkening mood Peggy remained elated and excitable chatting away about the future . At some point a ring was produced stamped 18 carat gold and Percy declared they were now engaged though no one thought to mention Peggy's husband Ronald at her child Michael at home.

The couple strode through the town arm in arm stopping to chat to acquaintances they met on their way and Peggy flashing the "18 carat gold " engagement ring that was slowly beginning to turn her finger green!

Towards the evening Percy was tired from virtually no sleep in the past couple of days and Peggy suggested a place she knew about where he could go in Denmark Street. A new office block allowed access to the stairwell and they went there so Percy could lie down, However a security guard appeared and threw them out, so they started walking towards Bedminster where Peggy and her family lived. A couple of witnesses spotted the pair talking to two soldiers off duty and a drunken elderly man whom Peggy grabbed hold of and started to march him off with Percy standing nearby watching. Whether she was trying to raise a bit of cash or not is not known but the old man walked off after a brief argument and they were alone once more and heading for a derelict air raid wardens hut on some waste ground just off Marksbury Road.

The place where Peggy was murdered today

The next morning arrived and a 10 year old boy was picking up stones making his way through the waste ground when he spotted what he thought was a child lying motionless with blood on its face. He rushed back to tell his mum who sent up the alarm and neighbours rushed to see what had happened. Someone identified the body as Peggy Lye from Lynton Road and the police were called. No One knew what had happened to her.

The police began questioning locals and it was soon established that Peggy had been seen in the company of a young man, two soldiers and an elderly man. Percy Sanders must have had enough and he handed himself in admitting he while they were in the hut they had argued Peggy tried to knee him in the groin.Percy had lost his temper and struck Peggy causing her to fall to the ground and hit her head and he had then strangled her with her own headscarf before making his way back to Bristol town centre.

He was remanded in custody and brought before Bristol Assizes pleading guilty to manslaughter. He said that he had been extremely tired and hungry and Peggy had started a fight which was the last straw. Everything went black and she was dead. He was given a five year sentence for manslaughter and so ended the tragic tale of Peggy Lye.

I visitied the site of the murder, now a park and playground back in 2012 on a quiet, grey week day around mid morning and took a walk through to see if I could get any impressions. There is no sign of a shelter now but felt drawn to spot not far from the entrance gate where a bench sits now. No one was around and I was alone and I stopped to pay my respects to Peggy.

I immediately saw the scene inside the air raid hut: Peggy lying on the ground and being shaken over and over in a desperate attempt to get her to wake up. She didnt  want to show me what happened on the night of her death as a dark curtain came down around it but it became clear that she did not hold any grudge or anger towards her killer and was more concerned about those who found her and their horror and grief.. I felt that she had some learning difficulties as we call it now, and was a lively girl who had just wanted her life to be different. Bless you Peggy, I hope you have found peace at last.:)

Henry Roberts Anglesey 1995

Henry Roberts was the first known victim of serial killer Peter Moore. He had lived his 56 years as a reclusive figure although well known the the village he had lived all his life. He had been made redundant from his job on the railways and would often get a taxi up to the nearest town and eat out or to his local pub for company and a few drinks. His home was remote and in bad repair but he remained happy with his lot.

One evening in September 1995 he had the misfortune of answering a knock at the door to a figure dressed all in black with a peaked cap. Peter Moore had come for his first victim and  he may have seen Henry before, walking along the road where Moore travelled home each night. Unbeknownst to Moore they both shares a common interest- Nazi memorabilia.

Henry Roberts was stabbed 47 times

Moore attacked Henry Roberts with a combat knife, pulling his trousers down to his ankles and stabbing him a total of 47 times. Henry had begged for his life crying "Im not Jewish!" but was left to die in the front yard of his cottage Moore entering and helping himself to a Nazi flag he found.

A local noticed that he had not been up to the pub for a couple of days and volunteered to pop into Henry's cottage and check on him and findinding a grisly scene. Peter Moore killed another three men before he was caught in November 1995.

Peter Moores house is now a gym

John Penfield Middlesex 1995

Ian Kay was imprisoned in 1986 for a serious attack on a shop worker and after serving eight years he was given leave to kill again. His victim was 21 year old John Penfold a staff member at Woolworths in Teddington Middlesex. Kay attempted to hold up the till where Mr Penfold was working. Bravely Mr Penfold fought his attacker but was fatally stabbed. Kay, who took two 50p pieces off the top of the till said "He was a have a go hero and got what he deserved."

Today Tesco has replaced the Woolworth branch where John Penfold was murdered.

Ian Kay again hit the news for an attack on Peter Sutcliffe in Broadmoor. He was serving a 22 year sentence at the time.

Jimmy Prout North Shields 2016

Its hard to imagine why a fully grown man was being beaten, held prisoner and finally murdered in an ordinary housing estate in Newcastle.

 Jimmy Prout was a happy-go-lucky chap and a father of two when he moved in the shared house in St Stephens Way North Shields. He soon made friends but of the wrong kind- Zahid Zaman,Ann Corbett,Myra Wood and Kay Rayworth were neighbours with unusual relationships. Zaman,known as Zed and despite being in a wheelchair controlled the group, at first meeting Ann Corbett on Facebook around 2010 and within a few years she was working as a carer for Zaman and also as a cleaner. Zaman held on to her carers allowance and wages, she said. 

In her account Zaman was the ringleader with a violent temper demanding Ann perform perverted sex acts with dogs and drink his urine. Jimmy fell out with Zaman over an accusation of stolen tools and was subjected to a hammer attack which knocked out Jimmy's front teeth. Jimmy began to record his injuries on facebook including an horrific injury to his shoulder, black eyes and scratches. A cctv video shows Ann Corbett pushing Jimmy along the road to number 35 where he was subjected to torture by the gang which included having his scrotum cut open and the testicle removed and made him eat it. He was beaten to death and his body was dragged to a piece of waste ground and set fire too.

The house where Jimmy Prout lived before he was murdered in number 35

                                               Jimmy sustained horrific injuries before he was murdered

Shelley Morgan Bristol 1984

This murder of a mother of two in 1984 is particularly heart wrenching and remains unsolved.

Shelley Morgan was an American living in Bristol with her son and daughter and married to a Welshman. At the time of her disappearance the husband was in Wales making repairs to a holiday home they owned and Shelley, 34 years old was a full time mum and a talented and upcoming artist who had recently gained some commission work for her paintings of views in and around Bristol.

It was the morning of June 11th when she packed a bag with a camera and sketchbook and dropped the children at the school bus nearby their home at Dunkerry Road Windmill Hill. From here she took a bus to the bus station in central Bristol and was seen checking timetables. Her destination was the Clifton Suspension Bridge to photograph and sketch the famous landmark for a piece she was working on. According to a BBC TV Crimewatch reconstruction she collected a registered letter from her husband containing money from a Bedminster post office on the way.

Shelley was a striking figure with long blonde hair, glasses and colourful clothing. Someone had thought they saw her get of the bus at the entrance to Ashton Court estate near the Suspension Bridge and talk to a driver of a blue transit van parked behind the bus, but from here there are no further sightings.

Shelley was missing for 7 months before being found by school children in here in Long Lane, Backwell nr Bristol. She had been stabbed 17 times in the back.

It is a very secluded and lonely place that ends in a dead end. 

With few clues we can only guess at what happened that day. Theorists point to the killer possibly being Christopher Halliwell a Swindon taxi driver who had knowledge of such secluded areas. My feeling is that Shelley got off the bus at Blackmoors Road and then was confused about where she should go for the best view of the bridge. She asks a man in a taxi or van the best way to get there and he suggests that he knows somewhere where there are excellent views and offers to show her. She would have been more likely to trust a taxi driver.

 He drives through wooded areas away from the direction of Bristol with Shelley getting more and more concerned and asking where he was taking her. He reassures her that they are almost there but suddenly brings the car to a halt and produces a knife demanding she get out and walk deeper into the woods. Her bag containing her camera, sketch book and letter from her husband were never found so she may have left them in the vehicle. Did he burn them or discard them somewhere?

 He marches her through trees and demands she take off her clothes. While she is wearing just her tights and shoes he sexually assaults her and she makes a run for it. She may have lost her glasses at this point and cannot see where she is going but in blind panic screams for help. The killer catches up with her and murders her with the knife. Covering her body with foliage her turns his vehicle round at the entrance to the field shown in the picture and leaves the scene.

We can only hope one day someone confesses to this horrible crime for the sake of Shelley's poor children who had to suffer loosing their loving mum.