Considering Cold Cases

Cindy Song (also known as Hyun Jong Song) grew up in South Korea before moving in 1995 at age 15 to Springfield, Virginia where she lived with an aunt and uncle. She enjoyed living in America, and she felt that she had more freedom there.

In 2001, Cindy was 21 and an art major at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. She was petite, only five feet tall and weighed 110 lbs. Cindy had good grades and two part-time restaurant jobs.

It was Halloween, October 31, 2001. It may have been a Wednesday, a school night, but still, it was Halloween. Cindy and two of her girlfriends Lisa and Stacy decided to go out to one of their favourite places and popular student hangout, Player’s Nite Club, which was hosting a Halloween party. Cindy dressed as a bunny. The costume consisted of bunny ears, a white skirt with a bunny tail attached to the back, a pink sleeveless shirt which featured an embroidered image of a bunny, a red knee-length hooded coat and brown suede knee-high boots. Her friend described it as such: “She had bunny ears and a tail that she had bought. It was a very cute outfit. It wasn’t like a sexy outfit. It was a very cute outfit. That was her thing, she was very cute. She liked to look cute.”

The girls partied until 2am, before stopping at a friend’s place to play video games. They finally headed home a few hours later in the early morning hours of November 1. Stacy drove and dropped Cindy off at Cindy’s apartment at 4am and waved goodbye, but she did not see Cindy enter her home. Cindy had been drinking on the night of her disappearance and was said to be slightly intoxicated when she was dropped off at home. This was the last known sighting of Cindy.

Cindy was reported missing on November 4, 2001, three days after she was last seen. Her friends had grown concerned because they hadn’t heard from her. On November 6, police investigators searched Cindy’s apartment.

It is believed that Cindy did enter her home in the early hours of November 1, as her backpack she was wearing that evening was found in her bedroom. Her false eyelashes she wore the night of her disappearance were found in the bathroom, indicating she had come home and taken them off. Her cell phone was found in her backpack.  Not found in the apartment was Cindy’s bunny Halloween costume or her purse which contained her credit cards.

It is believed that Cindy returned home and then left shortly after. Friends pointed out that Cindy always had her cell phone with her, however it was found left at her home. It is believed that she left voluntarily and locked the door behind her. Police found no sign of forced entry at Cindy’s apartment, nor did they find any indications of a struggle. It is possible she went to a nearby 24-hour market, as she was known to do late at night. Perhaps she planned to only be gone a few minutes and did not see the need to bring her cell phone with her.

A few days after Cindy’s disappearance, a witness came forward with a chilling story. The witness said that she saw a woman matching Cindy’s appearance was seen crying and yelling for help in Philadelphia’s Chinatown district which is nearly 200 miles from Cindy’s apartment. Police do not believe this story to be related to Cindy’s disappearance and have stated that the witness was unreliable and changed her story multiple times.

Cindy’s mother Bansoon Song travelled from Seoul (South Korea) to be in State College where Cindy went missing. She wanted to be involved in the investigations, and she attended vigils for Cindy. She is quoted as saying “My life is my family and to not know what happened to my only daughter is devastating”. The family later lambasted the police department in a press conference, saying that the case was not investigated properly.

Lead investigator Detective Brian Sprinkle stated that Cindy’s case was his biggest case at the time, explaining “We get missing Penn State students all the time. But come Sunday night, they come back for a class on a Monday morning.” His office held dozens of binders labelled “Cindy Song”. The police department cut contact with the family after the press conference. “We did it for Cindy’s sake in the case and not the family,” Det. Sprinkle explained, “We pretty much cut them off.” The police also blamed the family for destroying evidence by cleaning Cindy’s apartment. The family were allowed in the apartment by police.

Police got nowhere in their investigation, despite the large volume of tips called in. The police even called in a physic to help them find Cindy. The possibility of suicide was also explored; Cindy and her boyfriend had broken up a month before her disappearance, but Cindy’s friends maintained that Cindy had no personal problems and was not upset about her recent break-up.

Hugo Selenski

Hugo Selenski is a convicted bank robber and a suspect in Cindy’s disappearance. Police found the remains of twelve people burned and buried in a pit in his backyard, but none of them are Cindy. One of Selenski’s associates, Paul Weakley, turned on him and became an informant for police. He stated that Hugo Selenski and Michael Kerkowski kidnapped Cindy, took her to Selenski’s property and killed her. Informant Paul Weakley stated that Selenski told him this story, and Weakley had given police a lot of accurate information other than this story.

Selenski himself would later admit to police that he killed Cindy. He said himself and his ‘best friend’ Michael Kerkowski mistook Cindy in her costume for a prostitute. He then claims they abducted her and kept her imprisoned in a walk-in safe where she died. As for Michael Kerkowski, he is not around to corroborate Selenski’s story – he’s buried in Selenski’s backyard. Selenski says he killed Kerkowski for keeping Cindy’s bunny ears as a souvenir. Rumours online speculate that Selenski has confessed to other crimes that he had nothing to do with. This has happened with many killers in the past. They may brag about a crime to seem cool or dangerous, or they may confess to other crimes to try and buy themselves time during a trial or cut a deal. For example, infamous serial killer Ted Bundy confessed to other crimes right before he was to be executed as a stalling tactic: if police wanted to solve these cases, they would have to prevent Bundy’s execution so they could hear his confession and investigate further. Selenski was facing the possibility of the death penalty for his role in Kerkowski’s murder.

Selenski was sentenced to 32.5 to 65 years in prison in 2003 for robbery. Despite the twelve bodies in his backyard, Selenski was acquitted of two murder charges when he went on trial in 2006 for the shooting murders of two men (suspected drug dealers). In 2015, Selenski was given a sentence of life in prison for the murder of Michael Kerkowski and Michael’s girlfriend Tammy Fassett, who were strangled to death. Kerkowski was a pharmacist who ran a prescription drug ring on the side. It has not been proven that Kerkowski was involved in the murder of Cindy or any other victims.

Composite sketch of the serial killer known as EAR/ONS/GSK

Referred to as “GSK‘’ in this post. 

GSK started his known criminal career raping women in the Sacramento area, and his first attack was in May 1976. He would prowl around middle class neighbourhoods at night, looking for a suitable victim. He preferred homes located near an open space like a field, which allowed a quick escape after his attacks. It was believed that after most attacks he used a bike to travel to his car before driving away. He was seen by people in the neighbourhood. One young man chased after him and was shot by GSK, however, the young man lived. Most police sketches of GSK are made by people who saw him prowling. In all but one attack he wore a full-face mask. In one attack, he wore an open-face mask. Days before his attacks, GSK would break in to the home for reconnaissance. He would call victims before and after the attacks, sometimes pretending to have a wrong number, sometimes just breathing into the receiver. In 1978, one victim had a phone tap set up after the attack, since GSK was known to call. GSK called and stated he was going to kill her. This phone message is recorded (below). [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jHAA8bndRE?rel=0] GSK first attacked women who were at home or with children. When he grew more confident he started to prefer to attack couples. He would break in carrying a gun and made the female victim tie up her male companion before GSK tied her up very tightly. He would separate the couple and place dishes on the back of the male. GSK said that if he heard dishes rattle he would kill everyone. After this, GSK would spend hours in the home, taking his time in the terror he inflicted on his victims. He would go through closets and drawers, and eat food from their fridges. He would rape the woman in multiple sessions, doing his ransacking in between. Before leaving the house, GSK would take souvenirs and cash. He was known to take wedding rings from male and female victims, right off of their fingers. He often stole photos or ID cards of the victims as well. Many serial killers are known to take ‘trophies’ so they can later reminisce on their crimes. In January 1978, a volunteer for Contact Counseling Service answered a call. It is believed that this was GSK (then known as the East Side Rapist), at least the caller claimed to be. And he said: “I am the East Side Rapist and I feel the urge coming on to do this again. I don't want to do it, but then I do. Is there anyone there that can help me? I don't want to hurt these women or their husbands anymore”. He hung up because he thought the call was being traced.

Escalation

In February 1978, a young couple were walking their dog. There was a confrontation in the streets and the couple fled the area, but they were chased down and shot dead. Police are confident this was GSK. After this instance, the rapes continued, with eighteen more attacks. There were a total of 49 attacks in committed by GSK between 1976 and 1979, back when he was known as the East Area Rapist. In July 1979, he moved down to Southern California (near Santa Barbara County) and started his murder spree. On his first attack in Southern California, he tied up a couple. The couple tried to escape and the woman started screaming. GSK started running out of the home because his attack was botched. He was pursued by the couple’s neighbour, who happened to be an FBI agent. GSK had been on a bicycle but he abandoned this and started running in earnest from his pursuer. He dropped his knife while he was running, and he was able to get away. After this close call GSK started killing in earnest. I believe this botched rape attack triggered him to start killing, so he would never fail again. At his next attack, the victims were shot. At the subsequent four attacks, all of the victims were bludgeoned to death, a total of nine murders for this period of GSK’s crime spree. The women were raped. GSK took a five year break after 1981, and many thought they were free of him at last. Finally, in 1986, he showed up to terrorize the people of California one last time. Why he took a five-year break, or why he stopped after this last attack, no one knows. 18-year-old Janelle Cruz was to be his last victim. She had been raped and bludgeoned to death.

Developments

Robin Trivisonno was 28 years old when she went missing. She was the mother to three young boys and separated from her husband.

Robin lived in Ventor, New Jersey. In 1994, she picked up a job as a dancer at Heartbreakers go-go bar (strip club) on Route 35 in Neptune Township, New Jersey after her separation from her husband. Neptune is an hour north of Ventor. Robin was struggling to pay for schooling and support her kids. Her ambition was to become a nurse, and Robin had been attending Atlantic Cape Community College in preparation. According to Robin’s mother, she hated working as a dancer at Heartbreakers. “She hated dancing. She hated it with a passion,” her mother is quoted as saying. At Heartbreakers, she was known as Toni, and in her personal life, only Robin’s mother knew that she was dancing. Robin swore her mother into secrecy.

On the evening of January 19, 1997 Robin was studying at home, an “Anatomy & Physiology” textbook left open on her bed. Robin then went to visit her boyfriend at his office. They got into an argument and Robin left after this argument. She ended up going to Heartbreakers to visit and drink with friends, and arrived there at 9:30pm. She spent several hours there, talking to friends and getting intoxicated. “She was telling me about her nursing, about how she wanted to be a nurse,” said one friend, “she was drinking tequila when she bought me a shot of applejack.” She had her car with her, but because she was intoxicated she asked friends for a ride to Delilah’s Den, a strip club. Robin’s friend was working at a DJ at Delilah’s Den, in South Amboy. This is about a thirty-minute car journey from Heartbreakers.

Robin was intoxicated when she left the bar around 2 in the morning on January 20, 1997. A man, who was not known to Heartbreakers employees, left with her. The man is described as white, 5’8″, around 180lbs with long dark brown hair. Authorities have been looking to speak with him but he’s never been identified, even after 20 years.

All indications were that Robin was headed towards Delilah’s Den. But no one ever saw her there that night.

On January 21, 1997 Robin’s children arrived at her home after school. It was a Tuesday. The weekend had been a long weekend which the boys had spent with their father. When the boys got to Robin’s house, they noticed she was not at home.

It was out of character for Robin not to be home when she was expecting her children. So, Robin’s mother started calling around looking for her. Robin’s mother called Heartbreakers looking for Robin.  It was then that Heartbreakers staff realized that Robin had left her black 1994 Jeep Cherokee in the Heartbreakers parking lot. Robin was missing. 

The last clues in Robin case came some four months later, around June 1997. Robin’s purse, wallet and jacket were found near Delilah’s Den, the same place that Robin had asked friends for a ride to. The items were located behind a fence in a wooded area in the back of the Delilah’s Den parking lot. The purse still had $500 in it.

Missing backpacker series part eight

Missing backpacker series part seven

missing backpacker series part six

Missing backpacker series part five

Missing backpacker series part four

Missing backpacker series part three

Missing backpacker series part two

In Canada, dozens of women have been murdered or disappeared along Highway 16 in British Columbia. Most are still unsolved. Many of the women are of aboriginal descent. Aboriginal women in Canada are four times as likely to be murdered than non-native Canadian women. Aboriginal groups have long claimed that police do not properly investigate these cases because of racial prejudice, however, it should be noted that the solution rate for homicides of aboriginal women is nearly identical for the solution rate for homicides involving non-native women. The Highway of Tears has a particularly high murder and disappearance rate because of poverty and a lack of public transportation in the area, which lead to increased hitchhiking, where many women have met their death.

Below is a detailed list of Highway of Tears victims and the circumstances of their disappearance/death. Police launched Project E-PANA in 2005 to investigate the unsolved murders and disappearances. The victim criteria for the project is: female; engaged in a “high-risk activity” (ie. hitchhiking or the sex trade); disappeared from or found within a mile of highways 16 (most common), 97 or 5.

To combat the issue, the government is subsidizing new bus routes in hopes that this will decrease hitchhiking and provide safe, reliable and affordable transit.

Author’s note: several of the women featured in this list are known to have engaged in sex work (ie. prostitution). This does not lessen their value as a human being. They are someone’s mother, sister and daughter. Please be respectful when reading and/or commenting.

Women whose cases are being investigated as part of Project E-PANA:

Gloria Moody (aged 26) was last seen on October 25, 1969. She was seen leaving a bar in Williams Lake. Her nude body was found 10km away. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted, and left to die. In 1998 a police officer told family members that the three main suspects in the case were now all dead.

Micheline Pare (aged 18) was last seen on Highway 29 in July 1970. She came from Quebec and was hitchhiking through the area. Two women picked her up and dropped her off near Tompkins Ranch. Her body was found in August 1970. She had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a blunt weapon.

Gale Weys (aged 19) was last seen while hitchhiking from Clearwater, where she worked, to Kamloops, where she lived, in October 1973. A year later her body was found in a water-filler ditch just south of Clearwater. Serial killer Bobby Jack Fowler is the prime suspect in the case.

Pamela Darlington (aged 19) was last seen while hitchhiking from Kamloops to a local bar in November 1973. Her partly clothed, badly beaten body was found the next day in a river in Kamloops. Serial killer Bobby Jack Fowler is the prime suspect in the case.

Monica Ignas (aged 14) was last seen walking by herself along Highway 16 on Dec. 13, 1974. She was walking from Thornhill towards her home in Terrace. Her body was found four months later in a heavily wooded area east of Terrace. Her cause of death was strangulation.

Colleen MacMillen (aged 16) was last seen August 1974 leaving her home in Lac La Hache to hitchhike to a nearby friend’s house. Her body was found dead 46 kilometres south of where she was last seen. Serial killer Bobby Jack Fowler is the prime suspect in her murder. In 2012, DNA from Colleen’s body was matched to Fowler.

Monica Jack (aged 12) was last seen riding her bike in May 1978. Her mother saw Monica riding her bike home from shopping and offered to drive her the rest of the way but Monica wanted to finish her ride home one her own. Her bike was later found but it took almost 20 years for the family to learn what happened to Monica. In 1995, forestry workers found Monica’s remains in a ravine off a logging road about 20 km from where Monica’s bike was found. In 2014, Garry Taylor Handlen was charged with the murder of Monica Jack and one other young girl. Currently (2017), he is in jail awaiting a trial.

Maureen Mosie (aged 33), was last seen on May 8, 1981. It is believed she was hitchhiking from Salmon Arm to Kamloops. Her severely beaten body was found the next day, a few kilometres east of Kamloops. Witnesses saw her getting into a vehicle with a man of this description: “late 20s or early 30s with black or brown hair and a beard.”

Shelly-Ann Bascu (age 16) was last seen walking along Highway 16 in the direction of her home in Hinton in 1983. Her body has never been found but several days after her disappearance school books and clothing of Shelly-Ann’s were found near the Athabasca River.

Alberta Williams (aged 24) was last seen in Prince Rupert in August 1989. She got into a truck with a non-native man and her uncle Jack. Her body was found three weeks later 37 km east of Prince Rupert. Alberta had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

Delphine Nikal (aged 16) went missing in June 13, 1990. Delphine was hitchhiking east to her home in Telkwa from the town of Smithers where she was visiting friends. She has been missing ever since.

Ramona Wilson (aged 16) was last seen hitchhiking from Smithers towards Hazelton on the evening of June 11, 1994. Ramona’s remains were found nearly a year later in a wooded area west of the Smithers airport. The family was not given the official cause of death, although they were told by a sympathetic insider that strangulation and a “sexual motivation” were possible.

Roxanne Thiara (aged 15) was last seen in Prince George in July 1994. She had turned to sex work to survive and told a friend she was meeting a client on the night of her disappearance. Her body was found weeks later in the bush along Highway 16.

Alishia ‘Leah’ Germaine (aged 15) was last seen at a Christmas dinner at the Native Friendship Centre in Prince George. She was found murdered on December 9, 1994, behind a school off Highway 16 on the outskirts of Prince George. She had been stabbed to death. She was known to be engaged in sex work and was friends with Roxanne Thiara.

Lana Derrick (aged 19) was visiting her mom in Terrace, B.C. in October 1995 and was last seen at a service station on Highway 16 just outside of Thornhill. It is believed she had been hitchhiking. Lana’s family dispute this sighting and state that Lana was last seen at her friend’s house in Terrace. She has been missing ever since.

Nicole Hoar (aged 24)  went missing on June 21, 2002. Nicole was hitchhiking from Prince George to Smithers to surprise her sister with a birthday visit. She was last seen at a gas station on Highway 16 west of Prince George. She approached a vehicle; the driver was of the following description: “Caucasian man, between 20 and 35 years old wearing a short-sleeved white T-shirt.” She has been missing ever since.

Tamara Chipman (aged 22) was seen on 21 September 2005 in Prince Rupert hitchhiking east towards Terrace on Highway 16. She was known to be engaged in sex work and warrants were out for her arrest for failure to appear on assault charges. She was mother to one young boy. Tamara was not immediately reported missing as family thought she may have been avoiding the law; police believe Tamara was the victim of foul play. She has been missing ever since.

Aielah Saric Auger (aged 14) was last seen near a downtown bar in Prince George on February 2, 2006. Her body was shortly after in a ditch on Highway 16, 20 kilometres east of Prince George.

Additional cases identified on http://www.highwayoftears.ca/ :

Destiny Rae Tom (aged 21) was found dead On March 23, 2013 outside a home on the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation in northern B.C. She had been severely beaten. Destiny left behind one daughter. In February 2015, Destiny’s husband Garrett Steven George was charged with second-degree murder in the case. George had a criminal record that includes convictions for assault, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

Natasha Montgomery (aged 23) was last seen in Prince George in September 2010. She was known to be engaged in sex work. Serial killer Cody Legebokoff was convicted of her murder, though Natasha’s body has never been found. Natasha’s DNA was discovered on Legebokoff’s shorts, hoodie, throughout his apartment, and on his axe.

Jill Stuchenko (aged 35) was last seen in Prince George. Her body was found in October 2009 in a gravel pit on the outskirts of Prince George. She had died from multiple blows to the head. She was known to be engaged in sex work. She left behind five children. Serial killer Cody Legebokoff was convicted of her murder.

Cynthia Maas (aged 35) was last seen in September 2010 in Prince George. Cynthia’s body was found in a park a month later. She had died from from blunt force trauma and penetrating wounds to the chest. She had defence wounds and her pants were rolled down to her ankles. She was known to be engaged in sex work. Serial killer Cody Legebokoff was convicted of her murder.

Bonnie Joseph (aged 32) disappeared from Vanderhooft on September 8th, 2007. She was reported missing in December 2007. Police say she led a high-risk lifestyle and was known to hitchhike alone between Fort St. James, Vanderhoof and Prince George, B.C. Her family considers her disappearance to be out of character.

Immaculate “Mackie” Basil (aged 26) was last seen on June 14, 2013, around the Kuzche Reserve near Fort St. James, British Columbia. An extensive search did not locate her. She has been missing ever since.

Unofficial Additions to the list:

Loren Donn Leslie (aged 15) was an acquaintance of serial killer Cody Legebokoff, whom she met online. Her body was foundin November 2010 on a remote logging road just off Highway 27 near Vanderhoof. Serial killer Cody Legebokoff was convicted of her murder. Legebokoff was pulled over by police on November 27, 2010 and was in possession on Loren’s belongings. Police followed his tire tracks back to Loren’s body and he was arrested. After this arrest, Legebokoff’s DNA was linked to the deaths of Jill Stacey Stuchenko, Cynthia Frances Maas, and Natasha Lynn Montgomery.

Madison Scott (aged 20) vanished on May 28th, 2011 after attending a party at Hogsback Lake, a campsite about 25 kilometres south of Vanderhoof.  Police found her tent and truck, but Madison has been missing ever since. Foul play is suspected.

15 year-old Kelly Jane Evelyn Cook lived with her parents in the village of Standard, Alberta. This village is about 70 kilometres northeast of Calgary, a big city in Alberta, Canada. It's a small village - today the population is 353. The Wikipedia page for the village includes only three sections: Demographics; Athletics; and The murder of Kelly Cook. Kelly, like many young girls her age, was a babysitter for families in the community. She usually babysat once or twice a week and made the arrangements by telephone.

Frank D. Frazier was just a few weeks shy of his nineteenth birthday when he went missing from his Houston, Texas home in 1990. He was a student at Alief Elsik High School when he disappeared.

On October 26, 1990, Frank walked his sister Nakia from their home to her bus stop. A neighbour saw Frank stop and have a chat with someone in front of Frank’s home. Frank’s little sister always looked up to him and saw him as her protector. “He was my best friend,” she says, “[Frank] was very outgoing. He had a lot of friends. He never met a stranger and a lot of people cared about him.“ Frank’s sister Nakia came home on October 26, 1990 and found the house in disarray and a pool of blood on the sofa where he was last seen resting. "I knew right away something was wrong because our furniture had been moved,” said Nakia. Blood was also found on the carpet beside the sofa, and a few drops were found in the driveway in front of the home.

Houston police theorized that his disappearance was connected to gang activity. Frank’s family say he was not into drugs or part of a gang. Frank’s sister has stated “The Houston police department never really took my brothers case seriously. They kept insisting that he was on the run based on their theory that he himself had committed the violent act which left our home stained with blood.” says Frazier. “The second theory that they insisted on was that he was into drugs or a part of a gang. Nothing could be further from the truth! HPD wasted time blaming the victim instead of helping my family to find him and find out who did this." 

As per a 2014 news article, Det. Mark Kral of the Houston Police Cold Case is working the case. He has stated Frank had no gang affiliation. He also said that the police were testing some DNA. You can read this article and watch a short video by clicking here.

In 2014, the family held a candlelight vigil in hopes to raise publicity for the case. They wish to finally find out what happened to Frank, and, if he is deceased, to recover his body to give Frank a proper Christian burial.

As recently as 2016, I saw references of a Facebook page ‘Solve Franks Case’ online, however it appears that the page has been taken down. At first I had hoped maybe this means the family has had a resolution, however Frank is still listed on national and state missing persons registers.

I have my own questions regarding this case. The first is who would want to hurt Frank Frazier? He was a high school student, I would guess he is too young to have large enough debts that would get him killed. He wasn’t into drugs or gangs. Why was he violently abducted from his home? What could be the motive, and could this crime have been committed by one individual?

A pool of blood was found one the couch where Frank was resting. Was he awake when he was attacked? If he was asleep, he could have woken up in the middle of a burglary. His sister states that furniture was in disarray but I never read if anything was missing from the home or if a robbery was suspected. It was not nighttime, so I’d like to know if Frank frequently napped in the day and if he could have been asleep when he was attacked. If he was awake, that would paint a different picture. If someone came into your house to attack you, you wouldn’t be likely to sit on the sofa and wait to get attacked. You might be attacked on your sofa if you knew your attacker. Perhaps Frank and a friend were hanging out and something happened. I’d like to know if law enforcement identified who the neighbour saw Frank talking to that day and if they were thoroughly interviewed.

My next question is why the abduction and how was Frank transported. It’s one thing to murder someone in their home, but it’s an entirely different ballgame to abduct the person you’ve injured. Then you are tasked with finishing the job if they’re not deceased, you run the risk of them escaping or attacking you, or, if they are dead you now have a body to deal with. Why not just leave Frank there? Next, how was Frank moved? Was he able to walk out himself under coercion or did he have to be forcibly moved. Frank weighed 170 lbs, not easy for a single person to handle. Then where was he taken? Police identified blood droplets up until the driveway, was he put in a vehicle? Does that indicate premeditation? Did police interview all of Frank’s friends who would typically visit Frank in a car? If Frank was killed that day, where is his body? You have to be lucky or experienced to hide a body for that long.

Who Killed Debbie on the Afternoon Train?

On 23 March 1988 Debbie Linsley boarded the 2:16pm train at Orpingon to London Victoria. It was a 35 minute train journey.

Debbie boarded an old-fashioned train carriage with room for six people and doors at each side of the carriage. Unlike modern trains, there is no corridor between the carriages. Debbie sat in her carriage and smoked two cigarettes and ate part of her sandwich. A passenger stated screaming was heard from Debbie’s carriage after it left Brixton in south London, the final, and longest leg of the train journey. The witness heard noises for two minutes and feared a woman was being raped. But it was even worse.

Debbie was stabbed between five and eleven times in the face, neck, chest and abdomen. She had deep defensive wounds on her hands. It is thought the motivation for the crime was sexual and the offender was a stranger to Debbie. One passenger, a possible suspect was seen getting out of a single compartment and going into an open one at the front. He was described as a stocky man, aged around 30, with dirty blond hair and a pale jacket. British Rail staff discovered Debbie’s body at 2:50pm when checking for any remaining passengers on the train.

(Eve Stratford, Lynne Weedon, Lynda Farrow)

Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon were murdered five months apart in 1975. Thirty years later, detectives realized the DNA at the crime scenes matched the same killer. But he's never been apprehended. Eve Stratford was a beautiful 22-year-old model who was employed at London's Playboy club when she died. Eve grew up in Aldershot, UK and at age 19 moved to London with her boyfriend. When she was 20, she started working at the Playboy Club, and therefore had been working there for two years before her death. Another woman who worked there said of Eve “she was the sweetest girl and had an almost innocent quality about her." Only days before her death, Eve appeared as the centrefold in Mayfair magazine, an adult magazine which is a competitor to Playboy magazine. This constituted a breach of her Playboy contract and Eve was suspended from work at the Playboy Club. March 18, 1975 was Eve's last day alive. That day she had travellied around London, to Camden and Bayswater, before heading to her flat in East London. She lived with her boyfriend, a musician, and two of his bandmates. At 4pm on March 18, 1975, Eve was seen walking alone near her home. At 4:30pm, a neighbour heard calm male and female voices in Eve's flat, followed by a loud thud noise. The neighbour was likely hearing Eve's murder, because only an hour later, Eve's boyfriend returned from work and found her body in their bedroom. Eve was attacked with a sharp weapon and twelve cuts to her neck. She was partially unclothed, and a nylon stocking was tied around one ankle and her hands were bound behind her back with a scarf. Semen from the killer was found on her clothing and she had been likely been raped. The term 'likely' is used because officers have not been able to rule out consensual sex. A blood-soaked bouquet of flowers lay next to her body. There was no sign of forced entry to her home and no weapon was ever found.

Six months later, on September 3, 1975, 16-year-old Lynne Weedon was walking home in Hounslow, London. She decided to take a short cut through as alleyway known as The Short Hedges. At this point a man hit her over the head with a blunt instrument and threw her over a fence into the grounds of an electricity sub-station. She was raped and callously left there to die. She was found alive but unconscious the next morning by a school caretaker but succumbed to her injuries a week later in hospital. She never regained consciousness. 

The victim profile and crime method were so different that police never thought the two cases were connected. Eve could have been argued to live a 'high-risk' lifestyle due to her employment. She likely met a lot of seedy people in her employment at the Playboy Club. Police thought Eve may have known her killer because of the lack of forced entry into her flat. Lynne was a young schoolgirl, considered a 'low-risk' victim. The methods of murder were entirely different in the two cases. Furthermore, Lynne was not dead when her assailant left the scene. Though I guess it's possible he thought she was dead. She died from the one blow to the head.