10 murders still unsolved in Dorset

Despite huge advances in investigative techniques there have been no recent breakthroughs in relation to the killings.

Victims died between 1960 and 2000 and ages range from a newborn baby girl to a 74-year-old grandmother.

Detective Chief Inspector Jez Noyce, of Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT), told the Daily Echo: “We will continue to thoroughly investigate any new lines of enquiry that emerge and all unsolved murder cases where there are no active lines of enquiry will still be subject to periodic reviews by Dorset Police.

DCI Jez Noyce

"Any new lines of enquiry that are identified through these reviews will also be investigated appropriately.

"Our thoughts remain with all those who have lost their loved ones and we sincerely hope that one day they get the answers they deserve."

BEATRICE WILSON: In July 2000, 74-year-old grandmother Beatrice Wilson was stabbed at least 10 times as she lay defenceless on her bed in sheltered accommodation at Millfield, Creekmoor. A 17-year-old boy was charged with her murder but was found not guilty. No one else has been charged. Her family have since urged police to reopen the case.

JO RAMSDEN: The murder of Jo Ramsden, a young girl with Down’s Syndrome who went missing from Bridport in April 1991, has never been officially solved. A man was charged after her body was found nearly a year later, but the case remains on file after his conviction for similar offences. Jo Ramsden, who had a mental age of 10, went missing from her home on April 9 1991 and was found in a woodland on March 12 1992. She was found about 12 miles from her home, by two forestry workers by the A35 near Lyme Regis. When found she was wearing the same clothes that she had been wearing on the day she disappeared. A suspect that had admitted the abduction and rape of at least six other women was later identified, but it was heard that there was not sufficient evidence to charge him in relation to Jo Ramsden. Hospital worker Michael Fox was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

JOHN GREEN: Numerous appeals for information have failed to shed any light on the brutal murder of John Green, a 36-year-old stabbed in a frenzied attack in his Branksome office in February 1991. It is believed that he owned the premises and lived in the basement flat. Police believe that Mr Green was killed between 3.15pm and 4pm on February 1, 1991. His body was found the following day by his girlfriend, Lori de Carteret. Mr Green had hosted a party at his home on the weekend before he died, which made the investigation difficult due to the number of fingerprints at the scene. Thousands of lines of inquiry have been followed and more than 1,000 statements taken over the years, but police are still no closer to finding Mr Green’s killer.

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SANDRA COURT: Sandra Court’s body was found dumped in a shallow river at Avon Causeway, Hurn in May 1986, just months before one of Britain’s most high-profile cases, the disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in London. Parallels have been drawn between the two cases but no one has been convicted for either. Sandra Court had been strangled but Suzy Lamplugh's body was never found. Convicted killer and rapist John Cannan remains the only suspect in her case.

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ROSE LIFELY: Rose Lifely was 73-years-old when she was stabbed to death in her own home in Northcote Road in Bournemouth in May 1971.Her death prompted the biggest police probe in the town’s history and, despite the attraction of a £1,000 reward, her killer was never identified.Police believed the killer lived in the local area and was shielded by a friend or family member after the murder. They thought the killer broke into her home to steal and repeatedly stabbed her when she challenged him.

SAMUEL WILLIAMSON: Samuel Williamson was killed and his body set alight in Cotlands Road, Bournemouth, in August 1988. A man was charged and faced trial 18 years later but was acquitted by a jury at Winchester Crown Court. It only took the seven women and five men one hour to clear Francis MacDonald, then 55, of strangling Samuel Williamson - and an alternative count of manslaughter - following the three-week trial. Mr MacDonald was also charged with the murder in 1988 but released because the case against him was not deemed strong enough to bring before a jury.

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STANLEY BLACKMOOR: On August 10 1962, taxi driver Stanley Blackmoor was found stabbed to death in Yetminster. He had gone missing from home and an off-duty police officer and his wife out on a fishing trip came across his body face down in a ditch. Yetminster is roughly 3 miles (4.8km) south of Stanley’s home in Bradford Abbas, and just over 5 miles (8km) from where Stanley’s car had been found abandoned. Upon further inspection of the body, it was found that Stanley had been stabbed once in the heart with a large knife.

EMILY THARME: The body of Emily Tharme was found in Wheelers Lane, Bournemouth, in January 1960.

BENJAMIN RUMNEY: The body of Benjamin Rumney was found in a wardrobe in his Gillingham flat following a fire there in February 1996.

BABY GIRL: A newborn baby girl found washed up in a bag on Weymouth beach, in 1981, died from compression of the neck, although she was judged to have been healthy when born. A review of the case carried out around 2010 failed to trace her killer.

As ever, police have urged anyone with information about any of the cases to contact them on 101 or the free and anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.