The murder of 21-year-old model and club hostess Eve Stratford in 1975 remains unsolved but has been linked to the killing of a schoolgirl six months later.
Eve, who worked as a ‘bunny girl’ cocktail waitress at the Playboy Club in Mayfair, was found at her first-floor flat in Lyndhurst Drive, Leyton.
She was last seen by a witness walking alone through the snow near her home at around 3.58pm on 18 March 1975.
Eve Stratford
Half an hour later another resident of the building heard the voices of a man and woman in conversation followed by a loud thud noise coming from her flat.
Her body was found in her bedroom by her boyfriend Tony Priest when he returned home from work at around 5.25pm. Her throat had been cut between eight and 12 times and she had a nylon stocking tied round one ankle and a scarf round her hands.
A post-mortem examination held at Walthamstow mortuary gave cause of death as knife wounds to the throat.
There was no sign of forced entry to the flat and no weapon was ever recovered.
The case was investigated by Leyton CID but nobody was ever charged and the inquiry was wound down after a year.
However a review of the case in 2004 led to the recovery of a DNA profile from Eve’s clothing.
In July 2006 this profile was linked to the DNA profile of the unidentified killer of 16 year-old Lynne Weedon in Hounslow on 10 September 1975.
Both cases were featured in a public appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch programme in 2007.
In a renewed appeal in 2015, investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh said: “I firmly believe there is someone out there who has information about who carried out these murders.
“It’s inconceivable the killer of Eve and Lynne has kept the perfect secret for 40 years. It’s a heavy burden to carry and he must have let details slip over the years – maybe to a partner, a friend, even a cellmate – and I would appeal to anyone with information to contact us.
“The families of Eve and Lynne had spent decades not knowing who brutally killed their loved ones and they surely deserve some answers.”
Detectives said in 2015 that they believed the suspect for both murders may have known Eve, who had a huge circle of friends and acquaintances and had appeared as a centre-fold model in Mayfair magazine shortly before her death.
The man who carried out these murders is now of a different, older generation. I would imagine he must have reflected upon his actions every day over the past 40 years. Does he feel guilt, remorse, a need to explain what happened? I am directly appealing to that person to come forward and speak to us and make things right for the sake of the families affected.
DCI Noel McHugh, speaking in 2015
Police also reportedly investigated possible links to the murder of Lynda Farrow, who also had her throat cut in her own home, in Woodford Green, east London, on 19 January 1975, but no DNA was recovered from that case.
Amala Ruth De Vere Whelan, 22, was found dead at her home in Maida Vale, west London, on 16 November 1972.
She had been raped, beaten and strangled with a stocking.
There was no sign of forced entry at the flat at 61 Randoph Avenue and the word ‘ripper’ had been sprayed on to the wall of the front room with detergent from a bottle of washing up liquid.
Detectives believed she either knew her attacker or let him into the flat, but no suspect was identified and the case remains unsolved.
Amala had worked and lived at The Bar Lotus on Regents Park Road in Camden before moving to the Randolph Avenue flat about three weeks before her death.
She was an active member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and had a wide circle of friends, including many in the art world.
Amala Whelan
The original appeal poster stated that she was last seen alive at 10.30pm on 12 November 1972 at the Warrington Public House in Sutherland Avenue, Maida Vale.
She was described as 5ft 5 inches tall with long brown hair and wearing a purple coat and multi-coloured long dress.
In January 2017 a new appeal for information was launched by Detective Inspector Susan Stansfield, from the Met’s Special Casework Investigation Team at the Homicide and Major Crime Command.
She said: “I am convinced that someone, somewhere, knows the circumstances of her brutal murder. It was a long time ago but I’m sure there are people in the local area who remember Amala’s murder.
“Did you live in the vicinity of Randolph Avenue in the early 1970s? Did you see or hear anything suspicious on 12 November 1972?
“Amala suffered a brutal death and the identity of the suspect has remained a mystery. She was a very popular and attractive female who had a wide social network of friends.
“If you have any information, no matter how insignificant you think it might be, please come forward. Maybe you didn’t contact police at the time as you were too scared, but with the passage of time now feel able to tell us what you know in confidence.”
Police said they were keen to trace friends and relatives of Amala. At the time of her death, Amala had a younger sister aged around 12.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 020 7230 4294 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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Holocaust survivor Emmy Werner, 68, was murdered in her hotel room in Bayswater on 17 September 1972.
The widow was found dead in her bed by a chambermaid at Queens Hotel in Inverness Terrace at around 1pm.
She had been strangled and had suffered other serious injuries suggesting she had woken and disturbed her attacker.
The case remains unsolved: a 16 year-old boy was charged and put on trial at the Old Bailey but was acquitted in February 1973.
Emmy Werner
Before WWII Emmy, her husband Albert, a dentist, and their daughter Hedy lived a comfortable life in Brno, Czechoslovakia.
In April 1942 the family and other relatives were transported to Theresienstadt concentration camp near Prague. In October 1944 Albert was taken to Auschwitz and on to Kaufering concentration camp where he was killed in February 1945.
Emmy and her daughter, then aged 17, were liberated in May 1945 and came to London in September 1946 before settling in the Finchley area.
She moved to a residential care home in Finchley but regularly stayed at Queens Hotel while visiting her sister in central London.
On the evening before her death she went to the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand with two friends to see Move Over Mrs Markham before returning to the hotel at 8.30pm.
Detectives believe she was attacked by a thief in her room in the early hours of the morning. Emmy was known to carry around cash in her handbag at it is thought someone came into the room to steal the money and attacked Emmy when she woke up.
Officers are hopeful people working at or visiting the hotel in the early ’70s may have useful information. At the time there were mostly young people of different nationalities both working and staying there, including some German tourists and Swedish staff.
The Queens Hotel in Inverness Terrace, Bayswater
In September 2017 the Metropolitan Police launched a fresh appeal for witnesses and offered a £20,000 reward for information leading to a prosecution.
Detective Inspector Susan Stansfield, of the Met’s Special Casework Investigation Team at the Homicide and Major Command, said: “Although many years have now passed since Emmy’s death it remains particularly difficult for her family that she survived the horrors of the Holocaust yet died in such brutal circumstances. Emmy was 68 years old and was physically and mentally vulnerable due to her past.
“The hotel served a mixture of guests and employed a number of staff who were spoken to by police at the time. However, with the passage of time, it is possible that the events of that night have since been discussed and there is information that could be really useful to our inquiry. Or maybe someone who was scared to speak to officers at the time might now feel able to come forward.
“Did you stay or work at the hotel or in the area of Inverness Terrace W2 in the early 1970s? Has anyone told you anything in confidence that you feel you should now disclose to police?
“We would also be interested in speaking to the friends – one from the hotel and an Italian woman – who Emmy went to the theatre with that night in case they have any useful information.
“We would ask anyone who can help to please contact us in confidence. Even if you think what you know is insignificant, we would ask that you come forward and let us assess what you tell us.”
Emmy’s granddaughter Carolyn Franks, 58, said: “My grandmother was a vulnerable woman and no one should have to die like she did, especially after the trauma she had already endured. The effect on her close family continues to be a source of great sadness to us and we feel whoever killed her should be held to account.”
You can provide information to police on 020 7230 4294 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
PC Keith Blakelock was stabbed to death during the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham, north London.
The 40 year-old father-of-three, who was originally from Sunderland, was one of the first officers called to the estate on October 6, 1985.
He and his colleague PC Richard Coombes were attacked by a group armed with sticks, knives and machetes as they moved in to protect firefighters trying to put out a blaze at the Tangmere block of flats.
Keith Blakelock
The officer suffered a total of 43 stab wounds before being pulled away by colleagues. A knife was left embedded in his neck and an attempt had been made to decapitate him. His police helmet has never been recovered.
Three men, Winston Silcott, Mark Braithwaite and Engin Raghip, were convicted of the murder of PC Blakelock in March 1987. The convictions were quashed in 1991 following allegations of police fabrication of evidence.
A second investigation between 1992 and 1994 under Commander Perry Nove did not result in any charges but identified several suspects (the ‘kickers’) who were willing to give evidence against the main attackers (the ‘stabbers’).
The third investigation began in 2000 and involved unsuccessful attempts to retrieve forensic evidence from the exhibits.
In 2010 detectives reinvestigating the case arrested 14 men on suspicion of involvement in the murder. All but one were released with no further action.
On 23 July 2013 police charged Nicholas Jacobs, 44 [13/10/68] of Hackney, with the murder of PC Keith Blakelock.
Jacobs went on trial at the Old Bailey on 3 March 2014. The prosecution case relied on testimony from three eyewitnesses that he was one of those using a knife during the attack on PC Blakelock.
The witnesses gave evidence using the pseudonyms John Brown, Rhodes Levin and Q. Brown and Levin, who had both served jail terms after being convicted of taking part in the riots, admitted they kicked PC Blakelock during the attack. In 1994 Brown received a £5,000 reward and Levin a £2,500 reward for their willingness to give evidence after the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone.
Witness Q, who first came forward in 2009, claimed he was standing around 15ft away.
Other evidence against Jacobs included photographs of him taking part in the riots on a different part of the estate and his conviction for violent disorder in 1986. While in prison a rap lyric was found in his cell which appeared to indicate he was involved in the murder.
It read: ‘As long as I live I will remember it was 1985 the 6th October… we gone at Broadwater I have on an Clarks, him have on an booger him have on his jacket I have on an jumper him have his bike helmet I have me balaclava him have hold of 007 (knife) and me have de chopper we have intention to kill an police officer PC Blakelock de unlucky f**ker him dis an help de fireman… who did an out fire de fireman see we av come and decide to scatter but PC Blakelock him never smell the danger but when we fly down upon him he start scream and holla everybody gather round and av pure laughter he try to head out but we trip him over he start beg for mercy but it didn’t matter him try to play super man… and him ger capture him have too face the consequences we back out we chopper we start chop him on his hand we chop him on him finger we chop him on him leg we chop him on his shoulder him head him chest him neck we chop him all over when we done kill him off lord er feel much better… me just wipe off me knife and go check on daughter we sit down and talk and she cook me dinner we smoke some sensi and we drink some liquor and then we make sweet love until a little later she suck me buddy… anyway five days later me ger capture de police and they kick off my door like me an mass murderer and they search up me flat like me a drugs smuggler they charge me with affray they have to drop the murder because I keep me mouth shut never turn no informer…’
The court also heard how Jacobs was arrested on suspicion of burglary on 3 May 2000 and told the police officer: ‘F*** off, I was one of them who killed Keith Blakelock.’
Jacobs did not give evidence in his defence. His barrister Courtenay Griffiths QC argued the witnesses were unreliable, proven liars who were motivated by reward money.
On 9 April 2014 the jury acquitted Jacobs of murder and manslaughter.
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, said: “PC Keith Blakelock joined the Met Police to serve and protect the community of London. That desire ended in his murder, following an attack that was without mercy, his murder was barbaric.
“That terrible night in October 1985 Keith, and his colleagues of Serial 502, were sent to the Broadwater Farm Estate to protect fire crews battling to control a blaze that was threatening to take hold of a block of flats. Keith was only present that night to do what he joined to do – protect and serve the community of Tottenham.
“We have worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service over many years to be in a position to put our evidence before a court. The investigation team pursued all the material, evidence and witnesses they could. No matter how difficult an investigation it has been to carry out – given the many years that have passed, the lack of forensic evidence and CCTV plus the main witnesses to Keith murder’s being those taking part in the riot – it was important we exhausted every possible lead we could.
“Sadly, Keith’s widow, family and friends still have not seen anyone brought to justice for his murder. The dignity, extraordinary patience and courage they have shown in their nearly thirty year quest for justice is humbling.
“We will not give up on bringing Keith’s killers to justice. There are people who know exactly who took part in the attack on Keith and people who took part themselves. It is not too late for you to come forward. Almost thirty years on peoples’ lives are very different, their allegiances broken or shifted. Help us now.
“The 6 October 1985 was an extremely sad day in the history of policing, and no police officer serving at that time will ever forget it. Today everyone in the police family should reflect on the barbaric and tragic events Keith, and Serial 502, experienced that night.”
We are obviously extremely sad and disappointed at the verdict. We viewed this trial as an opportunity to see some form of justice served for Keith. There were many people involved in a murder on that night of 6 October 1985 and it is regretful that no one has yet to be found guilty despite the number of people with knowledge of the events of that night. We appreciate the work and effort over the years since events on Broadwater Farm that night in trying to bring people to justice. We hope that more people are able to come forward so that some of those guilty can be brought to justice in the future.
Statement on behalf of PC Blakelock’s widow Elizabeth and their three sons
