The 16 unsolved Nottinghamshire murders which have been cold cases for decades
More than a dozen shocking Nottinghamshire murders remain unsolved decades after they were committed, according to newly released information. Families have been left without answers for years as detectives have been unable to uncover the true identities of the killers, with the oldest case dating from 1944.[1][2] Among the unsolved cases are multiple shootings, violent beatings and a body that laid undiscovered for 56 years until farmers dug up a field in Sutton-on-Ashfield[3].
The list of unsolved murders would have totalled 17 until very recently. However, recent developments in the case of executed taxi driver Ethsham Ul Haq Ghafoor[4] mean that this case is no longer cold, as detectives have managed to find leads more than 30 years after his murder. Using exclusive data from Freedom of Information requests to Nottinghamshire Police[5], we have been able to map and revisit these cases in the hope there may be information out there which could help detectives.
Gurcharn Singh Landa
(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)Gurcharn Singh Landa, 33, was found with 87 stab wounds in the early hours of Saturday, August 14, 1982.
The taxi driver was believed to have been robbed of his takings and then stabbed mostly in his chest. Forty two years later, 11 suspects have been arrested. No one has ever been charged for the taxi driver's death.
The 33-year-old was a father of eight and was believed to be sent to Peel Street at about 4am to pick up his next passenger. A neighbour reported that she heard a car brake suddenly on Cyprus Road at 4.05 a.m. She looked out to see the car violently rocking, and a man was reported to be seen searching the taxi's dashboard.
After calling 999, the woman went out into the street to find Mr Landa, who died shortly after officers from Nottinghamshire Police arrived at the scene.
John Andrew Shippam
John Shippam who was murdered at a house on Chiltern Way Bestwood Park, Nottingham. POSTPHOTO X081102SO1-1 (Image: Nottinghamshire Police)The body of John Shippam, 25, was found in a flat with a gunshot wound to his chest in Bestwood on November 7, 2002. Nottinghamshire Police believed at the time that this murder was connected with criminal organisations in the Bestwood area, which is where he had grown up.
Just two days before his death on November 7, he was assaulted at a fireworks display at the Anchor pub in Gunthorpe. This incident provided one of the few leads for police in their hunt for his killer, and they are still appealing for information surrounding that assault 48 hours before the shooting. The 25-year-old had recently moved out of his family home and was living in a flat in Chiltern Way, Bestwood[6], where a neighbour discovered his body.
He had been shot dead sometime between 3.30am and 10.30am.
Theresa Jacobs
Theresa Jacobs' murder has remained unsolved since 2002, despite 40 people witnessing the 33-year-old being shot in the head outside a club on Ilkeston[7] Road on November 9. Detectives from the murder investigation team have stated that the woman, originally from Bulwell[8] was specifically targeted in what appears to be a premeditated "hit", far from a case of indiscriminate shooting. Authorities report that the club, situated close to Radford[9] Boulevard, was on the cusp of closing down, and around 40 individuals were present outside.
Despite this, scarcely a few witnesses have stepped forward.
Jack Owen
Jack Owen was working on his allotment in 1944 when he was hit in the back of the neck by a bullet that killed him. The 54-year-old was killed on June 21, and after extensive enquiries, Nottinghamshire Police were never able to recover a weapon or a bullet, but they believe he was shot from a long distance.
James Brodie
James Brodie,19 was never found after Nottinghamshire Police started searching for him in 2003. (Image: Nottinghamshire Police)James Brodie, 19, disappeared in 2003, and since then, Nottinghamshire Police have been searching for his remains. Detectives have been searching for Brodie since he was believed to be involved in a botched robbery that led to the murder of Marian Bates in the same year.
The 64-year-old grandmother was at Time Centre in Arnold with her husband and daughter at the time. Brodie's accomplice Peter Williams was jailed for 22 years after being convicted of murder. In legal submissions, the judge heard Williams told police that Bestwood[10] crime boss Colin Gunn was behind the robbery.
However he has never been charged over this. The court heard Williams took part in the robbery but that an accomplice - believed to be Brodie - fired the shot. Brodie has been missing ever since the raid.
Brodie, who was originally from Bulwell[11], has been missing ever since the raid, with police searching places such as Glasgow, Leicestershire, land near Flintham, and flats in Top Valley and Bulwell over the years. In 2013, an extensive search of farmland and a canal in Lincolnshire were searched for his remains but nothing was found.
Omar Watson
NEWS. Picture from Police press office.Omar Watson. X121103TS2-1
(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)Omar Watson, also known as Noel Rydenna, was shot by a single bullet after his killer walked into a hair salon on Peveril Street, Radford, at about 1pm on Friday, November 7, 2003, and shot Omar. Hailing from Top Valley, Mr Watson, aged 24, died at Queen's Medical Centre[12] shortly thereafter.
A black wig with red tints was found at the scene of Mr Watson's murder. Authorities believe that several individuals knew the identity of his murderer, but fear for their own safety prevented them from coming forward.
David Draycott
David Draycott the Sutton in Ashfield murder victim. POSPTHOTO X231002SO2-1 (Image: Nottinghamshire Police)David Barrie Draycott was ambushed by a gunman and shot several times after he attempted to exit his black Mercedes at his home in Sutton-on-Ashfield.
GBP30,000 is still being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction of his murderer. On October 7, 2002 Mr Draycott was shot ten times at around 9.15 pm. Despite sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, he managed to make it to a neighbour's door, where he received medical attention while he waited for an ambulance.
He succumbed to his injuries four days later.
Shane Thompson
(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)Shane Marcus Thompson, 19, was tragically caught in the crossfire between rival gangs on the night of Sunday, November 30, 1997. He was pursued from a city eatery to the Two in the Bush public house in Radford, where he was beaten by a band of six to eight individuals some of whom were wielding wooden sticks. He then suffered a heart attack as a result of the beating and died.
Despite six individuals being tried for his murder, they were later absolved, leaving detectives with a cold trail for the last 27 years.
Kevin Coniam
Lorry driver, Kevin Coniam, 36, was discovered in the back of his gold Volvo estate in a secluded area of Mansfield[13], having suffered head and neck injuries during the early hours of Monday, October 5, 1992. Mr Coniam, originally from Kent, had been an HGV driver since 1988 and worked for several agencies in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. He regularly travelled to Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands and did domestic work for the companies.
The police have yet to determine who was responsible for Mr Coniam's murder, but they suspect it may be linked to his drug addiction. Several companies that Mr Coniam drove for reported to the police that they became suspicious of his activities when he consistently took longer than expected to complete journeys.
Arthur Cope
(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)In 1964, Arthur Cope was found in a pool of blood in his caravan at Radcliffe-on-Trent Caravan Park, in Wharf Lane, on October 9. The 56-year-old had last been seen by work colleagues two days prior.
The caravan was found to be secure and nothing had been stolen, leading police to assume Mr Cope had invited his attacker inside. A team of 60 detectives, including senior officers from Scotland Yard, investigated the murder. The case resurfaced in 2013 when builders at the former Newark Police Station found a bag of evidence containing bicycle handlebars.
However, a police spokesman later said they had been forensically tested and eliminated as the murder weapon.
Beatrice Greig
(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)The unusual case of Beatrice Greig resulted in two convictions which were both later overturned. The widow was discovered in a pool of blood at her home in Loughrigg Close, The Meadows[14] on March 28, 1992, having been brutally beaten to death. Her daughter, Patricia Bass, was initially found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment at Nottingham Crown Court in February 1995.
However, after 21 months, the Court of Appeal overturned the murder conviction due to a technicality. A second jury found her guilty at a retrial, but this conviction was also declared unsafe by the Court of Appeal in 1998. Since then, there have been no new leads in Mrs Greig's case.
Joan Smith or Joan Maschek
Joan Maschek, 48, was battered to death with a blunt instrument believed to be her own guitar in Lenton[15] on June 13, 1976.
Nottinghamshire Police released a sketch of a person of interest, yet the mystery man, who was believed to be Joan's friend, never appeared. Despite the efforts of over 100 detectives, the case went cold.
George Wilson
(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)George Wilson, 41, had taken the family dog out for a walk near to the pub they owned - the Fox and Grapes, and about twenty minutes later, his wife heard the dog barking. She went out to inspect what had happened and found George lying face down with 14 stab wounds.
Two boys later found the knife that was used to murder George. Nottinghamshire Police have never been able to charge anyone with his murder.
Donald Stevens
The murder of Donald Stevens has been shrouded in mystery as detectives were never able to find a motive for his violent demise. The 45-year-old from Germany left his home on Friday, September 24, 1965, telling his wife he was visiting the Albert Hotel.
The staff at the hotel never saw him and Mr Stevens never returned to his home on Harlaxton Drive. His body was then found shortly before midnight on St Ann's[16] Hill Road with stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. Detectives believe he had given someone a lift home before he was murdered, yet no suspects have ever been arrested in this gruesome case.
Robert Keetley
NEWS Collect picture from police of missing person Robert Keetley Photographer: DUSTIN MICHAILOVS POSTPHOTO: C010507DAM4-1 (Image: Nottinghamshire Police)Robert Keetley's cause of death still remains unclear as the 37-year-old disappeared after a night out in Nottingham on Saturday, April 28, 2007.
He left the New Foresters pub in St Ann's Street at 2.40 am on Sunday, April 29 and after leaving he was last seen on CCTV in Huntington Street. His body was then recovered ten days later after being found near Trent Bridge[17]. An inquest has since ruled that it was unlikely his death was a suicide or an accident.
Nottinghamshire Police believe that he was a victim of a robbery and was either forced into the Trent by the robbers or went into the river to flee them. Three people were arrested in 2008 in connection with his death. However, all of them were released.
Alfred Swinscoe
(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)Detectives have relaunched appeals after Alfred Swinscoe's body was found in April 2023, more than fifty years after he was last seen.
The father of six was found buried in a field, and he was last seen drinking at the Miners Arms in Pinxton in January 1967. His remains were found in Coxmoor Road Sutton-in-Ashfield when digging work began on the farmland. Nottinghamshire Police believe that the former miner was murdered and then buried in a grave between 4ft and 6ft deep.
A team of detectives have been working with scientists to bring his murderers to justice finally. Alfred had sustained a significant stab injury and blunt force to parts of his body. Nottinghamshire Police identified two suspects but both of them had died before they could be investigated further.
Kevin Steven Childerley
Kevin and his wife Denise were sleeping in bed when three men armed with various weapons attacked the couple while their five-year-old child slept in the other room.
Kevin Childerley, 30, a father of two, was beaten to death, and his wife was left with severe injuries after three men armed with what was thought to be a chisel, axe, and a knife carried out the attack in the early hours of Monday, February 19, 1990.
The neighbours of the Childerleys found Kevin moaning on the floor of the kitchen, surrounded by a pool of blood, with his wife Denise upstairs with serious life-altering injuries in their Mansfield Woodhouse home.
Two men were later charged with his murder in 1991, however they were both acquitted in March 1991.
References
- ^ Nottinghamshire (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ killers (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Sutton-on-Ashfield (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ recent developments in the case of executed taxi driver Ethsham Ul Haq Ghafoor (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Police (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Bestwood (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Ilkeston (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Bulwell (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Radford (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Bestwood (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Bulwell (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Queen's Medical Centre (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Mansfield (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ The Meadows (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Lenton (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ St Ann's (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Trent Bridge (www.nottinghampost.com)