Kate Bushell (1983 – 15 November 1997) and Lyn Bryant (1956/1957 – 20 October 1998) were two women murdered in separate, high-profile incidents in the
West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...
in 1997 and 1998 respectively. The similar circumstances of the murders led investigators to conclude that there is a high possibility the murders are linked, with both killed with
knives
A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...
while walking their dogs along isolated lanes within 75 miles of each other in south-west England. Bushell, only 14 years old, was found with her throat cut 300 yards (274 meters) from her home, with police saying the killing had been so brutal that the perpetrator may have had prior experience in slaughtering animals. Bryant was stabbed a number of times, and her killer had apparently returned to the scene four months later to place her missing glasses back at the site. The apparently motiveless killings, as well as their particularly brutal nature and apparent links, led to fears that a
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
was at large in the south-west at the time, which were compounded by subsequent attacks on other women walking their dogs in the area. Detectives had already warned after Bushell's murder that the offender appeared to be the kind who would soon kill again, and shortly after, Bryant was murdered.
Despite the murders being heavily publicised in
the press
''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...
and
the media, and both having featured on ''
Crimewatch
''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was o ...
'' appeals, the cases remain unsolved as of July 2022. They remain some of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
's most notorious unsolved murders.
In 2018, it was revealed that a
DNA profile
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...
had been isolated in the Bryant case, leading to renewed hopes that the perpetrator could be identified. The murders continue to receive considerable publicity, and there has been speculation that the murders could be linked to the similarly apparently motiveless killing of 66-year-old Helen Fleet, who was also walking her dog in
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...
in 1987. If the perpetrator had killed all three victims, he would be an unidentified serial killer.
Murders
Bushell
14-year-old Bushell lived in
Exwick
Exwick is an historic parish and manor in Devon, England, which today is a north-western suburb of the City of Exeter. Its name is derived from the River Exe, which forms its eastern boundary. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish and an electora ...
, on the western edge of
Exeter,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
. On Saturday 15 November 1997 she set out to walk her neighbours' dog Gemma as planned, since they were away for the weekend. She walked up Exwick Lane, a narrow rural lane commonly used by dog walkers and Bushell herself. At 6 p.m., with Bushell having not returned home and it being dark, her mother and father drove up the lane in their car to search for her, and also contacted the police. They then searched the footpaths through the adjacent fields and at 7:30 p.m. her father found Gemma (the dog), and then saw that Bushell was lying dead next to her. Her throat had been cut.
Three suspicious figures were reported as being near the scene by witnesses: a
vagrant
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
, a man with a blue car parked on Exwick Lane yards from the murder site, and a man seen running from the scene. None of these individuals ever came forward to police, and police would later state that this indicated that they had "something to hide".
Most people in the community knew each other well, so it had been noted in the summer of that year that the vagrant had suddenly appeared in the area. In mid-September, a resident noted the unknown man walking past him as he walked his dog on a lane on the outskirts of Exwick. He was described as wearing a long, checky-brown coat with a big collar that was very tight to his neck, and he had long straggly hair. He was between 5 ft 10ins and 6 ft tall, and between 30 and 40 years of age. The witness said he got the impression the man had been
sleeping rough in the area. The man was seen around the area several times by the same witness, and was described as always wearing the same big coat, even when it was hot. On the evening of Wednesday 12 November 1997, as the local resident again walked his dog down the lane, the vagrant suddenly came out from behind the trees and startled him. This was only three days before Bushell's murder, and only half a mile from her home, on a lane which she regularly walked down. On the weekend before Bushell's murder, a neighbour saw an orange or red
tent pitched near to the spot Bushell was found killed, and it seemed unusual for someone to be camping on their own outside Exeter in mid-November.
On the day of the murder, Bushell had gone shopping with her mum in Exeter city centre. At 4:30 p.m. she left her house to walk Gemma, her next-door neighbours dog. At 4:55 p.m., a father and his children who were out walking at the same time passed Bushell as she walked her dog up Exwick Lane. A mother and her daughter driving down the lane at 5:00 p.m. reported passing Bushell and her dog as they drove towards Exwick. They noted that she was looking straight at them, which they thought was unusual, and slightly further up the road they saw a man stood by a small blue van that was parked on the southern side of the lane. It was parked facing away from Exwick, and police believe it may have been a blue
Vauxhall Astra
The Vauxhall Astra is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) that has been sold by Vauxhall since 1980. It is currently produced at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England.
For its first two generations, the nameplate was applied to right-han ...
van. The witnesses questioned what the man was doing there, and said after they heard of the murder that they felt guilty that they had not gone back to help Bushell in some way. The location this sighting was reported was only 100 yards (91 meters) from where Bushell was found murdered, and it was the last sighting of her alive. The sighting was also made only minutes before Bushell's murder took place. About a quarter of an hour before this sighting was made, two other witnesses had driven down the lane and seen a blue
Ford Fiesta parked in the opposite direction, and it was not known whether this was the same vehicle. The man did not come forward and neither he or his vehicle were traced.
Half an hour after Bushell was found dead and half a mile away, a man was seen running from the direction of the lane into Cornflower Hill in Exwick, while the police
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
was circling above. Police did not know for sure if the sighting of the man was connected, and when Bushell's murder was featured on ''
Crimewatch
''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was o ...
'' in January 1998 they appealed for him to come forward. He never did.
Bushell's murder made front-page news nationally, provoking a national outcry, and was described in an appeal on ''Crimewatch'' in January 1998 as one of those murder cases that "strike a nervous chord across the nation". As it was a child who was murdered, the case gained a particularly high amount of attention. It was noted on ''Crimewatch'' that the murder appeared to be the kind committed by a repeat offender, with viewers being told: "unless a viewer can help now, the killer might not be caught until he strikes again". The lead detective on the case, Mike Stephens, said that all the officers on the inquiry were concerned that the murder may just be the start of the killer's attacks. Bushell's murder featured on ''Crimewatch'' again on 22 September 1998, as part of the 'Still Unsolved' programme. At the conclusion of this second ''Crimewatch'' appeal, it was asked for any individuals who knew the identity of the killer to come forward before he committed another offence. Almost exactly one month after the appeal, Bryant was killed.
Bryant
![Chenoweth's Garage, A3078, near Bessy Beneath in Cornwall (Geograph-5837788-by-David-Brown)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Chenoweth%27s_Garage%2C_A3078%2C_near_Bessy_Beneath_in_Cornwall_%28Geograph-5837788-by-David-Brown%29.jpg)
On Tuesday 20 October 1998, 41-year-old mother-of-two Lyn Bryant was killed, and investigators quickly concluded her murder might be linked to Bushell's. At 2:30 p.m. she was found by a gate to a field near her home on the
Roseland Peninsula
The Roseland Peninsula, or just Roseland, ( kw, Ros, meaning ''promontory'') is a district of west Cornwall, England. Roseland is located in the south of the county and contains the town of St Mawes and villages such as St Just and Gerrans. ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, five miles south of
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
, by a holiday-maker driving past. As in Bushell's case, her dog was found unharmed next to her. She had been stabbed a number of times in her neck and chest and police called the murder "horrendous". She had almost certainly fought with her killer. She had been in contact with her attacker for a considerable amount of time, having been stabbed while standing and also in a horizontal position.
At around lunchtime that day, between about 12:30 and 12:45 p.m., a local woman driving on the nearby road from
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
and
St. Mawes noticed a stranger walking down the road who she thought looked "odd". As she passed him in her vehicle, he looked straight at her, and this sighting was later the basis of a photofit. He was 5 ft 10ins, in his early 30s, with a square-ish jaw and dark eyebrows. Bryant drove to Chenoweth's garage at Ruan High Lanes and on the A3078 in her car and arrived at about 1 p.m., where she saw a friend and chatted with her. Whilst they were talking, at about 1:10 p.m., a small, scruffy white van turned into the garage and parked at a strange angle, facing towards Bryant's car. The driver was between 30 and 50 years old old, with a round face and a full bushy brown beard flecked with grey. He appeared quite big and seemed to be wearing a waxed green jacket. As soon as Bryant exited the petrol station, the unidentified van followed her out of the garage, which the employees of the garage thought odd. It was later discovered that the van had also been sighted on the Friday and Saturday before the murder, and that it had been sighted parked in the layby beside the chapel where she was found dead. The van was described as either an
Austin Maestro
The Austin Maestro is a five-door hatchback small family car (and two-door van derivative) that was produced from 1982 to 1987 by British Leyland, and from 1988 until 1994 by Rover Group, as a replacement for the Morris Marina and Austin Alleg ...
, a
Ford Escort or a
Bedford van
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
.
Bryant returned home but left again at 1:35 p.m. to walk her dog along Ruan High Lanes, which she walked on almost every day. She walked towards the Methodist chapel and then left towards
Treworga
Treworga is a hamlet between the villages of Veryan and Ruan Lanihorne on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic ...
. Then, between 1:45 and 2:00 p.m., a witness driving past saw Bryant speaking with a man outside the chapel, 100 yards (91 meters) from where she was later found dead. He was described as 5 ft 9ins, in his 30s, and wearing light clothing. A farmer moving his animals at the murder site did not report seeing Bryant at around 2:00 p.m., but she was then found dead at this location shortly after.
The possible links between Bushell and Bryant's murders were noted on ''
Crimewatch
''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was o ...
'' on 10 November 1998, and the lead detective on the Bryant inquiry, Chris Boarland, said that there were "distinct possibilities that they are linked", although he said that the murder could also have merely been local in character. He also said that they were working closely with the Bushell investigation team. Both victims had been out walking their dogs in the south-west when they were attacked and brutally murdered, apparently without motive. Boarland said "I truly believe that if we don't catch this man there is every possibility that he will strike again". An appeal was made to doctors and psychiatrists who may have had a patient that may have been capable of such a violent crime, indicating that detectives thought the killer may have been mentally ill. It was concluded that the man in the white van was a strong suspect for the crime, and it was said that he did not appear to be local.
Bryant's murder made headline news and was heavily reported on in
the press
''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...
and
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
. The murder occurred at a time when other high-profile killings were in the news: ongoing at the time was the high-profile trial of
Michael Stone for the Russell murders in
Chillenden
Chillenden is a village in east Kent, England, between Canterbury and Deal, and is in the civil parish of Goodnestone.
In the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086, Chillenden was recorded as 'Cilledene'. The parish in 1800 was made up of , containing three ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and three days after Bryant was murdered, Stone was convicted of the crimes. A mother and her two daughters had been attacked by a man while out walking with their dog.
Bryant's glasses were missing from her body and were not initially found by investigators, which detectives noted on ''Crimewatch'' three weeks later.
Murder inquiries
Initial investigations
![Entrance to Exwick Lane, Exwick, Exeter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Entrance_to_Exwick_Lane%2C_Exwick%2C_Exeter._Looking_from_Exwick_%28Geograph-3909823-by-Christine-Johnstone%29.jpg)
The police investigating Bushell's murder found a number of man-made dens in the area around where she was found dead. Police appealed for any children or adults who had used those to come forward and eliminate themselves from the inquiry. A black bin-liner was also found which contained an individual's personal effects, and some unidentified
fingerprints
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surf ...
were found on the bin-liner. On ''Crimewatch'' in January 1998, the lead detective Mike Stephens appealed to the community of Exwick directly, saying that someone in the community knew who the perpetrator was and requested that they helped bring him to justice. Despite the high profile of the Bushell case, and the appeal on ''Crimewatch'' in January 1998, the killer was not caught quickly. Another appeal was made on ''Crimewatch's'' 'Still Unsolved' programme on 22 September 1998, in which Stephens said he was "90% certain" that the killer was a local man or someone who had local knowledge. He also stated that the man was right handed, possibly the owner of a blue vehicle, and may have had prior experience of slaughtering animals, particularly
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...
. A
psychological profile of the killer was also revealed, which said the killer was likely:
*Aged between 18 and 35
*Someone with previous convictions, possibly for sexual offences
*Someone with sexual and/or relationship difficulties
*Someone who kept
pornography
*Someone who may have shown cruelty to animals
Despite the high profile of Bushell's killing and the appeals, none of the three suspicious figures seen in the area of Bushell's murder (the Vagrant, the man by the vehicle 100 yards from the murder site, and the man running from the scene) came forward, and Mike Stephens stated in November 1998: "We must question why some of these people have not come forward." Of the man seen by the blue vehicle very close to the scene, he said: "Despite extensive publicity this individual has failed to come forward and may clearly be Kate's killer... we have to conclude after this period of time the individual has something to hide".
Police found nothing in Bryant's background that would lead them to believe that she could be the subject of such an attack. Detectives traced the owners of 8,000 similar vans to the one the suspect was seen driving in the area of Bryant's murder in Devon and Cornwall, but did not find the vehicle, indicating that the driver may have come from outside the area. A criminal profile of the killer in Bryant's case said that he would likely be:
*A loner
*Not in a stable relationship
*Someone who has a hatred of women, which he may have expressed to friends or even psychiatrists
Detectives believed that Bryant did not know her killer. Lead detective Chris Boarland concluded: "This was a planned murder. It was not about Lynda Bryant. This is somebody who was looking for somebody in an isolated location." In both the Bushell and Bryant cases it was ultimately concluded that the motive was sexual, even though neither of the victims had been sexually assaulted. In both cases this was because of the way their clothes had been disturbed by her killer. The murders were described as "pretty unique nationally and internationally".
6,000 people were DNA tested in the first few years of the Bryant investigation, indicating that investigators had DNA evidence.
'Serial killer' fears
In early January 1999 a knife attack on a mother and her daughter in the area prompted fears of a
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
being at large in the area, and that he was stalking women in the area. A man with a knife had deliberately driven his car into a 17-year-old girl and then drove her and her mother into a nearby field where they fought their way out of his car while he lashed out and slashed the mother's hands. The attack happened while they walked their dog in a country lane in Netherton, near
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...
, Devon, and Devon and Cornwall police said the similarities between the incident and the two murders were "too obvious to ignore". The man had driven past them on the lane in a blue-grey
Vauxhall Cavalier
The Vauxhall Cavalier was a large family car that was sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall from 1975 to 1995. It was based on a succession of Opel designs throughout its production life, during which it was built in three incarnations. The fir ...
saloon, before coming up behind them again at slow speed several minutes later, before deliberately driving into the daughter's legs. The driver got out and held a knife to the girl's throat, saying he would cut her unless they did as he ordered.
The man matched the descriptions of the suspects in the two murders, described as white, 35 to 40, and of medium height. He was 5 ft 8ins tall and well-built, with short fair hair and with a roundish face.
In late January, there was another attack on a woman out walking her dog, 15 miles from the scene of Bryant's murder, and police also investigated whether her attack was linked to the murders. She had been attacked in a lane near
Camborne, Cornwall, by a man driving a black vehicle. He was described as large, between 30 and 40, with light hair and wearing dark trousers and a light top.
Killer returns to Bryant crime scene, glasses found
In February 1999, four month's after Bryant's murder, it was reported that Bryant's missing glasses had turned up at the scene of her murder, despite the scene having been meticulously searched at the time of the killing and them not having been found. Detectives said they believed that the killer could have returned to the gateway where her body was found and placed her missing spectacles there. They had been found at the scene by a local man and given to the police. One possibility investigated by police was that the killer had returned them to the scene as he wanted to be caught.
Possible further attack
On 2 July 2000, there was an incident in which a woman was
stalked for more than 300 yards by a man carrying a six-inch knife in
Salcombe
Salcombe is a popular resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area o ...
, Devon. Occurring at 7:30 p.m., her
Alsatian dog
The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899.
It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...
barked at the man and he ran off. Detectives investigated whether the incident was linked to the murders. The man was white with a suntan, about 40 and clean shaven. He had got out of a dark blue
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
car and was wearing green corduroy trousers and a blue sweatshirt.
Cold case investigations
Despite their high profile the cases eventually
went cold, with both investigations remaining open.
Investigators found that a number of bright orange fibres had been left at or near the scene of Bushell's murder, and police continue to appeal for the public to come forward if they know of anyone who owned such orange clothing at the time. In 2014, it was revealed that these fibres had been contaminated in 1999 with purple fibres from a lab technician when the evidence was examined as part of a forensic review. This led to fears that a prosecution would no longer be possible, but police responded in 2014 by saying that it was still possible as some evidence was unaffected.
Over time, the cases have been speculatively linked to a number of known killers. In 2001, the two murders were linked to
Philip Smith in the press, after he killed three women randomly in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
. It was said that he regularly visited Devon and Cornwall with the fairground he worked for, and had a sister who lived in Exeter. In 2012, possible links between Bushell's murder and serial killer
David Burgess (responsible for the
Beenham murders
The Beenham murders were the murders of a teenage girl and two 9-year-old girls in the Berkshire village of Beenham in 1966 and 1967. Local man David Burgess was found guilty of two murders in 1967—for which he was handed down two life sentences ...
) were investigated after it was discovered that he had been released from prison between 1996 and 1998, a time period in which Bushell was killed. No links were found to either of these killers.
New leads were investigated after a 20th anniversary appeal on Bushell's murder in 2017, but they did not lead anywhere. Detectives remained convinced that Bushell's killer had a local connection due to the location of the crime scene, which was an isolated rural spot mainly used as a cut-through and by local dog walkers. Detectives have also highlighted how the killer would have taken a knife with him that day to the scene, showing he set out to cause harm.
In October 2018, it was revealed that a partial DNA profile of the killer of Bryant had been isolated during a 2016 forensic review of the case. Detectives said that it could be used to eliminate suspects quickly, and revealed that they were re-testing some of the 6,000 people who had their DNA tested in the original investigation (the police had to destroy previous DNA evidence they had in 2013 due to a change in the law). It was also announced that three suspects arrested in the initial investigation had now been eliminated forensically. It was also said that three men of interest in the Bryant murder had still not been identified: the scruffy, bearded driver of the white van seen following her out of the garage, the man seen talking to her beside the chapel shortly before she was killed (the last known sighting of her), and a clean-shaven man wearing "normal clothes" who was seen by a farmer walking through a field away from the scene, which the farmer said was very unusual.
Detectives believe that the "most critical" sighting in the Bushell murder is of the man with the blue car 100 yard (91 meters) from the murder site.
There remains a £10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the killer of Bushell. There is also a £10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the killer of Bryant.
On 14 November 2022,
Devon and Cornwall Police
Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) in England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an area of .
...
launched a renewed appeal to the public, appeal for information to find the killer of Exwick schoolgirl Kate Bushell who was murdered 25 years ago. It was stated that a substantial reward of £20,000 had also been offered by independent charity Crimestoppers for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the offender. .
Lasting notoriety
Bushell's murder case is Devon and Cornwall Police's biggest and most high-profile murder investigation, with the investigation costing more than £1m by 2018. Bryant's case, meanwhile, had cost £2m by 2018. Both Bushell and Bryant's murders continue to be heavily featured in the news, and were heavily publicised on the 20-year anniversary of their killings in 2017 and 2018. Bushell and Bryant's murders are seen as some of the most notorious murders in Britain, and are seen as particularly notorious unsolved murders in the
West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...
.
In 2009, Bushell's case was discussed in detail in a chapter of a book by Vanessa Brown, titled ''Britain's Ten Most Wanted: The Truth Behind the Most Shocking Unsolved Murders''.
The possible links between Bushell and Bryant's murders continue to be noted in the press and media, and in 2018, retired detective
Chris Clark claimed that the two murders could be linked to the murder of 66-year-old Helen Fleet in Worlebury Woods, in
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...
, in March 1987. She had also been randomly killed while out walking her dog, which was also left unharmed, and was not sexually assaulted or robbed. Clark claimed that there was a similar sighting of a pale van nearby.
See also
*
List of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom
This is an incomplete list of unsolved known and presumed murders in the United Kingdom. It does not include any of the 3,000 or so murders that took place in Northern Ireland due to the Troubles and remain unsolved. Victims believed or known t ...
*
Russell murders – similar, and contemporary, random murders of a mother and daughter walking with their dog in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in July 1996
*
Murders of Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon
Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon were murdered in separate, sexually motivated attacks during 1975 in London, England. Stratford (28 December 1953 – 18 March 1975) was a bunny girl and model. Weedon (11 November 1958 – 10 Septembe ...
– two separate unsolved UK murders from 1975 that have been proven by DNA to have been committed by the same person
*
Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo
Jacqueline Susan Ansell-Lamb (21 September 1951 – 14 March 1970) and Barbara Janet Mayo (20 March 1946 – 12 October 1970) were two young women who were murdered in separate incidents in 1970. Both women were last seen hitch-hiking a ...
– two separate unsolved UK murders from 1970 that are believed to have been committed by the same person
*Murders of
Janet Brown
Janet McLuckie Brown (14 December 192327 May 2011) was a Scottish actress, comedian and impressionist who gained considerable fame in the 1970s and 1980s for her impersonations of Margaret Thatcher. Brown was the wife of Peter Butterworth, who ...
and
Carolanne Jackson – two separate unsolved UK murders from 1995 and 1997 which may be linked
*
Murder of Ann Heron – another UK unsolved murder where key witness sightings reported seeing a mysterious blue Vauxhall Astra at the scene
*
Penhallow Hotel fire
The Penhallow Hotel fire was a suspected arson attack that occurred in Newquay, Cornwall on 18 August 2007. Three people were killed and it was reported as the worst hotel fire in the United Kingdom in nearly 40 years. The hotel was a well-known ...
– another high-profile crime in Cornwall which is still unsolved
Other UK cold cases where the offender's DNA is known:
*
Murder of Deborah Linsley
On the afternoon of 23 March 1988, Deborah Linsley was murdered on a train between Petts Wood and London Victoria stations in Greater London. Although there were about 70 people on the train, and Linsley apparently fought and injured her attac ...
*
Murder of Lindsay Rimer
Lindsay Jo Rimer (17 February 1981 – ''ca.''7 November 1994) was a thirteen-year-old British girl from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, who was murdered. She was last seen alive buying cornflakes at a SPAR shop on Crown Street in Hebden Bridg ...
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Murder of Janet Brown
Janet Brown (27 January 1944 – 10 April 1995) was an English nurse who was murdered by an intruder in her house in Radnage, Buckinghamshire in 1995. The case remains unsolved, and the investigation remains open. Links have also been suggested b ...
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Murder of Linda Cook
The murder of Linda Cook was committed in Portsmouth on 9 December 1986. The subsequent trial led to a miscarriage of justice when Michael Shirley, an 18-year-old Royal Navy sailor, was wrongly convicted of the crime and sentenced to life impriso ...
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Murder of Melanie Hall
Melanie Hall (20 August 1970 – disappeared 9 June 1996; declared legally dead 17 November 2004) was a British hospital clerical officer from Bradford on Avon, who disappeared on 9 June 1996, following a night out at Cadillacs nightclub in B ...
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Batman rapist
The Batman rapist is an unidentified English serial sex offender who committed at least seventeen sexual assaults on women in the city of Bath, Somerset, between 1991 and 2000. He is the subject of Britain's longest–running serial rape investi ...
– subject to Britain's longest-running serial rape investigation
Notes
References
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
''Crimewatch'' appeal on Bushell's murder, January 1998 (03:10-14:45) ''Crimewatch: Still unsolved'' appeal on Bushell's murder, September 1998 (10:53-17:56) ''Crimewatch'' appeal on Bryant's murder, November 1998 (01:20-11:30)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushell, Kate and Bryant, Lyn, Murders Of
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