The One That Almost Got Away!
| Date | 01 October 1982 |
| Published date | 01 October 1982 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8205500404 |
| Author | D. J. Cole |
| Subject Matter | Article |
D.
J. COLE
Detective Chief Superintendent.
THE
ONE
THAT
ALMOST
GOT
AWAY!
(An account
of
an investigation conducted by West Mercia
Detectives during the early summer
of
1981
-first
to identifyafemale
body
and
then to establish how she met her death.)
On Easter Monday the swollen River Teme released from its depths
the distorted, decomposed remains of a middle aged female. She was
carried almost a mile down-stream from Knightsford Bridge on the
strong current and a startled fisherman found her draped around a
partially submerged tree trunk. In raising the alarm, he started one of
the most absorbing enquiries West Mercia detectives had
encountered for some years.
Three months later, the woman's husband was to be charged with
her murder. Had it not been for a couple of pieces of bad luck,
combined with the natural suspicion and inquisitiveness of
detectives, he could well have committed the perfect crime and
escaped detection.
When dragged from the water, the body was seen to be coated in a
thick layer of silt and. was naked
apart
from a long skirt covering her
lower half.
Post mortem examinations on decomposed corpses recovered
from water are notoriously difficult for pathologists. Most of the
evidence upon which it is possible to establish a cause of death in
normal circumstances has been damaged or destroyed. In the
absence of significant injury or disease the only conclusion that can
be drawn is one ofdrowning. In this case, the only injuries noted were
a couple of splits in the scalp, which could have been caused after
death as the body moved along the river bed.
However, despite the absence of the usual identifying factors such
as clothing, watches, jewellery or other possessions, the post-mortem
was to produce several of pieces of evidence which could have made
the identidication of the body relatively easy. She had a dental plate;
acrushed right thumb, which was obviously an old injury; her hair
was dyed; she had been in the water for up to fiveweeks;she was still
capable of childbirth, and therefore under fifty; although bloated
and disfigured, the 5'3" female had the appearance of a gypsy; her
teeth had peculiar horizontal edges, which would be easily
recognised by her dentist.
Armed with the pathologist's findings, the investigating officers
were quietly confident that all they had to do was find a pile of
discarded clothing somewhere on the river bank, link it up with some
October 1982 325
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