Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Reading

by John J Eddleston

  At the same time, Dr Derek Barrowcliff had conducted a new post-mortem which showed that June Cook had suffered at least seven blows on the front of her head. In his opinion these had most probably been inflicted from above whilst she was in a kneeling position. This was not a tragic accident but a case of murder.

  On 17 March, the inquest finally opened but after evidence of identification was given, the proceedings were immediately adjourned. That same day, Raymond Cook was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife.

  On 22 March, Eric Jones was interviewed again, in Wrexham. After some intense questioning he admitted that he had once had a long affair with Kim Newell. Some six years ago she had even become pregnant by him but had an abortion. Jones now agreed that he had been in Reading on 2 March and had seen Newell to discuss the possibility of another abortion, but had told her that he was unable to help. Jones still denied any involvement in Mrs Cook’s death.

  The next day, 23 March, Kim Newell was taken to the police station at Reading, for interview. She confirmed that there had been a relationship with Eric Jones some six or seven years before and that Jones had called on her on the evening of 2 March. He didn’t know the best route out of Reading so she went with him part of the way to direct him. She was back home by 7.40pm and had no involvement in the death of June Cook.

  In fact, it wasn’t until April that the case was finally broken. Kenneth Adams was the husband of Kim Newell’s sister, Janet. He told the police that his wife had said that Kim had confided in her. Apparently, Kim had told Janet that Jones had killed June by striking her with a car jack. This was part of a conspiracy to kill June and, in fact, other arrangements had been made previously.

  There had been some discussion about driving the car into the river near Woodley airfield but this had been called off. Even the present plan had been postponed until after June altered her will back to make her husband the beneficiary once again. Once this was done, June’s fate was sealed. The plan was that Raymond would take his wife out for a meal. On the way home, Jones would flag their car down and pretend his own vehicle was having mechanical trouble. Then June would be battered to death and an accident faked. As to why Kim was telling Janet all this, Kenneth Adams explained that she was afraid that Jones might kill her in order to hide his own involvement and she wanted someone to know this, so that he could be arrested and charged.

  On 16 April, Kim Newell was arrested and the following day, after being interviewed yet again, Eric Jones was taken into custody. He made a full written statement admitting his part in the affair and later, whilst being held in the cells, he made a full verbal statement to Constable Neville Jones Hughes who had been detailed to watch over the cells at Wrexham. Constable Hughes had only been out of training college for three weeks and may not have been fully conversant with the correct procedure, but he did note down in his pocketbook all that Jones said.

  Jones was then transferred to Reading and the next day, 18 April, he and Newell were both charged with murder.

  The trial of all three defendants opened at Oxford on 5 June 1967 before Mr Justice Stable. The case for the prosecution was led by Mr Brian Gibbins who was assisted by Mr JED Irving. Cook was defended by Mr Douglas Draycott and Mr Michael Talbot. Jones was represented by Mr Kenneth Jones and Mr Nigel Fricker, whilst Newell was defended by Mr William Howard and Mr Patrick Medd.

  Originally, all three were charged with murder but in the early stages of the trial, the charge against Newell was reduced to being an accessory before the fact.

  The third day of the proceedings were largely taken up with legal arguments, held in camera, during which Jones’ defence team tried to exclude the confession he had made to officers at Wrexham. Jones was now claiming that this had been made under duress. The publicity these arguments generated in the newspapers was seen by Constable Hughes at Wrexham, who only now brought the notes he had made to the attention of his superiors. Since those notes, which were certainly not made under duress, were an almost exact copy of what Jones had said in his written confession, Hughes was called to Oxford to give evidence. Faced with this, on the fourth day of the trial, Jones changed his plea to guilty and then gave evidence for the Crown against the other two.

  The proceedings lasted for twelve days and when the jury returned to court after a deliberation of some two hours, on 21 June, it was to announce that all three were guilty as charged. They all received sentences of life imprisonment.

  It can perhaps be argued that the person at the centre of this web of deceit and intrigue had been Valerie Newell. She ended up serving twelve years in prison, being released in 1979. She moved to Wales and obtained a position as a schoolteacher. Some eleven years later, in 1990, she died of cancer. Perhaps she can best be summed up by her own words. Asked to speak about the crime, she said: ‘Yes, I feel remorse. She didn’t deserve to die.’ Then, referring to the two men who had taken part with her in the crime she added: ‘I never loved them. I only loved my dog.’

  CHAPTER 14

  The Gravel Pit Murders David Burgess 1967

  Jacqueline Williams and Jeanette Wigmore were the best of friends. The two nine-year-old girls were always together and things were no different on the evening of Monday 17 April 1967.

  At some time between 4.30pm and 5.00pm on that Monday, the two girls left the village of Beenham on their bicycles, for a ride in the countryside. Shortly afterwards, at around 5.15pm, they were seen together by Jeanette’s father, Anthony Wigmore, in Webbs Lane. Soon after that, at approximately 5.30pm, the two friends were seen by William Goody. By now the girls had dismounted from their bicycles and were pushing them along, close to the junction of Webbs lane and Admoor Lane.

  Charles Gillings was working in that area from about 6.00pm onwards. At 6.25pm, having finished what he needed to do, Mr Gillings let his dog loose for a run in the fields around one of the gravel pits. As the animal scampered off, Mr Gillings noticed two children’s bicycles lying on the grass near the entrance to the pit. Strangely, he could hear no sounds of laughter or children playing and saw no trace of whoever might own those bicycles.

  By 7.30pm that same evening, Anthony Wigmore was growing concerned. It was not like Jeanette to stay out this late. He knew that when he had seen his daughter, she had been with her good friend Jacqueline, so his first port of call was the Williams’ house. There he spoke to Jacqueline’s father, Terence, and when he said that Jacqueline hadn’t come home either, the two men set off, with others, to find their daughters.

  Although the talk amongst the men looking for the two girls was of children staying out later than they should, the events of the previous year must have been at the back of everyone’s minds. In October 1966, a seventeen-year-old nursemaid, Yolande Waddington, had been sexually assaulted, and murdered, in the village and the killer had never been found. Pushing such thoughts to the backs of their minds, the search party went on looking for the two girls.

  It was then that Anthony Wigmore remembered that Jeanette had said something about getting some frog spawn for a nature study class at school. All the children in the area knew that the best place to get spawn was in the pools around the gravel pits and, of course, Anthony had seen Jeanette earlier, heading off in that direction with Jacqueline. Anthony decided that he would go up to the pits and bring the girls home, possibly with a flea in their ears for staying out so late.

  Anthony drove up towards the pits and, entering the same field where Charles Gillings had been an hour or so before, he the same two bicycles, one of which he instantly recognised as Jeanette’s. Walking on a little further, Anthony found his own daughter’s body, lying in a shallow pool of water. She had, apparently, been killed by a single stab wound.

  The police were called in and a search of the immediate area organised. Just before 11.00pm, Inspector Mutch of the Reading Police found the body of Jacqueline Williams. She lay some 120 yards from her friend, and had been drowned in six inches of water. There were also signs that she had been sexually assau
lted. The police were looking for a double child-killer.

  Determined that this should not be another unsolved murder in the village, the local police immediately sought the assistance of Scotland Yard. They responded by sending Detective Superintendent William Marchant to take charge of the investigation.

  One of the first things Superintendent Marchant did was to organise a series of house-to-house checks. He had come to believe that since the gravel pits in the area were secluded, the killer was most probably a local man. Thus, all males were interviewed and asked to say where they had been between 5.30pm and 9.00pm, on the evening of Monday 17 April.

  The villagers of Beenham offered every assistance to the investigating officers. People came forward to report sightings of strangers they had seen in and around the area. Thus, within days, police were trying to trace a cyclist, who had been seen in the village a few hours before the two girls had been murdered. He was described as being forty to forty-five years old, about five feet six inches tall, thick set and with grey or white hair. He had a full, ruddy face and was dressed in a checked shirt and a pinkish-brown windcheater or anorak. He had been seen parking his bicycle in a gateway, close to The Stocks public house.

  Another sighting had been made of a woman, who had been using binoculars close to the Mayridge gravel pit. She was not a suspect but might well have seen something. She was soon traced but was unable to take the investigation any further.

  Officers were also seeking to trace the driver of a Ford Zephyr car, which had been parked not far from the scene of the crime. That driver, too, was soon traced and eliminated from the inquiry.

  The area around Beenham was soon crowded with newspaper reporters. Not only was this a double murder but now three females had been killed in the area within six months. One of those reporters, George Hollingbery, whilst looking around the village, found a bundle of soiled clothing, apparently dumped underneath a hedge. These items, a blue jacket and grey trousers, were handed into the police and subjected to forensic examination. No trace of blood, or any other evidence, was discovered.

  The inquest on the dead girls opened before Mr Charles Hoile, at Newbury, on Friday 28 April. Only basic evidence of identification and the injuries the girls had received were given before the proceedings were adjourned.

  By 5 May, over 4000 questionnaires had been completed by the police. Blood samples and statements had been taken from all the men aged between nineteen and sixty, who lived in and around Beenham. It was this painstaking approach which led Superintendent Marchant to narrow his search down to just one man.

  David Burgess fitted the profile of the killer very well indeed. He was nineteen years old, a local man, and worked as a dumper-truck driver in Fisher’s Pit, one of the gravel pits in Admoor Lane, close to where the girls had been found. On the day of the murder he had left work at 5.30pm and had been seen by other villagers in the area. Burgess worked with his brother, John, whom he told he was off to find some rabbit snares. He apparently returned to work soon afterwards, and was seen, by his brother, reading a book, at around 6.25pm.

  There was one other curious piece of information. John Burgess had told the police that the day after the murders, Tuesday 18 April, he had casually mentioned to David that he had been missing from work at about the time the girls were killed and so might have had the opportunity to commit the crime. Instead of simply denying any involvement, David had snapped back: ‘It wasn’t me.’

  David Burgess was taken in for questioning and his clothing taken for forensic examination. That examination revealed spots of blood on the side of one of Burgess’ shoes and when that was tested it was found to be of the rare group ABMN. This was the same group as Jeanette’s and only 1.5% of the population had such a group. It linked Burgess directly to Jeanette’s body and he was now asked to explain it.

  Burgess began by denying everything. He could offer no explanation as to how Jeanette’s blood could have come to be on his shoe. Superintendent Marchant asked him again and again to account for this fact, but Burgess would only say he hadn’t been in that particular gravel pit on that day. Finally, after what seemed an age, Burgess finally broke down in tears and shouted: ‘You catch the man I chased away.’

  Asked to elaborate, Burgess went on to say: ‘I was up the end of my pit, where I work, when I heard someone scream. When I went across, I saw him. The bloke stood there and she was in the water. I shouted at him.’

  Continuing his narrative, Burgess claimed that he had then gone to where Jeanette’s body lay, and picked her up. He saw the blood on her and was sure that she was dead and there was nothing he could do for her. Rather than run for help, though, he simply placed her body back where he had found it and told no-one. He ended by claiming that he had never seen the body of Jacqueline.

  The police believed that they had captured their killer and, on the evening of Sunday 7 May, Burgess was charged with the murder of Jeanette Wigmore. He made his first appearance before the magistrates on Monday 8 May, when matters were adjourned until Friday 12 May. Other adjournments followed and, on Friday 26 May, Burgess was also charged with the murder of Jacqueline Williams.

  Burgess faced the magistrates for the last time in June 1967, when he was sent for trial at Gloucester. However, before that trial opened, Burgess had more information to give to the police.

  The week before his trial was due to take place, Burgess said he wished to say more about the man he claimed to have seen with Jeanette’s body. Now he recalled that the man was named Mac. He couldn’t remember the exact surname but believed it might have been MacNab. Burgess claimed that he had first seen the man in the Viking Café on Caversham Road, Reading. He knew that Mac went there quite a lot so the police should have no trouble in tracing him.

  Burgess went on to say that he had seen Mac again, after the murders, in the Six Bells public house at Beenham. Mac had followed Burgess to the toilets and warned him to keep his mouth shut about seeing him with the girl’s body. The story was checked out and proved to be valueless. There was no regular customer at the Viking Café named Mac and no-one had seen such a man in the Six Bells.

  David Burgess faced his trial for murder on Thursday 13 July 1967, before Mr Justice Stable and a jury of nine men and three women. The case for the prosecution was led by Mr Kenneth Jones, and Burgess was defended by Mr Douglas Draycott. The proceedings would last until 21 July.

  Burgess was questioned closely about his not reporting finding the body of Jeanette Wigmore, if his story was true. He claimed that he had not reported it as he did not wish to become involved. It did not, apparently, matter that had he raised the alarm, the killer might have been captured immediately. Nor did it matter that he had allowed a child-killer to escape, possibly to kill again.

  The jury, it seemed, also did not believe the story told by David Burgess. They took just three hours and twenty minutes to decide, unanimously, that Burgess was guilty of both murders. He was then sentenced to life imprisonment. As he was led down to the cells, David Burgess had a broad smile on his face. As for the murder of Yolande Waddington, Burgess was never linked to that crime and it remains, to this day, an unsolved murder.

  CHAPTER 15

  The Elvis Fan Barbara Frances Browne 1966–67

  Roy Browne first met Barbara, the woman who would become his wife, in 1942, when she was just fourteen years old. A relationship developed and, in 1948, when she was twenty, they married. A daughter, Roylene was soon born to the union and to all intents, Roy and Barbara were happy enough together. Things changed, however, in 1959 when Barbara Browne suffered a miscarriage. Ever since that time, she had been moody and depressed.

  Indeed, one might almost say, she retreated into her own childhood for her behaviour became rather strange. She began to collect dolls and built a sort of shrine to them. One day, Roy even found one of the dolls carefully positioned on top of the wardrobe. One might think that this was not an undue cause for concern, but Barbara had given this doll the name Carla, the same nam
e she had selected for the daughter she miscarried.

  Still, Barbara had one great interest, which Roy encouraged. After all, it took her mind off things and made her happy. Roy, therfore, had no concerns whatsoever when Barbara founded an Elvis Presley Fan Club which met, on a regular basis at Watlington House, in Watlington Street, Reading.

  By all accounts, the club was a success and Barbara soon managed to recruit many new members. Two of those members were Peter Whittaker and Sheila Griffin, who both joined around June 1965. These two youngsters seemed to get on very well together and in due course, Peter asked Sheila out. She agreed, and the relationship between the two blossomed. Finally, they discussed marriage and it was agreed that they would become officially engaged on Sheila’s twenty-first birthday, 7 February 1967.

  That, however, was in the future. For now, Peter continued to live at 108 Crockhamwell Road, Woodley and drive around on his motorbike, whilst Sheila lived at Amherst Road, Reading and caught the bus to her work for the Automobile Association.

  In fact, Peter had known the Browne family ever since he was a child. They lived at 18 Silver Fox Crescent, also in Woodley and he had grown up with their daughter, Roylene. They had played together as children and he had been to Barbara Browne’s house many times. It was no real surprise then, when in September 1966, Barbara offered Peter a lift home when his motorbike broke down. That journey back to Woodley would prove to be very fateful indeed.

  As Barbara drove Peter home, they talked about his relationship with Sheila and the discussion they had had about getting married. Barbara made the comment that she didn’t think Sheila was good enough for him. That might well have surprised Peter, but what came next shocked him far more, for Barbara confessed she was in love with him.

  The fact that she was forty years old, whilst he was half that age, or that she was married and he was about to become engaged, did not seem to dissuade Barbara. They talked further and the drive to Woodley became a detour to a wood just outside Reading where the couple had sex for the first time.