Murders of Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon
Eve Stratford (28 December 1953 – 18 March 1975) was an English Playboy Club bunny and model murdered in 1975. Lynne Weedon (11 November 1958 – 10 September 1975) was a schoolgirl raped and beaten to death six months after Stratford. Neither case was solved at the time. After Weedon's cold case was re-opened in 2004, new DNA techniques revealed that she and Stratford had been murdered by the same person. Stratford's case was re-opened in 2007.[1]
Eve Stratford
Eve Stratford was born in England in 1953 to Albert and Liza Stratford. Her mother was German, and met her father, a medic in the Royal Army Medical Corps, in the 1940s. The family moved around the world during Stratford's childhood, eventually settling in Aldershot. In 1972, she moved with her boyfriend to Leyton.[2] At the time of her death, Stratford was working as a bunny in the Playboy Club in Park Lane. She had started work at the club in 1973, recommended by a friend.[2][3] Shortly before her death, she appeared as the March 1975 centrefold in Mayfair magazine.[2]
Deaths
Stratford
Stratford was found dead by her boyfriend, on March 18, 1975, at their flat in Lyndhurst Drive, Leyton. Her throat had been cut between eight and twelve times. She was found partially unclothed with a nylon stocking tied around one ankle and her hands were bound with a scarf.[4][5]
Police found that on the day of her death, Stratford had visited Camden and Bayswater, but there was no sign that she had been followed. At 4:30 pm, the women living below her flat heard a male and female voice talking, followed by a bump.[2]
Weedon
Sixteen-year-old Lynne Weedon was hit over the head with a blunt object and raped on 3 September 1975, six months after Stratford's death.[4] She was attacked while taking a short-cut to her home in Hounslow. She was discovered the next morning, and despite her injuries was still alive, but she died a week later in hospital without regaining consciousness.[6]
Neither case was solved at the time.
Cold case
In 2004, the Weedon investigation was re-opened.[7] In 2007, new DNA technology showed that both murders were committed by the same person. As a result of the link, Stratford's case was re-opened. Both were featured in September 2007 on the BBC Crimewatch programme, where DCI Andy Mortimer suggested that both murders were sexually motivated. Operation Stealth, the police operation which has been investigating unsolved murders since 2008, received funding to continue work until the end of 2011.[8]
On 29 August 2012, London's Evening Standard newspaper reported that police will continue investigating the deaths using the same new forensics techniques that helped convict the killers of Stephen Lawrence.[citation needed] On 25 March 2015, police issued a fresh appeal to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the murder of Eve Stratford.[9]
In September 2015, the police made a further appeal for new information on the murders.[10]
See also
References
- ^ Sharma, Ramaa. "Case of murdered model reopens". BBC.
- ^ a b c d Smith, David James (24 May 2009). "Eve Stratford: the bunny girl who was murdered". The Times. London. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Davenport, Justin (25 September 2007). "Police find DNA link in murders of school pupil and Bunny girl". Evening Standard. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ a b Menhinnitt, Dan. "DNA evidence links murders after 32 years".
- ^ "Bunny slain in London". Daily Mail. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
- ^ "Silent witness: Police find DNA link in murders of school pupil and Bunny girl". Daily Mail. London. 25 September 2007.
- ^ Campbell, Duncan (26 September 2007). "DNA link in 1975 murders". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "New funding for unsolved murder cases". BBC. 28 March 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
- ^ "Playboy girl and teen murder appeal". BBC News. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ "Bunny Girl And Teen Murders: Appeal 40 Years On". Sky News. Archived from the original on 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.<