| 词条 | Murder of Deborah Linsley |
| 释义 |
On the afternoon of 23 March 1988, Deborah Linsley was murdered on a train between Petts Wood and London Victoria stations in London. Although there were about 70 people on the train, and Linsley apparently fought and injured her attacker, only one passenger reported hearing anything suspicious. The killer has not been identified. Stored blood evidence from the scene allowed the case to be re-examined a decade later using DNA technology, and in 2002 it was re-opened with a major publicity campaign. A police reward is on offer. BackgroundDeborah "Debbie" Linsley was born in Bromley, southeast London, in 1962 to Arthur and Marguerite Linsley. Her father was a retired insurance broker, and Marguerite investigated fraud for the Department of Social Security.{{sfn|Rayner|2003}} By 1988, Deborah had moved out and was living and working in Edinburgh as a hotel manager.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}}{{sfn|STV|2018}} She had returned to London to attend a hotel management course,{{sfn|Tanna|2013}} and stayed at her parents' house in Bromley.{{Sfn|Boseley|1988|p=4}} She also visited her brother Gordon, at whose wedding in two weeks she would have been a bridesmaid.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} On the afternoon of Wednesday 23 March,{{Sfn|Illustrated London News|1988|p=14}} Gordon gave Deborah a lift to Petts Wood station,{{sfn|Rayner|2003}} where she boarded the Orpington-to-London train at 14:16.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} The intermediate stops en route to London were Bickley, Bromley South, Shortlands, Beckenham Junction, Kent House, Penge East, Sydenham Hill, West Dulwich, Herne Hill and Brixton,{{Sfn|Boseley|1988|p=4}} with arrival at Victoria scheduled for 14:50.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} The train was a 4EPB electric multiple unit with compartment stock{{sfn|Rayner|2003}}{{Sfn|NSERS|2016|p=}} made up of a mixture of carriage types. Some had compartments opening off a common corridor running the length of one side of the carriage; others had unconnected compartments seating twelve, each with a door on each side opening directly to the outside and no means of moving from compartment to compartment within the train.{{sfn|STV|2018}}{{sfn|Newcastle Journal|1988|p=3}}{{sfn|BellyTelly|2018}} The carriage Linsley was in was of the latter type, and she may have chosen it because it was one of the few in which smoking was permitted.{{sfn|The Times|1988c|p=2}} Following the murder, British Rail emphasised that trains always had at least some corridor-type carriages to give passengers a choice of corridor or non-corridor compartments.{{Sfn|Boseley|1988|p=4}} DeathAt some point before the journey ended, Linsley was stabbed to death. She sustained eleven stab wounds{{sfn|Rayner|2003}} to the face, neck and abdomen,{{sfn|Tanna|2013}} of which at least five were to the area around the heart.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} One of these wounds was the cause of death.{{sfn|Tanna|2013}} When the train arrived on to Victoria's platform two at 14:50,{{sfn|BellyTelly|2018}} a British Rail porter{{sfn|Tanna|2013}} (as was customary) walked through the train. The carriage floor and seat were covered in blood.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} Some of this was discovered to be that of Linsley's killer, who had been injured in the struggle.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} Linsley had defence wounds on her hands,{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} and a spokesman for Scotland Yard said that she may have been trying to defend herself from a sex attack,{{sfn|Sapsted|1988|p=3}} though police did not find any evidence of sexual interference.{{sfn|O'Hanlon|1988|p=3}} Linsley's funeral took place at Holy Trinity Church, Bromley, on 22 April, and she was buried in a nearby cemetery. The cortege was accompanied by a police escort between the church and cemetery,{{Sfn|LBC|1988b|p=}} where Deborah Linsley was buried in the bridesmaid's dress she was to have worn at her brother's wedding.{{sfn|Tanna|2013}} British Rail had been slowly phasing out carriages of the type in which Linsley died, and within a week of the murder it announced that the number used on off-peak journeys—such as Linsley had been travelling on—would be reduced to minimise the chance of passengers being isolated.{{Sfn|The Guardian|1988|p=2}} A broad red band was painted along the cantrail of coaches without corridors to allow passengers to identify them before boarding.{{Sfn|NSERS|2016}} InvestigationThe Metropolitan Police's senior investigating officer, Superintendent Guy Mills{{Sfn|Boseley|1988|p=4}} described the crime as "savage and brutal".{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} He highlighted that because the compartment Linsley was travelling in had no corridor, she had had no means of escape, "apart from through the side doors onto the track".{{Sfn|Boseley|1988|p=4}} On account of the ferocity of the attack, Mills suggested that it was unlikely to have been the killer's first.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} The short duration of the Brixton{{ndash}}Victoria journey{{snd}}six minutes{{snd}}suggested Linsley might have known her attacker.{{sfn|Rayner|2003}} Although approximately 70 people had boarded and departed the train by the time it arrived at Victoria,{{sfn|Rayner|2003}} the only potential witness{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} appears to have been a French au pair{{sfn|Rayner|2003}} who reported hearing loud screams soon after the train had departed Brixton.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} Of interest to police were the following individuals:
The weapon was not found, but it is believed to have been five to seven-and-one-half inches long with a heavy blade.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} The 1988 police investigation produced 1200 witness statements; 650 individuals were questioned and ruled out.{{sfn|STV|2018}}{{sfn|BellyTelly|2018}} The case was featured on the crime reconstruction programme Crimewatch UK on 14 April 1988.{{sfn|The Times|1988d|p=21}} An inquest was held on 16 November 1988. The au pair who heard the attack was criticised by the Coroner for not pulling the communication cord, despite believing that someone was being raped. She said she had been "glued to her seat" and contacted police only after she learned that a murder had occurred. The coroner highlighted that, although passengers reported hearing "a commotion", nobody investigated. A verdict of unlawful killing was returned.{{sfn|O'Hanlon|1988|p=3}} In response to Linsley's murder, British Rail's Eastern Region ordered its guards to proactively patrol their trains and be particularly observant for women travelling alone. Likewise, the police advised that passengers should be vigilant on the railway generally, but particularly to "avoid [carriages] where the only means of escape was directly onto the line or platform".{{Sfn|Newcastle Journal|1988|p=3}} Case reopenedLinsley's killer had sustained injuries and left blood at the scene, which was collected and stored. DNA science was in its infancy in 1988,{{sfn|BBC Newsnight|2009}} but with advances in DNA profiling technology, the case was re-opened in 2002{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} and a complete DNA profile built from the sample.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} Linsley's case was raised on the Tonight with Trevor MacDonald programme which aired on 13 September 2002.{{sfn|The Times|2002|p=27}} The new investigation case was passed to the Met's cold case investigative section, formed in 2000.{{sfn|Rayner|2003}} An extensive publicity campaign was launched in Victoria station, and there was a peak-time television crime-scene reenactment.{{sfn|BBC News|2002}} In 2013 the leading officer on the case called it "puzzling" that the DNA of Linsley's killer, who was "a probable repeat violent offender" had not been matched to anyone in the DNA database.{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} That same year, police offered a reward of £20,000 for information{{sfn|BBC News|2013}} leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.{{sfn|Tanna|2013}} The new investigation also re-examined steps taken in the previous investigation, including tracing Linsley's seventy fellow passengers that day; police say they know the identities of at least fifty of them.{{sfn|Rayner|2003}} Deborah Linsley's parents publicly appealed several times for the assistance of the public in solving her death.{{sfn|STV|2018}} Her mother had died by 2013.{{sfn|Tanna|2013}} A detective has suggested more recently that not only was the attacker injured and probably bloodied but likely "behaved in a different way after the murder", which friends or relatives may have noticed at the time.{{sfn|Tanna|2013}} See also
ReferencesSources{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
5 : 1988 murders in the United Kingdom|1988 in London|Unsolved murders in the United Kingdom|Deaths by stabbing in London|March 1988 events in Europe |
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