The gun was described as aColt 45 American army issue automatic pistol, first issued for World War I but probably also used in World War II, which significantly had the original wooden stocks next to the grip modernised with perspex.. A much loved, very kind and thoughtful person who did great things for people but never expected anything in return. Would you be able to tell me please if Harries has been cleared of Muriels murder as well. I was made aware the following day that my request would NOT be granted. Colin Dark suggested the possibillity of using D.N.A to identify who took the books into the shop with the hope of identifying the killer. Something went wrong, please try again later. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Video, 00:00:42, Dog found alive after 23 days under rubble, Watch Kate beat William in spin class endurance race. Her blue coat, underwear and school uniform had been wrapped in a paper bag and stored. He said, ``She was regularly seen walking, skipping and singing in the woods as she made her way each day from her home to the . On June 27, 1946, 12-year-old Muriel Drinkwater made her way home from school in Penllergaer, Swansea (UK). [8] Scientists successfully retrieved a DNA profile from this stain. In 1946, 12-year-old Muriel Drinkwater was murdered in the woods of Swansea, Wales. It was the first time he had spoken publicly about the tragedy that haunts his family to this day. Also, as I understand matters, members of Muriels family have given DNA samples to ascertain whether Muriels father may have killed her. Police believed 12-year-old Muriel Drinkwater (left) might have been a victim of a notorious serial killer Harold Jones when she was raped and murdered in 1946. ", * Dark Land: Hunting the Killers is on BBC iPlayer, School friends at the grave of Muriel Drinkwater, whose murder in 1946 remains one of the most horrifying in Welsh history. MLS breaks attendance records on the opening weekend of the new season as both Charlotte and Atlanta welcome over 67,000 fans - more than the average crowd at 13 NFL teams! The authorities went as far as to suggest that someone in the Penllergaer region knows about the murder weapon but is protecting the owner by withholding information. Two other specific persons of interest have been put forward. Mark Lewis by email of this fact but my email was ignored. . Thomas was born on July 22 1880, in South Thomaston Knox Maine. The True Crime Files is dedicated to all things #TrueCrime. Nevertheless, the FBI was called in to assist with determining the ownership of the murder weapon, but nothing seems to have ever transpired from this lead. (My belief now is that the suspect he referred to was Hubert Hoyles who as a 13 year-old boy had come into contact with Muriels family shortly before her murder. Thank you once again and I wish you every success with your forthcoming publication. The Photo Request has been fulfilled. [3] In 2008, a DNA profile of the suspect was extracted from her clothes, possibly the oldest sample . Regards. Only the exhumation of Jones body or D.N.A. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[3]='ADDRESS';ftypes[3]='address';fnames[4]='PHONE';ftypes[4]='phone';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Liked it? Her parents Harold and Muriel Jones/Stevens kept a lot of secrets from this daughter one of which may be that she wasnt Harolds daughter. South Wales Police's Specialist Crime Review Unit has today finally ruled out Jones - who died from cancer in 1971 - from their investigation. However, the BBC documentary Darklands shown in November 2020 identified Ronald Harries who murdered his aunt and uncle as Muriels killer, and a cousin of Harries was shown in the documentary and was expected to give DNA to prove or disprove the theory.. "The results of the forensic examination categorically confirm that Harold Jones was not responsible for the murder of Muriel Drinkwater," says DCI Mark Lewis, head of the unit. An amazing campaign by Neil Milkins, but unfortunately, no breakthrough for Muriel. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Adding: Please may I make a comment that the information that I request would be available via computer in an instant. The team also uncovered a book that had once belonged to Muriel but was found in a Carmarthen charity shop. [18] The public can no longer access the Drinkwater files by Freedom of Information Act requests or in person at the archives office in Kew. Muriel Drinkwater was born on January 12, 1906 in New York . 'Each case is reviewed periodically. Medicaid to cut 14 MILLION Americans from health coverage as states crack down on eligibility for the first time in three years after numbers soared during COVID - so are you at risk? Muriel Drinkwater murder: Who killed 'Little Red Riding Hood'? Thanks again and take care. Thank you for the update. She was seen by her mother from a distance of 400 yards away, but before Muriel could arrive. Given that Hoyles was the last person to see Muriel alive, he quickly fell under a thick veil of suspicion. OnJune 27, 1946, twelve-year-old Muriel Drinkwater made her way home from school inPenllergaer, Swansea. I informed D.C.I. found on Muriels coat and D.N.A. The detectives in the programme got a breakthrough when they were able to track down Muriel's relative Martin Phillips, who had been six at the time of the murder. Police believe 12-year-old Muriel Drinkwater might have been a victim of a notorious serial killer when she was raped and murdered in 1946. left on the coat was compared to D.N.A. She may or may NOT have been Jones biological daughter. I can be contacted at [emailprotected] or via Facebook messenger. She was last seen at 2:30 p.m., singing as she headed for the one-mile walk to her family's home, Tyle-Du Farm. Business class plane passenger refuses to give up his seat so a man could sit next to his wife on her birthday - selfish or fair enough? D.C, Paul Rogers, independent of Victor Penalunas theory, contacted me by phone and told me that his research had led him to believe that Harold Jones may have been Muriel Drinkwaters killer. Muriel, who lived on Tyle-Du farm at Penllergaer, near Swansea, went missing on Thursday, June 27th, 1946, and her body was found next day in Penllergaer woods. Jones killed two young girls when he was just 15 and was jailed for 20 years. To see documentary google Dark Lands Muriel Drinkwater iplayer. The police statement that Jones was ruled out is a misleading statement. D.S. "This was a terrible, terrible crime that someone has got away with for too long. She had been attacked on the lane and then she was dragged to where the body was left.". 2023 The True Crime Files. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. The coat had been lying forgotten in police storage for decades but after much searching was found by retired DCI Bethell's cold case team and is thought to be one of the oldest pieces of crime scene evidence in the world. On the back of the coat, a no-longer-visible semen stain was circled with yellow crayon. Video, 00:00:42Dog found alive after 23 days under rubble, Watch Kate beat William in spin class endurance race. He described the search for the clothes that had been taken from the crime scene. [10], Police visited every house within 150 square miles and interviewed 20,000 men in Swansea and in neighbouring Aberdare and Carmarthenshire. She goes to grammar school. There was another murder in 1943. The last person who reported seeing her was Hubert Hoyles, then 13, who passed her on the path returning from her family farm, where he had gone to buy eggs. In fact, it was recently used to identifyJoseph James DeAngelo, the suspected Golden State Killer who is thought to be responsible for at least a dozen murders and 50 rapes in the 1970s and 1980s in the United States. Now cutting-edge forensics to rival any TV thriller have identified her killers DNA, Unsolved: The Little Red Riding Hood murder, Muriel Drinkwater murder file is declared secret at request of police, The Disappearance of Audrey Moran and Jonathan Reynoso. And police now hope a stain on Muriel's coat will. with South Wales Police has recently conceded that it CANNOT be categorically stated that Harold Jones has been ruled out completely as Muriels killer. [9] Detectives from Scotland Yard came to Swansea to assist in the investigation. A village-wide search was swiftly underway, and at 4:30PM the following day Muriels body was located in a Japanese larch plantation near her home. Martin well remembers a young girl who was "always full of life" and would always be skipping and singing. Her route to her familys home Tyle-Du Farmentailed a mile-long journey that wove in and out of the woods. She was hoping in her lifetime to find out who killed her aunt. 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After discussing this development with Muriels niece, myself, Muriels niece and a number of of her nursing friends came to the same conclusion that if Jones daughter isnt his biological daughter then Jones could not completely rule out Jones as a suspect. "We realise whoever did this might be dead, but if he is alive and in his 80s or even 90s we would like to see him behind bars," said Muriel's great-niece Claire Phillips, speaking about developments last October. In 2008,Detective Chief Inspector Paul Bethell located Muriels blue coat, underwear, and school uniform in police storage. You can Google ones in your area or check out Twitter (but I recommend checking their credentials). Twelve-year-old Muriel Drinkwater was a choirgirl who dreamed of being a schoolteacher. Now cutting-edge forensics to rival any TV thriller have identified her killers DNA Daily Mail article, Unsolved: The Little Red Riding Hood murder Sword and Scale article, Muriel Drinkwater murder file is declared secret at request of police The Sunday Times article. However, if it wasnt for Victor Penaluna and D.C. Paul Rogers of the London Metropolitan Police I would have been none the wiser about the Muriel Drinkwater murder. After a previous visit to the Drinkwater family farm, Hoyles was surprised when a man in his thirties withthick fluffy hair and wearing brown corduroy trousers and a light brown sports jacket stepped from the bushes at exactly the same location where Muriel was later ambushed. She was beaten, raped and shot twice just yards from her family's isolated farmhouse in 1946. Taking into consideration all of the above information and the decades that have passed since Muriel was killed, I think that the only way this case will be closed is through a familial DNA match. profiling. Dubbed the 'Little Red Riding Hood murder', the 12-year-old had been killed amongst the undergrowth at Penllergaer Woods whilst on her way home from school one June afternoon. First he lived in Fulham with a former London Metropolitan Police officer John Widdows and his daughter Muriel whom he married in 1948. Her mother seen her approaching 400 yards away, so perhaps she was a selected victim. . Due to advances in forensic technology, we have been able to look again at evidence from the murder in 1946 and I am now able to rule out Harold Jones completely as a suspect in this case.. Ms Drinkwater was seen by her mother in the distance. GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS. I then appealed that decision and was shocked to be told that the information I requested had been eaten by vermin or had been damaged owing to a leaking roof. On 29 August 2021, I sent the following email to Freedom Of Information at South Wales Police. Will do Christine. If true, it could have placed him in the area at the time of Muriel's murder. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Victor said that the programme had made him suspicious as to whether Florences killer Harold Jones who had been released from a 20 year prison sentence in 1941 for the Abertillery murders was responsible for 12 year-old Muriel Drinkwaters death. Photo added by Tracey. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. It is frustrating that the Wales Online story of Saturday 7 November states the police have D.N.A. I could never hurt anyone or anything, but in a small, close-knit community, people talk and I knew that in the eyes of some people I was the murderer. Accountant Graham Wildin built an incredible 10,000sq/ft leisure complex - which has a bowling alley, casino, a cinema and more - at the back of his home. 'Due to advances in forensic technology we have been able to look again at evidence from the murder in 1946 and I am now able to rule out Harold Jones completely as a suspect in this case. The identity of the man who murdered a schoolgirl in 1946 remains a mystery after DNA left on her'little red riding hood' coat failed to link to a notorious child killer. On 27th June 1946 a school girl was walking through countryside on her way home. A familial DNA profile was extracted using a technique called Y-STR, but no match was found in the national DNA database. Hi Neil. "Given the sheer level of violence that he inflicted on his own relatives, I can't quite believe that this would be the first instance of his violence.". The 73-year-old stain was discovered during a cold case review in 2003 and is thought to be one of the oldest pieces of evidence in the world. It was believed the victim's clothes had been lost. I contacted Detective Superintendent Martyn Lloyd-Evans (now retired) of South Wales Police by phone and had a friendly conversation with him about Victor Penalunas suspicions. Interesting insights! The unanswered question, however, is whether or not the killer was specifically waiting for Muriel or if any girl or woman who happened by would have made a suitable target. 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This post deals with sexual assault and might be triggering for some readers. It became known as the Little Red Riding Hood murder - but who killed Muriel Drinkwater? Hi Neil [13] However, in 2019, South Wales Police stated that forensic tests on the DNA "categorically confirm that Jones was not responsible for the murder of Muriel Drinkwater. Video, 00:01:00At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Dog found alive after 23 days under rubble. "[14][5], In 2020, the BBC One documentary Dark Land: Hunting the Killers suggested that Ronnie Harries could be the murderer. Two days later, police found one of the murder weapons, a World War I-era Colt .45 pistol. The killer was dubbed Jack The Stripper because of the way he left his victims. During the course of the investigation the finger of blame had sometimes been pointed at Muriel's father, John. [citation needed], In 2009, Welsh police began reinvestigating any link with the murder of 11-year-old Sheila Martin, who was raped and strangled 250 miles away in Sun Hill Wood, Fawkham Green, Kent, on 7 July 1946, ten days after Drinkwater's murder. He could not be placed at the scene, and the DNA ruled him out of the investigation. This was a very small, close knit community and everybody knew everybody and everybodies business. Hard to work out the logic of your comment Charlotte? Hi Sherlock. Importantly, though, the DNA results cleared Hoyles of any involvement in Muriels murder. I really appreciate how youre helping keep the true crime community informed on whats going on behind the scenes in this frustrating and heartbreaking case. She had been raped, bludgeoned about the head and shot twice in the chest. Roll on another 2 months for a denied request. Police are closer than ever to finding her killer. "I found the original clothing," he said. 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