THESE are the horrific mysteries of some of the oldest unresolved Cheshire murder cases.
Cheshire Police files list the historic, unresolved murders which are subject to review every two years by the force’s major crime review team.
These cases are not closed, and the team pursues any new lines of investigation identified during the review process.
Most of these historical cases remain without suspects, with one dating back to 1953.
Who: Walter Albert Humphrey
Age: 71
When: January 26, 1953
Where: Filed House, Marthall, Knutsford
The victim was working as a night watchman at a 24-hour garage on Manchester Road when he was struck from behind at around 12.35am.
The perpetrators had tried and failed to steal a cash box from the garage which was secured to a shelf.
The victim suffered head trauma and later died of shock and head injuries.
A man’s fingerprints were identified on the cash box; however, he had died and was never spoken to.
Who: Harry Baker
Age: 61
When: June 23, 1958
Where: A50, High Leigh
The Stockport resident was found dead in a field near to the A50.
His body was wrapped in two coal sacks, but the details of the murderer are unknown.
He had vanished 17 days earlier on June 6 while he was completing his weekly collection of credit payments in the Knutsford area.
The last known sight of him while he was still alive was 1.45pm that day.
Who: Herbert Wilkinson
Age: Unknown
When: October 9, 1967
Where: Trent and Mersey Canal, Middlewich
The Middlewich solicitor was found dead in a shallow grave in a wooded area close to the Trent and Mersey Canal.
Relatives had reported him missing before his body was discovered with severe head injuries, and he had been strangled using an unknown ligature.
Who: Brenda Evans
Age: 17
When: October 7, 1977
Where: A remote rural location near Poulton, south of Chester
Her body was found by her boyfriend’s mother in a 12ft manhole in a wooded area close to a disused airfield at 6.55pm.
She had been reported missing 40 minutes earlier after she never returned from her lunch break at her workplace, Poulton Post Office and General Stores.
It was found she had been strangled with her own tights and had been brutally assaulted physically and sexually before being dumped in the manhole.
She also suffered from severe injuries to her throat and wrist from being cut with a sharp instrument.
Who: Leslie Alan Guntrip
Age: 72
When: February 15, 1978
Where: Bradford Mill Farm, Winsford
The victim was discovered dead in his home by a bread delivery man at around 9.50am.
Examinations of the body revealed that the victim had been struck multiple times across the head with a blunt instrument.
It is believed the motive was robbery, however all that was taken from the cottage was a single barrelled shotgun.
Who: Veronica (Vera) Anderson
Age: 42
When: August 24, 1991
Where: Penketh Tannery. Warrington
The mum-of-two was found slumped over the steering wheel of her Ford Cortina car at Penketh Tannery at around 3am on August 25.
After receiving a phone call, she left her home in Widnes at 10.10pm on August 24, dropping her 11-year-old son off at a neighbour’s and saying she would be gone for 10 minutes.
Hours later, she was discovered to have been strangled and her throat slashed.
A woman fitting Vera’s description was seen at the Crown and Cushion pub in Penketh at around 10.30pm.
Cheshire police arrested two suspects in March last year – a 70-year-old man from Widnes and a 61-year-old woman from Warrington – who were both later released under investigation.
Who: Lynne Trenholm
Age: 29
When: June 9, 1991
Where: Boughton, Chester
The victim was discovered at Pinky’s massage parlour at 9.55pm with fatal stab wounds to her back.
She had been working alone at the massage parlour between 5pm and 8pm before she was attacked with a knife in the first-floor room.
There was a single blooded fingerprint discovered at the scene, but a match has never been found.
Who: Stephen Primrose
Age: 34
When: January 4, 1996
Where: Chester Road, Whitby, Ellesmere Port
The victim was discovered by his wife in the front room of their home with severe head injuries at 4.55pm.
Postmortem and forensic examination showed that the victim had been assaulted with a blunt instrument which resulted in a depressed skull fracture.
Who: Charles Raymond Jones
Age: 42
When: January 26, 1998
Where: Parkfield Road, Northwich
The victim was found in the street outside a property on Parkfield Road with a fatal head injury at 12.15am.
It is believed he was attacked by unknown persons.
Who: Julia Margaret Webb
Age: 52
When: July 22, 1998
Where: Wooded area adjacent to Kennel Lane, Sandiway
The victim was discovered dead in the quiet rural lane with fatal injuries to the head at 5.30pm.
She had been out walking with the family Labrador, Rosie, in Kennel Lane before she was murdered.
Who: Baby Callum
Age: Only a few hours old
When: March 14, 1998
Where: Wooded areas in Callands, Warrington
The body of a strangled baby boy was found in the woods during the late morning.
Callum’s true identity remains a mystery and he was named after the area of Warrrington in which he was found.
His parents have never been identified and his death remains a mystery.
Police arrested a man and a woman from Liverpool on July 28 this year in connection with the murder. They have since been released on conditional bail.
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