Cold cases and unsolved crimes Read in browser True crime Courts Podcast | Sign in Mum's death was a mystery for 40 years until shocking discovery Mum-of-two Lorraine Jacob was just 19 when she was strangled to death in an alleyway in September 1970. Her body was found by binmen the next morning in
Cold cases and unsolved crimes | | | | | | |
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Mum's death was a mystery for 40 years until shocking discovery | |
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| | Mum-of-two Lorraine Jacob was just 19 when she was strangled to death in an alleyway in September 1970. Her body was found by binmen the next morning in a small entry at the back of a Young Women's Christian Association. Her tights, knickers and purse were missing from the scene. Despite police taking 900 statements and putting out 3,500 questionnaires in the local area, the case ran cold and lay dormant for nearly 40 years. That was until, in 2008, a 78-year-old man named Harvey Richardson died of cancer. When decorators came to clean out his house they discovered an envelope that would change the case entirely. | |
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| | | Lorraine Jacob's murder sparked revulsion back in 1970. On the night before her body was found she had left the home she shared with her mum and her babies Karen and Tony. She was spotted at a bar and a Chinese chip shop in the hours before she was attacked and was last seen walking alone in Liverpool city centre at about 11pm on September 1, 1970. Detectives suspected she may have been killed by a kerbcrawler who mistook her for a prostitute and flew into a murderous rage when she rejected his advances. The following weekend police examined a number of attacks on women in the area and made a tannoy appeal to fans at a match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield. Despite extensive police work, no leads or arrests were made. Lorraine Jacob's movements on the night she died | |
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| | | Almost four decades later, decorators at the house of recently-deceased retired librarian, Harvey Richardson, stumbled upon a satchel that contained an envelope marked 'private and confidential'. Inside, written on nine pages of yellowing A4 paper, was an eloquently written 26-paragraph confession to Lorraine Jacob's killing. With the unsigned and undated note was a large collection of press cuttings relating to the murder and a pair of blue knickers belonging to Miss Jacob that had been missing when the body had been found. Analysis pointed to the letter being written and sealed in the envelope shortly after the murder. The confession in detail | |
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| | | The unearthed note was said to read more like a story than a confession, detailing how a drunken Harvey Richardson met Miss Jacob on the night of the killing. She was clutching three bags of chips she had bought after a night out and was making her way home. He had been out all day drinking in various city centre pubs to drown his sorrows after learning he had failed his college exams to become a librarian. They walked to Rodney Street and down an alleyway where police say an argument broke out. In a fit of rage, Harvey Richardson said he strangled his victim and dropped her body on the cracked paving flags below. In his drunken state, he ripped off her brown tights and blue knickers and took her purse from her handbag. When binmen found Miss Jacob's body the next morning, her skin was ravaged by the overnight rain and the soggy bags of chips were still by her side. What police said about the discovery | |
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| | More from Testimony | Each week we will bring you the full story of a different unsolved crime. There will also be editions from all around Reach's UK newsrooms including the Manchester Evening News, the Chronicle in Newcastle and BirminghamLive. You can also listen to the Testimony podcast here. | |
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