WEBVTT

1
00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:15.439
Hi, and welcome back to The
Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing

2
00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:21.320
people, unresolved cases, and UK
true crime. Today, we're going to

3
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:26.239
be exploring the brutal killing of Jean
Bradley in Acton in nineteen ninety three.

4
00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:33.119
This murder became headline news at the
time due to the circumstances that Jean's murder

5
00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:40.000
occurred in the street with a witness. Despite these circumstances, Jean's murder is

6
00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:46.640
still unsolved and this begs many more
questions as to why. This episode contains

7
00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:54.079
descriptions that some people may find distressing, so listener discretion is advised. The

8
00:00:54.200 --> 00:01:00.200
area of Acton is located in the
London borough of Ealing in West London and

9
00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:03.920
has long been famous as an industrial
hub, with many factories being located there,

10
00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:10.480
including the car firm Renout. Today, however, Acton is mainly made

11
00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:15.719
up of residential housing, including the
largest housing estate in West London, with

12
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:22.920
around two thousand homes and nearly six
thousand residents. It's a very multicultural area,

13
00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:26.680
with people from many parts of the
world choosing to settle down there.

14
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:33.159
It's also famous for Gunnersbury Park,
which is a large and popular park in

15
00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:38.840
the area where many events take place. Actontown Tube Station therefore, is a

16
00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:44.879
very important stop on the underground,
as many residents and commuters use it regularly

17
00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:49.439
to get into central London and they
use it to visit tourist attractions like Gunnersbury

18
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:55.719
Park. It's a busy tube stop, served by both the District and the

19
00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:01.200
Piccadilly lines. The tube stop is
used by mainly people from the Acting area,

20
00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:07.200
but also people further afield who drive
to the location and leave their car

21
00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:12.199
and get on the tube so as
to avoid trafficking congestion in central London.

22
00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:19.039
This is exactly why forty seven year
old Jean Bradley had decided to park her

23
00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:23.639
car there in nineteen ninety three when
she got a new job which meant that

24
00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:29.479
she would be commuting into London.
Jean lived in Crowthorne in Berkshire, but

25
00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:32.560
had recently got a job which had
an office in New Bond Street in London.

26
00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:40.599
Jeane worked for a company called Pricer
Relocation, which was an American company

27
00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:47.120
which specialized in helping companies move premises. Jeane was happy with the job move,

28
00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:52.439
but was worried about the traveling situation, given that it was thirty miles

29
00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:58.560
away from her home. Jean and
her partner Nicholas, came up with a

30
00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:02.000
plan together to make the journey easier
for her, and they decided that traveling

31
00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:07.319
around halfway and then getting on the
tube would be the easiest route to take.

32
00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:12.240
This was how Jeane ended up settling
on Acton, as she could get

33
00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:17.840
the Piccadillia Line into London from Actontown
station. Jeane was a thorough woman and

34
00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:22.840
wanted to know exactly what the area
was like before she decided to park her

35
00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:25.840
car there, and her and Nicholas
traveled to the area to check it out.

36
00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:31.800
First. They assessed the safety of
the roads in the area and believe

37
00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:36.879
that they were fine for her to
leave the car and Jeane began her job

38
00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:42.879
at making the commute in from Acton. Jeane would often leave her car earlier

39
00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:46.439
around seven thirty and then travel back
and arrive after tea time back to her

40
00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:53.599
car. On Thursday, the twenty
fifth of March nineteen ninety three, this

41
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:59.159
is exactly what Jean did. She
arrived in her BMW and parked it on

42
00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:04.120
carboy Anew in Acton before traveling the
short distance to Actontown Tube station. To

43
00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:10.560
go to work. Her partner,
Nicholas, was a teacher during this time

44
00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:15.160
and he was on a school trip
in Rome. Nicholas later reported that he

45
00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:19.399
spoke to jean regularly while he was
away and she was eager to hear all

46
00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:24.800
about the trip, as a week
after Nicholas arrived home, they were going

47
00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:30.000
on their own trip to Rome,
and Jeanne was excited. That day,

48
00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:34.519
Jeane arrived at work and did her
work day as usual before returning back to

49
00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:41.680
Acton on the Piccadilly Line from Green
Park. When Gane arrived back into Acton,

50
00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:45.439
it's reported that she nipped into some
shops to grab something to drink for

51
00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:51.000
the evening before returning back to her
car. This was around seven twenty pm,

52
00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.800
and while there were people around in
the streets, they weren't crowded as

53
00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:00.720
they would have been earlier in the
evening. One woman remembers passing jean walking

54
00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:06.000
along the road. That night,
Jeane arrived back at her car on Carbrie

55
00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:12.439
Avenue and started to put things inside
the open door. This was such a

56
00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:17.199
usual and everyday occurrence. However,
this wasn't the case that night. As

57
00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:23.000
Jeanne was leaning into her car,
someone attacked her from the back. This

58
00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:29.120
seemed to be an unprovoked attack on
an oblivious victim. It would later be

59
00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:32.079
established that this was not only an
unprovoked attack, but it was a brutal

60
00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.839
one. Jeanne was suddenly attacked by
a man with what was later found to

61
00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:43.079
be an eight inch knife. The
man began stabbing jean and the pair ended

62
00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:46.959
up tussling on the floor. This
attack seemed to come out of nowhere,

63
00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:51.079
and despite the fact that it was
now dark, acting was still a relatively

64
00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:57.399
busy area with people traveling along Carbree
Avenue at the time that it took place.

65
00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:03.199
Patrick Cunningham, who was employed as
a carpenter, was driving along in

66
00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:08.160
his van at the exact time that
the attack took place, and he witnessed

67
00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:13.600
it firsthand. He confronted the attacker
as he began to run away, and

68
00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:17.879
he later recounted this to crime Watch
during the reconstruction. He said that the

69
00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:23.959
man had very cold eyes and was
wearing a strange black hat. He was

70
00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.920
also very tall and held up what
looked to be a black plastic bag in

71
00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:31.879
his hand. The bag, he
noticed, looked rigid, as though there

72
00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:38.399
was something inside it. Patrick Cunningham
wasn't the only person who was in the

73
00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:44.199
area at the time. A woman
and her son were driving along Carboree Avenue

74
00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:47.480
in their car when they saw the
man, and although they were initially unsure

75
00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:51.439
about the situation, they knew that
the man must have done something as he

76
00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:58.600
was acting suspiciously and was fleeing the
scene. The woman noted that he looked

77
00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:02.319
very strange, around six foot to
six foot three, and she described him

78
00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:06.680
as wearing a silly hat. It
was black and was one that looked like

79
00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:12.120
a southwester hat, which is a
plastic hat with an almost pointed top and

80
00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:15.839
a strap that hangs under the chin. It almost looks like a fisherman's hat.

81
00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:21.720
This was a distinctive hat in the
area, particularly as it was cold,

82
00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:26.839
but it wasn't raining. The woman
knew that the man had been up

83
00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:30.279
to something and told her son in
the car to get out and head home

84
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.639
to ring the police. She stayed
in the car and proceeded to follow the

85
00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:40.199
man down the road. Patrick Cunningham
was also doing this and by that point

86
00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.600
had got out of the car and
began chasing the suspects through the streets on

87
00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:47.199
foot. The woman in the car
decided to go home to check that her

88
00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:53.160
son was indeed phoning the police,
and she glanced back to see the suspects

89
00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:59.879
and Patrick Cunningham running down the road
towards Acton Road Tube Station. The chase

90
00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:05.680
between Patrick Cunningham and the suspect continued
as they went along North Circular Road before

91
00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:11.560
the man turned off towards South Acton
Estate. Patrick Cunningham explained that along the

92
00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:15.720
way he tried to enlist as much
help as he could from people passing by,

93
00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:20.519
like pedestrians and stopping people in their
cars to try and help, but

94
00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:26.399
in the end he continued chasing the
suspect on foot and alan. When the

95
00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:31.879
suspect ran into South Acton Estate,
Patrick Cunningham later told crime Watch that he

96
00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:35.360
tried to hide behind trees and bushes
so that the suspect would believe that he

97
00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:43.039
had stopped following him. Cunningham explained
that the suspect rarely glanced back around,

98
00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:48.200
but did slow down enough that he
was able to mostly catch up with him.

99
00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:52.159
It was at this point in the
chase that the suspect turned around and

100
00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:56.120
saw Patrick Cunningham and immediately started running
again through the park on the estate.

101
00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.399
Cunningham noted that the suspeck didn't seem
very fit, as when he reached the

102
00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:05.279
edge of the estate there was a
railing. He said he could have jumped

103
00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:11.039
it to get away faster, but
the suspect chose not to. He kept

104
00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:15.320
running and rounded a corner, and
when Patrick Cunningham himself got round the corner,

105
00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:20.080
he could no longer see him.
Cunningham got close to a pub named

106
00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:22.960
The Prince of Wales, which was
close to the intersection of Church Road and

107
00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:28.240
Ragley Close on the South Acton estate, and he began asking people if they'd

108
00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:35.519
seen him, but nobody he spoke
to had While Patrick Cunningham had lost sight

109
00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:39.000
of the suspect, there was another
witness tracked down who had seen his next

110
00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:45.919
movements. This witness was a man
who lived in a flat on the South

111
00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:50.679
Acton estate and had been out on
his balcony at the time he saw the

112
00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:54.600
suspects stalk outside one of the flats
on the ground floor. He looked very

113
00:09:54.639 --> 00:10:01.279
agitated and nervous and was moving side
to side. He could see that the

114
00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:03.600
man had a hat in his hand
and that he had jet black hair.

115
00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:11.879
He was wearing a cream colored three
quarter length jacket and trousers that looked too

116
00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:16.919
short for him as they were flapping
around at the ankles. The witness said

117
00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:20.360
he walked quite oddly, like he
was flat footed, and held a black

118
00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:24.840
bag tightly in his hand and didn't
let go of it once. The man

119
00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.120
said that the suspect looked around as
though looking for a way out of the

120
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:33.759
estate, and the witness said he
headed off on Buckland Walk, which led

121
00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:37.600
out of the estate and towards the
high Street. The witness said he realized

122
00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:41.159
something was off about this man,
but by that time he was out of

123
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:46.799
sight. He had traveled a mile
and a half from Cardboree Avenue where Jeanne

124
00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:58.960
was initially attacked. During this time, police and emergency services had been dispatched

125
00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:03.799
to the scene where jean had been
attacked. It was established that she had

126
00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:09.240
been stabbed several times with an eight
inch knife. This proved to be fatal,

127
00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:16.480
and jean later passed away from her
injuries. The attack seemed so completely

128
00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:20.919
impulsive and random that it was difficult
to know exactly what had happened and why.

129
00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.159
It seemed like a completely random killing, and of course, catching the

130
00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:31.080
person responsible for this was crucial to
the police, given that nobody knew if

131
00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:35.360
this was the start of a killing
spree for this individual. The fact that

132
00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:39.360
so many people did get a look
at the suspect was important to the investigation,

133
00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:43.080
and it provided the police with some
idea of who they were looking for.

134
00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:48.559
They knew from the information that had
been given to them by Patrick Cunningham,

135
00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:52.240
who had given chase for over a
mile, the woman in the car

136
00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:56.559
who'd been driving along, and from
a witness at the flats and Southampton estate

137
00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.559
that they were looking for a tall
and relatively thin looking man with a gaunt

138
00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:09.200
face and stubble that was described as
looking two days old. The noticeable thing

139
00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:13.639
that all of the witnesses pointed out
was that the man seemed to be wearing

140
00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:18.120
a strange hat that looked like a
southwester style and really stood out in that

141
00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:22.919
area. As the attack and the
subsequent chase was seen by several people,

142
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:28.759
it was hoped that someone may know
something that could help the police. They

143
00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:33.360
turned a crime watch to appeal for
information and provide the public with something that

144
00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:41.399
might jog their memories. Detective Superintendent
Bob Fenton spoke on the show, indicating

145
00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:45.639
that the suspect had last been seen
heading towards act in High Street, and

146
00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.519
he appealed for anyone who may have
seen someone fitting the description of the man

147
00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:54.360
to come forward. He did add, however, that he may not have

148
00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:58.879
continued traveling in that direction after he
was last seen, and so he was

149
00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:01.720
also appealing for anyone that may have
not only seen the man, but also

150
00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:09.200
the chase between the suspect and Patrick
Cunningham. Protective Superintendent Bob Fenton explained that

151
00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:13.200
there appeared to be no motive for
the attack on Jean and that nothing had

152
00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:18.200
been stolen, despite Jean having placed
her bag on the seat before being attacked.

153
00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:24.759
He added that the suspect appeared to
be a strange character and that his

154
00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:31.120
description may be recognizable to people working
for certain agencies such as social services or

155
00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:35.480
psychiatric services, who he might be
known to, or even to local charity

156
00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:41.240
shops where he might have purchased his
clothes. A hat similar to the one

157
00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:46.200
worn by the suspect was also shown
on the show, and he appealed for

158
00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:50.559
anyone who might know someone who wears
that type of hat or owns that type

159
00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:56.480
of hat to come forward. Detective
Superintendent Fenton also explained that they wanted to

160
00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:01.039
trace a man who was working that
day in card Reavenue going door to door

161
00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:05.440
as a street bender. He stated
that he didn't want to look into whether

162
00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:09.120
the man should have been selling door
to door that day, but just wanted

163
00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:13.759
to know what he knew, as
it was hoped that he might have noticed

164
00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:20.320
the suspect loitering around the area before
the murder. There was a new piece

165
00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:24.120
of evidence also shown on the episode, which police believe could be a crucial

166
00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:30.639
piece of information. A fragment of
a plastic bag was found at the scene,

167
00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:33.440
and it was discovered that this did
not belong to Jean or anyone else

168
00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:37.639
who had been at the scene that
night. The fragment of the bag was

169
00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:43.200
about eight or nine inches and had
some features that police believed that someone may

170
00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:48.639
recognize. The bag was black with
gold details, including some images of flowers

171
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.639
along with some words that could be
made out. There was a larger s

172
00:14:54.840 --> 00:15:01.120
visible as well as the words extruded
printed and in the United but then nothing

173
00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:05.799
else was able to be discerned.
Police were able to do some investigation later

174
00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:09.919
on and found out that it was
from the brand Narcissus and that it had

175
00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:18.080
been made by a manufacturing company in
Ayrshire. It was explained that there was

176
00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:22.399
a twenty thousand pound reward being offered
for anyone who had information about Jean's murder,

177
00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:28.639
and this was offered up by Jean's
employers at Praeka. Jean's murder was

178
00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:33.480
so violent and unnecessary, given that
there was no motive or reason evident to

179
00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:39.879
the police. Why had this happened
and why had this suspect chosen to do

180
00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:43.840
this at a very busy time in
a very residential and commuter area like acting.

181
00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:50.799
It was clear that the police believed
that the suspect must have had either

182
00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:56.000
mental health or addiction issues given what
they reported on the crime Watch segment,

183
00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:03.240
but narrowing this down was proving very
difficult. Jean's family and her partner Nicholas,

184
00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.399
had to come to terms with the
unnecessary and brutal nature of Jean's passing,

185
00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:15.559
and they couldn't comprehend why or how
this had happened. Nicholas later recounted

186
00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.559
to the newspapers the awful moment that
he was told about the news that Jeanne

187
00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:23.600
had been murdered. Nicholas had been
on a school trip with his job as

188
00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:27.240
a teacher, and it was in
his hotel room during this trip that he

189
00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:32.440
was told of the news. He
said it was only when he got back

190
00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.759
to Gatwick with the group that it
began to sink in. He said,

191
00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:41.519
I had to carry on with my
job and get the children home. Initially

192
00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:45.879
I put a brave face on it. All this gave way to shock when

193
00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:51.679
I was met by police at Gatwick. He added later, Obviously the hardest

194
00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:56.120
thing I have to face is not
having Jeane around. The couple had been

195
00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:03.759
together for twenty one years and now
Nicholas face life without her. This must

196
00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.960
have been horrendous, particularly as it
was proving difficult to find anyone who could

197
00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:12.279
have been behind the attack and murder. The murder seemed to hang over the

198
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:18.119
area of acting for several months afterwards, with the awful feeling that whoever committed

199
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:23.880
this was still out there. In
July of nineteen ninety three, Patrick Cunningham

200
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:29.559
spoke to the newspapers, explaining that
he was still haunted by that night and

201
00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:33.960
the fact that he was unable to
catch the suspect. He explained, if

202
00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:37.759
I'd got the man to the ground, he would never have got up.

203
00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:41.839
All I needed was one person willing
to help me. Well, I did

204
00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:45.079
I think any man should do if
he's a man, But no one came

205
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:49.000
to help. All I needed was
one person to help me, and the

206
00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:56.519
murderer would be behind bars today.
He talked about how the incident has affected

207
00:17:56.599 --> 00:18:00.680
him, saying I passed the spot
where the lady died. Every day of

208
00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:04.880
the week, something drags me back. Sometimes I go around the area that

209
00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:08.799
I chase the killer through. I
suppose I'm just hoping I will see him

210
00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:15.240
again. Patrick Cunningham had not only
chased the suspect, but he confronted him,

211
00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.119
saying, come on, you bastard, try me. I'm not a

212
00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:26.839
woman, which is when the suspect
began running. Patrick is clearly haunted by

213
00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:30.359
the fact that he couldn't catch the
suspect, but the police openly applauded him

214
00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:37.680
for his actions. Superintendent Bob Fenton
said what Pat did was very brave.

215
00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:41.720
If he hadn't done what he did, we wouldn't have half the information about

216
00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:48.240
the killer that we do. This
information was clearly important to the investigation and

217
00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:52.880
gave some clues, and in August
of nineteen ninety three, it looked as

218
00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:57.240
though there was a development in Jean's
case, it was announced that an arrest

219
00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:03.039
had been made. A thirty nine
year old by the name of Francis Marnell

220
00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:08.799
from north Hall in West London had
been arrested. It was widely reported that

221
00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:15.920
Marnell was unemployed and had been interviewed
at length about the murder. The arrest

222
00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:19.400
must have been welcome used to Jean's
family and to the community who wanted this

223
00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:26.680
violent murderer off the streets. Marnell
appeared at ealing magistrate's courts in September nineteen

224
00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:32.799
ninety three with his head covered with
a blue blanket and was then formally remanded

225
00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:38.119
in custody. The committal hearing took
place in November nineteen ninety three and more

226
00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:45.480
information was announced. It was discovered
that Francis Marnell was schizophrenic and this may

227
00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:48.160
have been one of the reasons police
believed that he could have been responsible for

228
00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:56.599
the murder. There was another bombshell
piece of information announced The case against Marnell

229
00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:03.680
wasn't going to proceed any further and
the charges were being ropped. Magistrate Ian

230
00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:08.680
Comfort listened to the information provided by
prosecution and defense and decided to dismiss the

231
00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:14.200
charges, given that Manelle seemed to
have a watertight alibi for the time that

232
00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:18.079
the murder took place. A woman
who worked at a social club in West

233
00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:23.240
Ealing told how she'd visited Marnell's flat
with bedding that she collected for him,

234
00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:29.839
and she saw and spoke with him
at the flat at that time. Manelle

235
00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:33.400
had a history of mental illness,
but had always denied having anything to do

236
00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:38.640
with the murder. The prosecution,
for their part, stated that Patrick Cunningham

237
00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:44.559
had picked Marnelle out of an identity
parade, saying that the killer looked really

238
00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:51.279
evil. Stephen Camliss, who led
Manell's defense, explained that police had ignored

239
00:20:51.319 --> 00:20:56.039
the evidence of an alibi that he
had and also hadn't bothered to conduct DNA

240
00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:02.680
tests that could have proven Manelle's innocence. Camlish stated that the alibi evidence was

241
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:07.559
so strong that it was incapable of
disbelief when looked at with an open mind.

242
00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:12.359
It would seem that Magistrate and Comfort
agreed with him and decided that the

243
00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:19.200
case shouldn't proceed. There were reportedly
gasps of astonishment, and Stephen Camlish announced

244
00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:25.640
that Marnell had been a victim of
injustice. At the highest level. Marnell

245
00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:30.440
made comment after the charges were dropped, saying we're going to have a party.

246
00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:36.440
This was not the outcome that the
police had clearly hoped for, and

247
00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:41.640
Jean's family unloved ones were left back
in limbo without the answers that they deserved.

248
00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:45.599
Police, for their part, stated
that they would be speaking with the

249
00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:52.000
Crown Prosecution Service about this decision,
but stressed that the Jeane Bradley Incident Room

250
00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:56.519
remains open and there is still a
team of officers working on the case who

251
00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:03.160
would be happy to receive any new
information. After the case collapsed, the

252
00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.200
police investigation seemed to grind to a
halt, with little progress being publicly made.

253
00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:14.720
A year after Jean's murder in nineteen
ninety four, her case was growing

254
00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:18.880
cold, and an article in the
Gazette spoke to residence in Carbree Avenue and

255
00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:26.079
begged the question what still was being
done to catch the killer. Roy Follett,

256
00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:30.279
a resident in Carbree Avenue, spoke
to the newspaper, saying the police

257
00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.759
seemed to have dropped the case and
we want to know what they're doing because

258
00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:38.759
nobody knows what's happening. Police here
were very upset and it does not help.

259
00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:45.440
Knowing the man is still out there, he could do anything. These

260
00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:51.200
thoughts were echoed by several residents of
Carbree Avenue and the surrounding streets. Many

261
00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:55.240
people were still distressed that the killer
hadn't been found, and they wanted more

262
00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:00.839
information about what was being done.
A spokesperson Stay did that the case was

263
00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:04.200
still open and would continue to be
while it was unsolved, and it was

264
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:11.480
also confirmed that more lighting had been
added to Carbury Avenue. By this point,

265
00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:15.079
three hundred and forty two suspects had
been questioned and eliminated from the investigation,

266
00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:19.960
eighteen hundred statements had been made,
and a thousand calls to police had

267
00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:26.480
been followed upon. However, despite
this, Jeane's murder remained unsolved. This

268
00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:30.960
is unfortunately the way that it has
remained for thirty years. With the thirty

269
00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:37.880
year anniversary of Jean's murder being in
March this year, there has been little

270
00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:44.160
new information released and Jeane's murder remains
one of the most notorious unsolved murders in

271
00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:48.880
the Capitol. There has been lots
of speculation about who could have possibly been

272
00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:52.640
responsible for this, as well as
links to other crimes that were seen as

273
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:59.000
similar. One of the crimes that
have been discussed with reference to Jeane's murder

274
00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:03.240
is that of Penny Bell, whose
case we've covered on the podcast previously.

275
00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:07.720
Forty three year old Penny Bell's body
was founded a car on the car park

276
00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:14.240
of the Gurnelle Leisure Center in Greenford
in London. She had been stabbed over

277
00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:18.240
fifty times and the motive for it
was unknown. There didn't appear to be

278
00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:22.720
any reason behind the attack and it
happened during the day in a public place.

279
00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:29.839
During the Crime Watch segment about Jean
Bradley's murder, Penny's was in fact

280
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:33.119
brought up due to the fact that
it also happened in London and a woman

281
00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:40.880
had been attacked in public while they
were by themselves. The similarities between the

282
00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:44.960
two, however, were quickly dispelled
as it was confirmed on there that police

283
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.359
believe that the two murders were not
connected. There wasn't any reason given for

284
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:53.759
this, and of course Penny Bells, like Jean's murder, is still unsolved.

285
00:24:56.519 --> 00:25:00.559
There has also been some other suspects
brought up in relation to jean murder,

286
00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:07.480
including serial killer Robert Nappa, professor
David Wilson, criminologist, amongst others,

287
00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:12.039
has suggested that he could have been
responsible for the murder given his known

288
00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:18.000
m Nappa had been convicted in nineteen
ninety four for the murder of twenty seven

289
00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:22.559
year old Samantha Bissett and her four
year old daughter in their home in Plumstead

290
00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:26.680
in London. What wasn't known at
the time, though, was that he

291
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:33.519
had already committed another brutal crime that
somebody else had been wrongfully convicted for the

292
00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:38.599
murder of Rachel Nickel on Wimbledon Common
in southwest London in nineteen ninety two.

293
00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:44.920
Was a notorious, motiveless and awful
crime given that it had taken place in

294
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.279
front of her two year old son
and once again in a public place during

295
00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:56.559
daytime, while walking the family dog. This was such a shocking murder and

296
00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:00.839
what followed was a controversial investigation by
the Metropolis and police in which a covert

297
00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:08.079
operation was established focused on one of
their potential suspects, Colin Stagg. Stagg

298
00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:12.240
was known to walk his dog on
Wimbledon Common and police sent out a female

299
00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:18.680
officer to try and form a relationship
with Stagg. The police were working on

300
00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:23.440
a criminal profile that this suspect would
enjoy violent fantasies, and the undercover officer

301
00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:29.480
tried to get Stagged to admit the
murder by implying that she enjoyed hurting people

302
00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:33.960
too. Stagg never admitted to the
murder, but he was arrested anyway.

303
00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:38.680
At trial, it emerged that his
descriptions weren't close enough to the reality of

304
00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:45.359
the actual murder as police had stated, and the judge exclaimed that the way

305
00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:49.519
in which police had gone about the
investigation was using deceptive conduct of the grossest

306
00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:56.039
kind. There was no forensic evidence
produced to link him to the murder,

307
00:26:56.119 --> 00:27:00.720
and his case was thrown out.
He was acquitted through insufficient and evidence.

308
00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:07.599
In the early two thousands, developments
in DNA technology meant that a sample found

309
00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:11.839
on some of Rachel Nickel's clothes were
able to be retested and came back as

310
00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:17.680
a match to Robert Nappa, who
at that time was confined in Broadmoor Hospital.

311
00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:22.759
It was revealed that he had been
questioned in relation to Nikel's murder in

312
00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.799
nineteen ninety five and had denied it. In two thousand and eight, he

313
00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:41.599
was convicted of manslaughter due to diminished
responsibility given his mental state. The whole

314
00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:48.440
situation with Robert Napper was further exacerbated
when speculation began to emerge that he could

315
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:52.039
have been responsible for a string of
rapes that occurred in southeast London called the

316
00:27:52.079 --> 00:28:00.440
Green Chain Rapes. Seventy incidents related
to this over a four year period were

317
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:04.480
recorded, and Napa reportedly admitted to
some of the incidents which had been attributed

318
00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:11.319
to the Green Chain rapist in nineteen
ninety five. He has been reportedly linked

319
00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:15.440
to four of these due to DNA
matching. He had been ruled out of

320
00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:18.880
many of them, though due to
his height. It was thought that the

321
00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:25.039
suspect was around five feet seven inches
and Nappa was around six foot two and

322
00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:30.359
so much taller. The witness statements, however, are conflicting, and it's

323
00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:36.240
reported that Napa did walk with a
stoop. This description has caught the eye

324
00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:40.519
of some, given that the suspect
in Jean Bradley's murder was described as tall

325
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:45.519
and had a funny way of walking
or running, as so described by Patrick

326
00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.200
Cunningham and the witness who saw the
suspect from the top of the block of

327
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:53.359
flats. He described him as flat
footed, but didn't mention a stoop.

328
00:28:56.119 --> 00:29:00.799
David Wilson also highlights the way in
which Nappa attacked his victims a blitz style

329
00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:06.599
attack, stabbing them multiple times,
often in public places, and without provocation.

330
00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:12.160
Interestingly, he also points out that
Nappa often traveled on public transport and

331
00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:18.920
knew his way around London extremely well. This was important in Jean's case,

332
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.680
as he appeared to have set off
in the direction of the tube station initially,

333
00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:26.160
and of course Jeane was coming from
the tube station when she was attacked.

334
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:34.160
The ferocity of Rachel Nickelle, Samantha
Bissett, and Jasmine Bissit's murders were

335
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:38.200
of no also, as they were
so brutal and violent that they could only

336
00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:45.119
have been perpetrated by someone who had
a strong violent tendency and clear mental health

337
00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:51.160
issues, as Robert Nappa had.
This was a similar profile to that given

338
00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:55.880
for Jean Bradley's killer, particularly the
focus that the police had on someone with

339
00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:02.319
no mental health issues or known addiction
to drugs or alcohol. This, however,

340
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:06.920
has never been confirmed, as have
many of the details surrounding Jean's murder.

341
00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:11.319
A lot is still unknown almost thirty
years later, and this must be

342
00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:17.200
horrendous for her family and loved ones
who just want answers to why this happened

343
00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:22.759
and who did it. Since Jean's
murder, her name has been included in

344
00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:27.000
articles about other murders or crimes that
occurred in London and has been cited as

345
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:33.200
one of the cases where DNA may
help to solve her murder. Unfortunately,

346
00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:37.000
this has not been what has happened
up until this point, and the evidence

347
00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:41.359
that they do have are the information
that leads to this speculation is unclear.

348
00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:48.720
This would be the best case scenario
for Jean's murder, and it's perfectly plausible

349
00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:52.599
that DNA may find her killer.
I hope that this does happen in the

350
00:30:52.680 --> 00:31:00.599
future, given the time that has
elapsed, since there is also there always

351
00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:04.519
the possibility that someone could come forward
with information, and Jeane's case is still

352
00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:08.400
open, so any information, no
matter how small, could be crucial.

353
00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:15.079
Many people saw what happened that night, and we have a lot more information

354
00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:19.119
than most crimes like this. However, despite this, the perpetrator still hasn't

355
00:31:19.160 --> 00:31:23.880
been found and we have no idea
if they went on to commit more crimes

356
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:30.160
or what happened to them. Since
this is a scary thought and Jeane's case,

357
00:31:30.279 --> 00:31:33.799
like all of the cases we cover
on the podcast, deserve to be

358
00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:37.920
told and to be solved. Her
loved ones deserve some closure and they need

359
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:45.000
answers. If you know anything about
Jean Bradley's murder in nineteen ninety three,

360
00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:48.880
then please contact the Metropolitan Police at
one oh one. If you want to

361
00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:52.680
know more about the murder of Penny
Ball in nineteen ninety one, which was

362
00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:56.960
mentioned in this episode, then find
it on our feed. I covered it

363
00:31:57.000 --> 00:32:05.079
back in January of twenty twenty one. Thank you for listening to today's episode.

364
00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:07.920
If you'd like to support the podcast
further than you can on Patreon and

365
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:14.400
contribute to exclusive polls to get extra
bonus episodes every month. You can also

366
00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:17.599
get access to new episodes early and
add free. You can use the link

367
00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:22.160
in the show notes to visit Patreon. You can also support us by reviewing

368
00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:28.000
the podcast wherever you listen, including
Spotify, and also just share the episodes.

369
00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:32.680
You can subscribe on YouTube and follow
us on social media. You can

370
00:32:32.680 --> 00:32:37.519
also now subscribe and listen to my
new podcast, ten Minute True Crime,

371
00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:42.519
which tells infamous crimes in a short
form, bite size ten minutes for people

372
00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:45.839
on the go or who just like
the facts, find that wherever you listen,

373
00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:52.480
and in the show notes, as
always, I'm Caprice and this has been unseen