WEBVTT

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Hi, and welcome back to The
Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing

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people, unresolved cases, and UK
true crime. Before we get started with

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today's episode, I just had a
bit of housekeeping to discuss. After today's

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episode, I will be taking a
break for around six weeks, so the

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next episode will be on the second
of July. Going to three monthly episodes

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is obviously more labor intensive and I
need to catch up before I burn out

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with any of it. Many of
the episodes I have chosen are going to

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be longer as they have more information
contained in them and I want to do

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them justice. I am working with
some families and doing some update episodes.

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There's a lot of moving parts.
I'm also going on holiday, having my

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birthday in June, and will be
starting a new job, so there's a

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lot going on. Patreon episodes will
still be coming out, so if you're

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on Patreon, don't worry. You
will still get the episodes as planned,

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plus the bonus episodes. I hope
this is okay with everyone, but sometimes

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I just need to take a break
to make sure the podcast is the quality

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I always want it to be.
On to today's episode, which explores the

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murder of Michael Williams in Highgate in
North London in nineteen eighty eight. The

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manner in which Michael had been killed
captured the nation's attention and led to many

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questions. The sad thing is Michael
left behind a wife, a young daughter

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and a loving family, and his
murder is still unsolved today. This episode

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contains descriptions that some listeners may find
distressing, so listener discretion is advised.

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Highgate Woods is located in North London, sitting between the areas of East Finchley,

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Highgate and Muswell Hill. The woodland
is around seventy acres and is described

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as ancient, its existence having been
mentioned in the Doomsday Book. It's a

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well used area with many activities taking
place such as cricket, football and other

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sports, as well as people using
it for socializing at the cafe and for

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walking their dogs. It's a calm
and accessible place used by residents and visited

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alike, given its proximity to Highgate
Station tube stop, located on the Northern

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Line. At around seven forty On
the twenty seventh of August nineteen eighty eight,

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a woman was walking her dog in
the woods close to Lanchester Road when

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she saw a shape lying by the
side of the path. When she looked

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closer at the shape, she realized
that she was looking at the body of

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a man. He was extremely still
and it was clear that he had passed

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away. This was a shocking and
unexpected sight, and the woman immediately contacted

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police to let them know what she
had discovered. Police attended the scene and

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tried to put together what had happened
to this man. From the scene that

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they found, it was initially unclear
what had happened. Had this man been

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attacked, and if so, had
he been attacked where he now lay or

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elsewhere. Police, however, were
quite sure that they were dealing with a

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murder investigation, and this suspicion would
prove to be correct. When the man's

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body was sent for a post mortem. The cause of death had been due

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to one blow to the throat.
This was certainly an unusual ruling, however,

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gave police indication that some violence had
to be involved in the attack.

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But why who was this victim and
why had he been murdered and left where

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he had Despite there being no belongings
on the victim to identify, police were

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able to establish who he was.
He was forty one year old Michael Williams,

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who lived in Highgate. Michael had
lived in Highgate all of his life

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and looked to be a very unlikely
victim. He had been married to his

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wife for eighteen years and was the
father of a two year old daughter.

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By everyone's accounts, Michael was a
devoted and dedicated father who doated on his

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daughter. He wanted to spend as
much time with her as he could,

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and reportedly worked flexi hours at his
job so that he could finish earlier and

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go home to spend time with her. Michael worked for the Home Office and

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commuted into Pimlico in central London to
work at his office in horse Ferry House.

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Michael had quite a high pressured job
and had been helping to set up

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the Police National Computer, which could
help narrow down information about crimes. He

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was good at his job and seemed
to be well liked and respected by his

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colleagues. He and his wife were
avid churchgoers and seemed happy. How Michael

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had become the victim of such a
callous and unnecessary murder seemed incomprehensible. Police

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began trying to track down Michael's movements
before his murder and figure out how this

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could have possibly happened. They were
able to establish a timeline, particularly for

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the night before Michael's body had been
recovered from Highgate Woods. Friday, the

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twenty sixth of August had been the
start of a long bank holiday weekend in

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nineteen eighty eight, and Michael had
been at work in Pimlico that day as

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usual. It reported that all that
week he had been working late, as

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he was working on a project that
he wanted to get finished. That night,

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around six pm, his wife had
rang his office, asking Michael what

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time he was going to get home
that evening. Michael had told her that

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he still had some bits to finish
off, but that he was hoping to

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get back just after eight pm.
His wife said that she would see him

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later and she would put their daughter
to bed. Michael carried on working for

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a little while when one of his
colleagues invited him to come for some drinks

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with them at the local pub,
the Pavior's Arms in Pimlico. This was

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somewhere that they often went for drinks, according to the later Crimewatch reconstruction.

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Michael initially declined and said he had
too much work to do, but then

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agreed to go despite telling his wife
that he would be home for around eight

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pm. Michael stayed out with colleagues
until about eleven fifteen PM, when he

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realized the time and told them that
he needed to leave. He left the

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pub with another colleague and they both
headed to the tube stop. Michael and

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the colleague traveled together until Victoria station, when the colleague got off and Michael

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stayed on. Michael's usual route home
would be traveling until either Warren Street station

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or Euston Station, where he would
then change to the Northern Line. He

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would then travel on the Northern Line
until he got to Highgate, where he

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would then make the short walk home. It's unknown if Michael did travel this

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route on that Friday night, however, as nobody that knew Michael saw him

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do so. There is a witness
sighting at East Finchley station, one stop

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after Highgate, that perhaps indicates that
he might have got off there instead.

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A security guard remembers seeing a man
fitting Michael's description come up to his booth

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around twelve thirty pm and ask him
where the toilets. The security guard told

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the man that the toilets were closed
and the man apparently just walked off.

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If this was Michael, then he
hadn't got off at his usual stop,

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and if not, why was he
planning on walking home from there instead?

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It would appear that this was the
last possible sighting of him that night.

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A lot of Michael's possible route was
speculation, and there was little evidence to

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point to where he had actually been. Police didn't know how he had ended

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up in Highgate Woods, or actually
when he had ended up there. There

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were some very odd details about this
murder which didn't seem to make sense to

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investigators, and one of these elements
was the witness statements that they had from

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earlier on in the morning that Michael's
body had been discovered. Aside from the

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dog walker who had found his body, there were a few other people who

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had been in the area even earlier
than that. The strange thing was that

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all of these people had walked past
the area where Michael had been discovered,

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but none of them had seen his
body there. If he had been there,

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these people would have also seen him. A man had also been walking

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his dog in the same area around
six am that morning, and he confirmed

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that he didn't notice Michael's body there. But he was able to provide police

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with some more information about something else
strange that he spotted. He said that

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just around the corner from where Michael's
body was later found, his dog began

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barking loudly and aggressively. As he
came around the corner, he saw that

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the dog was barking at a man
who was stood still by the path.

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The witness said that this man was
stood staring forward and didn't react at all

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to his dog barking at him.
The witness said it was very strange,

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as the man looked to be in
a trance and pay any attention to his

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surroundings. The witness said it was
as though he was under the influence or

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hypnotized. This man was described as
around six feet tall, white, of

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a slim build, with blondish brown
hair and a beard of a similar color.

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While the sighting was very strange,
it didn't implicate this man in Michael's

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murder in any way. However,
the police were very interested, of course,

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in speaking to the man or finding
out who he was. Around fifty

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minutes later, the gates of Highgate
Woods were opened fully for the day and

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a witness he walked past the area
five minutes after this, also saw nothing

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on the path where Michael's body had
been found. Police came to the conclusion

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that Michael's body had not been there
earlier on the previous evening or even that

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morning, and that it had been
placed there between around seven and seven forty

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when he was discovered. They also
stated that they believed a car must have

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been used to transport his body there
in this time. The question was why

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and where had Michael been during that
time? Where had he actually been attacked

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and killed. There were many unanswered
questions, but police believed, based on

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the witness statements that they had,
and the fact that Michael had been found

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in a public place, that he
can't have been there for too long or

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he would have been found earlier.
On Theories on who had perpetrated this were

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few and far between. Given the
lack of concrete evidence, Michael's case was

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featured on Crime Watch to try and
drag people's memories of that time and hopefully

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find someone who may have the crucial
piece of information they needed to put it

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all together. Reconstruction of the evening
before Michael was murdered, as well as

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all of the information the police had, was presented on the program, Detective

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Superintendent Paul Wilton explained that none of
Michael's belongings had been recovered from the scene

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and it was important that they were
found. Michael had been carrying a black

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and white carrier bag with the letters
ID on the front. Inside, he

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had been carrying a radio pager called
a VODA page, a computer manual his

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home office passed to get into his
office, and a signet ring with his

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initials on it. He also had
on a Rolex watch which had been made

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for him around seventeen years earlier.
The watch was reportedly distinctive as it had

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clasps around the outside of the face, which was unusual. It was hoped

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by showing these objects on the program, someone would come forward. None of

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these belongings had been found with him. There was also another piece of important

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information shown on the program, and
this was something that happened the day after

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Michael's body had been found. A
man had walked into the new argent Tandoori

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restaurant on Free and Barnet Road in
Southgate, around four miles away from Highgate.

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This man had paid for his food
with a credit card, and this

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credit card actually belonged to Michael Williams. This man had possession of Michael's bank

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card and was walking around using it
after his death. Who was this man

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and why did he have the card? Had robbery been the motive, hence

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the lack of Michael's belongings at the
scene. Detective Superintendent Paul Wilton stated on

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the Crime Watch program that they didn't
know if this man had anything to do

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with the murder or if he had
simply found the card or even bought it

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illegally. The use of the card
was extremely suspicious, and of course police

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were eager to find out what had
happened and what this man knew. Detective

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Superintendent Paul Wilton also brought up a
new theory on the Crime Watch program.

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He explained that at this point he
had to take into consideration that this murder

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could have a sexual motive. He
discussed the fact that Michael was bisexual and

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the location his body was found was
known as a spot that gay men would

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frequent during this time. He explained
that they couldn't rule this out. That

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Michael had met someone that evening on
his way home. This was a new

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piece of information at the time.
However, like many of the other theories

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which swirled around in this case,
it was based on theory and speculation,

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as without some concrete information, lots
of the theories could not be proved.

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Michael's case was extremely difficult to solve
given all of the unknowns. The known

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information was that Michael had been attacked
at some point on his way home and

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killed by one blow to the throat. Detective Superintendent Wilton confirmed on Crime Watch

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that this would have had to have
been from someone strong with martial arts experience.

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He stated that he had consulted with
karate experts who explained that this had

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to be someone with experience in this
field to carry out this sort of attack.

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His belongings were then taken from him
and his body was kept somewhere until

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between seven and seven forty when it
was transported to Highgate Woods by a car

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and his body was left there.
His bank card was taken and was then

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used at a tandori restaurant by a
man the following day. The situation was

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so unusual and odd that police struggled
to reconcile the information they had and narrowed

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down who could be involved. Despite
the appeal on crime Watch since nineteen eighty

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eight. Michael's case has remained unsolved
and there have been very few appeals for

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information from police. Since I could
find no articles in the archives related to

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Michael's murder, and since then very
few articles have been written about Michael's case

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in the newspapers. This is extremely
sad, as he did leave behind a

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wife and a daughter who have had
to live their lives without him without answers

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to why he was killed and who
had done it. All theories seemed to

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point to a stranger murder, as
Michael had never intended to be going home

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at that time, and it would
seem to indicate that he had simply come

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across his killer while walking home.
The motive, however, is much more

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confusing. Was this a robbery which
went wrong? Did this have a sexual

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motive as suggested by police at the
time. Was this an attack on a

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person walking alone. Police appealed for
anyone who may have been attacked in the

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area during that time to also come
forward, implying that perhaps police wanted to

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check if this was a case of
someone attacking people in that same area.

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There is little information in this case, however, that does not mean that

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Michael's case is any less deserving of
attention than cases with more information. He

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is a victim who deserves justice,
and his family also deserves justice and answers.

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If you know anything about Michael Williams's
murder in August of nineteen eighty eight,

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then please contact the Metropolitan Police on
one oh one or Crimestoppers on eight

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hundred five five one one one.
Thank you for listening to today's episode.

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by reviewing the podcast wherever you listen, including Spotify, and also just share

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the episodes. You can subscribe on
YouTube and follow us on social media.

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You can also now subscribe and listen
to my other podcast, ten Minute True

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Crime, which tells infamous crimes in
a short form, bite size ten minutes

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for people on the go or who
just like the facts. Find that wherever

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you listen and in the show notes. As always, I'm Caprice and this

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has been unseen