Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing
people, unresolved cases and UK true crime. Today we're going to be exploring
the murder of forty two year old Bulich Forsyth in Lambeth in London in nineteen
ninety three. His case was filled with so many unusual aspects and many suspicious
clues, but Bulich's case is still unsolved today. He left behind a wife
and a child who haven't had the answers that they deserve. This episode contains
descriptions that some listeners may find distressing and, while not graphic, does reference
child sexual abuse, so listener discretion is advised. Lamberth is a borough located
in South London and it's around seven miles long and about three miles wide.
It is most well known for the areas located within it, such as Brixton,
Clapham, Vauxhall and Streatham. Is a very diverse and varied area with
many things to do and see. Many of the shopping areas are always very
busy and the hustle and bustle of London life can be seen within this one
borough. It was in Clapham in the Lambeth Borough that Foster Court was located.
Forty two year old Bulick Forsyth lived in a flat at Foster Court and
had moved there in nineteen eighty nine. It was at this point that Bullick
began working for Lambeth Social Services, whose headquarters were based in Clapham, close
to where he lived. By all accounts, Bullick loved his job, and
his colleagues later recounted that he was very good at it. He worked as
the office manager and took an interest in all of the workings of the office.
He had responsibility for the management of ten of the social service's buildings,
and his role included ensuring that all the day to day workings of these buildings
went smoothly. He was described as being very efficient in his job and had
a genuine concern for the welfare of all the staff. He could, however,
be seen as a little over zealous at times. However, a colleague
of his later stated that his bark was worse than his bite. It was
clear to his colleagues that Bullick was passionate about his job and that this was
where he spent a huge proportion of his time. His colleagues, however,
knew little about his life outside of work, and this aspect was largely unknown
to many that he worked with. On the morning of Thursday, the twenty
fifth of February nineteen ninety three, his colleagues were surprised to learn that he
hadn't yet come into the office. As they knew that Bullick was such a
hard working man and was never late, they were somewhat worried about his absence.
As the day wore on and Bullick had still not come into work or
answered his home phone, the staff became more and more concerned about him.
However, without much known about his personal life, it was tricky to establish
if Bullick had just decided to take a day off or was busy doing something
else. While this wasn't like him, his colleagues couldn't exactly rule it out
either. One of these colleagues decided to visit his flat at Foster Court after
work that night. It was around five pm when she went to his flat
and found that his curtains were closed. She shouted through his letterbox, but
Bullick didn't answer. The mystery appeared to be deepening. However, the colleague
had no real way of working out what was going on, and so left
Foster Court. It was around one am the next morning, Friday, the
twenty sixth of February, that one of the residents who lived in Foster Court
was woken up by the sound of heavy footsteps at the back of his flat.
Not long after that, another resident, Bulick's upstairs neighbor, noticed a
smell coming from the flat downstairs. She went to have a look at what
was going on and saw smoke emerging from Bulick's flat. When she looked through
the letter box, she could see that a fire was raging inside. She
ran back upstairs and rang nine nine nine. The fire brigade arrived at the
scene around two am on that Friday morning and began putting out the fire.
When they entered the flat, they found a series of alarming discoveries. The
most alarming discovery was a body in the back bedroom. This body was Bulick
Forsyth. It was clear, however, that something had a heard before the
fire had been set, as he had clearly been beaten around the head.
The scene was gruesome but also extremely disturbing. Not only had someone attacked Bulick
and set his flat on fire, but they had also switched the gas on
the oven, meaning that it was very lucky that the flat had not blown
up. The police were clearly looking for a perpetrator or perpetrators who were willing
to blow up an entire block of flats of other innocent people to carry out
their crime. Whoever this was was evidently dangerous. Police were now working to
try and figure out who would have wanted to kill Bulich, and particularly in
this brutal manner. The circumstances in which he had died and the way in
which he hadn't turned up at work concerned the police. They began looking into
his life and finding out some more background about him. It was discovered that
Bullick had a wife, which was clearly unknown to many that knew him at
work. He had married an American woman named Dawn three years earlier in nineteen
ninety. She was still living in America, as Bullick had decided that he
didn't want to move there to be with her due to his job. Dawn
therefore was in the process of moving to London to be with Bullick. She
was actually pregnant at the time that he was murdered, and this has obviously
been a catalyst for her to move over to the UK. This must have
been the most devastating news for her, as she lost her husband but also
the father of her baby. She painted a picture of Bullick to officers that
they hadn't been given by his colleagues. She said he was easy going,
he loved music, and he'll love to party. He could often be found
playing pool. She explained that he was extremely excited about becoming a father,
and when Dawn told him, he immediately went out to tell everyone, including
people at the local pub. This shows that Bullick was clearly loving and kind
hearted and was excited about the way his life was going. How then had
he become the victim of such a brutal murder. Darn's description of Bulick was
helpful, but of course she was in America during the months before Bullick was
murdered and didn't see any of the events that may have occurred. Police needed
to find out what Bulick was doing during this time and who he was spending
his time with. It would appear that he may have been lonely without Dawn
in his life and spent a lot of time at work. However, police
were able to trace some witnesses who may have known who he was spending time
with or what he was doing. Police began trying to find people who may
have known him or spent some time with him during the important period before his
death, as well as other witnesses that may have noticed something close to Foster
Court officers knew that Bullick had last been seen on Wednesday, the twenty fourth
of February. He had last been seen leaving work at the Council Officers approximately
five pm. He had told his colleagues he was having an early night that
night, and he'd headed off the next morning. On Thursday, the twenty
fifth, a neighbor who lived above Bullick and the same one that noticed the
fire the next morning, also noticed something unusual. She would later say that
she usually heard Bullick's alarm going off in the morning to wake him up from
work, as her bedroom was directly above his. That morning, however,
she didn't hear anything, and it appeared that Bullick hadn't either set the alarm
or he hadn't needed to get up as he usually did for work. Officers,
however, knew that he had to go to work that day, and
so this stood out to them. This witness added that she left the house
around nine am and when she went past Bulich's flat. She noticed that his
curtains were open, which was not how he usually had them at that time
in the morning. This was of course of interest to the investigation as it
wasn't his usual routine. Not long after this, they found a witness who
lived at Foster Court who also spotted something unusual that he had never seen before.
He explained that he was on his way to the corner shop to buy
a newspaper around nine thirty am when he spotted three men coming out of Foster
Court. He only noticed them because, as he put it, they looked
official and were carrying briefcases and folders. The witness added that he hadn't seen
them there before and that they stood out because they looked very serious. This
same witness and resident explained that he saw something else strange on that same day,
around one fifty five pm. He noticed a white car at the back
of the flats. The car had two men sat inside it. It stood
out, as the man said, he had lived at Foster Court for eighteen
years and he had never seen someone parked there. He was able to give
some description of the men. One had black hair, one had brownish hair,
and they were both well dressed. This was interesting to the investigation given
that the same man had seen some other well dressed official men around the flats
earlier on that day. It was then known that his colleague came round to
his flat around three hours later at five pm and got no response when she
knocked on the door. Police were now working on the theory that Bulick had
already been killed and was probably in his flat at this time the perpetrator.
Our perpetrators had then returned to the flat to set it alight, and this
could have been to get rid of evidence. Detective Superintendent Brian Tompkins would later
reveal on Crimewatch that things were missing from Bulli's flat. A silver Rolex Oyster
model watch was missing. This was distinctive and had the model number R one
six two to zero A seven. It was hoped that if someone had been
offered this watch or it had been sold, that it would be recognized.
The other thing that appeared to be missing was documentation, which was known to
be in Bullick's flat. During the crime Watch segment, the police stated that
they weren't sure if this was to do with Bullick's work or his personal life.
However, its disappearance of course, was relevant to the investigation. Police
had been working hard to establish anyone that knew Bullick or spent any time with
him at all. However, this was proving difficult. He clearly was a
person that kept himself to himself. However, there were some interesting sightings which
were featured on the program. The shopkeeper and off license facing Foster Court,
told officers that he had seen Buellick in the months before he was killed.
He said that he always came in with two other men. He explained that
they both looked a bit suspicious. One of the men always stood by the
shop entrance, while the other man came further into the shop, but he
seemed furtive, like he didn't want to be seen by shop security cameras.
The shopkeeper got a better look at this man and described him as around twenty
five years old, with blue eyes and unkempt, scruffy fair hair. He
was around six feet tall and wore tight fitting blue jeans and a casual jacket.
Who these men were was unknown to police or why Bulik would have been
regularly coming into the shop with them. They appealed on the Crime Watch show
for anyone who knew these men or were these men to come forward. They
also explained that Bulick was known to be friends with a man called Steve who
may have worked as a courier. They wanted him to come forward also as
he may have information that they need. The police were also extremely interested to
know who the three men were coming out of Foster Coret and why they were
there. It was clear that police were struggling to find the leads that they
needed, and the lack of information about Bulick's private life was making it very
difficult to figure it out. They knew that they were dealing with a dangerous
person or people. However, why they wanted to target Bulick for scythe was
a mystery. This is the way that Bulick's case remained for several years,
with periodic reviews taking place, but essentially the who and the why of it
remained unknown. Shortly after his murder, Dawn gave birth to the couple's child,
a daughter whom she named Kiddised. The devastation of the murder and the
then subsequent lack of progress in the investigation must have been horrendous for them,
and to try and get on with life after that must have been so difficult.
Any Further new information was few and far between until two thousand and fourteen,
when news began to emerge that Bulick may have known about something high profile
to do with his job. An investigation which was conducted by The Mirror newspaper
found that Bulick may have been about to uncover a pedophile ring which may have
been taking place within children's homes ran by Lambeth Council. This ring was said
to have involved senior officials at the council. The Mirror trackdown witnesses who told
them that Bulich was aware that something was going on and that was a problem
given his job role looking after ten of the social services buildings. It said
in the Mirror article from twenty and fourteen that one witness stated that Bullick had
told them that he had learned that vulnerable youngsters were being assaulted by an organized
gang at one of the children's homes. Another witness remembers that Bullick told her
about his suspicions, saying with what I'm about to tell you, I'm taking
a big risk. What if I was to say that council buildings are being
used for child sexual abuse on a regular basis. He also asked them about
a specific building used as an assessment center called South Vale, which had been
closed, and said people are saying they're using it to make films. The
witness told The Mirror that he seemed afraid about something and then he was murdered,
the assumption of course that this knowledge may have been the motive for his
murder. The Mirror reported that an internal Lambeth Council probe was ongoing at the
time of Beulick's murder and the report that was produced as a result confirmed that
he had told several colleagues that he had information and was going to divulge it.
This was very important information for the investigation, as this could be the
missing piece of the puzzle the motive. The Mirror also spoke to Bullick's daughter,
Kiddist, who was at this point twenty one years old. She explained
that their family had believed that Bullick could be murdered as a result of what
he'd found out about what was going on at the council. She said,
police must examine whether my dad was killed because of what he knew about child
sex abuse in Lambeth and if it was linked to people in power. We
know that he told more than one person he was going to expose wrongdoing in
the borough shortly before he was murdered, and that his killer or killers remained
free. It would appear that the information that Bullick may have known at the
time of his death was unfortunately found to be true. A report which was
released in twenty twenty one by the Independent Inquiry into Child's Sexual Abuse found that
Lambeth's Council had repeatedly failed children in care and in foster homes. This abuse
had been going on since the nineteen sixties and during the four decades since.
The report established that more than seven hundred and five children had suffered cruelty and
sexual abuse. The report indicates that council's staff put children in the path of
sex offenders, and staff treated children as if they were worthless. This report
is of course damning for Lambeth Counsel, who have since issued an apology to
all of the victims of this abuse, saying, on behalf of all elected
members and our staff, Lambeth's Council wishes to restate our since sarah and heartfelt
apology to all victims and survivors of abuse and neglect while in Lambeth's care.
The Council was responsible for their care and protection, but failed with profound consequences.
The Council is deeply sorry for their experiences. As the ii CSA report
sets out, the Council of the past failed to protect many of its most
vulnerable children. A disproportionate number of those children were from Black, Asian and
multi ethnic backgrounds. The extent and scale of the horrendous abuse which took place
over many decades remains deeply shocking. Bulich's murder was mentioned in the report and
some discussion about its possible connection to the abuse of children. The ones Worth
Times reports this as saying the murder of mister Forsyth remains unsolved. It was
the subject of a recent review by the Metropolitan Police Service Operation Red Snow as
a result of concerns that there was a connection between mister Forsyth's employment and Lambeth
Council and his murder, but no evidence of such a connection was found.
At the very least, the murder of mister Forsyth is likely to have caused
concern and fear on the part of staff and counselors. This possible connection between
Bullick's murder and this discovery perhaps explain some of the things that witnesses had seen
prior to his death. However, it does not explain everything. It would
explain why some documentation may have been missing from his flat and why the flat
may have been set alight. It would perhaps explain why official looking men were
spotted by a witness coming out of Foster Court. Were these people anything to
do with Bullick's murder or anything to do with Lambeth Counsel. This is,
of course speculation on anyone's part, as there is so much that is known
about his murder. Police have clearly not found any evidence to conclusively link the
murder to the council abuse scandal. However, it's clear that Bullick's family believed
that this was a motive for it. Whether Bulick's murder was related to the
abuse at the council, it's so sad that either of these things happened.
The pain that Bulick's family have had to deal with for all these years and
the lifelong trauma that the victims of this abuse have suffered are both tragic.
There are so many unknowns and Bulich's family deserves some answers to what happened to
him, and I hope that this continues to be looked into and some evidence
does emerge. A very dangerous person or people got away with a brutal murder
which could have killed many others and they should have been behind bars. If
you know anything about Bulick Forsythe's murder, then please contact police on one oh
one. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you'd like to support
the podcast further, then you can on Patreon and contribute to the exclusive polls
to get extra bonus episodes every month. You can also get access to new
episodes earlier and add free. You can use the link in the show notes
to visit Patreon and see what we offer. You can also support us by
reviewing the podcast wherever you listen, including Spotify, and also just share the
episodes. You can subscribe on YouTube and follow us on social media. You
can also subscribe and listen to my other podcast, ten Minute True Crime,
which tells infamous crimes in a short form, bite size ten minutes for people
on the go or who dislike the facts. Find that wherever you listen and
in the show notes. As always, I'm Caprice and this has been unseen