Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast
Speaker 1: dedicated to missing people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime.
Speaker 1: In this episode, I'm going to be exploring the murder
Speaker 1: of Nigel boss Stock in Southport in nineteen eighty six.
Speaker 1: This was a case that I came across when I
Speaker 1: was watching a Crime Watch episode, but the segment was
Speaker 1: only very small about the case. I wanted to know more,
Speaker 1: so began to do some more research and found much
Speaker 1: more information. Nigel boss Stock's murder is still unsolved and
Speaker 1: despite the time that has passed, there has not been
Speaker 1: much more information published. This episode contains descriptions that some
Speaker 1: listeners may find distressing, so listener discretion is advised. On
Speaker 1: December twentieth, nineteen eight, shop workers at Wider Fitting Specialist
Speaker 1: shoe shop in Wesley Street in Southport became worried about
Speaker 1: their boss and fellow worker, Nigel boss Stock. Southport is
Speaker 1: a seaside town located in Merseyside, around seventeen miles from
Speaker 1: Liverpool and around fifteen miles from Preston. Wesley Street is
Speaker 1: described as a village in a town, and it's known
Speaker 1: for its independent shops and pastor colored buildings. The staff
Speaker 1: at the shoe shop on Wesley Street knew that Nigel
Speaker 1: did not usually miss work and they were quite concerned
Speaker 1: about it. The staff decided that they needed to contact
Speaker 1: one of Nigel's friends to see if they would go
Speaker 1: and check on him. Nigel's friend did just that and
Speaker 1: made his way to Nigel's home in a semi detached
Speaker 1: bungalow in Banks, a village around four miles away from
Speaker 1: the center of Southport. The friend arrived and entered the
Speaker 1: home looking for now. As they made their way into
Speaker 1: the bathroom of the house, they were greeted with a
Speaker 1: terrible sight. Nigel was in the bathtub, which was partially
Speaker 1: filled up with water. He was half in and half
Speaker 1: out of the bathtub and was wearing only a T shirt.
Speaker 1: It was clear that he had some serious injuries and
Speaker 1: that he was already deceased when the friend arrived to
Speaker 1: check on him. The police were quickly called and they
Speaker 1: established that this was a murder scene. It was evident
Speaker 1: that Nigel's injuries were not self inflicted or an accident.
Speaker 1: Nigel had what was described as a complex ligature tied
Speaker 1: around his neck, and it appeared as well as being strangled,
Speaker 1: he had also been stabbed six times in the chest.
Speaker 1: This was a brutal murder carried out by someone who
Speaker 1: was extremely violent. Despite the amount of violence that was
Speaker 1: seen in the bathroom, the police, however, did not find
Speaker 1: any sign of a struggle in the house itself. This
Speaker 1: indicated to them that whoever this person was, had not
Speaker 1: fought their way into Nigel's home, and suggested the possibility
Speaker 1: that they had been invited in, or perhaps Nigel had
Speaker 1: in some way felt comfortable allowing them into his home.
Speaker 1: This was of course a chilling possibility, as the idea
Speaker 1: that someone who knew Nigel may have done this was
Speaker 1: a concern. There was also the possibility that this had
Speaker 1: been someone who was local to the area and may
Speaker 1: have just taken their chance to get into a home.
Speaker 1: The police continued to search the home for evidence, and
Speaker 1: they discovered that while there were no signs of a struggle,
Speaker 1: there were some items missing. As Nigel owned a shop,
Speaker 1: he often had the shop takings in his home, and
Speaker 1: the police found that around six hundred to seven hundred
Speaker 1: pounds had been stolen. In today's money, this would have
Speaker 1: been around seven eighteen hundred to two thousand pound, so
Speaker 1: quite a large sum. Some jewelry was missing. Also, there
Speaker 1: was a very worn nine carrot gold signet ring with
Speaker 1: the letter N on it. There was also a nine
Speaker 1: carrot gold dress ring with twenty eight small diamonds in
Speaker 1: two rows across the face. As well as the money
Speaker 1: and the rings that had been taken, it was found
Speaker 1: that a watch of Nigel's was also missing. The watch
Speaker 1: was described as a bulover Achitron which had a gold
Speaker 1: plated heavy link strap with a stainless steel back. It
Speaker 1: was unusual as it had a see through face where
Speaker 1: the mechanism was visible. The minute and our hands were
Speaker 1: white and yellow, and the other hand was yellow. Also,
Speaker 1: this watch was thought to be unusual as well, as
Speaker 1: it had been discontinued from sale around ten years previously.
Speaker 1: It was thought to be the only watch that had
Speaker 1: gone on the market with the battery and see through
Speaker 1: face without having a winder. It was quite an important
Speaker 1: line of inquiry as the police hoped that if they
Speaker 1: could find the watch, then they would have more of
Speaker 1: an idea about who had been in the home and
Speaker 1: may have killed Nigel. To try and figure out who
Speaker 1: may have committed such an awful murder, the police had
Speaker 1: to dig into Nigel's life in the hope that this
Speaker 1: may provide some information. Nigel lived alone and had moved
Speaker 1: into the bungalow around two years previously. One of the
Speaker 1: biggest line of inquiries was that Nigel was a gay man.
Speaker 1: Through my experience of covering cases during the nineteen eighties,
Speaker 1: I have found the reporting of crimes against gay people
Speaker 1: always focused very heavily on their sexuality as part of
Speaker 1: the crime. Looking at this through the lens of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four, I always find it a bit problematic, as
Speaker 1: clearly the worldwide concern about the AIDS epidemic shaped a
Speaker 1: lot of the reporting. For instance, in this case, the
Speaker 1: police discuss reaching out to the gay community in the
Speaker 1: area to see if they might have information, but simultaneously
Speaker 1: discuss if any of Nigel's friends had AIDS. In hindsight,
Speaker 1: it's hard to see how this had anything to do
Speaker 1: with the murder, but clearly the police did believe that
Speaker 1: someone in Nigel's circle of friends may have information that
Speaker 1: could help them. Discussing their health openly in the newspaper, however,
Speaker 1: may not have made many people in the gay community
Speaker 1: feel able or safe to come forward with that information.
Speaker 1: Police did discover some information that helped them shape the
Speaker 1: days leading up to Nigel's murder. Nigel had been out
Speaker 1: with some friends on Thursday, the eighteenth of December. He
Speaker 1: had traveled on the eight twenty pm train from Southport
Speaker 1: to Liverpool with three or four men who were all
Speaker 1: smartly dressed. It was known that Nigel and his friends
Speaker 1: enjoyed visiting club in Liverpool, Blackpool, Southport and Preston, and
Speaker 1: it was thought that this is where he was going
Speaker 1: that evening. Police were interested in this lead and hoped
Speaker 1: that other people who had been on the train that
Speaker 1: night may have information that they could pass along to
Speaker 1: the police. They conducted a reconstruction of the train journey
Speaker 1: in the hope that it would jog the public's memory.
Speaker 1: They found that Nigel was later seen on Friday, the
Speaker 1: nineteenth of December, and that he had last been seen
Speaker 1: at around two pm that afternoon. This, however, was the
Speaker 1: last time that he had been seen, as he did
Speaker 1: not turn up to the shop on the Saturday as
Speaker 1: he had planned. The police had found some information out
Speaker 1: about that Friday evening, as despite the fact that he
Speaker 1: hadn't been seen, it was thought that Nigel may have
Speaker 1: hosted a Christmas party at his home. Police had information
Speaker 1: that three men were at his home that evening. However,
Speaker 1: tracing them was proving difficult. The papers described them as
Speaker 1: mystery guests, and they did hope that by appealing they
Speaker 1: would find out who they were and they may be
Speaker 1: able to fill in the gaps that they had. If
Speaker 1: Nigel had had a party, then this, of course would
Speaker 1: have been of interest to the police. Police spoke to
Speaker 1: Nigel's neighbors in the area to see what they noticed
Speaker 1: or saw that evening. One thing became apparent. They gave
Speaker 1: conflicting accounts of what they saw. Superintendent Boyd later explained
Speaker 1: the people living in the adjoining semi to mister Bostock
Speaker 1: gave a totally conflicting statement to the people living opposite
Speaker 1: to the house. The people living next door to mister
Speaker 1: Bostock claimed they heard the sound of a scuffle at
Speaker 1: eleven thirty pm that night, which they described as someone
Speaker 1: being dragged across the floor, while the people living opposite
Speaker 1: reported that mister Bostock went out in his red Ford
Speaker 1: Fiesta car at around nine forty five pm. I have
Speaker 1: no reason to disbelieve either of the neighbors as mister
Speaker 1: Bostock could have gone out, picked someone up and come
Speaker 1: back home. But what is puzzling is how did the
Speaker 1: killers leave the scene, As mister Bostock's car was in
Speaker 1: the driveway when the murder was discovered, and no one
Speaker 1: reported any unusual cars in the area. This was interesting
Speaker 1: as reports from the time do state that around two
Speaker 1: fifteen am on that Saturday morning, an MK three Ford
Speaker 1: corteen of four or saloon which was probably brown, was
Speaker 1: seen in the area of abrams Fold, where Nigel lived.
Speaker 1: The car joined the A five sixty five Southport to
Speaker 1: Preston Road, turning towards Preston and it stood out to
Speaker 1: witnesses because it had a badly blowing exhaust and was
Speaker 1: probably very loud. This was unable to be traced and
Speaker 1: they were unsure if it had anything to do with
Speaker 1: the murder, but given the time it was seen leaving,
Speaker 1: it could not be ruled out. There were several unknowns
Speaker 1: in the case who had been at Nigel's flat, how
Speaker 1: the killers had gotten away with the murder, along with
Speaker 1: some mysteries about people known to Nigel. One particular mystery
Speaker 1: that police were eager to solve was who was Karl.
Speaker 1: They had some information that Karl, spelt with either a
Speaker 1: sea or a quay, was known to Nigel and may
Speaker 1: have been staying with him for a while. Karl may
Speaker 1: have been a hitchhiker that Nigel had picked up and
Speaker 1: become friends with, or even the partner of. However, this
Speaker 1: was all that police knew about him. They were interested
Speaker 1: in speaking to him because if he had been living
Speaker 1: with Nigel, he may know some information that could help
Speaker 1: them find out who did this. They knew he had
Speaker 1: reddish our sandy colored hair. However, the rest of the
Speaker 1: information was difficult to ascertain. More information did possibly emerge,
Speaker 1: and that was in the form of letters found at
Speaker 1: Nigel's home. These letters were from a couple named Doris
Speaker 1: and Regg with the possible last name of Hobb. They
Speaker 1: had had extensive communication with Nigel over several years, and
Speaker 1: there was some speculation that this couple could be some
Speaker 1: relation to Carl, who they were trying to trace. Whether
Speaker 1: this had anything to do with the murder, however, is unclear,
Speaker 1: but the police continually appealed for Carl to come forward.
Speaker 1: They also did this on a Crime Watch segment in
Speaker 1: January of nineteen eighty seven. They asked that Carl come
Speaker 1: forward to speak to police, and they also showed the
Speaker 1: type of watch that was missing from Nigel's home. They
Speaker 1: told anyone who may have information about the watch, had
Speaker 1: seen it before or been asked to buy it, to
Speaker 1: come forward and this may help solve Nigel's murder. He
Speaker 1: was also revealed around this time that Nigel's family had
Speaker 1: put up quite a substantial reward for information in the case.
Speaker 1: The segment on the show was only short, but police
Speaker 1: did receive around sixty calls from people who thought that
Speaker 1: they knew something. One of these people was a man
Speaker 1: named Philip from Turquie in Devon. He stated that he
Speaker 1: thought he might know something about the watch that was missing.
Speaker 1: Another person rang up to say that they thought they
Speaker 1: might be a relative of Carls. This call, however, got
Speaker 1: cut off or the person hung up and did not
Speaker 1: ring back. These were interesting lines of inquiry, however, they
Speaker 1: did not lead to any suspects being found out. In
Speaker 1: the months that followed, a coroner ruled that Nigel's murder
Speaker 1: was unlawful and that while an investigation was taking place,
Speaker 1: nobody had been convicted of the crime. He also ruled
Speaker 1: that the cause of death was one fatal stab wound
Speaker 1: to the chest. This they believed was done with a
Speaker 1: kitchen knife. The investigation was large in scale and it
Speaker 1: was believed that more than five thousand people were interviewed.
Speaker 1: There were around two thousand lines of inquiry and around
Speaker 1: one thousand, six hundred and twelve statements were taken. The
Speaker 1: investigations slowed down in the years that followed, as without
Speaker 1: witnesses coming forward and without the DNA technology, finding out
Speaker 1: who did it was a struggle. Police maintained that they
Speaker 1: believed that the motive for the murder was sexual and
Speaker 1: that this may have been a sexual act that had
Speaker 1: gone wrong. Superintendent Boyd stated a year after the murder,
Speaker 1: usually when you find your motive for the crime, you
Speaker 1: find your answer. There's no doubt that the motive for
Speaker 1: the visit of the offender or offenders was sex. They
Speaker 1: also stated their belief that more than one person may
Speaker 1: have been involved, as in more than one person was
Speaker 1: there at the house that night that this murder took place.
Speaker 1: They stated that they believed there was someone out there
Speaker 1: with more information that they had not yet divulged. Years
Speaker 1: passed with the case remaining unsolved and with little progress
Speaker 1: being published to the public. In two thousand and three,
Speaker 1: there was a development. An anonymous letter had been sent
Speaker 1: to the police, and it reported that this letter contained
Speaker 1: information and facts about the murder. This was of interest
Speaker 1: to the police as they had also been conducting their
Speaker 1: own forensic review of the evidence found at the scene,
Speaker 1: as DNA technology was not widely being used at the
Speaker 1: time that the murder took place. Detective Superintendent Mick Turner
Speaker 1: said in two thousand and four, We've had the letter
Speaker 1: for some time now and thanks to information uncovered during
Speaker 1: the forensic review, we now have reason to believe that
Speaker 1: it could be significant to the inquiry. We also believe
Speaker 1: that there were at least three people present in the
Speaker 1: house on the night that Nigel died. Despite numerous appeals,
Speaker 1: these people have never been traced. They may or may
Speaker 1: not have been involved with Nigel's death, and we would
Speaker 1: like them to come forward. If they were involved in
Speaker 1: Nigel's death, then it's quite possible they will have said
Speaker 1: something to somebody over the years, and we would appeal
Speaker 1: for anyone with any information to contact us. It's interesting
Speaker 1: that the forensic evidence appeared to perhaps corroborate things that
Speaker 1: had been said in the letter. However, the letter writer
Speaker 1: has never been traced, and so who this person is
Speaker 1: or if they're credible, is something we still don't know.
Speaker 1: Another Crime Watch appeal was also shown in two thousand
Speaker 1: and four. Phone calls did come in and it was
Speaker 1: reported in two thousand and five that a man was
Speaker 1: arrested after failing to volunteer his DNA as part of
Speaker 1: the investigation. It's not believed that this man was arrested
Speaker 1: on any charges relating to the murder. However, it's certainly
Speaker 1: interesting how his name came to be part of the investigation.
Speaker 1: Since two thousand and five, there has been little reported
Speaker 1: on Nigel's murder and it's still unsolved in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty one, there were several local articles published
Speaker 1: about Nigel's unsolved murder. However, there was no new information
Speaker 1: contained in this articles. They were simply raising awareness. After
Speaker 1: thirty five years of being unsolved, we are now nearly
Speaker 1: forty years of being unsolved, with little movement being reported.
Speaker 1: This is tragic for cases like this, and I really
Speaker 1: do feel for Nigel's family. It does feel like a
Speaker 1: case that if it happened today may have had more
Speaker 1: looking being solved with DNA advances, CCTV and phone data.
Speaker 1: I agree with police that this does feel like more
Speaker 1: of a personal crime. However, who it was or why
Speaker 1: they were there a largely unknown. I would love to
Speaker 1: see Nigel's case be solved and I hope that police
Speaker 1: continue to review it for information. If you know anything
Speaker 1: about the murder of Nigel Bosstok in nineteen eighty six,
Speaker 1: please contact police on one on. Our crime stoppers are
Speaker 1: eight hundred five five five one one one. Someone could
Speaker 1: get this solved. Thank you for listening to today's episode.
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Speaker 1: follow us on social media. As always, I'm Caprice and
Speaker 1: this has been unseen f