Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated
Speaker 1: to missing people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime. Today,
Speaker 1: we're going to be covering the nineteen sixty three murder
Speaker 1: of twenty three year old Linda Cook. Her murder in
Speaker 1: the Yorkshire town of red Car has remained unsolved for
Speaker 1: over fifty years, and there are many mysteries surrounding this
Speaker 1: case which have never had an answer. This episode contains
Speaker 1: descriptions that some listeners may find distressing, so listener discretion
Speaker 1: is advised. Red Car is a seaside town located on
Speaker 1: the Yorkshire coast, around seven miles away from Middlesbrough. Like
Speaker 1: many of the UK's seaside resorts, red Car grew in
Speaker 1: popularity during the Victorian era as tourists flock to the
Speaker 1: areas to relax and to heal many chronic illnesses that
Speaker 1: it was believed that the sea air could fix. Entertainment
Speaker 1: pavilions and large hotels with ballrooms were built to support
Speaker 1: the growth in popularity, and when the Victorian era ended,
Speaker 1: red Car and the area of Teaside in general became
Speaker 1: known for the production of steel. This dominated the post
Speaker 1: war era. By nineteen sixty three, Red Car was firmly
Speaker 1: in this era, and it was a working class town,
Speaker 1: with many people working within the steel industry or within
Speaker 1: Red Car itself. Many young couples were also enjoying many
Speaker 1: of the freedoms at the early sixties afforded them. Twenty
Speaker 1: three year old Linda Margaret Koke and twenty five year
Speaker 1: old Clark Michael Cook or Michael as he seemed to prefer,
Speaker 1: were one such couple. By nineteen sixty three, they had
Speaker 1: been married for around three years and Linda was working
Speaker 1: as a receptionist for around three different doctors in Red Car.
Speaker 1: Those that knew Linda knew her to be a fun,
Speaker 1: loving and confident person who clearly had a good reputation
Speaker 1: in the job role that she had. Her and Michael
Speaker 1: were leasing a flat from Linda's employer above the doctor's
Speaker 1: surgery where she worked on Kirkleapham Lane. While Linda's life
Speaker 1: had been going the way that she'd planned before this point,
Speaker 1: by nineteen sixty three, it was clear that there were
Speaker 1: some growing issues with her marriage to Michael. Michael would
Speaker 1: later explain that by the end of August nineteen sixty three,
Speaker 1: they had hit a troubled patch it had got to
Speaker 1: the point where they decided to move out of the
Speaker 1: flat that they were leasing together. It had become so
Speaker 1: serious that Linda had decided to resign from her job
Speaker 1: and moved to Leeds to live with her father. Michael
Speaker 1: had moved to another flat on Queen Street in the meantime.
Speaker 1: He would later state that during that time they'd continue
Speaker 1: to speak and be on relatively amicable terms. On Saturday,
Speaker 1: the twenty first of September, Linda and Michael had agreed
Speaker 1: to meet at the flat where they lived together. They
Speaker 1: had some belongings that they needed to sort out and
Speaker 1: move out of the flat, and so they did that. Afterwards,
Speaker 1: Michael stated that they had a coffee together. After they'd
Speaker 1: finished coffee, Michael said that Linda left at around twelve
Speaker 1: thirty pm and he watched her walk down the high
Speaker 1: street and then go inside a shop for Michael. He
Speaker 1: said there was nothing unusual about this interaction. Michael was
Speaker 1: not the last person to see Linda that day, though,
Speaker 1: and at around two thirty pm. Around two hours later,
Speaker 1: Linda was spotted leaving a hotel in Red car After
Speaker 1: leaving the hotel, she went into a nearby shop and
Speaker 1: bought some corn beef. Since splitting from Michael around six
Speaker 1: weeks earlier, Linda had become friends with another man, who
Speaker 1: later explained she was staying in his flat with him
Speaker 1: from Friday, the twentieth of September and was planning on
Speaker 1: staying with him until the Monday, when she left for Leeds.
Speaker 1: This man stated that he saw Linda at the flat
Speaker 1: until around eight pm on that Saturday, when she told
Speaker 1: him she needed to leave and go to the doctor's
Speaker 1: office because she had some business that she needed to
Speaker 1: finish up. He explained that he also left the flat
Speaker 1: at about eight thirty pm and went out for some
Speaker 1: drinks with friends. He said he returned back to the
Speaker 1: flat at around ten forty five pm. Linda was not
Speaker 1: there when he returned. Green Lane is located in Mask,
Speaker 1: a coastal village around three miles from red Car. The
Speaker 1: lane runs alongside the Middlesbrough to Saltburn Railway and has
Speaker 1: been known as a lane which court in couples often
Speaker 1: visit together due to to its semi rural location. At
Speaker 1: around seven am on Sunday, the twenty second of September,
Speaker 1: a milk delivery driver was on his rounds in his
Speaker 1: milk wagon and was heading down Green Lane. As the
Speaker 1: driver continued on, he explained he saw something on the
Speaker 1: grass verge. As he approached, she realized it was a
Speaker 1: woman's body lay prone on the floor. He later stated
Speaker 1: it was on the side with the hand propped up
Speaker 1: against the railings. The long grass nearby was undisturbed and
Speaker 1: her clothes were neatly arranged. The woman was wearing a
Speaker 1: pink woolen two piece suit with a tight fitting skirt
Speaker 1: and black heels. She looked from a distance as though
Speaker 1: she'd been undisturbed, and from the descriptions that I can find,
Speaker 1: it didn't look like a violent incident had occurred before
Speaker 1: her death. This discovery was alarming and was of course
Speaker 1: reported in immediately to the police. An identification was quickly made.
Speaker 1: The woman was Linda Margaret Cook. A post martin was
Speaker 1: conducted by Professor Cyril John Paulson, a professor's Forensic Medicine
Speaker 1: at Leeds University, and he established that her cause of
Speaker 1: death was asphyxia due to throttling and an obstruction in
Speaker 1: the throat. While the scene did not look violent, it
Speaker 1: was certainly a murder. Linda had been strangled, but with
Speaker 1: manual strangulation, not with a ligature. There were also no
Speaker 1: signs of violence or sexual assault. Police were extremely interested
Speaker 1: in finding out where Linda had been before her body
Speaker 1: had been discovered around three miles away, what had happened,
Speaker 1: and who had Linda been with before this point. They
Speaker 1: were also aware that the lane was often used by
Speaker 1: courting couples and was within sight of the railway route
Speaker 1: between Saltburn and Middlesbrough. This informed the first appeals that
Speaker 1: police made to the public about Linda's murder. Detective Superintendent
Speaker 1: William Tennett, who was in charge of the investigation, explained
Speaker 1: that any courting couples who may have visited Green Lane
Speaker 1: that night or early morning could come forward in strictest confidence.
Speaker 1: They also wanted to know if anyone was on the
Speaker 1: train on Saturday night to come forward if they saw
Speaker 1: anything unusual in the lane while they passed by. Police
Speaker 1: explained that the trains sometimes stopped by the spot where
Speaker 1: Linda's body was eventually found, and they passed by every
Speaker 1: thirty minutes or so. There was even a theory put
Speaker 1: forward that it could have been possible for the killer
Speaker 1: and Linda to have exited the train when it stopped
Speaker 1: at this location. However, I'm unsure how far this theory
Speaker 1: was investigation or if it was based in evidence. The
Speaker 1: evidence that police did have, however, was not much. Linda's
Speaker 1: handbag appeared to have been found at the scene, and
Speaker 1: police found a diary inside which contained the names of
Speaker 1: multiple people. These names were certainly a line of inquiry
Speaker 1: for police, who tried to trace each one. There was
Speaker 1: trace evidence which was examined by doctor Ian Barclay, director
Speaker 1: of the Home Office Forensic Science Lab at Harrogate. He
Speaker 1: found traces of carpet fibers that had been found on
Speaker 1: Linda's sheepskin jacket. These fibers were examined with the technology
Speaker 1: available in nineteen sixty three. However, they were unable to
Speaker 1: identify their source. While they could not be identified, the
Speaker 1: fact that carpet fibers were found on her coat indicated
Speaker 1: that she had been somewhere where her coat had been
Speaker 1: touching the ground or even a car mat fiber. This
Speaker 1: also gave rise to the hypothesis that Linda could have
Speaker 1: traveled to the location in it car and this car
Speaker 1: could have been stolen. This line of inquiry didn't go
Speaker 1: too far, though, as there hadn't been any cars reported
Speaker 1: stolen in the local area during the time that Linda
Speaker 1: was murdered. Police also seemed to draw a blank on
Speaker 1: Linda's timeline before she was murdered. There were several documented
Speaker 1: sightings of Linda that day, by her husband who saw
Speaker 1: her at lunchtime, the witness who saw her leaving a
Speaker 1: red car hotel at two thirty pm, and then by
Speaker 1: John Alexander Selby, whom Linda was staying with before leaving
Speaker 1: for her father's house in Leeds. During a later inquiry
Speaker 1: until Linda's death, Selby was asked about his movements that
Speaker 1: night and when he last saw Linda. Here is where
Speaker 1: there's a discrepancy in the initial reporting of Linda's movements
Speaker 1: by the press and the more recent reporting. During reporting
Speaker 1: at the time, Selby said Linda combed her hair and
Speaker 1: did her face and left the flat at three point
Speaker 1: fifteen pm, not eight pm, which has been reported in
Speaker 1: other places. He did confirm that he left the flat
Speaker 1: at eight thirty pm in all of the reporting. Selby
Speaker 1: said in this article, I went out at about eight
Speaker 1: thirty pm and met some friends for a drink. I
Speaker 1: returned to the flat at about ten forty five pm.
Speaker 1: The coroner, mister B. Wilkinson, replied, you were expecting her
Speaker 1: back at the flat. Were you not surprised or worried
Speaker 1: when she didn't turn up? Selby replied, I thought she
Speaker 1: may have gone across to her mother's or that her
Speaker 1: father may have tried to bring about reconciliation. The fact
Speaker 1: that Selby mentioned that Linda may have been reconciling with
Speaker 1: her father gave a hint of something more going on
Speaker 1: at the time that has not been indicated by other reporting.
Speaker 1: This statement could mean that her father was trying to
Speaker 1: bring a boat reconciliation between Linda and her husband. It
Speaker 1: could also mean Linda and her father had fallen out.
Speaker 1: This is less likely, but the fact that there is
Speaker 1: ambiguity here certainly doesn't help. It's a tantalizing suggestion which
Speaker 1: is not elaborated on in any of the articles that
Speaker 1: I can find, and I have read nothing about her
Speaker 1: father seeing her that evening in any of the reporting.
Speaker 1: Police were unable to find out where Linda was for
Speaker 1: most of the day after two thirty pm, when she
Speaker 1: was spotted by a witness. Aside from the evidence given
Speaker 1: by Selby, there is no indication that she was with
Speaker 1: anyone else that we haven't heard of, and the frustrating
Speaker 1: part is there is little information reported on as to
Speaker 1: whether she did go to the doctor's office as she
Speaker 1: told Selby, and if she did, when did she leave.
Speaker 1: This could have also been an important lead, given that
Speaker 1: this would have narrowed down her timeline. It was evident
Speaker 1: that local police were frustrated by the lack of cooperation
Speaker 1: from the local community. Detective Superintendent William Tennant said at
Speaker 1: the time has come to my notice that persons have
Speaker 1: been heard boasting they know something but don't want to
Speaker 1: become involved. He explained he believed local people were withholding
Speaker 1: information from the investigation, which could be crucial. During the
Speaker 1: early days of the investigation, much was made of the
Speaker 1: fact that a man was helping them with their investigation
Speaker 1: of his own volition and was being cooperative. There is
Speaker 1: not much reported about who this man was, however, and
Speaker 1: no charges were ever brought against them, whoever they were.
Speaker 1: The investigation hit many a brick wall along the way,
Speaker 1: with little evidence as to where Linda was during that
Speaker 1: Saturday evening and with little physical evidence to examine. As
Speaker 1: a result, Scotland Yard were asked to become involved in
Speaker 1: the investigation and detectives from London came to support with enquiries.
Speaker 1: It reported that in three months of the investigation, four
Speaker 1: thousand people were questioned and around two thousand statements were
Speaker 1: taken from people in relation to the case, but despite this,
Speaker 1: it did not appear they got any closer to finding
Speaker 1: out the truth of what happened to Linda Cock On
Speaker 1: the twenty first of September nineteen sixty three, months and
Speaker 1: years began to pass with little information being provided about
Speaker 1: the case, and unfortunately, now in twenty twenty five, this
Speaker 1: is how Linda's case remains. The most recent article I
Speaker 1: can find comes from twenty fourteen from Teeside Live, which
Speaker 1: basically states very similar facts which were reported during the
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty articles. There does not seem to be much
Speaker 1: more progress made on the investigation since it began. This
Speaker 1: begs the question is there any evidence surviving where DNA
Speaker 1: technology be used to find out more. This may be
Speaker 1: the only route at this point that the case may
Speaker 1: be solved, as witnesses from the time may be few
Speaker 1: and far between as the time ticks on. This is
Speaker 1: one of those cases where it's difficult to even speculate
Speaker 1: as there are so few details. It's clear that Linda
Speaker 1: met with someone that night, either someone she knew or
Speaker 1: someone who met her that evening, and that this meeting
Speaker 1: went awry. This person has been living amongst the public
Speaker 1: since then, undetected, and this is always such a scary thought.
Speaker 1: If you know anything about the murder of Linda Cook
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty three in Red Car, then please contact
Speaker 1: police on one oh one. Thank you for listening to
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Speaker 1: and this has been unseen a