Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
june sixth, nineteen ninety one.
(00:02):
In suburban Greater London, awoman's life was ended in a
shocking, brutal fashion, andthe case has confounded
investigators and haunted afamily ever since.
That woman was Penny Bell awife, mother, successful
business person.
Seated in her car in a car parkthat should have been safe, she
was stabbed more than fiftytimes.
The crime took place in broaddaylight or at least in daylight
(00:24):
hours in a busy leisure centercar park.
Yet nobody has ever beenconvicted.
Three decades later, the murderof Penny Bell remains one of the
United Kingdom's most bafflingcold cases.
This is human wreckage.
Today we dig into the life ofPenny, the day she died, the
suspects, the unansweredquestions, and where the case
stands today.
(01:22):
She ran a catering business andher husband Alistair was a
successful estate agent.
The couple lived in a largedetached home in the prestigious
area of Bakerswood, Denham,Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom,
with Penny's son from herprevious marriage, Matthew
eleven, and their daughter,Laura nine.
It was a balmy British summerday on the sixth of June 1991,
(01:43):
when Penny left her home.
She said goodbye to the builderswho were working on a kitchen
extension and told them that shewas running late for an
appointment.
She climbed into her powder blueJaguar XJS and set off on her
way.
Less than three hours later, ataround 1215 PM, the mutilated
body of Penny was discovered tenmiles away, slumped over in the
(02:04):
driver's seat of her car in thecar park of a leisure center in
Greenford, Middlesex.
An autopsy and forensicexamination revealed that
Penny's killer had viciouslystabbed her while they were
sitting in the passenger seat.
Afterwards the killer walkedaround to the driver's side of
the car and proceeded to stabthe already wounded Penny
through the car's window.
The frenzied attack lastedseveral minutes and Penny fought
(02:26):
for her life, but the attemptwas futile.
Penny had been stabbed overfifty times in the chest and
arms with a long knife.
The crime scene was sealed offwhile forensic scientists were
called in to examine the car inan attempt to find any clues
that could lead them to Penny'skiller.
An incident room was set up anda team of detectives were
assigned to the case.
They established that Penny haddriven her car to the car park
(02:49):
of the Leisure Center in theWest London suburb of Greenford,
where she parked facing a highhedge of the park perimeter at
around 1030 M, obstructing theview into the car's windscreen.
Two women who arrived to swim atthe leisure center saw Penny
sitting upright in the driver'sseat.
They noticed that her hazardlights were on, and that the
wipers were scraping noisilyacross the dry windscreen.
(03:11):
They had assumed she was justasleep.
However, when they left theleisure center at around midday
they noticed blood spatterinside the car and realized that
the woman inside was dead andraised the alarm.
Two more witnesses came forwardto tell investigators that they
had seen a woman who looked likePenny wrestling with a man in a
car as it slowly drove throughGreenfield.
They also said it looked asthough the woman was mouthing
(03:34):
help me to passing drivers whoseemingly ignored her.
The man in the car was describedas approximately forty years old
with dark, cropped, swept backhair, possibly sporting a beard
and wearing a bracelet.
Police issued a description ofthe man, but they were
unsuccessful in identifying him.
Despite the fact that thefrenzied murder took place in
broad daylight and the killerwould have been covered in
(03:56):
blood, nobody saw anythingsuspicious in the car park that
morning or thereafter.
When the builders told policeabout the appointment Penny said
she had to attend, Alastairseemed perplexed.
He said that there was noappointment in her business
diary and that he thought shehad been going straight to her
office in Kilburn, North London.
I can only think she must havereceived a last minute telephone
(04:18):
call, he said.
Builders would later tell policethat despite what Penny said,
none of them heard her receive aphone call, adding more to the
confusion to the case.
The Leisure Center was nowherenear Penny's normal daily route
from her home to her office inKilburn.
Moreover, Penny never used theLeisure Center and didn't have a
swimming costume or towel withher, leading investigators to
(04:40):
consider that she had arrangedto meet her killer there for
reasons unknown.
There was also speculation basedon the witness testimony that
Penny may have been hijacked.
There was no clear motive forthe murder.
Penny had not been sexuallyassaulted and her handbag
remained untouched in her car,who Penny had arranged to meet
that morning if anybody wasnever established.
Early on in the investigation,police suspected that Alistair
(05:03):
may have been the killer.
Before marrying Penny, Alistairhad been in a relationship with
a man and some speculated thatmaybe a scorned ex-lover could
have been involved.
However, no evidence could befound to corroborate these
theories and he was subsequentlyruled out as a suspect.
Moreover, Alistair workedalongside detectives for
fourteen hours straight each dayfollowing the slaying in a
(05:25):
desperate attempt to find hiswife's killer.
He was distraught.
There was also some speculationthat Penny may have been having
an affair.
Alistair dismissed this theory.
If Penny had been having asecret liaison with someone
there would have been no reasonto mention her appointment to
the builders, he said.
Another theory is that Penny wasbeing blackmailed.
This theory is based on the factthat three days before her
(05:47):
murder Penny withdrew 8,500euros from her and Alistair's
joint bank account.
Penny was known to beparticularly meticulous with her
money and kept a record of everywithdrawal.
However there was no record ofthis money anywhere.
What Penny had spent the moneyon has also never been
established.
In 1993, former Royal heirhostess Jean Bradley was
(06:09):
murdered in a frenzied knifeattack as she was getting into
her BMW in Acton, West London.
Newspapers across the countrysoon started to report
similarities between the twomurders.
Both women were companyexecutives in their early
forties and died just threeshort miles from each other.
Much like the murder of Penny,Jean hadn't been sexually
assaulted and her purse remaineduntouched in her car.
(06:31):
A witness saw the killer runningfrom the scene and gave chase,
challenging the knifeman Youattacked a woman, now attack a
man.
The killer managed to escapethrough an underground car park.
Blood samples and DNA were foundat the scene that didn't match
Jean.
However, investigators wereunable to link the samples to
anybody nor could theydefinitively link the two
(06:52):
murders.
The murder of Jean Bradley stillremains unsolved today.
The following year JohnRichmond, a builder with a shady
past, contacted the newspaperThe Sun, and claimed that he and
Penny had been having an affairwhich began shortly before she
was murdered.
He demanded 80,000 euros for hisstory and claimed that on the
morning of Penny's murder theyhad met at a lay by three miles
(07:14):
from where she was murdered.
Here he claimed they kissed andcuddled before departing.
In a secretly taped recordedinterview, Richmond made the
claim that he was asked torecommend a hitman, not
realizing that the target wasPenny.
I didn't kill her, but I knowwho did.
This was a contract killing, hewas recorded saying Richmond and
his wife were friendly withPenny and her husband and their
(07:36):
sons went to the same school.
Alistair said the idea thatPenny was having an affair with
Richmond was preposterous.
Richmond had actually beenarrested back in nineteen ninety
two after his fingerprints werefound in Penny's car.
However he was released withoutcharge.
Following these new claimsRichmond refused to cooperate
with investigators who wanted toquestion him.
(07:57):
There are some questions that Iwould have been happy if Mr
Richmond had answered.
I would have been delighted tohear his explanation, but I
stopped short of saying thatpoints to his involvement, said
Detective Superintendent BrianEdwards.
Richmond would later be clearedof any involvement in Penny's
murder.
During the course of theinvestigation, over 8,000 people
were interviewed and over 2,500written statements were logged.
(08:20):
At one point there was a 20,000euros reward offered for anybody
who could provide anyinformation that could lead to
her killer.
Police even looked at convictedmurderer Robert Knapper as a
suspect, but he was ruled out.
Police would later announce thatas many as thirty people who may
have been in the car park at thetime of the murder had still not
come forward to relay what theymay have seen that fateful
(08:41):
morning.
Alistair himself even made anappeal for witnesses but to no
avail.
Today the murder of Penny Bellremains unsolved this is human
wreckage.
The case of Penny Bell is oneborn of brutality, unanswered
questions and deep human sorrow.
But it's not forgotten and untilthe day her killer is found we
continue to remember, to ask andto hope.
(09:03):
Join us next time as we turn ourattention to another cold case,
another life lost, anotherfamily waiting for answers.
june sixth, nineteen ninety one.
(00:02):
In suburban Greater London, awoman's life was ended in a
shocking, brutal fashion, andthe case has confounded
investigators and haunted afamily ever since.
That woman was Penny Bell awife, mother, successful
business person.
Seated in her car in a car parkthat should have been safe, she
was stabbed more than fiftytimes.
The crime took place in broaddaylight or at least in daylight
(00:24):
hours in a busy leisure centercar park.
Yet nobody has ever beenconvicted.
Three decades later, the murderof Penny Bell remains one of the
United Kingdom's most bafflingcold cases.
This is human wreckage.
Today we dig into the life ofPenny, the day she died, the
suspects, the unansweredquestions, and where the case
stands today.
(01:22):
She ran a catering business andher husband Alistair was a
successful estate agent.
The couple lived in a largedetached home in the prestigious
area of Bakerswood, Denham,Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom,
with Penny's son from herprevious marriage, Matthew
eleven, and their daughter,Laura nine.
It was a balmy British summerday on the sixth of June 1991,
(01:43):
when Penny left her home.
She said goodbye to the builderswho were working on a kitchen
extension and told them that shewas running late for an
appointment.
She climbed into her powder blueJaguar XJS and set off on her
way.
Less than three hours later, ataround 1215 PM, the mutilated
body of Penny was discovered tenmiles away, slumped over in the
(02:04):
driver's seat of her car in thecar park of a leisure center in
Greenford, Middlesex.
An autopsy and forensicexamination revealed that
Penny's killer had viciouslystabbed her while they were
sitting in the passenger seat.
Afterwards the killer walkedaround to the driver's side of
the car and proceeded to stabthe already wounded Penny
through the car's window.
The frenzied attack lastedseveral minutes and Penny fought
(02:26):
for her life, but the attemptwas futile.
Penny had been stabbed overfifty times in the chest and
arms with a long knife.
The crime scene was sealed offwhile forensic scientists were
called in to examine the car inan attempt to find any clues
that could lead them to Penny'skiller.
An incident room was set up anda team of detectives were
assigned to the case.
They established that Penny haddriven her car to the car park
(02:49):
of the Leisure Center in theWest London suburb of Greenford,
where she parked facing a highhedge of the park perimeter at
around 1030 M, obstructing theview into the car's windscreen.
Two women who arrived to swim atthe leisure center saw Penny
sitting upright in the driver'sseat.
They noticed that her hazardlights were on, and that the
wipers were scraping noisilyacross the dry windscreen.
(03:11):
They had assumed she was justasleep.
However, when they left theleisure center at around midday
they noticed blood spatterinside the car and realized that
the woman inside was dead andraised the alarm.
Two more witnesses came forwardto tell investigators that they
had seen a woman who looked likePenny wrestling with a man in a
car as it slowly drove throughGreenfield.
They also said it looked asthough the woman was mouthing
(03:34):
help me to passing drivers whoseemingly ignored her.
The man in the car was describedas approximately forty years old
with dark, cropped, swept backhair, possibly sporting a beard
and wearing a bracelet.
Police issued a description ofthe man, but they were
unsuccessful in identifying him.
Despite the fact that thefrenzied murder took place in
broad daylight and the killerwould have been covered in
(03:56):
blood, nobody saw anythingsuspicious in the car park that
morning or thereafter.
When the builders told policeabout the appointment Penny said
she had to attend, Alastairseemed perplexed.
He said that there was noappointment in her business
diary and that he thought shehad been going straight to her
office in Kilburn, North London.
I can only think she must havereceived a last minute telephone
(04:18):
call, he said.
Builders would later tell policethat despite what Penny said,
none of them heard her receive aphone call, adding more to the
confusion to the case.
The Leisure Center was nowherenear Penny's normal daily route
from her home to her office inKilburn.
Moreover, Penny never used theLeisure Center and didn't have a
swimming costume or towel withher, leading investigators to
(04:40):
consider that she had arrangedto meet her killer there for
reasons unknown.
There was also speculation basedon the witness testimony that
Penny may have been hijacked.
There was no clear motive forthe murder.
Penny had not been sexuallyassaulted and her handbag
remained untouched in her car,who Penny had arranged to meet
that morning if anybody wasnever established.
Early on in the investigation,police suspected that Alistair
(05:03):
may have been the killer.
Before marrying Penny, Alistairhad been in a relationship with
a man and some speculated thatmaybe a scorned ex-lover could
have been involved.
However, no evidence could befound to corroborate these
theories and he was subsequentlyruled out as a suspect.
Moreover, Alistair workedalongside detectives for
fourteen hours straight each dayfollowing the slaying in a
(05:25):
desperate attempt to find hiswife's killer.
He was distraught.
There was also some speculationthat Penny may have been having
an affair.
Alistair dismissed this theory.
If Penny had been having asecret liaison with someone
there would have been no reasonto mention her appointment to
the builders, he said.
Another theory is that Penny wasbeing blackmailed.
This theory is based on the factthat three days before her
(05:47):
murder Penny withdrew 8,500euros from her and Alistair's
joint bank account.
Penny was known to beparticularly meticulous with her
money and kept a record of everywithdrawal.
However there was no record ofthis money anywhere.
What Penny had spent the moneyon has also never been
established.
In 1993, former Royal heirhostess Jean Bradley was
(06:09):
murdered in a frenzied knifeattack as she was getting into
her BMW in Acton, West London.
Newspapers across the countrysoon started to report
similarities between the twomurders.
Both women were companyexecutives in their early
forties and died just threeshort miles from each other.
Much like the murder of Penny,Jean hadn't been sexually
assaulted and her purse remaineduntouched in her car.
(06:31):
A witness saw the killer runningfrom the scene and gave chase,
challenging the knifeman Youattacked a woman, now attack a
man.
The killer managed to escapethrough an underground car park.
Blood samples and DNA were foundat the scene that didn't match
Jean.
However, investigators wereunable to link the samples to
anybody nor could theydefinitively link the two
(06:52):
murders.
The murder of Jean Bradley stillremains unsolved today.
The following year JohnRichmond, a builder with a shady
past, contacted the newspaperThe Sun, and claimed that he and
Penny had been having an affairwhich began shortly before she
was murdered.
He demanded 80,000 euros for hisstory and claimed that on the
morning of Penny's murder theyhad met at a lay by three miles
(07:14):
from where she was murdered.
Here he claimed they kissed andcuddled before departing.
In a secretly taped recordedinterview, Richmond made the
claim that he was asked torecommend a hitman, not
realizing that the target wasPenny.
I didn't kill her, but I knowwho did.
This was a contract killing, hewas recorded saying Richmond and
his wife were friendly withPenny and her husband and their
(07:36):
sons went to the same school.
Alistair said the idea thatPenny was having an affair with
Richmond was preposterous.
Richmond had actually beenarrested back in nineteen ninety
two after his fingerprints werefound in Penny's car.
However he was released withoutcharge.
Following these new claimsRichmond refused to cooperate
with investigators who wanted toquestion him.
(07:57):
There are some questions that Iwould have been happy if Mr
Richmond had answered.
I would have been delighted tohear his explanation, but I
stopped short of saying thatpoints to his involvement, said
Detective Superintendent BrianEdwards.
Richmond would later be clearedof any involvement in Penny's
murder.
During the course of theinvestigation, over 8,000 people
were interviewed and over 2,500written statements were logged.
(08:20):
At one point there was a 20,000euros reward offered for anybody
who could provide anyinformation that could lead to
her killer.
Police even looked at convictedmurderer Robert Knapper as a
suspect, but he was ruled out.
Police would later announce thatas many as thirty people who may
have been in the car park at thetime of the murder had still not
come forward to relay what theymay have seen that fateful
(08:41):
morning.
Alistair himself even made anappeal for witnesses but to no
avail.
Today the murder of Penny Bellremains unsolved this is human
wreckage.
The case of Penny Bell is oneborn of brutality, unanswered
questions and deep human sorrow.
But it's not forgotten and untilthe day her killer is found we
continue to remember, to ask andto hope.
(09:03):
Join us next time as we turn ourattention to another cold case,
another life lost, anotherfamily waiting for answers.
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