Murder of Elsie Frost

Elsie Frost was a 14-year-old girl who was killed in an underpass beneath a railway line near to Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in October 1965. Despite a massive manhunt and national coverage, there have been no successful convictions of anyone responsible for her death. In 2015, after pressure from Frost's family, West Yorkshire Police re-opened the case, and in March 2018 the primary suspect died.

History

Frost had spent the afternoon at Snapethorpe School's sailing club^[2] on Horbury Lagoon, a lake next to the Calder and Hebble canal.^[3] When she and her friends left between 3:50 pm^[4] and 4:00 pm,^{[note 1][5]} Frost took a different route to the others, avoiding the canal towpath to prevent her new shoes getting muddy.^[6] She was attacked whilst walking underneath the railway line that runs between Wakefield Kirkgate and Horbury. Frost was stabbed five times: twice in the head, once in the hand and twice in the back, with one of the knife wounds piercing her heart, which killed her. The wound in her hand led the police to believe that it was sustained whilst trying to defend herself.^[4] The post-mortem showed that Elsie had died of shock and blood loss.^[7]

She made it through the underpass and collapsed at the bottom of the ABC steps, as they are known locally (because there are 26 of them).^[6] She was found at 4:15 pm by a man who was out walking with his 3- and 5-year-old children.^[6]

Over 1,200 written statements were taken down, four hundred people who lived within a 0.25 mi (0.40 km) radius of the murder scene were traced and had their movements checked, over 12,000 men were interviewed and a large number of knives of local residents were examined.^[2][8]

Despite an intensive police enquiry that was coupled with national coverage (the manhunt was the biggest that the city of Wakefield had ever seen),^[9] the police were unable to establish a motive for the crime or indeed, if Elsie was the intended victim or a passerby to whom the worst had happened.^[8] The manhunt was later expanded to include the army and also involved the use of metal detectors in an attempt to find the murder weapon.^[10]

Inquest accusation

In January 1966, the deputy coroner, Philip Gill, presiding over the inquest into Elsie's death decided that Ian Bernard Spencer, who was 33 at the time, was the man guilty of killing Elsie. Spencer maintained that although he was in the area of Elsie's death earlier in the day, he was at home during the time that Elsie was murdered. Despite this being corroborated by his wife, his mother-in-law and a family friend, the three witnesses were not called to give evidence at the inquest on his behalf.^[8]

Up until 1984,^{[note 2][11]} a coroner's inquest could apportion blame and guilt and recommend for criminal proceedings against an individual, which is what happened to him. The coroner stated that there was sufficient prima facie evidence against Ian Spencer.^[8]

Even though Ian Spencer had been cleared by two courts with one judge instructing a jury to acquit,^[12] police still routinely turned up at Ian Spencer's house whenever there had been a knife crime in the area. Mr Spencer took to writing down what time he left one place and then the time he arrived at the next, including the mileage he had travelled. He carried on creating these logbooks throughout his working life and on into retirement.^[8]

The Frost family were convinced at the time that Spencer had nothing to do with Elsie's death; Edith Frost stated:

Cold case

Pressure from Elsie's brother and sister (Colin Frost and Anne Cleave) and coverage of the killing on an investigative BBC Radio 4 programme^[2] prompted West Yorkshire Police to re-open the case in 2015, 50 years after the killing. Colin Frost and Anne Cleave had unearthed new evidence which they took to the police.^[13] The new investigation produced 100 lines of enquiry, a response that the police found encouraging. The Major Investigation Review team is staffed by serving officers as well as civilians, most of whom are retired detectives. The review team disclosed that most of the original files from 1965 had been destroyed.^[14]

After the programme was aired on Radio 4, several listeners gave accounts of what they had seen leading to fresh evidence and new theories. Members of the public submitted Freedom of Information requests to The National Archives for the murder files, which were not due to be opened until 2030 and 2060.^[15] The requests were denied on the grounds that the police files name other suspected individuals other than the one man sent to trial in 1966; the release into the public domain of this information may harm any future criminal proceedings. It also notes that the files contain post-mortem images and reports which could be distressing for the immediate family.^[16] It was revealed during the investigation by Radio 4 that Elsie's clothes had been offered to the family but when the offer was declined the clothes were then destroyed. This effectively ended any hope of DNA retrieval.^[17]

There have been other suspects and theories: one was that Elsie had stumbled across two men engaged in a homosexual act (homosexuality was illegal in Britain up until 1967).^[18] Another witness has described seeing a man in his mid-twenties, dressed in white overalls and on a bike. This led to suggestions that the man, who could be a witness, was a butcher's delivery boy or an abattoir worker.^[19]

Another theory was that Elsie was meeting up with someone in the days before her death, possibly a boyfriend.^[20] Elsie's father had said that the night before the killing, she went to Balne Lane Youth Club in her best clothes, rather than her normal attire and she had asked to stay out later than usual.^[21]

Another lead was proffered by a schoolfriend of Elsie's, who, as a nurse, had heard of a third-hand account of a man confessing in hospital to being her killer. This tied in with the homosexual act angle as the man apparently confessed to that taking place and being the reason behind Elsie's death. Whilst this new information was forwarded to the police, it is unreliable because of its third-hand nature and the man was under the influence of drugs when he made his confession.^[8]

On 27 September 2016, it was announced that Thames Valley Police had arrested a 78-year-old man in connection with Elsie's death.^[22] It was revealed on 29 September 2016 that the man had been bailed after his arrest.^[23] On 6 March 2017 it was reported that the same man had been re-arrested in connection with Elsie's death and that he was also being questioned in relation to an unconnected allegation of rape and kidnap in 1972.^[24]

On 25 March 2018, it was reported that the hitherto unnamed suspect was Peter Pickering, convicted of the 1972 manslaughter of 14 year old Shirley Boldy in Wombwell near Barnsley. Pickering had died in a secure hospital the previous day. Detective Superintendent Nick Wallen of West Yorkshire Police said they had "strongly suspected" he was responsible and "it was our expectation" the Crown Prosecution Service would have decided to charge him in due course.^[25]

In July 2018, it was revealed that the Frost family would be lobbying the Attorney-General for a new inquest where they could ask that the evidence against Pickering be looked at. The family stated that they felt "cheated and robbed" by Pickering's death as he would not go in front of a jury, but that a new inquest would be the next best thing.^[26]

Notes

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