Murder of Valerie Graves

Coordinates: 50°48′42″N 0°50′55″W / 50.81164°N 0.84854°W / 50.81164; -0.84854 Valerie Graves (25 December 1958 – 29/30 December 2013) was an artist and grandmother who was murdered in December 2013 in Bosham, West Sussex.[1]

Life

Graves had two adult children and had owned a gallery and craft studio in Roxburghshire, having lived in Scotland for ten years.[2][3] She had moved to Bracklesham Bay not long before the murder to look after her then 87-year-old mother Eileen.[2]

Christmas 2013

Graves, Eileen, Graves' sister, Janet, and Janet's partner, Nigel, were housesitting in Smugglers Lane, Bosham, for friends who were out of the country at the time.[1][2] Several members of her family and friends visited the house over this time and enjoyed both the Christmas celebrations and Valerie’s birthday, which was on Christmas Day.[1]

Murder

On the morning of 30 December, Janet found Graves' body in her bedroom, having suffered severe head and facial injuries.[3] A patio door, leading directly from the bedroom outside to the back of the premises, was found to be unlocked.[1]

Investigation

A few days after the murder, a claw hammer was found by police at the entrance to the driveway of Harts' Farm on Hoe Lane, some 600m from the murder scene.[1] The hammer was confirmed to be the murder weapon.[1] A local man was arrested on 14 January 2014 and questioned about the murder, but was bailed and released without further action.[1]

In November 2014, a partial DNA profile for the subject was obtained.[1] In January 2015, Sussex Police began a voluntary mass DNA screening programme in Bosham, asking men aged 17 and over to give samples.[4] At the time, officers had interviewed 9,500 people in relation to the case, a reward of £20,000 had been offered and the murder had been featured on Crimewatch.[1] A reward of £10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for her murder still remains.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Unsolved: The murder of Valerie Graves". Sussex Police.
  2. 1 2 3 "Police investigating Valerie Graves murder continue forensic searches". The Guardian. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  3. 1 2 Peachey, Paul (3 January 2014). "Valerie Graves death: Police investigate the murder mystery unsettling Bosham – a real-life Midsomer". The Independent. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Press Association (21 January 2017). "Valerie Graves murder: mass DNA screening to begin in Bosham". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "Unsolved: The murder of Valerie Graves". Sussex Police. 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
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