UK UK- Eve Stratford, 21, Bunny @ Playboy Club, posed for mag. cover, later her mutilated & grotesquely staged body found @ home, London 18/03/75 *DNA*

[dotr]

By Holly Evans
November 2022 rbbm.
lengthy article.

Murdered Playboy Bunny found with throat slit in flat as killer on the loose

Eve Stratford's mutilated body was discovered by her boyfriend at her flat in Leyton, just an hour after detectives believe she was killed

www.mylondon.news

''In a case described as one of the most horrific seen by detectives, the sadistic murder of a German model shocked everyone who knew her. Eve Stratford had been a popular figure in the London nightlife scene until she was attacked at her flat in East London, with her throat slashed from ear to ear.

The 21-year-old was discovered by her boyfriend just an hour after her neighbour had heard a loud thudding noise from her flat. She had been grotesquely tied up, with police officers believing her murder to have been sexually motivated.


While the investigation ran cold in 1976, it took a shock turn 30 years later after forensic scientists matched the DNA of her killer to the unidentified murderer of a young schoolgirl, who had been attacked down an alleyway in Hounslow. Here’s everything we know about the gruesome murders.''

''Just a few days before she was killed, Eve had posed for the front cover of the adult magazine Mayfair, which police later concluded had likely enticed her killer. In her interview, she had spoken openly about her sex life and had said that she lived alone with a cat.

It also emerged during the course of the investigation that she had received a number of mysterious phone calls, including three on the day of her murder. Each time, the caller would either hang up or would whisper obscenities down the line.

She was last seen alive by a witness walking alone near her home in Leyton at around 3.58pm on March 18, 1975. She had been carrying a bouquet of flowers, which was later found discarded in her hallway, suggesting that she had been confronted as soon as she arrived in the building.''

''Eve was murdered in the most sadistic manner, with pathologists believing her throat to have been slit between eight to 12 times in the brutal attack. Her neck and face had been extensively mutilated and she was partially unclothed, with a nylon stocking tied around one ankle and her hands bound with a scarf.''

''However in October 1975, police in Liverpool did find newspaper reports of Eve smeared with lipstick in an empty bedsit. There were also magazine photos of the model, which looked as though they had been stabbed with a dart.''

 

[dotr]

2021 rbbm

From Jill Dando to a 'torso in the Thames' - 11 murders still unsolved

From the murder of a TV star to a banker gunned down at his front door while his children slept upstairs, some of Britain's most horrific murders have remained unsolved for decades.

www.dailymail.co.uk

''Eve Stratford was found with her throat slashed on the evening of March 18, 1975 by her boyfriend Tony Priest, the lead singer with the pop band Onyx
Eve Stratford was a 22-year-old glamour model working at the Playboy Club in London's Park Lane when she she was found with her throat slashed.
She was last seen walking alone near her home in Lyndhurst Drive, Leyton, shortly before 4pm on a snowy day on March 18, 1975.
The bunny girl, though, was later found dead by her boyfriend Tony Priest, the lead singer of pop band Onyx, in the bedroom of her home at around 5.30pm.
She was raped before being slashed between eight and 12 times in a bloody and gruesome killing.
Ms Stratford was found with a nylon stocking tied around one ankle and a scarf binding her hands behind her back.
A blood-splattered bouquet of flowers she had bought earlier that day lay next to her body.
However, no one has ever been charged in connection with her death. ''


''Six months after Eve's death, 16-year-old Lynne Weedon was brutally attacked and raped in an alleyway near her home in Hounslow, west London.

She died after being found barely alive at an electricity sub station the next day.

Former Met Police detective Colin Sutton believes a third woman, Lynda Farrow - who was knifed to death in her home four years later in 1979 - was also a victim of the same killer.

Eve and Lynne's murders were linked in 2007 after matching DNA was discovered on the victims, who did not know each other. ''

 

[iamshadow21]

Let's bring on the genetic geneologists and identify this creep. Three is a serial. I imagine he did a lot more rapes, too, even if there were only three killings. I hope there is evidence left to test to map out as many of this guy's victims as possible. With publicity, perhaps even living victims will come forward. Justice for Eve, Lynne, and Lynda, and the others unknown!

 

[dotr]

Associated by DNA..

UK - UK- Lynne Weedon, 16, Out with friends @The Elm disco, found raped/bludgeoned in ''The Short Hedges.'' alleyway, London, 3 Sept, 1975 *DNA*

Jan 2022 By Kelly-Ann Mills https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/playboy-bunny-killer-also-raped-25873052 ''Two murders of two young women, one a 16-year-old schoolgirl and other a Playboy Bunny who had posed nude for Mayfair, were both carried out by the same man. Nothing would have linked...

www.websleuths.com

Associated, but no Sex A, no DNA

UK - UK- Lynda Farrow, 29, pregnant, Battered/throat slashed @ home, Woodford Green, London, March 1979

Kelly-Ann Mills Jan 2022 rbbm https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/manhunt-detective-thinks-playboy-bunny-25884014 ''The detective who brought down killer Levi Bellfield and was the subject of ITV drama Manhunt is convinced the Playboy Bunny killer has a third victim. Eve Stratford's horrific...

www.websleuths.com

 

[fred&edna]

October 2007 article regarding a hitch-hiker report near the time of Lynne Weedon's murder.

Some snippets of the article:

Bernard Andrews, a retired BBC producer, now aged 74, was driving home to Wraysbury from London along the Great West Road at about 1am on the night Miss Weedon was murdered in September 1975.

Lynne Weedon, 16, was said to have been attacked between 11pm and 11.45pm on a footpath just 400 yards away from the spot where the hitch-hiker flagged Mr Andrews down.

Miss Weedon's murder case was re-opened last week after forensic scientists used DNA evidence to link her murder to the killing of ex-glamour model Eve Stratford. A reconstruction of both murders was shown on Crimewatch.

A detective working on the re-opened case said Mr Andrew's original statements and the photofit are being used DI Colin Wetherall said: "Like any investigation this case is a jigsaw and as we find out more the pieces of it start falling into place. Any information people may have - no matter how small - any nagging doubt that anybody has is important. What may appear entirely inconsequential may be crucial for us to be made aware of."

Man recalls unsolved killing

 

[cpm82]

Get the feeling it involved someone she had known previously.

An ex or current lover perhaps?

 

[cpm82]

Also wasn't the boyfriends band, originally from Plymouth, at one point all live with Eve?

This ties in possibly with the witnesses testimony brought forward recently of a man wishing to be given a lift to the West Country as above.

They had recently disbanded.

 

[dotr]

Eve with her boyfriend Tony Priest (
Image:
Daily Mirror)Eve pictured second from right with Eric Morecambe and her fellow bunnies (
Image: S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Archive

Model's head 'almost severed' in brutal unsolved Playboy Bunny murder

Eve Stratford, 21, wanted to do more than just wait tables as a Playboy Bunny. But just days after telling her manager she wanted to do something else with her life, she was found with her throat slashed so savagely her head was almost severed

www.mirror.co.uk

rbbm
''She desperately wanted to become a model, and when she was turned down to appear in Playboy's American magazine, she jumped at the chance to feature in Mayfair - its British top-shelf rival.

Eve - under the name Eva Von Borke - posed topless on the front cover as Miss March for the Spring Bonanza issue branded as "the most classic blonde we've ever uncovered".

She appeared across nine pages including a full-frontal nude centrefold in the raunchy magazine that had more than 460,000 subscribers for the March edition in 1975.

The photoshoot had angered boss Victor, who suspended her from her role as Bunny Ava for three months.''

''After she was suspended, Eve went home to her flat in Leyton, east London which she shared with boyfriend Tony Priest.
Tony was a musician who began dating Eve in 1972 and the pair started living together in a room in a rented upstairs maisonette with a mattress on the floor for a bed.
The flat had four bedrooms and each one was occupied for a while by members of Tony's band, Vineyard. The group originally started as Onyx in Cornwall and supported Queen and Thin Lizzy.''


''After she was suspended as a Bunny, Eve posed for two more photoshoots, one for South African top-shelf magazine and the other as a model for a crime-fiction book cover, where she had to look terrified as a knife was thrust against her throat.''

''On Tuesday, March 17, 1975 Eve had gone to see her agent, before heading home, buying herself a bunch of flowers on the way.
She arrived home at 4.10pm and around 20 minutes later a downstairs neighbour heard her talking to a man.
At about 5.15pm the same neighbour heard a thud, described as like a chair falling over, then footsteps walking down the stairs to leave the flat.''

 

[fred&edna]

Also wasn't the boyfriends band, originally from Plymouth, at one point all live with Eve?

This ties in possibly with the witnesses testimony brought forward recently of a man wishing to be given a lift to the West Country as above.

They had recently disbanded.

I wonder if they obtained and tested DNA from all members of the band... not just Priest.

Also, after reading the info about the hitchhiker, I got the feeling the killer would have been familiar with that Hounslow area. But, maybe he just followed her from The Elm Disco? Or maybe the killer was familiar with Priest's band members? (Anyone know if "The Elm" had "live" music/bands playing there at that time?)

 

[Richard]

Eve was Bunny Ava

She featured as Miss March in Mayfair

LINK:

Model's head 'almost severed' in brutal unsolved Playboy Bunny murder

Eve Stratford, 21, wanted to do more than just wait tables as a Playboy Bunny. But just days after telling her manager she wanted to do something else with her life, she was found with her throat slashed so savagely her head was almost severed

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[jojojaja]

Seems like I accidentally deleted some of my post. I meant to say that Elizabeth has no thread of her own here despite being a cold case. Maybe due to a lack of credible link, it's hard to find press links or anything for her. Although she's listed as a 1970s unsolved murder on wikipedia.

Looking back, 8/11/02

25 years ago

www.newsshopper.co.uk

1977

"Murder squad detectives are shortly to stage a major reconstruction of the last hour in the life of Elizabeth Parravicini. And they revealed at a Press conference in Brentford yesterday morning that she may have broken the habit of a lifetime - and taken a different route home for some reason. Mrs Parravicini was battered to death on September 9th, yards from her parents' home in The Grove, Isleworth."
This lady doesn't have her own thread on here and I think that's partly due to lack of link sources. Also possibly due to lack of family keeping this in the public eye, I read in a separate piece that at the time Elizabeth was murdered that she was home visiting her parents but actually lived in Rome with her Italian husband and children, now I am a little confused as it's possible they moved back to the UK since some versions state she was on her way home from work, if living in Italy then it's unlikely she would be working in London. I need to check but I think she worked in central London (West End Girls?) . Maybe they have continued to live in or moved to Italy and therefore don't have a substantial link to the UK to be pushing her case to be publicised or re-examined, it seems the police often talk of the need to investigate to give family answers and if no family then....

Anyway here is mention of her in a news article with little info as it's a looking back piece and she's lost among talk of housing.

Elizabeth's surname may be spelt differently in news reports and her maiden name is Graham and it looks like people referred to her as Liz. An actress, blonde and was killed near to Eve Stratford. Husband's name Ricc Parravicini.

The Questors Theatre Archive

archive.questors.org.uk

West End Girls

West Ends Girl | Revelation Films

www.revelationfilms.co.uk

 

[CocktailQueen]

She was killed much closer to Lynne Weedon than Eve Stratford. Definitely could be linked. I wonder how old she was.

 

[jojojaja]

She was killed much closer to Lynne Weedon than Eve Stratford. Definitely could be linked. I wonder how old she was.

Murders of Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

There's more detail on wikipedia. According to them 27, 4-5 years older than Eve I think as she was 21 and this is two years later. Pretty sure I saw more about her job and where it was somewhere, and I think it was central London like Eve, also blonde and a looker like Eve. need to check her listing on unsolved murders too as they give some details on the chart.

 

[jojojaja]

I doubt this preview will be forever, but the title of the book with it's detail should remain. This states she was returning from going to the cinema in the West End and that she caught the last tube train home to Osterley and again states she was visiting so maybe she wasn't working and a mix up, the press often get details wrong. Elizabeth like the other ladies, was, and possibly still is considered also to be a possible victim of Peter Sutcliffe. All these ladies in and bordering London, not ruled out by DNA, have the possibility of being victims of either killer, within certain time frames for Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe it feels was less fussy about victim type, he killed and/or attacked at least two men, the women weren't always working in the sex trade, there was no particular physical type or age he went for, but we know a lot more about him while the unknown killer here we only have 2 definite victims to base our suspicions on other possible ladies he killed. The two he killed there were distinctive differences so we don't know how far out of 'type' he was willing to go. But there are cold cases with distinctive similarities too, glamorous blondes with links to the west end. Were they followed home? As even Eve had only just got home. People keep saying she knew the person because she let him in, because there are no defensive wounds etc, but could he have bluffed his way in? If he knew of the band of her partner, he could have said he knew them, I read somewhere she was described as unworldly, which sounds a bit like she was naive. People who are raped etc can be too scared to fight back and she was tied up.
If only we had the possibility in this country to search an ancestry site for familial dna matches as has happened in the US with some cold cases.

Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders: The True Story of Serial Killer Peter ...​

By Chris Clark & Tim Tate

Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders

In 1981, Peter Sutcliffe, the 'Yorkshire Ripper', was convicted of thirteen murders and seven attempted murders. All his proven victims were women: most were prostitutes.Astonishingly, however, this is not the whole truth. There is a still-secret story of how Sutcliffe's terrible reign of terror...

books.google.com

 

[jojojaja]

UK - UK- Sally Shepherd, 24, Worked @ Young Vic Theatre, Dragged through wire fence, Raped & beaten by ‘Beast of Peckham’, 1 Dec.'79 *Rootless Hair*

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/south-london-woman-raped-murdered-24722055 By Holly Evans 14 AUG 2022 rbbm. Lengthy article. ''One such case was that of Sally Shepherd, a young woman who was stripped, raped and brutally beaten to death with a blunt instrument in south London...

www.websleuths.com

I noticed also that Elizabeth was knocked out and dragged leaving her footwear behind like Sally Shepherd, I can't recall if Lynne still had hers on. I am just wondering if instead of incidental as they seemed to hint with Sally, whether it was purposeful. I mean quite long boots slipping off after being dragged under gate, they don't look like floppy or loose fitting boots.

 

[dotr]

UK - UK- Sally Shepherd, 24, Worked @ Young Vic Theatre, Dragged through wire fence, Raped & beaten by ‘Beast of Peckham’, 1 Dec.'79 *Rootless Hair*

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/south-london-woman-raped-murdered-24722055 By Holly Evans 14 AUG 2022 rbbm. Lengthy article. ''One such case was that of Sally Shepherd, a young woman who was stripped, raped and brutally beaten to death with a blunt instrument in south London...

www.websleuths.com

I noticed also that Elizabeth was knocked out and dragged leaving her footwear behind like Sally Shepherd, I can't recall if Lynne still had hers on. I am just wondering if instead of incidental as they seemed to hint with Sally, whether it was purposeful. I mean quite long boots slipping off after being dragged under gate, they don't look like floppy or loose fitting boots.

Random speculation, imo, fwiw.
Had been wondering about the boots coming off too, possibly but imo unlikely that happened completely naturally, surprised that the killer did not try and take the footwear as a ''souvenir''.

The concept of ''dying with your boots on'' comes to mind when considering the murdered victims seemingly had their boots removed.. was the killer making a statement or judgement about each of his victims occupations, or that they died after putting up a good struggle?

ShieldSquare Captcha

''The phrase "Die With Your Boots On" on is a saying from the American Old West, meaning to die with honor after putting up a fight''

Die with your boots on - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

''To "Die with your boots on" is an idiom referring to dying while fighting or to die while actively occupied/employed/working or in the middle of some action. A person who dies with their boots on keeps working to the end, as in "He’ll never quit—he’ll die with his boots on." The implication here is that they die while living their life as usual, and not of old age and being bedridden with illness, infirmity, etc.''

Barefoot Suicide - TV Tropes

In Japan there is a custom for people to take off their shoes before entering their homes, as to not track dirt into their houses. As a result of this line of thinking there is also a custom where people take off their shoes before they enter the …

tvtropes.org

"In Japan there is a custom for people to take off their shoes before entering their homes, as to not track dirt into their houses. As a result of this line of thinking there is also a custom where people take off their shoes before they enter the afterlife as not to track dirt and such into their ethereal destination.''

 

[jojojaja]

UK - UK- Sally Shepherd, 24, Worked @ Young Vic Theatre, Dragged through wire fence, Raped & beaten by ‘Beast of Peckham’, 1 Dec.'79 *Rootless Hair*

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/south-london-woman-raped-murdered-24722055 By Holly Evans 14 AUG 2022 rbbm. Lengthy article. ''One such case was that of Sally Shepherd, a young woman who was stripped, raped and brutally beaten to death with a blunt instrument in south London...

www.websleuths.com

I noticed also that Elizabeth was knocked out and dragged leaving her footwear behind like Sally Shepherd, I can't recall if Lynne still had hers on. I am just wondering if instead of incidental as they seemed to hint with Sally, whether it was purposeful. I mean quite long boots slipping off after being dragged under gate, they don't look like floppy or loose fitting boots.

PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions

Digital newsstand featuring 7000+ of the world’s most popular newspapers & magazines. Enjoy unlimited reading on up to 5 devices with 7-day free trial.

www.pressreader.com

The Scottish Mail
Ripper Files Reopened
Bu Chris Clark and Tim Tate
21 June 2015
(in case the link dies)

Another preview that may not last forever.

As disturbing as it is, often serial killers have a ritual so how people are left can be telling. Unfortunately it says nothing about Lynne's footwear but that she had no clothes on her lower half, this may not be accurate. But if true then her footwear would likely have been removed.
It says she was mutilated on her chest and stomach, it doesn't say with what. The metal pipe she was hit with? In both Lynn and Eve's case the murder weapon was removed.
Eve had her upper clothing pulled up exposing her chest.
The killer liked arranging bodies.
Not sure if removal of footwear is important.

Incidentally I never considered Margaret Lightfoot before this, cold case November 1975, Loughton, not so far from Eve Stratford and Lynda Farrow, found strangled in Epping Forest, naked and with her wellington boots under her body. Different mo but then the mo between Lynn and Eve was different. Shrug.

 

[jojojaja]

Random speculation, imo, fwiw.
Had been wondering about the boots coming off too, possibly but imo unlikely that happened completely naturally, surprised that the killer did not try and take the footwear as a ''souvenir''.

The concept of ''dying with your boots on'' comes to mind when considering the murdered victims seemingly had their boots removed.. was the killer making a statement or judgement about each of his victims occupations, or that they died after putting up a good struggle?

ShieldSquare Captcha

''The phrase "Die With Your Boots On" on is a saying from the American Old West, meaning to die with honor after putting up a fight''

Die with your boots on - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

''To "Die with your boots on" is an idiom referring to dying while fighting or to die while actively occupied/employed/working or in the middle of some action. A person who dies with their boots on keeps working to the end, as in "He’ll never quit—he’ll die with his boots on." The implication here is that they die while living their life as usual, and not of old age and being bedridden with illness, infirmity, etc.''

Barefoot Suicide - TV Tropes

In Japan there is a custom for people to take off their shoes before entering their homes, as to not track dirt into their houses. As a result of this line of thinking there is also a custom where people take off their shoes before they enter the …

tvtropes.org

"In Japan there is a custom for people to take off their shoes before entering their homes, as to not track dirt into their houses. As a result of this line of thinking there is also a custom where people take off their shoes before they enter the afterlife as not to track dirt and such into their ethereal destination.''

The die with your boots on, or off in this case would almost give the impression the guy had a sense of humour.

There was a lot of mysticism and looking at other cultures, the occult, religions etc in the 1970s so it would not be unusual for people to pick things up, even if they weren't a reader.

Of course he may have had a foot fetish too

 

[dotr]

PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions

Digital newsstand featuring 7000+ of the world’s most popular newspapers & magazines. Enjoy unlimited reading on up to 5 devices with 7-day free trial.

www.pressreader.com

The Scottish Mail
Ripper Files Reopened
Bu Chris Clark and Tim Tate
21 June 2015
(in case the link dies)

Another preview that may not last forever.

As disturbing as it is, often serial killers have a ritual so how people are left can be telling. Unfortunately it says nothing about Lynne's footwear but that she had no clothes on her lower half, this may not be accurate. But if true then her footwear would likely have been removed.
It says she was mutilated on her chest and stomach, it doesn't say with what. The metal pipe she was hit with? In both Lynn and Eve's case the murder weapon was removed.
Eve had her upper clothing pulled up exposing her chest.
The killer liked arranging bodies.
Not sure if removal of footwear is important.

Incidentally I never considered Margaret Lightfoot before this, cold case November 1975, Loughton, not so far from Eve Stratford and Lynda Farrow, found strangled in Epping Forest, naked and with her wellington boots under her body. Different mo but then the mo between Lynn and Eve was different. Shrug.

ETA. new thread..

UK - UK- Margaret Lightfoot, 48, walking dog in Epping Forest, found nude & strangled with dog leash, Loughton, 24 Nov. '75 *DNA*

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38347852 By Danny Shaw 2016 rbbm. ''A dedicated team of British detectives is working to solve cold case murders. And with advances in forensic science, they are hoping to bring some of the killers to justice. At midday, on 24 November 1975, Margaret Lightfoot left...

www.websleuths.com

Off to find a thread or start one..

Cold cases: The detectives on the trail of undiscovered killers

A team of detectives based in south London is using forensic science advances in an effort to solve cold case murders.

www.bbc.com

2016 rbbm
"In the Margaret Lightfoot case, officers began looking at the case again after her widower - now aged 90 - saw something on TV and rang the police.

Scientists are focusing on the two Wellington boots Mrs Lightfoot had been wearing, found underneath her body.
Detectives believe the boots had been pulled off by her killer and may therefore contain traces of his DNA.
But DI Stansfield says there's a hurdle to overcome first. The way the boots were fingerprinted in 1975 may have compromised later tests.
"The methods that were used can sometimes be very destructive of DNA processes now, so we have really got our fingers crossed," she says.''

 

[iamshadow21]

I doubt this preview will be forever, but the title of the book with it's detail should remain. This states she was returning from going to the cinema in the West End and that she caught the last tube train home to Osterley and again states she was visiting so maybe she wasn't working and a mix up, the press often get details wrong. Elizabeth like the other ladies, was, and possibly still is considered also to be a possible victim of Peter Sutcliffe. All these ladies in and bordering London, not ruled out by DNA, have the possibility of being victims of either killer, within certain time frames for Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe it feels was less fussy about victim type, he killed and/or attacked at least two men, the women weren't always working in the sex trade, there was no particular physical type or age he went for, but we know a lot more about him while the unknown killer here we only have 2 definite victims to base our suspicions on other possible ladies he killed. The two he killed there were distinctive differences so we don't know how far out of 'type' he was willing to go. But there are cold cases with distinctive similarities too, glamorous blondes with links to the west end. Were they followed home? As even Eve had only just got home. People keep saying she knew the person because she let him in, because there are no defensive wounds etc, but could he have bluffed his way in? If he knew of the band of her partner, he could have said he knew them, I read somewhere she was described as unworldly, which sounds a bit like she was naive. People who are raped etc can be too scared to fight back and she was tied up.
If only we had the possibility in this country to search an ancestry site for familial dna matches as has happened in the US with some cold cases.

Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders: The True Story of Serial Killer Peter ...​

By Chris Clark & Tim Tate

Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders

In 1981, Peter Sutcliffe, the 'Yorkshire Ripper', was convicted of thirteen murders and seven attempted murders. All his proven victims were women: most were prostitutes.Astonishingly, however, this is not the whole truth. There is a still-secret story of how Sutcliffe's terrible reign of terror...

books.google.com

Don't they have Sutcliffe's DNA on file? I know he's deceased, but it was very recent, and you'd think as a serial offender they would be aware that he could potentially be linked to other cases. If there's DNA in a couple of these cases, surely it would be an easy rule-out.