UK UK - Mary Kriek, 19, Colchester, Essex, 5 Jan 1958

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wfgodot

wfgodot

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January 5th
5/1/1958
Mary Kriek – Colchester

A 19-year-old au pair from Holland, Mary Kriek’s sojourn in England lasted less than a month before her body was found in a ditch near Colchester. She disappeared on Sunday evening, January 5th, 1958, after getting off a bus only 100 yards away from the house where she was employed. Her body was found next day 10 miles away – she had been viciously beaten about the head.
Click to expand...
a bit more at link below

http://www.truecrimelibrary.com/crime_series_show.php?id=757&series_number=11
 
Thanks Wiggy, I read something about this girl some years back, can't remember what it was now but I had a suspect in mind.

More info

Mary's grave in UK

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=79144723

Murder car found, news archive
Car found 75 miles away.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...3dAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o6MMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5471,1748980


http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/local/braintree/8151892.39_unsolved_murders_in_cold_case_file/

THERE are almost 40 unsolved murders in Essex, dating back more than half a century.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that Essex Police currently has 39 unsolved cases involving murder, manslaughter or infanticide.

The oldest case dates back to January 1958, and relates to the death of Dutch au pair Mary Kriek.

The 19-year-old had been in England less than a month, working at a farm in Eight Ash Green when she was murdered.

Mary had 17 lacerated head wounds probably from a tyre lever or hammer.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5399,1191230&dq=mary+kriek&hl=en
 
“Murder Clue On His Lip”
(title of article dated January 12, 1958 from the Sunday Pictorial)

Squads of detectives armed with what may be the first real clue in the hunt for the killer of Dutch girl Mary Kriek, 19, swooped on American air bases in East Anglia yesterday.

The Clue: A thin moustache.
Click to expand...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vaf5cl_dB3c/T2zpmLte79I/AAAAAAAAAq0/pBtX0qRZYZM/s1600/P1000924.JPG

http://mhill46-holdthefrontpage.blogspot.com/2012/03/get-my-3-kids-out-of-russia-says-mrs.html
 
Thanks wishyouwerehere, another girl called Jean Sylvia Constable was murdered and they were looking at US bases

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2375,385546&dq=mary+kriek&hl=en

However, this was the out come

http://www.lindastratmann.com/books/true-crime-books/more-essex-murders.aspx

Sleeping Death
On the morning of Tuesday 3 January 1961 the body of 21 year old Jean Constable was found in a layby near the village of Ridgewell. She had been strangled. US airman Willis Eugene Boshears admitted that he had been alone with Jean at his Great Dunmow flat on New Year’s Eve, and had gone to sleep, awaking to find her dead. He thought he must have strangled her in his sleep, but had no recollection of doing so. Medical tests showed that he was not suffering from any disorder. At his trial on 15 February the jury acquitted him of murder.

Now, was he a black guy ?
 
Here is some additional information from Boshears’ trial for killing Jean Constable. Unfortunately, it does not state the race of Willis Eugene Boshears.

http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Page/straitstimes19610219-1.1.3.aspx

When he found the girl dead he “panicked” dressed her body and carried it into the spare room of the flat. He said he then went to sleep again. Two days later he removed the body from the house and dumped it in a ditch where it was later found.
…

In his summing up to the Jury Mr. Justice Glyn A. Jones stated that if Boshears strangled the girl while he was asleep, it was not a voluntary act and he was entitled to be acquitted.
Click to expand...

(*Sigh*)
 
Well, I'm Gobsmacked, Mr. Justice Glyn A. Jones needs to be .... I'll be nice, sacked !

Edited to add

''dressed her body and carried it into the spare room of the flat. He said he then went to sleep again''

Well, we'd all do that wouldn't we ? We've all woke up, found a corpse next to us, moved it and just gone back to sleep, it's the done thing.
 
I'm off to check ancestry, let's see if 'Willis' or William, did anything else ;)
 
Photograph of Mary and some of the searchers looking for the murder weapon.

http://www.theimageproshop.com/Sear...&or_v=v&or_s=s&or_p=p&tp_f=f&tp_i=i&tp_c=c&ps


Description: Detective Superintendent Barkway , who is leading the inquiries into the murder of the Dutch girl , Mary Kriek , this afternoon visited the United States Air Force Base at Bentwaters , near Ipswich . Mary was found battered to death in a ditch at Boxted , Essex , after leaning a bus ten miles away to walk to Bull Banks Farm where Mary was employed . A portrait of Mary Kriek , the murdered girl ...8 January 1958
 
Hi RobinHood! Sometimes I'm blind and I can't see what's in front of me, as today, I don't see the photograph at the link you've provided. Could you point it out?

Eta: Just found it! It's on page 2!
 
wishuwerehere said:
Hi RobinHood! Sometimes I'm blind and I can't see what's in front of me, as today, I don't see the photograph at the link you've provided. Could you point it out?

Eta: Just found it! It's on page 2!
Click to expand...

Wishuwerehere, and anybody else wanting to view, it's possible that the site is constantly updated, so the photograph/s possibly move along the pages.
 
So I'm just researching this case and I know I saw mention somewhere that Mary's employer was under suspicion but I can't find that mention anywhere again. Can anyone help me out with this? I have literally no idea where I found the source or when it was.
 
Mr Experimenter said:
I have however, seen photos of the search for a murder weapon, and one shows the farm where Mary worked and lived being combed.
Click to expand...

There is also a photo of the river near Stratford St Mary being searched and I read an article which suggested they searched waterways all along the 24 possible routes Mary could have been taken. It's difficult to know if they just searched the farm as part of the investigation as a whole or if they had more reason to.

What's your interest in the case? Are you doing anything particular with the research?

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detai...fford-st-mary-looking-for-picture-id848964576
 
In case you're interested I just finished writing a podcast episode on the case. You can find it here. I've tried to collect all the information I can find about Mary as well as break down some of the misinformation out there. For instance there were 3 different cars that police wished to trace, the two toned American car was not the one driven by the man with the thin moustache. He was sighted curb crawling on a few occasions but the two toned car is different. Anyway, here's the link.

https://soundcloud.com/theoutlinespodcast/outlines-season-1-essex-the-murder-of-mary-kriek
 
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