UK UK: Family make fresh appeal over Shona Stevens' 1994 murder in Irvine, Scotland

[Taskforce88]

THE FAMILY of a young mother murdered 25 years ago say they have not given up hope her killer will be brought to justice.

The body of Shona Stevens, 31, was found by a footpath in Irvine, North Ayrshire, on the afternoon of November 10 1994.

No-one has been convicted of what police describe as a "brutal, frenzied attack" and Ms Stevens' mother and daughter have made a fresh appeal for information.

Mhairi Smith, 85, said: "It has been 25 years since Shona was taken from us and we are still as hopeful as ever that those responsible for her murder can be brought to justice.

Family make fresh appeal over young mother's 1994 murder

 

[Taskforce88]

On a point of interest, Shona's estranged husband who worked for a South African defence company was in the UK at the time of her attack. He was questioned by Special Branch about his whereabouts at the time. I always found it odd that he wasn't questioned by the MET or Strathclyde Police.

 

[Taskforce88]

Detectives have released images of a distinctive novelty keyring in a fresh bid to solve one of Scotland's most baffling cold cases.


Shona Stevens: Novelty keyring bid to solve 1994 cold case murder

 

[Taskforce88]

Looks more like a pencil topper

 

[dotr]

Shona Stevens: Novelty keyring bid to solve 1994 cold case murder

''Detectives have released images of a distinctive novelty keyring in a fresh bid to solve one of Scotland's most baffling cold cases.

Shona Stevens was savagely attacked near her home in Irvine, North Ayrshire, in November 1994.

Ms Stevens, 31, suffered severe head injuries and died in hospital three days later.

The semi-naked toy figure, which is 8mm tall, was discovered at the scene and officers believe it may be significant.

Police said the cartoon-style figure looked as if it had broken off a keyring.''
''Det Insp Fraser Normansell, of the major investigation team, said: "We know the item didn't belong to Shona and, while we can't be sure of its origins, we believe it may hold significance to this case.

"Although it was found almost 27 years ago, it's very distinctive and could prove vital to our inquiries.''

''At the time of the 25th anniversary appeal, police said the inquiry team was keeping an open mind as to a motive for the crime.

But the force would not disclose whether officers had a DNA profile of the suspect but said technology was constantly creating new forensic opportunities.''

 

[Officer Dibble]

This case is on Crimewatch Live on BBC1 right now.

 

[dotr]

9 September 2021
Crimestoppers launches appeal over 1994 unsolved murder of Shona Stevens

''Crimestoppers Scotland is offering a reward of up to £10,000 for anonymous information in connection with the historic case of the murder of Shona Stevens.

Ms Stevens was brutally attacked on 10th November 1994 near her home at Irvine, in North Ayrshire. She was aged 31 at the time and died three days later as a result of severe head injuries.

The mother of one had left the Co-op store at Bourtreehill Shopping Centre at lunchtime. She was last seen at around 1.10pm on Towerlands Road. Her body was sadly found nearby in a wooded area around ten minutes later.

The charity is supporting police by encouraging anyone who prefers to stay anonymous to contact us with information.''

July 2 2021

 

[dotr]

This case is on Crimewatch Live on BBC1 right now.

BBC One - Crimewatch Live, Shona Stevens Murder Re-Appeal
''Shona Stevens Murder Re-Appeal
On the 10th of November 1994, Shona Stevens was murdered in Bourtreehill Park, Irvine.
Release date:
09 September 2021
28 days left to watch
Duration:
8 minutes''

 

[FOXINBOX]

Have they spoken to her child, now presumably grown? Even if they were too young to remember the event, at this distance in time they may be able to give insight into family dynamics and friendships.
Just as long as the police act on decent information. I have just come off watching the couple accused of murdering their son 28 years ago. It was absolutely terrifying. On the strength of some dubious sightings and an anonymous letter, apparently the Cleveland police arrested the couple, turned over their house and dug up their garden for a fortnight. I hope to goodness they actually had more than they were letting on, it was so shocking.
And back to this case. Never seen a piggy like the "keyring" He's slightly weird. Did he originally squeak out of his naughty bits, do you think?
On second thoughts, he looks like a dubious rip-off of Loony Tunes's Porky Pig character

 

[FOXINBOX]

That keyring again. I've spent far too much of my life watching animations of various kinds, and different parts of the world have different styles - the Japanese way of highlighting the eyes is an obvious example. I'm not exactly an expert, but it looks like continental, maybe German...

 

[FOXINBOX]

Or possibly a dog toy? I wonder if they've tested it for DNA...

 

[catchingdelivery]

The semi-naked toy figure, which is 8mm tall, was discovered at the scene

SBM
Just to clarify for anyone reading this thread, if you watch the Crimewatch clip you'll see the keyring is 80mm tall, which is 8cm. It originally will have had some fabric trousers on it, as shown in the video

 

[FOXINBOX]

8cm,,,that's 3.5 ins in old money, right? The place name rang a bell, then I remembered little Sandy Davidson came from that area.
Watched all the video links, but they're all something and nothing. This is such a local event, because who outside of a 5 mile radius of the crime scene would know what they were on about...and that keyring figure had no trousers on when it was photographed among the leaf litter, or is that a staged picture? - so how do they know? Might it not have been a kilt? The figure has no curly tail, so despite other resemblances to a pig, it might just have been a fat man.

I am not the only person to find this all very strange
https://todayuknews.com/us-news/why...e-evidence-that-couldve-caught-shonas-killer/
and dammit they're right - why has the public not been shown this special evidence before? Has it been lying in an evidence room for 28 years, or have they only just found it?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

The figurine reminds me of something, like a character from the Wind in the Willows.

 

[catchingdelivery]

It's the first time I've read about this case and didn't realise the keyring had only just been disclosed to the public now, all these years later. Could it have something to do with the estranged husband being interviewed by Special Branch rather than the Police force dealing with the incident? Maybe their hands were tied due to risks to national security? It's an easy way to shut things down no questions asked. JMO, I can't think of another reason this evidence would be kept hidden until now, unless they didn't think it was connected at the time, but now they do? Why?

On a point of interest, Shona's estranged husband who worked for a South African defence company was in the UK at the time of her attack. He was questioned by Special Branch about his whereabouts at the time. I always found it odd that he wasn't questioned by the MET or Strathclyde Police.

 

[catchingdelivery]

I haven't found much information on mainstream news sites about the split from her husband and the move from South Africa back to Scotland after 7 or 8 years of living there. Those are huge decisions, unlikely to be made on a whim. Shona must have had reasons to leave.
Police have stated the motive is unknown and Shona was beaten, so it wasn't a sexual motive or robbery. Typically in these circumstances there would be an obvious person of interest to rule out first before looking elsewhere but there's no mention of that being investigated.

 

[dotr]

Could it be that ''workable'' DNA has been recently retrieved from the figurine?
Sept 11 2021 rbbm. imo.
By
Jane Hamilton
Why delay 27 years to release evidence that could've caught Shona's killer?
''Last July police released a picture of the distinctive keyring – a semi- naked fat man – in the hope someone would recognise it and come forward.

Earlier this week it formed part of the main appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch.

The keyring was found at the scene but nobody except the inquiry teams knew a thing about it until now.''

''This seems like a bizarre decision on the part of the original murder team but what remains just as baffling is the length of time it’s taken police to release this information.

I get that they don’t want to release sensitive information when hunting a killer, I get that they hold back information that may only be known to the killer such as cause of death.

But this was a significant distinctive object that someone may have recognised and been able to clear up who owned it and why it was there.''

''A local journalist who covered Shona’s murder contacted me the other week. He said: “What I find bizarre is the practice of releasing pieces of information relating to unsolved crimes that have been in their possession for many years.

“The recent appeal relating to the Shona Stevens murder is a classic example. What sense is there in putting this out after all this time? After all, it was found at the scene of the crime?
Detective Inspector Fraser Normansell said: “Something that seemed insignificant 27 years ago could be hugely significant now. These cases can flip on the smallest of details, and I’m determined to bring the offender to justice.”

 

[evilwise]

It seems like a pretty clear indication that the estranged husband, unnamed even, is the obvious prime suspect. The articles are written in ways that make it seem like her mother just recently renewed her appeals but I expect she never stopped. I have a sneaking suspicion that the ex-husband's diplomatic status has just softened and police are going someone will come forward and say "Yes I saw that Keychain in the possession of (ex-husband) in the early 90s" or that someone can establish it as coming from S Africa. For what it's worth I spent a while last night looking at vintage adult novelty squeezable keychains and could not find any that were even similar but my sources are mostly American.

Sadly, from the condition of the thing it looks like just a dirty piece of trash played with and pulled apart (it would have had at least two or three other pieces that are missing) by area kids. It seems like a pretty slim hope that someone would have kept it on their keyring in that condition and then coincidentally lost it off that keyring while committing an assault but maybe there are extenuating circumstances and it was torn up by local kids after the murder who only revealed some time later that they had found it in the same location as the body.

 

[evilwise]

That keyring again. I've spent far too much of my life watching animations of various kinds, and different parts of the world have different styles - the Japanese way of highlighting the eyes is an obvious example. I'm not exactly an expert, but it looks like continental, maybe German...

The figurine reminds me of something, like a character from the Wind in the Willows.

I suspect it is a bootleg "Fatty Fudge" which would suggest it is of UK origin.

Fatty Fudge - Wikipedia

 

[FOXINBOX]

Thoughts:-
1) The killer was or had been a local, living within walking distance - there has been no mention of a car, and the weapon was removed from the scene. Hopefully the police searched the drains, but we don't know, do we!
2) Shona was discovered so soon after the attack, it's difficult to rule out either robbery or rape.
3) The area sees a fair share of low-grade crime, so it might well be another type of crime gone wrong.
4) Don't think many blokes carry piggy key fobs, so there's either an outside chance that a woman is involved, or the fob has nothing at all to do with the crime...