UK UK - Penny Bell, 43, Ealing, London, 6 June 1991

There's were four or five different teams of builders renovating Penny's home. On some days there were up to twenty workmen there.

Perhaps she didn't want to leave the £8,500 at her home with so many people there.

Otherwise why is she carrying so much money with her that day? She's due at work at 10.30am. Who is the money for?

A. The person she said she was meeting at 9.50am?
B. Someone she was meeting later at work or during her workday?
C. Someone she was meeting after work before she got back home?
D. Someone she planned to meet at a later date?

With options D, she would be carrying the money with her, rather than leaving it at home with so many people wandering about.
the money could be for normal business dealings, but penny took the cash out 3 days before her murder. she was not herself the week leading up to her murder, and this is the same week she was worried about something, so i think the money is coonected.
 
why did the perp allow penny to turn on the hazards and the windscreen wipers. the killer could switch them off from inside the vehicle. if she did put them on to get attention from people, then i doubt they were on very long, as he would warn her not to put them on again.
Also why didn't he switch them off after he had killed Penny?
He reached across the car and wound down Penny's window, then exited the vehicle and continued stabbing Penny through the open window.
He shuts the passenger door, yet leaves the wipers and hazard lights on.

The wipers/hazards might be an indicator that at least one of the witnesses is correct. Or could the witness have got that information from media reports or the reconstruction, and added it to his 'memory' of the event?
 
the money could be for normal business dealings, but penny took the cash out 3 days before her murder. she was not herself the week leading up to her murder, and this is the same week she was worried about something, so i think the money is coonected.
It's strange though that she allows her daughter and nanny to notice the cash.

If the money is for something illegal then why isn't she more secretive with the cash? Why let other people notice it?

And does Alistair know about the cash withdrawal? I've never seen this confirmed in his interviews. IIRC he seems to give the impression that he didn't know about it though.

It was a joint bank account so presumably he would have noticed they were 8.5k down at some point in the near future. Although again in interviews IIRC he gives the impression that Penny dealt with all the finances etc.
 
The options seem to be:

1. Penny meets someone, gives them the money, then gets killed by someone else.
2. She meets someone, who then kills her and takes the money.
3. Corrupt cops or an opportunist thief take the money.

Which is the most likely option, and any more possibilities about what happens with the cash?
 
Or option 5 is that the money was used elsewhere and she didn't have it with her on the day she was killed.
Another possibility is that the killer wasn’t expecting to be paid off, but was intending to kill Penny.
The fact that she tried to pay him off made him very angry, he killed her and took the money anyway.
This IMO explains why he wound down the driver window and continued his attack.
 
Another possibility is that the killer wasn’t expecting to be paid off, but was intending to kill Penny.
The fact that she tried to pay him off made him very angry, he killed her and took the money anyway.
This IMO explains why he wound down the driver window and continued his attack.
Or that he wanted the money and she wouldn't give it to him. The equivalent of £20k today is a lot of cash and in all honesty we know next to nothing about it other than she drew it out and no one knows what happened to it. The money could be a complete red herring for all we know.
 
It could well be, what is key IMO is the ferocity of the attack. It indicates pure hatred and again IMO is either linked to rejection or someone with a serious mental abnormality.
I'd agree with that. I don't think it was a random robbery or assault. My gut feeling is that it was someone Penny knew. It appears the killer lost all control during the attack.
 
Or option 5 is that the money was used elsewhere and she didn't have it with her on the day she was killed.
That's possible. The Crimewatch reconstruction shows her with the money on Tuesday when she gets home from work. So there's a window of opportunity from then until Thursday morning.

It's strange though that Penny draws the money out on Monday, but still has the cash in her handbag on Tuesday. She seems to have taken in to work and carried it around with her that day.
 
That's possible. The Crimewatch reconstruction shows her with the money on Tuesday when she gets home from work. So there's a window of opportunity from then until Thursday morning.

It's strange though that Penny draws the money out on Monday, but still has the cash in her handbag on Tuesday. She seems to have taken in to work and carried it around with her that day.
Which is why I've said before more context about what cash she usually drew, and where and when she tended to use it would be very useful. When she previously drew cash for example was it to last for a period of time or was it usually spent or used in one go.
 
If Penny does give someone the cash on the Tuesday or Wednesday, then why doesn't that person ever come forward?
I suppose that would depend on what it had been used for. If it was for something "off the books" or something else that wasn't legal there may be good reason to not come forward. Or perhaps she used it in bits and pieces and it didn't all go to one person. The sighting of Penny possibly picking someone up is a bit similar. If it wasn't Penny or you were that person with nothing to hide why wouldn't you come forward?
 
I wonder what happened Penny's 30k Jaguar.
How long was it kept in police storage?
Was it sold?

There are a lot of rumours that police lost/degraded the forensic evidence. There is one early newspaper report though where the police say they have evidence that can be matched against anyone arrested.
 
Basic timeline (corrections welcome):

1991
Penny Bell murdered
John Richmond interviewed and fingerprinted
1992
John Richmond arrested and bailed
Bail cancelled
1994
John Richmond approaches The Sun with his hitman story
Police plan to re-interview John Richmond
 
That's possible. The Crimewatch reconstruction shows her with the money on Tuesday when she gets home from work. So there's a window of opportunity from then until Thursday morning.

It's strange though that Penny draws the money out on Monday, but still has the cash in her handbag on Tuesday. She seems to have taken in to work and carried it around with her that day.
I have read before that she was used to handling large ( how large though?) amounts of cash but it does seem a bit odd to be quite so casual with it.
 
Also why didn't he switch them off after he had killed Penny?
He reached across the car and wound down Penny's window, then exited the vehicle and continued stabbing Penny through the open window.
He shuts the passenger door, yet leaves the wipers and hazard lights on.

The wipers/hazards might be an indicator that at least one of the witnesses is correct. Or could the witness have got that information from media reports or the reconstruction, and added it to his 'memory' of the event?
the wipers were on when penny was found in her car, and i think she put them on as she was dying in a last attempt to get attention from someone. just as the killer was leaving the scene/car park.
 
It's strange though that she allows her daughter and nanny to notice the cash.

If the money is for something illegal then why isn't she more secretive with the cash? Why let other people notice it?

And does Alistair know about the cash withdrawal? I've never seen this confirmed in his interviews. IIRC he seems to give the impression that he didn't know about it though.

It was a joint bank account so presumably he would have noticed they were 8.5k down at some point in the near future. Although again in interviews IIRC he gives the impression that Penny dealt with all the finances etc.
i thought the same. the money was from there joint account, so alistair would notice as soon as he seen the bank statements. if the money was for business, then why didnt micheal flynn her partner in the company know anything about it.
 

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