UK UK - Shelley Morgan, 34, stabbed, (Former Iowan), Bristol, 11 June 1984

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tes1984 said:
Do you think Shelley was killed at the copse? I suspect she was because otherwise the killer has to carry her a fair distance through unfamiliar terrain, and also there's no obvious reason for Shelley's sandals to be there if she was killed somewhere else.
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The general theory reported by the media over the years was that Shelley was murdered elsewhere and her body then dumped in the copse. A psychic told me Shelley was stabbed as she was getting into a vehicle. I have no strong view either way on whether Shelley was or was not murdered in the copse, but it is a discrete remote location.

The sandals raise alot of questions, including why leave them, if you apparently have taken everything else (bar tights) from the scene ? It is not uncommon for murderer's to re-visit scenes, so maybe they were left as marker ?
 
Linda Bryant's killer left her glasses at the murder scene. Maybe we should look at items left behind at murder scenes and establish a link. David Burgess (Beenham murders) may be linked to the case and he may be leaving items that he uses himself at the crime scene - glasses + sandals.
 
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Pinkizzy said:
Linda Bryant's killer left her glasses at the murder scene. Maybe we should look at items left behind at murder scenes and establish a link. David Burgess (Beenham murders) may be linked to the case and he may be leaving items that he uses himself at the crime scene - glasses + sandals.
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I think David Burgess was in prison when both SM and LB were killed.
I seem to remember that in the Bryant case, the police did have the area under surveillance in case the killer returned, but the cameras weren't working properly. In the Vicky Hall case, the police got footage of the killer possibly returning to the crime scene, although it wasn't exactly crystal clear. Steve Wright is prime suspect in that case, and another of his potential victims was linked as potentially connected to Shelley back in the 80s.
The police are often wrong about which crimes are linked. I think a lot of killers leave certain items at the scene, but it's very difficult to form patterns. Shelley was left with tights and sandals there. Melanie Hall was left with her ring on. Carol Clark was left in her underwear and boots
 
Wurzel said:
The general theory reported by the media over the years was that Shelley was murdered elsewhere and her body then dumped in the copse. A psychic told me Shelley was stabbed as she was getting into a vehicle. I have no strong view either way on whether Shelley was or was not murdered in the copse, but it is a discrete remote location.

The sandals raise alot of questions, including why leave them, if you apparently have taken everything else (bar tights) from the scene ? It is not uncommon for murderer's to re-visit scenes, so maybe they were left as marker ?
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It could be possible that the killer was returning to where he left Shelley. She was partially buried in a shallow grave, wasn't she? Not left out in the open like Jackie Waines or Carol Clark.
Very strange that he goes to the trouble of burying Shelley, but only partially. Maybe the ground is just too hard, but it could be that he plans to return.
 
Jenesaisquoi said:
If I recall correctly, the tights may not have been Shelley’s? I seem to remember some kind of comment that workmen sometimes used old tights eg to strain paint and that the killer may have brought them??? (This may be getting confused with other cases though)
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In the Crimewatch reconstruction, Shelley is shown wearing tights. There does seem to be some confusion as to exactly what she was wearing on the 11th June though. For example, there's no mention if she was wearing a wedding ring.
As for tights being used to strain paint, we have painter/decorator Christopher Hampton in the area, two days after killing Melanie Road. We also have the killer of Jackie Waines dumping her body in what might be a decorators ground sheet (although the police have never specified what the large white bundle was).
 
tes1984 said:
In the Crimewatch reconstruction, Shelley is shown wearing tights. There does seem to be some confusion as to exactly what she was wearing on the 11th June though. For example, there's no mention if she was wearing a wedding ring.
As for tights being used to strain paint, we have painter/decorator Christopher Hampton in the area, two days after killing Melanie Road. We also have the killer of Jackie Waines dumping her body in what might be a decorators ground sheet (although the police have never specified what the large white bundle was).
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No mention of a wedding ring, nor any other jewellery. No mention of her house keys either. No appeals have ever been made for items such as these.
 
Yes it's strange about the keys not being mentioned. Perhaps they weren't at all distinctive, or is was just a single nondescript key.

Shelley was seen at the post office that morning to collect money that her husband sent her from Wales. It was a regular arrangement so she was remembered.
So unless Shelley returned home after visiting the post office, then presumably her killer stole the money as well as the camera.
 
It wouldn't be unrealistic to assume that Shelley went to run morning errands and then returned home, before heading out again to travel to the gorge.
None of the possible bus or vehicle sightings have ever been confirmed by the police, so who knows when she actually set out.
There's no mention of Shelley taking a packed lunch or eating a hearty breakfast, so what does she eat if she's out from the school run until the mid afternoon?
 
Unfortunately the Ford Transit is one of the most common UK vans. In 2019 there were 960,000 of them in the UK. I'm not sure how many there were on the roads in 1984.

A Bristol newspaper reports in December 1984, that the driver of a blue Ford Transit asked a woman for directions near the gateway to Ashton Court. There was also a two tone Green BMW seen nearby. Two men of rastafarian appearance were seen in the car and a woman resembling Shelley was seen nearby. There was also a yellow lorry seen in Backwell.
 
One point that is easily overlooked is that in the Crimewatch programme of the 20 December 1984, based on a witness, the Ford Transit pulled up behind the number 354 bus heading to Nailsea. This is on the Long Ashton Road.

Since December 1984 it was established that Shelley boarded the 359 bus to Portishead at Bristol Bus Station, which would not have taken the Long Ashton Road.
 
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Jenesaisquoi said:
If I recall correctly, the tights may not have been Shelley’s? I seem to remember some kind of comment that workmen sometimes used old tights eg to strain paint and that the killer may have brought them??? (This may be getting confused with other cases though)
Click to expand...
The posters which the police issued said that Shelley was wearing tights that day.
The UK necrophiliac David Fuller left one of his victims in a similar way - naked apart from her tights.
 
I'm not surprised the police have been unable to solve this one. So many suspects, yet so little actual evidence. The police might well suspect someone who is dead, or someone who is already in prison for murder. The only information they have really released is related to postcards, which may be telling.
 
.
www.thesun.co.uk

I solved murder of teen girl after 30 years…I believe slayer is a serial killer

A DETECTIVE who cracked a brutal cold case murder believes the killer had three more victims. Melanie Road was raped and stabbed to death after a night out in June 1984 – sparking Britain’s b…
www.thesun.co.uk www.thesun.co.uk
COLD CASE

''I solved brutal murder of teenage girl after 30 years…I believe slayer is actually a serial killer with 3 more victims​

The three other brutal murder cases remain unsolved
1713104510706.png
''Through sheer determination she snared the killer - Christopher Hampton.
However, now MacKay has revealed she believes Hampton is a serial killer responsible for the death of three other girls.''
1713104744043.png
''Shelley Morgan, 33, was found dead in Backwell Hill, near Bristol, just two days after Melanie’s death.''
And in April 1985, Linda Guest, 35, was found dead in Frampton Cotterell, north of Bristol.

Meanwhile, Helen Fleet, 66, were killed in Weston-super-Mare just two years later.

All four women had been sexually assaulted then stabbed tens of times - and all lived in the areas where Hampton had been working as a painter decorator.

Speaking to The Telegraph: “The method of killing was the same. It was a frenzied knife attack.”
 
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