UK UK- Janet Brown, 51, research nurse, found nude, gagged, handcuffed & bludgeoned to death, @ home, Buckinghamshire,10 April '95, *DNA, new initiative*

[tes1984]

IMO, if they weren't lying in a prominent position such as the hall table, where the husband would have seen them the last time he was there, how would a home invader know about them, look for them, or find them?

I find it a strange comment by the husband. Was he suggesting his wife got out the handcuffs to play master/slave with someone, when he wasn't home?

I was wondering if the handcuffs were in Janet's jewellery box or in a drawer of her dressing table. The killer makes Janet put on jewellery so perhaps he spots the handcuffs?

It is a very strange comment though. Why didn't he ask about them when he first saw them years earlier?

The master/slave scenario is very interesting. Handcuffs weren't unusual amongst consenting couples, but the husband doesn't know why they might have been there.

 

[Cedars]

I was wondering if the handcuffs were in Janet's jewellery box or in a drawer of her dressing table. The killer makes Janet put on jewellery so perhaps he spots the handcuffs?

It is a very strange comment though. Why didn't he ask about them when he first saw them years earlier?

The master/slave scenario is very interesting. Handcuffs weren't unusual amongst consenting couples, but the husband doesn't know why they might have been there.

Yes, however I personally can't imagine a 50 year old woman keeping a random, useless pair of handcuffs with her jewelry or underwear. Any more than she'd keep duct tape, an old hammer or a knife...You want to have pretty things in the places where you keep your pretty things. And your female children will definitely go look through your jewelry box, normally with your permission.

I interpreted the husband's comment as indicating that once upon a time they used the handcuffs as a couple. Why else would anyone own them? To tie up burglars you've captured - or discipline the children when they were younger? (irony).

 

[Rush4087]

I too find the husband's comment(s) about the handcuffs strange. Is there an exact quote of what he said somewhere?

 

[forensicswannabe]

I think the husband most likely made that comment because he was to embarrassed to say he and his wife used them which is understandable but he didn't want to throw off the investigation by not admitting they was his wife's handcuffs so he had to say something.

 

[Sescsteve]

If he smashed his way into the house, then why didn't the forensic team find any tiny glass fragments on the piece of carpet they examined?

Could the piece of carpet have been too far away from the patio for the glass to carry?

That I find incredible is that on that piece of carpet they did not find any broken glass fragments . Trust me when you take broken or smashed glass it lands metres away and even after hoovering up really thorough you still find it after you have finished hoovering . This case actually burns my mind . Every time I think of an answer there seems to be something to counter weigh my answer lol .

 

[Professor Moriarty]

That I find incredible is that on that piece of carpet they did not find any broken glass fragments . Trust me when you take broken or smashed glass it lands metres away and even after hoovering up really thorough you still find it after you have finished hoovering . This case actually burns my mind . Every time I think of an answer there seems to be something to counter weigh my answer lol .

Sescsteve,

Did you see my question for you? What do you think was the purpose of the tape that the intruder stuck on the glass please?

Thanks.

 

[Sescsteve]

Sescsteve,

Did you see my question for you? What do you think was the purpose of the tape that the intruder stuck on the glass please?

Thanks.

It really is a difficult one to be honest . I assume it was used to stick to the glass to keep the glass together when cutting but as I said before to cut glass with tape over the top is just not ideal so maybe someone thought it would be easy after seeing them old films where you see the intruder just score the glass and pull the glass out lol 6mm glass would be very very difficult.

 

[tes1984]

I too find the husband's comment(s) about the handcuffs strange. Is there an exact quote of what he said somewhere?

IIRC it was mentioned in one of Paul Britton's books, but there weren't any direct quotes.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

The husband must have known if he and Janet had used handcuffs in the past. If they had not used them, but they had already been in the house before the home invasion, when the husband first saw them, he would have asked Janet what she was doing with them. That would have been a memorable conversation. What possible reason could there have been for Janet to have had them, apart from kinky play? The husband would have asked with whom she had been "playing".

Perhaps the police resolved this, but, they would not have said publicly if Janet and her husband had been into kinky stuff. If Janet had been involved with someone she had met from, say, a contact magazine, they might release that information, but they might not.

 

[Cedars]

The husband must have known if he and Janet had used handcuffs in the past. If they had not used them, but they had already been in the house before the home invasion, when the husband first saw them, he would have asked Janet what she was doing with them. That would have been a memorable conversation. What possible reason could there have been for Janet to have had them, apart from kinky play? The husband would have asked with whom she had been "playing".

Perhaps the police resolved this, but, they would not have said publicly if Janet and her husband had been into kinky stuff. If Janet had been involved with someone she had met from, say, a contact magazine, they might release that information, but they might not.

I agree.

It just comes across as her husband being a former roommate, rather than a current bed partner.

I think if she'd been having affairs, that would be huge. But she'd have likely kept it as her own secret, and rarely brought anyone home. And surely, in that case, there'd be evidence of sexual activity?

Looking forward to clarification.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

In the Crimewatch item, Nick Ross held a roll of broad, shiny, brown tape and referred to it as "masking tape". It was clearly not masking tape, but duct tape. Masking tape is not strong or very adhesive, so that you can easily remove it after painting. Duct tape is strong and very adhesive. It is used for packaging and has been used to bind people. For years, you have been able to buy it all over the place.

As for the other roll of tape, who, in 1995, knew that sort of tape existed? I am sure that now you could find many different types of tape on Amazon. But I don't recall seeing that sort of tape in Homebase or B&Q. Maybe in 1995 it was sold in garden centres, if it was used to repair greenhouses and cloches. How did the intruder know of that type of tape?

 

[Sescsteve]

In the Crimewatch item, Nick Ross held a roll of broad, shiny, brown tape and referred to it as "masking tape". It was clearly not masking tape, but duct tape. Masking tape is not strong or very adhesive, so that you can easily remove it after painting. Duct tape is strong and very adhesive. It is used for packaging and has been used to bind people. For years, you have been able to buy it all over the place.

As for the other roll of tape, who, in 1995, knew that sort of tape existed? I am sure that now you could find many different types of tape on Amazon. But I don't recall seeing that sort of tape in Homebase or B&Q. Maybe in 1995 it was sold in garden centres, if it was used to repair greenhouses and cloches. How did the intruder know of that type of tape?

Maybe a builder or an acquaintance would of known or he could generally be looking around in a diy store and see it . The brown packaging tape is literally as you say pretty common . We probably have all had a few rolls tucked away somewhere. Obviously you cannot ever find it when you need it so you buy another lol . This is without doubt one of the most confusing cases I have ever looked into . There is so many angles to this and nothing really adds up .