UK UK - Janice Weston, 36, Murdered, A1 Layby, Brampton, Cambs. / London, 10 September 1983

[Legally Bland]

The unsolved murder of a solicitor whose body was found near the A1 in Cambridgeshire is being reviewed by police 35 years on.

Janice Weston, 36, lived and worked in London and was last seen at her office on 10 September 1983.

Her body was found the next day in a ditch close to the Brampton Hut roundabout, near Huntingdon. She had died as a result of blows to the head.

Police review 1983 solicitor murder case

 

[Legally Bland]

BBC Crimewatch appeal for Janice from October 1984.

ETA: Janice's appeal starts at approx. 3 mins 10 secs, it's about 12 mins long.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

This new article from Camden New Journal gives a little more detail on the case.

Janice Weston murder: Police re-open file after 35 years

Given her purse was found with her, plus none of her jewellery missing, seems to rule out robbery being the motive. I wonder it it was something/someone the husband was involved with? A shady deal gone wrong?

This link gives some of the press coverage. Also shows that she was a fairly wealthy woman at the time of her death and had been the recipient of a large sum of money from a will.

Janice Weston

 

[Amonet]

It's a very strange case, and it's a great shame there weren't more video surveillance cameras around in those days that might have caught the perp on camera.

The nature of how JW left London seems like she more likely had familiarity with the person she left with? So I think my first interest would be in hearing from neighbours who she'd been seen talking to in the prior few months, and phone records of who she'd been talking to.

 

[iulia]

No breakthrough for detectives probing cold case murder despite ‘small number of calls’

A spokesman for the force told the Hunts Post: “We received a small number of calls following the appeal, including from people who saw Janice or her vehicle.

“However, there hasn’t been any significant developments and we continue to appeal to anyone with information to come forward.”

 

[silverjug]

So, she was a conveyancing solicitor, her husband a property developer, and she had speculated on property with monies she had received in a will. Who did she or husband upset?

 

[Mrs Marple]

Link to the original Crimewatch appeal in 1984 starts at c.3.15. I'm ashamed to say l had a little LOL moment at the e fit of the 'Manchester Bogeyman' just before

Whoops didn't see this was already posted, apologies.

 

[Mrs Marple]

Some good info here

Janice Weston murder: Police re-open file after 35 years

And this is intriguing:

Will The 1984 Unsolved Murder Of Janice Weston Ever be Resolved? By Giovanni Di Stefano – Opc global news and media

The number plate thing is odd. Unless there was another identical car. Maybe the car found wasn't actually her car.

 

[Mrs Marple]

BBC Crimewatch: What happened in the Janice Weston murder case?

 

[Pinkizzy]

Will The 1984 Unsolved Murder of Janice Weston Ever be Resolved? By Giovanni Di Stefano and Caroline Bayford

opcglobalnewsandmedia.com

 

[tes1984]

So what happened to Janice then?

Was it a crime of passion, or something financial/business related?

 

[CSIAngus]

Seems so obvious that the murderer was in her inner circle. Someone she would trust. LE ruled out robbery and sex, but could it have been a murder by proxy. The husband being in France is a cast iron alibi but that doesn't mean it was impossible for him to be connected to her final moments. Who told her to get a new spare tyre? Who would she trust to drive her Aston Martin? Could it be a phoney tyre problem and the need for a tyre change that made them stop in the lay-by? I've been driving for more than 30 years and never had to change a tyre so it seems more than a coincidence that a tyre would feature so prominently in the case.

The husband gained by no longer having to share 50% of their assets and perhaps the relationship had soured. MOO.

 

[Westchester76]

One, if not the most fascinating UK Cold Case. So many elements to it. The spare tyre being one, the ordering ofthe car license plates post murder, Janice seemingly leaving her house in London in a rush (not bringing her handbag, but bringing the already opened bottle of wine). I would sway towards the husband setting it up, on the pretext that there was a serious issue at their property in Norrthampton, with Janice having to go there immediately. The killer may have been known to Janice, or was posing as a workman / surveyor that she was instructed to pick up on the way to the house, but still doesn;t explain the ordering of the number plates the next morning, and the murder site. The car obviously had a flat tyre, which couldn't of been the planned location for the murder.