Thought I would add some information following research about the OM20 in general, and some further details that may be of interest.
As most will know the OM20 was produced from 1983 to 1987, and that the OM20 was sold as the OMG20 in America.
Going into a bit more detail, the OM20 chrome version was first to enter the UK market before the European market. The OM20 black version was produced for the Japanese market.
Olympus used the same serial number series for their OM range of cameras OM1, OM10, OM20 etc, therefore whilst Shelley's OM20 was serial number 1032853, there was not another million+ OM20 cameras produced before Shelley's.
The Olympus OM serial numbers are on replaceable/interchangeable base plates. Therefore there is nothing to stop anyone swapping base plates within a specific OM camera range so that a camera body could lose its original identity.
So if an OM20 serial number 1032853 is found, how do you know that it is the original complete camera (base plate + body) ? It might be the 1032853 base plate has been added to another OM20 body, and also opens up the possibilty that Shelley's OM20 camera body might be circulating with a different serial number.
Prior to doing the website mentioned in post #74 above, I spent time looking for the Olympus OM20 online. Whilst not time consuming (perhaps 15 - 30 minutes per day) once you complete a back search since the internet began to bring you up to current day's postings online, it was repetitive and mind numbing, but perhaps the thought of maybe, just maybe, that the next camera viewed would be the elusive 1032853 meant I ended up searching for just over 2 years.
Of the 1887 web pages I visited, I managed to obtain 1235 complete or partial (number sequencing did not match 1032853) serial numbers either from the web page or by contacting the OM20 seller either directly or indirectly. At no time did I tell the seller what serial number I was looking for or mention the Shelley Morgan case, just that I was looking for an early production OM20 and could the seller tell me the number of their OM20.
The issue about the serial number base plate and potential to replace/interchange them was borne out when an OM20 base plate was for sale separately by one seller, and a few weeks later it appeared on an OM20 camera being sold by another seller. The seller of the camera told me he had to replace the original base plate because it had been dented.
Only one seller said to me about the Shelley Morgan case because they had read about it, and at no point did anyone say that I was not the first person to enquire about the serial number of their OM20 - which is why after two years I decided to stop searching online. I came to the conclusion, rightly or wrongly, that if someone else (police) are not undertaking a similar search then perhaps they have their focus on the camera being somewhere more specific.
Whilst the OM20 chrome was sold to the UK and European camera markets, now they can be found anywhere in the world. As an example one originally sold back in the 1980s fairly locally to Bristol in Swindon was for sale in Canada.
A couple of downsides to the search:
- An Italian OM20 seller who thought I was a Nigerian scammer thanks to poor transation by Google Translate tool.
- A gentleman's disturbed and complicated life. Of East European parentage, him and his siblings were sent away for several years to a residential childrens home in the north of England. He had a passion for painting at school.
By the age of 15 he had become a father and went onto have according to my research a total of 5 children by 4 different women - so he had an unstable childhood and understable adulthood. At some point in his childhood he changed his surname. He had an ego and liked chatting up the ladies, but also had a short temper even towards women. He died from ill health, but had mental health issues too. He was into amateur photography.
A daughter was selling his OM20 following his death the previous year, and if she had provided the serial number sooner I would not have even thought about looking into his background, but the delay in providing the serial number got me suspicious because it was Bristol, so it made me research him online through some Government records plus it was still possible to access his Facebook account as it was still live and public. I was unable to prove his actual place of birth, but had given it as Bristol on a profile.
Obviously the serial number was not the one, but his original birth surname is one that has a family reputation in Bristol for crime - he himself had appeared in court on at least one occassion, albeit for a motoring offence.
Unfortunately he seemed to live largely under the radar, with little information officially recorded under the UK's Birth, Marriages and Deaths records, but he posted about his life on FB.
If anyone has read books about psychology of murderers you will probably understand why this gentleman is interesting.
The search did turn up some stories, albeit irrelevant:
- One British gentleman had his then new OM20 stolen in Malaysia. At the time an OM20 chrome in Asia would have been extremely rare.
- Another gentleman had received a bag of cameras including an OM20 from an east of England police force. The gentleman, who was a child at the time, was with his father whan an officer took the soaking wet bag of water soiled cameras out the boot of the police car and gave it too them. Neither gentleman can remember the exact reason for the officer handing them the cameras, but the OM20 was the only one to survive and they restored it.
www.dailymail.co.uk
shelleymorganmurder.com
www.bristolpost.co.uk
www.theguardian.com
