UK UK - Staffordshire, White Male, 23-39, torticollis (wry neck), buried on his knees, Mar'71

[MelmothTheLost]

I do find it very intriguing. My first thought was and I still do not rule it out that this is actually female. We have seen on this boards that such mistakes do happen quite frequently when remains are skeletonized, even in present days. I know that extensive work has been done on the case by authorities but personally I am not rulling it out yet. Also small hands and tiny frame are supporting my thought.

The obvious argument against that is that there is DNA on file for this body. That should mean that the sex is beyond reasonable doubt.

India - Immigration details I have located previously of the area of Burton has me quite intrigued too. Pakistani from Kasmir area, Indian's wearing wedding ring on right hand and remains being found on Cricket grounds ... note to myself to look into it further.

It would also be worth looking into what immigration from central and eastern Europe had taken place in Staffs. Communities of immigrants appear in some very unexpected places, eg Bradford has had a very strong Polish community since some point in the 20th century, reinforced by Polish refugees and veterans who did not return home after WWII.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Some extra details from book Fred the Head by Michael Posner

• The ring on the right ring finger was "a lady's nine carat gold wedding ring". It was one of a batch of 5000 made in Birmingham, and the socks were sold from a stall at Burton Market.

Some interesting points here.

Firstly, do we think there is any significance to the ring being 9ct gold rather than 22ct or 18ct? Might this tell us anything about the UID's economic situation?

Secondly, were all of the rings produced for one large retailer or distributed to any number of private family jewellers?

Thirdly, Nottingham used to be the centre in the UK for the manufacture of socks and hosiery, though I think the industry has died in the intervening decades. It was a good bit of detective work that tracked the sale of the socks to a particular stall on a particular market. It sounds as though our UID was visually fairly distinctive and memorable but it sounds as though the stall holder did not remember him, so maybe they were bought for rather than by him.

• His ankles were tied together over the socks, and the ligature had long, free ends; the wrists were tied behind his back, but 11 inches apart. The pathologist thought there may have been an erotic component to the bindings

An erotic component sounds interesting. Does the book go into any more detail about this?

• He had a lot of dental work but it was of very poor quality. A lot of advertising in dentists' publications was done with no results (although apparently the dental work was bad enough that no dentist would want to admit to it being their work). They don't think the dental work was done in England or Wales.

Is there anything to indicate the police actively and seriously looked beyond the UK for the source of the dental work? If you think of the Isdal Woman case of pretty much the same period, the Norwegian authorities solicited information on her dental work right across Europe without success. Maybe UK LE would have had no more luck but did they try?

What did you think of the book? Is it worth buying?

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Just a thought - I wonder if the police questioned marriage registrars in Burton RD and the surrounding districts for our man. Again, he should have been fairly memorable and the window of time is fairly short. If he was married locally, he might have been remembered.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I had a poke around in the BMDs for Burton for the relevant period and this marriage jumped out at me:

Marriages Sep 1968
AJKOWSKA LEOKADIA DEMBSKI BURTON 9B 213

DEMBSKI WLADYSLAW AJKOWSKA BURTON 9B 213

What is interesting is that there is no birth record for Wladyslaw Dembski in England and Wales, nor for Leokadia Adkowska. So they were both almost certainly born abroad. If he at least was a recent arrival in the UK it might well account for his dodgy dental work.

 

[Al Ka]

I had a poke around in the BMDs for Burton for the relevant period and this marriage jumped out at me:

Marriages Sep 1968
AJKOWSKA LEOKADIA DEMBSKI BURTON 9B 213

DEMBSKI WLADYSLAW AJKOWSKA BURTON 9B 213

What is interesting is that there is no birth record for Wladyslaw Dembski in England and Wales, nor for Leokadia Adkowska. So they were both almost certainly born abroad. If he at least was a recent arrival in the UK it might well account for his dodgy dental work.

As per Electoral roll of 2005 both were fine and still in that same city.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

As per Electoral roll of 2005 both were fine and still in that same city.

Scratch them off the list then

I do think we're looking for a local marriage though. The purchase of a wedding ring made in the UK and the socks being sold very locally makes that a reasonable assumption I think.

 

[Al Ka]

Scratch them off the list then

I do think we're looking for a local marriage though. The purchase of a wedding ring made in the UK and the socks being sold very locally makes that a reasonable assumption I think.

I definitely ditto that.

With regards snippets from the book Fred the Head posted previously - I have not read the book (yet). Snippets are just from online collection.

Here is also different book where the case is mentioned (page 116 to 121) - Unsolved Murders in and Around Derbyshire

Importantly it states that cause of death was not determined due to decomposition. But John Doe did NOT have trauma to the skull, suggesting he was not battered or shot.
It describes torticollis illness as well. It does mention that illness might be also only temporary, coming and going.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Importantly it states that cause of death was not determined due to decomposition. But John Doe did NOT have trauma to the skull, suggesting he was not battered or shot.

The lack of obvious trauma + bindings + the previous suggestion that some sort of erotic activity was involved raises the possibility that this could have been an accidental suffocation during sexual activity. BDSM gone awry.

It describes torticollis illness as well. It does mention that illness might be also only temporary, coming and going.

Yes, that's interesting. I'd assumed it was a permanent feature, a bit like club foot which stays for life unless it is treated in very young childhood to straighten the bent part. However it seems that when it is a temporary condition it is very temporary - a few days or so before it resolves itself.

Wry Neck (Torticollis): Causes, Types, and Symptoms

It would be hugely coincidental if our man got himself killed precisely during these few days, so I'm more inclined to see it as a longstanding case, maybe even congenital. The above link says:

You can improve congenital forms of wry neck by stretching the neck muscles. If started within a few months of birth, it can be very successful. If this or other treatments don’t work, surgery can sometimes correct the problem.

So it sounds as though treatment would be very similar to that for many cases of club foot. On the other hand, our man was probably born somewhere between 1940 and 1957, so maybe these treatments were not available at that time or wherever he was born and grew up.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Just a thought - it's possible that this man's twisted neck affected his breathing, so maybe it could have contributed to a hypothetical death by suffocation. Combined with the bindings that does sound like a real possibility.

 

[LucyOso]

This is very interesting. He could also be kneeling to repent for some sin if he was catholic....

 

[Bit of hope]

Some extra details from book Fred the Head by Michael Posner

• One reason the reconstruction looks so odd is that they deliberately tilted his head to one side to represent the torticollis he suffered from - ie, that may be how he appeared in life. He also had a prominent underbite and his jaw would have stuck out.
• He was wearing nothing but pink socks and was buried in a sitting or squatting position
• His hair was reddish brown and he had well-kept nails. They managed to get some fingerprints.
• The ring on the right ring finger was "a lady's nine carat gold wedding ring". It was one of a batch of 5000 made in Birmingham, and the socks were sold from a stall at Burton Market.
• His ankles were tied together over the socks, and the ligature had long, free ends; the wrists were tied behind his back, but 11 inches apart. The pathologist thought there may have been an erotic component to the bindings
• He had a lot of dental work but it was of very poor quality. A lot of advertising in dentists' publications was done with no results (although apparently the dental work was bad enough that no dentist would want to admit to it being their work). They don't think the dental work was done in England or Wales.

About the color of his hair reddish brown. The other day I saw a recon of him with reddish hair, making him look very English or Irish or European at least....found it.....

 

[Bit of hope]

On the UK missing personssite they state:
Ethnicity; white European
UK Missing Persons Unit

and a partial upper denture

 

[DakotaMayi]

Could the ring be his mothers? Or someone he loved and lost and he just wears it to remember them by?

Also, just a side note, I am from Bulgaria but I wear my wedding ring on my left hand. Although, that might be more to do with my time spent in England and America.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Could the ring be his mothers? Or someone he loved and lost and he just wears it to remember them by?

It's highly unlikely the ring was his mother's. Gold and silver jewellery in the UK is hallmarked with stamped marks which provide precise information about the maker, the purity of the metal, where it was assayed (tested for metal purity) and (usually but not always) the year in which it was assayed.

UK Hallmarks

Since the ring was dated to a precise 12 month period (19 May 1967 and 18 May 1968) it must have had the date letter within the hallmark, and given the very tight window time-wise it's difficult to imagine it related to anything other than his own marriage.

 

[silverjug]

The lack of obvious trauma + bindings + the previous suggestion that some sort of erotic activity was involved raises the possibility that this could have been an accidental suffocation during sexual activity. BDSM gone awry.



Yes, that's interesting. I'd assumed it was a permanent feature, a bit like club foot which stays for life unless it is treated in very young childhood to straighten the bent part. However it seems that when it is a temporary condition it is very temporary - a few days or so before it resolves itself.

Wry Neck (Torticollis): Causes, Types, and Symptoms

It would be hugely coincidental if our man got himself killed precisely during these few days, so I'm more inclined to see it as a longstanding case, maybe even congenital. The above link says:



So it sounds as though treatment would be very similar to that for many cases of club foot. On the other hand, our man was probably born somewhere between 1940 and 1957, so maybe these treatments were not available at that time or wherever he was born and grew up.

I was born in the early 1950's in the UK with a wry neck. The symptoms started to ease after 6 months,and I did have intensive massage therapy. My neck is somewhat "bothersome" now and again,but the wry neck is not at all evident.

 

[DakotaMayi]

It's highly unlikely the ring was his mother's. Gold and silver jewellery in the UK is hallmarked with stamped marks which provide precise information about the maker, the purity of the metal, where it was assayed (tested for metal purity) and (usually but not always) the year in which it was assayed.

UK Hallmarks

Since the ring was dated to a precise 12 month period (19 May 1967 and 18 May 1968) it must have had the date letter within the hallmark, and given the very tight window time-wise it's difficult to imagine it related to anything other than his own marriage.

Gosh, yes, thanks Melmoth, I didn't even think about that being an option although I should have, my engagement ring has all these different information cards (certificate of origin cards) with it and identifying numbers... so many that you can even do diamond tracking to find out which mine it was founded in Canada. So, yeah, I should have thought.

 

[iulia]

Why Fred the Head remains a crime unsolved after 50 years

 

[Ginger21]

Totally out of the blue, but this mp from the US happened to have his photo listed next to" Fred's" and could not help but notice some similarity.Fwiw..
OH - OH - Ronald Tammen, 19, Oxford, 19 April 1953
View attachment 149693

He looks similar but the nose looks different imo

 

[dotr]

Fwiw.. will only post the known facts about "Fred", the rest is food for thought..
Feb 2019
Psychic says he's spoken to 'Fred the Head' murder victim
"UK Missing Persons Bureau details on Fred the Head
Male, aged 24 to 36, white European, 172cm tall, thin build, found on March 26, 1971.

Circumstances

Male body was found in a shallow grave in a field off Newton Road, Burton. It is believed he had been there for nine to 12 months. He has a partial upper denture and had extensive dental work done less than six months before his death. His hands were small with short, well-kept nails.

Hair

Brown, straight, short

Eye colour

Unknown

Distinguishing features

Peculiarity - Deformed neck. Had a neck condition (torticollis) which would cause his head to lean to the right.

Clothing

Socks - mustard-coloured heel and toe with the remainder a pinkish beige colour.

Jewellery

One ladies 9ct gold wedding ring on right finger manufactured in 1967/1968 by Henry Showell Ltd"

 

[Bit of hope]

Fwiw.. will only post the known facts about "Fred", the rest is food for thought..
Feb 2019
Psychic says he's spoken to 'Fred the Head' murder victim
"UK Missing Persons Bureau details on Fred the Head
Male, aged 24 to 36, white European, 172cm tall, thin build, found on March 26, 1971.

Circumstances

Male body was found in a shallow grave in a field off Newton Road, Burton. It is believed he had been there for nine to 12 months. He has a partial upper denture and had extensive dental work done less than six months before his death. His hands were small with short, well-kept nails.

Hair

Brown, straight, short

Eye colour

Unknown

Distinguishing features

Peculiarity - Deformed neck. Had a neck condition (torticollis) which would cause his head to lean to the right.

Clothing

Socks - mustard-coloured heel and toe with the remainder a pinkish beige colour.

Jewellery

One ladies 9ct gold wedding ring on right finger manufactured in 1967/1968 by Henry Showell Ltd"

I wonder why our ghost didn't tell his surname and a link to the ring. Would have been convenient.