UK Alan Leppard April 1991 and Brenda Long December 1991, Kent UK

[tes1984]

Going purely by that particular podcast they did visit the pub but kept themselves to themselves. It also said they had never introduced themselves to their neighbours. On top of that they say the landlord originally claimed not to know who they were.

The landlord gave an interview where he said Alan would visit the pub with Brenda, but never go there on his own.

The interview upset Brenda, because the landlord suggested that Alan was a bit of a moody character.

 

[tes1984]

Is it strange that Brenda doesn't leave the area after Alan's murder? She even continues living in the cottage for a while. Isn't she worried that the killers might come back?

 

[Inspector Evans]

Is it strange that Brenda doesn't leave the area after Alan's murder? She even continues living in the cottage for a while. Isn't she worried that the killers might come back?

Probably thought by executing Alan they'd done all they needed to to please whoever.

How far did she move away as if her new location was known that suggests some sort of local involvement/knowledge surely?

 

[tes1984]

Probably thought by executing Alan they'd done all they needed to to please whoever.

I really can't work out what she was thinking.

How far did she move away as if her new location was known that suggests some sort of local involvement/knowledge surely?

She moved around 15 miles away.

 

[Mrs Marple]

Is it strange that Brenda doesn't leave the area after Alan's murder? She even continues living in the cottage for a while. Isn't she worried that the killers might come back?

It's an interesting observation. She didn't fear whoever it was. Maybe she thought it was random, but how can it have been?

 

[tes1984]

I guess people sometimes act irrationally after the death of a loved one. It was a really horrific murder so perhaps she was in shock, denial or depression for quite some time.

 

[Mrs Marple]

One of the podcasts said they both worked in Whitstable so she wasn't hiding.

 

[tes1984]

One of the podcasts said they both worked in Whitstable so she wasn't hiding.

Yeah, I don't think they were in hiding. Maybe just trying to keep something of a low profile.

 

[davidt]

Just wondered what the general feeling here is on whether the murders are linked or not? I think you can make a case either way tbh.

My initial feeling was that they must be linked. Possibly because they were involved in something we know nothing about or more likely Brenda was seen as a witness or had information that could have convicted Alan's killers. Also it would seem to be a hell of a coincidence for them both to be murdered for separate reasons.

Alternatively Alan could have been killed for reasons unknown.

Brenda eventually moved away. It appears a previous partner reappeared on the scene. It's not clear to me whether that was on a romantic basis or just as friends. He apparently tried to take his own life but was saved by an anonymous 999 call. Can't seem to find out much about the 999 call or if any reason for the suicide attempt was ever established. Could it be Brenda was killed because she might have not wanted to rekindle a romantic relationship? I'm also intrigued about the forged suicide note. It had words to the effect "as a Christian will I go the heaven if I take my own life?". According to one podcast this is something she had mentioned to others. That does seem to infer whoever killed her either knew her or about her concerns and would narrow down likely suspects. All to no avail though. I appreciate there were other aspects to Brenda's last few weeks that raise concerns as well. She felt she was being followed, was said to be depressed and drinking heavily and hysterical at times.

One podcast quotes the police as saying she'd been on holiday and had met a "friendly waiter" so couldn't have been that depressed. If that quote is correct I find it incredibly crass and totally ignorant of depression as a whole.

 

[Mrs Marple]

What are the chances of them both being killed and it not be linked? I'm not sold.

It would have been easy for them to find her if they wanted.

I wonder if it was something to do with their place of work.

 

[DFR3217]

Was just looking through a youtube video of the Crimewatch 1991 June episode with this is. Two interesting things, when the police officer was asked about motives he was sort of cagey, he said they were innocent victims but also didn't completely rule out the possibility of a motive. In the comments someone said that they knew someone who worked where Brenda had worked and after she returned to work she was convinced she was being followed, but that could have just been fear after such a traumatic event. That fear might explain why she moved to Whitstable and hooked up with Hibbert again. The murder of AL was very ostentatious, and deliberately so I'd guess. There must have been something in his background, but it's also possible the police didn't want to flag it up, maybe in case they scared off witnesses!!!! BL's death is awful, but I'm sure the two are linked.

 

[DFR3217]

These murders are bugging me. The 30 year cold case review insists they had no criminal connections. They met at work, at P&B Metal Components, which still seems to exist. She worked in accounts and he was a quantity surveyor. Could the company have had valuable metals onsite that a criminal gang might want to steal? might they have been seen to be getting in the way of organised crime, and their high profile removal sent a message? I might be getting into the realms of pure fantasy now. I can't find much about P&B Metal Components apart from that they are based in Sheffield, these days anyway.

 

[DFR3217]

These murders are bugging me. The 30 year cold case review insists they had no criminal connections. They met at work, at P&B Metal Components, which still seems to exist. She worked in accounts and he was a quantity surveyor. Could the company have had valuable metals onsite that a criminal gang might want to steal? might they have been seen to be getting in the way of organised crime, and their high profile removal sent a message? I might be getting into the realms of pure fantasy now. I can't find much about P&B Metal Components apart from that they are based in Sheffield, these days anyway.

I don't know the cost of hiring a hitman, but given that it seems likely the visit to the pub, and the two men hanging around the house in the cadillac for a number of hours, were all part of this, that must have cost a fair bit, so a bit expensive for an ex-lover, it just therefore, in my opinion, seems logical to assume the cost incurred makes it the actions of organised criminals, but why?

 

[davidt]

I don't know the cost of hiring a hitman, but given that it seems likely the visit to the pub, and the two men hanging around the house in the Cadillac for a number of hours, were all part of this, that must have cost a fair bit, so a bit expensive for an ex-lover, it just therefore, in my opinion, seems logical to assume the cost incurred makes it the actions of organised criminals, but why?

Its definitely a hard case to get your head around. The killings were carried out in such different manners it does leave open the possibility they aren't linked whilst your head tells you they must be.

Alan was killed in such a manner it feels like it must be a contract or gangland killing yet the police have found no evidence at all of any criminality on Alan's or Brenda's part. Alan's murder could be seen as sending a message to a wider group than just Alan and Brenda. There must have been a reason it was carried out so brazenly.

Brenda's murder was completely different with a significant attempt to make it look like suicide. The wording on the forged suicide note referred to specific concerns Brenda had rather than a generic "I can't go on" type of message. That suggests someone with knowledge of Brenda.

One podcast says an early theory was that Alan was killed because of gambling debts. The police ruled that out but frustratingly the podcast doesn't clarify whether or not Alan was a gambler.

Similarly the same podcast mentioned that Alan and Brenda used multiple names. Alan in particular using several different ones. The same podcast also quotes Brenda as saying they only ever used their real names. Again frustratingly, there's no attempt to tie these discrepancies together, it's just left hanging. Where did the information come from and where and when was Alan supposed to have used different names?

 

[DFR3217]

Its definitely a hard case to get your head around. The killings were carried out in such different manners it does leave open the possibility they aren't linked whilst your head tells you they must be.

Alan was killed in such a manner it feels like it must be a contract or gangland killing yet the police have found no evidence at all of any criminality on Alan's or Brenda's part. Alan's murder could be seen as sending a message to a wider group than just Alan and Brenda. There must have been a reason it was carried out so brazenly.

Brenda's murder was completely different with a significant attempt to make it look like suicide. The wording on the forged suicide note referred to specific concerns Brenda had rather than a generic "I can't go on" type of message. That suggests someone with knowledge of Brenda.

One podcast says an early theory was that Alan was killed because of gambling debts. The police ruled that out but frustratingly the podcast doesn't clarify whether or not Alan was a gambler.

Similarly the same podcast mentioned that Alan and Brenda used multiple names. Alan in particular using several different ones. The same podcast also quotes Brenda as saying they only ever used their real names. Again frustratingly, there's no attempt to tie these discrepancies together, it's just left hanging. Where did the information come from and where and when was Alan supposed to have used different names?

It is strange. It's quite hard to separate the gossip from the actual facts, but that's often the case. I suspect we will never know who killed them, but there does feel something very unjust about that.

 

[DFR3217]

Complete speculation, and almost certainly totally wrong. But what about a connection to the brinks-mat robbery. A lot of the gold bullion just disappeared, and P&B Metal Components manufacture components made from precious metals, it says on their website, so what if someone was trying to sell the company some illegally acquired gold bullion, as there were problems with finding ways to make money from the bullion, and somehow Brenda or Alan got involved, and then it got too risky for the criminals, and they decided to kill them. This is not remotely my area of expertise, as I know very little about organised crime. It's just a theory to exercise minds.

 

[tes1984]

Complete speculation, and almost certainly totally wrong. But what about a connection to the brinks-mat robbery. A lot of the gold bullion just disappeared, and P&B Metal Components manufacture components made from precious metals, it says on their website, so what if someone was trying to sell the company some illegally acquired gold bullion, as there were problems with finding ways to make money from the bullion, and somehow Brenda or Alan got involved, and then it got too risky for the criminals, and they decided to kill them. This is not remotely my area of expertise, as I know very little about organised crime. It's just a theory to exercise minds.

I'd be surprised if this was anything to do with the robbery, which was a good few years earlier. You never know though, and I hope the police went through the accounts at P&B with a fine tooth comb.

 

[davidt]

This is from The Times in 1992.

Mr Leppard had left his fourth wife Wendy, aged 43, to move in with Ms Long in December 1990. She changed her name to Leppard by deed poll. At the time of the shooting, there were allegations that he led a double life using such names as Adam, Andy and Brian. After his death Ms Long said: “There is a lot about Alan I did not know in his private life, but there was nothing which I felt he ought to be ashamed about or nothing that would have caused me to decide not to come and live with him." ---

I wonder where this information came from? I've seen it nentioned in different areas that Alan used multiple names but it's always unsourced. Who made these allegations and what sort of double life was Alan supposed to be leading? We know he'd been married and divorced four times and had numerous affairs so it's plausible he had something else going on.

 

[DFR3217]

Listened to the They Walk Among Us podcast yesterday. A couple of interesting things. AL had not yet divorced his last wife, who he'd had a relationship with for 7 years, but only married recently. Wendy, his wife, said how she still loved him, which could be true, or ummm.......not true. Just before she died Brenda had taken home some cheques I think because of a bank holiday, and because she hadn't paid them into the bank friends at work wondered where she was. That doesn't seem like great security. I think she was still working for P&B Components, as she said she kept hoping to find him in his office. He had worked there for 15 years as a Quality Control Manager, she in Accounts. That they might have been targeted by criminals looking to rob their employers is probably a red herring, but there was a bit of it about back then.

 

[tes1984]

Just before she died Brenda had taken home some cheques I think because of a bank holiday, and because she hadn't paid them into the bank friends at work wondered where she was. That doesn't seem like great security.

I think the banks were closed on Christmas day and Boxing day.
Boxing day was Thursday 26 December, which was the last day Brenda was seen alive. She was found murdered on Saturday 28 December.

The banks were open on Friday 27 December and on the morning of Saturday 28 December, so perhaps someone noticed the cheques hadn't been paid in.

I'm not sure if Brenda was due in at work on the Friday, but I doubt it, otherwise her out of character absence would have been noticed well before anyone was thinking about cheques.