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

[Mrs Marple]

This intriguing case has baffled police for years.
Alan Leopard was gunned down at his home in Monkton, Kent on Easter Monday 1991.

Eight months later his girlfriend at the time was found dead in her bath at her Whitstable home. Subsequently identified as having been knocked out prior to drowning. No one has ever been arrested in connection with their murders.

The mysterious murders of a Thanet couple who were killed 8 months apart

 

[Mrs Marple]

Double murders mystery reviewed


'Mr Stevens said: "Twenty years on we are still no closer to establishing a motive for either murder. "We can't say definitively that the two deaths were linked but there is every chance there is a connection between the two."

"There was speculation at the time that this could have been a contract-style killing but there is nothing to suggest that either Alan or Brenda had any involvement with criminality.

"Unsolved murder cases are never closed," he said. '

 

[Mrs Marple]

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The Crime Watch reconstruction of Alan's murder begins at 1hour 11 minutes. Brenda features in this.

I find it really hard to believe that Alan's murder isn't solvable when they were driving around in a large American style car. Hardly discrete is it

 

[jaejae]

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The Crime Watch reconstruction of Alan's murder begins at 1hour 11 minutes. Brenda features in this.

I find it really hard to believe that Alan's murder isn't solvable when they were driving around in a large American style car. Hardly discrete is it

When I watched the Crimewatch reconstruction my perception of Brenda was a nice concerned lady. To me perhaps stating the obvious the interesting and perhaps vital thing is whether her murder was connected to her husbands and any possible information she might have known about it. The car driving about did seem rather obvious almost staged when you think about it but I am surprised police could not seem to make any links with the car. The other thing is whether there was anything in Mr Leppard's business life that make him a target or was it is personal life. Also funny the killers came to the door twice most bizarre. What this case might show is the importance of LE or the Police catching all killers because if you do it once and get away with it there is always the temptation to try it again and you see this in many crime stories.

 

[Mrs Marple]

Gunned down and drowned - the unsolved double murder which shocked Kent

'But police said this week "no case is ever closed" and they take heart from the fact a killer was eventually convicted 20 years after the murder of Debbie Griggs.'



The force is therefore continuing to appeal for any further evidence.

 

[davidt]

When I watched the Crimewatch reconstruction my perception of Brenda was a nice concerned lady. To me perhaps stating the obvious the interesting and perhaps vital thing is whether her murder was connected to her husbands and any possible information she might have known about it. The car driving about did seem rather obvious almost staged when you think about it but I am surprised police could not seem to make any links with the car. The other thing is whether there was anything in Mr Leppard's business life that make him a target or was it is personal life. Also funny the killers came to the door twice most bizarre. What this case might show is the importance of LE or the Police catching all killers because if you do it once and get away with it there is always the temptation to try it again and you see this in many crime stories.

Agree about the car. Choosing a conspicuous car and then driving around slowly for ages does come across as almost wanting to draw attention to themselves. I’ve seen some reports suggesting Alan had an argument with the killers before he was shot. Not sure how reliable that is?

Very hard for the police when the automatic suspicion must be Brenda’s murder is connected yet can’t find anything to show that it was. That has the potential to completely throw an investigation off track.

 

[davidt]

Listened to a recent podcast on this. https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/.../episodes/a-brutal-doorstep-slaying-220097009

I don't think it adds much more to this bizarre case. Alan had been married four times before and Brenda once before. Apparently one of his ex wives described him as a serial cheat. So there plenty of people who may have harboured a grudge against him. Seems no doubt it was a premeditated killing. Killers seemed to have been quite brazen. Driving up and down the area in a large white American car. Calling af Alan's place twice.

According to the podcast one theory is that Brenda organised it but I can see no evidence whatsoever to support it. Other suspects were Brenda's ex boyfriend who may have been back on the scene. Car was never traced. No evidence of any criminality on the part of Alan or Brenda. It does look like some sort of contract killing but the use of the particular car is baffling. Surely the last thing you'd want to do is draw attention to yourself? Then Brenda's killing where a big effort was made to make it look like suicide. Her boyfriend had visited her earlier and then again later when he found her.

I don't know where you start with this case. You'd assume the two killings were connected but who knows?

 

[wtiger]

surely if Brenda had set up the killing of Alan - the perpetrators would not have needed to be "looking" for Alan?

i think it's very likely that Alan got himself caught up in something and that Brenda was possibly the only other person who knew the whole story and sadly paid the ultimate price for her knowledge

 

[wtiger]

as a side note - the unsolved murder of Tracy mehrtens from Birmingham also featured a very distinctive car yet strangely nobody seems to know anything!

certainly in that case it's NOT that people don't know ..rather that they are too scared to tell

 

[davidt]

surely if Brenda had set up the killing of Alan - the perpetrators would not have needed to be "looking" for Alan?

i think it's very likely that Alan got himself caught up in something and that Brenda was possibly the only other person who knew the whole story and sadly paid the ultimate price for her knowledge

There's an interesting and sobering thought in the podcast. That is by appearing on Crimewatch did Brenda sign her own death warrant? Was her appearance a surprise to Alan's killers who either didn't know there was a witness or that she knew more than they thought and had to be eliminated? Brenda moved after the killing but was still tracked down and killed assuming her murder was connected.

 

[davidt]

as a side note - the unsolved murder of Tracy mehrtens from Birmingham also featured a very distinctive car yet strangely nobody seems to know anything!

certainly in that case it's NOT that people don't know ..rather that they are too scared to tell

In Alan's case police suspect the car was scrapped. However you'd still think the relative scarcity of such a vehicle would mean someone would have an idea of its origins.

 

[davidt]

I know this isn't a case that has had much discussion on here but I did find a recent longer podcast on this Post — They Walk Among Us if anyone is interested.

Three things in it stood out for me assuming the details in the podcast are correct.

Alan and Brenda used multiple names. Brenda was sometimes known as Diane and Alan as Andy or Brian Adam. A bit later Brenda is quoted as saying they had nothing to hide and that they always used their real names and never used aliases. That's all very confusing and contradictory. There's no further detail given where the information came from or where they supposedly used these other names. I've seen elsewhere comments that Brenda was sometimes known as Diane and some newspapers originally thought that was her name.

Secondly when describing the events of Alan's murder a comment is made that it wasn't unusual for the couple to receive unannounced late night visits. Nothing else is said on this. Sounds like something that could be very important but it's just left as a standalone comment.

Thirdly in respect of Brenda's murder. They say that on the forged suicide note it was written "will I go to heaven if I take my own life". They then describe how Brenda was in the days in the run up to her death. Its said at times she was drinking heavily, drpressed, sometimes hysterical and that she had been pondering if as a Christian she would still go to heaven if she took her own life. So whoever killed her must have known about her concerns over suicide which points to it being someone who knew her. Unless by any chance the note itself was genuine? What more is known about the note and has it definitely been confirmed as forged? Could it be genuine but she had written it previously and someone knew she had done so?

All this assumes the information in the podcast is accurate but if it is then it does raise a few questions and conundrums.

 

[wtiger]

i've always thought that the victims personal and business dealings would hold the key to this - and i'm not entirely sure that they were investigated deeply enough at the time.

these killings are cold and calculated - someone wronged somewhere along the line....not a spur of the moment loss of temper.

 

[davidt]

i've always thought that the victims personal and business dealings would hold the key to this - and i'm not entirely sure that they were investigated deeply enough at the time.

these killings are cold and calculated - someone wronged somewhere along the line....not a spur of the moment loss of temper.

Yep if it's true they did use multiple names and did have late night visitors its definitely an area of interest. May be completely innocent but looks odd at the very least. One early theory was that Alan was killed because of gambling debts. However I can't see any evidence he was a gambler let alone had any debts.

I still wonder if the cad is a distraction. Apparently it was driving slowly up and down the area for a couple of hours and was even parked up at one stage.

 

[wtiger]

is it absolutely certain that the strange car was involved here?.....i know that it has been assumed but is it 100%?

it's almost the style of a yardie assassination - deliberately flagging up to your enemies that your gang did this - using something really distinctive, almost a calling card if you like

 

[davidt]

is it absolutely certain that the strange car was involved here?.....i know that it has been assumed but is it 100%?

it's almost the style of a yardie assassination - deliberately flagging up to your enemies that your gang did this - using something really distinctive, almost a calling card if you like

I think Brenda is quoted as saying the car drew up outside their house. She saw it when looking out the bedroom window. Also the car was seen driving off at speed shortly after the killing. So it does look like it was involved. It really does look like someone was sending a message and had no worries about being seen or caught. I know one theory is that such a distinctive cad was used as people would concentrate on that instead of the people in it.

Think some have also wondered if there could be any connection with Brenda's ex-boyfriend who was a used car dealer. He also apparently attempted suicide shortly after Brenda's death. Not seen any real follow up to see if any reasons for that suicide attempt emerged.

 

[wtiger]

I think Brenda is quoted as saying the car drew up outside their house. She saw it when looking out the bedroom window. Also the car was seen driving off at speed shortly after the killing. So it does look like it was involved. It really does look like someone was sending a message and had no worries about being seen or caught. I know one theory is that such a distinctive cad was used as people would concentrate on that instead of the people in it.

Think some have also wondered if there could be any connection with Brenda's ex-boyfriend who was a used car dealer. He also apparently attempted suicide shortly after Brenda's death. Not seen any real follow up to see if any reasons for that suicide attempt emerged.

from what i recall - Brenda's ex -boyfriend was pretty much the last person to see her alive.(guy called Hibbert i think)

Brenda's work colleagues said that she was not suicidal but had been convinced that 2 men had been following her in the weeks prior to her death

 

[davidt]

from what i recall - Brenda's ex -boyfriend was pretty much the last person to see her alive.(guy called Hibbert i think)

Brenda's work colleagues said that she was not suicidal but had been convinced that 2 men had been following her in the weeks prior to her death

Yep that's the man. Seems to be some debate whether Brenda left him for Alan or if that relationship was already over. After Alan was killed he was back on the scene. Again it seems debatable whether they were back together romantically or were just friends.

 

[tes1984]

There's an interesting and sobering thought in the podcast. That is by appearing on Crimewatch did Brenda sign her own death warrant? Was her appearance a surprise to Alan's killers who either didn't know there was a witness or that she knew more than they thought and had to be eliminated? Brenda moved after the killing but was still tracked down and killed assuming her murder was connected.

It's really strange that the killers speak with Alan, then leave, but then return and shoot him. Why isn't he just shot as soon as he answers the door?

 

[davidt]

It's really strange that the killers speak with Alan, then leave, but then return and shoot him. Why isn't he just shot as soon as he answers the door?

Apologies if I have this wrong but I thought Brenda went to the door first time and by the time she got there they had gone. 40 minutes later they returned and that time Akan answered. One thing I found odd that as described is that it seems Alan went out the back door and around the side of the house. Why didn't he just open the front door? Was Alan being cautious or suspicious of something and trying to sneak a look to see who it was? Did he have something to be worried about ?