On Monday, 12 October 1941, children playing in a bombed out house at 225 Hampstead Road in London discovered the partially clothed body of a young woman. She was identified as Maple Church, age 19
Maple had been strangled the night before. Her missing shoes were later found in the basement of the house.
Maple had last been seen about 10 pm the night before at Charing Cross Station, after walking a girlfriend to the train. Investigators believed that her killer may have picked her up while she was waiting for a bus home.
Although the murder of Maple Church remains officially unsolved, some feel that she may be an early victim of serial killer and WW II British soldier Gordon Frederick Cummins who murdered and mutilated four other women in London in 1942.
Sources:
Coroner by Robert Jackson
The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, by Brian Lane and Wilfred Gregg
Who's Who of Unsolved Murders by James Morton
Maple had been strangled the night before. Her missing shoes were later found in the basement of the house.
Maple had last been seen about 10 pm the night before at Charing Cross Station, after walking a girlfriend to the train. Investigators believed that her killer may have picked her up while she was waiting for a bus home.
Although the murder of Maple Church remains officially unsolved, some feel that she may be an early victim of serial killer and WW II British soldier Gordon Frederick Cummins who murdered and mutilated four other women in London in 1942.
Sources:
Coroner by Robert Jackson
The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, by Brian Lane and Wilfred Gregg
Who's Who of Unsolved Murders by James Morton
