UK UK- Janet Brown, 51, research nurse, found nude, gagged, handcuffed & bludgeoned to death, @ home, Buckinghamshire,10 April '95, *DNA, new initiative*

[tes1984]

Very good summary. You might want to add that the builder called at 9pm, but there was no answer.
Janet was wearing a heavy necklace, earrings, rings and a watch.
She wasn't gagged as such, but her whole head was wrapped in tape, and she would have suffocated to death (if she hadn't been bludgeoned).
Her ankles had also been taped, but the tape was removed at some point.

 

[tes1984]

When she went out at 6.30 was anybody able to establish where.. or where she likely might have gone?

I don't think this potential sighting was confirmed as 'definite'.

 

[Diddian]

Very good summary. You might want to add that the builder called at 9pm, but there was no answer.
Janet was wearing a heavy necklace, earrings, rings and a watch.
She wasn't gagged as such, but her whole head was wrapped in tape, and she would have suffocated to death (if she hadn't been bludgeoned).
Her ankles had also been taped, but the tape was removed at some point.

Thank you. I'll add these (and adjust to state she "may" have gone out at 6:30 pm as your next post indicates it was not confirmed as "definite") and repost the summary.

The wrapping of the victim's whole head in tape seems important (may indicate attempt to control blood transfer to the attacker given the perpetrator bludgeoned her around the head OR an attempt to hide her face from her attacker OR may have been done to avoid looking at her face while attacking and the last two of those may indicate she had some kind of familiarity with her attacker). That her ankles may have been taped, but the tape was removed at some point may indicate her perpetrator wanted her to walk on her own two feet from one location to another after initially gaining control over her.

 

[Diddian]

Repost to summarize things that have been disclosed (all gathered from posts here in this thread, with corrections by others - except items in blue are my comments). Would appreciate anyone letting me know if I've omitted anything or gotten something wrong:

• Home break-in and attack upon victim, Janet Brown (51 years old), occurred night of April 10, 1995.
• Home was in the Chiltern Hills near Radnage in Buckinghamshire, UK. Home was large as was the property, in a fairly rural area.
• Victim had trained as nurse and midwife and worked as a research nurse at Oxford University's Public Health and Primary Care Department and at John Radcliffe Hospital.
• Victim was alone, although typically her mid-teen daughter, Roxanne, also lived there.
• Victim did not typically close the window curtains/shades at night.
• Two of the family member's cars were in the driveway of the home that night.
• Two adult children did not live there anymore. Elder daughter, Zara lived and worked in London. Son, Ben was away at university.
• Victim’s husband, Grahaem Brown, lived and worked a long distance away (Switzerland) but called regularly.
• Home was for sale and there may have been a pending sale dependent on meeting certain conditions. (We do not know the couple's plans for where they planned to move after the sale.)
• A builder was doing some work on a building on the property.
• Victim had briefly left the home in her vehicle around 6:30 pm (this sighting has not been determined "confirmed.")
• Mid-teen daughter had a driving lesson earlier in the day.
• Mid-teen daughter and a friend had planned to have a sleepover in the home that night, but there was a change in plans made early in the day and the daughter called the victim to inform her of the change. The friend’s mother asked them to sleepover at the friend’s house instead as she was a new driver and the mother didn’t want her driving that far with so little experience.
• Daughter called at 6:40 pm and victim answered that call.
• A friend of the daughter had called at 8:10 pm. (We don't know if this friend was male or female.)
• When the victim spoke with her daughter that evening, victim told her daughter that she planned to go to bed early.
• When the husband called the home around 8:30 pm, the call was not answered.
• Builder called the home at 9:00 pm but the call was not answered.
• Victim was found by the builder when he arrived the following morning and discovered the interior alarm sounding.
• Victim was found on first floor at the bottom of the stairs leading up to bedroom(s).
• Victim was naked except for a heavy necklace, earrings, rings, and a watch. (We do not know where the clothing she had been wearing was located.)
• Victim's body had not been sexually assaulted.
• Victim’s hands were handcuffed behind her.
• Victim's entire head was wrapped with packing tape (a different tape than had been used with the wheeled glass cutter on the glass entry door). (If the victim was known to be alone, why do this if purpose was to gag her? There was already an external alarm sounding for at least the first 20 minutes of home invasion/possible attack and an internal alarm sounded until the victim was discovered. So, seems wrapping of her head with tape served another purpose than preventing screams.)
• Victim's ankles had also been wrapped with tape, but the tape was removed at some point.
• Victim had been brutally beaten around the head with something like a crowbar (something that a perpetrator might have handy in his vehicle) and died as a result of those injuries.
• If the victim had not died from the injuries sustained from the bludgeoning, she would have died of suffocation from the tape wrapped around her head.
• Perpetrator had used a wheel glass cutter and tape in an attempt to create a large opening in a glass door and had smashed through a smaller opening on adjacent door.
• There was more broken glass found around exterior side of door than interior side.
• Break-in triggered a home security system that sounded an external alarm. An interior alarm also sounded and it is believed that the victim had to have activated that by pressing a button in her bedroom (edited). The system was not connected to a security monitoring service or to LE, so no outside security personnel were notified of the tripped alarm. (Had this system always been like this, or recently changed? If always, it is likely this would be known by family members, possibly by close neighbors and family friends, and by the installer of the system. It also seems reasonable to assume it was known by real estate agents with whom the home was listed or any that had shown the home to prospective buyers. It may also have been known by the builder working on a building on the property.)
• External alarm was designed to continue for 20 minutes before stopping. Internal alarm was still sounding when the victim was found upon the builder's arrival the following morning.
• LE was able to collect some DNA from the scene and has tested some individuals that have been eliminated from suspicion.

 

[Cedars]

I don't think this potential sighting was confirmed as 'definite'.

Yes, the crimewatch program showed that witness but then showed Janet's daughter calling her about 6:40 and she was home. The problem with those kind of sightings is there really wasn't anything very memorable about the encounter and it could easily have been a different day/time got mixed in...

 

[Cedars]

[*]Break-in triggered a home security system that sounded both an external alarm and an interior alarm. The system was not connected to a security monitoring service or to LE, so no outside security personnel were notified of the tripped alarm. (Had this system always been like this, or recently changed? If always, it is likely this would be known by family members, possibly by close neighbors and family friends, and by the installer of the system. It also seems reasonable to assume it was known by real estate agents with whom the home was listed or any that had shown the home to prospective buyers. It may also have been known by the builder working on a building on the property.)
[*]External alarm was designed to continue for 20 minutes before stopping. Internal alarm was still sounding when the victim was found upon the builder's arrival the following morning.

With regards to the internal alarm, it's been reported it had to have been triggered by pressing a button - one by Janet's bed and the other by the stairs... (ETA or maybe front door..)

I suppose she could have hit it when she heard breaking glass...? When else would she have hit it?

I'd have thought a home invader, as soon as they got the victim contained with handcuffs and tape, would find a way to turn the indoor alarm off, even if it meant smashing it or cutting wires etc. It's so hard to imagine a sexualized murder could be committed, and then stay to wash up, with that shrieking alarm:...a deaf perp, or they set it off as they left as more staging...?

 

[Cedars]

Rewatching the Crimewatch program:

The police officer who was interviewed emphasized that the killer would have had a lot of blood on them...that seems contrary to the idea the killer washed up...

Then they show a written panel with comments about the motive being to create fear and sexual domination rather than burglary, and then says:

"It's thought that she was beaten to death because she pressed the panic alarm during the attack".

Is that PB's theory?

 

[Diddian]

There are so many oddities about this case. The attempted glass-cutting that looks like "staging." The perpetrator staying for a long time with alarm sounding (if in fact that happened and the alarm was not sounded later as the perpetrator prepared to leave). Nothing taken from the home but the victim's life.

The wrapping of the victim's head in tape is particularly WEIRD. I could see several possibilities for that - but none would involve a perpetrator intent on burglary:

• Wrapping was done to torture the victim (with slow suffocation).
• Wrapping was done in an effort to contain the blood from beating the victim around the head, preventing blood transfer to the perpetrator.
• Perpetrator had a close relationship with the victim so did not want to see her face as he beat her to death or did not want her to observe his face as he beat her to death.
• Perpetrator did not want daughter to see the victim's bloody, beaten head and face were she to be the one discovering the victim in the morning.
• Some kind of odd "signature" that has some significance for the perpetrator (would likely suggest a serial offender).
  

These two elements to me suggest rage or contempt toward this particular victim or toward "who the victim represented to the perpetrator" (such as a particular type, look, or age of woman), or toward simply women in general:

• Beating around the head.
• Controlling and attacking the victim who is fully naked.

But it could also represent an expression of the perpetrator's frustration if he'd intended sexual attack and could not complete it. Or it could represent expression of another kind of frustration, for example if the victim would not reveal information the perpetrator demanded (access code for safe, numbers and access codes for cash accounts, location of daughter if the daughter was in fact who he had hoped to find at the home).

 

[Diddian]

DBM - duplicate.

 

[tes1984]

Rewatching the Crimewatch program:

The police officer who was interviewed emphasized that the killer would have had a lot of blood on them...that seems contrary to the idea the killer washed up...

Then they show a written panel with comments about the motive being to create fear and sexual domination rather than burglary, and then says:

"It's thought that she was beaten to death because she pressed the panic alarm during the attack".

Is that PB's theory?

I don't think PB knows when the panic alarm was pressed, or who actually pressed it, or which of the two buttons was pressed.

The killer seems to have managed to avoid leaving bloody footprints. PB suggests that the killer may have had a towel to stand on/wipe his feet; or had something he placed over his shoes.

The killer could have brought a change of clothes, but still had to wash blood from his hands or face. He also may well have even had a shower (based on the height of the shower head, and a man's dressing gown being found on the floor).

Strangely enough, in the Carolanne Jackson murder a couple of years later, a couple of bags were found in the woods outside her house. One of the bags contained a change of clothes, a torch and a towel.

 

[tes1984]

With regards to the internal alarm, it's been reported it had to have been triggered by pressing a button - one by Janet's bed and the other by the stairs... (ETA or maybe front door..)

I suppose she could have hit it when she heard breaking glass...? When else would she have hit it?

I'd have thought a home invader, as soon as they got the victim contained with handcuffs and tape, would find a way to turn the indoor alarm off, even if it meant smashing it or cutting wires etc. It's so hard to imagine a sexualized murder could be committed, and then stay to wash up, with that shrieking alarm:...a deaf perp, or they set it off as they left as more staging...?

It sounds stupid, but what if the killer was listening to music on a personal stereo?

The second bag found near Carolanne Jackson's house contained a Sony Walkman.

 

[tes1984]

That her ankles may have been taped, but the tape was removed at some point may indicate her perpetrator wanted her to walk on her own two feet from one location to another after initially gaining control over her.

Another possibility is that the killer may have attempted a sexual assault (it's possible he lay on top of Janet).

Yet another option is that he was torturing/tormenting Janet, and told her he would let her go if she could make it to the front door, or find the keys to the handcuffs (or some other task of his). The handcuff keys themselves are yet another major mystery.

 

[tes1984]

Another point for the case summary, is that Janet had a work contract for another six months. Perhaps she planned to give a month's notice once the sale was signed, sealed and delivered, but I don't think it was the sort of casual job she could have just left with a few days notice.

 

[Diddian]

About the attempted cutting out of glass from the center glass door followed by smashing the glass of THAT door (and not smashing the glass of the adjacent operational door to reach the latch): perhaps there were only alarm sensors on the operational glass door and not on the center, stationary glass door and the perpetrator knew that. I would think that only family and the installer of the system (or the persons who performed any maintenance on it) would know that with the certainty to rely upon it, but I guess it is possible that is a fairly standard setup.

It seems from watching the Crimewatch video and reading news reports on the 25th-year and 30th-year anniversaries of this crime that LE at this point believes the path with the greatest likelihood of solving this depends upon two sources of information: (1) LE wants whoever made the two anonymous calls to LE ten months after the murder (or anyone that person may have shared information with) to come forward to be interviewed. LE believed that anonymous caller had very relevant information. (2) LE will use DNA collected from the crime scene to determine if whoever that tip points to is the perpetrator.

 

[dotr]

Wondering if there has ever been any indication that Ms Brown was forced into various positions by adjusting the tape and/or other restraints?
Maybe the jewelry JB wore was part of the aesthetic the perp. was going for, especially if the murder was recorded? speculation, imo.

 

[Konstantin]

Another possibility is that the killer may have attempted a sexual assault (it's possible he lay on top of Janet).

Yet another option is that he was torturing/tormenting Janet, and told her he would let her go if she could make it to the front door, or find the keys to the handcuffs (or some other task of his). The handcuff keys themselves are yet another major mystery.

Yes, they were found under her body -- PB theorised that the killer might have left them behind because he couldn't find them -- Janet was lying on them. I re-read his chapter on this murder and I think it is very good. He definitely thinks this was a sexually motivated attack.

There is a lot to suggest that the killer knew Janet. PB was also interested in the fact that no one really seemed to know much about Janet. The descriptions of her were "empty" as he put it IIRC. "A nice woman" and so on. Given that is the case, and her husband and her lived apart for quite a while, I wonder if she did have an affair but it was so secret and she was so "grey woman" and unobtrusive that no one really knew anything. There are aspects of this that suggest the killer knew her. That and the shower head adjusted for a taller person and the male dressing gown. Maybe he had stayed over before. He seems to have known the house.

Janet was selling up and moving to another country with her husband so if she was having an affair locally or with someone who visited the area periodically, the move would put a stop to all that. Jealousy/anger?

It is also an interesting detail that Janet's husband suggested that they had had some handcuffs before but he didn't know where they would be now. So perhaps that was something Janet was into and continued in her affair if she had one. JMO etc, just speculating here. The handcuff thing is weird -- something very deliberate. He could have used the packing tape to restrain her. He had the keys to the handcuffs handy -- just lost them in the end as Janet was lying on them and he didn't think to move her or didn't want to.

 

[tes1984]

Wondering if there has ever been any indication that Ms Brown was forced into various positions by adjusting the tape and/or other restraints?
Maybe the jewelry JB wore was part of the aesthetic the perp. was going for, especially if the murder was recorded? speculation, imo.

Janet seems to have been bludgeoned from two different angles, so one possibility is that the killer moved her after the initial attack. All the other possible scenarios are equally horrific.

 

[Cedars]

IThe killer seems to have managed to avoid leaving bloody footprints. PB suggests that the killer may have had a towel to stand on/wipe his feet; or had something he placed over his shoes.

The killer could have brought a change of clothes, but still had to wash blood from his hands or face. He also may well have even had a shower (based on the height of the shower head, and a man's dressing gown being found on the floor).

That is pretty astonishing that there were no footprints.

I think if there were a towel or some such, it would very clearly show up as a clean area surrounded by spatter...

Perhaps an attempt was made to erase clues by wiping up...? In that case, they may have wiped up footprints...?

I personally find it hard to reconcile the uncontrolled outburst of violence that caused her death, with a fastidious care to avoid blood.

A fastidous person just avoids shedding their victim's blood, using some form of strangulation.

JMO

 

[Cedars]

The handcuff thing is weird -- something very deliberate. He could have used the packing tape to restrain her. He had the keys to the handcuffs handy -- just lost them in the end as Janet was lying on them and he didn't think to move her or didn't want to.

I agree.

Just to point out, the most 'famous' sex killer of them all, Bundy, would use a blow to the victim's head to render them unconscious, and then apply handcuffs as he moved her to a different location.. it was part of his modus operandii. So, would someone perhaps learn about that and try to copy it?

Of course, TB (as so many, many others) targetted a very particular look, among very young, unprotected women. He'd have had no interest in a 50 year old, living in an expensive, secure home.

I think PB recognizes there's a big problem in his theory, and that's why he brought in the idea of the daughter.

From following true crime, there are predominately two kinds of women targeted: very young, pretty, vulnerable, girls and women...and wives/girlfriends.

JMO

 

[tes1984]

I think PB recognizes there's a big problem in his theory, and that's why he brought in the idea of the daughter.

From following true crime, there are predominately two kinds of women targeted: very young, pretty, vulnerable, girls and women...and wives/girlfriends.

JMO

I don't think PB needed to change anything to suit his theory. Unfortunately girls and women of all ages were murdered in the UK in the 90s. A lot of offenders are also very versatile in terms of victimology.

A woman murder victim in her 40s or 50s is sadly not that unusual.

Judith Gold, Christine McGovern, Joy Hewer, Linda Chandler, Marion Ross and of course Carolanne Jackson were all similar ages to Janet Bell.