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

[Professor Moriarty]

Thanks. I wonder how the police can discount a confrontation downstairs.
The house had big rooms. The intruder could have overpowered Janet without a struggle sending things in the room flying, or she might have frozen. However, the police know things that we don't.

I need to stop thinking about this case! Just because of some knowledge of that area and because I have driven past that house, it keeps bugging me.

 

[annpats]

It’s the glass cutter element, isn’t it, that suggests premeditated murder.

No, that indicates pre-meditated burglary, not murder.

And he did actually cut the window with it, or at least try to, before he smashed it.

A glass cutter doesn't necessarily make a weapon, and it wasn't used on her in her murder.

 

[rvlvr]

Yeah, that was badly worded on my part. It’s evidence of premeditation, and I think the perpetrator’s intention was murder rather than robbery, but that doesn’t make the glass cutter itself evidence of premeditated murder, you’re right.

 

[rvlvr]

IIRC a neighbour drove past the house and heard the external alarm around 10pm.

The alarm was set to ring for twenty minutes and had stopped when he drove back past the house around 10.20pm.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure the Still at Large podcast covered this aspect of the alarm, the neighbour, etc, I’m certain that’s where I first heard an explanation of how the different alarms worked. Was a good episode from what I remember.

 

[tes1984]

Yeah, I’m pretty sure the Still at Large podcast covered this aspect of the alarm, the neighbour, etc, I’m certain that’s where I first heard an explanation of how the different alarms worked. Was a good episode from what I remember.

Would smashing a window have triggered an alarm? And did he think the patio door was the weak spot in terms of the alarm system?

It doesn't make sense to break in using such a time consuming method, or to break in from the court yard. He's hidden from the road, but he's also cornered if anyone does appear. PB mentions that most burglars try to give themselves two escape routes.

 

[tes1984]

No, that indicates pre-meditated burglary, not murder.

And he did actually cut the window with it, or at least try to, before he smashed it.

A glass cutter doesn't necessarily make a weapon, and it wasn't used on her in her murder.

We know he had tape, a glass cutter, and a crow bar. The tools of a cat burglar or wannabee one?

Most burglars try to target unoccupied houses. Why is this guy so elaborate and why is he hot prowling? He can't think the house is empty.

 

[rvlvr]

I knew someone with a burglar alarm in the 90s that was motion triggered - when they set it they had about ten seconds to get out of the house before they risked setting the sensors off, IIRC. I don’t think movement outside of the house would’ve triggered it, though I suppose that depended largely on where the sensors were positioned. Did I hear/read Janet didn’t draw the curtains? If they were open then outside movement would’ve obviously been more noticeable from the inside.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Yeah, I’m pretty sure the Still at Large podcast covered this aspect of the alarm, the neighbour, etc, I’m certain that’s where I first heard an explanation of how the different alarms worked. Was a good episode from what I remember.

I was unaware of these podcasts until you mentioned them. Thanks. I have now listened to the one about this case and learnt more. It mentioned details that people have referred to in this thread, but for which I hadn't otherwise seen anything online.

I knew someone, at the time of this murder, who had a home alarm and panic buttons. The alarm worked on motion sensors. The was a panic button in the main bedroom, next to the bed, and one by the front door. If either alarm was triggered, the alarm company would telephone the house. If there was no answer, they would summon the police. If anyone did answer, they had to give an agreed password: otherwise the police would be called. It seems like Hall Farm had a similar system, but, sadly, without the paid-for subscription to the security company.

 

[rvlvr]

I gave the podcast another listen over the weekend. I definitely don’t think this was a burglary gone wrong, nor do I think J invited her attacker over - to me, that seems like too big of a risk for her to have taken, even with a ‘free’ house. I don’t think this was a spur of the moment, crime of passion type killing.

I think it’s possible J let the killer in, and that the window was cut later to make it appear as if this was the entry point and that it had been made by a burglar. But perhaps this *was* how the killer gained access and I’m overthinking it.

I think there’s a very good chance the killer was known to J. She wasn’t especially sociable, her life seemed to revolve largely around her duties as a wife and mother and also her employment. The circle of people she knew, and who knew of her, was tiny - family, colleagues, a handful of neighbours.

I’d forgotten about the scuba diving equipment though - was this a hobby she was pursuing actively at the time of her murder? Where did she dive? Was she a member of a club? Did she have an instructor?

No defensive wounds - imo she was either taken completely by surprise, or she was complying with someone who presented themselves as a burglar. Does she think he’s just going to tape her mouth shut, only for him to then tape her entire head several times? I think the podcast said she’d have suffocated eventually, with the blows to her head only hastening her death.

She didn’t stand a chance, did she. Whoever did this was quite wicked.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

I gave the podcast another listen over the weekend. I definitely don’t think this was a burglary gone wrong, nor do I think J invited her attacker over - to me, that seems like too big of a risk for her to have taken, even with a ‘free’ house. I don’t think this was a spur of the moment, crime of passion type killing.

I think it’s possible J let the killer in, and that the window was cut later to make it appear as if this was the entry point and that it had been made by a burglar. But perhaps this *was* how the killer gained access and I’m overthinking it.

I think there’s a very good chance the killer was known to J. She wasn’t especially sociable, her life seemed to revolve largely around her duties as a wife and mother and also her employment. The circle of people she knew, and who knew of her, was tiny - family, colleagues, a handful of neighbours.

I’d forgotten about the scuba diving equipment though - was this a hobby she was pursuing actively at the time of her murder? Where did she dive? Was she a member of a club? Did she have an instructor?

No defensive wounds - imo she was either taken completely by surprise, or she was complying with someone who presented themselves as a burglar. Does she think he’s just going to tape her mouth shut, only for him to then tape her entire head several times? I think the podcast said she’d have suffocated eventually, with the blows to her head only hastening her death.

She didn’t stand a chance, did she. Whoever did this was quite wicked.

I agree. He maybe forced Janet to "prance about", naked, but wearing her jewellery-before he killed her.

Later, police did DNA tests on men in the Radnage area. But, it could have been someone from her work in Oxford and, if such a person lived north or west of Oxford, they would live a very long way from Radnage.

Someone from work could be a delivery person or a clerk who delivered files to her desk, not a high powered scientist. Someone who developed a fixation or fantasy about Janet. A bit like a stalker. He could have visited the area a number of times to research the house and the lie of the land.

 

[rvlvr]

Someone from work could be a delivery person or a clerk who delivered files to her desk, not a high powered scientist. Someone who developed a fixation or fantasy about Janet. A bit like a stalker. He could have visited the area a number of times to research the house and the lie of the land.

Yep. And as you say, tracking someone like that to DNA test them would be difficult - their delivery radius for instance could’ve been many, many miles, far outside of Radnage.

I can’t stop wondering about the scuba angle. It seems the killer might’ve lingered over this stuff - maybe just out of ‘innocent’ (I use that word very cautiously given the context, obviously) curiosity? Or potentially they were drawn to it because they understood what they were looking at?

Obviously there’s the possibility that R was the target. Her circle was probably larger in numerical terms but perhaps also more confined, to school pals and the like, people of similar age. JMO - I really struggle to think that anyone she might’ve associated with, in terms of their youth and inexperience, could’ve pulled this off.

Imo the jewellery points to J being the target - I think she was forced to wear it, or perhaps the killer put it on her. The sight of J wearing it juxtaposed with her vulnerability was probably important to him. JMO - if R had been home he likely would’ve fancied his chances of subduing a teenager, especially if he’d presented himself to the two women as a simple burglar who’d leave them be once they’d given him what he wanted.

 

[tes1984]

No defensive wounds - imo she was either taken completely by surprise, or she was complying with someone who presented themselves as a burglar.

Good suggestion about someone presenting themselves as a burglar to gain compliance.

I've read about a lot of murders and rapes which start with "'I'm not going hurt you, I just need money'.

 

[tes1984]

IIRC in the early evening, a witness was horseriding and thought she saw Janet drive past.

Does anyone know where this possible sighting took place, and what direction Janet was possibly seen heading?

 

[Professor Moriarty]

I don't know. However, in the Crimewatch item, the police officer said Janet was not going in the direction of where she would shop or buy petrol. At a guess, I would think that she occasionally shopped and bought petrol in Chinnor. (I think I read somewhere that she did her main shopping in Oxford.) If that is the case, it would mean that she was heading towards High Wycombe when seen.

But, it could be that she shopped and bought petrol in High Wycombe, in which case she was going towards Chinnor.

Sorry, I can't be more helpful.

 

[tes1984]

Yeah, the police statement is a bit vague.

I wonder if Janet kept her petrol receipts, and if she generally paid for things with cash, or usually used a credit card or cheque book.

 

[rvlvr]

It’d be interesting to know how the family’s finances were managed with GB out of the country for long periods.

I find it curious that in 2020 police said they were working on the hypothesis “it was a burglar, or burglars, who weren’t particularly proficient” and that J was “was bludgeoned to death when she pressed the panic alarm.”

Trying to put myself in a burglar’s shoes, I feel like he/they would have had to have been spectacularly bad at this - especially if there were two of them. A burglar must go there expecting to have to control two women, only has to contend with one, yet ends up fleeing empty handed, and he’s potentially facing a murder charge to boot. Two burglars losing control of this slight, 50 something woman seems inexplicably sloppy to me. Would J have been able to identify them? No balaclava, disguise, etc?

‘Weren’t particularly proficient’ is quite the understatement. I don’t know, police surely know more than we do but the whole thing seems too weird and convoluted, and the outcome just too messy.

 

[rvlvr]

Double post, DBM

 

[tes1984]

Taping ankles was what prison officers would do to prisoners who refused to go where they were told. Once an unruly prisoner was cuffed (wrists) and taped (ankles) they could presumably be carried to where they were supposed to be.

 

[dotr]

Thinking of the glass cutter and how they are often used in jewelry making..

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Wondering if Janet was in the process of buying or selling any of her jewelry?
This poor woman's ravished and turned into an anonymous body (gagged, nude, head bashed and bandaged), but the jewelry on her corpse is unscathed.
Even the handcuffs left on Janet's wrists seem to be an additional macabre touch - bracelets. imo, speculation.

 

[dotr]

JB's wealth (jewelry), did not save her, the large solid house offered no protection (so many airy windows from which to see outside, but also inside and easy to smash),
Outfitted with all the bells and whistles of a security system that makes loud noises nobody seems to care about, or respond to- not even the intruders!
imo, speculation.