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

[dotr]

Are the police still linking Janet Brown’s murder with Carolanne Jackson’s?

News link within first post of CJ's thread a possible connection is mentioned, but not confirmed..

C

UK Post in thread 'UK- Carolanne Jackson, 50, jewellery & antiques dealer, bound, bludgeoned & asphyxiated, @ home, Buckinghamshire, 11 April 1997, *New initiative*'

Jul 17, 2025

Was Carolanne accosted outside her home, or did someone actually break into the property?

''Police said the intruder may have waited for Ms Jackson to return from a trip abroad on Friday night and entered her home as she was unloading her car.."

To me, that's based on more than just wild speculation. Police have no proof, but it seems to me they wouldn't mention it if there was evidence of other possibilities, such as signs of a break in, glass cut or glass smashed.

It seems likely they also found the victim's luggage as yet unpacked, and it's unlikely there was evidence the...

• Cedars

• 

rbbm

Murdered jewellery dealer lived in fear of stalker

A jewellery dealer murdered in her home by an intruder had complained to police at least twice about a stalker, it was disclosed yesterday.

www.independent.co.uk

''Police are examining possible links with the murder of Janet Brown, 50, a nurse who was found battered to death at her farmhouse in Radnage, Buckinghamshire, two years ago. Supt Partridge said there were certain similarities between the cases but there were no strong links to indicate the killer was the same person.''

 

[rvlvr]

Hadn’t come across that YouTube channel before, one of the first videos I saw featured the murder of Sara Cameron in Newcastle, her killer was caught four years after the crime after being arrested for criminal damage and having his DNA taken. Can only hope Janet’s killer does something similar, if he’s still alive.

Life for killer trapped by chance DNA test

A moody loner was jailed for life yesterday after a chance DNA test proved that he strangled a woman sports student four years ago.

www.theguardian.com

Just watched the new Crimewatch piece, thought it was really well done. One thing that stood out to me that I don’t think I’d heard or read before was Roxanne saying she’d been for a run in the area around the home that morning. If she did this regularly I wonder if that caught someone’s eye. I’ve always thought Janet was the likely target but I guess it’s possible someone had developed an unhealthy interest in Roxanne.

 

[tes1984]

Just watched the new Crimewatch piece, thought it was really well done. One thing that stood out to me that I don’t think I’d heard or read before was Roxanne saying she’d been for a run in the area around the home that morning. If she did this regularly I wonder if that caught someone’s eye. I’ve always thought Janet was the likely target but I guess it’s possible someone had developed an unhealthy interest in Roxanne.

I didn't realise that Roxanne had spent so much time at home that day, not leaving for her evening out until 5pm. IIRC the earlier Crimewatch reconstruction shows her going out for a daytime driving lesson.

I think the killer targets both of them. Timeline wise, he wouldn't have had much opportunity to discover Janet was home alone that night. Is it possible that he spends such a long time in the property waiting (hoping) that Roxanne will return?

 

[rvlvr]

That’s a very good explanation for the time he apparently spent in the house, I think.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

The intruder(s) could not have known that Roxanne would be away that evening. I also think that he/they targeted both Janet and Roxanne. If he was someone who spied on women in the area, he could have previously identified them as two women living alone. If he expected Roxanne to be there, how would Janet have replied when he asked where she was? If he asked and Janet said she was on a sleepover, would the intruder have accepted that or would he have waited for her to return? In that location, a 17 year old girl would be unlikely to be on foot, so, if he had waited, he would have run the risk that a boyfriend, or male friend, would drive her home and enter the house.

Is it significant that this happened during the school holidays? Were there two intruders, doing this because it wasn't a school night? If they were teenagers, maybe they were less likely to have travelled some distance (in their parents' car?) and if they had recently passed their driving test, they would have been unlikely to have driven far from home before.

However, Radnage is only a few miles from High Wycombe.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

"Hadn’t come across that YouTube channel before"

What youtube channel please?

 

[rvlvr]

Crimewatch UK Stories, sorry, I thought I’d quoted your post linking to the channel when I posted about it!

 

[sony12]

Has there been any indication that Janet was seeing someone other than her husband? I know it mentioned that her husband was working in another country at the time and couples not spending a whole lot of time together is one of the most common times an affair will begin.

 

[tes1984]

Crimewatch UK Stories, sorry, I thought I’d quoted your post linking to the channel when I posted about it!

Re-watching that reconstruction, with the 6.40pm phone call, they make it sound like Janet already knows Roxy will be out for the night.

Obviously the earlier it's decided Roxy will stay out overnight, the longer that leaves for a killer to discover/overhear Roxy's plans.

And if at 6.40pm Janet already knows Roxy is out for the night, then that changes the situation regarding Janet's possible car trip towards Radnage around 6.30pm.

 

[rvlvr]

However, Radnage is only a few miles from High Wycombe.

I think you’re right that a vehicle is the most likely way they got there, but while I’m not familiar with the area looking at OS Maps it seems perfectly possible to get to the Browns’ home from places like Chinnor and Stokenchurch on foot, along the lanes and/or on footpaths through the fields. These obviously aren’t big places but must still be home to a fair few people. The killer(s) could’ve easily carried the items they used in this crime in a backpack and if they were fit it’d be a very doable walk.

Obviously you might’ve expected some witness sightings of someone doing just that but then we don’t have much in the way of suspicious vehicle activity to work with either.

I just hope one day police can make sense of it all, it’s definitely one of the most perplexing cases I’ve come across.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Has there been any indication that Janet was seeing someone other than her husband? I know it mentioned that her husband was working in another country at the time and couples not spending a whole lot of time together is one of the most common times an affair will begin.

I have not read about any indication of this. However, if the police had a whiff of this, I think that they might well have kept it to themselves.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Re-watching that reconstruction, with the 6.40pm phone call, they make it sound like Janet already knows Roxy will be out for the night.

Obviously the earlier it's decided Roxy will stay out overnight, the longer that leaves for a killer to discover/overhear Roxy's plans.

And if at 6.40pm Janet already knows Roxy is out for the night, then that changes the situation regarding Janet's possible car trip towards Radnage around 6.30pm.

In the 1995 CW video, Roxanne is shown receiving the phone call from her friend inviting her to the sleepover. She tells her friend that she will tell her mum. When Roxanne is talking to her friend on the phone she tells the friend that her driving instructor had just arrived. So Roxanne knew about the sleepover before 11 am. She might well have phoned Janet at work when she returned from her driving lesson. (I think driving lessons are often 1 hour long, but some people have a double lesson.)

I don't think Roxanne would have just left her mum to come home to find the house empty and not call her until 6.40. In the video, in her friend's house, she asks her friend if she can call her mum to "check in" with her, implying that it was not to tell her for the first time about the sleepover

Of course, she could have just left her mum a note. (I did wonder how police knew where to find Roxanne the next day. If a note on a board in the kitchen had read "Mum, I'm going to Fiona's for a sleepover", the police could have known from that note.)

However, I don't think the intruder knew about the sleepover.

 

[tes1984]

Good point about Roxanne possibly leaving a note, but it all seems very confusing regarding the timings...

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Good point about Roxanne possibly leaving a note, but it all seems very confusing regarding the timings...

Yes, the sighting of Janet at 6.30 pm does not leave much time for her to turn around, get back home and receive the 6.40 pm phone call from Roxanne.

 

[tes1984]

Yes, the sighting of Janet at 6.30 pm does not leave much time for her to turn around, get back home and receive the 6.40 pm phone call from Roxanne.

I'm wondering about what time Roxanne first finds out she's invited to the sleepover, and what time Janet first learns this.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

I'm wondering about what time Roxanne first finds out she's invited to the sleepover, and what time Janet first learns this.

In the first video Roxanne was on the phone to her friend and received the invitation just as her driving instructor arrived for her 11 am lesson.