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

[Professor Moriarty]

Yes. I've previously referred to the parallel with Kevin Cotterell. In that case he stayed in the house all night, with a large number of whippets in the house and outside of the house in a run. It is likely that the whippets barked. Why would he do that? He could have made his escape in the dark. Crazy.

Although there is no reason to think the same must be true of Janet Brown, it is noteworthy
that Cotterell had visited the house before. He knew it was isolated and housed two women. Hall Farm housed two women (most of the time).

(He was only caught because he arrived in daylight and a farmer noted his number plate-although not quite accurately. The farmer was cautious because it was unusual for people to visit that house, at the end of a dead end road and there had been problems with gypsies etc. He could have arrived in darkness and left in darkness, although perhaps the women would not have answered the door in darkness,)

 

[tes1984]

Perhaps Cotterell was worried about being stopped by police if he drove at night. Maybe he waits until the morning, so he can blend in with people driving to work etc.

Another option is that he's a necrophiliac and wants to spend as long as possible with the dead bodies.

IIRC Cotterell had a fiancee, but lived with his parents. Maybe in the morning, he can return home and say he's spent the night with his fiancee. If he returns home at 1am or 3am might they get suspicious?

 

[tes1984]

My feeling is that Cotterell would have been caught, even without the car sighting.

He was a known visitor to the property within the past twelve months, and as a 17 year old had been convicted of burglary with a sexual element. Unless the double glazing he sold was a cash purchase, off the books with no receipts, then IMO he would have emerged as prime suspect reasonably quickly.

 

[rvlvr]

IIRC Cotterell had a fiancee, but lived with his parents. Maybe in the morning, he can return home and say he's spent the night with his fiancee. If he returns home at 1am or 3am might they get suspicious?

I think this is a good angle as to why Janet’s killer might’ve spent some amount of time in the house. Was he supposed to be at work, perhaps on a late shift? Arriving home early might look suspicious. Or was he waiting to go somewhere - to start a night shift, or to pick someone up after their late shift finished?

Edited to add: I tried to watch the recent episode of Crimewatch again this morning but frustratingly it appears to be no longer available to view on the BBC’s website.

BBC One - Crimewatch Live, Series 22, Search for Truth

Thirty years ago, Janet Brown was killed in her home – do you know who was responsible?

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Professor Moriarty]

I think this is a good angle as to why Janet’s killer might’ve spent some amount of time in the house. Was he supposed to be at work, perhaps on a late shift? Arriving home early might look suspicious. Or was he waiting to go somewhere - to start a night shift, or to pick someone up after their late shift finished?

Edited to add: I tried to watch the recent episode of Crimewatch again this morning but frustratingly it appears to be no longer available to view on the BBC’s website.

BBC One - Crimewatch Live, Series 22, Search for Truth

Thirty years ago, Janet Brown was killed in her home – do you know who was responsible?

www.bbc.co.uk

Even so, if he had to kill time, he could have done it somewhere else with little chance of being spotted. Having to turn up to work later might explain why he washed up (and changed clothes?), but would he want to turn up to work all pumped up? Possibly, if he just had to get in a van or lorry and drive off on his own for hours, but very weird.

 

[rvlvr]

Even so, if he had to kill time, he could have done it somewhere else with little chance of being spotted. Having to turn up to work later might explain why he washed up (and changed clothes?), but would he want to turn up to work all pumped up? Possibly, if he just had to get in a van or lorry and drive off on his own for hours, but very weird.

Good point. The adrenaline must’ve been pumping at various times during the evening. But cutting the glass seems to me like quite a meticulous thing to do. It’s certainly more complex and intricate than just smashing a window or door in. So either at the beginning or the end of this crime the killer must’ve been quite composed, imo. Was he capable of getting his act together quite quickly, and staying calm under pressure?

I’ve seen lots of photos of the outside of the house but have police ever released anything from the interior?

 

[tes1984]

I’ve seen lots of photos of the outside of the house but have police ever released anything from the interior?

There's a little bit of video footage of the inside of the house in the recent YouTube video.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Good point. The adrenaline must’ve been pumping at various times during the evening. But cutting the glass seems to me like quite a meticulous thing to do. It’s certainly more complex and intricate than just smashing a window or door in. So either at the beginning or the end of this crime the killer must’ve been quite composed, imo. Was he capable of getting his act together quite quickly, and staying calm under pressure?

I’ve seen lots of photos of the outside of the house but have police ever released anything from the interior?

Interior views in this video.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

This video, supposedly made at the request of Thames Valley police, maintains the line that entry was through the patio doors and that it was not a sexual assault. It does not provide any further information that police might have acquired over the years. I hope that they have learnt something.

 

[tes1984]

I've previously referred to the parallel with Kevin Cotterell.

Janet Brown and Janice Sheridan were both bound with tape, and then had some of the tape removed. With Janet, tape was removed from her ankles, and with Janice it was removed from her wrists.

Janet's killer seems a bit craftier than Cotterell to me, but I'd like to know what Cotterell was up to in 1995. Was he a door to door salesman back then? There were reports of a strange door to door salesman in Radnage a couple of days before Janet's murder.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Janet Brown and Janice Sheridan were both bound with tape, and then had some of the tape removed. With Janet, tape was removed from her ankles, and with Janice it was removed from her wrists.

Janet's killer seems a bit craftier than Cotterell to me, but I'd like to know what Cotterell was up to in 1995. Was he a door to door salesman back then? There were reports of a strange door to door salesman in Radnage a couple of days before Janet's murder.

Cotterell's DNA should be on the database.

 

[tes1984]

Cotterell's DNA should be on the database.

Good point, he's definitely not the source of the DNA. I do still wonder if there could have been a second perp there who didn't leave any DNA though. The police don't seem to rule out two offenders, and received a couple of intriguing phone calls from a man who could theoretically have been the accomplice.

 

[forensicswannabe]

The only problem I have with the idea of two or more offenders is what exactly is the point? Like this isn't a burglary or a sexual assault (not an obvious one anyways) so what exactly would more than one offender gain by doing this crime together? To me it seems to be the work of one offender who got off on the torture and killing itself and spent his time at the scene. I do hope one day he will be caught somehow.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

The only problem I have with the idea of two or more offenders is what exactly is the point? Like this isn't a burglary or a sexual assault (not an obvious one anyways) so what exactly would more than one offender gain by doing this crime together? To me it seems to be the work of one offender who got off on the torture and killing itself and spent his time at the scene. I do hope one day he will be caught somehow.

Paul Britton mentioned the possibility of teenagers and said that there would be more than one in that case. I suppose it could be a bit like a "dare" for teenagers, breaking into a house and making a middle aged woman prance about naked. If teenagers, they could be old enough to drive to Radnage from elsewhere and it was during school holidays.

However, I think it more likely that it was one person with some planning and possibly stalking.

 

[rvlvr]

I think the teenagers thing makes a bit of sense if they knew Roxanne was out for the night but in an era before mobiles and social media it was a lot harder for word to spread wasn’t it, people weren’t sharing things in group chats or checking in on Facebook and so on.

Outside of Roxanne’s immediate circle of friends who might have known she’d be out that evening? Perhaps a brother of a friend overheard? Perhaps they might’ve been known just well enough to Janet to be allowed by her to come inside the house?

But then there’s the issue of the glass cutting, isn’t there. Are teenagers going to attempt this as a method of entry prior to the crime? Or as staging afterwards? Seems unlikely to me. I agree, I do feel like this crime was committed by someone older, acting alone, who’d put some thought into what they were doing.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Perhaps they might’ve been known just well enough to Janet to be allowed by her to come inside the house?

Yes, if the killer didn't come in through the patio door, you might think that Janet opened the door to someone. But Janet seems to have been naked and police seem to think that the first confrontation
occurred in Janet's bedroom, where they found a scrap of the tape used to bind her. They speak about how many seconds it would have taken the intruder to get upstairs. They don't seem to have changed their minds, at least publicly.

I wonder what most women, on their own, would do if someone, not expected, rang their door bell at that time of night. I think a lot would just not answer it, although it's possible that they might try to talk through the door and would open it if they heard the voice of a close friend, but not open it to someone they merely knew. After all, in the age of the telephone, why would someone be ringing the doorbell in those circumstances?

Another puzzling aspect of this puzzling case.

 

[tes1984]

IIRC there was £100 cash left untouched in a jar in the kitchen. What sort of burglar, drug addict etc would leave cash behind?

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Yes, I've read that a number of times.

Possibly, it was in a jar marked "sugar" or something to disguise it. I don't know if burglars open a number of such jars in case they contain money or car keys etc

He could have stolen the car, but didn't, although if he had taken it and abandoned it somewhere that would have indicated where he had gone. If he had come by car (parked in the "triangle"?) he could hardly take it.

The intruder seems to have searched the house. Why? Was he looking for something in particular or was he just being nosey? What would be the appeal of looking through a house? A form or voyeurism?

 

[dotr]

Wondering if the perp was looking around the house to see if anyone was hiding, or for antiques?

 

[rvlvr]

Yeah, I’ve just watched the video posted up the page, and it says that the house was obviously and extensively searched. I suppose if this began as a burglary then was the burglar looking for a safe or perhaps a bag containing cash, or maybe something seriously valuable? Perhaps they’d received or overheard some duff information about what could be found inside the house? What if they’d got the wrong house? I wonder if any of the Browns’ nearest neighbours might’ve seemed like better targets for a burglar?

You’d think a burglar wouldn’t want to leave empty handed but perhaps it’s better to completely cut your losses than pinch something of low value that, if discovered, could tie you to such a serious crime.