UK UK - Janice Weston, 36, Murdered, A1 Layby, Brampton, Cambs. / London, 10 September 1983

[davidt]

I wonder if the police thought TW was the killer, or if he paid a hitman.

I'd like to know what was in the file they prepared!

 

[Westchester76]

I wonder if the police thought TW was the killer, or if he paid a hitman.

If it was a hired hitman, what was the need to have her drive 100 miles north, and why would he commit the murder in the open and then drive the car back to London. Unnecessary risks surely?

 

[davidt]

I wonder if TW telling police that Janice used to pick up hitchhikers was a genuine attempt to help or a way to try and set up a story.

 

[Westchester76]

I wonder if TW telling police that Janice used to pick up hitchhikers was a genuine attempt to help or a way to try and set up a story.

It's certainly suspicious. Even if it was true, it doesn't explain the rushed exit from her home, and the reason for the drive up north on a Saturday night. As you say, it could of been TW trying to help, but a lone female driver picking up hitchhikers regularly? I know it was a different era, but it seems awfully convenient.

 

[tes1984]

It's bothers me a bit that the killer is willing to steal the car, and has the money to buy the replacement registration plates, but doesn't take the £37 from Janice's purse.

 

[davidt]

It's certainly suspicious. Even if it was true, it doesn't explain the rushed exit from her home, and the reason for the drive up north on a Saturday night. As you say, it could of been TW trying to help, but a lone female driver picking up hitchhikers regularly? I know it was a different era, but it seems awfully convenient.

Well to my knowledge no one has ever come forward to say they called of visited Janice that night. I guess there are two possibilities. Either it was purrky her own decision to go out that night but it seems very unlikely given sge hadn't even finished her meal. Or alternatively someone contacted her which led to her going out. If that was an innocent request that person would have come forward.

 

[tes1984]

To be honest, the state her flat is left in is a mystery in itself.

It's also a mystery why TW doesn't try to call Janice on the Sunday or Monday. No call to discuss how the property acquisition is going. No call to say hi and check she got the tyre sorted out without any problems.

 

[tes1984]

TW is quizzed for three days. That's a fairly harsh interrogation, even by early 80s standards. Particularly as TW will no doubt have had serious legal representation.

 

[davidt]

To be honest, the state her flat is left in is a mystery in itself.

It's also a mystery why TW doesn't try to call Janice on the Sunday or Monday. No call to discuss how the property acquisition is going. No call to say hi and check she got the tyre sorted out without any problems.

I had similar thoughts. Struck me as quite odd they didn't ring each other. I know I would just to make sure everything was okay if nothing else.

As for the flat it looks like she left in a hurry but there's no way to be sure. A big problem is that there's no witnesses until the lay by. No one has ever come forward to say they saw her anywhere else. Effectively there's nothing at all to go on for that period of time.

 

[davidt]

TW is quizzed for three days. That's a fairly harsh interrogation, even by early 80s standards. Particularly as TW will no doubt have had serious legal representation.

Yep, I go back to previous comments. The police did forward a file to the department of public prosecutions. They obviously thought there was a case to consider if nothing else. Not a strong enough one to proceed but they clearly held the view he was involved in some way.

Still can't find out much detail on him. Seems to be nothing out there about him in terms of business practices or his general manner and behaviour. No idea how their relationship was and how the marriage was going.

 

[davidt]

Quick question. When was the last confirmed sighting of Janice? Was it in her office on the Saturday afternoon?

 

[tes1984]

She seems to have definitely been at her office at 4.45pm. I think it was around a half hour drive from there to her home.

I'm wondering why she would take her driving licence with her, but not take her bank cards, cheque book etc as well. You didn't have to carry a driving licence with you when you drove. In those days they were large and delicate paper licences, which you had to fold up a good few times to fit into a wallet or purse.

 

[davidt]

She seems to have definitely been at her office at 4.45pm. I think it was around a half hour drive from there to her home.

I'm wondering why she would take her driving licence with her, but not take her bank cards, cheque book etc as well. You didn't have to carry a driving licence with you when you drove. In those days they were large and delicate paper licences, which you had to fold up a good few times to fit into a wallet or purse.

Unless she had no choice and left the flat forcibly? If she packed the overnight bag there and then I would absolutely expect her to take her handbag, bank cards, etc. etc. with her. Any chance the scene in her flat could have been deliberately staged I wonder?

 

[tes1984]

I think that one of the possible problems with this case is that we inadvertently presume that the perp was behaving in a logical way.

Looking at the many kidnappings in the late 70s and early 80s, we can probably divide them into a few categories. Organised ransom attempts, organised sexually motivated abductions, crime of passion type offences where men try to convince ex partners to give them another chance, and disorganised batsh*t crazy sex offenders/mentally ill men on the rampage without a proper plan.

For example, there was one case where a man kidnapped a teenage girl, spent four days driving her around the country, forced her to cut her underwear into ninety two pieces, then gave her the money to go shopping for a new outfit. There were plenty of other lunatic kidnappers on the rampage, without anything approaching what we would consider organised plans. Some victims were able to convince their attackers to go to certain locations during kidnappings.

I wonder if Janice could have been ambushed by a mentally ill kidnapper when she takes out the rubbish, or something like that. She's forced to pack a bag and then forced into her car. She's smart enough to persuade him that they can go to Clopton Manor, all the while looking for a chance to escape. When the car breaks down, she tries to get away from him.

 

[davidt]

For me a big issue is that we know pretty much nothing from when she left the flat until her body was found the following day. I don't think there are any witnesses or sightings of Janice getting in to her car or of her on her journey. Even the witnesses who reported seeing a man in the layby only mention the man and no one else.

So we are left with bits and pieces try and make sense of which isn't easy and can easily lead us down the wrong path. There's not a lot we can be certain of. It looks like she left in a hurry but it's possible that's not the case. Certainly the half eaten meal looks that way. Buf it's possible she started it and didn't like it, or didn't fancy it or just didn't want more than half of it. Same with the overnight bag in that we don't know when it was packed and we don't know when it was put in tne car. There's quite a few things that appear odd such as not taking her bank cards etc but taking her driving licence and purse. If she did pack the overnight bag there and then it does look like she was intending to stay somewhere overnight but in that case you'd expect her to take her other bits as well. Nothing seems to quite fit. Presumably the police didn't find any evidence of an intruder?

Then you wonder why the police were so suspicious of TW. In these cases I know they will always focus on family and friends first as a matter of course. However this went way further than that. He was subjected to an intense interrogation where it appears they were hoping for a confession. They sent a file to the DPP and clearly thought he was involved in some way. What were their reasons for that especially when they had found out he was supposedly in France all the time. Must have been something compelling for them to still suspect him.

I wanted to ask were toxicology tests carried out on Janice and if so what levels of alcohol (if any) did she have in her?

Finally I was thinking again about the person ordering number plates. I think the common theory is that this might have been done to replace a damaged one and avoid drawing attention to the car. I was wondering if there's any other possible reason. We know this person didn't speak the registration number and simply get it wrong. This is because the number was written down on a piece of paper and handed to the person behind the desk. So unless whoever wrote it down in the first place got it wrong we can rule an error out. Was it written down as this person wouldn't remember the number in his head as it wasn't his car? So I wonder if this whole scenario was done deliberately to lay some sort of false trail? Dud this person want to draw attention to themselves. I know some people question whether Janice's car ever left London at all.

I know someone else on this thread has already pointed out that if the culprit was a stranger its unlikely he/she would have any idea when Janice would be missed or when anyone would start looking for her and importantly no idea when she would be found. How long before the police would be looking for the car.

 

[tes1984]

The number plate incident is perhaps the most baffling thing of all. If it's a lone offender, then he's probably using Janice's car to get to Royston, and is already covering a fair distance in a 'hot' (and possibly damaged) vehicle.

The man who requests the new number plates doesn't sound much like TW. It doesn't seem as though the men in Royston positively identified TW either.

Could the plan have been to destroy Janice's car, and find another Alfa Romeo to put the new plates on? Not that that makes much sense, but what does in this bizarre case?

 

[tes1984]

I wonder if TW had his own car, or if he and Janice shared the Alfa Romeo.

I also wonder if TW went to France by car on the ferry, or if he made the trip by taxi, ferry and train. He travels a fair distance whilst in France, so a car would have been useful. I'm presuming he couldn't have travelled by plane or hired a car without leaving a more obvious paper trail.

 

[davidt]

The number plate incident is perhaps the most baffling thing of all. If it's a lone offender, then he's probably using Janice's car to get to Royston, and is already covering a fair distance in a 'hot' (and possibly damaged) vehicle.

The man who requests the new number plates doesn't sound much like TW. It doesn't seem as though the men in Royston positively identified TW either.

Could the plan have been to destroy Janice's car, and find another Alfa Romeo to put the new plates on? Not that that makes much sense, but what does in this bizarre case?

Thing is whoever this person was he wasn't bothered about being seen. He went into two establishment's. Presumably hung around whilst the plates were made up. Obviously wasn't worried about being recognised. I mean if it's unrelated to the crime it's a hell of a coincidence that someone wants plates made up with Janice's registration number the morning after she's murdered and not far away either.

 

[tes1984]

No chance it can be coincidence IMO. It has to be related in some way to the murder.

Replacing a damaged number plate, or creating a false lead for the police to waste time on, would seem like the most likely reasons.

 

[davidt]

No chance it can be coincidence IMO. It has to be related in some way to the murder.

Replacing a damaged number plate, or creating a false lead for the police to waste time on, would seem like the most likely reasons.

Yes it's vanishingly unlikely it's not connected in some way.