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

[INSP MORSE]

My theory evolves around the man seen visiting janice a day or two before she travelled. I believe this man has links to the husband. I believe janice has confidence in this man to trust him. We dont know who this man is but we know a neighbour saw him visiting janice. We dont know if he ever came forward to the police but I think we'd know if he had. I believe he had links with Tony Weston and under some type of ruse janice had trust in this person to travel there for the night. I believe the person was let into janice property when she was in the middle of her meal. Otherwise if she was asked over the phone then the perpetrator ran the risk of janice phoning friends and telling them what she was doing and had changed her plans of staying in london. By being present the perpetrator asked to travel and they both immediately left janice property with janice taking food for the night.

The bottom line, some sort if ruse. Maybe isues with the property that needed imediate attention.

Does your theory involve Janice going willingly to Clopton, or being persuaded to go there, or being forced there?

 

[tes1984]

The bottom line, some sort if ruse. Maybe isues with the property that needed imediate attention.

I can't imagine her rushing to Clopton because of an issue with the property, but you never know. It was Saturday night, miserable conditions, she had been drinking etc...

 

[davidt]

I can't imagine her rushing to Clopton because of an issue with the property, but you never know. It was Saturday night, miserable conditions, she had been drinking etc...

I'm firmly of the opinion she had no intention of going out that night. Everything points to her having settled in for the night. I think something unexpected happened. Something that required great urgency. She was looking at a good couple of hours drive if not more. What could be so urgent that she had to rush out in those weather conditions to undertake such a trip? Or perhaps more importantly who could have persuaded her to do so? Husband or someone else close to her.

The fact she took food, wine, overnight bag and her book manuscript suggests she wasn't anticipating returning quickly. Perhaps she took the manuscript as something to pass the time. Its the whole "rushed" part of it that puzzles me. Why not a bit more time, after all you can't just dash 80 miles, so why the hurry? I wonder if someone did turn up at the flat telling her "we have to go right now" or something like that. Basically someone else was taking control? That she had no choice.

 

[davidt]

It's a shame the missing wheel was never found. If it was we'd at least know if it was damaged or not. As it is we assume Janice needed to change it because of a problem. It's possible she was persuaded to pull in by someone else on the pretext there was a problem. Some have speculated it's a but odd to suffer two punctures in a little over seven days. Without the wheel we can't be certain.

I've also seen speculation the wheel may have been changed somewhere else. Nothing of substance though. One idea was that the original intention may have been for Janice to go all the way to Clopton. That perhaps she got suspicious or some sort of altercation took place resulting in pulling in to the lay by. We can't even be sure she was the one driving.

 

[CSIAngus]

My theory evolves around the man seen visiting janice a day or two before she travelled. I believe this man has links to the husband. I believe janice has confidence in this man to trust him. We dont know who this man is but we know a neighbour saw him visiting janice. We dont know if he ever came forward to the police but I think we'd know if he had. I believe he had links with Tony Weston and under some type of ruse janice had trust in this person to travel there for the night. I believe the person was let into janice property when she was in the middle of her meal. Otherwise if she was asked over the phone then the perpetrator ran the risk of janice phoning friends and telling them what she was doing and had changed her plans of staying in london. By being present the perpetrator asked to travel and they both immediately left janice property with janice taking food for the night.

The bottom line, some sort if ruse. Maybe isues with the property that needed imediate attention.

The ruse is obviously the tyre change for me. Whoever changed the tyre that day for JW was trusted by her and that person murdered her. Her car never left London. Her body was taken up the A1 in a different vehicle to be dumped in a convenient layby. Her property development further on is not material to the crime. An arranged killing by someone intimately close who had an airtight alibi by virtue of being out of the country. The number plate is a red herring. It's a murder but also a conspiracy to murder.

 

[INSP MORSE]

The ruse is obviously the tyre change for me. Whoever changed the tyre that day for JW was trusted by her and that person murdered her. Her car never left London. Her body was taken up the A1 in a different vehicle to be dumped in a convenient layby. Her property development further on is not material to the crime. An arranged killing by someone intimately close who had an airtight alibi by virtue of being out of the country. The number plate is a red herring. It's a murder but also a conspiracy to murder.

The only problem I have with her being murdered in london but transfered to the layby is that there was blood inside the car on the windscreen.

 

[davidt]

The only problem I have with her being murdered in London but transferred to the layby is that there was blood inside the car on the windscreen.

There's also the food, wine, manuscript, bag and purse found in the car. Also there were witnesses saying they saw a man changing a wheel in the layby on a car matching the description of Janice's.

 

[ctaylor]

Having a look through newspaper archives and found this from the Daily Mirror and found this article from August 1994 which mentions Alan Conner as a suspect. He murdered one woman and raped another before committing suicide one mile from where Janice Weston was found. It's a tenuous link but it seems he was definitely looked into but I can't find anything about him after this.

 

[ctaylor]

One thing that has struck me is that after the murder there is no request by Tony Weston in the media to find his wife's killer. You only read about him making a complaint about how he was interviewed. If he loved his wife. Why didn't he use some of the money to keep awareness about the case open until his final days, to find the perpetrator? Thats a big red flag for me.

It does look like Tony Weston did make an appeal however it is rather perfunctory. From the Worcester News of 5 October 1983 but doesn't look like it appears anywhere else or in any national press.

 

[tes1984]

There's also the food, wine, manuscript, bag and purse found in the car. Also there were witnesses saying they saw a man changing a wheel in the layby on a car matching the description of Janice's.

The police were confident that Janice was murdered in the lay by, and also that the wheel was changed there. I'm not sure if they were basing this on forensics though.

 

[tes1984]

Having a look through newspaper archives and found this from the Daily Mirror and found this article from August 1994 which mentions Alan Conner as a suspect.

The Brampton link might just be a coincidence, but AC was definitely treated as a serious suspect.