UK UK- Jessie Earl, 22, Art student, Naked body found bound, Sussex,1980 *New Inquest, DNA*

[dotr]

Parents of student, 22, who vanished nearly 40 years ago call for new inquest | Daily Mail Online (suaramasa.com)

March 17 2022
Body of student found naked with wrists bound 30 years ago to be exhumed as cops link death to Peter Tobin (thescottishsun.co.uk)
''THE body of a woman who vanished over 40 years ago could be exhumed in the hope of linking her death to Scots serial killer Peter Tobin.

Art student Jessie Earl was just 22 when she went missing in 1980 near Beachy Head, East Sussex.''
''Her naked body was found in undergrowth nine years later in the same area with her wrists tied with her bra.

Tobin, 75, was living nearby in Brighton when Jessie vanished - and she had described meeting a middle-aged Scottish man on the Downs at Beachy Head to her mother.

Sussex Police did not investigate Jessie's case as a possible murder until a cold case review in 2000.''
The High Court has ordered a new inquest after the original 1989 Sussex Police probe was ruled insufficient.
It is now hoped new DNA samples might link Jessie’s death with Tobin or other known killers.''

Chris Williams, representing the family, said: “Some serial killers retain trophies and this is to see if any of her DNA shows up on any other trophies.

 

[MrsWatson]

Okay, so when her body was found, she was naked with her wrists tied by her bra yet the police did not investigate as a possible murder? What did they think happened?!?

I hope they have luck with the exhumation and get some useful DNA.

 

[dotr]

East Sussex Latest News | SussexWorld
''East Sussex coroner James Healy-Pratt confirmed that the inquest will take place in Eastbourne Town Hall on May 10–11, although this could continue until May 12 if needed.''

rbbm.
DNA probe to find if unsolved murder of art student is linked to Scots serial killer
''Jessie Earl was 22 when she disappeared near Beachy Head, East Sussex, leaving her parents John and Valerie to endure four decades of grief and uncertainty.

They believe serial killer Peter Tobin - who had a hoard of unknown women's jewellery at his home - could be responsible.

It is believed he could be called to give evidence about the art student’s death after her parents won the right to a new inquest.

It followed years of criticism from Miss Earl's family over a "woefully inadequate" police investigation.

Tobin has been convicted of murdering three other young women who disappeared after Ms Earl’s remains were discovered.

A pre-inquest hearing was told DNA has already been taken from her parents and police forensic experts are searching databases for a match to any crime scene''

''A verdict of unlawful killing is what we want. If it's possible to find out who did it in the end that would would be good, partly just to protect the public if that person is still alive and not in prison."

Stephen Kamlish QC, representing Ms Earl's parents previously said police were instructed in 1989 not to treat the case as a murder.

But in 2000, Sussex Police reinvestigated the case and concluded Miss Earl had been murdered.''

''A representative for Sussex Police confirmed new DNA profiles had been obtained from Miss Earl's parents and had been uploaded onto the national police database to be compared with other crime scenes.

The family are willing to have her body exhumed so a sample can be taken from her bone marrow if the DNA search finds any possible matches.


Jessie's parents, now both in their 90s, who won the right to a second inquest in December 2021 appeared at the latest hearing by video from their home in south-east London at the start of a new inquest process in Eastbourne.''

 

[AcbMurders]

Jessie Earl inquest: Former detective had 'no doubt' woman was murdered

An original inquest at the time of Jessie Earl's disappearance in 1989 concluded an open verdict.

www.bbc.co.uk

A former detective told an inquest she always believed an art student found dead more than 30 years ago was murdered.

The body of Jessie Earl, 22, was found in undergrowth near Beachy Head, East Sussex, in 1989, nine years after she disappeared.
An inquest at the time concluded an open verdict.

Former Sussex Police Det Sgt Anne Capon told the hearing: "It was always my opinion that Jessie was murdered."

The High Court approved a new hearing in December.
Miss Earl's parents, John and Valerie Earl, had criticised the first police investigation as "woefully inadequate".

The force had treated Miss Earl's death as suspicious, but in 2000, after forensic, scene, witness and pathology inquiries, Sussex Police recorded her death as murder.

On the first day of the fresh hearing at Eastbourne Town Hall, Ms Capon, who worked on the original case in 1989 and the re-investigation in 2000, said she "never had any doubt as soon as her [Miss Earl's] remains were found".

The inquest heard that Miss Earl's body was found with no clothes except for a knotted brown bra which experts at the time said could have been used to tie her.

Forensic evidence​

When the case was re-investigated in 2000, Ms Capon said she was brought in to work on the inquiry, and it was discovered that most of the original evidence exhibits had been destroyed, including the brown bra.

"There would have been every chance we might have got DNA, especially from the bra. The offender would have touched it. It was a really important thing for us", Ms Capon told the hearing.

The inquest also heard that in 1989 the Senior Investigating Officer had made a "policy decision" that the case was not going to be a murder investigation, and Ms Capon said she remembered "being told in no uncertain terms not to refer to it as a murder".

On opening the inquest, Sussex deputy coroner James Healy-Pratt told Miss Earl's family that he was "conscious you've had a long wait to put things right for Jessie".

The inquest continues.

 

[AcbMurders]

Poor parents, they won’t get justice, just an apology I suspect

Jessie Earl: Coroner says family victims of 'miscarriage of justice'

An inquest heard the family of art student Jessie Earl suffered 'a serious miscarriage of justice'.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Luwin]

Jessie Earl: Coroner records verdict of unlawful killing

A coroner overturns an open verdict into the death of Jessie Earl, after a campaign by her family.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[AcbMurders]

A FORMER police officer has denied there was a cover-up in the investigation into an unsolved murder linked to two of Britain’s worst serial killers.

The body of Eastbourne student Jessie Earl was discovered in dense undergrowth near Beachy Head in 1989 - nine years after she disappeared from her bedsit in in Upperton Gardens.

Senior officers at Sussex Police initially told the family her disappearance was not suspicious. But in 2001, police launched a cold case review that concluded the 22-year-old art student had been murdered.

The former head of Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team revealed at a new inquest into Ms Earl’s death, which began on Tuesday, that DNA has been checked against samples from Peter Tobin and David Fuller.
Scottish serial killer Tobin is serving life for the murders of three young women.
Ms Earl described meeting a middle-aged Scottish man on the Downs shortly before she disappeared.

Meanwhile, Fuller, who was known as the bedsit killer, will die in prison after he abused more than 100 female corpses and murdered two young women.
Both killers were living in the Kent and Sussex area when Jessie disappeared.
Former Sussex Police Detective Sergeant Anne Capon told the inquest: “It had always been my opinion Jessie had been murdered. Even in 1980, I believed she was on the Downs somewhere.
“My opinion was she had been murdered. I had no doubts.”
Retired former MCT head Emma Heater told the inquest that the original investigation looked nothing like how a murder investigation should be.
Despite acknowledging the police had been woefully inadequate, there was no cover up, she said.
Asked why a report dismissing her death as suicide and another review which revealed more details about her death were not disclosed to her family, the former officer said: “We disclosed the material which was asked for.

“There’s no cover up or anything like that.”
The death was declared a murder in 2000 by the Sussex Police Silk Report.
A review in 2009 included more details including possible leads, the inquest heard.
Asked why this was not given to the family when they were applying to the High Court to quash the original inquest, Heater said: “They had the Silk Report and I thought that was sufficient.”
Coroner James Healy-Pratt said: “It’s clear the family have been victim of a substantial miscarriage of justice.”
Stephen Kamlish, QC for the family, accused Sussex Police of ignoring repeated requests for information and failing to support the family application to have the original inquest verdict quashed.
He said: “I’ve been asked by the family to ask you; do you regret on behalf of the Chief Constable that Sussex Police didn’t make its own application to quash the first inquest rather than leave the Earls at the end of their lives to achieve this?”
Former Detective Superintendent Heater said: “I’m not sure I can answer on behalf of the Chief Constable. It’s maybe my ignorance in going to the coroner and not the High Court.
“We will take learning from this.”

Former police officer denies cover-up in unsolved murder investigation

A FORMER police officer has denied there was a cover-up in the investigation into an unsolved murder linked to two of Britain’s worst serial…

www.theargus.co.uk

What kind of answer is that???

 

[Pinkizzy]

I didn't realise her murder could be linked to David Fuller

 

[dotr]

By
John Cooper
Jasmine Carey

• The unsolved Sussex murder of Jessie Earl and link to serial killer Peter Tobin
• 17:00, 8 OCT 2022
• The unsolved Sussex murder of Jessie Earl and link to serial killer Peter Tobin
• ''When her skeletal remains were found in 1989, concern was raised into the circumstances of her death. Her father, John Earl, told the BBC at the time of the inquest four months later: "She was naked, she had been tied up with her bra. She was murdered. Jesse didn't get herself killed by accident, suicide or anything else."
  
  While her skeleton was found, some of her possessions were never tracked down, including her silver ring, watch, asthma inhaler and brown leather bag. Although an open verdict was recorded at the coroner's inquest into her death, Jessie's parents, John and Valerie Earl, have continued to campaign relentlessly to try and solve the mystery of what happened to Jessie in her last moments.''

''Officers were searching for evidence in Jessie's case but also in the disappearance of Louise Kay, a teenager from Polegate, who went missing in June 1988. Mark Williams-Thomas linked Tobin to the disappearance of Louise Kay in a 2018 ITV documentary 'The Investigator: A British Crime Story'.'

''Jessie's parents have launched a campaign for a new inquest to find 'final justice for Jessie'. Since May 15, 1980, the day she disappeared, Jessie's parents have kept scrapbooks of newspaper cuttings about their daughter and the case surrounding her death.

They include the coverage of 1989 when the young woman's bones were found in an overgrown hedge at Beachy Head, on the south coast of England. Sussex Police said: "We will never close [this case] until and unless some resolution and closure is found for them."

 

[tes1984]

Okay, so when her body was found, she was naked with her wrists tied by her bra yet the police did not investigate as a possible murder? What did they think happened?!?

I hope they have luck with the exhumation and get some useful DNA.

Bumping this one...

1980 Jessie disappears.
1989 Her remains are found. She's been tied to a tree with hands bound. It is ruled a open verdict.
1997 Police destroy the bra.
2000 Declared a murder case.
2009 Police review.
2022 DNA tests on Peter Tobin's trophies fail to provide a match.

I'm not sure if the body of Jessie was ever exhumed.

 

[tes1984]

There's a good chance that Jessie's murder in 1980 is linked to the disappearance of Louise Kay in 1988.

Louise vanished after going to Beachy Head (where Jessie was finally found in 1989) and has never been seen since.

 

[tes1984]

Jessie's parents have launched a campaign for a new inquest to find 'final justice for Jessie'. Since May 15, 1980, the day she disappeared, Jessie's parents have kept scrapbooks of newspaper cuttings about their daughter and the case surrounding her death.

They include the coverage of 1989 when the young woman's bones were found in an overgrown hedge at Beachy Head, on the south coast of England. Sussex Police said: "We will never close [this case] until and unless some resolution and closure is found for them."

I think Jessie's parents have conducted themselves with great dignity, despite receiving absolutely no help or support from any of the authorities.

I'm not sure what the coroner was thinking... Jessie lied about going to her doctor, walked to Beachy Head without anyone seeing her, stripped naked, buried her clothes and possessions, somehow bound herself to a tree with a bra, and waited to die from exposure?

An obsessive writer, yet she doesn't even leave a suicide note?

Suicidal because her allergies were playing up? She was trekking on the downs a few days before she was murdered. It wasn't like she was an invalid, or had been diagnosed with a terminal disease.

 

[tes1984]

Was Jessie killed at Beachy Head, or was she killed somewhere else and then dumped there?

 

[dotr]

March 30 2025 rbbm.

Detective who caught Peter Tobin believes new documentary

David Swindle revealed his amazement at the number of people who weren't aware of Peter Tobin and what he did

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk

''A hit new TV documentary is hoped to help unearth new evidence linking serial killer Peter Tobin to more unsolved murders, by the detective who caught the evil murderer.

Retired Detective Superintendent David Swindle believes that Tobin claimed more victims across the UK, linked to investigations of several cold cases as part of Operation Anagram''.

''The BBC documentary series, The Hunt for Peter Tobin, has been viewed by more than one million viewers. It examined how missing person cases led to the capture of one of Britain's most notorious murderers.''
''Tobin has also been linked to other unsolved cases, including the murder of 22-year-old art student Jessie Earl, whose body was discovered in 1989''.
March 1 2025

Sep 21, 2018
Art student Jessie Earl disappeared 38 years ago, has the mystery of her murder finally been solved?

 

[tes1984]

The police didn't treat this case seriously enough in 1980, and left over 100 unanswered lines of enquiry when they closed the investigation.


They wanted it to be a missing person case, dispite the parents insisting Jessie would never run away or commit suicide. She was looking forward to meeting her Australian pen friend who in a few days time was travelling to England to meet. The police said they thought Jessie might have gone to start a new life in France.