UK UK - Kate Bushell, 14, Exeter, Devon, 15 Nov 1997

[mrC]

maybe there just the sort of person who carrys knies or maybe they needed it for work if it was the guys in the anhe could of kept one in the van

 

[lightofmine99]

maybe she had seen somthing she wasnt supposed to

I know she apparently was not SA'd when she was killed, but is it possible she was killed to cover up past sexual abuse of any type?

MOO MOO MOO

 

[tes1984]

I know she apparently was not SA'd when she was killed, but is it possible she was killed to cover up past sexual abuse of any type?

I don't think Kate showed anything to suggest she was a victim of sexual abuse.

She was apparently a grade A student type, popular, well adjusted, considerate etc etc. If she was being abused, then she must have hidden it extremely well.

 

[mrC]

i dont she was abusedby anybody there was certanly no sighns of that but i think its posble she may of known or seen somthing that got her killed her murderseems rather clinincal were as the ones in cornwaland cheshire seem rather frenzied

 

[mrC]

i watched a crime appeal aperantly there was a 3 man tent seen in that feilt shortly before the murder somone had been camping there

 

[mrC]

theres a litle bit profiler emma kenny

 

[mrC]

and an upsate from crimewatch if you just click were it says youtube

 

[mrC]

another crimewatch update

 

[mrC]

aperantly theres no signs o any sort of struggle so katie must of been taken completly be suprise

 

[hannah246]

bump

 

[Sweeper2000]

bump

 

[mrC]

i think she probebly may have gone into the feild to answer the call of nature and that would explian why her trouses were down and how she dident see her killer come up behind her

 

[Sweeper2000]

this case is interesting, they have so much information on it and have definitevly linked it to the bryant murder as well. The three people seen seem particularly conspicuous as well. I'm not sure about the vagrant but the guy running seems really sus. not sure about the blue van man either. the indication from police was that they beliueved the vehicle was from out fo the area, whats the chances he knew that lane as well though? shame we don't have more deets on the van man.

 

[dotr]

• Hard to imagine why the perp might choose such different victims (if indeed the crimes are related), could he be partial to females with prominent upper front teeth? speculation, imo, fwiw.
  • 22 DEC 2024
  • DNA could hold clue to solving mystery Exeter murder
  • 
  • Kate Bushell, 14, who suffered a fatal knife wound to her throat in Exwick in 1997 (Image: PA)

''A number of psychopaths and known serial killers have been speculatively linked. But no concrete connections have been made.
The most common link is to the murder of Lyn Bryant in Cornwall 11 months later. The 40-year-old's death in a field bore many of the same hallmarks as Kate's. She too was found stabbed in brutal fashion near to her home.''
''In 2016, detectives working on the Bryant case said they had isolated a partial DNA profile of her killer that could help solve her brutal murder.''

''The most common link is to the murder of Lyn Bryant in Cornwall 11 months later. The 40-year-old's death in a field bore many of the same hallmarks as Kate's. She too was found stabbed in brutal fashion near to her home.''

Lyn Bryant

 

[tes1984]

this case is interesting, they have so much information on it and have definitevly linked it to the bryant murder as well. The three people seen seem particularly conspicuous as well. I'm not sure about the vagrant but the guy running seems really sus. not sure about the blue van man either. the indication from police was that they beliueved the vehicle was from out fo the area, whats the chances he knew that lane as well though? shame we don't have more deets on the van man.

The police certainly have strong suspicions, but I'm not sure if it's ever been confirmed as definitely linked to the Bryant murder.

I don't think there's DNA in the Bushell case, so in terms of 'links' it seems like the mass DNA testing was for comparison with the profile from the Bryant case.

 

[tes1984]

maybe there just the sort of person who carrys knies or maybe they needed it for work if it was the guys in the anhe could of kept one in the van

I mentioned a potentially linked Devon incident where a woman was followed by a man with a knife. The man fled when the woman's Alsatian refused to back down.

He was white, aged around 40, and driving a blue Volvo car.

There was a fishing lake very nearby. What type of knife would an angler use?

 

[Sweeper2000]

interesting the orange fibres found on kate seem to be the strongest link.

"A critical piece of evidence was the presence of orange clothing fibres, more than 100 of which were found on Kate’s body and one on a nearby country stile.

Detectives have carried out substantial work on the fibres which are from a bright orange azoic-dyed cotton material predominately used in non-florescent workwear such as boiler suits, aprons and gloves."

Police investigating new leads in murder case

"There are numerous lines of enquiry being developed by analytical staff to try and ascertain whether there is a viable connection with the murder."

www.devonlive.com

On the weekend before Bushell's murder, a neighbour saw an orange or red tent pitched near to the spot Bushell was found killed, and it seemed unusual for someone to be camping on their own outside Exeter in mid-November.<a href="Murders of Kate Bushell and Lyn Bryant - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a>

Im not entirely sure but i think cotton tents were common in the 90's called them canvas tents. was it fibres from the tent the neighbour saw?

the other strong suggestion is maybe cotton gloves were used in the crime which really does suggest premeditation and also the opportunity to put them on, if they were workwear gloves the link is the blue van man. its known kate waked past him so he may have seen her go into the field put on the gloves and then committed this extremely heinous crime. the knife wound suggests someone with experience and it not being his first time doing such a thing. it may also be someone with military experience judging by the description of the wound and action that inflicted it.

gross violence warning.
"Her long blonde hair was splayed out, and her throat was red. A pathologist report later concluded that Kate’s throat had been slashed in a singular, ferocious movement, with the “substantial” knife inserted into the side of her neck and then ripped outwards and across".

 

[Sweeper2000]

I mentioned a potentially linked Devon incident where a woman was followed by a man with a knife. The man fled when the woman's Alsatian refused to back down.

He was white, aged around 40, and driving a blue Volvo car.

There was a fishing lake very nearby. What type of knife would an angler use?

any size, probably not even for fishing unless it was a game lake? many anglers will take a knife of any size though as its more for cooking than the fishing.

 

[Sweeper2000]

Right to me it makes sense, the police say this is likely someone with a criminal history and the orange fibres most likely belong to work gloves common at the time. if he knows gloves cocneal evidence he likely wore them in an effort to hide dna and anything else suggestive of criminal knowledge. thats suggestive of the blue van man. especially as it is thought he had a link to the area as that lane is not broadly known.

the other link is the vagrant. its only too common for ex military to go homeless after service and if the fibres match the tent there is a link there. I don't believe someone capable of what they did hadn't done something like it before. it sounds too deliberate, too efficient and too callously executed to not be someone who didn't know what they were doing. its also guaranteed to stop any screams that come from the victim.

 

[dotr]

Informative article about fibers in crime scenes, including this coincidental bit, rbbm, fwiw..
Dec. 27, 2007 rbbm

Fiber Evidence

Fiber analysis can never definitely solve a crime but it can provide strong clues and valuable supporting evidence.

www.officer.com

''Sometimes fiber analysis can prove to be very strong evidence in a case. This was particularly true in the case of the abduction and murder of Kristen Harrison in Ohio in 1982. The young girl was raped, murdered and left in a field about thirty miles from her home. The forensic investigators on the scene found orange fibers in her hair. These fibers were polyester and had a distinctive shape; a shape similar to fibers used in carpet. These fibers were relatively unique because of their color and shape. They were also similar to orange fibers found on a twelve year old girl found murdered eight months prior in the same general area.''

''On investigation it was observed that he drove a van similar to the one a witness had reported Kristen Harrison had been forced into. The van had unique orange carpeting in the back''.