UK UK - Penny Bell, 43, Ealing, London, 6 June 1991

[davidt]

That's interesting and means Matthew's father wasn't John or Alistair but a third person.

I was just thinking about Penny being on edge or agitated in the days before her murder as well as the cash she drew out. Also there was mention of a phone call at home. Just made me wonder if someone from her past had reappeared. She had become wealthy in the meantime and could it be there was some sort of extortion or blackmail going on? Trying to get their hands on her money.

 

[Rookie D]

The probate record, indicates her estate upon her death, was worth over £600.000.

That was in 1991.

 

[davidt]

It's a lot of wealth.

You could plausibility suggest Penny gets a call at home demanding cash. Would explain the cash withdrawal and her being on edge. And of course potentially explaining the mystery "appointment " on the day in question. No doubt the police looked at Penny’s past relationships but just perhaps someone from her past wanted some of wealth.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

That's interesting and means Matthew's father wasn't John or Alistair but a third person.

I don't think the article explicitly says that. Alistair could have been the father, the son was conceived and born "out of wedlock" (and so was illegitimate), then the parents got married later and the child was then legitimated.

 

[davidt]

I don't think the article explicitly says that. Alistair could have been the father, the son was conceived and born "out of wedlock" (and so was illegitimate), then the parents got married later and the child was then legitimated.

Yes, it is a bit ambiguous on that point.

 

[Rookie D]

It would be interesting to know at what point this photo of Penny's car was taken...

I ask this because the car is parked plush up against the hedge in front, but in the footage of officers looking at the car, it has been moved further back.
Note also that the passenger door is slightly open.

And there's a brown file; presumably of paperwork, placed on top of the roof.

The front left wheel is turned slightly to the left; which is odd because in order to park in the space, the car needed to have approached from the south and turned right to park up. This would mean the front left wheel should be at a different angle to what is seen here in the photo.

The puddle behind the car also extends out of shot to the far right, meaning that the killer most likely walked through this puddle to walk around to the driver's side of the car. A slight wet/muddy imprint of the killer's footwear should have been possible to obtain from the scene.

The wallpaper sample found in the central console can be seen through the back window.

If this photo was taken AFTER the police had completed their search of the car, then all of the points above are mute; however, if this was taken BEFORE the police investigated, then did they pick up on these finer details that could have potentially provided clues?

 

[Rookie D]

The wallpaper sample found in the central console, may have been a practical measure by the killer to avoid excessive blood splatter form when he was attacking her with the knife.

Why nobody was seen leaving the area covered in blood is particularly odd, but there is a way the killer could have done it.

As Penny parks up, the killer gets her to open up the sample. He then begins stabbing her frenziedly and she tries to defend herself by using her arms to try and shield her.

The large wallpaper sample shields the killer from getting splattered with blood.

After the killer lands a few blows, Penny soon succumbs and passes out.

The killer watches her lose consciousness.

After a minute of so, he then calmly gets out of the car and walks around to the other side.

He's right handed and hasn't been able to get the leverage with the knife that he wanted, so he then wants to make sure he has finished the job, and so stabs her multiple times by stabbing her through the open window. But by this point her blood pressure is so low through loss of blood, that there is a relatively minimal amount of blood splatter.

He then walks away calmly with very little blood over him, and is seen walking calmly through the car park in his suit.

Again, it's just a working hypothesis.

 

[tes1984]

I don't think the article explicitly says that. Alistair could have been the father, the son was conceived and born "out of wedlock" (and so was illegitimate), then the parents got married later and the child was then legitimated.

AB confirmed in interviews that he wasn't Matthew's biological father. Going from memory, but IIRC the biological father left Penny while she was pregnant and moved to Australia.

Please provide link to source for this information.
Remember blurred posts can't be discussed

 

[NorthParade]

Confirmation of what @tes1984 says, from the Daily Express, 14 June 1991.

 

[tes1984]

I don't really appreciate my posts being censored for a lack of source. Sometimes there are reasons for not naming people etc.

Anyway DS has been named now, so becomes an interesting POI.

Pure speculation, but he could have created problems for the Bells once he realised just how rich they had become.

 

[tes1984]

Interesting that DS expresses shock at AB's gay past. He's hardly a traditionalist himself, or he wouldn't have done a runner when he got Penny pregnant.

I can't see anyone blackmailing the Bells about AB's past, as it wasn't any great secret in the first place anyway.

 

[davidt]

Confirmation of what @tes1984 says, from the Daily Express, 14 June 1991.View attachment 649137

That's interesting thanks. A couple of things occur to me from thst article.

Firstly it describes Penny's relationship with DS as an "affair". Penny was divorced and single at the time. Does this mean DS was married at the time? If they were both single at the time I don't think the word "affair" would be used.

Secondly the article describes Penny's first marriage as "turbulent ", I wonder in what way this turbulence manifested itself?

 

[davidt]

Interesting that DS expresses shock at AB's gay past. He's hardly a traditionalist himself, or he wouldn't have done a runner when he got Penny pregnant.

I can't see anyone blackmailing the Bells about AB's past, as it wasn't any great secret in the first place anyway.

Penny knew and didn't seem bothered by ABs gay past. There's probably a couple of avenues that might still come in to play though. Possibly there might have been an embarrassing prior relationship that might have caused difficulties if it were made public? Might not have bothered Pemny as such but may have caused them problems if it were widely known. Alternatively perhaps ABs gay relationships weren't all in tne past. Could there have been something still happening currently. You could also wonder the same about Penny.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Penny knew and didn't seem bothered by ABs gay past. There's probably a couple of avenues that might still come in to play though. Possibly there might have been an embarrassing prior relationship that might have caused difficulties if it were made public?

Penny had been married before. Her husband knew this and also that his stepson had a different father, not Penny's first husband. In turn, Penny knew that her husband had had gay relationships. Penny worked in recruitment. Her husband was a house husband. It wasn't the 19th century. Blackmail is rare and a serious offence. It's hard to see how they could be blackmailed or even embarrassed-they weren't celebrities, newspapers would not be covering them.

 

[tes1984]

Blackmail does seem unlikely IMO, but you never know.

The Bells weren't celebrities, but some of their close neighbours were very famous, so perhaps the tabloids could have used that angle.

Pure speculation, but AB was an estate agent, so I wonder if revelations about his private life could have affected his career. PB also had some major clients, so I wonder if perhaps she was desperate to maintain her image with them.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Blackmail does seem unlikely IMO, but you never know.

The Bells weren't celebrities, but some of their close neighbours were very famous, so perhaps the tabloids could have used that angle.

Pure speculation, but AB was an estate agent, so I wonder if revelations about his private life could have affected his career. PB also had some major clients, so I wonder if perhaps she was desperate to maintain her image with them.

If PB met a blackmailer, why would he kill her?

Despite all the scrutiny since PN's death, the only thing that has emerged is that her husband was gay/bisexual. That doesn't seem to have been secret. How would his sexuality have been revealed and to whom? I find that hard to understand.

 

[tes1984]

If PB met a blackmailer, why would he kill her?

Despite all the scrutiny since PN's death, the only thing that has emerged is that her husband was gay/bisexual. That doesn't seem to have been secret. How would his sexuality have been revealed and to whom? I find that hard to understand.

Yeah, why would a blackmailer kill off the golden goose?

AB's sexuality wasn't really a secret, but who knows what a blackmailer could (in theory) have had in mind? Give me ten grand or I'll send the photos to all your neighbours, work colleagues and clients, and to the parents at your children's school?

 

[davidt]

Yeah, why would a blackmailer kill off the golden goose?

AB's sexuality wasn't really a secret, but who knows what a blackmailer could (in theory) have had in mind? Give me ten grand or I'll send the photos to all your neighbours, work colleagues and clients, and to the parents at your children's school?

Possibly it could be because she wasn't going to pay any more or was threatening to go to the police?

 

[Professor Moriarty]

"Give me ten grand or I'll send the photos to all your neighbours, work colleagues and clients, and to the parents at your children's school?"

What photos? Penny and her husband had been married for years. If someone had photos of her husband with another man, either that person must have kept the photos for years or her husband had been having an affair after marrying Penny.

 

[davidt]

"Give me ten grand or I'll send the photos to all your neighbours, work colleagues and clients, and to the parents at your children's school?"

What photos? Penny and her husband had been married for years. If someone had photos of her husband with another man, either that person must have kept the photos for years or her husband had been having an affair after marrying Penny.

It could be or Penny herself having an affair. Or perhaps some sort of dodgy business deal. The events in the run up to her death would reasonably fit with something like that. The phone call, AB saying she was not herself and on edge. Subsequently drawing out a lot of unaccounted for cash and then the mystery meeting on the morning of her death. I know the counter is that the police haven't come up with anything on this but they haven't come up with anything else eitther and something happened to her.