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

[MelmothTheLost]

One possible explanation for the £8,500 which I don't think has been mentioned is money laundering. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, far more transactions involved cash payments, including fairly large ones such as buying a car, than is the case today. Penny was a wealthy business woman - how wealthy, and was all of her income/wealth accounted for by legitimate means? Could she have become involved in some form of crime which was starting to worry her, hence her being reported to have been concerned during the days leading up to her murder?

Money laundering was enough of a concern at the time that Parliament was debating it and reports were being written about how to deal with it. In addition, the Iron Curtain had come down in 1989 and there was a lot of movement out of Eastern Europe, including by nascent organised crime networks, in the early 1990s.

 

[davidt]

One possible explanation for the £8,500 which I don't think has been mentioned is money laundering. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, far more transactions involved cash payments, including fairly large ones such as buying a car, than is the case today. Penny was a wealthy business woman - how wealthy, and was all of her income/wealth accounted for by legitimate means? Could she have become involved in some form of crime which was starting to worry her, hence her being reported to have been concerned during the days leading up to her murder?

Money laundering was enough of a concern at the time that Parliament was debating it and reports were being written about how to deal with it. In addition, the Iron Curtain had come down in 1989 and there was a lot of movement out of Eastern Europe, including by nascent organised crime networks, in the early 1990s.

It was a joint account so her husband's money would also be of interest in that respect.

 

[tes1984]

Do you have any links on this please?

From Wiki:

Penny had withdrawn £8,500 from her and her husband's joint bank account on 3 June 1991, three days before her death. She had never previously withdrawn such a large sum of cash and it remains unaccounted for.

Same on Crimewatch reconstruction

18 minutes in.

If she had done the same previously I'd have thought there'd be a good idea what it was for. She drew it out three days beforehand which is why it is difficult to know where it went and when.

In Donal Macintyre's documentary her daughter says it wasn't unusual for her to draw out large sums of cash. It doesn't however say how much or what it was used for to give any real context.

I don't have the newspaper links to hand but IIRC it was Alistair Bell who said it.

Penny had spent a fortune on the house renovations. Alistair said she had been drawing out big amounts of cash to pay builders on a regular basis.

 

[tes1984]

It was a joint account so her husband's money would also be of interest in that respect.

Money laundering is an interesting possibility. Although Penny was extremely successful and didn't really need to be sneaking around to make an extra few thousand pounds. You never know though.

 

[dotr]

9 June 2024

As BBC show marks 40th anniversary: Cases Crimewatch couldn't crack

Crimewatch was an extraordinary tool for catching crooks - helping police crack open more than 5,000 cases including hundreds of high-profile murders.

www.dailymail.co.uk

'As Crimewatch celebrates its 40th anniversary - having first aired on June 7, 1984 - MailOnline looks back on the most high-profile cases the programme COULDN'T solve:'

Successful businesswoman Penny Bell was stabbed more than 50 times in the car park of a west London leisure centre in a horrific attack on 6 June 1991
'When she was found her handbag was open behind the front passenger seat and still contained all of her personal belongings and it did not appear that anything had been stolen.

Strangely, Ms Bell had withdrawn £8,500 from her bank in the days before her death. Where the money is, and who she met the day she was killed, are all questions that remain unanswered.

In 2019 a new witness came forward that told police that, on the day Ms Bell was killed, they saw a man in his underwear who appeared wet, as if he had just washed, walking across a footbridge that crosses the A40 Western Avenue in Greenford. The man has never come forward or been identified.'

 

[davidt]

I don't have the newspaper links to hand but IIRC it was Alistair Bell who said it.

Penny had spent a fortune on the house renovations. Alistair said she had been drawing out big amounts of cash to pay builders on a regular basis.

I know way back on this thread that I said they made a lot of it being the most she had ever drawn but gave no clue how much more than usual it was. Making it very hard to judge the significance of this particular withdrawal.

 

[sportstergirl]

How did Penny withdraw £8500 cash in one day? I was limited to £250 despite there being more than this in my account around the same time. I needed £400 cash to buy a car, luckily the seller was OK about me paying him over 2 days.
I'd wrongly assumed Robert Napper to be guilty of this awful crime so it's back to square one!

 

[tes1984]

How did Penny withdraw £8500 cash in one day? I was limited to £250 despite there being more than this in my account around the same time. I needed £400 cash to buy a car, luckily the seller was OK about me paying him over 2 days.
I'd wrongly assumed Robert Napper to be guilty of this awful crime so it's back to square one!

I don't think Penny would have had a daily limit on how much cash she could withdraw. She was finishing the extremely expensive house renovation, and sometimes paid the builders in cash.

Napper is still a possibility. One witness saw a man get into a car (stationary in traffic) on Penny's route.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Money laundering is an interesting possibility. Although Penny was extremely successful and didn't really need to be sneaking around to make an extra few thousand pounds. You never know though.

Indeed, you never know. We don't know that all of Penny's wealth had come from legitimate sources. The whole point of money laundering is, after all, to take funds, usually cash, from criminal or terrorist sources and to insert them into the legitimate financial system so that their origin is no longer obvious. Part of that process is "layering", ie moving funds through a number of transactions in such a way as to disguise their source.

 

[tes1984]

If the £8,500 was the largest amount she'd drawn to date I have four questions.

1) How often did she used to draw cash?
2) How much did she usually draw?
3) What did she usually use it for?
4) What was the date and amount of the last cash withdrawal prior to this one?

There's a lot of mentioning of the £8,500 but very little context. Paying for the building work was apparently ruled out. Her daughter thinks she had it with her that morning. If she had drawn out larger amounts previously what was that used for?

Excellent questions, and I would also like to know how money was paid into the joint account.

Did Penny and Alistair transfer a set amount from their individual bank accounts each month?

 

[tes1984]

I was also wondering how much of a cash element was involved in Penny's catering recruitment agency.

I have no idea about how such businesses were run in the early 90s. How did she negotiate the big contracts for society events? Could there have been cash payments under the table to secure deals?

It was mentioned that Penny was very good at collecting unpaid invoices, with the company only very rarely having to go through the courts. I wonder if she ever used debt collectors/hired muscle to help persuade reluctant payers.

 

[davidt]

I was also wondering how much of a cash element was involved in Penny's catering recruitment agency.

I have no idea about how such businesses were run in the early 90s. How did she negotiate the big contracts for society events? Could there have been cash payments under the table to secure deals?

It was mentioned that Penny was very good at collecting unpaid invoices, with the company only very rarely having to go through the courts. I wonder if she ever used debt collectors/hired muscle to help persuade reluctant payers.

No idea but I do know some recruitment agencies make enormous profits depending on their specialities. How much cash may be involves another matter. It's not the sort of business you'd immediately associate with handling large amounts of cash but you never know. Think her husband was an estate agent?

 

[lee sumner]

I don't have the newspaper links to hand but IIRC it was Alistair Bell who said it.

Penny had spent a fortune on the house renovations. Alistair said she had been drawing out big amounts of cash to pay builders on a regular basis.

I have a true crime magazine that covers the penny bell case. a crime case study. here is the cost of the renovations. the improvements involved a 120,000 extention and a 12,000 designer fitted kitchen, as well as some basic decorating in her bedroom.

 

[lee sumner]

The above information is from Wikipedia. I wanted to add this case as it has recently been the subject of an hour documentary in the Donal MacIntyre Unsolved series. The aspect of the case which most staggers me is the time of day and place of the murder. This was a busy area and a busy time, surely this was not a plan? The Unsub must have been covered with blood after the attack, add to this that Penny supposedly tried to solicit help by turning on her hazard lights, windscreen wipers and driving very slowly and it seems hard to understand how more eyewitnesses were not tracked down.

The documentary made much of the fact she had withdrawn £8, 500 in cash a few days earlier and was carrying that amount with her when she was attacked. The money has never been found and the husband had no idea what it was for, the withdrawal was not covered up by Penny as it was taken from the couples joint account. The investigation spent a great deal of time focused on the husband but he had an alibi and the police could not find a motive for him. Although it was not said in the documentary the whiteboard in the background noted that police had a partial palm print from the car that they believe to be from the suspect.

I feel very much for the daughter robbed so violently of her mother when she was a young girl. So I throw it open in the hope that some sharp minds from here might have some ideas.

DS brian edwards the SIO in charge of the investigation knows who the killer is, but he could never prove it. this is what i heard.

 

[lee sumner]

f

Penny's business partner, a Mr K Flynn took sole directorship of their business "Coverstaff Limited" after her murder, and by the 19th of June he was noted on Companies house as sole director. I wonder how much interest Police have paid to Mr Flynn and any possible involvement there?

Has there ever been any report as to what Penny was wearing? Since she was running late for an appointment it might be relevant to know if she was dressed business smart, or casual. In 1991 it was still the norm to 'dress up' for the office or to meet clients. I think a lot could be gleaned from her attire. If it was say a wallpaper salesman she might have only worn jeans, intending to return home after and supervise the building work. Was she intending to go into the office afterwards or day off?

Also why was she running late? A reluctance to go or just a hectic morning. One would think the children would have been off to school much earlier, leaving her plenty of time to get ready and be on time.

Have they looked at where she would have been 10 minutes from her house by car for a pick up location at 9:50? That is roughly halfway between home and the leisure centre which is 20 minutes away. (google maps shows the route Google Maps )

I should watch some of the documentaries and appeals to see if any of these questions have been answered. Will do so later.

she wearing a pink dress when she was killed.

 

[lee sumner]

Why was her window down for him to stab her through? She could have shouted if it was open before that, instead of miming for help. I would have thought he'd have just opened the driver's door to stab her.

i thought the same, and if penny had the hazard lights flashing, the killer would have turned them off straight away.

 

[Terryb808]

DS brian edwards the SIO in charge of the investigation knows who the killer is, but he could never prove it. this is what i heard.

Is this the former case detective that has been helping Penny’s daughter?

 

[lee sumner]

A couple of other things about the car park. If the killer had already left a “getaway” care there he’d have no way of knowing if he could park anywhere near it when he returned in Penny’s car. If he couldn’t what would he have done? If it was premeditated why choose such a public and busy place?

I guess it’s pure speculation whether the car park was specifically chosen in advance or chosen on the spur of the moment.

he could still slip away easy. i dont believe he left on foot, so he had to have a vehicle in that car park.

 

[lee sumner]

I minded to agree the car park was just a convenient place either for Penny or the attacker to get off the road. I didn't realise just how overgrown the spot where she parked was and it gives more shielding than I realised.

Has it ever been confirmed what weapon was used? Presumably a knife of some sort? Forensics are usually pretty good at working out what sort of knife and so on. I did wonder with 50 stab wounds if it was something quite small.

Could it be possible Penny had the £8,500 with her in order to pay someone off or a blackmailer or perhaps for some sort of deal but changed her mind and refused to hand it over leading to her passenger attacking her?

I did wonder if it was possible she picked up a random hitchhiker who attacked her but given she was already apparently running late that doesn't seem likely.

As for Richmond he comes across as a fantasist. That said his fingerprints were in the car and he did claim to have met her that day. Presumably the police had good reason to discount him so quickly. Which brings me on to another point. Has it ever been stated what, if any, other fingerprints/DNA were found and if any of them remained unidentified?

i think the money is connected to the murder, but in what way. if PB was killed in a crime of passion, its weird because she does not seem to have been having an affair. when women are killed in crimes of passion, its after a relationship has ended, but detectives on the case said she was not having an affair with any man.

 

[lee sumner]

Just watched the Donal MacIntyre documentary where he assembles a crack team and comes up with...absolutely nothing new. They didn't mention the John Richmond character at all, yet his fingerprints were found in the car and he later tried to sell a story to the tabloids claiming he'd met her that morning. Why would he draw attention to himself? Unless he has a need to be associated with it.

Perhaps Penny was trying to buy someone off. She was a handsome woman who no doubt had admirers perhaps one of them became obsessed (can we say for definite that she'd not had a sexual encounter with a third party at some point?), wouldn't be bought off and it ended with an all or nothing situation, and the frenzied, if I can't have you no-one will, attack. Perhaps she'd already given him the £8,500 by then. He wouldn't need a car to get away if he had a bag with him and put overalls on to hide the blood. Do people remember anything about other people in busy places? I was in a supermarket yesterday with at least a hundred other people and I couldn't even desribe one now, not even the operative who took the security tag off my booze. The back of the car park leads straight on to park land.

And the earlier sighting near the Bridgettine Convent only said the man was standing near a car and not that he got out of it. Perhaps he'd caught a bus or came on foot, and that was just an agreed pick up point.

In one of the documentaries, a long knife was referenced but I don't know what that was based on. I did wonder whether she had taken it from her own kitchen that morning for defence and it was turned on her. It's frustrating that we do not have access to the autopsy and coroner's reports.

The decorative samples that she took with her and that were laid out in the car would perhaps fit with her meeting Richmond, who was not only a family friend but a builder. His prints were in the car (the only ones acknowledged by the investigation) and he has stated that he met her that morning. Did he take the £8,500? There's something odd about him. He almost wants to put himself in plain sight. I can't recall any other forensic evidence being publicly acknowledged. Would be interesting to learn the basis upon which Richmond was ruled out by investigators. There are no photos of him that I can find to compare with any witness accounts.

richmond was cleared. he is not the killer, but the detectives working the case know who killed penny, but they could not prove it.