Yes, this stuff is definitely interesting. But again we come back to what we discussed the other day - if criminals are fundamentally dishonest people who aren’t to be believed then that has to be applied to everything they say, from their alibis, to their confessions.
I must admit I’ve not read CBD’s book and probably should at some point but I don’t believe Cannan ever said anything to police that wasn’t already known, no ‘only the killer could know this’ kind of detail? It all strikes me as a guy trying to toy with policemen who were better briefed and far smarter than he was, to the point where it’s pretty obvious he’s talking a load of claptrap and he just comes off looking like a berk.
This is revealing in its own way, I suppose. Was Cannan attempting to con Suzy in some way and she saw through him and so he killed her? Perhaps. But as others have said, we’ve no evidence the two had ever met, never mind that they engaged in a long-ish affair. As you’ve discussed, there may be names and numbers in Suzy’s diary that police have overlooked for one reason or another over the years but the Met’s appetite to dig in to this stuff now seems nonexistent sadly.
SW may apparently be looked into again in the light of new info & in theory the SL case still open. It may mean a few other things could be researched in parallel.
I am interested in what action could be taken to try to usefully move things forward. Using DNA to nail JC for SC’s murder may be possible. For various reasons I think the odds are good he wrote the confession letter (the writing was said to look like JC’s with left hand by an expert but that’s not my only reason) & if the police still have it they can possibly easily rule him in or out for writing this at least. If JC killed SC in May it may have unfortunately whetted his appetite for murderous behaviour again.
Looking again at the hair in the car (sierra) re: DNA too, less straightforward but it might be poss to rule SL & SC in or out. There is no evidence the hair belonged to SL via DNA & real misinformation out there on this.
Using the same surname as DH for the imagined car dealer may be a coincidence but’s it’s moderately uncommon. If that postcard from him (would his surname be on it?) or written to him with SL intending to post (then, yes), poss interesting. This would mean some heavy research on JC’s part & him poss rifling lost possessions. He did have form, hiring PI on AR etc, but on balance this seems unlikely IMO.
On SB is there a chance her body could have been undiscovered. It was many months before it was - thinking re: JC’s MO. If Norton B SL’s final resting place he likely took her there alive. He killed SB in situ.
They’ll be small ads connected to some of the phone numbers in contacts book -assuming there are many -almost certainly. That might provide further clues on some. One of them in press for other things later on -colourful. He was later investigated for murder & cleared.
He apparently met SL in a new & expensive gym. Why was she there? Was any membership known & confirmed by her parents? How could she afford it?
Another man was eliminated from contacts as said SL wanted to buy a car from him. Source AS. Did this tally? Was she looking for a car at this time? Did he advertise it in papers? Which car was for sale?
The police were thorough at eliminating Sturgis clients - 200 plus looked at. However, AS said only a fraction of her contacts were looked at as too many (?) Will find quote. If Barley does another podcast etc a question might be did the police consider & fine tooth comb all of these? Any involved client likely off the books after all.
Very difficult 40 years later of course.
On JC’s MO the police made connections between the anonymous roses received by SL & JC’s habit of sending them & champagne - much more common in 80s.
CBD worth reading. He found the pay & display ticket putting JC’s feet on ground in same time/place re: SC. His correspondence with JC I think a rich source of evidence too. JC’s prison novels should be looked also. I feel there might be a hidden nugget too in SL’s contact book. Anyone reviewing all needs to be very well versed in case from earliest days or so easy to miss a clue. All the debris & items found in JC’s boot interesting - inc x2 champagne corks.
SB mini plates? What’s your view here? JC told Barley in interview about 3 victims.
