Caroline Harris-Reed (Unsolved Murder)

In April 1981, 22 year old old student Caroline Harris-Reed went to stay with a friend in South London. Her friend was nervous about being alone in her new flat and Caroline thought the short visit would be a good opportunity to look for a summer job. On the evening of the 8th the pair were in the flat waiting for a mutual friend to join them when a violent intruder burst in, threatening the young women at knifepoint.  After a harrowing two hour ordeal  Caroline was left dead and the intruder fled into the night. He has yet to be brought to justice.


Sources for the episode can be found here 

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Caroline Harris-Reed

Caroline Harris-Reed was born on October 10th 1958. Her parents Michael and Jean were farmers from Buckinghamshire, a non-metropolitan county in the south east of England. The family lived at Prestwood Farm, Moat Lane which is near the town of Great Missenden. There is not a lot of information about Caroline but it is known that she loved horses and enjoyed skiing. I believe she had aspirations to become a teacher. In 1980 Caroline obtained a place at Exeter University in the south west of England to study English. I’m speculating that in her first year at uni she stayed in halls of residence, as is customary for freshers. In the second year of her degree Caroline shared a cottage in the small village of Dunchideock which lies a half hour drive south of Exeter. 

In early April 1981 Caroline went back to visit her parents during the Easter break. While staying at the family farm the 22 year old made plans to visit her friend in London. I am going to refer to this friend as Janet, though this is not her real name. I have changed it to maintain the person's privacy. Janet, also 22, was a student nurse and shared a flat on South Lambeth Road in Stockwell, South London with another nurse named Sarah. Janet did not like being alone in the flat, especially at night. This happened frequently when her flatmate Sarah was working night shifts at the hospital. Janet invited Caroline to stay and keep her company on Wednesday April 8th as this coincided with one of Sarah’s scheduled nights to work. Caroline readily agreed to come and visit as she would use the opportunity to look for a summer job in the capital. It wasn't a long journey; Great Missenden to that part of South London is about an hour and 20 mins by car and even quicker by train. 

South Lambeth Road was a bit run down and had a reputation for being a place used by sex workers. By contrast the part Janet lived in had seen some improvements. She had only moved into the flat about a month before. It was on the second floor of an end of  terrace house which had been redeveloped over the previous 18 months. The house had been converted into six individual flats. Two were unsold and one was owned by a person who lived abroad, which left three occupied. Janet and Sarah were in one and one of the other flats was occupied by a doctor.

One of the issues researching this case has been that literally nothing has been written about it in over 40 years. Contemporary newspaper reports are curiously vague about dates and timings of events. From what I have deduced, the incident which I'm about to describe took place on the evening of Wednesday April 8th but went on into the very early hours of Thursday April 9th 1981.

That evening Janet's flat mate Sarah went off to work at the hospital leaving Janet and Caroline  alone in the flat. The pair invited their 24 year old mutual friend Andrew to join them at the flat for the evening. Andrew, a building surveyor, had been on the skiing holiday where they had all met. 

The young women were chatting and waiting for Andrew to arrive when the flat buzzer went off. They both presumed it was their expected guest. There are slightly conflicting stories about what happened next. Initially newspaper reports suggested that the flat internal comms system was broken and Janet simply pressed the button to unlock the outer door which allowed the visitor inside the building. Twelve months later in court Janet said that after hearing the buzzer she asked through the comms system if it was Andy. The person responded with just “Hello”. Assuming it was Andy, Janet pressed the button and let the person in. 

I imagine Janet and Caroline were then waiting for Andy to knock on the flat front door after he had made his way up the stairs. After waiting a few minutes and not hearing anything more Janet went to her front front door to see what had happened to their friend. As she opened it a man, whom she did not know barged past her inside the flat. From his position as she opened the door she thought he had been spying through the keyhole.

What followed next was one of the most terrifying encounters I've come across since doing this podcast. Please be warned some of the details are very disturbing.

The intruder went straight to the kitchen and got a knife with a 18cm blade and a potato peeler from a drawer. He then corralled Caroline and Janet into the living room. The petrified women were ordered at knife point to strip naked. He held the potato peeler to their throats in order to threaten them into complying with this command. They were then subjected to a two hour ordeal of sexual humiliation. The intruder barked instructions at them to kiss and fondle each other while he ranted and raved about his sexual fantasies. This culminated in him sexually assaulting Caroline, though he did not rape her or ejaculate. 

While the attack was going on their friend Andy arrived at the flat. He had travelled from his home in Reigate, Surrey which is about an hour's drive away. Andy buzzed the flat but received no reply. He thought this very odd, but assumed the comms system may be broken. He picked up some gravel stoves and threw them at the second floor window to try and get the attention of Janet and Caroline. After failing to get a response he then telephoned the flat twice. This was long before mobile phones so I presume he must have found a public pay phone to do this. (In 1981 there would have been lots of these about). After getting no reply Andy left feeling puzzled. During Andy’s many attempts to  contact Janet and Caroline the intruder was completely unphased. It seemed he was not worried about getting caught. 

Both women were desperately trying to think of a way out of the situation. As a ploy to try, Janet feigned illness and claimed to be suffering from heart problems. This did make the intruder pause and take stock. He then forced Caroline to help him carry Janet to her bedroom. Janet told him about the doctor who lived in their building and the intruder said he would go and contact him. He did not do this. Instead he took Caroline into the second bedroom.

Twenty minutes passed as Janet lay on her bed trying to come up with a plan. The relative quiet was then heard broken by the sound of a gasp from the other room and Janet heard Caroline softly call her name. Moments later the intruder burst into Janet's room. He stood with the large knife in his hand. It was covered in blood. Janet must have thought the man was going to stab her. However he did not. He placed the knife down and went out of the room. 

Thinking on her feet Janet realised her only chance of survival was to get rid of the knife. While the intruder was out of the room she took the opportunity and hurriedly hid the blade. Moments later he returned and realised straight away that Janet had moved the weapon. He launched himself at her grabbing her around the throat. Janet let out a loud scream and in response he  jammed his hand down her throat. By some miracle Janet was able to let out another loud scream and with that the man jumped up and ran out of the flat, leaving Janet shaking but relieved to be alive.

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When police arrived at the flat they found Caroline’s body lying on its back on the bedroom floor. A blood stained tweed jacket had been placed over the top of her naked body by the killer before he had left the scene. At a local hospital Pathologist Ian West carried out a medical examination and determined that Caroline would have died in seconds. She was stabbed through the left breast. The wound penetrated 15 cm deep and caused massive bleeding. The wound suggested that the knife had been twisted as it was thrust into the body. It was judged that the body had been dragged across the floor by the killer and had been positioned by bloodstained hands. The body had been mutilated after death. Caroline's right breast was cut off.

Caroline’s parents Michael and Jean were informed of what had happened on Thursday. Relatives and friends went to be with them to provide support and comfort. Family members were in utter shock over what had happened and could not speak publicly about it. Caroline’s sister was approached for comment but did not want to say anything. Close friends did talk to the media about the sheer horror and injustice of how Caroline had been taken from them. A neighbour told the Bucks Examiner on  April 17th 1981 that people in the local vicinity were stunned. Locals all spoke highly of Caroline, saying she was a lovely person with a wonderful family. One neighbour teared up as she expressed how she felt. 

Although Janet did not have any serious physical injuries she was obviously suffering the psychological and mental effects of surviving such a harrowing ordeal. Though she was sedated by medical staff the police were keen to ask her questions to see if they could discover the identity of Caroline’s killer. In early press reports police referred to the assailant as a psychopath and sex maniac; a term commonly used at the time to describe a sexually motivated attacker.

Janet was able to give a description of the intruder. He was described as being 5ft 6, or 168cm and well built with a protruding stomach which hung over the top of his trousers. It's referred to as a “beer gut” in some descriptions. He wore a white shirt, dark trousers, and an oatmeal coloured tweed jacket with rounded lapels and pockets without flaps. (This was left at the scene covering Caroline’s body.) The man was described as having large drooping cheeks like a hamster. Another distinguishing feature was that he had one nostril significantly smaller than the other. The smaller nostril was so closed up it looked like the man would struggle to breathe through it. Janet noticed this clearly when the man was on top of her on the bed trying to choke her. Reading initial reports it seems this detail was left out of the description of the man reported in newspapers. I am guessing this was deliberately omitted by the police. However, it is a feature that would later prove important.

There was no doubt that the man was a stranger to both Janet and Caroline. Police speculated that the attacker had likely been building up to such an incident for some time. He was  likely a “Peeping Tom” who frequented the area and had gradually escalated his behaviour, culminating in this violent outburst. Detectives believed the man may have been attracted to the flat  because the kitchen had a red light bulb. In an area renowned for sex work they suggested the man may have been out looking for sex workers. Police warned other people to stop using red bulbs if they were doing so. Detective Chief Superintendent Jerry Plowman, who was leading the investigation, warned the public that this man could strike again. 

Police appealed for people to come forward with anything they may have seen or heard but investigators obtained precious little information. One woman named Betty who lived opposite Janet's flat said that in the early hours of Thursday she heard a commotion coming from across the road but assumed it was drunk people messing around. This was a pretty common occurrence in the area so she did not think anything of it. 

Two identikits were made of the man and released to the public but even so, very little news came out publicly about the case in the months following Caroline's murder. The horrific violence displayed in the murder and the terrifying ordeal Janet had gone through did, however, touch the hearts of people across the country. Caroline’s murder was mentioned in a national petition together with five other brutal killings of women which had occurred in the recent past. The petition was organised by the mother of murdered student, Virginia Maunder. The 20 year old  was killed in Devon, South West England in February 1981. Her mother Clio was looking for signatures to back a motion calling for harsher sentences for those found guilty of murder and manslaughter. 

In September 1981 Caroline’s murder was featured on an ITV crime show called  “Shaw Taylor’s Police Five programme”. Information about the murder was shared, with the added detail that the man who killed Caroline was believed to have driven away from the scene in an Austin Allegro car. 

Around this time an inquest into Caroline’s death was delayed and scheduled to take place in April the following year. The general feeling was that with no one having been charged the likelihood was that the inquest would have to conclude murder by persons unknown. As it turned out, Spring 1982  witnessed the first of two trials for the murder of Caroline Harris-Reed. The story of how this came about began just two days after her murder.

On or near Friday April 10th 1981, a 21 year old man walked into Clapham police station in South London on unrelated business. This man's full name was printed in newspapers at the time but it has not been mentioned publicly at all since 1982 so for that reason I am going to use the pseudonym “Jack”. Jack worked in a warehouse as a storeman and lived on South Lambeth Road in Selway House, a property directly opposite Janet's flat. 

While at the police station one of the police officers on duty noticed that Jack had a nose much like the one Janet had mentioned in her description of the man who had killed Caroline. If you remember, one nostril was noticeably smaller than the other. According to an article in the Guardian on May 11th 1982 police brought Janet to the police station and led her into a small room. Jack was in the room with his head tilted right back with police officers covering the rest of his face. Janet was shown the underside of Jack's nose and she immediately burst into tears. 

Janet was not shown the rest of Jack's face because he did not match the height description she had earlier given of the man who had held her captive. She had said he was 5 ft 6 or 168cm. I am not sure if Jack was taller or short than this and how significant the difference was. From Janet's emotional reaction it was clear that Jack’s nose was very similar to that of the man who had killed Caroline. The extent of any subsequent investigation into Jack at this juncture is unclear. He was not arrested at this time. It wasn't until seven months later in November 1981 that Jack was put in an ID parade. This was only after he had been arrested for another offence. 

On November 12th 1981 an 18 year old who I’m calling Emily was walking her dog near South Lambeth Road. I’ve decided against using this person's real name in order to protect their privacy. Emily was approached by a man she did not know who proceeded to threaten her. He then put his arm around her neck and touched her inappropriately. Emily believed the man had a knife. He told her “If you scream you're dead”. Just at that point Emily’s dog started barking at the man and another man started walking toward them to see what was going on. The attacker fled on foot.. 

Not long after  Jack was arrested in connection with the attack on Emily. It was then that detectives began to seriously look at him for Caroline’s murder. An ID parade was held on November 16th in which all the men in the lineup wore plasters over their noses. This was so Jack's nose could not be viewed. Janet was led into the room. Shaking, she walked straight up to Jack, raised her hand and pointed at his belly. She said that was the man who had murdered Caroline and held her hostage for 2 hours.

Jack was put on trial for Caroline’s murder at the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, in May 1982. A separate trial was scheduled later that year for the attack on 18 year old Emily. The jury in the murder case were not informed of the charge relating to the attack on Emily. 

Jack maintained he was innocent of Caroline’s murder. He claimed on the evening she was killed he had been at a pub, before returning to his home because he felt unwell and going straight to sleep.  

Janet was asked by the lawyer for the defence if her  identification of Jack could be wrong. She answered “I know it’s him”. Detective Inspector David Hewitson told the court that Janet’s identification of the defendant was one of the most dramatic and clearest he had ever witnessed. 

Jack was put on the stand and asked about pornographic material found by police officers under his bed. He claimed that he had been given the magazines and only read them for “jokes and stories”. When asked he denied having a sexual fascination with lesbianism. 

I have seen no record of any forensic evidence being brought against the defendant. There is no mention that Jack's fingerprints were found at the scene. As far as I'm aware the intruder did not lose any blood himself at the scene and as I have mentioned, no semen was present.There is no mention of fibres or hair stands being found at the scene.Also  please remember the murder was committed in 1981 and while I am sure forensic investigators would have been aware that  major developments in this field were on their way, it was still five years before DNA evidence would be used to convict someone in a British court. 

Justice McCowan, presiding, summed up proceedings by saying the sole issue in the trial revolved around the identification of the defendant by the survivor of the attack, Janet. The judge warned the jury of convicting on this issue alone and said while the witness may be honest, they could be mistaken. He did add that Janet had been with the intruder for two hours and had seen him close up, from several different angles and under good lighting. 

The jury deliberated for seven hours but could not agree on a verdict. The whole trial lasted just seven days. Justice McCowan offered a retrial which was scheduled for September 1982. This went ahead as planned. On this occasion, Jack was found not guilty. 

The news of the not guilty verdict could not be broken at the time as Jack was involved in legal proceedings for the assault on 18 year old Emily. On October 29th 1982 Jack admitted indecently assaulting Emily in November 1981. Despite his guilty plea, Jack walked out of court a free man. While the judge agreed that the assault on Emily had been both frightening and nasty he decreed Jack had already served his sentence. Jack had been in jail since his arrest in November 1981 which totalled 10 months behind bars. He had spent that time in voluntary solitary confinement. The maximum sentence the judge could hand down for his assault on Emily was 2 years. Due to Jack’s record of good behaviour while incarcerated, ten months was deemed an appropriate and satisfactory sentence. 

When it was clear Jack was going to walk free, Emily's mum shouted from the gallery “There is no justice in this land”. The judge told her to be quiet but added that her outburst was understandable. Emily, who had been  unable to go out after dark since the attack, left the court in floods of tears.  

Jack’s family and girlfriend had stood by him through the previous ten months and the charges he had faced. The Bucks Examiner reported on November 5th 1982 that after his ordeal Jack planned to marry and leave the area.

This is the last piece of information I can find on this case. As of the release of this podcast episode no one has ever been brought to justice for Caroline’s murder and terrifying assault on Janet. 

If you have any information about the 1981 murder of Caroline Harris-Reed you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Sources

https://tinyurl.com/4hsh9na9