Ashton is famous for its annual World Conker Championship, as well as a horrific murder that is steeped in the local folklore and still to this day the subject of much speculation and discussion around dinner tables and in local drinking establishments. It was always thought that there may one day be a ‘deathbed confession’, but now that over 67 years have passed this is looking more and more unlikely.
Unsolved Murders
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Catrine da Costa
Catrine da Costa, 28, was a sex worker from Stockholm, Sweden. On 18 July, 1984, parts of her dismembered body were discovered in bin bags in Solna. There were two main suspects: two doctors. However, nobody was ever convicted of her brutal murder.
The Angel of the Meadow
It is now almost 10 years ago that Jane Doe was found in Manchester, England. Her skeletal remains were discovered wrapped in a carpet by construction workers on 25th January 2010, on the site of an old car park in an area known as Angel Meadows.
The Dardeen Family Murders
The name “Dardeen” resonates with the residents of Ina, Southern Illinois, who think back to a gruesome quadruple murder that took place in their sleepy hamlet in the late 1980s. Life in Ina was simple. There was a store, a gas station, a firehouse, a bank, a post office and little all else. But then in 1987, this settlement was rocked by a grisly murder that still remains unsolved today.
Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
In April of 1943, a group of young boys discovered the skull of a woman lodged inside a Wych Elm in Hagley Woods, West Midlands. She became known as “Bella” and after the discovery, graffiti asking “Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?” began to appear throughout the town.
Missing at the Canyon – Glen & Bessie Hyde
According to an unofficial count, almost 800 deaths have been documented at the Grand Canyon. None of these deaths have been as mysterious as the disappearance of newly married couple Glen and Bessie Hyde in the winter of 1928.
The Little Red Riding Hood Murder of Muriel Drinkwater
12-year-old Muriel Drinkwater was found shot dead in a forest nearby her home in Penllergaer, Swansea, Wales, in 1946. To this day, nobody has ever been charged with her murder.
Lula Lake & The Murders of Orville Steele & Carolyn Newell
Orville Steele and Carolyn Newell were teenage lovers that vanished one evening while at Lula Lake. The following week, their bound bodies were discovered. Carolyn had been bound, raped, beaten & strangled. Orville had been tied to a tree and strangled.
Who Killed the Masked Marvel?
Shortly after 5PM on the 12th of September, 1943, a Sedan was spotted driving erratically and meandering through Washington Blvd., barely missing a telephone pole before crashing into a bean field near Thatcher Ave. A man emerged from the wreckage wearing just a pair of white swimming trunks. He was covered in blood and stumbled into the field before collapsing in the field.
The Unsolved Murder of Amber Hagerman
Amber Hagerman, 9, was abducted while playing with her brother in an abandoned grocery store parking lot in Arlington Texas. Four days later, her body was found. Her killer had kept her alive for two days before killing her. Her brutal murder still remains unsolved.