Crimewatch
UK reveals developments in Lesley Molseed murder inquiry and speaks
to schoolgirl's mother
Detectives
investigating the murder in 1975 of 11-year-old schoolgirl, Lesley
Molseed, will launch a fresh appeal for information with news of
a DNA profile on Crimewatch UK on Wednesday 5 February. Lesley's
mother will speak exclusively about her daughter's murder.
Officers
from West Yorkshire Police will reveal that they are now in a position
to eliminate people from their inquiry, based on a DNA profile they
believe was left at the scene of the crime by Lesley's killer.
The
discovery of DNA came as a surprise as most of the evidence had
been disposed of in the 1970s and just a few fragments remained
in storage.
Detective
Chief Superintendent Max Mclean will be appealing to members of
the public for assistance in identifying the killer. "It may
be that someone has harboured a suspicion for 27 years that a friend,
relative or acquaintance could have killed this little girl,"
he says. "We now have the ability, through the development
of scientific methods, to eliminate these people once and for all."
Lesley's
mother, April, speaks to the programme about the loss of her daughter.
"When we heard the police had found DNA we were absolutely
elated, it's like all our Christmases rolled into one - it gives
us great hope," she says.
And
on Lesley's disappearance: "After two hours, I knew she was
gone - I could feel it in the whole of my body. And I never lost
that feeling, it just grew stronger and stronger and I thought I'm
never going to see her again."
She
also talks movingly about identifying Lesley's body: "My husband
woke me up and said the detectives think they've found Lesley. They
wanted us to go to Halifax. They took me down a corridor, into a
room, and she was lying on the table as though she was asleep. And
for one wonderful moment I thought she was asleep."
Crimewatch
UK, Wednesday 5 February at 9.00pm on 91热爆 ONE.
Notes
to Editors
Around
noon on Sunday 5 October 1975 Lesley Molseed left her home in Delamere
Road, Rochdale on an errand for her mother to buy a loaf of bread
and an air freshener from a local shop.
Three
days later her body was discovered on open moorland above the A672
Oldham to Halifax Road in Ripponden, West Yorkshire. She had been
stabbed 12 times and sexually assaulted.
Following
a major investigation, Stefan Kizsko, a tax clerk from Rochdale,
was convicted of her murder.
Following
an appeal he was released from prison in 1992 but died shortly afterwards.
The
murder investigation was re-opened at this time but without success
in tracing Lesley's killer.
In
2001 West Yorkshire police approached the forensic science service
to review the case and any material left from the original inquiry.
After
experimenting with new techniques, forensic scientists were able
to generate a DNA profile from semen found on Lesley's body. This
profile can be compared to suspects' DNA by means of a simple and
painless swabbing test. Suspects who have died since the murder
can also be tested.
Various
suspects from the original investigation have been eliminated, including
Peter Sutcliffe and Robert Black.
Diana's
mother to appeal through Crimewatch UK for return of jewellery worth
over 拢100,000 (16.12.02)
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