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shyscyberchamber.com
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UNSOLVED CRIMES |
Date
Added |
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The Motorway Monster |
September 2002 |
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The brutal
killing of an attractive woman hitchhiker led to Britain's biggest
every motorway murder hunt. In all, 1,500 police officers quizzed more
than 125,000 people and took nearly 50,000 statements in their
fruitless bid to track down the killer of schoolteacher Barbara Mayo.
Tall, dark-haired Barbara set off from her flat in Hammersmith,
London, in October 1970 to hitchhike to Catterick, Yorkshire, to pick
up her boyfriend's car which had broken down there. Her own car had
been giving her trouble and she did not want to risk a breakdown in
it. Two days after she had left London, her boyfriend physics graduate
David Pollard, reported her missing.
Four days later a miner rambling with his family in a wood just off
the M1 at Ault Hucknall, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, stumbled on
her partly clothed body under a pile of leaves. Barbara, aged 24, had
been raped and strangled.
Police knew it would be a tough case to crack. For the most baffling
murder cases are those in which an element of association between
victim and killer is missing. In the case of Barbara Mayo, there were
no locals with helpful information, she was found 321km (200 miles)
from home and there was nothing to connect her murderer with her or
the area where she was found. The killer could have been a commercial
traveler, a commuter or a driver looking for casual sex with
hitchhikers.
The police investigators - headed by Detective Chief Superintendent
Charles Palmer of Scotland Yard - followed up every lead. They spent
months checking thousands of Morris 1000 Travellers after a witness
said he had seen Barbara, or a girl matching her description, in a
white Morris Traveller at Kimberley, Nottinghamshire. At that time
more than 100,000 of this type of car were still on the road. Each
owner had to be traced and eliminated from the investigation.
The murder hunt also revealed something of the murky world of the
motorway hitchhiker. In tests along the M1, police discovered that a
man might have to wait between 30 minutes and 2 hours for a lift. But
an attractive girl would be picked up in minutes. It seemed to
indicate that there were men who drove on motorways simply to pick up
girl hikers - and one of them might have picked up Barbara.
But the most worrying aspect was that girls, knowing the dangers they
faced, still hitchhiked alone - often wearing provocative clothing to
catch the eye of the drivers.
Police set up checkpoints along 320km (200 miles) of the M1 between
London and Leeds and asked motorists: 'Were you on this motorway 14
days ago? Did you see this girl?'
Each driver was shown a picture of Barbara with this description:
'Barbara Janet Mayo, aged 24 years, 1.7m (5 feet 9 inches), slim
build, high cheekbones, brown eyes, light tan complexion, good
teeth... wearing navy-blue coat with eight silver buttons, gold and
tan brocade slacks, hipster style, lilac jersey, blue socks, corduroy
lace-up shoes.' But nothing led the police any closer to 'The Monster
of the Motorway', as the newspapers dubbed the ruthless killer.
Next, police plastered posters with Barbara's picture and a detailed
description all over Britain. Chief Superintendent Palmer said: 'I let
it be know that if any motorist who had given a girl on the M1 on 12
October came forward, I would meet him anywhere - and his wife would
not be told.' But nobody came forward.
A London policewoman impersonating Barbara went from Barbara's flat by
tube to Hendon, where the M1 then began. She stood at the roadside,
thumbing lifts.
A butcher at Kimberley, Nottinghamshire, who saw the reconstruction on
television told police: 'I'm sure she came into my shop and asked for
two freshly cooked faggots.' She had then crossed the road and walked
down a hill towards the main road.
Was it Barbara Mayo? Or just another girl that looked like her? The
question remains unanswered.
Charles Palmer said:
'I still hope that somebody, somewhere will come forward with vital
information. And though there are people who can live with murder on
their conscience, I still don't rule out the possibility that the
person or persons responsible for Barbara's death with confess.'
There is one person, however, who believed that the police were
largely wasting their time in the nationwide search for Barbara's
killer. That person is her mother, widow Mrs Marjorie Mayo. She said:
'I have never believed that Barbara was hitchhiking. I believe her
murder took place in London and was carried out by somebody in a bad
crowd that Barbara had got in with. Her body was probably taken in her
own car and left by the M1 to put the police off the trail. She came
to see me the day before she disappeared. She said: 'Mummy I'm so
frightened.' But before she could explain, some people called at the
house and the conversation was lost.
Barbara is never far from my thoughts - she is still very real to me.
And I don't believe her murder will ever be solved.' |
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