Alan Wood

Disclaimer: this article contains details which may be upsetting for some readers. Discretion is advised.

The tiny village of Lound, Lincolnshire houses approximately 400 residents, sitting five miles north-east of the market town of Louth, and two miles south-west of the town of Bourne. It's amenities include one pub, The Marquis of Granby, but no shops. In fact, if you search for the village on Google, Wikipedia will provide you with four short paragraphs including some information from the Domesday Book, but little else. The residents benefit from peace, quiet, and the tranquil surroundings of fields and hills - but are only a couple of miles from the nearest town with its shops, supermarkets and facilities.

However, the village was thrust into the spotlight in October 2009 when the body of one of the residents was found in the living room of his own property. It was far from a case of death by natural causes - police were quick to assess that the victim had been tortured before being murdered. The case remains open today, with police having a number of important puzzle pieces - except the identity of the killer.

This is the case of Alan Wood.

Image 1: a map of the area where Alan Wood lived, including Lound in the centre, Little Bytham to the left side, and Bourne to the upper right

In October 2009, Alan Wood was 50-years-old and lived alone in Manor Lodge, Edenham Road in Lound. He had previously been married to Joanne Wood but the couple had separated some six years earlier, although they remained on good terms.

Alan's mother, Maureen, and sister, Janice, lived a short distance away in Stamford, to the south-west of Lound. His other sister, Sylvia, had emigrated to France some years earlier. Family and friends described the 50-year-old as an easy-going, laid back, gentle man who enjoyed the small comforts in life. He worked hard, running a small gardening business and topping up his income by joining Sainsbury's in Bourne in 2006 to work night shifts - he reportedly enjoyed the comradery amongst the night team, and was very well-liked and respected amongst his colleagues.

In his free time, Alan enjoyed reading, watching old films and listening to music. He was a regular patron of the Willoughby Arms pub in the nearby village of Little Bytham, where he would often be found at the bar with a pint and a packet of Mini Cheddars, either reading the newspaper or chatting to friends.

He had an enthusiasm for motorbikes and was the proud owner of a black Triumph Speed Triple. He also enjoyed photography using old-fashioned manual cameras, steering away from the digital devices and phones which are commonly used today, and had been a successful photographer at a number of his friend's weddings.

Alan Wood was well-liked, amicable and enjoyed a simple life. What happened in October 2009, then, came as a shock not only to his friends and family, but to his colleagues, his drinking partners and the community of Lound and the surrounding towns. Not only was it unimaginable that such an awful act could happen to a peaceful, gentle man, but it was almost beyond belief that it could happen in a quiet, unassuming village in the middle of the Lincolnshire countryside.

Image 2: Alan Wood

The Discovery

Image 3: Alan Wood

Alan's colleagues at Sainsbury's had become increasingly concerned for his welfare after he failed to turn up to work his regular night shift. Worried enough, in fact, that the complete radio silence from him gave them cause to visit his home on Saturday 24th October 2009 to check if he was unwell and needed help.

The sight that met them when they arrived at Manor Lodge would likely stay with them for a very long time.

Alan was found on the floor of his living room with his hands bound by Sellotape, surrounded by blood, and with a number of stab wounds to the head. Several attempts had been made to cut his throat, and, in a disturbing move, the perpetrator (or perpetrators) had attempted to decapitate his head post-mortem via a laceration to the back of the neck, although the efforts had proved unsuccessful.

Forensic examination of Alan's body found that he had likely been tortured through a number of stab wounds to the eye. His cause of death was ultimately deemed to be a deep cut to the throat, although some documentation describes several cuts to the throat - perhaps it took the assailant more than one attempt, or other cuts formed part of the torture to which Alan was submitted. Detective Superintendent Stuart Morrison, who worked on Alan's case from the outset, would state in 2010 that the act of attempted decapitation '"could only be anger or possible self-gratification"'.

Police believed that Alan was deliberately targeted in the attack - he lived in a remote area with few residents, and had likely been tortured for up to three days before he was killed. Someone attempting to burgle the property would surely not have lingered for that length of time and risk being caught by a visitor.

Nothing was taken from the property except for Alan's bank cards, which were used during the days following his murder to withdraw a few hundred pounds from his accounts. Police surmised that the cause for the torture was to obtain the PIN numbers to his cards, but the force described the amount of violence used compared to the amount of financial gain as 'disproportionate'.

Image 4: Alan Wood

Image 5: The Willoughby Arms

Police were very thorough in their investigation into Alan's background in addition to his friends, family and acquaintances. They could find no-one who bore him a grudge, or who had even an ounce of motive to do him harm. Alan himself had never been known to police and had no criminal record. They could find nothing in his past which may have led to the damage inflicted on him. He had last been seen at his regular pub - the Willoughby - on the evening of 21st October, with no confirmed sightings of him since he left the venue.

Manor Lodge was sealed off as a crime scene, and forensic officers set about crawling through the property with a fine-tooth comb. They were able to locate part of a Delanie bus ticket stub, in addition to a muddy foot print - neither of which belonged to the victim.

The Investigation

Although leads created by the bus ticket stub were few, the print on the sole of the shoe could be linked to well-known brand Converse. Police contacted the manufacturing company in the USA to see if they were able to provide further information. The company confirmed that the print matched two different types of Converse trainer, both of which were marketed in Europe and North America - but never in the UK.

Images 6 and 7: the types of Converse which Lincolnshire Police are looking for in relation to Alan Wood's case

Blood evidence was obtained from the scene which, when tested, proved to be from a person who was not the victim. It's not uncommon for assailants in knife attacks to themselves become injured - the amount of blood involved in the attack can cause the knife handle to become slippery, and the culprit risks their hand sliding towards the blade. This could have led to an injury on the hand of the person who attacked Alan.

Police checked Alan's bank records and found that several withdrawals from ATM cash machines had been made by a person, or persons, unknown in the days after Alan had died. They obtained CCTV footage in a bid to catch a glimpse of the culprit either at the ATM or in the immediate vicinity. If they could compare the times that the withdrawals were made to the times of CCTV footage in the area, there was a chance that they could get a good look at the person who had obtained money in the wake of Alan's death.

Progress in the case was slow. Over 70 detectives were allocated to the case, but leads were few and evidence sparse. CCTV footage from the Bourne and Stamford ATM points proved fruitful, though, when they were able to locate images of a man who they believed to be the suspect. The force described him as between 5ft 9in and 5ft 11in tall, wearing a striped scarf and a cap. He was believed to be quite well-dressed in the footage. He walked with a notable limp, something which caused police to request a forensic review of his gait in the video. His right leg was deemed to be slightly longer than his left leg, causing this abnormality when he walked.

Images 8, 9 and 10: stills released by police from CCTV footage of the suspect who withdrew cash from ATM cash points using Alan Wood's bank card

Police were unsure if the man in the footage was the suspect who had been injured in the attack at Alan's property. They suspected that the injury obtained during the assault was likely to be to the hand of the assailant, but this was only a suspicion. It would have been difficult to ascertain if such an injury was present in the CCTV images.

Image 11: photofit created by police based on eyewitness statement

Police appeals brought forward a witness who had seen the man in question at the cash point, and they were able to support officers to develop a photofit which went on to be released to the public.

The Sainsbury's store in Bourne, devastated by the loss of a much-loved colleague, offered a £40,000 reward for information which helped to catch Alan Wood's killer. This was added to by Crimestoppers UK, making a total reward fund of £50,000. By 2010, this quantity had increased to £60,000 - one of the largest reward sums offered in a murder case across the UK.

The case went quiet for a year until, in October 2010, officers carried out a series of early morning raids on three properties in the Stamford area. Performing these home raids at such an early hour means that suspects are often caught off-guard, reducing the risk of confrontation with police and preventing them disposing of evidence if they get information that police are about to come knocking.

As a result of the raids, three men were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the torture and murder of Alan Wood. The arrestees, 35, 43 and 18-years-old, were transported to Sleaford police station to be detained as further investigations were carried out. They were later released on bail, with charges against the trio eventually being dropped.

Just two months later, in December 2010, police announced to the public that they had arrested a 20-year-old male from Hampshire on suspicion of involvement in Alan's murder. Like the three arrested in October, the man was subsequently released on police bail.

Alan Wood's case appeared on Crimewatch in February 2011 for the second time since his death. The program include an interview with Alan's mother, Maureen, a reconstruction of Alan's last known movements, and CCTV from the vicinity of the ATM where cash was withdraw using Alan's bank card. The program also revealed that the police had successfully obtained a full male DNA profile from the blood found at the crime scene - a profile which did not match the victim.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Morrison said: '"this new evidence is very important. We want people to understand fully the horror of what's happened here. I didn't take the decision lightly to release the information that I have and it's backed up with some new CCTV material I want people to look at."'

A police spokesperson said: '"it's a massive investigation. Over the last year we've interviewed 11,000 people and reviewed 5,000 hours of CCTV and that's an ongoing process - there's still a huge amount of work going on."' The spokesperson was able to say that 40 officers were still assigned to the case.

As a result of the Crimewatch appeal and the CCTV footage being released, more than 50 calls were made to the Crimewatch hotline to provide information, but no update was provided to the public in the wake of this.

Image 12: CCTV from inside a Subway of the suspect as he walked past the store

In July 2014, police appealed to the public for help to find Pawel Wrzyszcz (pronounced 'Pavel Vursch'), a Polish national, in relation to the case of Alan Wood. They stressed that he was not a suspect, but hoped that he may have some information which could help them with the inquiry. Mr Wrzyszcz was thought to be living in Peterborough, about 16 miles from Lound, at the time of the attack, and was thought to have been living and working at car washes in Peterborough and Stamford during 2009. No further information has been released about this appeal, or whether he has been traced.

Police had already looked at a total of 16,000 possible names and suspects at the time they appealed to speak to Mr Wrzyszcz - a staggering number when one considers how much time and work is put into investigating and ruling someone out of an investigation.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Morrison was interviewed for BBC Radio Lincolnshire in March 2014. He had been involved with the case since the very beginning, and talked about the DNA profile from the blood at the scene had been run through the DNA database without success, meaning that the suspect had never had their DNA taken by police.

The officer had been in touch with Sir Alec Jeffries, who was pivotal in the pioneering of DNA profiling, to enquire if it would be worth trying to find out which country the person leaving the DNA was originally from. Mr Morrison said: '"whilst there are companies that will seek to tell you that information, it's not particularly reliable and it covers so many countries that it would be of no particular practical use for us."' '"I have to be optimistic that this person or people will be found. It's an investigation that I turn over in my mind every single day."'

Image 13: a photo of the crime scene footprint

In October 2015 a documentary aired on CBS Reality titled 'Donal McIntyre: Unsolved'. It reviewed Alan Wood's case, and included the views of former Metropolitan Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll. Mr Driscoll said of the victim: '"he wasn't an underworld figure or somebody taking part in high levels of crime. This was a market gardener, almost, who was well-liked by the community. It struck me that everything felt like this was actually somebody he knew. It's almost as if he willingly opened the door, not believing the danger he was in. But then the attack was incredibly frantic and incredibly personal."'

Despite the excellent information the police had obtained - a DNA profile of one of the suspects (if there was more than one involved), a footprint from a shoe worn by a suspect at the scene of the crime, and CCTV footage of a suspect withdrawing money from an ATM using Alan's bank card - the case remained unsolved.

The 2019 Appeal

Ten years after the murder, an appeal for new information was made by Lincolnshire Police. This appeal included an interview with Alan's sister, Sylvia, and mother, Maureen.

Maureen said: '"I have tried to get on with my life but the last 10 years have been really difficult, losing such a loved son and not knowing why it happened or who was responsible. There is not a day that goes by without me thinking of Alan and why someone would have done this to such an innocent man. I don't want to go to my grave without knowing why it happened."'

Sylvia appealed for the public to come forward with information, saying: '"Alan was brutally murdered 10 years ago, which was an absolutely shocking, awful thing to happen to anyone. It devastated our family and we have not gotten over it even now. 10 years on we still miss him like crazy. He was a very kind, gentle man. He liked a quiet life watching old films, listening to music, reading a book. When we found out what happened to Alan originally we did not know how he had died. It was originally very upsetting to find out he had been murdered in his own home. But when we found out what had happened to him, the brutal way he was tied up, tortured for hours and left to die on his own living room floor with his throat cut - hopefully you will never have to find out how it feels to know your brother was terrified for hours and knowing he was going to be killed."'

Image 14: Maureen (left) and Sylvia (right)

The senior investigating officer at the time the appeal was released, Martin Holvey, described the attack as a '"totally unprovoked"'' '"brutal and sustained attack"', telling the public: '"a number of people have contacted us with information including people who didn't speak with us in 2009. We continue to work on information provided to us and we've been able to eliminate some names from the investigation where members of the public had suspicions about particular individuals."' He also mentioned that vehicles which may have been involved in the crime were being reviewed - the area is rural and the public transport options limited, so there's a high possibility that the killer left the scene in a car.

Conclusion

As it stands in 2025, no further updates have been released about Alan Wood's case. The DNA profile obtained from the suspect's blood at the crime scene has been run through the DNA database in the UK but no match has been found. It's also been sent to a number of other countries to see if a match can be found on their systems, but so far nothing has come of this.

There is always hope, though. As we saw in the Shelley Morgan case, the murder of Melanie Road was solved after more than 30 years by the chance addition of familial DNA to the UK database. There is always hope that someone may come forward with new information to help police identify the killer, or that the DNA database will turn up a lead.

Alan's home, Manor Lodge, was kept as a crime scene for two years after his body was found before eventually being demolished. The community which Alan Wood was such a valuable part of haven't forgotten him, though. Every year, locals gather in the Willoughby Arms to drink a pint and eat a packet of Mini Cheddars in memory of their lost friend, and a memorial in the pub garden reads: 'I'm going after this one...'.

Alan Wood's killer remains at large, and police are still working hard to put the person, or people, responsible for this crime behind bars. They have so many pieces of the jigsaw, and it's possible that one more clue or lead could solve the crime and bring some long awaited justice for Alan, his family and friends.