Beatrice Wilson

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

At midday on Saturday 22nd July, Beatrice's son-in-law and her grandson arrived at the property to visit the 74-year-old. The property was silent as they called out, and it was only when they headed into the bedroom that they realised why. Beatrice lay deceased in her bed with visible injuries, and blood spattered across the walls. Her horrified family members contacted police, who were quick to arrive at the property.

Officers swiftly ascertained that someone had broken into the property, using the bedroom window as the point of access and egress with the most likely aim to steal anything of value whilst the resident slept. Beatrice could be seen in bed from the window, so it was certain that the thief had known that the property was occupied. Police suspected that she had woken at some point during the home invasion, and defensive wounds on her arms and legs suggested that she had put up a fight. The struggle had ended when Beatrice was fatally injured by what was thought to have been a 12-inch knife obtained from her own kitchen. She had sustained a total of ten stab wounds, with three of them being so ferocious that they had penetrated her skull. A wound to her throat had severed her vocal chords, and a deep wound was also visible to her chest.

As Beatrice's body was removed from the scene, police urged local residents to be alert and cautious as to who they let into their homes, and maintain good home security.

Just a few days after the murder, two items of clothing and a knife handle were found bundled inside a dark green metal container which had been discarded on wasteland out the back of Poole's Makro store, just half a mile from Beatrice's home. The Berghaus jacket and white Ben Sherman polo shirt were dotted with blood and thought to have been worn by the killer. Police appealed to the public for anyone who may have come into contact with the box to speak to police. There was a children's play area nearby and a children's camping event had happened in the vicinity, with police believing that anyone in the area around the wasteland would have noticed the box. They were keen to eliminate any fingerprints on the container which were not relevant to the case, and asked for anyone who may have innocently touched the box to come forward.

The blade of the kitchen knife would later be recovered from a drain during a police search.

Things went quiet for a while until police announced that an arrest had been made. Shockingly, a 15-year-old boy had been charged with the murder of Beatrice Wilson and he appeared before Bournemouth Magistrates Court in June 2001 where he remained silent. No application for bail was submitted by his solicitor, and the prosecution requested that he be detained in custody until the trial.

The trial commenced in April 2002, with the prosecution telling the court that the suspect - who could not be named due to his age - had been wandering around the area near Beatrice Wilson's flat during the evening of Friday 21st July. He had been looking for a bicycle to steal, but the prosecution alleged that he had seen Beatrice through the window, sleeping in her bed, and had decided to chance his luck by breaking into her property and looking for something more valuable. They suggested that, once he had broken in, Beatrice woke up and noticed him, at which point he ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife before returning to the bedroom and attacking the 74-year-old. He had then run from the scene.

The prosecution told the court that they believed the suspect had gone to a nearby lake to try to wash the blood from his clothing before returning to the property to retrieve the knife, which he had left behind, and to hunt through Beatrice's possessions for something of value. It was suggested that he had been alarmed by some shouting in the street and again fled the property empty handed.

Police attention had first been drawn to the suspect when he had confessed his actions to a friend, whom he had sworn to secrecy. The friend, however, had been unable to cope with this information on his conscience and had made a report to police. The friend was also able to lead police to the drain where the suspect had discarded the blade of the knife, based on details the suspect had told him. Along with the knife blade, handle and clothing being presented in court, forensic evidence showed how fibres collected from Beatrice's left hand and bedroom curtains matched tracksuit trousers owned by the accused.

In the case for the defence, the suspect accepted that he had been in the area of Beatrice Wilson's property on the evening of the 21st July 2000 and had been looking to steal a bicycle. He also admitted that he had told his friends that he had committed the crime, but said that he had done so as a joke. He said that he had headed home at around 11pm on the night in question after being unsuccessful in his search for a bike, which matched with witness sightings of a male heading down the road at that time. He adamantly denied that he would have been capable of such a vicious assault on anyone, especially a 74-year-old lady.

At the end of April, the jury were sent out for deliberation where they remained for 4 hours and 20 minutes. When they came back into court, they returned a verdict of not guilty. Sean Waters, solicitor for the defendant, gave a statement in the wake of the verdict, saying: 'after nearly a year in custody, for which he will receive no compensation, the defendant is still overawed that it is finally all over for him. But we must not forget that a dreadful crime has been committed and that it has a devastating effect on the family and friends of the victim. While no one has been convicted of this murder, a measure of justice has been done. We can never fall into the trap of thinking that convicting someone is more important than convicting the right person.'

And that is exactly where the case still stands. No-one has been convicted of the murder of the 74-year-old grandmother who should have been enjoying a peaceful retirement. The police declined to reopen the investigation following the court trial in April 2002, something which caused Beatrice's family huge upset. Peter Wilson, her son, said: '"if we had got a guilty verdict, we could have started our lives again and put this behind us as best we can but this leaves us in limbo. I wanted them to reopen the case because I am sure there is more evidence out there. I do feel the police put all their eggs in one basket. After the first week of the trial, I honestly believed the police's case was flawed."' June Tongs, Beatrice's daughter, added to this by saying: '"we though things couldn't get any worse but when we heard the 'not guilty' verdict, they did. We have not had any form of closure and the killer is still out there and could do it again. If somebody has more information that has not already been said, then please come forward with it."'

Peter Wilson spoke out again in 2006, six years after his mother's murder and four years after the trial. He called again for police to reopen the case, arguing that advancements in DNA technology in the years since the murder could provide new evidence from items which had previously been tested. He demonstrated the ongoing effect that Beatrice's death had on the family, telling the press that he had been unable to sleep properly ever since her murder and constantly had questions going round his head. One of the mysteries which plagued him was reportedly the disappearance and reappearance of a necklace which Beatrice wore regularly - a gold chain reading 'Nan'. Police were unable to find it in the property when they originally searched, but Peter found it several months later, posing the question whether it had been missed by police or whether someone had placed it back in the property sometime after authorities concluded their searches.

In response to the appeal from Peter Wilson in 2006, DCI Neil Redstone from Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation team made a statement: 'the case of Beatrice Wilson has never been concluded. As and when fresh information comes to light, we will investigate it.'

This seems like a case which could so easily be solvable. The police have all of the key elements - the murder weapon (albeit in two halves), the clothes believed to have been worn by the suspect, and fibres from the suspect's clothing on Beatrice's hand and on her bedroom curtains. What's missing? Why can't the case be drawn to a conclusion? Were police perhaps unable to obtain DNA from any of the articles retrieved? Was the suspect wearing gloves and there's an absence of fingerprints? We can only assume that police have neither of these elements, otherwise it would surely have ruled the 15-year-old boy in or out of the case based on the results. DNA testing has advanced so much in the twenty-five years since the case that perhaps retesting of items may provide some sort of progress. It's impossible to know, and it's all in the hands of the police force.

In the meantime, Beatrice's family have been left without closure and without clear answers as to what happened to their beloved matriarch.

If you have any information about the murder of Beatrice Wilson on 21st July 2000, please contact Dorset Police via 101 or submit a report via their website at Home | Dorset Police.

As always, you can submit information anonymously by contacting CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or by filling out their online form on their website Independent UK charity taking crime information anonymously | Crimestoppers.