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Abroad

Veteran Member
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-25561741

A woman who was found murdered while house-sitting in West Sussex has been identified by police.

Valerie Graves, 55, was staying at the property in Smuggler's Lane, Bosham, near Chichester, with her family while the owners were on holiday.

Ms Graves, of Bracklesham Bay, was found dead at the house on Monday, having suffered a serious head injury.

He said a definite cause of death had not been established, but that Ms Graves had appeared to have some sort of head injury.

"Her body was found by a member of her family and at first they called the ambulance service, who contacted Sussex Police," he said.

He said the family that owned the house were out of the country on holiday.

Ch Insp Tanya Jones said the crime was very rare for the Bosham and Bracklesham Bay area.

"These are really low crime areas where we have hardly any residential burglaries or acquisitive crime or any violence of that magnitude," she said.

"It's incredibly rare for that community."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-25593006

Police investigating the murder of an artist are examining the possibility there was a break-in at the West Sussex property she was house-sitting.

Officers said a stranger unconnected to Ms Graves or her family may have committed the murder.

The force is also investigating whether her death was connected to something in her past or to someone she knew recently.

Det Supt Nick May of Sussex Police, who is leading the investigation, appealed for information from anyone who saw someone with "blood-stained clothes".

He also urged anyone who has been asked to wash or dispose of clothing "in unusual circumstances" to contact the force.

A bloody scene, in other words.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-25774550

Police have revealed pictures of a weapon they think may have been used to murder a grandmother who was killed as she house-sat for friends.

Det Supt Nick May, of Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: "We need to know the origins of this hammer. Do you recognise it? [picture of the hammer in question at link]

"We need people to check if they have lost such a hammer or had one stolen in the period leading up to the murder.
 
RIP Valerie Graves - poor lady, sounds like a seriously unpleasant way to pass. Here comes my twisted mind - is it wrong of me that I still grinned at someone with a surname of Graves being murdered? Bad Buffettgirl, BAD Buffettgirl! :shy:
Um... are we both bad?
 
RIP Valerie Graves - poor lady, sounds like a seriously unpleasant way to pass. Here comes my twisted mind - is it wrong of me that I still grinned at someone with a surname of Graves being murdered? Bad Buffettgirl, BAD Buffettgirl! :shy:

Hey, at least her first name wasn't either Shallow, or Unmarked...
 
I found the street view of this address simply lovely. You couldn't pick a lovelier little farmers' and watermen's village to be violently murdered in. Seriously . . . there's only like 6 cottages on Smuggler's Lane, and it's just it's terribly picturesque. Poor dear Valerie, RIP.
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-25850068

An appeal over the murder of an artist who was house-sitting for a friend in a village in West Sussex will be made on the BBC's Crimewatch programme later.

Det Supt Nick May, from Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said police were still appealing for information and wanted to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious or unusual in the area from the afternoon of 29 December to 10:00 GMT on 30 December.

Crimewatch is on BBC One at 21:00 GMT on Wednesday

From the rest of the article it would appear that the hammer is going to be the main object they are soliciting information on.
 
From the rest of the article it would appear that the hammer is going to be the main object they are soliciting information on.

The town is MINUTE. Someone is there who has an inkling. It's a tiny rural village in England-- I'd bet if you clog your toilet at eleven pm, by morning everyone in town knows how big of a log it was. Unless a complete stranger docked a boat at "Furzefield Bay" and walked through the salt marsh to kill her and went straight back, SOMEONE must know something. . . even something incredibly quotidian like "Jake never did come round the pub that night . . ." or "my lodger's dogs were going mad barking that night."

My hypothesis is either the village madman or someone close to her, who knew she'd be alone.
 
I follow your argument part of the way; but if this town was so tiny and had so little crime as they say, why did the house need sitters? I think there have probably been some burglaries and this is likely the result of some burglar being surprised when he thought the house would be empty.
 
Not terribly likely. They would have stuck out like a sore thumb. This killer is probably homegrown.

No....I still think it was a Nigerian or something. They're sneaky. Always sneaking about. Can't see them in the dark. Terribly difficult and all that, you know.
 
Ok, this article claims:

"A 22-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering Ms Graves has been released on bail until 17 February."

There are three or four pieces written about this on the web, (one has a lovely professionally taken picture of her as she was in life) and apparently the neighborhood was NOT neighborly, in that people didn't know one another and didn't mix socially with their neighbors.
 
I think it was a time warp: 18th century smugglers trying to move contraband through the village ducking out of sight into the cottage when the customs officials pass. They see her, and because she doesn't look like anything they know or understand they take fright and knock her over the head with ...... a hammer with a red and black rubber handle? Damn! Back to the drawing board!
 
and apparently the neighborhood was NOT neighborly, in that people didn't know one another and didn't mix socially with their neighbors.

Rich people's second homes? Would make them very attractive to miscreants and would explain why nobody was "neighborly", too.
 
A reconstruction of the murder of a woman who was killed while house-sitting over Christmas is to be shown on Crimewatch.

[...]

Appeals for information over the past three months had led to officers taking several hundred statements and police were pursuing "some very interesting leads", he said.
"But what a reconstruction gives us is it brings to life what happened [and] some of the surrounding circumstances, and it perhaps will just help to jog the one person's memory that we need to come forward to provide us with some crucial new information," he added.
Det Supt May said a hammer used in the attack was found in Hoe Lane, about 800 yards (730m) from the murder scene.
Officers want to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious or anyone in that location on the night of 29 December or the morning of 30 December, he added.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-27185212
 
A partial DNA profile has been obtained of the man suspected of murdering an artist by bludgeoning her with a hammer.

The DNA sample is not complete enough for a search to be carried out on the DNA database but could be used to eliminate suspects, Sussex Police said.

Det Supt Nick May said: "This is a significant breakthrough."

He added: "Anyone who provides us with a DNA sample could now be eliminated from the investigation."

The sample indicates the suspect was male, police said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-29742526


Whoohoo! We have now wheedled the pool of potential suspects down to half the population! :sarcasm:
 
jach04.jpg

Valeria Graves, 55, was found bludgeoned to death at the mansion she had been house-sitting last year
2hq4eix.jpg
Detectives investigating the murder of Valerie Graves who was bludgeoned to death at
[...]
mansion a year ago, are asking every man in the area to take a DNA test.

The 55-year-old artist was murdered with a claw hammer in a ground floor bedroom at the house in Bosham, West Sussex
[....]
She had been house-sitting with her sister Janet, 60, Janet's architect boyfriend Nigel Acres, 59, and their elderly mother Eileen, 87, while the property's owners holidayed abroad
[....]
She had gone to bed at around 10pm on December 30, and nothing more was heard of her. Twelve hours later, her sister Janet found her dead in her room
[...]
A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Graves had suffered significant head and facial injuries at the house
[...]
And despite extensive investigations, including interviews with more than 9,500 people by police, her killer still remains at large.
[...]
a £20,000 reward has been offered, a BBC Crimewatch appeal has been made and a limited DNA match of a suspect has been yielded.

Police returned to the village, near Chichester, today to speak to residents and visitors in an attempt to force a breakthrough.
[....]
Superintendent Nick May, of the Surrey and Sussex major crime team, said officers would return tomorrow, between 10am and 4pm, to speak to residents and visitors.
[...]
also handed out leaflets and put up posters asking 'all men aged over 17 who live, work or visit Bosham to help police find Valerie's killer by providing a simple DNA mouth swab and thumbprint' to 'enable police to eliminate as many men as possible from the inquiry'.
[....]
will take place at the Millstream Hotel in Bosham between January 21 and 29, February 2 and 7, and February 10 and 15
[...]
'We need the public's help to catch this person before they hurt someone else and to get justice for Valerie and her family.'
[...]
Ms Graves's family spoke of their difficulty in coming to terms with the death as the first anniversary approaches.

Her son, Tim Wood, 32, described the last 12 months as 'terrible'.
[...]
'It's hard to carry on knowing that someone is out there able to do it to someone else and knowing that they haven't been caught for what they have done.'
[...]
he went on: 'Please come forward to give us that information that may lead to catching the person responsible.
It would give some closure, knowing that they were off the streets, so that they couldn't do that to anyone else. I would hate anyone else to have to go through this.'
Her sister's partner, Nigel Acres, added: '(Jan's) devastated by the whole event.

'Valerie had moved down from Scotland to look after her mother so she had been living in the area for seven or eight months
[...]
'Jan had got to know her sister again because they didn't see each other often.
[...]
she was the person who found her sister so that's an horrific mental image that she hasn't been able to get out of her mind.
'She's struggling, poor thing. It has completely devastated her. To catch the person who was responsible will bring some closure.

'It's not going to bring Valerie back and that's what's important. Until that happens, we can't see any way forward.'
[...]
recalled events on December 29 which led up to the discovery of Ms Graves' body the following morning at around 10am.
[...]
I had been out to London that day and I got back in the evening.

'Jan had spent the day with her mother and her sister. It was another holiday so it was very calm. It was just a very pleasant evening.
[...]
'I came down in the morning for breakfast. Jan had already been down there in the kitchen and we noticed the bedroom door where Valerie had been sleeping was open.

'We didn't raise any alarm at that stage because Jan's mother had been ill prior to Christmas and we thought she may have spent the night in her mother's bedroom
[...]
'I went off to the farm shop to get some provisions for breakfast. It wasn't until I came back and there was a paramedic that I personally was alerted to (Ms Graves' death).

'Jan had gone in to check on her sister and unfortunately found her in the position
[...]
Mr Wood said he received news of his mother's murder as he was running his daughter's bath.
[...]
It was horrific. I had come in from work. I was running my daughter a bath and there was a knock on the door. My partner answered it and let the officer in and I got told my mother had passed away.'
He described her as an 'excellent mother' and 'great grandmother', while her daughter, Jemima Harrison, 35, added: 'She liked to mess around.
[....]
Christmas was a poignant time of year to mourn their mother but that her loss was felt keenly year-round.
[...]
'There are lots of things throughout the year that we would have done as a family when Mum has not been there.
'It's really difficult this time of year but it's difficult throughout the whole year.'

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of her murder but was later released without charge.
[...]
SOURCE
http://news24now.net/news/will-the-...-ask-every-man-in-the-area-to-take-a-dna-test
6h6mwg.jpg

This is the claw hammer police believe was used to bludgeon the 55-year-old artist to death on December 30​
 
Thanks kind of fucked up they're asking all the men in the community to provide DNA. I mean, I can understand their desire to narrow down their search, but talk about a police state. What happens to those who politely refuse? Extra attention?
 
What happens to those who politely refuse? Extra attention?
Pretty much, or at least that's what I've seen in cases where they have done these DNA dragnets before.

If I'm remembering correctly they did the same thing in Canada with the Scarsborough Rapist, aka Paul Bernardo, he gave up his DNA without batting an eye, along with many, many others and he still went on to rape and murder with his little psychopath wife. Running DNA is time consuming and expensive, most areas can't afford to run all those samples and the police seem to take the approach that if a guy donates without hesitation then he isn't guilty but some guys donate banking on the police thinking they way and are really guilty.
 
And if these guys are not guilty of her death then they get to be put on a registry for future investigations or even previous investigations. If any matches come up then Karma has come for a visit! They might be able to hide for a while but eventually they will be found. Unfortunately people still have to die at their hands until they are caught which is the most sickening part of this of this process.
 
More than 500 men have volunteered for DNA screening to eliminate themselves from suspicion in the hunt for the killer of a woman in West Sussex.

Sussex Police said it was very pleased with the response so far.

"We hope many more will come in for just a few minutes to help us in what is the biggest voluntary mass DNA screening in our history," said a spokesman.

The appeal has been made to men aged over 17 who live or work in Bosham, or who visit the area.

Volunteers are asked to take along photo identification, have their photograph taken and give a thumbprint and a swab from inside their mouth.

Police said they would only use samples obtained for the Valerie Graves murder investigation and DNA profiles would not appear on any database.

[...]

The drop-in sessions are being held until Thursday, then between 2 and 7 February, and 10 and 15 February.

Last year, police obtained a partial DNA profile of the suspect - the sample was not complete enough for a search on the DNA database but could be used to eliminate suspects, officers said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-30972723
 
Ok, this article claims:

"A 22-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering Ms Graves has been released on bail until 17 February."

There are three or four pieces written about this on the web, (one has a lovely professionally taken picture of her as she was in life) and apparently the neighborhood was NOT neighborly, in that people didn't know one another and didn't mix socially with their neighbors.
well, now I have to try and look them up
_72064555_valeriegraves.jpg

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-25850068
4.png

http://www.valeriegravesmurder.com/media.asp
 
Last edited:
jach04.jpg

Valeria Graves, 55, was found bludgeoned to death at the mansion she had been house-sitting last year
2hq4eix.jpg
Detectives investigating the murder of Valerie Graves who was bludgeoned to death at
[...]
mansion a year ago, are asking every man in the area to take a DNA test.

The 55-year-old artist was murdered with a claw hammer in a ground floor bedroom at the house in Bosham, West Sussex
[....]
She had been house-sitting with her sister Janet, 60, Janet's architect boyfriend Nigel Acres, 59, and their elderly mother Eileen, 87, while the property's owners holidayed abroad
[....]
She had gone to bed at around 10pm on December 30, and nothing more was heard of her. Twelve hours later, her sister Janet found her dead in her room
[...]
A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Graves had suffered significant head and facial injuries at the house
[...]
And despite extensive investigations, including interviews with more than 9,500 people by police, her killer still remains at large.
[...]
a £20,000 reward has been offered, a BBC Crimewatch appeal has been made and a limited DNA match of a suspect has been yielded.

Police returned to the village, near Chichester, today to speak to residents and visitors in an attempt to force a breakthrough.
[....]
Superintendent Nick May, of the Surrey and Sussex major crime team, said officers would return tomorrow, between 10am and 4pm, to speak to residents and visitors.
[...]
also handed out leaflets and put up posters asking 'all men aged over 17 who live, work or visit Bosham to help police find Valerie's killer by providing a simple DNA mouth swab and thumbprint' to 'enable police to eliminate as many men as possible from the inquiry'.
[....]
will take place at the Millstream Hotel in Bosham between January 21 and 29, February 2 and 7, and February 10 and 15
[...]
'We need the public's help to catch this person before they hurt someone else and to get justice for Valerie and her family.'
[...]
Ms Graves's family spoke of their difficulty in coming to terms with the death as the first anniversary approaches.

Her son, Tim Wood, 32, described the last 12 months as 'terrible'.
[...]
'It's hard to carry on knowing that someone is out there able to do it to someone else and knowing that they haven't been caught for what they have done.'
[...]
he went on: 'Please come forward to give us that information that may lead to catching the person responsible.
It would give some closure, knowing that they were off the streets, so that they couldn't do that to anyone else. I would hate anyone else to have to go through this.'
Her sister's partner, Nigel Acres, added: '(Jan's) devastated by the whole event.

'Valerie had moved down from Scotland to look after her mother so she had been living in the area for seven or eight months
[...]
'Jan had got to know her sister again because they didn't see each other often.
[...]
she was the person who found her sister so that's an horrific mental image that she hasn't been able to get out of her mind.
'She's struggling, poor thing. It has completely devastated her. To catch the person who was responsible will bring some closure.

'It's not going to bring Valerie back and that's what's important. Until that happens, we can't see any way forward.'
[...]
recalled events on December 29 which led up to the discovery of Ms Graves' body the following morning at around 10am.
[...]
I had been out to London that day and I got back in the evening.

'Jan had spent the day with her mother and her sister. It was another holiday so it was very calm. It was just a very pleasant evening.
[...]
'I came down in the morning for breakfast. Jan had already been down there in the kitchen and we noticed the bedroom door where Valerie had been sleeping was open.

'We didn't raise any alarm at that stage because Jan's mother had been ill prior to Christmas and we thought she may have spent the night in her mother's bedroom
[...]
'I went off to the farm shop to get some provisions for breakfast. It wasn't until I came back and there was a paramedic that I personally was alerted to (Ms Graves' death).

'Jan had gone in to check on her sister and unfortunately found her in the position
[...]
Mr Wood said he received news of his mother's murder as he was running his daughter's bath.
[...]
It was horrific. I had come in from work. I was running my daughter a bath and there was a knock on the door. My partner answered it and let the officer in and I got told my mother had passed away.'
He described her as an 'excellent mother' and 'great grandmother', while her daughter, Jemima Harrison, 35, added: 'She liked to mess around.
[....]
Christmas was a poignant time of year to mourn their mother but that her loss was felt keenly year-round.
[...]
'There are lots of things throughout the year that we would have done as a family when Mum has not been there.
'It's really difficult this time of year but it's difficult throughout the whole year.'

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of her murder but was later released without charge.
[...]
SOURCE
http://news24now.net/news/will-the-...-ask-every-man-in-the-area-to-take-a-dna-test
6h6mwg.jpg

This is the claw hammer police believe was used to bludgeon the 55-year-old artist to death on December 30​
wow, like only one person is going to have a flippin hammer like that there? I have 3 that are almost identical to it
 
Thanks kind of fucked up they're asking all the men in the community to provide DNA. I mean, I can understand their desire to narrow down their search, but talk about a police state. What happens to those who politely refuse? Extra attention?
I don't, I think if that were done more often more cases would be solved, but I can see the point you are making.
 
Last edited:
Wait, she was murdered with 3 other people in the house? All this time I had assumed she was there alone. Doing what was done, with a hammer no less, seems pretty personal to me. Why would a burglar carry a hammer?
 
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