Viewer discretion is advised. Some may find this content disturbing. This is a documentary I found interesting.
The murder of Lesley Whittle occurred in January 1975, in the United Kingdom and dominated national headlines for 11 months. The investigation of her kidnap and murder involved over 400 officers from the Shropshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands police forces and the Metropolitan Police.
Whittle, aged 17, was kidnapped from her home in Highley, Shropshire, by Donald Neilson, who by that time had committed over 400 burglaries and three fatal shootings. He was known to the British press as the Black Panther, for the black balaclava he wore during robberies of post offices.
Neilson held Whittle in an underground drainage shaft of a reservoir at Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire. He had placed a hood over her head, left her naked, and tethered her to the side of the shaft by a wire noose. After what was later seen as a bungled police operation, including two failed attempts to engage with Neilson's demand for a ransom of £50,000, her body was found hanging in the shaft on 23 March 1975.
After being arrested 11 months later in Mansfield, in July 1976 at Oxford Crown Court Neilson was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Whittle, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Three weeks later he was convicted of the murder of three post office workers, and given three further life sentences.
The murder of Lesley Whittle occurred in January 1975, in the United Kingdom and dominated national headlines for 11 months. The investigation of her kidnap and murder involved over 400 officers from the Shropshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands police forces and the Metropolitan Police.
Whittle, aged 17, was kidnapped from her home in Highley, Shropshire, by Donald Neilson, who by that time had committed over 400 burglaries and three fatal shootings. He was known to the British press as the Black Panther, for the black balaclava he wore during robberies of post offices.
Neilson held Whittle in an underground drainage shaft of a reservoir at Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire. He had placed a hood over her head, left her naked, and tethered her to the side of the shaft by a wire noose. After what was later seen as a bungled police operation, including two failed attempts to engage with Neilson's demand for a ransom of £50,000, her body was found hanging in the shaft on 23 March 1975.
After being arrested 11 months later in Mansfield, in July 1976 at Oxford Crown Court Neilson was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Whittle, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Three weeks later he was convicted of the murder of three post office workers, and given three further life sentences.
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