The Unsolved Murder of John Luper
On Monday the 16th of February 2004, 57-year-old Leeds businessman John Luper was killed during a robbery at his home on Sandmoor Drive in Alwoodley. Over 20 years after his murder, the case is still unsolved, despite multiple appeals by his family and the police.
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00:00We were like one finger. You hurt me, you hurt him. Vice versa. As you can see, I still
00:14get very emotional now, about thinking about it. It's 20 years, but it still affects
00:25me the same.
00:27On Monday the 16th of February 2004, 57-year-old Leeds businessman John Luper was killed during
00:35a robbery at his home on Sandmoor Drive in Old Woodley. He was targeted by a group of
00:40masked attackers as he walked his Terrier Biscay near his neighbour's driveway at
00:46around 11.30pm, before being dragged back to his home where his wife, daughter Liza
00:52and the family's au pair were tied up with duct tape and left in an upstairs bedroom
00:58until the suspects eventually left the property.
01:01When they managed to free themselves, they found Mr Luper unconscious on the morning
01:05room floor. Twenty years on from the murder, West Yorkshire Police recorded an interview
01:11with John's brother Toby, who spoke about his loss and the family's continued anguish.
01:17He was loyal. He was a great family man. He would help anyone. He would go out of his
01:31way to help anyone, sometimes even at his own detriment. As a brother he was the best.
01:39We were like one finger. Totally different, but we were very close. And people used to
01:49say you couldn't get a cigarette paper between us.
01:51John Luper had a clothing manufacturing business and was the director of a showbiz agency which
01:57counted football stars Thierry Henry and Rio Ferdinand among its clients. The 57-year-old,
02:04father of one, was involved in several other firms and was a friend of Leeds United legend
02:09Billy Bremner. He was described as the heart and soul of the Old Woodley community, in
02:15which he had spent much of his life. He lived in one of the city's most affluent suburbs,
02:21enjoying upmarket holidays and owning luxury cars, including this Jaguar with personalised
02:27licence plate.
02:29The night before, we were both in the office together. He left the office before me and
02:36he came in the office to say goodnight. He had a big cigar, as he usually had, and the
02:43smoke was just filling the room. And I said, do me a favour, just take that cigar out,
02:48go home, enjoy, alright? And he came back with an air freshener, sprayed the room with
02:59the air freshener. I don't know what smelled worse, the air freshener or the cigar smoke.
03:04And I heard him, I said, just leave the office, not saying it as politely as that. And I heard
03:12him going down the stairs laughing. That was my last memory of him.
03:21Former editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post, Laura Collins, has covered the case and subsequent
03:26appeals for information throughout her career in journalism.
03:30I joined the Yorkshire Evening Post about 17 years ago. So when I joined the team, it
03:37was very much, the case had already happened, but it was still the search continues to try
03:42and find those responsible for the death of John Looper. I think it's one of those stories
03:48that just really strikes in your imagination as a journalist, because, you know, after
03:53two decades, the fact that there is nothing or nobody has come to justice over this, you
03:59know, really begs the question about, you know, what happened that night. I mean, what
04:02we do know is that John was on the street, not far from his house, walking his dog. He
04:08was attacked by a group of individuals. He was then taken back to his house where his
04:14wife, his daughter and their au pair were tied up.
04:18After eventually freeing themselves, John Looper's family found him unresponsive downstairs.
04:24Police were called to the Old Woodley address at 1.45am on Tuesday 17th February 2004, and
04:31despite attempts to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem
04:36examination found he died due to asphyxiation. During the failed revival attempt, marmalade
04:43was found in Mr Looper's mouth. It transpired that one of the men involved in the raid,
04:48who was estimated to be six foot three, used it to try to revive Mr Looper, after his wife
04:54told the gang that her husband was a diabetic and had an overactive thyroid. The attacker
05:00suddenly changed from being very threatening to being almost apologetic, possibly after
05:05realising that Mr Looper was dead. He asked Mr Looper's terrified wife,
05:11When the police come tomorrow, you will say the huge guy helped you, won't you?
05:41to be aware that the huge guy had helped them. And there was the interesting line that came
05:47out about, you know, how he really tried to disassociate himself by saying he didn't really
05:51want to be there. So it was almost a case of, they knew what they were doing, but, you
05:57know, trying to, to distance themselves from it. I think, you know, what, what you can
06:02say is, you know, over the space of 20 years, you know, loyalties, allegiances change, you
06:08know, there might be somebody out there who, you know, it pinches on their conscience when
06:14they go to sleep at night thinking, you know, they were responsible in part for this. So
06:19I think, you know, to the family's point, and, you know, to his brother's appeal earlier
06:24this year, you know, all they want is answers, all they want is justice, and all they want
06:29is closure, which they still don't have after all this time.
06:33Before I heard, when Liza called and said what had happened, I got in the car with my
06:43wife and went straight over to Leeds. And my thought immediately went to my mother.
06:52And I thought, I've got to go and tell my mother what's happened. I can't let her hear
06:58what's happened on the TV. And that's what I did. Complete devastation.
07:03You can't even begin to imagine what must have happened that evening, how it unfolded.
07:09But what we do know is that over £100,000 worth of jewellery was stolen, in particular,
07:16a really striking Cartier watch. Now, I'm no expert, but I find it hard to believe that
07:23Cartier watches come on the market that often in Leeds, particularly as striking as the
07:27one was in question. So there must be somebody somewhere who knows something.
07:33The rare ladies Cartier watch was platinum with vertical rows of diamonds either side
07:39of the face. There were only four like it sold in the United Kingdom in the year prior
07:44to John's murder, and the one that belonged to Mrs Looper was customised, making it a
07:49completely unique item.
07:52He was a very well-known businessman. His family were involved in textiles. He also
07:58had a showbiz agency and linked to lots of different stars at the time, including Rio
08:04Ferdinand, Thierry Henry. There was a huge gathering at his funeral, a real outpouring
08:10of grief. His family received hundreds and hundreds of letters from well-wishers who
08:17were really touched by this. And I think the thing that struck the community the most
08:22is just the very nature of something like this. It felt very targeted, yet nobody actually
08:29knows what happened there and then that night or why it happened.
08:35Rabbi Daniel Levy, who led the funeral in May 2004, said Mr Looper's widow had received
08:411,200 letters of condolence in the wake of her husband's death. Some four hundred mourners
08:48attended the emotional service at the Jewish Cemetery in Gelderd Road in Guildersome to
08:53hear tribute paid to his wonderful passion for life and his substantial charity work.
09:00During the initial investigation, Detective Superintendent Bill Shackleton from West Yorkshire
09:05Police said,
09:06We know that the gang went to Mr Looper's home with the intention of robbing the family.
09:11What we do not know is their intention in dealing with John Looper, whether it was to
09:15kill Mr Looper or simply incapacitate him. Only those involved, and those in whom they
09:21will have confided, know the answer to that question. Both the police and Mr Looper's
09:26family have regularly urged anyone with information to contact the police or Crimestoppers.
09:34They're known. The people that did this must be known. The people that know them must have
09:40known what's happened. It's impossible not to. But hopefully what's going on now with
09:52the police investigations, the continuing police investigations for which the family
09:58are very grateful, will enable these people to be caught and brought to justice eventually
10:09through the advances of DNA technology.
10:12What we've seen in the years that have followed at the Yorkshire Evening Post is numerous
10:16appeals, so appeals from the police, appeals from the family themselves, you know, his
10:21daughter, his brother have been particularly vocal over the years in their search for justice
10:27and, you know, still to this day, over 20 years later, they don't have the answers,
10:32they don't have the justice, and it's very much, you know, what do people know? Again,
10:37this is a really, I mean, you just look at the street that we're on, it's a really affluent
10:42part of the city. You know, police were concerned that, you know, whoever did this were aware
10:49of the house, they'd probably been to the house, there may have been some connection,
10:55but again, all conjecture with people still scratching their heads all this time later
11:00to find out what really happened.
11:03Sometimes you read in the paper where people say, I forgive the attacker. I can't forgive
11:13the attacker. I'll never forgive him. He's given me a life sentence. And his family,
11:28his friends, his associates, they must know. They're human beings. They may not have the
11:36same ethics or the same morals as I have and my family have, but they're human beings.
11:45If a similar thing happened to them, what would they do? How would they behave? Why
11:53should it? They've got away with this for 20 years.
12:02Specialist cold case detectives from West Yorkshire Police's major investigation review
12:07team are continuing to investigate the unsolved murder of John Looper, with a particular focus
12:13on advances in forensic science that could bring new lines of inquiry from existing
12:18evidential material.
12:19What we've seen in Leeds is, you know, there have been quite a few high profile cases like
12:25this and, you know, as journalists we cover those kind of cases to, you know, try and
12:29stir memories, try and stir, you know, anybody who might have had anything at the time in
12:35terms of information. You know, it could be a very small piece of information that makes
12:39a big breakthrough and I think, you know, it goes without saying, you know, technology
12:43has changed so much over the years, you know, there's so many advances in terms of technology
12:49and, you know, what police and policing does now that, you know, just something so small
12:54and seemingly inconsequential can lead to a really big breakthrough and I think, you
12:58know, that's really important for us as journalists, for us as the media to make sure that we don't
13:04let this drop, that we are chasing this up, that, you know, it does try and pique somebody's
13:09conscience because at the end of the day there's a family there that doesn't have closure,
13:14doesn't have justice and still doesn't have the answers that it needs two decades on.
13:19Dr Kirsty Bennett is a senior lecturer in the School of Criminology, Investigation and
13:24Policing at Leeds Trinity University, who has a particular interest in cold cases.
13:30I used to work for West Yorkshire Police quite a while ago and sort of during that time and
13:37during my studies I became very interested in cases that didn't have a resolution or an answer
13:45and I actually did my PhD, which I finished about two years ago, which looked at how the
13:50police investigate and prioritise cold cases and in 2020 I was really fortunate to actually meet
13:58a mother who'd lost her son and what sparked from there is where I offer an independent review for
14:06families, so I'm not looking to kind of step on the police's toes or say, you know, it's a,
14:13it's not a great job, you've not done well, we're looking at kind of modernising the investigation
14:17and seeing what answers could be developed over the passage of time and up to today I now work
14:24with 16 families in the UK who either have an unsolved murder in their family or a long-term
14:29missing person. From the police side, you know, it's rarely and I mean really rarely a case that
14:38the police haven't done a good job and they've really thoroughly investigated this person,
14:44what's happened to them and how to resolve that case and, you know, they've uncovered everything
14:50that they possibly can and for a variety of reasons there's something that stops the case
14:58progressing so that could be a lack of evidence for example or, you know, struggling to find a
15:03motive for the offence or even witnesses not cooperating and I think what's often lacking
15:11is a consideration of kind of the police's role but then also the barriers that they may
15:17personally face in securing a conviction, so it might be that the Crown Prosecution Service says,
15:23you know, unfortunately you don't have enough evidence at this time so they're not going to
15:26push it forward. That is not a police failing, that is, you know, a really complicated legal process
15:33but I think from the public and family point of view because the case is deemed unsolved we look
15:38at the police to say well actually is there something that you've not done right and that's
15:42quite an unfair representation because they can have loads of balances that impact and challenge
15:49them being able to progress it because the police do want to solve it, that's obviously their
15:53goal, their remit and they want to do that. A reconstruction of the burglary was staged by the
15:58BBC Crime Watch programme in May 2004. Detective Superintendent Bill Shackleton from West Yorkshire
16:06Police said that two callers out of the 40 who rang in had given them very definite lines of
16:12inquiry to identify the raider who called himself the Huge Man. He said the attackers were familiar
16:19with the layout of the house and garden and that the same raider also told John's wife and daughter
16:24I wish I hadn't come here, I'm not a bad man, I'm so sorry. The Crime Watch reconstruction also showed
16:31the larger of the attackers shouting at John's daughter Liza. He said shut up or I'll cap you,
16:37you like to play your music loud in your car don't you, you don't know me but I know you,
16:43if I see you out I might even buy you a drink. Liza had arrived back at the Sandmoor Drive home
16:50just after 8pm on the evening of John's death in her new car which was a present from her dad.
16:56It's a really difficult situation for the family because they've lost a loved one in really
17:01horrific sudden circumstances and that exacerbates their grief process making it a lot harder to come
17:07to terms with but then they've also got to unfortunately push for answers and justice
17:16so they have to continue that investigation over a really long period. They have to speak to people,
17:23they have to talk about their loved one and that every time they do that it opens up the grief again
17:29and it's a vicious cycle that never ends for them and unfortunately what we see over the time
17:36is the police are, I suppose, the outlet for families in the fact that they think the police
17:41have done something or they fail to do something that's resulted in it unsolved and the nuances
17:46of that are very very complicated for the families but the police have to, you know,
17:51they have to protect the integrity of the case, they can't give everything away or out because
17:56they might need it down the line so there's a really hard balancing act. West Yorkshire Police,
18:02together with John's family, are determined to make a breakthrough in the case 20 years on.
18:08The devastating effects of what happened 20 years ago are still heartfelt with the family
18:13of John Looper. He was a prominent businessman in the North Leeds area. I would urge anyone
18:20who around February or January 2004 knew of persons making inquiries into him and his
18:28business dealings to come forward with names. We are committed at West Yorkshire Police to finding
18:35those responsible. We know that these attackers made demands for cash and jewellery. Were you
18:41actually approached and asked to buy jewellery from unknown people or people you know who didn't
18:47actually have provenance or receipts for that jewellery? After 20 years our allegiance has
18:52changed and misguided loyalty subsides. It's now time to come forward with an actual name or names
18:59of the people responsible for such a horrible crime. I always say with cold cases how we,
19:05I suppose, understand and define impact is quite different because if these cases were easy to
19:10solve it wouldn't be up to the 20-year mark. So actually what we're trying to do with the appeals
19:16is jog people's memories but every little piece of information that people give can be a little bit
19:22further in the investigation. It could make certain information make sense or provide a
19:28link between people and so those tiny little bits of information can become really important
19:34and you know it's really hard for the families because they have to put themselves out there
19:38again. They have to talk about it but actually the benefits of that can be really impactful
19:44and I think what's important is those say you know somebody coming forward, their loyalties
19:49have changed they feel a little bit more comfortable coming forward or they want to
19:53ease their conscience and they want to help. As a family you might not see the impact of those
19:59pieces of information immediately because they're what the police are going to use and
20:04piece together so actually you might think nothing's happened or you might think there's
20:08not been any progress but it all sort of starts to link in the background and that's maybe
20:14maintained or withheld so that we're not jeopardising the investigation, spooking suspects.
20:21So I think every little help and putting forward information to speak to people in the community
20:27who think that information wasn't great or it's not significant, go for it anyway and give it
20:32because it all starts to fit together in that puzzle. Anyone with specific information that
20:38could assist the investigation is being asked to contact West Yorkshire Police's major investigation
20:43review team via 101 quoting Operation Ashkirk or reaching out to the force via their online live
20:51chat. Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers.
20:58Dr Bennett reflects on the importance of coming forward with information however small
21:03and despite over 20 years passing since the murder. If people have information that information will
21:10be treated with care, consideration, the police aren't there to I suppose out somebody and their
21:17identity and you know that won't be a consideration, the police want that information to try and help
21:24Toby and his family and taking that case a little bit forward. So I think if you have information
21:30speak to the police, see what information you've got no matter how small it is and speak to the
21:36police if you have concerns about you know retribution or being judged or anything like that
21:42then speak to the police. If that really is not something you're ready to do then do speak to
21:47Crimestoppers because whilst you're kind of remaining anonymous and that's comfortable for you
21:52the police can be doing further work that can help help the case. As journalists and as media
21:58organisations we become incredibly invested in these stories that we cover over the years and
22:04you know I think from a journalistic side you know we like to see sort of the case conclude as
22:11well. I think you know it goes without saying that if there's anybody out there who has any
22:17information no matter how significant or insignificant it might seem people should
22:23contact the police, people can contact the police anomalously you know I think any leads, any tip-offs
22:29anything that we can do to help support the family and bring those responsible to justice
22:35can only help. I would like justice, I would like justice for my mother
22:45who died on the very day he did.
22:48So five years later she cried every day.
23:05I don't want sympathy, I want justice and these people know they know
23:12so the person that did it knows. They'll be having nightmares
23:21because there will be a knock on the door. I will never go away
23:27until these people are
23:33in the place they deserve to be.