Saturday 19 April 2014

The Unsolved Murders of Janine Downes, Yvonne Coley & Valerie Brown

They say that life never imitates art, and as the depiction of prostitution in films - Pretty Woman being a prime example - is nothing like the reality.  This line of work puts them in constant danger from the freaks that infest society, and every so often, a killer puts up a ring of fear.  Sutcliffe, Wright, Griffiths, to name but a few.  In the mid 1980's a possible serial killer was stalking the streets of Birmingham.  This post lists three of the four that may be attributed to the same man.  Janine Downes was a 22 year old mother of three, who came from a broken home, in and out of care homes and finally found herself plying for punters in Birmingham`s red light area.  This case has been the subject of a cold case review in the last couple of years.  Janine was last seen at the beginning of February 1991, when her body was discovered on the 2nd, concealed in a hedge, on the A464, East of Shifnal.  Some of her clothes were missing as she was found wearing a blouse, bra & socks.  She had been sexually assaulted, strangled and very badly beaten.  She had extensive head wounds.  It was said that she was favoured by deviant punters, as she was small in height and stature, making her look like a young girl.  This is not an uncommon desire amongst men.

    The second murder is that of 28 year old Yvonne Coley who was found near the Cocks Moor Woods Golf Course in Kings Heath on 25th May 1984.  Yvonne, who hailed from Bordesley Green in  Birmingham, also worked the red light area.  She was semi naked, and had been strangled with her own bra.  The third murder is of 22 year old Valerie Brown.  She was found on 8th December 1983, in Alderhanger Lane, at Wythall.  Her body, like Yvonne`s, was concealed in a hedge.  She had been beaten to death.  Theories ran that the second and third murders may have been committed by a pimp, and other theories have put forward convicted killers Alun Kyte & Phillip Smith.   As of now, all three remain unsolved.  As ever, if anybody knows something, they should report it immediately.

No comments:

Post a Comment