Disturbing case of teen tied to tiny ledge 16 metres underground and left to rot
Born to a life of wealth and privilege, Lesley Whittle tragically spent her final days starving and lonely at the bottom of a 54ft ventilation shaft connected to a disused mine, at the mercy of evil serial killer Donald Neilson.
Greed-motivated Neilson, who'd already murdered three sub-postmasters in armed robberies, targeted the 17-year-old after reading about a widely reported family dispute over the will of her father George Whittle, who'd passed away in 1972. The head of a successful Shropshire-based coach firm, self-made businessman George left behind a fortune of £300,000, intended for his partner Dorothy, and their two children, Ronald and Lesley.
The hardworking family couldn't have been any more different to Neilson, who burgled 400 homes in the 70s, with his black clothing and balaclava earning him the nickname 'The Black Panther' among officers.
Wicked Neilson kept an eye on the Whittle family home in the sleepy Shropshire village of Highley for more than a year, working out their movements and entry points into the six-bedroom property. Then, one cold January night in 1975, Neilson struck - cutting the phone wires before creeping into the Whittles' home via their garage.
He then made his way to Lesley's bedroom, gagging and tying her before forcing her into a stolen Morris 1100 car, while she was clad only in her dressing gown and slippers. The teenager, remembered as a bright, studious girl with aspirations to attend Sheffield University, was never seen alive again.
Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe
Young Lesley was snatched from her bedroom in the middle of the night (Mirrorpix)
Evil Neilson had been watching her family home for more than a year (PA)Young Lesley was then driven two hours to Bathpool Park in Staffordshire, where she was made to climb down a drain at gunpoint. Neilson then kept Lesley captive on a narrow platform at the bottom of the dark and dingy shaft, while demanding her family pay a £50,000 ransom for her safe return.
In a ransom message Lesley was forced to make for her mother, she was made to say: "There is nothing to worry about, mum. I am okay. I got a bit wet but I am quite dry now and I am being treated very well, okay?" In reality, Lesley was kept unclothed on the ledge, with a hood placed over her head and a wire noose around her neck to keep her tethered.
Tragically, following an extensive search and a botched ransom drop, Lesley's body was eventually found on March 7, 1975, hanging from a wire noose attached to a pipe. She was naked, apart from a pendant given to her by her boyfriend, and a postmortem examination determined she had been starved for at least three days leading up to her death, weighing just over six stone, despite Neilson's later claims in court that he had brought her fish and chips. Her bare feet were just seven inches from the floor of the shaft.
The teenage heiress was forced down the drain at gunpoint (Mirrorpix)
She spent her final days starving and naked in the dark shaft (Smart/ANL/REX/Shutterstock)The post-mortem found that Lesley died from shock, with the fall stopping her heart. It's believed it may have taken her up to four minutes to die, as her neck hadn't broken.
Neilson was only apprehended in December 1975, when officers Stuart Mackenzie and Tony White handcuffed him after he pulled a gun on them while acting suspiciously at a sub-post office in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. They didn't know at the time that they were disarming Lesley's kidnapper, however, his fingerprints proved to be a match for some found in the drain shaft, and he ultimately confessed to the kidnapping.
Neilson, who attempted to portray himself as a caring kidnapper, claimed Lesley had died after accidentally plummeting from the platform while moving to make room for him to sit. He was ultimately found guilty of her murder, however, as cheers broke out in the courtroom.
Lesley was discovered beneath Bathpool Park, following a desperate search (Sunday Mirror)In July 1976, Neilson was jailed for life for the murders of Lesley and the sub-postmasters, and died from motor neurone disease in prison in 2011, aged 75.
Speaking about Neilson in a Channel 5 documentary, former head of West Midlands CID, John Plimmer, said: "He was a homicidal maniac, but, no, I don't think he was mad. He was evil. Men like him, they are expressionless, there are no feelings there. They have an objective to achieve and anyone who gets in the way cops it. What made the case so difficult was the fact he was a lone wolf. He lived up north and was committing crimes in the Midlands. Most criminals work in their own comfort zones, but he was a lone wolf who was prepared to wander."
You can watch Snatched: The Abduction of Lesley Whittle at 10pm this evening (Tuesday, February 13) on Channel 5.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
