Russell Bishop.................

[London Calling]

also recall a young girl was murdered in Stammer park in about 1978, as far as I can recall her murderer was never found. I have always wondered why thew Police have never connected Bishop to that one as well?

LC

 

[Gwylan]

Put it this way, Ernest, I believe the official police line is

"we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the Wild Park murders".

Make of that what you will....

That was also the official police line on the Wimbledon Common murder; their view was that Colin Stagg did it. It's only this year that the police have said "er, hang on...it might have been someone else."

Thinking someone's guilty because the police say so is a dangerous road to go down.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

I seem to remember also, the vile slime tried to sue the police for wrongful arrest over the Babes in the Wood murders and as it was about to go to court, someone suggested to him that the Police could revisit the investigation and requestion him in court about certain aspects of his defence( or their barrister could) and he panicked and dropped the case?


I worked with a person who knew the family and belive me there was no doubt in her mind that RB did it. BTW The point above referred to Barry Fellows who when the bodies were found, the story goes that afterwards he went into the Hikers Rest and announced how dreadful it was and how everyone should buy him a drink to "console " him. If that is true, I do not know, but that story did the rounds from many sources

 

[Deleted User X18H]

also recall a young girl was murdered in Stammer park in about 1978, as far as I can recall her murderer was never found. I have always wondered why thew Police have never connected Bishop to that one as well?

LC

Margaret Frame ........Peter Sutcliffe was once suspected of this as he delievered in the Coldean area I would suggest Bishop would have been in his early teens in 1978.

The case remains unsolved as do a few other horrific crimes in the Brighton area sussex police have a woeful crime detection rate and an uncanny ability to lose evidence ie. that lad from Wooding dean in the 60's and the infamous Pinto garment.

Any one remember the poor lad abducted and abused in the summer of 1983 his face was balnked out in a screaming argus front page the perpitrators never caught.

 

[KPTF]

I was once in the next hospital bed to Russell Bishop for a minor operation (back in the 70's) and knew some of the family quite well. From memory, he had 3 brothers who were all quite handy; David, the eldest, was quite a bit older than me and was inside from an early age, allegedly, for thieving and other stuff; Alec was about a year older than me and ok if you were on the right side of him; Michael (Micky), the youngest was/is a nutter, who I last saw ( to talk to) in The Hanbury in the early 90's. By that time, Russell had been convicted of abduction and I asked him if he thought he'd done the Wild Park murders as well? He replied along the lines of 'blood is thicker than water' etc and that, if Russell said he didn't do it, that was good enough for him, but having a nonce for a brother had clearly unsettled him.

Whilst being very hard men, Alec and Micky were good lads, useful to know, and the idea that anyone would try and exact revenge against them or the family for Russell's crime, is laughable.

Living in Coldean Lane, they were all regular frequenters of The Hikers and I last saw Micky at an away game on one of the notorious Hikers' mini-buses.

Russell was always quite a weedy kid, the runt of the litter and not as hard or street-wise as his brothers.

Ma Bishop used to breed and show dogs but stopped after the Wild Park case. Not sure if she ever started up again or if the parents still live in Coldean Lane as I've been away from the area for ages now.

Dies Irae's recollections of Barry Fellows poncing drinks in the Hikers while everyone was out searching for the girls went down in local folklore; it was also alleged that he & Russell Bishop were close & were part of a group who had unhealthy interests in child-porn. The parents of the other girl, Michelle Lanaway, were a lovely couple who moved away to London after the murders, split up and the father died of a broken-heart some time after.

I would hope that the double jeopardy rule would be considered for this case as DNA techniques have been sginficantly enhanced since the original trial, that is supposing there's some uncontaminated evidence left to test!

Whilst the Wild Park murders took place at the top of my road, Margaret Frame was murdered at an entrance to Stanmer Park at the bottom. As has been mentioned, her killer was never found although it was alleged that her old man was involved as he remarried very quickly afterwards. I had a paper round in Coldean at the time and delivered to the street in which she lived, got chatting to the neighbours, as you do!

Hers was an intriguing case. She worked late at Falmer school (as a cleaner, I believe) and walked a short way along a path just inside Stanmer Woods running parallel with the Lewes Road. Every week, she would emerge opposite the Hikers and catch a bus up to the top of the estate from the bus stop at the bottom of Park Road, meeting the same people at the bus stop each week without fail. On the night of her murder, they remarked how unusual it was that she hadn't turned up but I don't think she was reported missing for some time.

The OB were swarming all over the woods seraching for her & clues but found nothing. A few weeks later, a copper acted on instinct and followed a path across a field up to a copse (which is where the A27 now runs through) where he found her body. It transpired that she had been initially been buried under loads of leaves -(it was autumn)- slightly off the path she originally walked on but this was missed during the original search. The killer had returned after the search and dragged the body up across the field to it's final resting place.

Again, I'm surprised this one hasn't been reopened from a DNA perspective.

Coldean in the 70's/80's wasn't as dull as it is now!

 

[Deleted User X18H]

The Bishop brothers and various realtives have kept a fairly low profile for the last 15 years like the Weavers and the Dorseys these sort of intimidaitory Brighton families don't exsist any more.............mores the pity.

 

[supaseagull]

I lived in Coldean when this happened and I always remember the night after as we had about 20 old bill round our house having cups of tea...I went to Colden School and later on Falmer and everyone was convinced that Bishop and Fellows were as guilty as f*** and I have always been amazed that there has never been any evidence to suggest that...One of the Fellows' sons - Jonathon was a nutter aswell!

One of the saddest moments of mine and many others around Coldean & Moulsecoomb's childhood.

I just hope that they throw away Bishops key

RIP

 

[Lady Whistledown]

That was also the official police line on the Wimbledon Common murder; their view was that Colin Stagg did it. It's only this year that the police have said "er, hang on...it might have been someone else."

Thinking someone's guilty because the police say so is a dangerous road to go down.

Agreed, however there were obvious doubts about the Colin Stagg scenario from the start, similar to those over Barry George and the Jill Dando case.

Bishop, however, got off on a technicality (ie a screw up), rather than a complete lack of evidence, as in Colin Stagg's case. The fact that the police went pretty much straight round to his house the second the third little girl was found raped and half strangled up on Devil's Dyke says a lot surely? He may not be legally guilty of the Wild Park murders, however I doubt you'd let him babysit your kids, put it that way?

And it's not as though there aren't loads of other sex offenders around to choose from- so they must have had a pretty good idea of Bishop's MO when the Devil's Dyke case came up, hence he was #1 suspect.

 

[jevs]

My father is a retd dog handler with sussex police and although not involved with the Bishop case, said he was banged to rights except that the OB lost vital pieces of evidence.

Ma Bishop can still be found training her dogs in Stanmer park most days

 

[glasfryn]

Put it this way, Ernest, I believe the official police line is

"we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the Wild Park murders".

Make of that what you will....

what that means is they can'y be bothered to look for anyone else.

 

[H block]

Agreed, however there were obvious doubts about the Colin Stagg scenario from the start, similar to those over Barry George and the Jill Dando case.

Bishop, however, got off on a technicality (ie a screw up), rather than a complete lack of evidence, as in Colin Stagg's case. The fact that the police went pretty much straight round to his house the second the third little girl was found raped and half strangled up on Devil's Dyke says a lot surely? He may not be legally guilty of the Wild Park murders, however I doubt you'd let him babysit your kids, put it that way?

And it's not as though there aren't loads of other sex offenders around to choose from- so they must have had a pretty good idea of Bishop's MO when the Devil's Dyke case came up, hence he was #1 suspect.

Because the young girl survived she gave the police a desription of Bishop and his car. If she had died I doubt the police would have got a conviction.

 

[Jam The Man]

Because the young girl survived she gave the police a desription of Bishop and his car. If she had died I doubt the police would have got a conviction.

Yeah - I believed she scratxched the inside of his car and the paint was still on her - that coupled with the scratch marks in the car was compelling.
I Wonder how her life turned out, poor child...

 

[Mackenzie]

Death is too good for that scum.

 

[London Calling]

I was once in the next hospital bed to Russell Bishop for a minor operation (back in the 70's) and knew some of the family quite well. From memory, he had 3 brothers who were all quite handy; David, the eldest, was quite a bit older than me and was inside from an early age, allegedly, for thieving and other stuff; Alec was about a year older than me and ok if you were on the right side of him; Michael (Micky), the youngest was/is a nutter, who I last saw ( to talk to) in The Hanbury in the early 90's. By that time, Russell had been convicted of abduction and I asked him if he thought he'd done the Wild Park murders as well? He replied along the lines of 'blood is thicker than water' etc and that, if Russell said he didn't do it, that was good enough for him, but having a nonce for a brother had clearly unsettled him.

Whilst being very hard men, Alec and Micky were good lads, useful to know, and the idea that anyone would try and exact revenge against them or the family for Russell's crime, is laughable.

Living in Coldean Lane, they were all regular frequenters of The Hikers and I last saw Micky at an away game on one of the notorious Hikers' mini-buses.

Russell was always quite a weedy kid, the runt of the litter and not as hard or street-wise as his brothers.

Ma Bishop used to breed and show dogs but stopped after the Wild Park case. Not sure if she ever started up again or if the parents still live in Coldean Lane as I've been away from the area for ages now.

Dies Irae's recollections of Barry Fellows poncing drinks in the Hikers while everyone was out searching for the girls went down in local folklore; it was also alleged that he & Russell Bishop were close & were part of a group who had unhealthy interests in child-porn. The parents of the other girl, Michelle Lanaway, were a lovely couple who moved away to London after the murders, split up and the father died of a broken-heart some time after.

I would hope that the double jeopardy rule would be considered for this case as DNA techniques have been sginficantly enhanced since the original trial, that is supposing there's some uncontaminated evidence left to test!

Whilst the Wild Park murders took place at the top of my road, Margaret Frame was murdered at an entrance to Stanmer Park at the bottom. As has been mentioned, her killer was never found although it was alleged that her old man was involved as he remarried very quickly afterwards. I had a paper round in Coldean at the time and delivered to the street in which she lived, got chatting to the neighbours, as you do!

Hers was an intriguing case. She worked late at Falmer school (as a cleaner, I believe) and walked a short way along a path just inside Stanmer Woods running parallel with the Lewes Road. Every week, she would emerge opposite the Hikers and catch a bus up to the top of the estate from the bus stop at the bottom of Park Road, meeting the same people at the bus stop each week without fail. On the night of her murder, they remarked how unusual it was that she hadn't turned up but I don't think she was reported missing for some time.

The OB were swarming all over the woods seraching for her & clues but found nothing. A few weeks later, a copper acted on instinct and followed a path across a field up to a copse (which is where the A27 now runs through) where he found her body. It transpired that she had been initially been buried under loads of leaves -(it was autumn)- slightly off the path she originally walked on but this was missed during the original search. The killer had returned after the search and dragged the body up across the field to it's final resting place.

Again, I'm surprised this one hasn't been reopened from a DNA perspective.

Coldean in the 70's/80's wasn't as dull as it is now!

This is one of the most depressing, disturbing pieces I have ever read.

Though not from the Mouscolme or Coldean area, I remember the Bishops name, 'lads looking after the north stand', I have wondered if there was a family connection.

Just after if not hours after the body of Margaret Frame was discovered our PE Teacher made run around that Park, a girl who didn't know the cross country route we took became lost. For hours we feared the worst. Luckily we found her!

 

[Gritt23]

KPTF - that is a fascinating post. I was sure I'd read about Ma Bishop being threatened and moving away, but I guess I got it wrong, or perhaps they were just trying making stories up a bit to the press to get people to leave them alone after he escaped the first conviction. I'm sure it was during that period that I heard about her getting bricks through the window and threats, but by the sounds of it, no-one would be threatening her knowing her other two sons.

So how strong were the rumours that Fellows was part of it, with Bishop. I find that just too sick to believe, but I guess some people are sicker than you can believe.

 

[Lush]

I was at Falmer School at the time of the Margaret Frame murder. We used to walk through that bit of Stanmer Park where I think the body was found to pick up a bus home outside the Hikers Rest. The police gave a talk to the whole school and anyone who took that route had to fill in a form. Me and my friend Bruce were collecting dropped crisp packets out of the undergrowth between the time the woman went missing and the body was found (there was some voucher scheme on them) - so we wrote that down. Who knows what we could have come across! A couple of plain clothes policemen came to my house one evening - and scared the living daylights out of my mum, mainly I think because one of them looked like Martin Shaw out of the Professionals

 

[KPTF]

KPTF - that is a fascinating post.

Thank you - my memory's hazy about some things over time but I remember those two incidents so close to home as if they were yesterday. The night the girls went missing was a Thursday and I'd been to football training at Brighton Boys Club. I caught the 25A along the Lewes Road and, as it approached the Wild Park, there were searchlights and people everywhere. There was a dense mist which added to the eerie effect; it wasn't until the following day that the grim truth was revealed.

Not sure if any of you recall but Russell Bishop appeared on South Today the next day as he was taking part in the search for the girls. Don't think he was interviewed but he was definitely on screen. To this effect, there are many similarities with Soham and Huntley playing the 'concerned local citizen' in front of the camera. Their appearances were also similar with both having pencil thin moustaches and a slightly weedy looking appearance.

One of the more sickening things afterwards was the News of the Screws bunging Bishop £5k (I think) to do a feature after he was acquitted. Happy, smiling pictures holding glasses of bubbly as he got off. Don't recall seeing them printing an apology when he went down for abduction!

So how strong were the rumours that Fellows was part of it, with Bishop.

Very. Both girls, although young, were very street-wise for their age. I've earlier alluded to the goings on in the Fellows house and his & Bishop's 'interests'. At the time, I felt that it would have been extremely difficult for Bishop alone to have lead both girls into a fairly unlit Park and that, whilst he (allegedly) attacked one girl, the other would have known what was going on and tried to get away/scream for help,etc, and nothing since has changed my mind. I'm surprised the OB didn't appear to investigate Fellows as much; maybe they did & it didn't become public knowledge, but his 'woe me' stunt in The Hikers smacked of 'I think he doth protest too much'.

 

[Gritt23]

I was once in the next hospital bed to Russell Bishop for a minor operation (back in the 70's) and knew some of the family quite well. From memory, he had 3 brothers who were all quite handy; David, the eldest, was quite a bit older than me and was inside from an early age, allegedly, for thieving and other stuff; Alec was about a year older than me and ok if you were on the right side of him; Michael (Micky), the youngest was/is a nutter, who I last saw ( to talk to) in The Hanbury in the early 90's. By that time, Russell had been convicted of abduction and I asked him if he thought he'd done the Wild Park murders as well? He replied along the lines of 'blood is thicker than water' etc and that, if Russell said he didn't do it, that was good enough for him, but having a nonce for a brother had clearly unsettled him.

Whilst being very hard men, Alec and Micky were good lads, useful to know, and the idea that anyone would try and exact revenge against them or the family for Russell's crime, is laughable.

Living in Coldean Lane, they were all regular frequenters of The Hikers and I last saw Micky at an away game on one of the notorious Hikers' mini-buses.

Russell was always quite a weedy kid, the runt of the litter and not as hard or street-wise as his brothers.

Ma Bishop used to breed and show dogs but stopped after the Wild Park case. Not sure if she ever started up again or if the parents still live in Coldean Lane as I've been away from the area for ages now.

Dies Irae's recollections of Barry Fellows poncing drinks in the Hikers while everyone was out searching for the girls went down in local folklore; it was also alleged that he & Russell Bishop were close & were part of a group who had unhealthy interests in child-porn. The parents of the other girl, Michelle Lanaway, were a lovely couple who moved away to London after the murders, split up and the father died of a broken-heart some time after.

I would hope that the double jeopardy rule would be considered for this case as DNA techniques have been sginficantly enhanced since the original trial, that is supposing there's some uncontaminated evidence left to test!

Whilst the Wild Park murders took place at the top of my road, Margaret Frame was murdered at an entrance to Stanmer Park at the bottom. As has been mentioned, her killer was never found although it was alleged that her old man was involved as he remarried very quickly afterwards. I had a paper round in Coldean at the time and delivered to the street in which she lived, got chatting to the neighbours, as you do!

Hers was an intriguing case. She worked late at Falmer school (as a cleaner, I believe) and walked a short way along a path just inside Stanmer Woods running parallel with the Lewes Road. Every week, she would emerge opposite the Hikers and catch a bus up to the top of the estate from the bus stop at the bottom of Park Road, meeting the same people at the bus stop each week without fail. On the night of her murder, they remarked how unusual it was that she hadn't turned up but I don't think she was reported missing for some time.

The OB were swarming all over the woods seraching for her & clues but found nothing. A few weeks later, a copper acted on instinct and followed a path across a field up to a copse (which is where the A27 now runs through) where he found her body. It transpired that she had been initially been buried under loads of leaves -(it was autumn)- slightly off the path she originally walked on but this was missed during the original search. The killer had returned after the search and dragged the body up across the field to it's final resting place.

Again, I'm surprised this one hasn't been reopened from a DNA perspective.

Coldean in the 70's/80's wasn't as dull as it is now!

Well, I've found 1 then, just another 36 to find apparently.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

With improvements to DNA sequencing the police know who murdered the two girls. Didn't his jumper which had matching fibres from the girls clothing , vegetation from the park and paint smears get contaminated with other forensic evidence ? His girlfriend at the time provided him with an alibi for the timeframe of the murders. If BBC radio are reporting the CPS and police dont have enough compelling new evidence to try him, that probably means they need for him to confess because his human rights will be infringed. When he abducted the little girl from Whitehawk and took her up to Devils Dyke didn't they find Bishop's semen on her clothing which was the same modus operandi in the Wild Park killings?

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

the CPS and police dont have enough compelling new evidence to try him, that probably means they need for him to confess because his human rights will be infringed.

What?

When he abducted the little girl from Whitehawk and took her up to Devils Dyke didn't they find Bishop's semen on her clothing which was the same modus operandi in the Wild Park killings?

Yes -- but that's simply not good enough evidence. The rules on evidence in this new double jeopardy thing ar very strict, and rightfully so.