Merseyside’s oldest cold case is that of Alice Barton, the victim of the pillbox murder
The scene where Alice Barton was found murdered in 1955
The horrific mystery of “the Pillbox murder” is among scores of Merseyside cold cases that have been highlighted by a new crime map revealing 1,000 unsolved murders. Every case has been the subject of a major police investigation, with some dating back to the pre-war era and others occurring in the last decade.
This exclusive list was compiled from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to every police force in the country, supported by research through a wide variety of local newspaper archives. Cases include many seemingly random attacks, usually on women, carried out by strangers with no apparent motive.
The oldest Merseyside cold case included in the files is the horrific murder of Alice Barton in September, 1955.
The frenzied killer strangled Alice, then mutilated her body and scrawled obscenities on her torso in red lipstick.
He abandoned her body in a wartime pillbox – a small, fortified concrete structure used by the military for defence against possible invasion – on Woodchurch, Birkenhead, where she was found by an 11-year-old boy.
Police search for evidence at the scene where Alice Barton was found murdered
The mystery became known in the press as “the Pillbox murder”. It has never been solved despite a huge police manhunt that saw more than 40,000 people questioned.
Other Merseyside cases highlighted in the map include the shocking murder of Maureen Dutton, who was stabbed 14 times in front of her children in Knotty Ash in 1961, and that of Charles Griffiths, whose battered body was found bound hand and foot at his home in Southport in 1964.
You can search our interactive map to find out if there are any unsolved murders near you.
The online map has been produced to support the special publication Britain’s 1,000 Unsolved Murders Vol II: Midnight Stalkers.
It seeks to reexamine cold cases that have been held in the files of police forces nationwide, in some cases for decades.
The publication includes a full timeline of 1,000 unsolved murders, dating from the pre-war period to the last decade, alongside more than 20 in-depth features.
Many of the cases are so famous that they remain locked in the national psyche, such as the Bible John murders that terrified Scotland during the 1960s.
Other mysteries – however shocking at the time – have been consigned to history, such as the Cardiff murders of Mabel Harper and Alice Pittman, who were both strangled during the wartime blackout.
Each remains an enigma, with families still seeking justice and answers – and in many cases, the murderer may still walk the streets.You can purchase a copy of Britain’s 1,000 Unsolved Murders Vol II: Midnight Stalkers in newsagents or by following the link to our online shop.