Crime expert set to solve 38-year murder mystery COPS MAY RE-OPEN CASE
THE murder of a paperboy shot dead 38 years ago could finally be solved after a TV documentary unearthed new evidence.
Carl Bridgewater, 13, was gunned down when he disturbed burglars at a farmhouse in 1978.
Four men – dubbed the Bridgewater Four – were wrongly jailed for his killing and served 19 years behind bars before being cleared.
Now shotgun killer Bert Spencer, 74, is facing a police probe into fresh claims he murdered Carl.
It follows a Channel 4 investigation by criminologist David Wilson which labels Spencer – who served 15 years in jail for killing a pal – a psychopath.
In the programme, Spencer’s ex-wife Janet admits for the first time that she believes the former ambulance driver killed the schoolboy.
Asked if she suspected Spencer was Carl’s killer, she said: “Well, you know, it’s hard to say but deep down, yes. I do really.” And sobbing Janet backed calls for a new police investigation, saying: “I can see that’s the only course of action now.”
She told how Spencer washed and disposed of a jumper, and his shotgun, hours after the shooting at Yew Tree Farm in Stourbridge, West Mids.
Janet said: “I remember him saying probably the day after that he ought to get rid of it or take it somewhere.”
She questioned Spencer’s claim he was at work on the day of the shooting, saying he told her “I wasn’t there all day”.
And she revealed Spencer snapped when asked about a hidden bag of antiques – rumoured to have been taken during the robbery which Carl disturbed, costing him his life. Janet
said: “His JIMMY McCLOSKEY words to me were ‘You must never, ever tell anybody about that. Ever’.” She said Spencer revealed he later buried the booty in a field.
Shortly after the Bridgewater Four were convicted, Spencer murdered pal Hubert Wilkes in a shooting eerily similar to Carl’s. There was speculation that Wilkes, 74, was Spencer’s accomplice at the farm burglary, and was killed to ensure his silence.
Spencer served 15 years behind bars for the murder. He admitted the killing, but has always denied shooting Carl.
When he learned of the new documentary he called Channel 4 in a bid to clear his name.
But in a shocking interview with Prof Wilson, he frequently breaks down in tears and erupts when his innocence is questioned.
He brands Bridgewater Four mum Ann Whelan a “horrible bitch” and says “I worship the ground she’s got coming to her” after being asked about her campaign to catch the killer.
And he brands Prof Wilson a “f***ing nutcase” after being confronted with the results of a personality scan which brand him a psychopath.
Squeaky-voiced Spencer, of Spalding, Lincs, rages: “It’s all a load of absolute nonsense. He can’t work it out so instead of failing he wants me as a scapegoat.”
Staffordshire Police said: “The matter is not currently under investigation and was finalised some years ago. However, police will review the investigation in light of any new information or evidence being made available.”
Interview with a Murderer is on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm.