1972 cold case still baffles police

A FRESH appeal has been launched for witnesses more than four decades after the brutal murder of a young woman in Westminster.

Metropolitan Police detectives are urging people who lived in the area of Randolph Avenue, Maida Vale, in the early 1970s, to come forward with any new information surrounding the death of Amala Ruth De Vere Whelan.

Police are particularly interested in tracing friends and relatives of the 23-year-old, including a youngster sister, aged 12 at the time, who would now be aged about 56.

On November 12 1972, Amala was savagely beaten, raped and strangled to death with a stocking in her flat.

Her body was found several days later.

Officers found the word “ripper” sprayed on the front room wall and no sign of forced entry, indicating the victim either knew the attacker or allowed him access to the flat.

A full forensic and fingerprint examination at the time failed to link any suspect to the offence and, despite extensive enquiries, the case has remained unsolved.

Detective Inspector Susan Stansfield, from the Met Police’s Special Casework Investigation Team at the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “More than 44 years have now passed since Amala’s death but I am convinced that someone, somewhere, knows the circumstances of her brutal murder.

“It was a long time ago but I’m sure there are people in the local area who remember Amala’s murder.

“Did you live in the vicinity of Randolph Avenue in the early 1970s? Did you see or hear anything suspicious on 12 November 1972?

“If you have any information, no matter how insignificant you think it might be, please come forward. Maybe you didn’t contact police at the time as you were too scared, but with the passage of time now feel able to tell us what you know in confidence.”

Amala had moved into the flat three weeks before she was killed having previously worked and stayed at The Bar Lotus on Regents Park Road in Camden.

She was a very popular and attractive female with a large circle of friends, including many in the art world, and was a member of CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), the Met Police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 020 7230 4294, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.