30 years on, can DNA trap maniac who butchered Scottish girl on the 2.16?
‘Has someone close confided in you?’
IT was a savage murder that has mystified police and left her family without justice for 30 years.
Debbie Linsley was found dead on the 14.16 from Orpington when it arrived at Victoria Station in London on March 23 1988.
The 26-year-old, who had been visiting family from her home in Edinburgh, had been stabbed repeatedly.
No arrest was ever made but the case was reopened in 2002 after advances in forensic science techniques were applied to DNA samples taken from blood stains left at the scene.
But the samples did not match any of the millions of profiles held on the UK’s DNA Database.
And now police have widened the hunt and will be carrying out a DNA ‘familial search’ to try to identify anyone who may be related to the suspect.
Members of the public were urged to cast their minds back three decades as detectives vowed to do ‘everything in our power’ to bring the killer to justice.
Acting Detective Inspector Susan Stansfield, of the Met’s special casework investigation team, said: ‘Have you had an unusual conversation with someone about the murder in the intervening years?
‘Has someone confided in you with information only the killer would know?
‘You may recall being on that train or at a station on the route and seeing something which, at the time, you thought nothing of but in light of what happened was out of place and suspicious, and might be significant.’
The victim’s father, Arthur Linsley, said: ‘My daughter was murdered 30 years ago and despite the DNA profile of the suspect being available, the person responsible has still not been found.
‘I appealed in 2013 for those who had suspicions about a partner, a friend or a relative to please come forward and I renew that appeal now on this anniversary of Debbie’s death.’
Miss Linsley, a hotel manager in Edinburgh, had been visiting her parents and brother Gordon ahead of his wedding. She bought cigarettes from a kiosk before boarding the train at Petts Wood, south-east London, where she sat in an old-fashioned six-person compartment.
She was wearing a blue skirt, blouse and black leather jacket.
A French passenger is said to have heard screaming after the train left Brixton in south London. It arrived at Victoria’s platform 2 and her body was discovered by staff around 2.50pm.
The murder weapon – believed to be a 5in to 7in knife – was never recovered.
Miss Linsley had been stabbed up to 11 times in the face, neck, chest and abdomen. She died from a wound to her heart.
More than 1,200 statements were taken and 650 people eliminated as potential suspects during the investigation.
There is a £20,000 reward for information leading to her killer being found.