‘Wonderful’ charity worker murdered in her own home
DETECTIVES are investigating the murder of an elderly charity worker who was stabbed to death in her own home in broad daylight.
Great grandmother Anne James, 74, was discovered by a neighbour at her cottage in Walsall.
The retired nurse was the director of a charity in Wolverhampton that helps vulnerable women and children who are the victims of domestic violence. She also worked with a local organisation which supports homeless women and those who are forced into prostitution.
Her body was discovered at around 6pm on Wednesday and detectives believe she was attacked sometime after 11am that day.
Police have appealed for anyone in the area at the time to contact them and have said they are keeping an open mind as to the motive of the attack. A former colleague, who did not want to be named, said: “Anne was born to help. She did what she could to offer support and advice to people, particularly vulnerable women, who needed a helping hand.
“No one knows what has happened but if she got attacked by someone she was trying to help then that would be just awful. I really feel for her family. She was just a wonderful person with an absolute heart of gold.”
In a statement, her devastated family described her as “amazing, generous and kind”.
The statement said: “We are all devastated at the loss of a loving wife, mum, grandma and great grandma.
“She was an amazing, generous, kind and much-loved part of our family. She will be very sadly missed.”
A neighbour in the tight-knit community said: “The houses are set back from the road and are quite secluded. It is shocking anyone would do something to a defenceless pensioner in
‘Anne was born to help. She did what she could to offer support and advice to people’
their own home.” A police spokesman said: “Officers have sealed off the location to preserve evidence and to allow forensics experts to examine the scene.”
Det Supt Tom Chisholm said: “This appears to be a shocking, violent attack on an elderly lady in her home. Mrs James has been described as a kind and loving lady ... her family are devastated and can’t understand how anyone could do her any harm. We have conducted house-to-house inquiries and are in the process of seizing CCTV footage that will hopefully help us build up a picture of what happened yesterday around her home address.”
Mr Chisholm said the force suspected Mrs James was attacked at some stage between late morning and 5pm on Wednesday.
“Specially-trained family liaison officers are supporting the lady’s loved ones,” he added.
According to Companies House, Mrs James held three directorships of local charities from 1996 to the mid 2000s. She was a director at Wolverhampton Clothesline, which helps homeless people, and of The Haven, which looks after vulnerable women and children.
She was also a director of Walsall Youth Arts until it closed down in 2011.