The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Sally Mcgrath murder case is back in court
THE case of a man who is accused of the murder of a Peterborough woman 30 years ago was brought back to court yesterday.
Former Peterborough builder Paul Taylor, who is now aged 60, of Valentine Close, Fareham, in Hampshire, is charged with the murder of Sally Mcgrath 32 years ago.
He is also facing serious sex offences against three other women.
The case was brought before an Essex court yesterday for a short hearing in which prosecution and defence agreed to the setting up of a future hearing.
Miss Mcgrath’s naked and decomposed body was found partially buried in a shallow grave in woodland at Wild Boar Spinney, Castor Hanglands, on the outskirts of Pe- terborough, in March 1980.
She had lived in Towler Street and had gone missing in July 1979.
Detectives with Cambridgeshire Police began a cold case review in 2010.
Taylor, who later moved to Hampshire, is charged with murdering Sally Mcgrath between 10 July 1979 and 2 March 1980.
He is further accused of two offences of rape and a third serious sexual assault against one woman on 15 March 1979; a rape and indecent assault against a second on 8 April 1979; and the rape of a third woman on 28 June 1979. The other three women cannot be identified for legal reasons.
The case against Taylor, who did not appear at Chelmsford Crown Court today, was adjourned until May 31 for a day long preliminary hearing before a High Court judge.
He was further remanded in custody in his absence.
Miss Mcgrath had not been seen since leaving the Bull Hotel in the city centre in July 1979, until her body, naked except for a pair of boots, was found by a gamekeeper.
Police were at the time unable to trace the killer, despite carrying out what has been described as Cambridgeshire’s biggest pre-soham murder probe.
The original police investigation saw more than 3,000 people interviewed and 10,000 statements were taken.
Even international policing agency Interpol was drafted in to quiz American officers at RAF Alconbury at the time who knew her.