After 50 years, could vital DNA f inally solve who murdered tragic Helen?
Police launch ‘cold case’ probe
COLD case detectives hope old clothing will help them crack one of the country’s most troubling unsolved murders – after 50 years.
The semi-naked body of Helen Kane was found on May 23, 1970, on a building site in Edinburgh.
The 25-year-old mother had been beaten to death – killed by a blow or blows to the head, probably with a brick or stone slab.
No one has ever been charged with her murder and, in the five decades since, there have been no new leads to the killer’s identity.
One police insider said: ‘Everything that is still held on the case is being re-examined. While many important productions have been lost, a number of items still remain in storage, including items found on or close to the victim’s body, and they are being assessed for further forensic examination.
‘Advances in forensic science and the retention of these items means there is still hope for Helen’s family that justice could be delivered – albeit 50 years late.’
Anne Marie Davy, Mrs Kane’s niece and goddaughter, said: ‘It’s been with us for 50 years and we still want justice for my aunt.’
On the night before her body was found, Mrs Kane and her husband Joe had been celebrating their anniversary with friends at the Dockers Club in Academy Street, Leith. Her sister Janet was looking after their four children, and later permanently took over the care of her sister’s four sons, three of whom have since died. Mrs Kane left the club alone before closing time, with her husband and friends staying to have another drink.
She was seen taking a taxi in nearby Duke Street but never made it home. Her body was found at a construction site near Holyrood Park between the Dumbiedykes council estate and the Pleasance, where flats were being built.
Mrs Davy said: ‘My Auntie was only 25 and had four sons aged six and under. The youngest was only about ten months old.
‘This was a really rare night out for her but even so she left early, we think to get back for her kids.
‘She was kind and loving and she deserves justice.’
Detectives who worked on the case previously probed a link to World’s End monster Angus
Sinclair, while the new review team looked at whether serial killer Peter Tobin might have been the murderer. Both have now been eliminated as suspects.
It is understood police are looking again at a man who was a suspect during the original inquiry. He lived near the scene and had left prison only a few days before.
He did not return home on the night of the murder and told his flatmate the next day that he had been visiting friends out of town.
Police later found out he had checked into an Edinburgh hotel.
A police report was sent to the procurator fiscal but there was not enough evidence to prosecute.
A handful of hair was found in Mrs Kane’s balled-up fist, presumed to be from her attacker.
But this evidence has been lost or destroyed along with other productions and documents.
However, most of her clothing remains in sealed evidence bags.
At the time of the killing, Sinclair, who died in prison in March last year at the age of 73, lived less than half a mile away.
He had been freed early from a ten-year jail sentence for sexually assaulting and killing a seven-yearold neighbour, Catherine Reehill.
He was questioned about Mrs Kane’s death and offered an alibi considered less than convincing. He was later jailed for life for the double murder of Helen Scott and Christine Eadie, both 17, in Edinburgh in October 1977, and the murder of Mary Gallagher, also 17, in Glasgow in November 1978.
The cold case team also looked at Tobin, 73, who is serving life at HMP Edinburgh for the murders of Vicky Hamilton, 15, from West Lothian, in February 1991; Dinah McNicol, 18, from Essex, in August 1991; and Angelina Kluk, 23, from Poland but living in Glasgow, in September 2006.
But he had been jailed for four months on May 15, 1970 – a week before the murder.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: ‘We have not given up on catching her killer and want to offer reassurance to Helen’s family that any new information will be thoroughly investigated.’
‘She was kind and loving and deserves justice’