Fresh bid to solve ‘Fred the Head’ case
50 YEARS AGO THE SKELETAL REMAINS OF A MAN WERE FOUND IN A SHALLOW GRAVE IN BURTON BUT HIS IDENTITY IS STILL A MYSTERY
A FRESH appeal has been made in a bid to finally solve the murder of a man found buried in Burton in the 50th anniversary year of the grim discovery.
New attempts are now being made on the anniversary to try to solve the case that has become known as Fred the Head, as the identity of the victim still remains a mystery. He was found naked in a kneeling position with his hands and ankles tied behind his back buried in a shallow grave. The skeleton was also, strangely, wearing a woman’s wedding ring.
He was later dubbed Fred the Head because his skull was the first grim discovery when the shallow grave was found 50 years ago.
He has since become Staffordshire Police’s oldest missing person case and unsolved murder.
Over the years there have been many appeals to find out who the skeletal remains found buried on an island near the Newton Road area of Burton on March 27, 1971.
More recently an appeal was made on the BBC’S Crimewatch pro- gramme in 2017 revealing a new facial reconstruction.
It led to a possible breakthrough in the case when the family of John Henry Jones, who went missing from Trevor, near Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales, came forward. However, familial DNA testing revealed it was not him.
Now, as part of the 50th anniversary since the find, a Facebook group has been set up by Burton man Neil Deaville called Who was Fred the Head?
It aims to identify who Fred really was.
Mr Deaville hopes that with modern DNA evidence, the mystery of Fred could finally be solved.
At 7.30pm on March 27, 1971, offduty special constable David Nathan was out walking his dog in the Newton Road area of Burton, in a field on an island in Winshill, when he stumbled upon a skull protruding from the ground.
Skeletal remains of young man were buried in shallow grave about four feet down and covered over. He was naked and in kneeling position.
A cord was tied around his wrists and another tied his ankles together. His hands were behind his back.
All he had on him were mustard-coloured socks and a woman’s 9ct gold wedding ring on his right hand.
He was between 23 and 39 years old, slim, around 5ft 8in tall, with short brown hair.
His hands were small with well-kept short nails.
He had a partial upper denture and had extensive dental work done less than six months before his death.
He suffered from torticollis, a condition of the neck, that would caused his head to lean to the right.
His chin may have noticeably stuck out.
It is believed he had been buried there for nine to 12 months.
The cause of death was not determined due to decomposition, but Fred did not have trauma to the skull.
DNA, dental evidence and some partial fingerprints were recovered.
The wedding ring was manufactured in 1967/1968 by Henry Showell Ltd, Jewellery Quarter, in Birmingham. It was one of a batch of 5,000 made.
His socks were from a stall at Burton Market.
Back then, there were only two routes to the spot where Fred was found once the site of a flint mill. One was across a bridge that was gated and locked on both sides.
Police said it is unlikely the killers used that walkway.
The other route was across Burton Bridge, along a rough track and through fields.