Kind friend who volunteered with the Samaritans
PENNY Bell was renowned for being fun, vivacious, gentle and generous. Her friends said she was one of the loveliest people you could meet.
She ran a successful recruitment agency in London, supplying catering staff for major events such as the Wimbledon tennis championships.
As well as being devoted to her family, she volunteered with the Samaritans. Above all, she had a reputation for moral integrity.
So, who would have wanted her dead? And why? Police have always been convinced she knew her killer. The ferocious attack with 50 stab wounds points to there being a personal motive.
How was her killer able to commit such a violent attack in public then vanish?
Penny and husband Alistair were having renovation work done to their house. On the day of the murder, she left at 10am, telling the builders she was off to an urgent appointment. Despite Penny always being meticulous with diary keeping, nothing was noted down about the meeting.
Two hours later her body was found slumped over the steering wheel of her blue Jaguar sports car at a leisure centre.
Was she lured to her death by someone she knew? And if so, who?
Inside the car, Laura
Ashley wallpaper samples for her home had been laid out on the central console. Was she about to show them to someone or had she been looking at them as she waited?
Her husband immediately fell under suspicion as the man closest to her, but he was eliminated as a suspect and cleared of any involvement in the murder.
It emerged that three days before the killing, Penny withdrew £8,500 in cash from the bank. The money has never been accounted for.
Officers released a photofit after new evidence arose, but to no avail.
The case had many twists and turns, further complicated by claims from a former neighbour.
He was quizzed by police early on and released but later went on to brag to a newspaper that he knew who murdered Penny and that she had been the victim of a contract killing. He also said he had been the last person to see her alive.
Despite a £1.5million probe, 8,000 interviews and a £20,000 reward, no one was charged with the murder.
The killing tore the family apart. Penny’s daughter Lauren has rebuilt her life after her early adult years were fraught with mental health issues.
Today she is strong and more determined than ever to bring her mum’s killer to justice. If you have information, call police on 0208 785 8267.