We’ll never have complete justice, says family of murdered Elsie, 14

THE FAMILY of murdered schoolgirl Elsie Frost have said they will never have “complete justice” after the “homicidal maniac” believed to be her killer died before he could be prosecuted.

Anne Cleave, Elsie’s older sister, was speaking outside Wakefield Coroner’s Court after a new inquest held after she and her brother, Colin Frost, successfully campaigned for a fresh review of the case.

During the two-day hearing, the family heard that Peter Pickering – a convicted rapist and murderer known as the Beast of

Wombwell – was identified as a suspect and kept under surveillance days after Elsie’s murder, but was not questioned about the 14-year-old for nearly 50 years.

West Yorkshire Police revealed they were close to charging 80-year-old Pickering when he died of natural causes in March last year.

Mrs Cleave said: “We’ve got a jigsaw puzzle that is almost complete, except for one piece.

“So we have not, and will never have, complete justice for the murder of our sister.”

The inquest heard that the actions of the police force in 1965 meant that Pickering was left free to abduct and rape an 18-yearold woman and murder another 14-year-old, Shirley Boldy, in Barnsley in 1972.

Detective Chief Superintendent Nick Wallen told the inquest that Pickering was wanted for two sexual assaults at the time of Elsie’s murder and a manhunt began the day after she was stabbed to death in Wakefield on October 9, 1965.

As part of the search, officers put his home in Wombwell, Barnsley, under 24-hour surveillance for a fortnight but did not realise that a person leaving and entering the house during that time was Pickering dressed as a woman.

Officers said they were legally not allowed to enter the house and one crashed his car into a gatepost trying to intercept Pickering – who eventually fled after a car chase on October 26.

Messages between officers in Wakefield and the Metropolitan Police revealed that Pickering was believed to be a “likely suspect” for Elsie’s murder but the file was passed back to London after they were unable to trace him.

He was eventually arrested in

We’ve got a jigsaw puzzle that is almost complete.

Anne Cleave, Elsie Frost’s older sister, speaking after the inquest.

Brighton two months after Elsie’s murder but the inquest heard there was no evidence to suggest he was ever questioned in relation to her death.

A coroner in the original inquest, in December 1965, accused railway fireman Ian Spencer of Elsie’s murder and he was charged and held in custody for eight weeks in 1966 before being cleared due to lack of evidence.

Mr Wallen told the inquest that police at the time believed Mr Spencer was the suspect and effectively closed the case after he was acquitted.

When the detective reopened the case in 2015, he discovered that any forensic evidence had been destroyed in the intervening years but investigators eventually made the link to Pickering and they found two storage units containing documents written by the suspect over the previous 40 years which appeared to incriminate him in Elsie’s murder.

Mr Wallen described Pickering as a “homicidal maniac” and told the inquest he was convinced the suspect was responsible for Elsie’s murder.

Coroner Kevin McLoughlin concluded that Elsie was killed unlawfully.

He said he was unable to apportion blame in the inquest but described Pickering as “devious” and “dangerous”.

He said Pickering, it seems, was “a devious man”.