Murder of Suzanne Capper

Suzanne Capper
Born
Suzanne Jane Jones

Manchester, England, UK
Died18 December 1992
Withington Hospital, Manchester, England, UK
Cause of deathMultiple organ dysfunction syndrome arising from burns
Body discoveredCompstall Road
ParentElizabeth Capper

The murder of Suzanne Capper was committed in Greater Manchester, England in December 1992.[1] Capper, aged 16, died in Withington Hospital on 18 December 1992, from multiple organ failure arising from 80% burns after being deliberately lit on fire on 14 December.[2][3][4] Before her death, Capper relayed that she had been kidnapped and held captive for seven days at a house in Moston, Manchester, where she was beaten and tortured.[5] She was taken from the house by car, driven into the countryside and forced out of the car into a wood at Werneth Low where petrol was poured over her and she was set alight.[6] The murder arose from the "avenging [of] trivial grievances: a sexual insult, infection with pubic lice and the loss of a pink duffel coat."[7]

Detectives conducting the inquiry said that "for sheer mindless brutality" the crime ranked alongside the torture inflicted upon the victims of the Moors murderers.[8] The case went to trial in November 1993 but received "comparatively little publicity" as it coincided with the trial of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables for the murder of James Bulger.[9] On 17 December 1993, Jean Powell, aged 26; her ex-husband Glyn Powell, aged 29; and Bernadette McNeilly, aged 24, were sentenced to life imprisonment for their parts in the murder. Jeffrey Leigh, aged 27, was jailed for twelve years for false imprisonment. Jean Powell's brother Clifford Pook, aged 18, was sentenced to fifteen years in a Young Offenders' Institution for false imprisonment and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. Anthony Michael Dudson, aged 16 at the time of the murder, was also found guilty of murder and sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure under section 53(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.[7][8]

  1. ^ Sharratt, Tom (16 December 1992). "Girl, 16, critical after kidnap". The Guardian. London.
  2. ^ Foster, Jonathan; Connett, David (18 December 1993). "Petty grudges settled by torture spree then murder". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  3. ^ Faux, Ronald (9 January 1993). "Coroner told how 16-year-old girl was tortured and burnt". The Times. London.
  4. ^ Connett, David (15 December 1992). "Burnt girl, 16, found naked at golf course". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Burns girl politely thanked her rescuers". The Times. London. 18 November 1993.
  6. ^ "Regina v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) ex parte Dudson (FC) (Appellant) and one other action". House of Lords. 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  7. ^ a b Ward, David (18 December 1993). "Four jailed for sadistic death by torture of girl, 16". The Guardian. London.
  8. ^ a b Wilkinson, Paul (18 December 1993). "Four given life after girl tortured and burnt alive". The Times. London.
  9. ^ Davis, Carol Anne (2007). Sadistic Killers: Profiles of pathological predators. Chichester: Summersdale Publishing. pp. 298–304. ISBN 978-1-84024-581-3.