Murder of Margaret Cook
Margaret Cook was a woman who was shot dead on 10 November, 1946 outside the Blue Lagoon nightclub in Carnaby Street, London.[1][2] In 2015 a man living in Canada confessed to the shooting which would make this the longest gap between a crime and a confession in British criminal history.[1][2]
Shooting
26-year-old Margaret Cook was originally from Bradford and worked as a prostitute in London.[1][2] She was shot in a narrow passage outside the club.[1][2] Witnesses described a man aged about 25 to 30 in a pork-pie hat and Burberry coat, but lost sight of him.[1] Although a labourer from Lanarkshire was named as a suspect by police, nobody was ever charged with the crime.
Confession
In 2015 a 91-year-old man living in a care home confessed to killing a woman with a Russian-made World War II pistol to Canadian police.[1][2] Scotland Yard detectives interviewed him and though he could not remember the name of the woman he picked out a photo of Margaret Cook.[1][2] He wanted to clear his conscience after being diagnosed with cancer.[1][2] British authorities are trying to extradite him but as of July 2015 the Canadian government has not replied.[1][2]
It has been claimed that this is the longest time between a crime and a confession in British history.[1][2]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Mortimer, Caroline (16 July 2015). "91-year-old confesses to the murder of Soho sex worker – in 1946". The Independent. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ward, Victoria (16 July 2015). "Man 'confesses to 1946 killing', marking longest gap between a crime and a confession". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 July 2015.