A TOP investigator has revealed his biggest regret after the mysterious murder of a 13-year-old boy left Britain baffled for decades.
Carl Bridgewater, a paper-boy, was killed at Yew Tree Farm, Stourbridge, in 1978 after it is believed he interrupted a burglary.
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Four men, who became known as the Bridgewater Four, were convicted of the boy’s murder in 1979.
But the decision was later repealed after the Court Appeal discovered two Staffordshire police officers had fabricated the evidence.
One man, Patrick Molloy, died in prison, whilst the three others spent 18 years behind bars.
Bert Spencer, now 83, who served 15 years for the murder of his friend, farmer Hubert Wilkes, has repeatedly been named a suspect for the unsolved murder of Carl.
Call to reopen the case
Professor and and Criminologist David Wilson is calling for the case to be reopened after telling a Channel 4 documentary that Wilkes’ murder had “eerie similarities” to that of the schoolboy.
He said he had shown “huge narcissism” and “could switch on and off emotionally”.
He was often aggressive towards me
David Wilson
David’s wife, Janet, told the programme “deep down” she believed Spencer was involved in Carl’s killing – or was at least involved.
She added there was “no concrete evidence” but insisted Staffordshire Police should reopen the case.
Spencer has denied all of these claims.
Growing suspicions
In an interview with The Sun David said how he spoke to Spencer for almost 30 hours and knew he had gotten “under his skin”.
“I know that I annoyed him, what can I say, he was often aggressive towards me,” he said.
He added: “I didn’t set out to prove he had killed Carl Bridgewater. I simply went in to ask the questions that most obviously needed to be asked.
“And there were immediately things that connected him.
“He drove a make of car that had been seen at Yew tree farm, the person who saw the passing driver saw that the man was wearing a uniform.”
Convicted shotgun killer who collects clocks and ‘dabbles’ in antiques appears on Bargain Hunt
A CONVICTED murderer popped up in TV’s Bargain Hunt.Bert Spencer served 15 years for the shotgun killing of a pal in 1979.
He was also an initial suspect in the shotgun murder of newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater the year before.
Now 76, Spencer collects clocks and “dabbles” in antiques.
He was with his partner Christine Rook at an auction in Bourne, Lincs, on an episode screened by the BBC last week.
He was seen bidding unsuccessfully for a silver matchbox holder.
Spencer, who lives in nearby Spalding, said: “I certainly hope there have been no complaints about it.”
Carl, 13, was thought to have disturbed a burglar at a farm near Stourbridge, West Mids.
Spencer has always denied any link.
“He then, a year later, was convicted for a murder in roughly similar ways, and he claimed to have no memory of that.
“I simply went on saying, are those things coincidences or are they linked in a bigger way?”
Fresh evidence
Bert Spencer, a former Black Country ambulance driver, agreed to take part in the documentary after it was revealed fresh evidence against him would soon be revealed.
Simon Golding, author of “Scapegoat for Murder – the truth about the killing of Carl Bridgewater”, said he would unveil the latest information in a sequel to his book.
Despite hoping to clear his name the book only intensified public pressure on the man.
Spencer who now lives near Spalding in Lincolnshire told Channel 4 that the claims in the documentary will “cause untold misery” .
What happened next?
David hoped the documentary might have helped reopen the case against Spencer as his comments provided “enough information to allow us to bring justice to Carl and his family”.
In an interview with The Sun he said it was “disappointing” that the ex-convict was not brought in for questioning afterwards.
He said: “With most cold cases, people imagine, because they watch the telly and go and see movies that cold cases become hot because of developments in forensic science.
“That’s not how they become hot, they become hot because alliances change, relationships break down,
It’s an extraordinary case and the fact it’s still not solved is quite amazing
David Wilson
“Witnesses previously dismissed are now regarded as having information that can be relied upon and all of those things happened in this case as a result of the work the documentary makers did.
“And that was why it was so disappointing. That Bert was never interviewed under caution after it was broadcast.”
David admitted it’s possible another suspect could still be out there.
David said: “It’s an extraordinary case and the fact it’s still not solved is quite amazing given a paperboy, young man, in a small community,
“There were witnesses that saw somebody at the time, very similar murder only 12 months later, it’s very odd that case didn’t get solved.”
Police told Spencer in 2017 that they would not be taking any action against him following the television programme.
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Bert Spencer’s bitter book battle
Convicted killer Bert Spencer intended the book “Scapegoat for Murder
Instead it spawned the Channel 4 documentary and intensified the public pressure on the Spencer.
The book, which was published in 2016, is at the centre of a legal battle, with Spencer claiming £5,000 off its author Simon Golding who he said owes him money for the work.
Spencer collaborated with the writer and provided manuscripts whilst he was serving prison time for the murder of his friend Hubert Wilkes.
In a “pre action letter” to Simon and included in the court bundle, Spencer states: “During our last communication, you adamantly denied there was ever any verbal contract between us about the book sales monies.
“I had agreed to share half with you, with my half donated to charity. However, you remain in denial that that any such contract existed.”
