Disordered Minds

Nevertheless, Grace was unlikely to open her door after dark unless she thought her visitor was 'safe,' and this implies an accomplice, almost certainly a girl, who was known to Grace and had a good excuse for being there. If this girl stayed to witness the crime, it is certain she experienced the same terror that Grace experienced; if she left after her boyfriend gained entry, then she was easily persuaded of his innocence and/or terrified into silence. In either case, she would not have spoken to the police.

Significant features of the crime are: an expectation that there was something worth stealing; limited knowledge of forensic techniques (he left evidence of himself behind); sudden uncontrollable anger (he started destroying furniture); cruelty (he tortured his victim); a lack of forward thinking (he killed her regardless of the consequences); inexperience (he didn't expect to be covered in blood); no concern about being caught in the act (he took a bath afterward).

The killer was an immature person with a disorganized mind and anger/emotional problems. He may have been high on drugs, drink or glue. He believed Grace would be an easy 'score' and was unnaturally confident about getting away with it. He was used to making threats-'land me in trouble and you're dead'-and he expected to be obeyed. This suggests a disdain for people in general, a disdain for the police in particular and a history of criminal behavior. There was no prior planning-he'd heard rumors that Grace kept cash in the house but he didn't bother to find out whether they were true. He was used to having his own way and became violent when he was thwarted.

Today he will be in his late forties and he may have a drinking or drug problem. He has, or had, ginger hair and will have spent time in prison. While in his teens he lived in or around Mullin Street in Highdown, Bournemouth. He was part of a deadbeat family who were disliked by their neighbors. He rarely attended school and regularly ran into trouble with the police. He was charismatic enough to attract a girlfriend (probably because he ran with a charismatic gang). He was the dominant partner in the relationship, although she was probably brighter. Because he is illiterate or semiliterate, he is unemployed or works as an unskilled laborer. He is easily roused to anger. If he lives with a partner and children they will be terrified of him; if he doesn't, then there are women and children in hiding who know him.

A selection of the 100-plus letters

received by Jonathan Hughes:

Tithe Cottage

West Staington

Dorset DT2 UVT

Sunday, August 12, 2001

Dear Dr. Hughes

I have just finished your book Disordered Minds. I was particularly interested by the chapter on the Grace Jefferies murder as my wife and I were living in Bournemouth at the time. As you know, it was a cause celebre which filled many column inches in the national press. Indeed nothing so dreadful had happened in the town since Neville Heath's atrocious murder of Doreen Marshall in 1946.

With respect, I cannot accept your proposition that Howard Stamp was innocent. My wife and I were personally acquainted with one of his schoolteachers at St. David's Primary School, and she said he was a 'wrong-un' from the age of six. While I accept that this is hardly evidence of guilt, I do believe that teachers have a feel for these things.

I fear you have fallen into the fashionable trap of looking to excuse sin, either by laying the blame at someone else's door or by portraying the sinner as a victim of circumstance.

Yours sincerely

Brendan McConnell

Replied, asking for name of teacher. Followed up on 10/3/01 and 11/14/01.

No response.

The man you're looking for is Barty Morton. He's got red hair and lives at 3 Springhill Close, Christchurch, nr Bournemouth. He regularly beats his wife and kids.

Received on 9/15/01. No address or signature. Checked out Barry Morton-too young (2 yrs. old in 1970).

Bournemouth

Dear Dr. Hughes,

I was at school with Howard Stamp. He was bullied all the time. Not that he turned up very often. Sometimes his mother dragged him in by his ear when the school inspectors got on to her. She wasn't a nice woman, she was always hitting him. I felt badly about the way he was treated. He was called terrible names. Even the teachers were nasty to him. I never believed he killed his nan but I don't know who did.

Yours sincerely,

Jan

Unable to reply without a full name and address.

COUNCILLOR G. GARDENER

25 Mullin Street, Highdown, Bournemouth, Dorset BH15 6VX

Dr. Jonathan Hughes

c/o Spicer & Hardy Authors' Agents

25 Blundell Street

London W4 9TP

December 17, 2002

Dear Jonathan Hughes:

After hearing an interview with you on Radio 4 some weeks ago, I was prompted to buy your book Disordered Minds. You will have noted that I live in the street where Grace Jefferies was murdered although, as I'm sure you're aware, her house and the two on either side were pulled down in 1972 to make way for a block of flats. I moved here from London in 1985 and by then her story was forgotten. I became aware of it after a spate of burglaries in the area when a neighbor mentioned that she hadn't seen so many police since Grace's body was found. Naturally, I was curious and she gave me the details.

For over a century, Bournemouth has been depicted as a tranquil place of substantial villas, beautiful beaches and conservative (with both small and big Cs) inclinations, where the wealthy middle classes choose to retire. In some ways that is still what it represents, but an influx of service industries-finance, insurance, tourism-plus the inauguration of the university in 1992 and the success of the international airport, has brought a multitude of job opportunities to the town. It is now regarded as one of the 'buzz' cities on the south coast.