Violet Milsom

Violet Milsom was found dead in her basement flat at 61 Ashley Road, St Paul's, on 1 October 1985.

She had been strangled with a piece of her clothing and her hands had been tied with a pink belt.

She was found partially clothed and had been sexually assaulted and her body mutilated with a five-inch knife. Her cause of death was given as strangulation.

The pink belt was thought to have been from a dress but the police noted that they had been unable to determine that the item had belonged to Violet Milsom.

Her body was found by a neighbour at about 11am on 1 October 1985 that had been doing some gardening for her. He had started the day before but finished the next day and when he went to ask Violet Milsom for a broom he found her dead.

There were no signs of a forced entry into her home and the police said that they thought there was a possibility that she had known her killer and that she might have invited him into her home.

Violet Milsom was described as a cat woman as when she was found she was surrounded by her six pet cats. She had moved into the flat about three years earlier.

She was last seen alive at 4.45pm when she went to  get an evening paper from some nearby shops.

The police said they could find no motive for her murder, although suggested that it might have been robbery as it was found that although Violet Milsom had drawn her weekly £37 pension from the Lower Ashley Road Post Office the day before, all her cash was found to be missing from her flat except for a few pence found in her purse. Her one-bedroom flat was described as having been ransacked.

The police said:

It was noted that some weeks before her murder, on 3 September 1985, she disturbed three young men who smashed a pane of glass in her door. However, Violet Milsom didn't report the matter to the police. The police added:

Violet Milsom was also seen with a young man with long hair in the street a few days before her murder, but the police said that they didn't know who he was.

On the night before she was found dead, Monday 30 September 1985, a witness saw three youths, two black and one white, leave her gateway at about 8.30pm. They were described as:

1. West Indian boy, aged about 16, with his hair cropped short and dyed ginger.
2. White boy or girl with blond collar-length hair.
3. West Indian man, about 5ft 10in tall.

Another witness saw a youth leave a nearby gate just before midnight.

The man that was seen leaving the gate, which was thought could have been Violet Milsom's gate, was described as:

• White.
• Aged 25 to 30.
• 5ft 8in tall.
• Slim.
• Collar-length unkempt light brown hair.
• Wearing light blue denims and a light blue long-sleeved woollen jumper.

The police released two artist's impressions of the man.

It was noted that no one in the house next to where Violet Milsom lived knew the man, and no one in Violet Milsom's house knew him either, and the police said they were keen to trace him.

It was also noticed that a tramp that had been outside of her flat for most of the night would have seen it all, however, he was said to have not understood anything and to have nothing to offer police.

It was also noted that about a quarter of an hour before her body was found that a neighbour saw a man standing near Violet Milsom's home banging his head against a garden wall and saying:

Or

The witness said that the man appeared to be upset and collapsed into a crouching position and began to cry and that as he walked off along Ashley Rod towards Stokes Croft he was waving his fists in a punching movement.

The man was described as being:

• Aged 20 to 30.
• 5ft 10in tall.
• Mousey hair.
• Clean shaven.
• Wearing a dark blue sweat shirt and grey or beige trousers.

The police appealed for anyone that had been near her house on 30 September 1985 from 5.45pm to come forward.

It was noted that Violet Milsom was worried about burglaries and used to leave a note in her window that read:

However, after her body was found it was noticed that the note had not been placed in the window, indicating that she might have been killed before she would ordinarily have placed it there.

Her eldest son later revealed that Violet Milsom always took a sleeping pill at 7pm to send her to sleep and that she wouldn't answer her door.

During the police investigation they found a Christmas card from a person, Steve, that they had been unable to identify. On the front of the card it read, 'For My Sweetheart At Christmas', and it was signed inside Steve, however, the police said that they had been unable to identify Steve.

The police also said that they were interested in speaking to anyone that knew Violet Milsom.

In their appeal, the police said that they thought that whoever killed Violet Milsom was mentally disturbed and dangerous and that if he was not caught that he could kill again.

They said that they thought that her killer lived locally and that someone might know who they were and what they had done.