Prime Crime: Solved Murders - Lesley Whittle Pt. 2

Episode Date: October 7, 2020

Months after the 17-year-old went missing, an investigation into the underground sewage tunnels in Bathpool Park turned up a torrent of clues—and Lesley Whittle’s body. But it wasn’t until nearly a year after her kidnapping that detectives would find her killer.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this murder case, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes graphic descriptions of the kidnapping of a minor, as well as dramatizations and discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. March 6, 1975 was a gray day, hardly the ideal conditions, for a stroll through Bathpool Park in the British town of Kidsgrove. The trees were still bare, the ground hard, with a lake, lingering frost of that year's winter.

But on that day, Bathpool Park was suddenly inundated with visitors. They wandered the grounds, peaking under rocks, and searching in garbage cans. These were policemen, dozens of them, and they were not visiting Bathpool Park for its scenery. Detective Chief, Superintendent Bob Booth, was running out of time in his search for Leslie Whittle, the young heiress who had been abducted nearly two months earlier. And as he walked into Bathpool Park, he hoped that this place could finally provide some answers about the girl's location. Or maybe Bathpool Park would contain some clue as to the identity of Leslie Whittle's suspected kidnapper, known only as the Black Panther.

Tudging over the dead grass, Bob Booth wished that this would finally be the day that Leslie Whittle's case broke wide open. And unfortunately, he was terribly, terribly right. Welcome to Solved Murders, True Crime Mysteries, a Parcast Original. I'm your host, Carter Roy. And I'm your host, Wendy McKenzie. Every Wednesday, we step into the world of true crimes, most fascinating murder cases, and tell the tale of how real-life detectives closed the case. You can find episodes of Solved Murders and all other Parcast Originals for free exclusively on Spotify.

To stream Solved Murders for free on Spotify, just open the air. app and type solved murders in the search bar. This is our second episode on the kidnapping and the murder of Leslie Whittle. Last week, we covered the hunt for the missing heiress. This week, we'll discuss the discovery of Leslie Whittle's body and the unlikely way the killer was caught. We have all that and more coming up. Stay with us. On January 14, 1975, 17-year-old heiress Leslie Whittle was taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night. By March 6th, she had been missing for over 50 days.

Up until this point, the investigation into her sudden disappearance had been plagued by mishaps. On three separate occasions, the police failed to exchange the kidnappers' 50,000-pound ransom. The lead officer on the case, Detective Chief's Superintendent Bob Booth of West Mercia Police, was slowly tarnishing his spotless record as the search for Leslie Whittle dragged on with no end in sight. Bethpool Park was the only lead left, and it would prove to be a treasure trove of information about the missing heiress. You said you had something for me? That's correct, sir. We found a torch.

It was discarded near the entrance to a sewage drain. Good. Well done, officer. What else? We also found a spanner wrench in the weeds. We think that the kidnapper might have been hiding out in the sewage drains in the park. The note those boys found said to drop them. money into a hole, right?

Yes, that's right. This must have been the drop-off site for the ransom. It might be a good idea for us to search those drains. Our kidnapper might still be down there. Right. I thought I could trust Gottlieard to search this place seven weeks ago. To think of what we could have found. The next day, March 7th, Detective Constable Philip Masquerie was called in to explore the

underground sewage system in Bathport. a park. He started where the torch was found at the gated entrance to one of the many drainage shafts that ran underneath the park. The shaft itself was surrounded by a cement structure in the shape of a hexagon with barred openings on each side, large enough for a grown man to crawl through. Philip Masqueray hunched over and carefully stepped through the entrance. He had to be lowered into the shaft, 60 feet down into the dark. And once he got to the bottom, Flipmascarry found the first in a new series of clues linking the kidnapper to Bathpool Park and the sewage system that ran underneath it. Hey, we've got something down here.

Go on, describe it to me. Looks like some kind of label maker? It has a roll of tape already loaded. Good, good. That's our guy, all right. Anything else you can identify? Let me see. Oh, looks like we have a strip of tape.

A duct tape or something similar. Might have been used to cover the girl's mouth. I wouldn't doubt it. Might if I look around? The shaft looks like it leads to a bunch of other tunnels. Sure thing. We'll be waiting for you up here. Philip Masquerie was right.

That single shaft linked up to a series of other land drains and underground tunnels that spilled out into different parts of the park. If the Black Panther had been hiding out in the sewage system, he certainly had his fair pick of a escape routes. But Philip Masquerie wasn't able to explore these tunnels for long. Another series of clues had been discovered. All right, what have you got for me now? A men's leather jacket, sir, and a pair of binoculars. And where did you find them this time? Up there in the grass. It's by another drainage shaft.

But this one's much smaller. It's the metal kind that's flush with the ground. We almost missed it. Hmm. That could be where our man's been hiding. out. Is Mascary up from the tunnels yet? Looks like he needs to examine one more. Philip Mascary was brought to this new site. The drainage shaft was much smaller, hardly big enough for a single person to squeeze inside. He climbed down a ladder into the tunnel and reached a metal landing. Just as before, he found a series of clues that proved that the kidnapper had been hiding out beneath Bathpool Park. All right, this time we've got a

reporter's notebook, a tape recorder. Excellent. This could be where our man was hiding out. Anything else? There's another landing a few more feet down. I'll make my way there and let you know what I find. As he continued down, Philip Masquerie discovered batteries and pencils. This was beginning to look like the hiding spot for the Black Panther. But so far, there was no one to be seen. The shaft had been abandoned. Philip Masqueray made his way down to the lowest platform of the shaft. Wow, there's a lot here. Tell me exactly what you see. Right. You've got a large piece of foam and a sleeping bag wrapped in a plastic bag to protect it from water damage. This is our spot. You're doing excellent work, detective. Hold on. There's something else. Yes. There's a metal rope attached to one

of the rungs on the ladder here. It's pulled taut across the sleeping bag and goes down into the shaft. Looks like it's attached to something hanging below, something heavy. All right, well, have a look and tell me what it is. It could be supplies. Philip Masquerie got down onto his hands and knees to peer over the edge of the landing. Oh, God. Oh, my God. The kidnapper wasn't using this location as a hideout. He was using it as a cage. And it was here at the bottom of the shaft where Philip Masquerie came face to face with the deceased Leslie Whittle. Coming up, we learn more about Leslie Whittle's death. Stay with us. Listeners, I have a surprising treat for you. You know you can find love in a bar or on an app.

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Crouching over the lowest platform in the drainage shaft, Detective Constable Philip Maschery found himself looking into the face of a dead teenage girl. Leslie Whittle was naked, suspended by the neck with the metal cord. Her bare feet hovered only a few inches from the bottom of the shaft. It appeared as though her captor had used the cord as a kind of leash with one end attached to the metal ladder near the platform and the other tightly wound around the girl's neck. Judging from the sleeping bag, Leslie Whittle had been kept hethered to the platform for several days and either fell or was pushed off the ledge still wearing the wire cord around her neck. She was dead and had been for several weeks.

The police determined that Leslie Whittle had been either shocked or strangled to death. And after examining her body, they deduced that she must have been killed around January 16th the night that Ronald Whittle failed to drop off the ransom at Bathpool. Park. But it was unclear why the Black Panther would have killed Leslie Whittle that night when it was only one of many failed attempts at securing the ransom. An unexpected witness soon offered a shocking theory. Peter Shorto was a local nightclub DJ who, on the night of January 16th, had driven to Bathpool Park with his girlfriend at 2.45 in the morning. Around the exact time the ransom drop-off was supposed to happen.

I didn't think anything of it at the time, but I saw someone flashing a torch at me while I was parked there. And why didn't you mention this to the police? I figured it was just someone out on a late-night walk, sir. Right, and what else? Well, I also saw a police car come up and park next to me. And you're sure this was a police car. You couldn't have mistaken it in the dark. Absolutely not, sir.

That was a police car with a Stappertcher police. The officer pulled up alongside me and had a cigarette. And what of the torch? Did he keep flashing when the police cruiser pulled up? No, sir. It stopped. Peter Shorto's implication here was very serious. If a local police cruiser had stumbled upon the sight of a ransom swap,

that meant that the kidnapper could have seen the car, panicked, and killed Leslie Whittle out of fear. Quickly, this created a rift between Bob Booth and the leadership of Staffordshire Police. The precinct meant to protect Bathpool Park and the town surrounding it. Bob Booth saw this as the most fatal mistake of the investigation, and one which cost Leslie Whittle her life. But for the head of the Staffordshire Criminal Investigations Department, Harold Wright,

this claim was totally impossible. He was certain that there hadn't been any local police patrolling Bathpool Park that night. Neither side could say with absolute certainty, what had happened or whether or not this mistake had caused the death of Leslie Whittle. But one thing was for sure. As head of the investigation, Bob Booth had failed to find Leslie Whittle alive. As the country panicked over the discovery of Leslie Whittle's body, the hunt for the elusive Black Panther became even more urgent.

Harold Wright and the Staffordshire Criminal Investigations Department took over the case, partnering with Scotland Yard and sidelining Bob Booth, who, in their eyes, was no longer needed. I'm here to assure the British public that while previous investigations couldn't bring Leslie Whittle home safely, we will be sure to capture the man who killed her. Sir, why are you partnering with Scotland Yard when they were unable to find the girl weeks ago in their search of Bathpool Park? During the last investigation, local police were at odds with the yard. We intend to cooperate completely and work together. together to bring this monster to justice.

But, sir, how do you plan to do that? Our killer has left us with a bounty of clues. He doesn't appear to be particularly bright in that regard. We will not be making the same mistakes as the previous investigation. It was true. The Black Panther had left a shocking array of clues. The search of Bathpool Park on March 7th turned up the kind of evidence beyond what police could hope for in their wildest dreams.

The labeling tape gun, the tape recorder, all of these things could be traced back to where they had been purchased. And if they could be traced, that gave a good idea of where the Black Panther bought them and where he could be hiding. If that wasn't enough, police had the Black Panther's handwriting and even discovered a fingerprint on a notepad left in the drainage shaft. Harold Wright later told a documentary that at that point, the police knew almost everything about the Black Panther except his name and address.

The police chose to work in tandem with the press on this investigation, having major newspapers published samples of the Black Panther's handwriting in the hopes that someone might be able to identify it. They were determined to avoid any of the problems that had arisen with the last investigation. All signs pointed towards success for this new team, but despite the massive collection of clues, the case proved tougher than Harold Wright had hoped. The tip line for the case was inundated with calls and hundreds of people were interviewed, but nothing led the police any closer to finding the Black Panther. The months dragged on with no more leads, no more clues, and no idea where the killer could be hiding. While the police scrambled

to find the Black Panther, the Whittle family held a funeral service for Leslie back in the village of Highley at St. Mary's Church on March 14, 1975. Hundreds of visitors came to pay their respects. So many people arrived that the small church housing the service couldn't accommodate them all. But even so, a large crowd waited outside to show their solidarity for the young girl and her family. Though he was no longer at the front of the investigation, Bob Booth attended, and his presence became an unexpected source of comfort. During the service, the vicar even chose to speak to him directly.

In the early days of this inquiry, Mr. Booth said, In my book, she's still alive. May I say, sir, now, don't cross that out of your book. For in my book, Leslie is still alive, even though her mortal remains are here. Leslie Whittle's remains were cremated and stored to the church. After weeks of worry, the Whittle family was now grieving. And though the hunt for the Black Panther continued, the Whittle family retreated away from the limelight.

The investigation continued while they mourned. By December 11, 1975, over 300 days passed since Leslie Whittle was taken from her home. The story wasn't news anymore, and it was beginning to look like the Black Panther would never be caught. But on that night, what began as a routine patrol placed two police officers at the center of the hunt for the elusive killer.

Police constables Tony White and Stuart McKinsey had just begun their patrol shift in the town of Mansfield. Mansfield was hardly the kind of place that saw any action, just the occasional drunk or delinquent teenager. The two officers expected this night to be as uneventful as any other. So when they responded to a call that a man was behaving suspiciously near a post office, they didn't think much of it. Evening, sir. mind telling us what you're doing out here so late at night? Nothing. What's it to you? Well, I think you're making people a bit uncomfortable.

Why don't we get your information and you could be on your way? I don't have to tell you nothing. Excuse me? I don't have to tell you nothing. Now, sir, we don't want any fuss. Why don't we... Don't move. Any tricks and you're dead. Officer McKenzie found himself staring down the barrel of a sod-off shot.

gun. The man gestured to both officers to get back into their police cruiser, signaling for Stuart McKenzie to drive while Tony White sat in the back seat. The man took the passenger seat and pushed the gun into Officer McKinsey's ribs. All right, drive. No tricks. Stuart McKenzie drove through Mansfield, desperately trying to think of some way he and his partner could escape. But all the while, the mysterious man directed the two officers closer and closer to the edge of town. Stuart McKinsey knew that once they reached the countryside, they would be totally alone. And there was no chance that he and Stuart McKenzie would make it out alive. Coming up, the officers make their escape. And now, back to our story.

On the evening of December 11, 1975, officers Tony White and Stuart McKinsey were forced into their car at gunpoint and told to drive out of the city. Every block their patrol car drove to the edge of the city was one block closer to death. There was no time to lose. Stuart McKinsey suddenly reared the car back and forth, yanking the steering wheel and sending the car into oncoming traffic. Their captors slammed into the side of the car. His balance temporarily lost. The gun went off in the commotion, missing the two officers, but alerting passerbyes on the street.

In one final move, Stuart McKenzie slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a halt in front of a fish and chip shop. Inside, a man named Roy Morris was picking up his dinner, but when he saw the two officers struggling, he ran outside. Oh my God. How could I help? Grab his hands, his wrists. Help me get the cuffs on him. Roy Morris didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, grasping at the man's flailing arms. The two fought with Roy Morris ultimately overpowering his opponent in pinning him down.

Stuart McKinsey quickly secured him with handcuffs. The ordeal was over in a matter of seconds. Bruised and bleeding, the criminal was immediately. transported to the local police station. For two days, the man stayed completely silent when questioned. But after some investigation into his past, the two officers had a name for their suspect, Donald Nielsen.

Donald Nielsen was a construction worker from Bradford, about an hour's drive from Mansfield. He was married, with a teenage daughter, around the same age as Leslie Whittle. Donald stood at 5'4 foot six, and had Mousy Brown here. He was the kind of person you could easily pass on the street without a moment's thought.

At this point, Tony White and Stuart McKenzie still thought they were dealing with a local small-time criminal. But when the police searched Donald Nielsen's home, they discovered his true identity. Jesus Christ, this place is a treasure trove. McKenzie, write these items down, will you? You got it. Okay, looks like we have several maps.

another sought-off shotgun with ammunition, black hoods, and a model of a black panther. The officers immediately called Staffordshire Police. Nearly a year after Leslie Whittle was kidnapped, it looked like police had finally caught the Black Panther. Donald Nielsen was questioned for days by the investigative team run by Scotland Yard and Detective Chief Superintendent Hare.

right. And at first, it didn't look like Donald Nielsen was interested in cooperating. The process of questioning the alleged Black Panther was grueling and bizarre. Officers would ask him a question, and he would ignore them, counting the bricks on the wall for several minutes. Eventually, he would blurt out an answer, but as soon as he was asked another question, the process would begin again. Despite Donald Nielsen's refusal to cooperate, the police knew that they had a strong case against him. The killer already left a huge amount of evidence, but there was one clue left that sealed Donald Nielsen's fate.

Staffordshire Police matched Donald Nielsen's fingerprints to the one they found at the crime scene. There was no doubt. Donald Nielsen was the Black Panther. Listen, Nielsen, I'm not interested in playing this game with you anymore. We know you're the Black Panther. Well, damn. There's no use denying it any longer. Oh, I'm not interested in denying anything.

All right. What do you want? What? Do you want details on how I murdered all the post officers? Leslie Whittle? How about this? I'll give you separate statements for each one. I want the world to know who I am. Donald Nielsen relished the notoriety he had earned from his years of killing.

In the interviews that followed, he painted himself as a criminal mastermind and a source of endless excitement for the public. He carried his self-satisfied attitude to his trial, and it was with this new cockiness that the public learned everything about Donald Nielsen, his violent history, and how he kidnapped and murdered Leslie Whittle.

Donald Nielsen had begun his burglary partly out of bitterness about his domestic life. A former soldier, he had thrived in the military, learning jungle warfare in Kenya. But when he moved back to England to settle down, he missed the rush of combat. He started breaking into homes in 1965 to make supplemental income, but his stolen rewards were hardly enough to sustain him. As he grew more ruthless, he transitioned into robbing post offices. But even that cash wasn't enough, and Donald Nielsen's tactics grew more violent.

violent. On February 15, 1974, he killed his first victim, sub-postmaster Donald Skepper. That year, Donald Nielsen killed two more people in similar burglaries, but during the third robbery and murder, he only managed to steal 800 pounds, equivalent to around 8,400 pounds today. He needed more cash. Luckily for him in 1972, Donald Nielsen saw a particularly interesting article published in the Daily Express. It was about a wealthy family out of Hiley and the angry first wife of a dead businessman named George Whittle. A single line from the article caught his eye. The late George Whittle had left a large inheritance of 82,000 pounds to his daughter, a young girl named a Leslie Whittle. Now that was a lot of money, and as Donald Nielsen killed his first

victims and continued robbing post offices, he planned for his biggest crime yet. Early in the morning on January 14, 1975, Donald Nielsen drove to the Whittlehouse. He cut the phone lines and quietly broke in through the garage. He aimed a sought-off shotgun at Leslie as she slept, woke her up, and told her to get dressed. He taped her mouth shut and bound her hands and then carried her out of the house. He placed her in the back seat of his stolen Morris-1300. He left a roll of label tape detailing the conditions of a release,

placing it on a chocolate box in the living room so it would be easy to find. He asked for 50,000 pounds in exchange for Leslie's return. He drove through the night, eventually arriving at Bathpool Park. He set up a makeshift hiding place for Leslie, a large piece of foam and a sleeping bag covered in plastic. on the lowest platform in a drainage shaft. Forcing Leslie down the 60-foot shaft, Donald Nielsen tied a metal noose around her neck,

securing the other end to the rung of a metal ladder that served as the only way out. Things were going to plan so far, and that night he prepared for the next step, a phone call to a specific telephone box in the Swan Shopping Center. But when he finally rang the telephone box at around 1 a.m., No one answered. Donald Nielsen decided to try again the second night,

but his plans were complicated when a nosy security guard, Gerald Smith, decided to investigate him as he loitered around a railway yard in the middle of the night. Evening, sir. Mind telling me what you're doing here at a time like this? Bugger off. Sir, there's no need for rudeness. I simply...

I said bugger off! Donald Nielsen shot. Gerald Smith and ran off on foot, abandoning his car in the parking lot near Dudley Zoo. The killer's plans were starting to grow shaggy at the ends, but it didn't matter if he couldn't reach the Whittle family. Perhaps Leslie could. It's unclear exactly when Donald Nielsen made recordings of Leslie Whittle, but by all accounts, it must have occurred within 48 hours of her capture, because on the night of January 16th, Donald Nielsen made the call that sped up the hunt for the missing heiress.

Mom, you need to go to the Kids' Grove Post Office telephone box. The instructions are inside. I'm okay, but there'd be no police and no tricks, okay? Donald Nielsen planned for the newest attempt at a ransom drop-off. He waited at Bathpool Park, holding a flashlight, and looking for Ronald Whittle's car. Eventually, a car did arrive, and he turned on his flashlight and waved it around. But the car never signaled back. In the dark, Donald Nielsen couldn't see who the car belonged to

and didn't realize that this was not the car he had been waiting for. He continued flashing his flashlight and waving it around with no response. Allegedly, Donald Nielsen suddenly saw what looked like a police cruiser driving up alongside the idling vehicle. And this was when he panicked. Donald Nielsen immediately left, fearing that the police were in hot pursuit. He returned to the drainage shaft where he had kept Leslie, determined to get his things and make a run for it. During his trial, Donald Nielsen claimed that he hadn't pushed Leslie Whittle to her death. He tried to convince the jury that she had fallen or that if he had pushed her, it was a mistake.

But regardless of his claims, this was very likely the night Leslie died. She had been tethered to the shaft for days, and one push sent her off the ledge, still chained around the neck to the metal cord. Donald Nielsen left her there as the metal noose cut off her breathing. A post-mortem examination later determined that she likely died from shock due to vagal inhibition, which can occur when pressure on the neck presses on the vagus nerve, stopping the heart in the process. Not much is known about Donald Nilsson's activities after,

Leslie Whittle's murder and before his capture, as the criminal kept a low profile for nearly a year until his capture. His arrest was ultimately a fluke. Donald Nielsen was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But despite his initial refusal to cooperate with the police, he could hardly pass up the opportunity to be known as an elusive and notorious killer. Even with his feeble attempts at spinning the story in his favor, it was clear that Donald Nielsen killed Leslie Whittle. and enjoyed the attention it brought him. And he got plenty of it. A heavy police guard held back the crowds outside the court today.

It's been reported that some people had been waiting for five to six hours. By the time the accused arrived, there were about 200 onlookers booing and jeering. It was hard to resist the sensational story of a cocky murderer openly confessing to the murder of a 17-year-old girl. During the trial, the story, was a media spectacle. The trial of Donald Nielsen lasted five weeks. He played the part of the unapologetic criminal, relishing his time in the spotlight. But after five weeks, his fate was sealed forever.

It only took the jury 90 minutes to convict Donald Nielsen, and he was ultimately sentenced to five consecutive life sentences, effectively ensuring that the so-called Black Panther would never walk free again. After this verdict was announced, the courtroom erupted in applause. Donald Nielsen's dreams of notoriety were short-lived. He may have imagined himself as a master criminal, but the story of his crimes didn't linger in the public consciousness for long. Slowly, his name disappeared from newspaper headlines.

The one lasting indicator of Leslie Whittle's life is at St. Mary's Church in Highley. There, inside the church is a small, brass plaque. It reads, in loving memory, George Whittle, 1905 to 1970, and his daughter, Leslie Whittle, 1957 to 1975. Thanks again for tuning into Solved Murders. For more information on Leslie Whittle, among the many sources we used, we found the real crime documentary, the heiress and the kidnapper, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of Solved Murder. and all other Parcast originals for free on Spotify. Well, not only to Spotify,

already have all of your favorite music, but now Spotify is making it easy for you to enjoy all of your favorite parcast originals, like SolveMurters, for free from your phone, desktop, or smart speaker. To stream Solved Murders exclusively on Spotify, just open the app and type Solved Murders in the search bar. We'll see you next time.

If we live till next time. Solve murders, true crime, mystery, was created by Max Cutler and is a Parcast Studios original. It is executive produced by Max Cutler. Sound design by Michael Langsner, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Isabella Way. This episode of Solve Murders was written by Georgia Hampton

with writing assistants by Abigail Cannon. The amazing cast of voice actors includes Tom Bauer, Bill Butz, Joe Hernandez, and Rebecca Thomas. It stars Wendy McKinsey and Carter Roy. Hey, listeners, don't forget. get to follow blind dating for a fun twist on a classic setup. YouTuber and host Tara Michelle can't wait to help hopeful singles meet their match. Search blind dating and follow free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.