0:00

Tired of ads interrupting your

0:02

gripping investigations? Good news! Ads

0:11

shouldn't be the scariest thing about

0:13

true crime. Start listening by downloading

0:15

the Amazon Music app for free

0:17

or go to amazon.com/true crime ad

0:19

free. That's amazon.com/true crime ad free

0:22

to catch up on the latest

0:24

episodes without the ads. I'm

0:27

Nick Friedman. I'm Lee Alec Murray. And

0:29

I'm Leah President. And this is

0:31

Crunchyroll Presents The Anime Effect. We

0:34

are a new show breaking down the anime news, views,

0:36

and shows you care about each and every week. I

0:39

can't think of a better studio to bring something like

0:41

this to life. Yeah, I agree. We're covering all the

0:43

classics. If I don't know a lot about Godzilla, which

0:45

I do, but I'm trying to pretend that I don't.

0:47

Hold it in. And our

0:50

current faves. Luffy must have his

0:52

do. Tune in

0:54

every week for the latest anime updates and

0:56

possibly a few debates. I

0:59

remember, what was that? Say

1:01

what you're going to say and I'll circle back. You

1:03

can listen to Crunchyroll Presents The Anime

1:06

Effect every Friday, wherever you get your

1:08

podcasts and watch full video episodes on

1:10

Crunchyroll or the Crunchyroll YouTube channel. Subtle

1:18

results. Still you, but

1:20

with fewer lines. Botox cosmetic.

1:22

Adebatulinum toxin A is a prescription

1:24

medicine used to temporarily make moderate

1:26

to severe frown lines, crow's feet,

1:28

and forehead lines look better in

1:30

adults. Effects of Botox cosmetic may

1:33

spread hours to weeks after injection causing

1:35

serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away

1:37

as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems,

1:39

or muscle weakness may be a sign

1:41

of a life-threatening condition. Patients with these

1:43

conditions before injection are at highest risk.

1:45

Don't receive Botox cosmetic if you have

1:47

a skin infection. Side effects may include

1:49

allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyebrow

1:51

and eyelid drooping, and eyelid swelling. Allergic

1:53

reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms,

1:55

and dizziness. Tell your doctor about medical

1:57

history, muscle or nerve conditions including ALS,

1:59

or Lambert-Eden

2:03

syndrome and medications, including botulinum toxins,

2:05

as these may increase the risk

2:07

of serious side effects. For full

2:09

safety information, visit botoxcosmetic.com or call

2:11

877-351-0300. See

2:15

for yourself at botoxcosmetic.com. Alan

2:20

Graham was 11 when he was murdered

2:22

in 1970. The

2:25

perpetrator is still at large,

2:27

and Alan's siblings are desperate

2:29

for answers. This is

2:31

a replay of Season 7, Episode 16. They

2:35

walk among us. We'll be back for

2:37

Season 9 on April 3rd. This

2:57

episode contains distressing themes

3:00

and descriptions of violence.

3:03

This podcast is intended for

3:05

a mature audience. Listener

3:08

caution is advised. They

3:15

walk among us is part of

3:17

the Acast Creator Network. On

3:37

a cold and crisp winter's morning, January

3:40

25th, 1970, the body of a young boy is

3:42

found in

3:46

a watery ditch at a farm

3:48

near Ponshieland in Northumberland. Two

3:52

years earlier, two little boys had

3:54

been strangled by another child, and

3:57

although the culprit had been caught, the child was found in a watery ditch. Investigators

4:01

wondered if something eerily similar

4:03

had happened to Alan Graham.

4:34

Alan Graham was the youngest in

4:36

his family. His

4:38

parents divorced when he was young.

4:41

After the separation Alan's mother Mary

4:44

had found a new partner named

4:46

Tom and they lived

4:48

together on Buick Road in Gateshead, a

4:51

town in the north of England. Attending

4:54

Breckenbeige Junior High School,

4:57

the young Alan was described as a

4:59

bright boy. He

5:02

joined the army cadets and

5:04

had a keen interest in

5:06

pigeons enjoying outings on Saturdays

5:08

to Newcastle upon Tyne's Green

5:11

Market to speak with

5:13

the pigeon breeders who congregated there.

5:17

At 11 years old Alan

5:19

Graham was a typical pre-teen

5:21

boy. He endured

5:23

playing football, hanging out

5:25

with his friends and writing

5:27

about interesting places he had seen

5:30

and people he had met detailing

5:32

his thoughts in a little black

5:35

diary kept in his bedroom at

5:37

his mother's three-story home. Alan

5:41

came from a large family. His

5:44

siblings were older and most

5:46

of them had moved out to start families

5:48

of their own but they all

5:50

remained close. Alan's

5:54

brother Dennis Barron lived with his

5:56

wife Moira and their three children

5:58

four miles away. in the area

6:01

of Benwell just across the

6:03

time. Alan

6:05

often went to stay with them during

6:07

the weekends. On

6:12

the evening of Thursday January

6:14

22nd 1970, Alan's sister-in-law

6:17

Moira and her children called

6:19

in for a social visit

6:21

so Mary could see her

6:23

grandchildren. Alan

6:25

was due to be at school the following day

6:28

but wanted to go back to Benwell

6:30

with Moira. So

6:33

that evening they took a taxi to

6:35

Moira and Dennis's home on Gerald Street

6:38

and Alan planned to stay for a few

6:40

days. Alan

6:42

had two shillings and his

6:45

mother left his weekly pocket money of

6:47

ten shillings with Moira for safekeeping.

6:53

On Saturday morning January

6:56

24th Moira recalled

6:58

Alan coming into her room two

7:00

or three times and asking for

7:02

a cigarette. Moira

7:05

knew the boy smoked and

7:07

she would give him a cigarette occasionally

7:10

but his constant pleading wore her

7:12

down and so she handed

7:14

him two shillings and sixpence to

7:16

go to the corner shop and

7:18

get himself a packet of ten

7:20

cigarettes. It

7:22

was just after 12.30 pm

7:25

and it was raining heavily. However

7:28

Appleton's shop was less than fifty yards

7:31

from the house at

7:33

the bottom of Gerald Street. The

7:36

shopkeeper Doris Appleton remembered Alan buying

7:38

a pack of ten embassy cigarettes

7:40

between 12.40 and 1.00 pm that

7:44

day. She asked

7:46

him if the cigarettes were for his sister-in-law

7:49

and he told her they were. Doris

7:52

Appleton later said he

7:55

was in no sort of hurry and

7:57

there was nothing unusual about him. After

8:02

Alan left Appleton's, it

8:04

should have taken him a minute or

8:06

two to return to the property where

8:08

his brother and sister-in-law lived. But

8:11

Alan never came back. Moira

8:20

didn't really worry when Alan had

8:22

not immediately returned from the shop.

8:26

She knew he had been, quote, gasping

8:28

for a cigarette, and

8:31

she thought he might have met some of the

8:33

local boys. After

8:35

all, she had just given him his pocket money,

8:38

and maybe he had gone out with his friends

8:41

to spend it. As

8:44

the hours passed, doubt began

8:46

to creep in. Moira

8:48

began to wonder if Alan might have

8:51

returned to his mother's. After

8:55

speaking with her husband, Moira

8:57

called Mary sometime between 6pm and 7pm

8:59

to ask if Alan

9:03

was with her. Mary

9:05

said she had not seen her son

9:07

since he left. With

9:10

the realization that no one in the family

9:13

had seen the boy since he went to

9:15

buy cigarettes, they reported

9:17

Alan's disappearance to the police.

9:23

Alan had lost track of time when he

9:25

had been out alone before, but

9:28

never for long, and he

9:30

would usually tell someone where he was

9:32

going. It

9:34

was dark early, and the

9:36

day's freezing rain meant that the streets

9:39

were empty as the search for Alan

9:41

began. It

9:43

was not the sort of climate where

9:45

he was likely to hang around all

9:47

day without getting very damp and cold.

9:51

They were pitching lofts around 100

9:53

yards from the shop. Perhaps

9:56

he had been distracted by his hobby and

9:58

did not notice that Alan was there. time.

10:01

Alan's loved one's check to see if Alan

10:04

might have gone there, but

10:06

he hadn't, nor had he

10:08

been seen hanging around the area at

10:10

any point in the day. Mary

10:14

called Alan's father on the off chance

10:16

their son had gone to see him,

10:19

but his father had not, and

10:21

it was long past the time an

10:23

eleven-year-old boy should be home. It

10:30

was still dark the following morning, when

10:33

farm worker Gordon Bell arrived

10:35

at Cullerton Grange Farm, around

10:37

eight miles northwest of Newcastle

10:40

City Centre. As

10:42

he had driven along a road to the farm,

10:45

Bell's headlight shone on a muddy pair of

10:47

shoes that were lying in the middle of

10:50

the road. It

10:52

was less than one hundred

10:54

yards from the well-traveled Newcastle

10:56

to Stamford Road near Ponceland.

11:00

It was a peculiar sight, but

11:02

it was early in the morning and Gordon

11:05

had work to do, putting the

11:07

shoes to the back of his mind

11:09

until he finished his tasks at around

11:11

9am. As

11:14

he drove back up the road, Gordon

11:17

Bell slowed to a stop in front of

11:19

the shoes and bent down

11:21

to look at them. Bell's

11:24

attention was drawn to something in

11:26

a drainage ditch nearby and

11:29

as he got closer, Bell

11:31

recoiled. Based

11:34

down in the water-filled culvert was

11:36

the body of a young boy.

11:41

Officers from the Northumberland Constabulary

11:43

were dispatched to the scene

11:46

immediately. It

11:51

did not take long for them to

11:53

identify the victim as Alan

11:55

Graham. The

11:58

youngster was still dressed in the clothes he

12:00

had been seen in the previous day.

12:03

A pair of jeans, a

12:05

grey shirt and a grey

12:08

cord reefer jacket. An

12:12

unopened pack of ten cigarettes were

12:14

found in his jacket pocket. The

12:18

black shoes in the road belonged

12:20

to Alan. Alan

12:26

Graham's body was taken to

12:29

Newcastle General Hospital for a

12:31

post-mortem examination as

12:33

detectives began analysing the scene,

12:36

seven miles from where Alan had

12:38

last been spotted over 20

12:40

hours earlier. The

12:42

investigators theorised that Alan must

12:45

have been killed elsewhere before

12:47

his body was transported to

12:49

the remote area. They

12:52

wondered if he had been dragged from the boot

12:54

of a car and his shoes

12:56

had come off in the muddy road as

12:58

his body was pulled toward the ditch. Initial

13:02

autopsy results indicated that Alan

13:04

had been strangled. There

13:08

were no signs of sexual assault.

13:11

It seemed like a completely motiveless

13:14

killing and the police

13:16

had to break the news to Alan's loved

13:18

ones who had been

13:20

searching for him all night. Alan's

13:28

mother was inconsolable at the loss

13:30

of her youngest child. Her

13:33

husband Tom addressed the press the day

13:35

after Alan was found and

13:38

spoke of his disbelief at what had

13:40

happened. He is

13:42

just not the sort of boy who would talk

13:44

to any stranger and certainly

13:47

he would not have taken a lift. I

13:50

just cannot understand it and

13:52

the whole family is shattered with what has

13:55

happened. My wife

13:57

has been under sedation since the police broke

13:59

the news. the news. I

14:02

cannot understand why anyone should want

14:04

to harm him." Concerned

14:12

parents wondered if there was a child

14:14

killer in their midst. Others

14:17

on high alert escorted their children

14:19

to and from school as

14:21

a heavy police presence remained in

14:24

Benwell. Alan's

14:27

classmates and members of the faculty

14:29

held a vigil and prayer service

14:31

in the wake of his murder.

14:34

Admistress Miss Weatherston told

14:37

reporters, ''We have all been

14:39

stunned by the news this morning. Alan

14:42

was a perfectly normal, average

14:45

sort of boy.'' As

14:49

the murder investigation got underway,

14:52

lead detectives and uniformed police

14:54

officers began making door-to-door inquiries

14:58

under the instruction of the lead

15:00

detective, Chief Superintendent

15:02

Harvey Burrows. The

15:04

investigators concentrated on Gerald

15:07

Street, where Alan had

15:09

last been seen Bush shopkeeper Doris

15:11

Appleton. She

15:14

told the police about the impression she

15:16

got from the boy. ''I

15:18

think that the person must have known him

15:21

because he was a very quiet

15:23

lad.'' ''Far too cautious to go

15:26

off with a stranger.'' Alan's

15:29

mother remained under medical supervision

15:32

as the police began to probe

15:34

every detail of the family's private

15:37

life. Alan's

15:39

older brother, Fred Barron, said

15:41

at the time, ''She is rallying

15:43

very well and trying to put a

15:45

brave face on things.'' ''There

15:47

is nothing else she can do. We are

15:50

doing everything we can to help

15:53

the police.'' ''This man has

15:55

got to be found.'' It

15:58

was believed that Alan had had been within

16:01

a fifty-yard distance between his brother's

16:03

home and the corner shop when

16:05

he met his killer. Detective

16:08

Burrows spoke at a press conference

16:11

held at Pilgrim Street Police Station

16:13

in the days following the discovery

16:15

of Alan's party. He

16:18

said, We are looking

16:20

for a person who seems to

16:22

have killed completely without motive. We

16:25

want to trace anyone who might have seen

16:27

the boy between the time he left his

16:29

brother's house and bought the cigarettes. Someone

16:32

has spoken to him within minutes of

16:34

his buying the cigarettes, and

16:37

these are vital minutes. We

16:40

cannot ignore the possibility that this was

16:42

someone he knew. It

16:45

may be difficult because though Alan

16:47

visited his stepbrother's home frequently, he

16:50

was not very well known. He

16:53

kept to himself. As

16:57

officers searched Alan's bedroom at his

16:59

mother's home, they found the

17:01

small black book that he wrote in

17:04

like a diary. The

17:06

lead investigator described it as a

17:08

record of people and places Alan

17:10

was impressed by. Burrows

17:13

said, He was a

17:15

boy he wrote down most things in this

17:17

diary, which is being checked at

17:20

the moment. The name

17:22

of the killer could be in this book.

17:25

We are now checking it out with

17:27

the family and those people mentioned in

17:29

the book. While

17:33

they were conducting house-to-house inquiries,

17:36

the investigators spoke to a woman

17:38

who lived on Gerald Street. The

17:41

potential witness believed she had seen

17:44

something notable on the afternoon Alan

17:46

went missing. Mrs.

17:49

Clark had been in her kitchen making

17:51

lunch at around 12.50pm when

17:54

she heard the screeching of car tyres

17:56

in the lane behind her row of

17:58

houses. The

18:01

sudden sharp sound of the car

18:03

breaking sent Mrs. Clark running to

18:05

the back stairs believing that her

18:07

dog Patch had been knocked down.

18:11

Patch was a safe distance away

18:13

from the brown car being driven

18:15

at speed along the back lane.

18:18

It was going so fast Mrs. Clark worried

18:21

it wouldn't make it around the bend at

18:23

the top of the street. She

18:26

told the police then it

18:28

braked very hard and screeched around

18:30

the corner making towards

18:33

Newcastle. It sticks

18:35

in my mind because not many cars

18:37

use the back lane and

18:40

this car was going too fast.

18:44

The investigators could not rule out the

18:46

possibility that Hallan had walked through the

18:48

back lane on his way home from

18:51

the shop. They

18:53

knew he had left the house through the front

18:55

door but they had no

18:57

idea which way he had walked back.

19:01

Police postulated that Hallan had been

19:03

strangled elsewhere before his body was

19:05

left in a farmed ditch so

19:08

officers began checking the movements of

19:11

known sex offenders in the area.

19:14

Detective Burroughs strongly believed that

19:16

Hallan knew his killer and

19:19

the police began cross-referencing the names

19:21

in Allen's diary with people that

19:23

may have known he was in

19:25

Benwell that weekend. Officers

19:28

also questioned pigeon breeders at the

19:31

green market. They

19:33

knew that Hallan visited a pigeon

19:35

loft nearby and the Benwell area

19:37

was popular with breeders. It

19:40

seemed possible that Hallan could have been stopped

19:42

by a breeder he knew as

19:45

he was likely to speak to anyone

19:47

about the birds he loved. Burroughs

19:50

told reporters the

19:52

theme that runs through this inquiry

19:55

concerns pigeons and from

19:57

our inquiry so far the world of

19:59

pigeons has a strong connection to

20:01

Alan's book. As

20:06

the inquiry continued, officers

20:08

spoke with two 11-year-old boys who

20:10

were believed to have seen Alan

20:13

before he disappeared. Their

20:15

statements assisted the police in narrowing

20:17

down a timeframe. Alan

20:20

was said to have been, gasping

20:22

for a cigarette when he left

20:24

his brother's home, but the

20:26

pack found in his pocket was unopened,

20:29

which meant that he had not had the chance

20:32

to smoke one. This

20:34

led the police to believe that Alan

20:36

had been taken all the other way

20:38

almost immediately after he left the corner

20:41

shop. Investigators

20:44

tried to track down 16 cars

20:47

that had been stolen in Newcastle's

20:49

west end on the night Alan

20:51

was killed. They

20:53

theorised that one of the stolen vehicles

20:56

could have been used to abduct the

20:58

boy and dump his body. Burrows

21:01

said he thought it was possible that

21:03

Alan had been killed by a youngster,

21:06

but an adult would need to have

21:08

some involvement because a vehicle had likely

21:11

been used to move Alan's body to

21:13

where it was found. The

21:16

lead detective had resigned himself to

21:18

the fact that the investigation could

21:20

be a quote, long

21:22

hard slog, but he

21:24

was optimistic that the answers lay on

21:27

Gerald Street, saying, We

21:30

are getting down to the boys who knew

21:32

Alan, but they are not coming

21:34

to us. Many of

21:36

them or maybe their parents think

21:38

they have no contribution to make,

21:41

but if we find all of his friends

21:43

and associates, it is possible

21:45

conversations he had with them might

21:47

lead us to the person responsible

21:49

for his death. We

21:52

want these youngsters to come forward even

21:54

though they may think they cannot help.

21:57

Fear is not the reason for the lack of

21:59

responsibility. response, it is

22:01

apathy, their belief that

22:03

they cannot help. We

22:06

think they can. Hundreds

22:11

of statements had been taken and

22:13

were being sifted through in a

22:15

dedicated incident room at the police

22:17

station by dozens of officers assigned

22:19

to the case. Detectives

22:23

had three questions they wanted

22:25

answered. These were, Why

22:28

did Alan not go straight home with

22:30

the cigarettes he had bought? Why

22:33

had he stayed out in the pouring

22:35

rain without an overcoat? And

22:38

why had he not informed his relatives

22:40

of his intention of staying out when

22:43

he normally would have done so? Investigators

22:48

claimed to have interviewed all of

22:50

Alan's friends and spoke with his

22:52

army cadets unit. Officers

22:55

also interviewed bus drivers to check if

22:57

Alan could have made his way out

22:59

of Benwell, however the

23:02

focus of the investigation appeared to

23:04

remain on Gerald Street as

23:06

the police thought that the killer was

23:08

someone Alan knew. Detective

23:11

Burrows described the case as a

23:14

puzzle with some missing pieces and

23:17

appealed for people to come forward.

23:20

He admitted that if it was a

23:22

chance abduction it would

23:25

make the inquiry much more difficult.

23:34

Exactly a week after Alan Graham was

23:36

last seen by his loved ones a

23:39

funeral was held in Gate Z. January

23:43

31st was a dreary day

23:46

and for once people hoped that it

23:48

would rain. This

23:51

was because after his funeral mass a

23:54

reenactment of Alan's last known movements

23:56

was to take place on Gerald

23:58

Street in Benwell. It

24:01

would be ideal to have the same

24:03

weather as the day Alan disappeared. Rev.

24:08

Charles Campbell conducted the service

24:10

before Alan was later rest

24:13

at Saltwell Cemetery. Rev.

24:16

told Mourners, it

24:18

is surprising that boys have been

24:20

the target of wickedness and brutal

24:22

attacks since the beginning of the

24:24

century. Some

24:26

people think that the situation has

24:28

improved, that there is much

24:31

more culture these days. But

24:33

the murder of Alan shows the

24:35

heart of man is still desperately

24:37

wicked. Somewhere in

24:39

a city street the key to

24:42

this brutal murder is held. A

24:45

troubled conscience bears the mark of

24:47

this awful deed and

24:49

someday the secrets of that conscience

24:51

will come out and

24:53

justice will be done. As

25:00

he took on the role of Alan for

25:02

the reconstruction a police

25:04

officer's son wore similar clothing to

25:06

what Alan had been wearing on

25:08

the day he disappeared. The

25:12

stand-in walked the short distance

25:14

from Dennison Moira's home to

25:16

Appleton's shop. Rows

25:18

of onlookers stood by as

25:21

the young boy was carefully

25:23

followed by the watchful eyes

25:25

of detectives concealing themselves in

25:27

surrounding properties. Despite

25:31

mimicking the scene it

25:33

sparked no memories and

25:36

no immediate leads emerged. The

25:43

following day, panic

25:45

struck the community once again

25:47

when a five-year-old boy raced home and

25:50

told his mother that his eight-year-old sister

25:52

had been pulled into a brown car

25:54

by a man in a gray coat.

26:00

Every available officer was directed to

26:02

join the frantic search for the

26:05

little girl, but just

26:07

40 minutes later, she

26:09

arrived home, oblivious

26:11

to the commotion her younger

26:13

brother had unwittingly caused. The

26:18

incident was put down to the recent

26:20

news coverage of Alan Graham's abduction and

26:22

murder being fresh in the

26:24

young boy's mind. A

26:32

press conference held on February 1

26:34

saw the first forensic breakthrough in

26:37

the case being announced. Although

26:40

Detective Burrows did not reveal

26:42

exactly what this was, he

26:44

was optimistic. Burrows

26:47

told reporters, The

26:50

forensic experts have provided something positive

26:52

which should give us something definite

26:54

to go on. It

26:56

could well be that it will eventually be

26:58

used as evidence and it would

27:01

be wrong to release any news of it. However,

27:04

they have provided something which

27:06

could be very important and

27:09

we now have a clue which could

27:11

be of very great assistance to us.

27:14

It could well be that should we

27:16

find a suspect, this clue

27:18

could either prove or disprove

27:20

guilt. After

27:24

the reconstruction of Alan's last steps

27:26

was aired on national television, a

27:29

girl came forward to say that

27:31

she had seen Alan in Appleton's

27:33

shop buying cigarettes at lunchtime on

27:36

the day he went missing. Although

27:39

it was not new evidence, it

27:41

did corroborate the information detectives had

27:44

already been given so they

27:46

were sure that Alan had been lured

27:48

to his death just moments later. The

27:53

60-man murder squad had spent over 5,500 hours

27:56

on the case and

27:58

they had collected over 900

28:01

statements. Published

28:04

on February 3rd, the

28:06

journal newspaper featured an article

28:08

on the lead detective. Burrows

28:12

was described as being a six-foot-tall

28:14

cumbrian who has never failed to

28:16

catch the killer in all the

28:18

murder hunts he has headed. Burrows

28:22

said that his motto was that

28:24

there will never be an undetectable

28:26

murder and he was confident

28:28

that by the end of the investigation

28:30

into Alan Graham's death, his

28:32

record would still be 100%.

28:37

Burrows had worked on an eerily similar

28:39

case two years prior. When

28:42

four-year-old Martin Brown and three-year-old

28:44

Brian Howe were found strangled

28:46

to death two months apart

28:49

on wasteland in Scotswood, an

28:51

inquiry named the Rat Alley murder

28:54

hunt began. The

28:56

evidence pointed toward a young killer.

29:00

An 11-year-old local girl Mary

29:02

Bell was arrested and

29:04

later convicted of manslaughter by

29:07

reason of diminished responsibility, making

29:10

her one of the UK's

29:12

youngest female killers. Detective

29:15

Burrows said that the lack of

29:17

clear motive in Alan Graham's murder

29:20

made the investigation even harder, telling

29:23

a reporter for the journal. If

29:25

we have a murder of lust, revenge

29:28

or passion, we can

29:30

immediately narrow down the field. But

29:33

in some cases, there are

29:35

so many possibilities it is a long

29:37

task to get to the root of

29:39

the matter. Burrows

29:42

praised the other officers who were working

29:44

on the case when he remarked, the

29:47

only difference between a good policeman and

29:49

a bad one is hard work and

29:52

in this case we have teamwork at

29:55

its best. There is

29:57

only one vital thing a detective on a

29:59

case needs. and that

30:01

is tenacity. Luck

30:03

does not really come into it but

30:06

the policeman must be prepared to

30:08

slog on. The

30:11

team were working out of the top

30:13

two floors at Newcastle's West End Police

30:15

Station in the process

30:18

of rereading over 1,200

30:20

statements. Specialist

30:23

officers who had been trained

30:25

in spotting intentional or unintentional

30:27

falsehoods in the statements had

30:30

been called in to assist in finding

30:32

anything that did not add up. Burrows

30:36

believed that the most valuable statement

30:38

had come from a schoolboy who

30:40

lived on Gerald Street. He

30:43

said, it could lead to

30:45

nothing but there is a chance it

30:47

could lead us to the killer. It

30:50

may be that this is the vital

30:52

lead we have been waiting for. A

30:56

week later detective Burrows told

30:59

reporters that he believed he was

31:01

narrowing the gap between him and

31:03

Allen's killer. He was

31:05

confident that the murderer was someone close

31:07

to the 11-year-old. Burrows

31:10

said, this murder is

31:13

a mixture of vengeance and passion.

31:16

Now we know more background, we

31:18

are sure the murderer met Allen prior

31:20

to the killing. It

31:23

is now apparent that the killing could

31:25

have been the result of a disagreement

31:27

arising from an association. We

31:30

hope that Allen might have dropped the name

31:32

of his killer to one of his associates.

31:35

This person may have got the

31:37

name and not realise its significance.

31:40

Burrows went on to explain the

31:43

challenges the inquiry faced and

31:45

offered his thoughts about the progress

31:47

of the investigation. It

31:50

sometimes takes a week to check out

31:53

one statement. Before a

31:55

person is eliminated from our books we

31:57

have to be certain he is clear. Although

32:01

we are concentrating our inquiries in

32:03

the Gerald Street area, it

32:06

is possible the boy was not killed

32:08

there. We know he

32:10

was not killed in the area in which

32:12

his body was found. Now

32:14

still fairly certain Alan met

32:16

someone in Benwell. Whether

32:19

he went back to Gates head after that,

32:22

we want to find out. In

32:30

March, the investigators received a tip from

32:32

someone who believed they had spotted a

32:34

man they had seen in the area

32:36

near where Alan's body was left, who

32:39

was also lurking in a doorway

32:41

on the reenactment footage. This

32:44

lead turned out to be a dead

32:46

end, however the following month, Detective

32:49

Burrows revealed that forensic experts

32:51

had discovered traces of soil

32:54

recovered from Alan's body that

32:56

had not come from the area where

32:58

he was found. It

33:01

was believed to have come from the

33:03

Tyneside area. Burrows

33:05

said, when we find it,

33:08

it will give us an idea of

33:10

where Alan went or was taken after he

33:13

was last seen in Gerald Street. It

33:16

could prove vital. Officers

33:19

working on the case had been reduced to

33:22

12 full-time detectives

33:24

but 300 samples of soil

33:27

from Newcastle's West End had been

33:29

sent to the Home Office Laboratory

33:31

for comparison. By

33:36

this point, investigators had logged over 21,000

33:38

man hours on

33:40

the case and most of

33:43

their time was spent checking and

33:45

rechecking statements in a process dubbed

33:47

the System. In

33:50

1970, without today's

33:52

modern forensic technology, the

33:55

System was the only method that had

33:57

been proven to track killers. 12

34:02

weeks into the investigation, Detective

34:05

Burroughs told the press, the

34:08

killer is out there somewhere and

34:10

he will give up before I do. In

34:13

case he thinks things have quietened down,

34:16

I can tell him they have not. It

34:19

may be a long time before we

34:21

have covered every possible angle, but

34:24

each day brings a new suspect.

34:27

One of these mornings it will be his

34:29

turn. I think he

34:32

is a local man and

34:34

we are still determined to get him.

34:43

The inquest into Alan Graham's murder was held

34:45

in Newburn on May 21st. Mr. J. Dodds,

34:50

the south-east Northumberland coroner presided

34:52

over the inquest in

34:55

front of an inquest jury. The

34:58

pathologist who had conducted the post-mortem

35:01

on Alan's body in the days

35:03

after it was discovered, testified

35:06

about his findings. Dr.

35:09

James Ferris told the jury that

35:11

Alan had been manually strangled and

35:15

the injuries on the front of

35:17

his neck indicated there had been

35:19

moderate pressure applied to the area.

35:22

The pathologist highlighted the fact that

35:24

due to the flexibility of the

35:26

tissue in children's necks, there

35:29

only needs to be a moderate amount

35:31

of pressure or force applied in order

35:33

to kill. He

35:35

believed that the killer had strangled Alan

35:38

with one hand, the

35:40

left hand. Dr. Ferris

35:42

said, I think that

35:44

since only a moderate force could

35:46

be applied that death could have

35:48

been sudden and unexpected and

35:51

it would be impossible

35:53

to completely exclude accidental

35:55

strangulation. It

35:58

was the doctor's belief that Alan had Alan had

36:00

been dead for at least twelve hours

36:02

before he had been found and

36:05

had likely been in the ditch for

36:07

several hours. While

36:10

there was no evidence of drowning, it

36:12

was not possible to say that Alan had

36:15

not been killed in the ditch. The

36:18

pathologist explained Alan could have died

36:20

in the vicinity but Dr.

36:22

Ferris did not think death had

36:24

occurred where Alan's body was found.

36:28

DCI Bernard Munkhouse who had taken

36:30

over the day to day running

36:33

of the investigation told the inquest

36:35

jurors it has been

36:37

impossible to trace the boys movements from

36:39

the Saturday afternoon when he left the

36:41

shop until his body was

36:44

found. Between

36:46

2000 and 3000 statements

36:48

have been taken and we

36:51

have made about 20,000 cross checks

36:53

on them. Before

36:57

he instructed the jury to return

37:00

an open verdict due to the

37:02

possibility that Alan had been accidentally

37:04

killed, the coroner said. During

37:08

the exhaustive police inquiries, nothing

37:11

has been forthcoming. It

37:14

may never be known what happened

37:16

on that Saturday afternoon and evening.

37:22

Retired by the verdict, DCS

37:24

Burroughs vowed to keep searching

37:26

for Alan Graham's killer when

37:29

he said, this inquest does

37:31

not close police inquiries into

37:33

this matter. We

37:36

shall continue them. Thank

37:56

you. Check

38:00

out UnitedHealthcare Insurance Plans. Underwritten by Golden

38:03

Rule Insurance Company, they offer flexible, budget-friendly

38:05

medical, dental, and vision coverage that may

38:07

be right for you. More at uh1.com.

38:11

ReBag, your premier destination for

38:13

luxury reasons. Elevate your style

38:15

of their curated collection of bags, watches,

38:17

and fine jewelry. At ReBag, quality is

38:19

our priority. Each piece meticulously vetted and

38:22

verified by experts, ensuring your investment is

38:24

nothing short of perfection. And,

38:26

sell fine from the world's top

38:28

brands, including Hermes, Chanel, and Cartier.

38:30

Access expertly crafted and hard-to-find pieces

38:32

that redefine luxury. Your next investment

38:35

awaits at ReBag. Get 10% off

38:37

your first purchase of code REBAG10. That's

38:39

10% off the luxury you deserve. Don't

38:42

miss out. Head to rebag.com and

38:44

enter code REBAG10 at checkout. That's

38:46

REBAG10. Millions

38:49

of people have lost weight with personalized

38:51

plans from Noom. Like Evan, who can't

38:53

stand salads and still lost 50 pounds.

38:56

Salads generally for most people are the easy

38:58

button, right? For me, that wasn't an option.

39:01

I never really was a salad guy. That's

39:03

just not who I am. But Noom worked

39:05

for me. Get

39:07

your personalized plan today at noom.com.

39:10

Real Noom user compensated to provide their story. In

39:12

four weeks, the typical Noom user can expect to

39:14

lose one to two pounds per week. Individual results

39:17

may vary. Botox

39:20

Cosmetic, out of Botulinum Toxin A,

39:22

FDA approved for over 20 years. So,

39:25

talk to your specialist to see if Botox

39:27

Cosmetic is right for you. For

39:29

full prescribing information, including boxed

39:32

warning, visit botoxcosmetic.com or call

39:34

877-351-0300. Remember

39:39

to ask for Botox Cosmetic by name.

39:41

To see for yourself and learn more,

39:43

visit botoxcosmetic.com. That's That's

39:46

botoxcosmetic.com. By

39:52

November 1970, very

39:55

little progress had been made in

39:57

the investigation. In

40:00

the months that followed the inquest, Alan's

40:03

mother, 49-year-old Mary Walls, spent

40:05

her life savings travelling around

40:08

Britain to meet with over

40:10

50 clairvoyants. Speaking

40:14

with a reporter for the journal newspaper

40:16

about the £1,000 she had already spent,

40:20

Mary said she had been living out

40:22

of a suitcase for five months, travelling

40:25

from place to place in search

40:27

of a scrap of information from

40:29

spiritualists that would lead to Alan's

40:32

killer. Mary

40:34

had met with clairvoyants from

40:36

London, Manchester, Blackpool and dozens

40:39

of other cities. The

40:42

first thing she would do when she reached

40:44

the town was to go to the nearest

40:46

spiritualist centre and ask them to

40:48

arrange a meeting with one of the members.

40:52

Mary said, many of

40:54

them just talked to me. Many

40:56

went into a trance, but

40:58

they all said that two men killed

41:01

my boy. I

41:03

had a letter from one woman in Sussex

41:05

who gave me a description of these two

41:07

men. She was sincere and

41:10

even volunteered to travel all the

41:12

way up here to take part

41:14

in an identification parade. She

41:16

was so sure of their description. I was

41:19

full of hope, but my happiness

41:22

was squashed when I returned with the

41:24

information that I had and

41:26

found the police could not act upon it

41:28

because it was not fact. Despite

41:32

her disappointment that the authorities could

41:35

not use the information because it

41:37

was not from an admissible source,

41:40

Mary felt that it was all she could

41:42

do. She said, I am

41:45

glad that I did all this. I

41:48

would not have been able to rest if I

41:50

hadn't. I am prepared

41:52

to sell the house and everything I

41:54

own if it means bringing these murderers

41:56

to justice. I can

41:58

have no piece of money. mind. I

42:01

have a constant headache and

42:04

each week I phone the police station

42:06

to see if they have any information.

42:12

On the night of November 23rd

42:14

1970, almost

42:16

ten months to the day since Alan

42:18

had been lured to his death, a

42:21

man driving a white-coloured Mark

42:23

II Ford Cortina had attempted

42:25

to kidnap an 11-year-old boy

42:27

on Benton Road near Ford

42:29

Lane ends, around five

42:32

miles from the location where Alan

42:34

had last been seen. It

42:38

was approximately 6.30pm. The

42:42

boy was standing at a bus stop when

42:44

the car pulled up beside him and

42:46

the driver got out. Without

42:49

warning the man attempted to drag

42:51

the young would-be victim into the

42:53

vehicle but the boy was able

42:56

to resist long enough that the man ran

42:58

back to his car and sped off. The

43:02

boy described the potential kidnapper as being around

43:04

5ft 8 or 9 inches tall, thinly built

43:09

with thinning hair and

43:11

wearing a knee-length Mac. DCS

43:15

Burroughs spoke about the potential links

43:17

between this incident and Alan's murder.

43:20

He said, there is a strong

43:22

possibility that this is the man we

43:24

want. This is quite

43:26

often the way this kind of case is

43:29

resolved. It could have

43:31

been just this kind of pickup in the

43:33

Alan Graham affair. The driver

43:35

asking him to get into the car.

43:38

A vehicle was used in the Alan

43:40

murder because he was dumped where his

43:42

body was found. This

43:44

could be the small missing link. All

43:47

the other parts are there. We

43:50

are taking this incident very seriously.

43:53

In the whole of this case there has

43:55

always been that one little part missing. When

43:58

it comes it will be something. quite

44:00

simple which should have been apparent throughout.

44:04

This could well be it. Burrows

44:08

was leaving the Northumberland force to

44:10

take a post as head of

44:13

police security at Heathrow airport and

44:16

hoped to solve the case before he

44:18

left on December 31st. Burrows said, There

44:23

are too many similarities here for us

44:26

to ignore it. There

44:28

should be a strong connection. This

44:31

is often the way things happen.

44:40

On the first anniversary of her son's

44:43

death, Mary Wall

44:45

spoke about the impact Alan's murder

44:47

had not only on her but

44:50

the entire family. She

44:53

had spent over £2,000 meeting clairvoyance

44:57

and Mary had no intention of

44:59

slowing down. She

45:01

said, All I

45:03

want is one name. I

45:06

will never rest until Alan's killer is

45:08

found and I am sure

45:10

that somebody, a spiritualist, will give me

45:13

the clue that will lead to his

45:15

arrest. All I

45:17

fear is that the discovery of the

45:19

killer's identity will lead to more heartbreak.

45:23

It could well be that whoever did this

45:25

is known by us or is even a

45:27

friend of us. I

45:29

have now come to believe that whoever killed

45:31

my son probably never meant to do it.

45:35

It was established that he was killed

45:37

by someone holding his throat with only

45:40

one hand and it may

45:42

well have been an accident. Perhaps

45:45

they were telling him off or angry with

45:47

him if he had done wrong. After

45:50

all, boys are boys. All

45:53

I am certain of is that the

45:55

whole family's life has been changed by

45:57

his death. I

46:00

could not bear to stay here. I

46:03

went to my eldest son's home. When

46:06

I went out for presents it nearly

46:08

broke my heart. All

46:10

I could buy eventually was a cross for

46:13

his grave. Now

46:15

the police have returned all his clothes

46:18

which they took for forensic tests. It

46:21

is just another reminder. I

46:24

do not want them. They

46:26

lie in the lounge. Even

46:28

the clothes he was wearing when he was

46:30

killed. I know that

46:33

the police have not given up but

46:35

as the months go by I

46:38

think there is less and less chance

46:40

of an arrest ever being made. Mary

46:46

Wools had requested a second reconstruction

46:48

to be held with Alan's

46:50

cousin who bore a

46:52

striking resemblance to him. However

46:56

the police rejected her request because they

46:58

felt as though it would not be

47:00

useful after so much time

47:03

had passed. An

47:09

obituary Mary had posted in the

47:11

paper read, God

47:13

bless you Alan, till

47:15

we meet again. Forgive

47:18

me Lord but I'm

47:20

still hoping and praying that justice

47:22

will be done. Superintendent

47:32

Alan Bailey had taken over

47:34

the investigation by this point

47:37

and although he had no idea how long

47:39

it would take he was

47:41

optimistic that they would catch the killer

47:44

when he remarked, It

47:46

could be tomorrow, next month

47:48

or next year when we get the break

47:50

we need. At the moment

47:53

we are still trying to get the

47:55

one absolutely vital scrap of information we

47:57

must have. What happens Alan

48:00

after he left the shop where he

48:02

bought cigarettes. At the

48:04

moment despite 12 months of investigations

48:07

this remains a mystery. The

48:10

longer this frames out the

48:12

harder it becomes to self. It

48:15

is a year ago now and

48:17

people do not remember small facts

48:19

which might be vital. But

48:22

the case is not over. The

48:25

initial manhunt is over but

48:27

everything which could prove to be a leak

48:29

is checked. Whenever an incident

48:31

is reported our men are asking themselves

48:34

if it could have anything to do

48:36

with Alan Graham. One

48:38

day it will and

48:40

then a very baffling case will be

48:43

solved. Another

48:46

year went by before detective

48:49

Bailey announced that the number of

48:51

investigators working on the case had

48:53

doubled in response to

48:55

new information they had received. Bailey

48:59

was adamant that the case had never

49:01

been closed and although he

49:03

could not share exactly what evidence

49:06

had been received it

49:08

did shed new light on the

49:10

investigation. Mary Walls

49:12

had moved from her home to

49:14

an apartment above the station hotel

49:17

in Newcastle. Her

49:19

flat was like a shrine in Alan's

49:21

memory. A large framed oil

49:23

painting of the boy had pride of

49:25

place on the living room wall. Mary

49:29

admitted she did not like to be

49:31

alone because everything came

49:33

flooding back so she

49:35

kept busy. Mary said

49:39

never a day goes past without

49:41

me thinking about Alan but

49:43

now all I want to know is

49:45

why he was killed. Mary

49:49

had taken over the management of a

49:51

pub in the town of Bladen but

49:53

she explained her sole purpose had

49:55

not changed in the two years

49:57

since her son was murdered. She

50:01

told a reporter for the journal. Alan

50:04

was born in Blayton, lived

50:06

there for some years before moving

50:08

to Gateshead. Everyone

50:11

knows me here and

50:13

I just have that feeling that I

50:15

might learn something about his death. I

50:18

feel all the money I have spent will be

50:21

worth it if I just

50:23

find out why he was killed. They

50:26

said at the inquest it could have been an

50:28

accident. That lad may not

50:31

have meant to strangle him. Mary

50:36

had been told by several clairvoyants

50:38

that Alan's killer was a young

50:40

person but that did not give

50:42

her much comfort when she remarked. That

50:46

worries me because I know

50:48

that some mothers may have to go through

50:50

the same sort of thing I have been

50:52

through. Alan's

50:58

brother Dennis Barron who Alan had

51:00

been staying with when he disappeared,

51:03

stood at the corner shop every

51:05

Saturday afternoon in the hopes that

51:07

he would find some answers. On

51:18

the second anniversary, CID

51:21

officers had held a vigil

51:23

along Gerald Street and

51:25

interviewed anyone in the area on the

51:28

off chance they had walked down the

51:30

same street two years prior. Detective

51:33

Bailey warned those who had

51:35

been keeping secrets of

51:38

the trouble they could face if they did

51:40

not come forward. The

51:42

danger of withholding information must be

51:45

pointed out, he said. I ask

51:48

these people to come forward. Any

51:51

information will be treated as

51:54

strictly confidential. Two

51:58

months later in March, New York, the 1972

52:01

Mary Walls

52:03

began receiving letters from an

52:05

unknown source who claimed

52:07

to know the identity of Alan's killer.

52:10

Mary felt that the author's knowledge of

52:12

the case indicated that they were telling

52:15

the truth and were worried about their

52:17

friend who had committed the crime, however

52:20

it was possible they could have studied

52:22

the case closely and

52:24

written to Mary as a cruel joke.

52:28

The person explained that they had previously

52:30

come as far as the front door

52:32

of the house on Buick Road but

52:34

they never knocked, changing their

52:37

mind and walking away. Voicing

52:40

her opinion on the matter Mary said,

52:43

I'm inclined to think that this person

52:45

is telling the truth but

52:48

I wish he would give us some kind

52:50

of definite clue to work on. He

52:53

always starts, Dear Mrs. Walls,

52:56

and ends by asking me to please

52:58

help and get the police to do

53:00

something. It is an

53:02

agony for me to think that we are so

53:04

close and yet we are still

53:06

so far away. I only

53:08

hope that this person will help the

53:11

police. Detective

53:14

John McFad who was working on

53:16

the inquiry bluntly expressed

53:18

his position saying at the

53:21

time, these letters

53:23

are anonymous and unless

53:25

someone comes forward to the police to

53:27

enlarge on the information in them they

53:30

are useless. In

53:37

November of that year Mary

53:39

Walls was brought to court. The

53:43

pub that Mary was managing was raided.

53:46

She was charged with two counts

53:49

of aiding and abetting the consumption

53:51

of intoxicating liquor after hours and

53:54

two counts of aiding and abetting

53:56

the supply of intoxicating liquor after

53:58

hours. The

54:00

police had found Mary, another

54:03

woman and eight men in the

54:05

pub with mostly empty glasses after

54:07

closing time. When

54:09

asked what was going on Mary

54:11

said it was her birthday party

54:14

but her birthday had been five

54:16

months prior. At

54:19

the trial she explained that she

54:21

had received another anonymous letter about

54:24

Helen's murder that day and she

54:26

was speaking about it with the people who

54:28

stayed behind at the pub. I

54:31

was very upset she said I

54:34

admit telling the police it was my birthday

54:37

but I just couldn't tell them we

54:39

were discussing the murder case. One

54:43

witness who had been there denied

54:46

the prosecutor's assertion that there had

54:48

been jollity in the

54:50

bar after hours when the witness

54:52

remarked how could there have

54:54

been jollity we were talking

54:56

about the murder of Mrs. Walls

54:58

son. Mary

55:02

Walls was found guilty of all

55:04

charges and fined a total

55:06

of 20 pounds. She

55:09

moved back to Buick Road shortly

55:11

after. In

55:14

December 1973 detective Burrows

55:18

was employed at Heathrow Airport where

55:20

he was working as head of

55:23

police security. He

55:25

was again asked for his opinion on the

55:27

case. Not

55:29

solving the Alan Graham murder was

55:32

my one regret leaving the force

55:34

in Northumberland but

55:36

I still keep a check on the

55:38

situation and I still

55:40

feel the answer is there and will

55:42

be found. Mary

55:46

was still waiting for someone to

55:49

come forward and explain that

55:51

she had never given up hope that

55:53

she would find out what happened to

55:55

her son. There's

55:58

never a day goes by without me thinking

56:00

of Alan or a friend or

56:02

relative mentions his name, she said.

56:06

My daughter comes to see me quite

56:08

often and brings her new baby son.

56:11

They are a great comfort. My

56:14

nineteen-year-old Paul lives with me

56:16

in Buick Road. I

56:18

can talk more about Alan than I used

56:20

to during the first months after the murder.

56:24

Detective Burrows told me to never

56:26

give up hope. He

56:28

said someone will make one little

56:30

slip sometime. That is all

56:32

the police need. I

56:34

don't know how the murderer and anyone

56:36

who knows he killed Alan can live

56:39

without suffering. It's bad enough

56:41

for me. But it must

56:43

be terrible for them. The

56:47

case seemed to haunt Detective Burrows.

56:50

Not only had it broken his

56:52

one hundred percent record for solving

56:54

murders, there was the image

56:57

of Alan he could not get out of

56:59

his head. The

57:01

following decade in 1981 he

57:03

told the journal. I

57:06

can remember the body in the ditch

57:08

and his shoes lying in the road

57:11

covered in mud. One

57:13

recalls the unusual amount of mud on those

57:15

shoes in the middle of the road where

57:18

the body had clearly been dragged out of

57:20

the boot of a car. Burrows

57:24

had deduced that Alan had been pulled

57:26

from the boot because anything lower would

57:29

not have caused his shoes to come

57:31

off. However,

57:33

despite examining four to five

57:35

thousand soil samples, the

57:37

authorities were never able to determine

57:40

where Alan had been in his

57:42

fine allowance. In

57:49

November 1989 Mary spoke to a correspondent

57:52

for the Evening Chronicle. She

57:57

had moved from Buick Road to a bungalow in

57:59

the area of the city of New York. in

58:01

Red Row during 1984 but she

58:04

had to sell the property when she received a

58:06

£50,000 tax

58:08

bill. Took

58:11

over the cost of the search for

58:13

a clairvoyant who could name her son's

58:15

killer. Mary had taken

58:17

in lodges at her other home in

58:19

Gateshead but she did not

58:22

declare the income. She

58:24

was hit with the massive back-dated tax

58:26

bill that was gathering 16 pounds

58:29

in tress per day. Mary

58:32

had planned to spend the rest of her life

58:34

in the bungalow where she had hung

58:36

an oil painting of Alan in the living

58:38

room and had made a

58:41

memorial garden. She

58:43

would open up about the impact her

58:45

son's murder had on the family saying,

58:49

Our minds were filled with revenge.

58:52

My boys went out to kill the person

58:54

who had done this and

58:56

the police warned them that if they took

58:58

the law into their own hands they

59:00

would end up in court. The

59:03

kids had no life with me. I

59:06

was having injections to put me to

59:09

sleep and injections to wake me up

59:11

and I was in a terrible state. I

59:15

began to suspect everyone. I

59:18

even accused my second husband

59:20

Alan's stepfather of killing him.

59:25

Within a couple of years Mary

59:27

was living alone back

59:29

in the three-story house on Buick

59:32

Road after she had again turned

59:34

to spiritualists for help. I'm

59:38

sure that somewhere there would be a

59:40

clairvoyant who would be able to tell

59:42

me something about my son's murderer. She

59:45

said I did get

59:47

some spiritual comfort from them but

59:49

not the answers I was looking for. The

59:52

majority were able to describe where

59:55

Alan was but I

59:57

knew that already what I

59:59

wanted to know about was his murderer.

1:00:05

In 1997, the

1:00:07

woman who had attended school with

1:00:09

Alan reached out to staff at

1:00:11

the Gateshead Post newspaper claiming

1:00:14

she had been contacted by Alan

1:00:16

through a medium at a conference.

1:00:20

The woman had gone in search of

1:00:22

answers about her own family members death

1:00:24

but when the medium sketched a young

1:00:26

boy, Yvonne Ferris

1:00:28

immediately recognised the person as

1:00:31

Alan Graham. Yvonne

1:00:34

said she was contacted by Alan

1:00:36

again at her home two days

1:00:38

later and tried

1:00:40

to reach out to Mary Walls

1:00:42

to pass on the information. Nothing

1:00:52

more came of the spiritual element

1:00:54

in the case and

1:00:57

sadly Mary Walls died in 2001 never

1:01:01

knowing what happened to her son.

1:01:06

Alan's older brother Fred Baron

1:01:08

spoke about her burial years

1:01:10

later. He said, Mum

1:01:13

was desperate to find out who did it

1:01:16

and was always very sad and

1:01:18

frustrated that Alan wasn't given justice.

1:01:21

I only

1:01:23

hope now that the police identify the

1:01:25

killer before my time is up. I'm

1:01:29

stunned that nothing has come out especially

1:01:32

with the way forensics have advanced

1:01:34

in the last four decades. Someone

1:01:37

must have taken his shoes off and

1:01:39

put him in a vehicle to where

1:01:42

he was found. Alan's

1:01:46

brothers Fred and Dennis Baron began

1:01:48

a media campaign in 2010 to try

1:01:50

and get answers about

1:01:53

his murder. Dennis

1:01:56

voiced his feelings about the initial

1:01:58

investigation and how it had

1:02:00

been handled. He told

1:02:02

a reporter for the Evening Chronicle. It

1:02:06

just seemed like everything was done in a

1:02:08

rush. I just thought they were

1:02:10

a bit amateur. I got

1:02:12

that feeling from the moment they took my

1:02:14

statement. I just thought

1:02:16

they couldn't be bothered. It

1:02:19

seemed like the only people they really

1:02:21

questioned was us. They took

1:02:23

hair and everything from us. You

1:02:26

would think that we had done it. I

1:02:29

think they thought it was in a family.

1:02:33

Dennis did not agree with the

1:02:35

detectives' assertion that Alan had been

1:02:37

killed by someone he knew, saying,

1:02:41

All along I thought it had to be

1:02:44

someone that was traveling through the area. I

1:02:47

don't think the police at the time were

1:02:49

professional enough. I think they left

1:02:51

it too late. I

1:02:54

don't think they had the manpower or

1:02:56

the know-how. They

1:02:58

could have wasted time looking at

1:03:00

the family. In

1:03:12

2014, a crime

1:03:15

reporter for the Chronicle Live's Sophie

1:03:17

Douty wrote a series

1:03:19

of articles on unsolved crimes in

1:03:22

the time-side area. Within

1:03:24

a week of the articles being released,

1:03:27

a man came forward to say that

1:03:29

he believed his son had been with

1:03:31

Alan on the day he was killed.

1:03:34

Matthew Bryson told the Chronicle,

1:03:38

My son used to knock about with him and

1:03:41

played with him on the street.

1:03:43

Our Dave was playing with him that

1:03:45

day. He was in the shop

1:03:47

with him. Then they went

1:03:49

around the corner together and were kicking

1:03:51

a ball about. Then he heard a

1:03:54

bloke shout at Alan saying, Come

1:03:56

on, get in here. Then

1:03:58

he ran off. I think

1:04:01

our Dave was the last one to

1:04:03

see him alive. Bryson

1:04:06

said that he had assumed the police knew

1:04:09

who they were looking for because they never

1:04:11

took a statement. Unfortunately

1:04:14

Matthew Bryson's son Dave

1:04:16

died in 2004 so

1:04:18

the police had missed their chance. Alan's

1:04:22

brother Dennis was hopeful that the

1:04:25

new information was a sign that

1:04:27

people still remembered what happened all

1:04:29

those years later but said this

1:04:31

highlighted that the police did not

1:04:33

speak to all of the witnesses

1:04:35

at the time. In

1:04:38

response detective Superintendent Roger Ford

1:04:40

who was the head of

1:04:42

Northumbria Police's major crime team

1:04:44

was adamant that no unsolved murder

1:04:47

investigation is ever closed.

1:04:50

The constabulary would be reviewing the case

1:04:52

to see if the lines of inquiry

1:04:54

could be acted upon. In

1:04:58

April of that same year another

1:05:00

witness came forward. Ken

1:05:04

Brown had been playing with Dave Bryson

1:05:06

and Alan Graham on the day it

1:05:08

was believed Alan was killed and

1:05:11

he remembered seeing a dark blue van

1:05:13

pull up and a man shouting a

1:05:15

talent to get in. Ken

1:05:18

had spoken to the police in the days

1:05:20

following the murder but was never

1:05:23

asked to give a formal statement. As

1:05:27

the decades passed his

1:05:29

memories faded until he

1:05:31

saw the articles in the chronicle. Ken

1:05:34

said, I actually felt

1:05:37

sick to my stomach and

1:05:39

I'll just want to do anything I can to

1:05:41

help. Since I read

1:05:43

the story in the chronicle it's been

1:05:45

like the cogs in my brain have

1:05:47

started turning. Ken

1:05:50

described the man as being between

1:05:53

26 and 30 years old with

1:05:56

a slim build and dark hair that

1:05:58

was slicked back. He

1:06:00

believed the man had a Geordie

1:06:02

accent and was wearing a

1:06:05

light blue shirt and a donkey jacket.

1:06:08

The vehicle was described as a dark

1:06:10

blue van with two doors on each

1:06:12

side of the rear. It

1:06:15

had a chrome bumper and round

1:06:17

headlights. Ken

1:06:19

Brown spoke with the police who

1:06:22

said they would review all of the

1:06:24

statements provided and seek new ones. Allen's

1:06:29

brother Fred was desperate for answers

1:06:31

after so long and wanted

1:06:33

to know how exactly

1:06:35

did Allen die? Was

1:06:38

Allen sexually assaulted? Do

1:06:41

police still have any of Allen's

1:06:43

clothing or belongings? Were

1:06:45

anybody parts kept? Why

1:06:48

was Ken Brown not interviewed by the

1:06:50

police at the time? Why

1:06:53

have police sought no publicity for the crime

1:06:55

for 44 years? What

1:06:58

review was being completed and

1:07:00

why has the family not been spoken

1:07:03

to about one? With

1:07:07

the advancements of forensic technology,

1:07:09

the family were hopeful that a

1:07:11

DNA profile of the killer could

1:07:14

be produced. Detective

1:07:17

Chief Inspector Andy Fairlam who was heading

1:07:19

up the review of the case spoke

1:07:22

about the size and scope of the

1:07:24

initial inquiry during 1970 when

1:07:28

hundreds of people were interviewed and

1:07:30

thousands of statements taken. Detective

1:07:36

Fairlam said, 1970 and 2016

1:07:38

are poles apart in how

1:07:40

we investigate. So

1:07:42

we are reviewing what was done then

1:07:44

and what we could do now. It

1:07:47

just needs some fresh ice. We

1:07:49

never stop investigating as we could get

1:07:52

some new intelligence and we will always

1:07:54

look at it. Allen

1:07:56

Graham was found in a ditch in the

1:07:58

early morning. The ditch had

1:08:01

some water in it and it had

1:08:03

been raining that night. A

1:08:05

lot of samples were taken from him

1:08:07

and the surrounding area. We

1:08:10

are having our forensic experts re-examine all

1:08:12

of the material that has been retained

1:08:14

since 1970 to

1:08:17

identify any new forensic techniques that

1:08:19

could be used on them. Unfortunately

1:08:23

a DNA profile could not

1:08:26

be created. Very

1:08:28

little evidence had survived the preceding

1:08:30

four decades. So Allen's

1:08:33

family's hopes were dashed at the

1:08:35

disappointing news. Detective

1:08:39

Chief Inspector John Bent assured the

1:08:42

family that the constabulary would continue

1:08:44

to seek new avenues of investigation

1:08:46

to try and finally solve the

1:08:48

case, including speaking

1:08:51

with any officers involved in

1:08:53

the original inquiry. There

1:08:56

had been examples of historic cases

1:08:59

being solved as in 2017

1:09:01

David Dearlove was convicted

1:09:04

of killing his 19 month

1:09:06

old stepson 50 years earlier.

1:09:10

The historic murder conviction gave

1:09:12

one of Allen's brothers renewed

1:09:14

optimism when Fred Barron said,

1:09:17

I can't believe it's almost been

1:09:19

50 years and I

1:09:21

can't believe this has gone on for

1:09:23

50 years and we still have no

1:09:25

answers. You see

1:09:27

other members of your family growing

1:09:30

up and becoming parents and grandparents

1:09:33

and you just think that Allen never got the

1:09:35

chance to do that and

1:09:37

we have no idea why. There's

1:09:40

not a single day goes by when I

1:09:42

don't think about it. I

1:09:45

read about other cases being solved after

1:09:47

30, 40, after 50 years and I

1:09:49

still have hope. So

1:10:09

where are we now? When

1:10:14

the 50 year anniversary of Alan Graham's

1:10:16

murder rolled around in 2020, although he

1:10:20

was hopeful, Brad

1:10:22

Baron worried that he would not live

1:10:25

to see justice served. He

1:10:27

felt he was running out of time and

1:10:30

any potential witnesses would no longer

1:10:32

see the case as urgent or

1:10:35

important as five decades

1:10:37

had passed. Fred

1:10:40

told Sophie Doughty writing for the

1:10:42

Chronicle Live, I'm

1:10:44

going to keep going as long as I'm

1:10:46

breathing even if the

1:10:48

police stop, I won't

1:10:51

stop trying but

1:10:53

who will if I'm not there? Detective

1:10:58

Chief Inspector Fairlam said that the

1:11:00

police were still pursuing active lines

1:11:02

of inquiry and there were still

1:11:04

people they wanted to speak to. Fairlam

1:11:08

felt that the passage of time might

1:11:10

be what was needed for someone to

1:11:12

divulge what they knew and

1:11:14

described how he saw Alan around the

1:11:17

time of his death saying,

1:11:20

Alan himself was a challenge, he

1:11:23

was an 11 year old boy who was

1:11:25

a heavy smoker and he used

1:11:27

to wander the streets on his own. These

1:11:30

days we talk a lot about vulnerability

1:11:34

and Alan was definitely a vulnerable

1:11:36

child, bad things

1:11:38

happen to vulnerable people because

1:11:40

they are in vulnerable situations.

1:11:45

Fairlam spoke of being from Newcastle

1:11:47

and he recalled a crime happening when

1:11:49

he was younger. The

1:11:52

detective admitted that they could not confirm

1:11:54

with certainty that Alan knew his killer

1:11:56

in spite of the conclusions made before

1:11:58

the death of the police. detectives

1:12:00

working on the case. Detective

1:12:04

Chief Inspector Fairlam said it was

1:12:06

never too late to do the

1:12:08

right thing. This

1:12:11

is the murder of a young schoolboy

1:12:14

and that is a very big secret for

1:12:16

a person to keep to themselves for 50

1:12:19

years. It's

1:12:21

never too late for a person to

1:12:23

come forward. People's

1:12:25

memories may have faded but

1:12:28

if you are responsible for the murder of

1:12:30

a child then it is

1:12:32

not something you are ever going to forget

1:12:34

and there is

1:12:36

still time to speak to police.

1:12:48

Despite the time that had passed, another

1:12:51

witness did come forward after Fred

1:12:53

Barron's pleas for information in the

1:12:55

Chronicle. Ian Cole

1:12:58

said that he was one of the

1:13:00

11-year-olds spoken to in the days after

1:13:02

Allen was found murdered. Cole

1:13:06

had passed on information about who

1:13:08

he believed was responsible but

1:13:11

felt as though he was not

1:13:13

taken seriously. Speaking

1:13:15

about Allen, Cole said, I

1:13:18

remember the first time my friends and I

1:13:20

met him. We were

1:13:22

having a football kick around. Allen

1:13:25

was sitting in the archway watching us.

1:13:29

We asked him if he fancied a game and

1:13:31

he was up like a shot, brave,

1:13:34

to join in with a bunch of

1:13:36

total strangers. At

1:13:38

the time I thought there were some strange

1:13:40

things going on. Then

1:13:42

when I heard a young lad had gone

1:13:45

missing and he had been killed, I

1:13:48

started putting the pieces together.

1:13:52

As time passed and the case

1:13:54

remained unsolved, Allen's brother

1:13:57

Fred feared that witnesses would pass

1:13:59

away. before they were

1:14:01

questioned. Sadly

1:14:05

Alan's sister-in-law Moira who Alan had

1:14:07

been staying with around the time

1:14:09

of his death died soon

1:14:12

after the 50th anniversary.

1:14:15

Fred Baron said, it makes

1:14:18

me worry that time is running out.

1:14:21

There are people who might know something

1:14:25

that will take that information to

1:14:27

the grave. The

1:14:35

case of Alan Graham's murder remains

1:14:38

open and periodic

1:14:40

reviews are ongoing. If

1:14:42

you have any information

1:14:45

please contact Northumbria police.

1:15:04

Thank you for listening. A

1:15:06

special thanks to our new Patreon

1:15:08

producer Ron de Relaford and

1:15:11

everyone who supports us on Patreon.

1:15:17

For more information on this episode

1:15:20

please see the show notes or

1:15:22

visit our website theywalkamonguspodcast.com

1:15:54

Botox cosmetic out of botulinum toxin

1:15:56

A FDA approved for over 20

1:15:58

years So, tell your

1:16:01

specialist to see if Botox Cosmetic is right

1:16:03

for you. For full prescribing

1:16:05

information, including box warning, visit

1:16:08

botoxcosmetic.com or call 877-351-0300. Remember

1:16:14

to ask for Botox Cosmetic

1:16:16

by name. To see for

1:16:18

yourself and learn more, visit

1:16:21

botoxcosmetic.com. That's botoxcosmetic.com. Tired

1:16:24

of ads interrupting your gripping

1:16:27

investigations? Good news. Ad-free

1:16:29

listening is available on Amazon Music for

1:16:31

all the music plus top podcasts included

1:16:33

with your Prime membership. Ads

1:16:35

shouldn't be the scariest thing about

1:16:37

true crime. Start listening by downloading

1:16:40

the Amazon Music app for free

1:16:42

or go to amazon.com/true crime ad

1:16:44

free. That's amazon.com/true crime ad free

1:16:46

to catch up on the latest

1:16:48

episodes without the ads. out

1:16:54

the Ways to Win podcast brought to

1:16:56

you by Ford and the new 2024

1:16:59

Ford F-150

1:17:01

truck. On Ways

1:17:03

to Win, Coach Cal and I will

1:17:05

discuss leadership lessons we've learned. We

1:17:08

know all about the days spent

1:17:10

perfecting your craft outside of the

1:17:12

limelight and have knowledge to share

1:17:15

about how strength, inspiration, encouragement, and

1:17:17

adaptability are the key ingredients to

1:17:19

drive toward your dreams. And

1:17:22

those same ingredients can be found in the new

1:17:24

2024 Ford F-150 truck. So

1:17:28

check out my podcast Ways to Win and

1:17:30

also check out the new 2024 Ford F-150

1:17:32

truck. Learn

1:17:36

more at ford.com. Built

1:17:39

Ford test, built Ford proud. Botox

1:17:43

Cosmetic, Atabatulinum Toxane, FDA

1:17:45

approved for over 20 years. So,

1:17:48

talk to your specialist to see if Botox

1:17:50

Cosmetic is right for you. For

1:17:53

full prescribing information, including boxed

1:17:55

warning, visit botoxcosmetic.com or call

1:17:57

877-351-0300. Remember

1:18:02

to ask for Botox Cosmetic

1:18:04

by name. To see for

1:18:06

yourself and learn more, visit

1:18:08

botoxcosmetic.com. That's botoxcosmetic.com.