Husband convicted in 1981 cold case murder after new evidence and key witness statement emerge after 40 years.
Carol was 36 when she died. She was killed on August 13, 1981. This happened at her shop in Bedfordshire. She owned it with Allen, who paid someone to kill Carol.
Allen thought he got away with it. However, his alibi fell apart in 2018. Detectives reopened the old case then. Over 80 officers worked hard for six years and uncovered the truth.
A witness statement was key in the investigation. Allen, now 74, got life in prison last summer. His minimum sentence is 22 years.
Cold cases get reviewed every few years. A detective found Carol’s case. He knew it could be solved. Allen’s timeline had holes, said DC Denise Brown. It did not make sense, and contradictions existed against Allen’s claims.
DC Brown led the interview strategy. The interviews involved Allen and his new wife, Margaret Morgan, who was 75. They had an affair before Carol’s death. Margaret moved in two weeks after Carol’s murder.
Police revisited houses from the original 1981 probe. At Jane Bunting’s home, they found new evidence. Jane’s mother answered the door and revealed Jane had waited 40 years.
Margaret was once Jane’s teacher and mentor, and they became friends. Margaret briefly lived with the Bunting family when her affair with Allen came out.
Jane, 60, kept a secret for years. She feared speaking out as a teenager. Months before Carol died, Jane overheard a conversation that involved Allen and her ex-boyfriend in a pub.
He asked if the ex-boyfriend knew someone who could kill. Allen said he hated Carol and wanted her dead. The Morgans had big debts. Carol’s will left everything to Allen.
The shop also had a life insurance policy. Hard evidence lacked, but police built a circumstantial case. Jane’s statement was crucial. It completed the puzzle, explained DC Brown.
A court found Allen guilty of conspiring to murder. Margaret Morgan was not guilty of the same. The truth comes out during these probes, and it can give loved ones peace, said DC Brown.
The team keeps Carol’s photo for remembrance. “It’s easy to remember him, and easy to forget Carol,” Brown said. Their focus remains on her.