On November 12th, 1989, which was Remembrance Sunday in the UK, firefighters responded to a blaze at a holiday cottage in Rodborough, Stroud, Gloucestershire, in southwest England. Inside, they discovered the remains of forty-three-year-old Carmel Gamble. But it soon became clear that the dead woman had not been killed by the fire, but by savage and repeated blows that had shattered her skull. Not only that, but her body had also been badly mutilated, and her clothing soaked with paraffin, presumably to encourage faster burning.
According to witnesses, Carmel had been arguing with a man in the Stroud High Street about a week before she was killed. This man had scruffy, dark-brown hair that fell to his shoulders, and eyes that were described as “staring.” Though police diligently followed up on this lead, no arrests resulted.
Authorities also had their eye on two different men in the crime, both of whom were already serving life sentences for murder at the time suspicion fell on them, but nothing seems to have come from this avenue of inquiry either.
The mystery of who killed Carmel Gamble and why is unlikely to ever be resolved, as the investigation is no longer active as of this writing.
Crime Immemorial 