On the afternoon of August 10th, 1975, eight-year-old Helen Bailey left her home in Great Barr, Birmingham, England to play nearby. However, she never returned from her excursion, and her alarmed mother reported her missing that night.
The following day, the girl’s body was discovered in the woods near Booths Farm by her father after a long search. Her throat had been cut, but at the initial inquest, the injury was perceived to be minor enough that jurors weren’t sure it had been deliberate and returned an open verdict, believing that the death might have been accidental.
Many years later, in 2014, a review of her cold case revealed that Helen had actually been strangled before her throat was cut. The original inquest verdict was therefore overturned, and in 2019 was officially changed to a verdict of unlawful killing.
It was also discovered that a man named John Sir had confessed to the murder back in 1978, claiming that he had strangled the girl and then cut her throat with a penknife. Sir admitted to the crime to medical staff at a psychiatric hospital, where he had gone voluntarily following a suicide attempt. Sir was admitted to the hospital, not because of the murder confession, but because he posed a danger to himself and perhaps to his wife, who had also reportedly threatened to kill.
When John Sir was questioned in 2014 about the killing of Helen Bailey, however, he claimed that he had made up the confession to ensure that he would be admitted to the mental health facility. He further asserted that he didn’t remember making that specific confession, though he did admit he was walking his dogs in the area where Helen was murdered at around the time of her disappearance. When asked why his account of the murder bore an uncanny resemblance to the evidence in the case, Sir dismissed the similarities as a coincidence.
Notably, John Sir was given a life sentence in 1991 for the attempted murder of his mother, who he beat with a hammer. Though his mother survived the attack, she died a few months later from pneumonia.
Authorities have stated that John Sir is the only suspect in the murder of Helen Bailey, but as of this writing in 2023, are not pursuing charges against him, as he is already in prison for another offense.
Crime Immemorial 