Eighty-year-old Mary Lazenby was a small but formidable woman; standing only four-foot-eight and having lost one foot in an accident when she was a child, she had moved to Bethnal Green, East London, England back in 1941 with her husband, a merchant seaman, and the couple’s one-year-old son Larry.
Mary’s husband was killed in World War II, however, and Mary was left to fend for herself. She did so, quite admirably; she moved back to her hometown of South Shields and began saving up her money, eventually amassing enough to not only send Larry to boarding school but also to open the first Indian restaurant in the area. By 1958, the restaurant had become a successful chain of three locations, and Mary herself became known as “The Curry Queen of South Shields.”
After Mary retired, she moved into sheltered accommodation at Rochester Court back in Bethnal Green, where she’d lived with her husband before the war. She lived a quiet life with her cats and had a home care nurse bring her food and check on her daily. It was here, though, where her life would meet its brutal and horrific end.
On the morning of May 22nd, 1999, Mary Lazenby was found dead in the living room of her flat. She had been punched, kicked, and stomped to death; the frenzied attack had broken her sternum, ribs, jaw, and spine. In addition, both her heart and liver had burst from the force of the blows.
Authorities speculated that the killer had gained entry into the home by claiming to be a representative from the water board; Mary’s neighbor Sophie had reported such a man coming into her flat uninvited the day before Mary was slain, and later discovering that her purse was missing.
Other residents reported similar incidents, claiming that the supposed water board employee would make a hasty retreat if a man answered the door. Three witnesses also told police they’d seen a man talking to Mary Lazenby at her door and then going into her flat, though at the time they hadn’t thought anything strange was going on.
The suspect was described as around eighteen years old, well-dressed and clean, standing about five-foot-ten, with a slim build, a thin, angular face, and short blond hair. He also had a chipped tooth on the upper left side of his mouth.
The case was featured on Crimewatch not long after it occurred, but as of April 2024, the shocking murder remains unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 