Forty-six-year-old widow Linda Chandler lived with her two children, Lisa and Lynette, in a house on a cul-de-sac called Fairbourne Avenue in Kingstanding, Birmingham, England. Her husband had died eight years before, and she supported her family by working as a secretary at Birmingham City University. Neighbors later described her as a “popular” woman, friendly to a fault.
On April 18th, 1997, the widow met a baffling and grisly end; she answered her front door and the unknown man who stood there began stabbing her repeatedly in the chest, and then in the back when she turned to run.
Linda was not killed outright and managed to stumble to a neighbor’s house after her attacker had fled the scene. Police and paramedics arrived in short order, but sadly, the victim was pronounced dead on arrival at City Hospital.
Authorities were mystified as to the motive behind the crime, and house-to-house inquiries yielded no clues that would help explain the seemingly random nature of the onslaught. Searches for the murder weapon or any other forensic evidence were likewise unsuccessful. Investigators believed that the perpetrator may have taken off on foot through the mazes of back alleys behind the homes, but might have had a vehicle parked nearby.
A forty-three-year-old man was questioned in connection with the homicide but was later released without charge. A new appeal for information was launched in 2017, but as of this writing in 2024, the tragic murder remains unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 