In November of 1978, the partially clothed body of fourteen-year-old Gary Wilson was discovered under a pile of tires and an old sofa behind an abandoned store on Comet Road in Deptford, southeast London. The boy had been sexually assaulted, strangled with a belt, and stabbed in the chest and neck with shards of broken glass. He also had multiple slash marks across his legs, likely from a fierce struggle with his assailant.
A number of men were questioned for the crime, but the case went nowhere for the next two months. Then, during a second questioning of one of the potential suspects, a man actually confessed to the murder.
This individual was a thirty-six-year-old hospital porter named George Long. On the surface, he seemed an unlikely candidate for a child killer: he had a steady girlfriend and no police record. His confession came after hours of intense interrogation, and though police were elated, Long soon backtracked, claiming he’d been confused and had fabricated the story.
Despite recanting, George Long was nonetheless placed on trial for the crime. It seemed that in 1978, the possibility that someone would confess to a murder they didn’t commit, either because they were coerced or had mental issues, was not readily recognized, and hence Long was found guilty and sent to prison on the sole evidence of said confession.
Over the years, he was offered a chance at parole if he would admit to killing Gary Wilson, but Long refused, and stayed in jail for sixteen years. Finally, though, in 1995, his initial confession was deemed unreliable on the grounds that he was mentally unstable and that the police interviewing him had led him to the answers they wanted to hear. Long’s conviction was overturned, and he was freed at the age of fifty-two.
The horrific murder of Gary Wilson is still unsolved, more than forty years later.
Crime Immemorial 