Thirty-one-year-old father of two Paul Booth lived in Southampton, England, and worked as a builder. On February 5th, 1999, Paul was driving to Calmore to visit his girlfriend Caroline Williams, and stopped by an Esso gas station in Totton to buy cigarettes. Suddenly, he was attacked by three men in the parking lot, who beat him savagely and left him for dead.
After the incident, Paul managed to get to his girlfriend’s house, and the couple went to Southampton General Hospital to have his injuries seen to. There was a long line, however, and Paul didn’t want to wait, so he left.
Eleven days later, he was found unconscious in his home and rushed back to the hospital. While there, he lapsed into a coma and died of a brain hemorrhage on March 3rd, 1999.
In 2001, an anonymous man called Lyndhurst police and named several individuals who he claimed had been talking about the crime in a Totton pub. The mysterious caller phoned twice but refused to give his own name or meet with investigators.
Despite the tip, the motive behind the vicious murder was unclear. Authorities speculated that Paul might have known his attackers and that the assault might have been a warning to stay away from Caroline. On the other hand, it was possible that Paul and the perpetrators had been involved in a road rage incident earlier that led to the beating.
Whatever the case, the murder of Paul Booth remains a frustrating enigma a quarter century later.
Crime Immemorial 