In September 1997, thirty-two-year-old Richard Thorn was at his home in Britwell, Slough, Berkshire, looking after his seven-week-old baby Danielle.
At some point, the infant stopped breathing, and the panicked father rushed her to a neighbor’s house to call an ambulance. The paramedics attempted to revive the child and rushed her to the nearest hospital, but she sadly died seven hours later.
One of the doctors noticed some bruising on the baby’s body and called in a pathologist, at which time it was discovered that Danielle had suffered a skull fracture. According to the pathologist, it appeared that the infant had been hit on the head at least twice and that it was this injury that caused her death.
After looking further into the matter, Danielle’s father Richard was arrested and charged with killing his daughter, as he was the only person present when she stopped breathing.
However, his defense team arranged for a second autopsy conducted by a different pathologist. This expert found that the skull fracture was several days old, and had not occurred on the day that Richard Thorn had called the ambulance.
Since there was now reasonable doubt that the fatal injury had occurred while the baby was in her father’s sole care, Richard Thorn was acquitted.
After his release, the case stagnated, and there have been no updates since. The mysterious death of Danielle Thorn, therefore, remains unsolved as of December 2024.
Crime Immemorial 