Eighty-eight-year-old Joseph Cohen was an active elderly gentleman who lived alone in a flat at Rosedale House in Stoke Newington, Hackney, England. He had served in the RAF during the Second World War and later worked as a cabinet maker and salesman. His wife Sadie passed away from a heart attack eighteen years prior; the couple had a son named Harvey.
Joseph had an active social life and was friendly with his neighbors, often going on cruises and visiting central London cafes with friends. He was also believed to have been casually dating, or at least closely acquainted, with two different women.
On June 12th, 2003, Joseph was captured on CCTV picking up his pension from the post office on Stoke Newington’s High Street. After that, his movements are unknown.
On June 20th, a neighbor phoned the police and said she was concerned about Joseph, as she hadn’t seen him in a few days, which was very unusual. Police forced their way into his flat and found the man dead in a pool of blood on his bedroom floor. He had been stabbed more than twenty times and had likely been dead for at least two days.
There was no sign of forced entry, and nothing had been stolen from the flat. Authorities theorized that the killer may have befriended Joseph over time and gained his trust, as friends and relatives of the victim claimed that Joseph was very security conscious and would never have let a stranger into his home.
Investigators sought to question the two women Joseph was thought to be seeing at the time; one was a Turkish doctor, and the other was a dark-haired white woman in her mid to late thirties. Two people had also been seen at the door of Joseph’s flat a few days before the murder. None of these individuals have been located, however.
As of this writing in December 2024, the seemingly motiveless murder of Joseph Cohen is still unresolved.
Crime Immemorial 