Brian Hardwick was a fifty-year-old newlywed and father of two who worked at Huddersfield Car Electricals on Colne Road in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.
On the evening of November 21st, 2001, Brian was at his workplace, reportedly fixing a punctured tire on his Renault Clio. He was last seen alive at about five-thirty p.m., but no one heard from him after that time.
The following morning, he was found dead. It was initially believed that he had died of natural causes, but a post-mortem revealed that he had actually been shot in the chest and in the back of the head with a small-caliber firearm.
The obvious motive seemed to be robbery, as Brian’s wallet, bag, and pieces of gold jewelry were missing, and that same evening, £350 was withdrawn from his bank account at an ATM inside an Asda store. Brian had his PIN written on a scrap of paper in his wallet.
Police speculated that his killer might have deliberately punctured Brian’s car tire to keep him at his workplace later than usual.
Several men who had been seen in the area at the estimated time of the shooting were sought by authorities for questioning. The first was a well-dressed white man with short dark hair in his late thirties to early forties. This individual had an appointment at the car shop where Brian worked a few hours before the murder, and witnesses claimed he had gotten into an argument with Brian and had left angrily. He had been driving a red car.
The second person of interest was seen staring at the car shop at around ten thirty on the morning of the shooting. He was white, in his late twenties, slightly shorter than average, and had short dark hair. He was wearing a dark-colored, padded jacket.
The third individual was possibly of Afro-Caribbean descent. He stood around five feet five inches tall and had a muscular build. He was in his early twenties and was wearing dark clothes. He had been seen crouching near the car shop’s window at around four p.m.
The fourth man was white, in his twenties or early thirties, with a chubby face and a heavyset build. He had short dark hair, beard stubble, dark brown eyes, and prominent eyebrows. He was spotted near the shop only about twenty minutes before Brian discovered the punctured tire. This fourth individual got into an older model Mini that was parked in the lot behind the Amsterdam Bar. Witnesses also saw a young woman in the passenger seat of the car, with long, bleach-blonde hair.
Another suspicious individual was spotted running across the Kings Bridge at around five-thirty p.m., where he also ran in front of a car. This man was also white, in his early twenties, with a thin build, dark hair, and a long, thin face with stubble. He was clad in dark jeans and a beige denim jacket.
The case was reviewed in 2018 and again in 2021, and appeared on the popular Crimewatch program. Despite extensive investigation and frequent pleas to the media from Brian’s widow Lynne, however, the case is still unsolved, nearly twenty-five years later.
Crime Immemorial 