Crime Immemorial

It was the evening of March 19th, 1990, in the quiet suburb of Sunniside, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Fifty-seven-year-old former science teacher Jack Royal and his wife, Sonia, were spending a quiet evening at home, reading together in their front room. At approximately eleven thirty-five p.m., the doorbell rang. Jack went to answer it, peering through the porch window to see who was there. In that moment, a single shotgun blast struck him in the face, killing him almost instantly. The gunman fled the scene, reportedly escaping in a white Austin Montego that had been stolen earlier that day from the MetroCentre. A neighbor, Beverley Yeadon, witnessed a man running to the car and driving away, a detail that would later become significant in the investigation.

The brutality of the attack and the apparent premeditation stunned the local community. Detective Superintendent John May, who led the murder inquiry, noted that it was evident early on that Jack Royal was deliberately targeted.

The investigation quickly focused on a possible motive tied to Jack Royal’s past. In January 1987, Royal had been involved in a fatal altercation outside a chip shop in Sunniside. During a street fight, he stabbed and killed David Thompson, a twenty-nine-year-old scrap dealer who had been a former business partner of Royal’s son. The dispute reportedly stemmed from a falling out over a business venture. Royal was charged with murder but stood trial twice, claiming self-defense. The first trial ended with a hung jury, and in the second, on March 10th, 1988, he was acquitted.

Following his acquittal, Jack and Sonia Royal lived in fear of retaliation. Neighbors reported that the couple received threatening phone calls and felt constantly anxious, as if they were “living on a knife edge.” The police hypothesized that Jack’s murder was a revenge killing, potentially orchestrated by individuals close to David Thompson. This theory gained traction when it emerged that Thompson’s sister, Catherine, had connections to individuals later implicated in the case.

The police investigation was extensive, with hundreds of witness statements collected in the days following the murder. Early on, a suspect named Walter Hepple was arrested. Hepple, then twenty-one, had a motive: David Thompson was his sister’s boyfriend and the father of her two children. Beverley Yeadon identified Hepple as the driver of the getaway car during a police lineup. However, Hepple was acquitted in June 1991, leaving the case unresolved.

In April 1992, new evidence came to light during Hepple’s trial, leading to the arrest of Andrew Adams, a twenty-three-year-old aircraft engineer, and his friend John Hands. A witness claimed to have driven Adams and Hands to a car park near Royal’s home on the night of the murder. According to the witness, the pair returned to the car, stating they had “blown a man’s head off.” The witness further alleged that the motive was tied to Adams’ relationship with Catherine Thompson, David Thompson’s sister, who reportedly harbored a deep hatred for Royal. Additional evidence included sightings of a silver Renault 5, which Adams owned, being driven suspiciously on West Road in Newcastle that night, as well as testimony from an ex-soldier who claimed to have seen Adams with a sawn-off shotgun weeks before the murder.

In May 1993, Adams was tried at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Crown Court. Despite the acquittal of both Hands and Catherine Thompson, Adams was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The prosecution’s case rested heavily on the informant’s testimony, which was later called into question.

Andrew Adams maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration. In 1998, he appealed his conviction, but the appeal was dismissed. However, in 2007, after nearly fourteen years in prison, Adams’ conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) had identified issues with the case, including a conflict of interest with Adams’ legal team, who had previously represented Hepple, and concerns about the reliability of the informant’s evidence. Adams was released, but he received no compensation for his time in prison.

The overturning of Adams’ conviction reignited public and media interest in the case. Questions arose about whether the true killer had ever been brought to justice. The Guardian, in a 2006 article, described Adams’ ordeal as a “convoluted trail of revenge,” highlighting the complexities and uncertainties surrounding the case.

Despite the arrests, trials, and overturned conviction, the murder of Jack Royal remains officially unsolved. As of 2025, no new arrests have been made, and the identity of the person who pulled the trigger on that March night in 1990 remains a mystery.