Following former Met Police DCI Colin Sutton and his team, West End Murders examines the historic cold case of the ‘Bunny Girl’ murders, uncovering a key link between the cases. The show starts Monday, 23rd September on Crime + Investigation.
The 1975 Bunny Girl murders of Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon continue to be a chilling mystery in the UK. Despite breakthroughs in DNA testing in 2007, the case remains unsolved to this day. Nearly half a century later, the victims and their families have yet to find justice.
Eve Stratford
Eve Stratford was a 21-year-old woman living in London in 1975. She was born in Dortmund, West Germany but her family settled in Hampshire when she was still a child.
While living with her boyfriend Tony Priest, Eve began working in Park Lane as a Playboy Club Bunny. This role is what led to her and Lynne Weedon’s deaths being dubbed The Bunny Girl murders.
Eve’s life was glamorous, but she was suspended after appearing on the cover of adult magazine Mayfair. The photoshoot breached her contract with the club, but she had no interest in returning after her suspension. Eve had plans to become a model, intending to use her Mayfair magazine cover as a stepping stone. Unfortunately, her dreams were tragically cut short.
Eve’s murder
Tony returned to their shared flat in Leyton on 18th March 1975 to find Eve dead. Her throat had been slashed multiple times. She’d also been stabbed in the face and the neck, to the point where her face was severely mutilated.
There was undoubtedly a sexual motive to Eve’s murder. Vaginal swabs revealed semen, and she was only wearing lingerie and underwear. Her hands were bound with a scarf and a nylon stocking was tied to one ankle.
There were some odd circumstances surrounding the crime scene. Neighbours reported hearing a man and woman talking, but no shouting. They also reported a thud and footsteps about an hour before Eve’s body was found. There were no signs of forced entry or a fight.
The lack of any startling noise or evidence of breaking and entering suggests that Eve might have known the perpetrator and let them in willingly. She may have also been confronted upon entering the home and followed to her flat by the perpetrator. Her quiet nature may have been because of fear, or it could have been because she trusted the person who killed her. Eve’s murder left behind many questions, but very few answers.
Lynne Weedon
Lynne Weedon was a 16-year-old student who visited the Elm Tree Pub in Hounslow in September 1975. She was celebrating her exam results with friends. By the end of the night, she was brutally murdered by the same person who killed Eve Stratford six months prior.
Lynne’s murder
On her way home, Lynne took a shortcut down the Short Hedges alleyway. She was attacked with a blunt object, causing a skull fracture. The attacker then took Lynne into a power substation by dragging her unconscious body over a gate. Once there, she was violently raped.
Lynne was found the following morning by a local school caretaker. She was alive but unconscious. She tragically never woke up and died the following week in hospital.
Linking the cases
Lynne’s case was reopened in 2004 and in 2007, the link between Eve and Lynne was established by DNA technology. It showed that they were murdered by the same person.
In 2015, the 40th anniversary of Eve’s murder, the police renewed the appeal. Monetary rewards were offered, DNA was taken and eyewitnesses gave details of a man they saw leaving the alley where Lynne was killed, but there’s yet to be any breaks in the case.
Other potential victims
27-year-old Elizabeth Parravincina and 14-year-old Patsy Morris were murder victims in 1977 and 1980 who are thought to have links to Lynne and Eve’s murders.
Both were killed in the London Borough of Hounslow, where Lynne was attacked. Patsy’s murder had similarities to Eve’s, with a pair of tights - missing a leg - tied around her leg and neck. Neither Elizabeth nor Patsy had been sexually assaulted, but there were suggestions that the perpetrator fled before they finished the attacks.
Remembering the victims
Lynne and Eve - and Patsy and Elizabeth - were young women taken from the world by an evil killer. Eve wanted to start a new life with her Mayfair magazine spread, but many believe it was this that attracted her killer. Lynne was a child celebrating a life milestone, and her desire to get home quicker led to her murder.
Their deaths may not have closure, but they will be remembered, and hopefully, one day, their families will have the justice they deserve.
