Mum stabbed to death in front of baby - police issue plea 30 years later

Karen Hales was stabbed multiple times and set on fire in her own home in Ipswich in 1993. Her parents found their 18-month-old granddaughter sobbing next to their daughter's body. The three suspects are now all dead and the police renew their call for witnesses to come forward

Police investigating the cold case murder of a mother more than 30-years-ago have revealed for the first time that they had three suspects who have all now died.

Karen Hales, 21, was stabbed multiple times in front of her 18-month-old daughter Emily before her body was set on fire at their home on November 21, 1993. But detectives said today that they had “insufficient evidence over the years” to charge three suspects who were “violent, involved in drugs and domestic burglaries”.

It is now hoped their deaths will encourage people with knowledge of the murder, who may have been fearful of the suspects, to come forward with information. Karen’s father Graham Hales found Emily sobbing, but otherwise uninjured, beside the burning body of her mother when he and his wife Geraldine turned up to visit them at 4.40pm at their home in Lavenham Road, Ipswich, Suffolk.

Her fiancée Peter Ruffles, then 22, had left the house less than an hour earlier to start a shift as a mechanic at Ipswich Buses. The killer of the young mother who seemingly had no enemies has still not been identified, despite a huge police hunt, and the offer of a £50,000 reward for information.

Police who described the murder of shop assistant Karen as “brutal” and “horrendous” believe that she was killed shortly before her body was found. Details of the murder along with the new police appeal have now been featured on BBC Crimewatch Live.

A Suffolk Police statement said details of the suspects were being released in the hope that people who “have previously been afraid to come forward - or who felt some kind of loyalty to these individuals - will now feel able to speak without the fear of any form of repercussions.”

Andy Guy, the Major Crime Review and Unsolved Case Team Manager for Suffolk Police, said: “Despite the passage of time, the effects of this senseless murder are still very much felt by Karen’s family – in particular her parents who had to endure the unimaginable trauma of discovering the crime scene - and also her daughter who never had the opportunity to know her mother.

“It is impossible to comprehend what drove someone to commit such an act of extreme violence on a 21-year-old mother in her own home, in front of her child who could have come to serious harm herself had her grandparents not arrived when they did and the fire had taken hold – which makes it all the more appalling.

“Although we keep an open mind as to who was responsible, there were three suspects for Karen’s murder, but unfortunately there was insufficient evidence over the years to proceed.

“What we know about these individuals is that they were violent, involved in drugs and domestic burglaries and if anybody knew or suspected they had any involvement in Karen’s murder, they may have been reticent to come forward.

“My hope in revealing that these people have now died is that those barriers will be removed. Although we cannot name these individuals, it is my belief that there will be people who know or suspect who was involved and they will be fully aware of who I am referring to.

“However, we are not ruling out that someone else beyond those three suspects could have been responsible for Karen’s murder and want to hear from anyone who believes they have information that could assist our enquiries.

“My message to those people who may know something is to please do the right thing and contact us. I urge you to watch the interview with Karen’s parents on Crimewatch and you will see for yourself how they are still tormented by her murder.

“Any sense of fear or old allegiances should now be set aside. Whatever information you have – however small or insignificant it may seem – could prove vital and help us to provide Karen’s family with the answers they deserve.”

A post-mortem examination found that Karen had died from shock and hemorrhage, secondary to multiple stab wounds. Suffolk Police launched one of the biggest ever murder hunts in the county’s history at the time, involving a dedicated team of around 50 officers.

They interviewed witnesses, carried out fingertip searches, forensically examined Karen’s home and the surrounding area, made house to house enquiries and questioned more than 400 motorists in the hope that they might have seen something. More than 1,400 lines of enquiry were followed up and officers dealt with “a vast flow of information from members of the public to the incident room”.

Police said that the day of Karen’s murder “had started ordinarily enough” with her and Peter visiting family and watching television. Peter began getting ready for his shift at 3pm, and Karen made him sandwiches before he left at 3.50pm as she and Emily waved goodbye from the window. He arrived at work ten minutes later.

Karen’s parents got no answer when they knocked on the door, but Mr Hales let himself in and immediately smelled smoke coming from the kitchen where he found his daughter.

Two men were arrested shortly after the murder, but both were released without charge. One of them, a 30-year-old man is reported to have been questioned for 48 hours before being freed.

Karen’s daughter Emily, now 32, was so young at the time that she has no memories of her mother, let alone the awful day when she was murdered. Emily who is now a hairdresser living in Ipswich with a six-year-old son said: “Every day is so hard. I miss and think about her every day.

“I constantly wonder what life would be like with her here with me. Every birthday wish I have made, I wish for her to be back with us. I have no memories of my mum which is so sad. Now as a mum myself it’s even harder. I’m forever hoping one day the killer will be found.

She added: “I know there is somebody out there that knows something and I also think more than one person knows.Somebody is keeping a secret for the person that killed her. I don’t know how they can carry on living their life as if nothing has happened.”

Retired digger driver Graham, 77, and Geraldine, 78, who still live in the house where Karen grew up in Barham near Ipswich, fear that mistakes may have been made early in the investigation.

Mother-of-three Geraldine who has always been partially sighted, believes the shock of Karen’s murder led to her eyesight rapidly deteriorating and her becoming registered blind.

She said last year: “Karen was a beautiful girl and she loved life, although she was a bit of a devil at school. “She enjoyed pranks and getting up to mischief by doing things like turning on the fire alarm. We had 21 years of her life before that horrible day 30-years-ago.

“She had been with Peter for about six years and they were fine. She loved Emily to bits. “I am sure she would have been so proud of her grandson if she was around now. He is a lovely clever, little boy.”

Geraldine recalled how Karen and Peter had bought their two bedroom semi-detached home when she was pregnant. Karen had worked at Debenhams before combining being a mother with a part-time job working evening shifts on the Boots counter at her local Sainsbury’s store in Hadleigh Road, Ipswich.

Describing how he found his daughter’s body, Mr Hales said: “We walked down the path and I said, ‘There is something wrong. Emily is really, really crying.’ I knocked on the door and got no answer. Then I looked through the letter box and saw smoke. I tried the door and it was unlocked so I went in.

“Then I found her in the kitchen. Her body was near the worktop and flames were coming up around 18 inches around her. From her waist upwards, her clothes were burned away and the back of her head was burned. There was a lump of cloth smouldering.

“A high chair was also lying down and it was over the top of the flames. The high chair had started to catch fire and there was a smell of burning. When I moved Karen, I knew she was gone.

"I thought at first she had been electrocuted because of the fire. Then I saw the stab wounds in her chest. Emily was standing in the kitchen in the other side of her mother, and I just picked her up and gave her to Gerry. I wanted to get her out of the smoke.”

Geraldine added: ‘Emily was crying her eyes out. She didn’t know what was going on. At the time she could only say a couple of words like ‘Mum’ and ‘Dad’. “There was no way she could explain what had happened, let alone say who had done it.”

Graham said he immediately dialled 999, and police and firefighters rushed to the house which was blanketed in snow. He remains annoyed that police allowed firefighters to go inside, potentially destroying footprints in the snow which may have been left by the killer.

Graham said: “I had already put the fire out, so there was no need for them to rush in. It should have been preserved as a crime scene. I knew there was nobody else in the house.”

He said that he and his wife had been out visiting different people earlier in the afternoon because they “couldn’t settle”. Before visiting Karen and Emily, he and Geraldine went to Peter’s bus depot in Constantine Road so he could quickly check glow plugs in the diesel engine of his pick up truck which were playing up.

Graham said: “Peter had been out the night before for a get together with his workmates. I asked him how the evening went and he said, ‘Karen will tell you all about it.” Peter later told Karen’s parents and the police that she had mentioned someone trying the front door handle of their home while he was out on the Saturday night.

The incident apparently scared Karen, but Peter put it down to local children messing around. Graham added: “She was a bit nervous about living in the house because there had been break-ins in the area.’

Police found two large Laser kitchen knives missing from the house after Karen’s body was found, along with her purse containing a small amount of cash. Karen’s parents were questioned by police, along with Peter, and detectives tried to reassure the family that they would catch the killer.

A re-enactment staged for the BBC Crimewatch programme in March 1994 failed to crack the case. The programme featured an actress playing Karen enjoying life as a devoted mother and taking her daughter swimming at the Crown Pools in Ipswich.

A £50,000 reward offered by Suffolk Police, the Evening Star newspaper and several local business people in 2005 also failed to lead to a breakthrough. Geraldine said: “The police kept coming round and telling us that the case would be solved within six months – but nothing happened.”

The couple had hopes that advances in DNA evidence might finally identify the killer, but tests around three-years-ago failed to reveal anything. Graham said: “There was some vomit on Karen’s skirt. It wasn’t from her because they knew what had been in her throat, so they believed it was from someone else.

“But it was mixed up with her blood and when they tested it, only her DNA came up. “I believe the evidence of what happened was in the house, but forensics were not so advanced when it happened. The police only came up with my fingerprints, and Karen and Peter’s. There was no evidence of anyone else going in there. We still think about it every day. You just can’t get over something as awful as this.”

Geraldine who has five grandchildren and six great grandchildren, added: “It has tormented me for 30 years. I think I will die not knowing what happened. I can’t understand what kind of person would have done this in front of an 18-month-old child.’

The Crimewatch appeal can be viewed on BBC iPlayer for the next 28 days: Crimewatch Live - Series 20: 8. Human Traffic - BBC iPlayer

Anyone with information should contact the Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Unsolved Case Team on tel. 01953 423819, or by emailing unsolvedcasereviews@norfolk.pnn.police.uk. Alternatively, contact independent charity Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their online form: www.crimestoppers-uk.org