Through the 1970s and 1980s, Mary Joe Frug was a well-respected and prominent law academic. As a part of the Critical Legal Studies movement, she looked to analyse the legal system from a feminist perspective. On the evening of April 4th 1991, the 49-year-old was walking to a convenience store in an upmarket neighbourhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when she was set upon and viciously stabbed to death. A man in his early twenties was seen fleeing from the scene but has never been identified. Investigators were baffled regarding a motive and could not determine if the slaying had been a random act or if Mary Joe had been specifically targeted. Several avenues continue to be explored by cold case detectives, including the possibility that the murder was connected to her work or private life.

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Hannah Williams, a 78-year-old widow, lived with her daughter, Elizabeth, in an isolated cottage six miles from Cardiff. On the morning of Saturday November 10th 1900, Elizabeth walked to market to sell produce from their smallholding. Hannah stayed behind, busying herself with some household chores. When Elizabeth returned that afternoon she was met by neighbours on the road who informed her that Hannah was dead. This had not been due to natural causes or even an accident, but by bloody violence. Hannah had been bludgeoned with a coal hammer and her throat slashed while darning a sock in her own kitchen. Well over a century later Hannah's story and its many unanswered questions still resonate.

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Abdur Rashid was a 46 year old Muslim spiritual teacher who came to the UK from Bangladesh in the late 1970s. Abdur lived and worked in London's East End and was known in the local community as a good man. In April 1988 Abdur was murdered with a sharp instrument and his body dumped in Epping Forest. The killer set the body alight, an act that is forbidden in Islam and one that is considered dishonorable. Police managed to piece together some clues but were at a loss as to the motive for such a cold blooded crime. The crime soon disappeared from the headlines as the investigation drew blanks.

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Christina or Christine Bracken was a 39 year old  nun, originally from Ireland, who in the later part of 1978 moved to Swansea, Wales, to begin a new chapter in her life. After 6 months in Wales Christina, who went by her religious name Sister Jacinta, appeared to have settled in well and seemed happy. Shortly after lunch on Saturday May 19th 1979 Sister Jacinta took a walk into the city centre to buy a birthday present for her mother. While there were a few sightings of  Sister Jacinta that day (both confirmed and unconfirmed), she was never seen by anyone at the convent again and seemingly vanished into thin air. There are numerous theories and rumours about what happened to Sister Jacinta, including a startling piece of information that surfaced just a decade ago.

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Kevin Mison was a football mad teenager from an estate in West London. In early August 1980 the body of the 18 year old was found in an empty house close to where he lived. He had been murdered in a sexually motivated and sadistic attack. Witnesses came forward with information which led to a suspect sketch being created by the police and a mass fingerprinting exercise was undertaken on the estate. Just months later the murder investigation was scaled back and Kevin's killer has yet to be identified.

*Just a quick note to say I'm sorry I've only been doing one episode a month since April. Life has been hectic and I've had some health issues as well as some other commitments. Thank you all for continuing to listen. 

I try and choose stories that are rarely covered by other podcasts and Kevin Mison's case is no exception. I have hope it won't be too late to find resolution to this 45 year unsolved crime.

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Annette Morgan was about to start a new chapter in her young life. The 18 year old had recently left her science course at the University of Sydney for a new role as a trainee radiologist. On Friday October 28th 1977 Annette returned to Sydney from her family home in Warners to visit the friends she had made during her time at university. Early the following morning Annette set off to visit a male friend who was a resident of St Paul's college. Annette never completed her journey and her body was found hours later in a small gulley in the university grounds. She had been beaten, strangled and raped. Identikits were put together of two separate individuals police were hoping to trace but her case has never been closed. 

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In the late afternoon of August 26th 1986, Michelle "Jolene" Lakey went to visit her sick mother at Mercy Hospital, Scranton. After giving her mother a teddy bear as a get well present the 11 year old left to make the 20 minute walk home. At around 6.00pm several witnesses saw Jolene getting into a light-yellow coloured vehicle on North Washington Avenue. She has never been seen since. After reports of a girl resembling Jolene being seen with a man in Brooklyn, New York, a suspect was interviewed, but the lead went nowhere. Three years later the murder of a 9 year old girl in Scranton would take the investigation in a whole new direction and introduce a prime suspect in the case.

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The body of a woman known by neighbours as "Kate England" was discovered on the night of Valentine's Day 1904. "Kate" was found lying on an upstairs bed in her small cottage situated on Saltmead Road, Cardiff, with a noose tied around her neck. While there was no sign of a struggle it appeared someone had been sleeping in the bed next to her. Over the next couple of weeks the extraordinary story of "Kate's" life and mysterious death would unfold in the pages of local newspapers. Characters from her life would be thrust into the limelight as the authorities attempted to make sense of a complicated myriad of clues, and piece together the truth behind the tragedy.

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21 year old Donna Doll was a Russian language student at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. At 9.59pm on October 2nd 1970 she left the campus library where she worked a part-time job and was never seen alive again. Nine days later her fully clothed body was found in a field just outside town. The manner and cause of death was unclear but the case was treated as a murder investigation.  Investigators were presented with a myriad of puzzling details, not least the fact that over 2kg of potatoes was found in Donna's stomach contents.

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Late on the evening of February 12th 1945, 55 year old Mary "Helen" Hoyles  finished her shift at the American Red Cross Club on High Street in the centre of Southampton, and began the short walk home. Helen's journey should have taken just a quarter of an hour but she did not make it safely home.

Early the following morning Helen's half-naked body was found in a cul-de-sac near her lodgings on New Road. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. A clue was found at the scene which made police think the case would be solved within a week, though this confidence proved misplaced.

Over the next couple of years several suspects cropped up in the investigation and the "clue" took detectives to mainland Europe in their search for the killer. In truth the culprit may have been closer to home.

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