Police are investigating a property in connection to the possible murder of estate agent, Suzy Lamplugh, who disappeared 32 years ago. What is the case of Suzy Lamplugh?
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed premises in Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham is being searched and are refusing to comment on the speculation around the search. This comes after it was reported that officers are digging up the back garden of the property. This property belonged to prime suspect, John Cannon.
A spokesman said: “The search follows information received in relation to a historical unsolved investigation being led by the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command.”
The case of Suzy Lamplugh.
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Suzy Lamplugh was born on 3rd May 1961 (25 at the time of her disappearance) and worked as an estate agent in Fulham, south-west London.
On the 28th July 1986, Suzy left the office to go meet a potential client, under the name of Mr Kipper, around a property around they had for sale or to rent. Around an hour or two after she left the office her manager realised she had been gone a long time which was unusual for Suzy. Suzy was very into her work, she always kept to the rules and regulations for house viewings therefore it was very out of character for her not to be back in the office by that time. This is when her Manager made a phone call to Suzy’s mother, Diana, to see if there was a family emergency; Diana then informed the manager that she had not heard or seen Suzy.
Suzy had been seen arriving at the property she was showing the potential client around at 12:50pm and was joined by ‘Mr Kipper’ at 1pm. There are some sources that say the pair was arguing but others say they talked and got into a car and drove away; both theories cannot be confirmed. This sighting was the last to be seen of Suzy Lamplugh.
Around 10pm that evening, Suzy’s car was found a mile and a half away from the property she was showing ‘Mr Kipper’ around. Suzy’s car ignition key was missing but her purse was still in the car; the driver’s door was found unlocked and the hand brake was left off (this may mean whoever was driving the car was in to much of a rush to stop the car properly and locking the car). Suzy’s car showed no signs of struggle and all the finger print in the car were accounted for.
Suzy’s body has still not been found and was considered a missing person for 8 years but in 1994 police declared dead/murdered. The police received 23 thousand leads and tips about Suzy’s disappearance.
There is one prime subject for police, this is John Cannan. Cannan was living in a day release hostel at a prison in London at the time of Suzy’s disappearance. Cannan was coming to the end of his six-year sentence for rape and robbery. It had taken police a year to realise the known criminal looked almost identical the description of the man sketched to be ‘Mr Kipper’ due to all the leads they were receiving. Due to been in a day release hostel, Cannan was free all day to do whatever he pleases but had to be in the prison hostel by night. Inmates of Cannan said he liked to go to bars in Fulham (the same area Suzy worked) and was looking for a place in Fulham when he finished his sentence.
John Cannan was told to be a very charming man by his old colleagues and friends but also had access to a lot of BMW cars which made him seem like a successful man, you would not have suspected him to be in a day release situation. At the age of 14, Cannan was convicted for an attack on a woman, but everyone soon forgot about this as it was when he was younger. Cannan worked as a car salesman (which he was excellent at) and in his 20s he married however, Cannan left his wife of six years to be with a younger woman. Shortly after she decided to end their short romance, but this is when he became abusive and beat her badly. After this incident, Cannan sparked an abusive streak in him and every relationship he had ended in violence. In 1981, Cannan was caught raping a woman and started his 6-year sentence in Fulham prison.
A few years before jailed there had been continuous attacks on woman who were selling homes, a man would go to houses that were for sale and attack the female owners. This is just a case that Birmingham police were to piece together and can not be linked to John Cannan.
Suzy’s family had later told police about a stalker that Suzy said made her feel scared, a man she did not name to her parents kept sending her flowers and would ring her phone obsessively. This was around the time of her disappearance, her family think this is the man who renamed himself ‘Mr Kipper’ to get an appointment with her. He would have had to use a fake name to get Suzy to meet him and get her alone as she would not have gone to the appointment if she had seen his name.
Cannan finished his prison sentence on 25th July 1986, 3 days before the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh. In 1987, a year after the disappearance of Suzy, Cannan made a video at a dating agency in hopes of finding more women but a few days later was the disappearance of Shirley Banks. Shirley’s disappearance went on for weeks and there was still no sign of her; it was three weeks later when Cannan was linked to her murder when her body was found miles away in a wood. Shirley’s skull was smashed into pieces by a rock. She was abducted by Cannan and kept in his apartment for over 18 hours where she was forced to call in sick at work. The police found out Cannan was responsible when he was arrested in the area for a knife point attack in a dress shop; when the police checked his car, they found the tax disc for Shirley’s car. The police then decided to search Cannan’s flat, in this search they found Shirley’s car in his garage which was repainted blue.
It is still unsure what happened with Suzy Lamplugh and if there were any connections with Cannan but there is information from Cannan’s former girlfriend that make him suspicious. In two different conversations Cannan told the girlfriend he had a year after the disappearance that he knew where Suzy’s body was, and his inmates called him ‘kipper’; this is a coincidence as the man for the house viewing name was ‘Mr Kipper’.
John Cannan was named a prime suspect in November 2002 and has always denied any involvement.
