Serial killer who murdered Shropshire heiress Lesley Whittle dies
Serial killer Donald Neilson – who murdered 17-year-old Lesley Whittle from Shropshire in 1975 has died in hospital.
Neilson, who was known as the Black Panther for his practice of wearing a dark-coloured balaclava’s during his robberies, died aged 75 at around 6.45pm yesterday evening.
He was moved to hospital from Norwich prison with breathing difficulties on Saturday. He had been suffering from motor neurone disease for years.
Neilson was serving life for murdering three sub-postmasters during robberies in 1974 and killing 17-year-old Shropshire heiress Lesley Whittle, who he had kidnapped, in 1975.
Lesley was taken from her home in Highley, near Bridgnorth, while her mother, Dorothy, was asleep in a neighboring room. She was kidnapped after Neilson read about disputes surrounding the estate of her wealthy late father George Whittle. It was understood Leslie was reportedly to inherit £82,000 from her father.
Neilson demanded a £50,000 ransom but panicked amid confusion over the handover of the cash by her uncle Ronald and fled. Her body was found in March 1975 hanging from the bottom of a ladder to which Neilson had secured her by the neck with wire in an underground drainage system.
After a manhunt involving more than 500 officers, Neilson was finally caught in December 1975 when two policemen spotted him acting suspiciously by a roadside near Mansfield. Challenged by the officers, he produced a shotgun and forced them to drive him to a nearby village; they eventually overpowered him.
Neilson, was given four life sentences for the kidnap and murder of Leslie and the murders of three sub-postmasters. A charge of killing another man, security guard Gerald Smith, was left on file.
His murders dominated the headlines for months and he was branded one of Britain's most evil killers.
At 17, Lesley Whittle was the youngest of Neilson’s four murder victims.
