Ronald Castree Goes To Trial

The trial has begun in West Yorkshire's Bradford Crown Court for UK comic book dealer Ronald Castree, indicted in the murder 32 years ago of an 11-year-old girl named Lesley Molseed. The opening statement by the prosecution included the cause of death, the description of a similar incident said to have been instigated by the now 54-year-old against a then nine-year-old, the mother's testimony about her child, some sketching out of supporting facts like where Castree lived at the time of the murder and where his wife was, and an explanation of why the trial is taking place now: a 2005 DNA swab taken on a completely unrelated matter became a one in a billion match. Coverage can be found in most major publications across the pond.

Kenny Penman of Forbidden Planet notes that unlike the Times article, television coverage he's seen has thus far not played up Castree's comics past.

The case gained much of its notoriety because another man named Stefan Kiszko was found guilty for the murder in 1976, and was in jail serving the terms of a life sentence until the early 1990s before DNA evidence freed him. He died just over one year later from a massive heart attack, and his devoted mother died soon after. Speculation about the identity of the real murderer had been rampant until Castree's arrest, and for some that arrest wasn't enough to divert them from other theories.
 
posted 10:20 pm PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives