Diana Maw

The ramifications of using such a weapon reverberated around the country, and discussions about whether these types of weapons should be more tightly regulated or had. Unfortunately, this is a conversation that we are still having to this day. This episode contains descriptions that some listeners may find distressing. Sole listener discretion is advised. Diana Moore was born in nineteen fifty

one into a loving and professional family. Her father, Stafford, was an eye surgeon and her mother, Sheila, was also a doctor. Sheila had grown up in the Scottish city of Dundee, and Sheila's father himself had been the rector at the prestigious Harris Academy, a once private school in the city. Diana was born in Newcastle after her parents

moved there from Scotland. She grew up in a happy and affluent family unit which was very close and Diana was both responsible and successful in most things that she attempted. She attended Cheltenham Girls College and worked hard at her studies. She was known by many as a dedicated person who knew where she wanted to go in life. This began to show as she grew up and gained an excellent

job with the Industrial Society as a recruitment consultant. The Industrial Society had been farmed in nineteen eighteen as the Boy's Welfare Association and initially its aim was to improve the lives of boys and men that were working in the munitions factories making weapons for the war. This eventually grew into the Industrial Society and not for profit organization looking at improving everyone's working conditions and how workplaces could

be designed to improve everyone's lives. This was the aim of the organization and Diana's role in this job shows her mindset and desire to help and support other people. While this role did align with Diana's values, it was also a good, solid job which enabled Diana to live quite a comfortable life in London. By the year nineteen eighty eight, Diana was thirty six years old and was living in a flat on Woodfield Road in Ealing. She was enjoying her job and her relationship with her boyfriend,

Michael Stephens. Michael himself was also successful, working as a business executive and electrics company. The couple in the process of planning their life together and had for around six months been negotiating the purchase of a three hundred thousand pound home that they would live in together. On Wednesday, the twentieth of July nineteen eighty eight, at around eleven thirty a m fifteen year old Ali Farnan was walking along the second floor landing of Stanley cor a block

of flats on Woodfield Road in Ealin. Ali noticed that a woman was laying on the floor at the end of the corridor, and he quickly realized that something was wrong. He later told reporters, I saw her lying on her side at the end of the corridor. At first I thought she'd fainted or had a heart attack. Her face was a horrible gray color. I went next door to get my friend, and when we got back, we saw a black arrow in her head. There was hardly any

blood at all. Just a tiny drop. There were bits of makeup scattered all around her, and she was still holding her lipstick. This horrendous sight and discovery were so unusual for clearly not just Ali but the police that soon attended the scene. The woman was found wearing a green suit, as though dressed for work, and it was clear that she'd been on her way out to a professional job, as she'd been applying lipstick at the time of the attack, and her briefcase was strewn all around

the landing of the flats. The thing that immediately struck everyone about this scene was the large arrow that was lodged in the woman's head. This victim had been attacked quickly and violently with what was later found to be a crossbow. This was an unusual and concerning murder and

quickly became a large investigation. The first step in this investigation was figuring out who this woman was, and it didn't take long to discover that it was thirty six year old Diana Moore, who lived at the nearby flat at Stanley Court. They found out what they could about Diana and her life, and soon realized she was what would be described as an unlikely victim of such a crime. She was a reliable woman who had her own means to support herself and had no affiliations with anything illegal

as far as the police were able to tell. In fact, Diana was so well thought of in her job that on that morning her colleagues had quickly become worried when she hadn't arrived at work at the usual time. The scene itself indicated that Diana had been attacked upon leaving her flat, the lipstick still in her hands, suggesting that she had been either applying it or about to apply it on her way out. This also suggested to police that she had been no way expecting the attack, and

that she had been ambushed by her attack her. It was evident from her body at the scene that she had been shot in the back of the head with a six inch crossbow bolt. A post mortem would later establish that the bolt had severed her spinal card, and that Diana would have died instantly following the attack. This killing was so unusual that police were unsure from the outset of the motive or of how it had been

carried out. Diana's family and friends soon became aware of what had happened, and nobody could understand why such an awful thing had happened to her. Everyone knew how kind and thoughtful Diana was and could not think of anyone that would want to hurt her, especially in such a manner. Both Diana's parents and her colleagues who worked with her expressed their upset and horror very quickly after her death.

Diana had been due to give a speech about the innovative work she had been doing for the Industrial Society, and her colleagues all attended the meet where they paid tribute. Director of the Society, Alistair Graham stated, we're meeting under a very great shadow. The untimely, brutal and appalling death of our colleague is with us. He added, when we daily read of the violence which is around us, we

never expect it to come so close. He also said that Diana was well respected and would not have wanted it to be a solemn occasion. It was clear from these comments that she was very missed by her colleagues. Diana's father spoke to the press also and the circumstances that Diana had been murdered in. He particularly spoke about the fact that a crossbow had been used as the murder weapon. He stated his anger that it was so readily available to purchase in the UK and that this

was wrong. He said that as an eye surgeon he understood the injuries that could be sustained and how dangerous they really were. He stated they should only be available to clubs on a strictly controlled basis. It seems the criminal element in our society can go along and buy

a crossbow over the counter. That is palpably wrong. The Crossbow Act of nineteen eighty seven had come into force the previous year, and this act made it illegal to possess a crossbow under the age of seventeen without adult supervision, or to no English sell one to someone under age. It also made it an offense to possess sufficient parts to make a function in crossbow. Police were able to detain people and search vehicles if they believed that they

had these items, and could confiscate the parts. Anyone found to be in violation of the law could face up to six months in prison and a fine. The law, however, did not apply to any crossbow that had a draw weight of less than one point four kilograms, which is the number of units of force needed to draw a bow to its draw length. The law therefore stated that anyone over the age of seventeen could purchase a crossbow

with no issues or extra checks. It was reported at the time that one hundred thousand crossbows were sold every year in the UK, and that a crossbow bolt can travel at around one hundred and thirty five miles per hour, making it an extremely dangerous weapon. This was Diana's parents concern and something which they quickly expressed. After the murder, Detective Superintendent Malcolm Hackett explained that the crossbow itself was a kind of toy that someone could use for target practice.

It was small, around twelve to fourteen inches across and could have been concealed inside a plastic bag, a holdall, or even someone's coat. This weapon was described as a mini crossbow, and the bolt itself was an aluminium shafted steel tipped It was later confirmed on crime Watch that it was a barn At trident make with an attachment called a seventy five pound Magnum prod. This reportedly made it one of the most powerful crossbows that could be

bought at the time. Detective Superintendent Hackett reported that Diana had been shot at close range in the back of the head, just below the right ear. He confirmed that she had quote no chance, and that she would have been killed instantly. The fact that the crossbow could be hidden in a bag or underneath a coat drew the police's attention, as it implied to the perpetrator could well

have hidden in plain sight. This type of weapon could have been ordered through a mail order advert in a newspaper, and this indicated that it could have been widely available. All of these clues suggested that anyone had the means to be Diana's killer, However, who had the motive. The area around the landing where Diana's body was found was searched thoroughly, and it was noted that while her briefcase

was still there, her handbag was not. Initially, it appeared that the bag and its contents had been stolen during the attack, and that this may have been the motive. However, a few days after the murder, a discovery was made a few hundred yards away from Diana's apartment on a footpath. The contents of her bag were recovered. The handbag itself, however, was not with the contents. There were things like business cards found which identified these contents as belonging to Diana.

Detective Superintendent Hackett stated, we regard this as highly significant because it gives us the direction of the getaway route. This was a notable discovery and was particularly interesting as the ambag itself was still missing. Police spoke extensively to

Diana's family and friends, including her fiancee Michael Stephens. He had initially kept out of the public eye during the beginning of the investigation, but in August he spoke to the press about how devastating Diana's murder was to him. He explained that after the murder, he still went into work in his job as an executive, despite the grief that he was feeling. He stated, I've got a very tough job to do, and I didn't want my colleagues to think that I couldn't do it properly. A chap

has got to survive. Through the police's conversations with those close to Diana, they were informed of some incidents that were possibly related to her murder. In the weeks leading up to her death, Diana had been reportedly been receiving some nuisance phone calls. Diana didn't know who was making these phone calls. And on at least two of these occasions there were just long silences on the other end.

Another strange event that occurred a few weeks before the murder was that Diana's briefcase had been stolen from outside of her flat. This briefcase reportedly had her name and address inside it, as well as other details. This, coupled with the nuisance phone calls, was interesting and suggested that perhaps this had not been a random muggin at all, but that Diana may have been targeted. This theory guided the investigation from that point on. The weapon was the

confusing part. It was not a weapon that a hit man or someone with the intention of killing someone would usually use, as it was not accurate. Its only benefit appeared to be that it was relatively easy to conceal as far as crossbows were concerned. This became a large part of the crimewatch appeal that was produced to try and gain some more information. The weapon was unusual and it was hoped that someone had information about it. The episode aired with all the information that the police had.

This included an interesting line of inquiry about a man that had been seen with a crossbow in the area of Diana's flat. The police had a photofit created and this image was distributed. He was described as being between nineteen to twenty years old, was around five feet eight inches tall, had fair hair and cold, hard eyes. The witness explained that the man had been openly carrying the

crossbow around the area of the flat. This was of course of interest to the investigation and the description of the man did drum up some tips. Shortly after the crime watch appeal, a man phoned Healing police station and explained that he thought he knew the man in the photo. FI The man rang up twice, but on both occasions he hung up before Scotland Yard could arrange an interview with him. They appealed for information and the man to ring up again. They also appealed for anyone who was

in the area at the time to come forward. They wanted to try and establish if Diana's handbag had been taken by the killer, or if he passer by had picked it up while it was left on the path. It's reported during their inquiries they were targeting around five to six suspects and were investigating them thoroughly. During the investigation, Diana's family were coming to terms with her death, and her funeral took place on the fifteenth of September nineteen

eighty eight. Her parents, Sheila and Stafford, asked the Industrial Society if they would administer a bursary in her honor. This bursary would be given out to people who were disadvantaged or unemployed in the area. This, they explained, would have been something that Diana would have wanted. It would be another few months before any more developments occurred in the case. In early December nineteen eighty eight, an announcement of an arrest was made. A woman named Jane Francis

Salverson was arrested and charged with Diana's murder. This woman was not unknown to Diana, and the connection between them would soon become clear. The public would come to realize that Jane Salverson was actually an ex girlfriend of Diana's boyfriend, Michael Stevens. While this in itself was not concerning enough to charge her with murder, the police stated that she had been exhibiting some very strange behaviour in the months leading up to Diana's murder. This, they explained, they heard

about from several people close to Jane Salverson. Reportedly, they spoke to around three hundred people in relation to her connection to the couple. According to articles at the time, these witnesses said that Jane was very jealous of their new relationship and had possibly been stalking and following them both. They heard from friends of hers that Jane had possibly followed the couple on a trip to the theater one evening.

This information, coupled with the fact that Diana had been receiving anonymous phone calls leading up to the murder and her briefcase had been stolen, led police to believe that someone must have been starking her and trying to gain information about her address or her whereabouts. This information made Salverson a person of interest and led up to her arrest.

At the end of December, Salvason was granted bail, and her solicitor, Mister Brian Raymond, stated to the press that a great injustice was being done and that his client should not have been charged with any crime, let alone murder. He also cited new and powerful evidence that she had nothing to do with it. In April nineteen eighty nine, this promise of new and powerful evidence would not be

heard as it became unnecessary. The news emerged that the prosecution had dropped the case against Jane Salverson, citing a lack of evidence to continue with the case in court. Salverson's solicitor, Brian Raymond, spoke to the press shortly after the news broke that his client would not be charged with the murder. He told the press the police only had very thin, circumstantial evidence based on the fact that she was the former girlfriend of Diana Mar's boyfriend Michael Stephens.

While stressing that there was no evidence against his client, he did state that Salverson told him that she had followed the couple, saying, in fact, on her own admission, she did behave badly by following the couple around after her split with Stephens, but she was guilt of nothing

more than being unlucky with love. He wanted to make clear that the reason the case had been dropped was not due to a loophole, but that Salvason was completely innocent of the murder, and that the police investigation was flawed from the beginning and not based on reliable evidence. He explained that the case relied solely on eyewitness testimony from an ice cream seller who told police that they

had seen a man with a crossbow. He said the witness told police that he'd seen a man carrying a crossbow and bolts in Woodfield Road on the very day that Jane Salverson was in a meeting with seven other people. Police issued a photo fit of the man, but the witness then went on to pick miss Salverson out of a lineup of women. It was clear that Jane Salverson was very relieved that the case would not be going to court, and she told the press, I am immensely

relieved that the ordeal is over. I never doubted that my innocence would be proved when all the fact known. There was clearly a lack of evidence in relation to the murder charge. While Jane Salverson admitted to following the couple and being upset with Michael Stephens's new relationship, there were clearly holes in the evidence, and the eyewitness testimony certainly does not seem the most credible. The photo array of just women after the witness had said he saw

a man was a definite standout. I believe that the prosecution's decision not to allow a jury to hear that evidence was the most ethical thing for them to do. However, this would not have made this decision any easier for Diana's family and friends. This meant that Diana's murder was once again unsolved and the case was back at square one.

This would not, however, be the last time that Jane Salverson was in the press, and just three months later, headlines began to appear about her and Diana's ex boyfriend, Michael Stephens. A headline in the Daily Mirror read crossbow victim lover in new peril. The article read that Stevens had moved to a new secret address due to harassment that he had been facing. His yart had been broken into, a window of his home had been smashed, and there had been an intruder in the garden of his new

girlfriend's home. A three page typed letter had been sent to a newspaper. The letter writer new details about where Stephens was now living with a new girlfriend. A quote from the letter was published which read, I have to admit to having a personal act to grind and for

that reason alone wished to remain anonymous. Brian Raymond, Jane Salvason's solicitor, spoke for her, saying that she had nothing to do with what was happening to Michael Stevens and that she too had been receiving anonymous and menacing messages from someone unknown. The connections between Jane Salvason and Michael Stephens, however, continued into nineteen ninety. On the twenty fifth of June nineteen ninety, the home of Michael Stephens in Fulham set

on fire in the early hours of the morning. Luckily, Stephens was out of the country at the time and the home was empty, so no one was injured. The fire appeared suspicious to the police, and under a week after the fire had occurred, police charged Salverston was causing criminal damage with intent to endanger life by fire. In September of nineteen ninety, a charge of theft would also

be added to the other charges. This was reportedly for burglary of Michael stephens yacht and the theft of a diary. She was ordered to stay away from the Isle of Wight where the boat was moored. Just a month later, in October nineteen ninety, it was announced that the Crown Prosecution Service were dropping the arson charges against Salverson due to insufficient evidence in the case. The theft charges, however,

were still going to be tried in court. The court heard that Salverson had been stalking Michael Stephens and photographing him and his new wife on board his yacht. Salverson explained that this photograph was not taken by her, but had been delivered to her home. She stated, as quoted in The Daily Mirror, I thought someone was trying to rub salt in the wound. The prosecution explained that this photograph had been found in a friend's attic in amongst

other items related to her relationship with Stephen's. Reports state that Salverson told the court that she was framed by a mystery man who sold her camera equipment for three hundred pounds. This equipment had actually been stolen from Stephen's yacht in August nineteen eighty nine, and that his notebook had ended up in her possession after their relationship had Endeducution stated that this story of buying the camera equipment was nonsense, something which she denied. The court heard the

evidence presented and the verdict was read. Jane Salverson was acquitted of the theft charges. To this, she reportedly said thank you after these charges were dropped. Her solicitors said about Salverson, she has felt victimized by the police and their incessant involvement in every aspect of her life. It was clear that despite police having some evidence that they believed showed that Salverson had not got over her relationship with Michael Stephens, there was not enough to show that

she had in fact committed any crime against him. The three investigations against Jane Salverson were fraught with issues and lack of evidence, and this ultimately led to none of them going through in coorts or into guilty verdicts. This is something which is necessary in the court system and it should be there to only try people when there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. In these cases, the court and the prosecution could not prove this, and so

acquittal was the only route to go down. These events that followed Diana's murder were not directly linked to it. However, it did give a glimpse into the investigation which had been taking place. All of these lines of inquiry did take up time and resources and did not contribute to any charges or convictions for anyone else. It appeared that there was a real lack of physical evidence or eyewitnesses who could help to direct the inquiry to other suspects.

While Diana's case has been referred to and discussed in relation to other cases, since it still remains unsolved. Diana's case brought up many problems, the biggest one being the discussion around the laws surrounding crossbows. At the time, Stafford Mare, Diana's father, urged the government to do more about access to crossbows and the ease in which people could get their hands on one. The law was not changed as a result of the murder, and since then the debate

has continued. In nineteen ninety eight, these were described as the forgotten lethal weapons, given it was not necessary to register or get a license to own one. When the debate was brought up, Attacks using crossbows were generally described as rare. However, they were always devastating. In twenty eighteen, pregnant Sannah Muhammad was killed by her ex husband after he entered her home and killed her using a crossbow.

Her unborn child luckily survived the attack. Crossbows came into the headlines in twenty twenty one when Jaswant Singh Chaale was arrested for going to Windsor Castle with the plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth with a crossbow. Year a reviewers commissioned into the use of crossbows and whether there needed to be more restrictions put on them. This review was ongoing when on the ninth of July twenty twenty four, reports came in that three people had been murdered in

Bushy in Hertfordshire. Carol, Hannah and Louise Hunt, the wife and daughters of BBC commentator John Hunt, had been killed when a man had entered their home. Hannah and Louise had been killed using a crossbow, while Carol had stab injuries. This devastating murder led to the apprehension of a male suspect. He reportedly has a serious medical condition as a result of a self inflicting injury, and as such has not

been questioned about the murders as of yet. This is still an unfolding story given how recently it occurred, and so there is not much information available. Of course, this male suspect has not been charged with anything as of yet, and therefore until we have more information, cannot comment or

speculate on how or if he has been involved. The importance of this case to the episode is that the use of crossbows is again in the public consciousness and once again MPs have said that a review of the law on this weapon is an urgent priority and needs looking at immediately. This is something that crossbow victims have asked for each time an attack has occurred, and I'm sure that this is something that they would all welcome.

There may well be some movement on changes to this law, and I cannot help thinking about Stafford Mare and his hope that something would be done about this in nineteen eighty eight. Hopefully this may come true for him and some justice for Diana may be done. Diana Marr's murder is a complicated one and one with many issues. The lack of evidence, the complicated investigation, and the long standing

issues surrounding the weapon used. Diana Mare has not had justice and her family has never been able to understand why someone did this to her. I hope that one day this may change and some information may become available. There are many victims discussed in this case, and I hope that in the recent case of Carol Hannah and Louise Hunt, they will also get the justice they deserve

when the investigation in case moves forward. If you know anything about the murder of Diana Moore, then please contact police on one oh one. Thank you for listening to today's episode. And waiting around while I took a long break over the summer. It was much needed. If you'd like to support the podcast further, then you can on Patreon and contribute to the exclusive polls to get extra bonus episodes every month. You can also get access to

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