Age: 14
Sex: female
Date: 8 Dec 1984
Place: Bonnywell Road, Leigh
Lisa Hession was strangled near her home on 8 December 1984.
Her body was found strangled about 200 yards from her home in Bonnywell Road, Leigh.
She was found in a garage recess in the alleyway behind Rugby Road.
Her death was said to have been due to asphyxia. The police initially stated that there was no evidence of her having been sexually assaulted, but it was later disclosed that she had. A partial DNA profile was recovered from the scene.
The pathologist said that her cause of death was pressure to the neck that might have been caused by her T-shirt being tightened around her throat. It was thought that her killer had had their hand on her mouth and had pulled her t-shirt with the other hand.
The coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at her inquest, but noted that her killer might not have intended to kill her.
Her skirt was found pulled up around her waist and her underwear was torn.
Her body was found by two men out walking their dog.
Lisa Hession had earlier been to a party in Leigh Road, Leigh, with her boyfriend where she had sex with him, but returned home alone, leaving at about 10.05pm. She was found dead at about 11.55pm. She had agreed with her parents to be back home by 10.30pm.
Her route home took her through the town centre and along St Helens Road where she was last seen at 10.35pm after which she went into Buck Street, not far from her home.
After she failed to return home her mother went out to look for her, passing the alleyway where she was found three times, without noticing her.
Lisa Hession had been about 5ft 4in tall with short dark hair and had been wearing a red party dress under a navy blue reefer-type jacket. The jacket had had a small badge in the lapel that read 'Attack by rats GBH'.
It was noted that in the previous four months that there had been three other sex attacks on young women and it was thought that there might have been a connection. One of the attacks had been the night before Lisa Hession's murder when a man exposed himself to a girl by a canal and then said to her:
However, she managed to run off.
As a result of the previous attacks, the police built up a photofit of a 20-year-old suspect, described as a 'baby-faced' man.
The police stated that whilst it was a coincidence that the events had happened around the same time and that there were two separate men involved in each attack, they noted that it was far more likely that they were the same person.
A police detective said:
The police said that her killer might have persuaded her to go into the alleyway with her or he might have forced her. They also said that there was as much chance that she knew her killer, than she didn't know him. However, the police added that they thought that it had been someone local and that their intentions had been purely sexual.
Two men were arrested at the time, but neither were charged. One of the men has since died.
Witnesses also said that a man had been seen watching Lisa Hession on the Monday and Tuesday before the murder and that on the Wednesday he had followed her home.
It was also suggested that her killer might have been someone that she knew and whom she had rejected before in some way.
Lisa Hession's mother died in 2016.
