Doris Shelley

Doris Shelley was attacked during a robbery in her home, Old Mill House in Martlesham, near Woodbridge on 11 February 1993.

She was kicked and punched and hit with a blunt instrument.

Two young men and two teenage girls from Ipswich were interviewed by the police during their investigation, but they were never charged.

Doris Shelley was found by a 86-year-old neighbour in her home cowering in her kitchen on 11 February 1993 and taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital where she died 11 days later on 22 February 1993. She lost consciousness shortly after she was found and never regained consciousness and was unable to tell anyone what had happened. When she was found it was heard that her face and hair were covered in blood making her almost unrecognisable.

The 86-year-old neighbour said, 'I broke in through the lounge window although I later discovered a side door was unlocked, which I imagine was how her killer got in because there was no sign of a break-in. Shelley was on her haunches in the kitchen covered in blood. Her face was black and blue. She was scared stiff when she saw me. I had a job to get near her to do anything'.

The 86-year-old neighbour later said, 'When I saw her I tried to comfort her. But seeing me, a man, just seemed to make it worse and she started shaking. She was in an absolutely terrible state'.

Her post-mortem stated that she had been hit over the head at least once with a blunt instrument and that bruises to her face were consistent with her having been punched or kicked several times and concluded that she had died from a fractured skull.

It was thought that she had been attacked sometime between 2pm on the Wednesday 10 February 1993 and 1pm on the Thursday 11 February 1993 and the police said that what happened in those 23 hours was unknown.

The attack took place about 18 months after she was previously robbed in her home during which about £12,637 worth of property was stolen.

During the attack on 11 February 1993 it was suggested that her attackers had been looking for valuables to take although it was also reported that there were no signs that her home had been searched or that property had been taken. The police said that they did not know whether the 1991 burglary and her murder were connected.

During the 1991 robbery at her home the police said that they had had 70 policemen working on the case and took 397 exhibits which they later reviewed in relation to her murder. During the 1991 robbery Doris Shelley had been locked in her bathroom and had climbed out of the window.

It was heard that following the 1991 burglary at her bungalow that she had rarely left her home and that she relied on a number of people running errands for her.

The police later said, 'It is worth remembering that Mrs Shelley had lived in fear, virtually a prisoner in her own home since she was attacked in the summer of 1991 when her savings were stolen, and it is horrifying to think that her life was brought to an end in such a violent way'.

She was said to have lived alone and to have existed on a mere pension. She was also said to have been a vegetarian.

The police said that they had linked her attack to an assault on a postmistress a year earlier on 10 September 1992 in Elke but noted that the two incidents were not linked forensically. It was also noted that the post office had previously been targeted by robbers four months earlier.

The police also said that they had had reports of a red car, that was possibly a Ford Sierra, having been spotted in the area. The car was seen on Doris Shelley's driveway on the last day that she was seen alive.

The police also released two photofits of two men that had been seen earlier loitering about her home in the days before.

The first man was described as being aged 25 to 30 years of age, about 6ft tall and with collar length wavy brown hair that was growing into dreadlocks. He was said to have been seen on 8, 9 and 10 February 1993.

The second man was said to have been about 40 years old, about 5ft 10in with a slim build and to have had dark brown hair and a fair complexion. He was thought to have been carrying a Halfords bag and was seen near the A12 roundabout underpass.

In March 2018 the police reviewed her murder and said that they  received 'one interesting line of inquiry' but later in April 2019 they reported that the new 'interesting line of inquiry' had been ruled out, stating that it didn't take them any further forward and that there was nothing new to add at that stage.

During the 2018 review the police said that they were reviewing the evidence they had in the light of advances in scientific techniques such as DNA analysis.

Doris Shelley had lived alone in her house following the death of her husband when she was in her 20s and said that she was not going to let it beat her and that she was going to do it without anybody's help. It was noted that she didn't have any family and was helped mainly by her neighbours. The police said that due to her reclusive state it was hard to pin down when she was last seen alive. It was said that following her husband’s death that she had taken to preferring the company of animals to people.

Her 86-year-old neighbour said, 'She wasn’t an easy woman to get to know. In fact she was a most peculiar woman. She was quite suspicious when you spoke to her, and you rarely got a word out of her. The inside of her property was quite unkempt, and you really wouldn’t have chosen it if you were going to break in'.

She was said to have loved animals and lived in her bungalow with her cats. The police noted that she had lived in a chaotic state and that that had not helped them in their investigation as it made getting forensic evidence difficult.

The police said that more than 3,000 people were questioned during the murder investigation.

The police operation into her murder was called Operation Valentine.

It was noted that her home, Old Mill House, was later demolished and a new property later built on the site. The money from the sale of her land was used to set up an animal sanctuary in her memory in the Ukraine. At the sanctuary, a plaque was put up that read, 'In memory of Doris Shelley who devoted her life to the care of animals'.

Doris Shelley was generally known as Shelley.