Catherine Bearpark

Catherine Bearpark was found dead on the road near her home on 19 August 1950.

Her death was due to shock and multiple abrasions on most parts of her body.

A friend of Catherine Bearpark said that she and Catherine Bearpark visited a hotel on 18 August 1950 where Catherine Bearpark had four bitter beers after which she said that she put Catherine Bearpark on the bus home from Vicar Lane at 10.30pm

The conductress of the 10.30pm bus to Wetherby said that when Catherine Bearpark got off the bus at St Johns Church on Wetherby Road she stumbled twice but seemed all right, saying that when she last saw her she was standing near the wall and didn't fall.

Her body was later found about 20 yards past the bus stop.

It was heard that two woman that had also been on the bus and had remained on it after Catherine Bearpark alighted near St Johns Church said that they had seen a woman stumble and fall near the church and the police said that they believed that that woman was Catherine Bearpark and appealed for the two women that had been on the bus to come forward but they were not traced.

A police sergeant who examined her body said that he found traces of reddish-brown paint on her clothing, noting that it was not similar to the colour of the paint on the bus.

A doctor that examined her body said that she had suffered from multiple injuries and that they could not have been inflicted by an ordinary fall.

When the coroner summed up at her inquest, he said that Catherine Bearpark might have fallen or stumbled and that a vehicle might have come along and struck her violently although there was no evidence at all of such a vehicle.

He said that as far as the evidence went that the accident was inexplicable and an open verdict was returned.