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Josephine Mary Budworth

Age: 32

Sex: female

Date: 22 Apr 1985

Place: Hindley Walk, Speke, Merseyside

Josephine Mary Budworth and her two children Mark Budworth and Leslie Budworth were found dead following a fire at their home in Hindley Walk, Speke, on Friday 21 February 1986.

It was later found that Josephine Budworth and been strangled although another pathologist disagreed with the findings.

Following the inquest, a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, but no one was charged with murder.

Josephine Budworth's common law husband denied murdering her. He said that he had been out to a local British Legion Club on the day of the fire and later called to see Josephine Budworth and then went out again with his dog and that when he returned he found the aftermath of the fire. He said:

I had been out to the Royal Legion, I only had £4 to spend. When I came home I took the dog out for a walk but he got away when the lead broke and I had to chase after him. Then I came home and the house was blazing. But I tried, I tried three times to get into the house, the firemen had to hold me back. The police are trying to say I just watched the fire, that I had started it, but it's not true. The only person who knows, is the one who did it, why should I kill my children, and Mary?

However, the police said that they had interviewed Josephine Budworth's common law husband along with many other people and that it was natural for them to speak to him, but that at that moment they had no idea what caused the fire.

After the discovery that Josephine Budworth had been strangled, it was thought that the murderer might have been a person known as the Speke Strangler.

However, on 14 November 1986 Josephine Budworth's common law husband was charged with having strangled Josephine Budworth, but not with her murder. However, the charge was later dropped on 7 May 1987.

The decision came after a Home Office pathologist disagreed with the post mortem examination findings.

It was noted that the cause of the fire itself remained a mystery, and that there was never any suggestion that it had been started deliberately or recklessly.

Josephine Budworth had been pregnant at the time of her death.

 


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see newswirral.co.uk

see Liverpool Echo - Friday 21 February 1986

see Liverpool Daily Post - Friday 14 February 1986

see Liverpool Daily Post - Friday 14 November 1986

see Liverpool Echo - Thursday 07 May 1987