US, 1978 Cold Case The killer’s DNA remained unidentified for more than 40 years.

Two inseparable girls disappeared on an ordinary autumn afternoon and never returned home. The main suspect remained free in society for more than three decades until forensic science finally revealed the truth behind the tragedy years later. Karen Hathaway was born in December 1976, becoming the middle child of Michelle and Lee Hathaway.

 Her inseparable friend and next-door neighbor, Nicola Fellows, was born a few months later in February 1977 to Barry and Susan Fellows. Although they attended different schools, the two girls developed an extraordinarily strong bond of friendship from their earliest years, strengthened by the fact that they lived in the same housing estate and that their two families were constantly close to one another.

Their daily interactions meant that Karen and Nicola were together practically all the time. According to those who knew them, the two girls had contrasting personalities that complemented each other perfectly. Nicola was described as an outgoing, talkative child full of energy, while Karen displayed a calmer, more thoughtful, and sensitive nature.

Although she also had a playful side and a willingness to embrace adventures. To their relatives, friends, and neighbors, it was almost impossible to imagine one girl without the other nearby. It was rare to see either of them alone. After school, the two would meet every day to play alongside other children from the neighborhood.

They spent much of their free time in public spaces, climbing trees and exploring the surrounding area, enjoying a level of freedom that within that social context was considered completely normal. It is important to note that during the 1980s, it was quite common for parents and guardians to allow their children to roam the streets alone, regardless of their age, without any form of adult supervision.

The two families lived in Moulsecoomb, a neighborhood located in the northeastern part of the city of Brighton, England, a region known for its strong sense of community. There, residents knew one another by name, maintained frequent contact, and it was almost customary for children of different ages to grow up playing together throughout the alleys and shared spaces of the housing estate.

During that period, many families in the neighborhood were facing financial difficulties, and one of the solutions they found to supplement their household income was renting out rooms in their own homes to tenants. This was precisely the arrangement adopted by the Fellows family, who housed a young man in his early 20s, known by the nickname Dougie, who was temporarily living with them.

On Thursday, October 9th, 1986, Nicola, who was 9 years old at the time, returned home from school at around 3:30 p.m. Shortly afterward, someone knocked on the door of her house. When she answered, she found a young couple asking about Dougie’s whereabouts, the tenant who lived there. She already recognized the two of them, as it was common for them to visit him on a regular basis.

They were a man named Russell, accompanied by a 16-year-old girl who was described as his partner. Among the neighbors, there were some rumors circulating about the young woman, suggesting, without any evidence, that she was actually the man’s mistress. These were merely rumors spread among local residents, many of them based solely on assumptions and unsupported gossip.

Since Dougie was not home at that moment, Nicola simply informed them that he was away and ended the brief conversation, causing the couple to leave. Before departing, however, she allegedly made a comment that was considered offensive toward Russell’s companion, implying that she became involved with men who were already in relationships.

At around 5:00 p.m., after that visit had taken place, Nicola put on her roller skates and went out in search of her best friend, Karen, who was also 9 years old and had just returned from school, still wearing her uniform. Before leaving, Nicola changed from her roller skates into sneakers. Both girls knew they could not stay outside for long, as their mothers were preparing dinner and expected them to return before nightfall.

Even so, they took advantage of that brief period to play and walk toward a nearby park located close to the housing estate. Along the way, a police officer spotted the two girls climbing a tree and warned them about the risk of falling and getting injured. They climbed down and continued on their way as usual.

Further ahead, they stopped at a local takeaway shop, where they met another 16-year-old girl from the community who decided to accompany them for part of their journey home. By that point, it was already approaching 6:00 p.m. And since it was early October, the days were becoming shorter, meaning darkness was beginning to set in.

For reasons that remain unclear, the 16-year-old girl did not continue the entire route back to the housing estate with them, leaving Karen and Nicola alone at a certain point along the way. As the hours passed, the girls failed to return at the agreed time. At first, their families assumed they had simply lost track of time, but their absence became more concerning when they realized the two girls had also failed to return in time to watch a television program they followed religiously every week.

Once they noticed that the delay had gone far beyond what was normal, the parents began searching nearby houses and speaking with other residents, trying to find out whether the girls had decided to play somewhere else. No one, however, knew where they were. Quickly, local residents mobilized to help with the search, walking through the streets with flashlights, calling out the girls’ names, and checking parks, vacant lots, and any place where they might have been.

At around 8:30 p.m., with still no sign of the children, the police were officially notified. That same night, investigators began the initial procedures. They collected statements from the families, gathered information about the places the girls frequented, recorded details about the clothes they were wearing, and mapped out the routes they usually took.

The authorities were fully aware that the first few hours would be crucial. In addition to the inherent risks of a possible disappearance, there was also concern about the drop in temperature overnight. As if the girls were lost outdoors, they could suffer serious consequences from the cold. The search operation quickly expanded, involving around 200 police officers, including reinforcements brought in from other areas.

Teams searched entire neighborhoods, went door-to-door, interviewed residents, and examined various locations throughout the region. A helicopter was also deployed to provide aerial support for the search. Despite the large number of personnel involved, no concrete leads emerged during that first night. Meanwhile, the family continued searching on their own.

 Nicola’s mother walked long stretches along the Brighton coastline, inspecting boats and beach houses in the hope of finding some sign of her daughter. The following morning, she remained on the beach, desperately calling out her name. On the afternoon of the following day, at around 4:00 p.m.

, police officer Paul Smith was conducting searches near a wooded area known as Wild Park, one of the locations the two girls had passed through the day before. During this search, he was approached by a man walking a dog, who explained that the animal had been trained for tracking and offered to assist with the search efforts. The officer thanked him for the offer, but chose to decline, as he did not know the individual and preferred to follow official procedures, which already involved specialized search teams.

During this brief conversation, the man mentioned that he had already taken part in the search efforts throughout the day, but intended to leave because he was tired. The officer encouraged him to continue assisting, emphasizing that any form of help could make a difference. It was at that moment that the man made a comment that was considered unusual.

He asked whether he could be arrested if he found the girls already dead. The question struck the officer as odd, but before he could respond, a scream interrupted the scene. Two young men who were near a bushy area inside the park began calling for help, claiming that they had found Nicola and Karen.

 As police officers and volunteers rushed toward the indicated location, it became clear from the reactions of those arriving at the scene that the discovery was not the hopeful outcome everyone had been wishing for. Curiously, the man walking the dog immediately ran toward the area, arriving even before the officer himself. Because of this, the officer instructed everyone not to touch or approach the site in order to preserve the area for forensic examination and prevent any contamination of evidence.

It was this same officer who was among the first to reach the exact location where he found the bodies of Karen and Nicola hidden among the vegetation. The two girls were lying on what appeared to be an improvised shelter made of branches and foliage. Their positions immediately drew the investigators’ attention.

 Nicola was lying on her back with one leg slightly bent, while Karen was face down with one arm positioned alongside her body. At first glance, both appeared to simply be resting motionless. However, it quickly became clear that there were no signs of life. The confirmation of the tragedy caused widespread shock among everyone present.

Later that same day, the families were called in to formally identify the bodies, which were then taken for forensic examination. The reports concluded that the deaths of both girls had been caused by compression of the neck. The examinations also revealed signs of sexual violence, which further reinforced in the investigators’ view the extreme severity of the crime that had been committed.

The incident deeply affected the city of Brighton. The two girls were widely known within the community, a neighborhood where residents were accustomed to living in what was considered a safe and peaceful environment. The news affected not only the families directly involved, but also neighbors, friends, and even people who had never personally known the victims.

Many struggled to accept that such a serious crime could have taken place in a community where nearly everyone knew one another. Due to the ongoing investigations and the need to preserve forensic evidence, the bodies remained in police custody for an extended period, meaning that the funeral could only take place several weeks later.

The two girls, who had grown up practically as sisters, were given a joint farewell. The identical coffins were carried by their own family members, and both were buried side by side, sharing the same grave and memorial. From the very first days, the investigation progressed at an intense pace under enormous pressure to identify the perpetrator as quickly as possible, both so that justice could be served and so that the community’s sense of safety could be restored.

More than 2,000 investigative actions were carried out, including interviews, verification of information provided by the public, analysis of potential witnesses, and checks on individuals who might in some way have had a connection to the crime. As new evidence was gathered, investigators were gradually able to narrow down the list of suspects until one name began to stand out more prominently.

Russell Bishop, a local resident who was 20 years old at the time, was born and raised in Brighton and was the youngest of five siblings. At the time, he worked as a roofer and took on occasional jobs, mainly involving vehicle repairs, while living just a few minutes drive from Moulsecoomb. He lived with his partner, Jennifer Johnson, with whom he had a son.

Physically, he was described as a short man, measuring approximately 1.63 m, 5 ft 4 in, tall. According to people who knew him, he showed some insecurity about his appearance, attempting to compensate for it through a sociable and charismatic personality. Reports also indicated that he had experienced difficulties during his school years, partly associated with dyslexia.

The pieces then began to fall into place. Russell was precisely the man who had knocked on Nicola’s front door hours before the A disappearance looking for Dougie, and he was also the individual who had been walking his dog and made that unusual remark to police officer Paul Smith shortly before the bodies were discovered in the park.

Another factor that drew police attention was his background. Even before the case involving Karen and Nicola, Russell was already known to authorities for involvement in property-related offenses such as theft and robbery. Furthermore, while still a teenager, he had been the subject of reports concerning behavior regarded as troubling in relation to younger children.

 The details of those records were never officially disclosed, but their existence became part of the body of information examined by investigators. In light of all these circumstances, the authorities decided to bring him in for questioning. A procedure carried out a few days after the events. During the interview, Russell admitted that he had seen Karen and Nicola on the day they disappeared.

What drew the officers’ attention the most, however, was the level of detail with which he described part of the route taken by the two girls, the places they had visited, and some of the people they had allegedly spoken to throughout the afternoon. Although he justified this knowledge by claiming that he had merely seen them during the day, the amount of detail raised suspicions, suggesting that he may have been observing the girls’ movements for a much longer period than he admitted.

Despite this, at that stage, the police still did not have enough physical evidence to formally charge him. Under the British law in effect at the time, he could only be held for a limited period during questioning, and without additional evidence to justify keeping him in custody, the authorities were forced to release him.

A few days after leaving the police station, Russell took an action that surprised the Fellows family. He appeared at their home claiming that he wanted to convince them that he had no involvement in the case. According to reports, as soon as Nicola’s father opened the door, Russell made what was considered an inappropriate remark, seemingly attempting to make a joke.

 An attitude that was viewed as extremely insensitive given the circumstances. Barry, the girls’ father, immediately reacted by threatening to call the police, but Russell left the property before officers arrived. This was not the only incident that raised questions for the family. Sometime later, a flower arrangement was placed at the shared grave of Karen and Nicola.

When relatives checked the card that accompanied the tribute, they discovered that it had been sent by Russell, the main suspect in the investigation. For both the family and investigators, the series of actions did not appear to be a mere coincidence. He had been one of the first people to arrive at the scene where the bodies were found, made a strange comment about the possibility of being arrested, demonstrated knowledge of details that, at the time, were known only to the police, and had even approached the

victims’ family with an inappropriate remark. By that point, virtually everyone involved had come to believe that he had some form of involvement in the crime. The investigators, therefore, focused their efforts on finding any evidence capable of linking him to the case. It was then that they remembered a blue sweater that had been found on the ground, approximately a 5-to-10-minute walk from the location where Karen and Nicola had been discovered.

The item had already been collected during the initial searches, but at the time it was not considered a possible piece of evidence connected to the crime. Only after the discovery of the bodies did investigators decide to re-examine the garment more carefully, identifying visible stains, reddish marks around the cuffs, and a larger stain on the front of the sweater.

With this in mind, the police went to Russell’s residence carrying the sweater, hoping to confirm whether he recognized it, but he was not at home. The person who answered the door was Jennifer, his partner. Although some sources refer to her as Jennifer Robinson, it has been clarified that the couple was not officially married.

As soon as she saw the item of clothing, she did not even wait for the investigators to ask any questions. She immediately stated that the sweater belonged to Russell. She then explained the origin of the stains, claiming that the reddish marks on the cuffs came from paint he used while working on vehicles and had no connection to the crime.

 Nevertheless, the garment was seized for a more detailed forensic examination. During the analysis, forensic experts identified numerous vegetation spores embedded throughout the fabric. When this material was compared with the vegetation found at the location where the victims had been discovered, a match was established between them.

 The first evidence capable of linking Russell or at least an object belonging to him to the crime scene. Based on this evidence, he was finally arrested on October 31st, 1986, and formally charged in connection with the case involving Karen and Nicola. The news of his arrest shocked the community, as Russell was a familiar figure who was often seen around the neighborhood.

Nicola’s father even mentioned that he had previously played football alongside him. Russell moved among the residents like any other neighbor, which was why no one suspected that he could have been involved in a crime of such a nature. A little over a year passed until in December 1987, Russell was finally brought to trial.

From the very beginning, he denied any involvement in the crime and pleaded not guilty. The prosecution presented the jury with its reconstruction of events, arguing that at some point on the way back after the other teenager had said goodbye to Karen and Nicola, Russell had encountered the two girls and taken them to the wooded area of the park where the crimes were allegedly committed.

A large part of the prosecution’s case, however, centered on the blue blouse. Prosecutors argued that the garment did indeed belong to Russell and that the spores found on it were consistent with the vegetation at the location where the bodies were discovered, thereby establishing a significant link between the suspect and the crime scene.

During the trial, however, Jennifer, who had previously identified the blouse immediately and explained the origin of the stains, completely changed her account of events. In front of the jury, she claimed that she had never seen that item of clothing before and denied that it belonged to Russell. She further stated that part of her original testimony had been incorrectly recorded by the police, suggesting possible alterations in the statements and raising doubts about the way that evidence had been documented.

In addition to this, the defense argued that several pieces of physical evidence, including the blouse itself, had not been properly collected and preserved, which compromised their reliability. After approximately 2 hours of deliberation, the jury announced its verdict. Russell was found not guilty. As he left the courthouse surrounded by journalists, he celebrated the outcome making a point of publicly repeating that he had been acquitted.

Shortly afterward, the police received a report alleging that Nicholas’ father and the tenant Dougie were involved with intimate material related to the girl. Given the Eabadi seriousness of the allegation, authorities were required to investigate. After a full inquiry, it was proven that the accusation was entirely false with no evidence to support it.

 Nevertheless, the mere existence of the investigation was enough for rumors to spread throughout the community causing many people to become suspicious of Nicholas’ father. The rumors grew to such an extent that the family’s home was vandalized with offensive graffiti, forcing them to endure yet another form of suffering while they were still trying to cope with the loss of their daughter.

It was later discovered that the false report had been made by Russell himself. Although he had already been acquitted and was no longer officially considered a suspect, this revelation led several investigators to maintain strong suspicions about him. Even without a conviction, many police officers never concealed their belief that the case still left many unanswered questions.

The victims’ families, meanwhile, never gave up. For years, they continued to push for the investigation to be reopened, but they always received the same response. Without new evidence, there was no way to reopen a case that had already been tried. Dissatisfied with this outcome, family members, friends, and local residents organized demonstrations through the streets of Brighton bringing together hundreds of participants who demanded that the investigation continue and that the person responsible be definitively

identified. Interestingly, Russell himself took part in the demonstrations, joining the marches while claiming that he wanted to see the case solved and seeking justice for Karen and Nicola. In the following years, he frequently gave interviews to newspapers and television networks claiming that he had been the victim of a serious police error and had been wrongfully accused.

Meanwhile, the families remained without answers and without any prospect of a resolution to the case. On February 4th, 1990, a couple was driving through a wooded area in the Brighton region when suddenly a girl appeared stumbling out from behind some bushes. She was visibly frightened, in a state of shock, and had suffered injuries.

 As soon as they saw the scene, the couple stopped the vehicle and the man got out to offer assistance. However, as he approached, the girl immediately backed away, clearly distressed, asking whether he also intended to hurt her. He replied that he did not, assuring her that they were there only to help and that she was safe. The girl was 7-year-old Rachel Watts.

The couple took her to the nearest residence where they were able to call the police and request an ambulance. While waiting for help to arrive, the girl began to describe what had happened. She explained that she had left home on roller skates because her father had given her 1 pound to buy sweets at a local shop.

Since the family had recently moved to the area, she was still unfamiliar with the streets and had become lost. It was then that she saw a man working on a car. Because her own father also worked with vehicles, she felt comfortable approaching him and asking for directions. However, when she did so, the man quickly grabbed her by force, placed her in the trunk of his car, and drove away with her without her knowing where she was being taken.

 Despite being terrified, the girl managed to maintain some control over the situation. The first thing she did was remove her roller skates thinking that an opportunity to escape might arise at some point and that being barefoot would make it easier to run. She then began feeling around inside the trunk for any object that could help her, eventually finding a hammer.

Gathering all the strength she had, she repeatedly struck the inside of the trunk lid in an attempt to escape. In response, the man shouted at her to stop threatening to kill her if she continued making noise. After traveling approximately 22 km, the attacker stopped the vehicle in an isolated area and opened the trunk.

Rachel attempted to flee but was quickly restrained. She was then taken to the back of the car where she suffered a sexual assault and the man also attempted to suffocate her until she lost consciousness. Her last memory was waking up among bushes, feeling severe pain throughout her body and completely disoriented.

Even so, despite her weakened condition, she managed to gather enough strength to leave the area at which point she was spotted and rescued. After receiving medical treatment, Rachel was interviewed by investigators and despite everything she had endured, she was able to provide a highly detailed description of both the attacker and the vehicle used.

The police returned to the scene and found the girl’s roller skates abandoned nearby, presumably left behind by the attacker who had assumed she would not survive. In addition, tire marks were identified in the area where she had been found. Combining this evidence with the detailed statement provided by the victim, the police quickly identified the main suspect.

 Once again, Russell Bishop. When police arrived at his residence to carry out the arrest, they found him in the process of cleaning the trunk of his car. During the forensic examination of the vehicle, investigators discovered several dents on the inside of the trunk, consistent with the blows Rachel had delivered with the hammer.

Russell was then arrested, this time charged with the crimes committed against the girl. Unlike the 1986 investigation, the police now had a much larger amount of physical evidence. Forensic experts found fabric fibers from Rachel’s clothing inside the trunk and identified paint residue on the victim’s roller skates that matched the vehicle’s paintwork.

 In addition, Rachel herself took part in a suspect identification procedure and immediately identified Russell. Faced with this strong body of evidence, the defense adopted a strategy similar to the one used in the first trial. Russell denied any involvement, and his lawyers once again claimed that the police had manipulated or misinterpreted the evidence.

This time, however, the evidence presented by the prosecution proved far more compelling. On December 13th, 1990, after reviewing all the material gathered during the proceedings, the jury found Russell guilty of Rachel’s abduction and the crimes committed against her. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years before he could be considered for parole.

This conviction led much of the community to believe that he was also responsible for what had happened to Karen and Nicola, given the striking similarities between the cases. However, at that time, there was a significant legal obstacle. British law contained the rule against double jeopardy, which prevented a person from being tried again for the same crime after already being acquitted.

Since Russell had been found not guilty in 1987, he could not be brought back before a court for the same case, even though he continued to be regarded as the main suspect. In 2003, however, the legislation was revised, with the change coming into effect in 2005. The new law allowed old cases to be reopened whenever new relevant evidence emerged, particularly as a result of advances in forensic science, meaning that a person who had previously been acquitted could be tried again, provided that new evidence existed that could

potentially alter the outcome of the original trial. With this legal change, a new possibility emerged for Karen and Nicola’s case. Seeking to gather solid evidence to present in court, investigators conducted a full re-examination of the case file. The evidence collected in 1986 was retrieved from storage and subjected to all the forensic technologies available at the time, allowing materials that had previously been inconclusive to provide new information, a process that continued for several years.

 In mid-2016, forensic experts discovered among the preserved evidence adhesive tapes that had been used during the examinations of Karen and Nicola’s bodies. At the time, the tapes had been applied to areas of the victims’ skin in an attempt to collect possible traces of evidence, but the forensic specialists in 1986 did not have the technology required to properly analyze the material, which led them to preserve it instead.

Nearly 30 years after the crime, the tapes were finally examined, allowing a complete genetic profile to be extracted. DNA belonging to Russell Bishop was identified in samples collected from both Karen’s and Nicola’s bodies. At the time of this discovery, he was already serving a sentence for the crime committed against Rachel.

Nevertheless, he was formally arrested again, this time on suspicion of the earlier crime. The new trial began in October 2018, exactly 32 years after the original offense. Once again, Russell pleaded not guilty, but this time investigators had far stronger evidence at their disposal. The prosecution presented the body of evidence that had been gathered, including the results of the DNA analysis.

Furthermore, Jennifer, his former partner, admitted that she had lied during the first trial in 1987 when she stated that she had never seen the blue sweatshirt. According to her, she had altered her original testimony at the time because she had been threatened by Russell himself. On December 10th, 2018, after approximately 2 hours of deliberation, the jury announced its verdict.

 This time, Russell Bishop was found guilty. As a result of the conviction, he received two life sentences in addition to the sentence he was already serving for Rachel’s case. With the court establishing a minimum term of 36 years before any possibility of a review of his prison status. Due to the false statements she had previously provided, Jennifer was ultimately convicted in 2021 of perjury and obstructing justice.

The court took into account the fact that she had been coerced through threats, but determined that her statements had had a direct impact on the outcome of the first trial, resulting in a 6-year prison sentence. According to available records, Russell remained incarcerated for the rest of his life. On January 20th, 2022, at the age of 55, his death was confirmed at a hospital where he had been transferred due to the worsening of a cancer condition, which was reportedly believed to have originated in the intestine and later

spread to the brain. Thus, he died without ever officially admitting responsibility for the crimes he had committed. Even after the final conviction, the case continued to generate significant developments. In April 2024, Sussex police issued a formal apology to the families of Karen and Nicola, acknowledging that there had been significant failures in the handling of the original investigation and admitting that these shortcomings contributed to the case taking decades to be resolved.

 Later that same year, Wild Park, the location where the bodies of the two girls were found, received a permanent memorial in honor of Karen and Nicola. The space was designed with a children’s play area, climbing structures, and recreational facilities intended to reflect the spirit of the two friends. On the ground of the memorial, an inscription was installed in memory of Nicola and Karen with a reference to the year 1986.