Remember this day so well. I was working at the Meccano factory in Binns Road, and it was very foggy. We had to walk home from work. Later we heard about this murder, which had taken place on our route home. Marj THE KNOTTY ASH MURDER.....by Tom Slemen On Wednesday, 20 December 1961, a two-year-old child named David Dutton trembled in absolute traumatised shock as he watched his mother being stabbed fourteen times by a savage killer. As his mum lay dying in a widening pool of blood on the floor of her living room in the Knotty Ash house at Number 14 Thingwall Lane, David’s 22-day-old baby brother cried in his cot nearby. His cries were the last sounds his mother heard on that wintry afternoon. The killer left the semi-detached house and disappeared into one of the densest fogs that had ever enveloped the city. At 6.10 pm, 33-year-old ICI research chemist Brian Dutton came home from work to find the house in darkness. He subsequently found the body of his 27-year-old wife Maureen Ann Dutton lying on the floor of the living room near to the door. Mr Dutton’s son was visibly upset and the baby was hysterical. The police were alerted and were soon investigating what the newspapers would refer to as the Knotty Ash Murder. Chief Superintendent James Morris, head of the CID, led the investigation, and the Deputy Chief Constable of Liverpool, the legendary Herbert Balmer, was also enlisted in the search for the killer. It was learned that upon that fateful day, Mrs Dutton’s mother-in-law had called at the house, and had left at noon. Mrs Dutton had made arrangements with her mother-in-law to mind the baby so she could take little David to see the Christmas crib at Childwall Parish Church. However, at 1.30 pm, Mrs Dutton’s mother-in-law phoned to say she couldn’t come around at the appointed time because the thick fog had delayed traffic. Shortly after the phone call, the killer had called at the Dutton home, and Maureen had admitted this person, as there were no signs of a forced entry. By January 1962, police had amassed 20,000 statements from the public, and had scoured Knotty Ash and Dovecot for the murder weapon, but the murderer of Maureen Ann Dutton was never caught. Can YOU help solve this case? Were you in the area of the murder in 1961 or do you know of anyone who was? Any information received will be treated in confidence. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.317 / Virus Database: 176 - Release Date: 21/01/02