The murder of Lisa Jane Hession (12 April 1970 – 8 December 1984) is a notorious British unsolved murder which involved a sexually-motivated attack on a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Leigh, Greater Manchester, while she walked home from a party. On the evening 8 December 1984, Lisa Hession was found strangled to death in an alleyway only 200 yards from her home, with the murder occurring after a spate of sex attacks on women and girls in the area. Despite a reconstruction and appeal on Crimewatch in 2005 and the subsequent isolation of a partial profile of the killer's DNA, the murderer has not been apprehended.
The DNA developments led to local swabbing of men taking place in 2011 and increased hopes that the killer could be caught, with Greater Manchester Police stating that only the naming of an individual by the public to be DNA tested was needed to solve the case. The murder continues to receive a large amount of publicity, and in 2017 a particularly high £50,000 reward was offered by police for information leading to the capture of the killer. This reward remains on offer.
Background
Hession was an attractive, academic schoolgirl who ran cross-country for Leigh Harriers and was a keen gymnast. She lived in Boneywell Road, Leigh, attended Bedford High School, and was a popular, outgoing child. She was raised by her mother Christine and grandmother Eleanor.
In the four months before the murder, three women had been victims of separate, sexually-motivated attacks within a one-mile radius of where Hession would go on to be killed. The third attack had occurred only the night before Hession was murdered.
Murder
On 8 December 1984, Hession's mother let her go to a friend's house party, on the agreement that she had to be home by 10:30pm. The only girl at the event, Hession attended the party at Leigh Road, and left at 10:15 after saying goodbye to her boyfriend. She was then to walk the two mile journey home, and witnesses saw her walk through the town centre on St. Helen's Road and then spotted her walk along Buck Street, which was only about a minute's walk away from her home. She had walked the route home many times and it was well used by locals.
What occurred next is not entirely clear, but an attacker managed to lure or force her into a nearby alleyway between Newlands Road and Rugby Road. Her assailant then attacked her sexually and killed her. She was indecently assaulted. The pathologist later concluded that her death had been due to pressure on her neck, probably due to her t-shirt being tightened around her neck by her attacker. Her clothing had been disturbed, with her skirt pulled up over her waist and her underwear ripped. The conclusion was that the killer probably pulled her t-shirt hard in one hand and used the other to clasp his hand over Hession's mouth. The coroner later observed that he may not have meant to kill Hession.
Hession's mother reported her daughter missing at 10:45pm after she did not return home as expected at 10:30. She went out herself to look for her, actually passing the alleyway where Hession had been attacked three times. Five minutes before midnight, a man out walking with his son discovered Hession's body in a recess in the alleyway, by a garage. She had severe bruising to her lips and to her face.
Investigation
At a press conference for national and regional press three days after the murder, police noted the three previous sexual attacks on women in the area. In the first of these incidents, in August, a woman had been attacked when walking home to Rugby Road, which was behind the very alleyway where Hession was assaulted. The victim in this case had reported that the attacker had come up from behind her, put his hand over her mouth to stop her screams, and threatened to kill her. Threats to kill were also a feature of the two other attacks on women. The offender in these cases was described as about 20 years old, good-looking and wearing jogging gear. The victim of the August attack had managed to escape by calmly talking to the assailant and walking with him for 300 yards before he left her alone and left. She stated that he told her in their conversation about how he "could not get a girlfriend".
Inquiries also determined that a man had been seen watching Hession by witnesses on the Monday and Tuesday of the week she was killed. It was discovered that the man had then followed her home on the Wednesday.