Murder of Janet Brown

In 2015 police announced that they had isolated a DNA sample from the crime scene of the Brown murder. Almost every male from the surrounding area, over 700 people, were tested, with no match found.

Police later said they were concentrating on the bungled burglary theory. The chief investigating officer in 2015, Peter Beirne, stated, "my working hypothesis at the moment is that it was a burglar, or burglars, who weren't particularly proficient. They came across Janet, they had control of her because they handcuffed her, and I think she was bludgeoned to death when she pressed the panic alarm."

An inquest into Jackson's death in 1999 concluded that she was almost certainly killed by an opportunist thief who followed her home after she withdrew £500 from a cashpoint. She had gone to the cashpoint at 9:30 p.m. before driving home, where she was attacked as she unloaded items from her car. Detectives also revealed at this point that they wanted to trace two men who had been seen leaving the area in a dark car that evening.

In 1998 Jackson and Brown's murders were suggested to be linked by Operation Enigma, a nationwide investigation into the unsolved murders of 207 women.

On 11 April 1997, there was a similar murder of a 50-year-old woman 10 miles away in Wooburn Green, and police announced that they were investigating possible links between the cases. The victim was a jewellery dealer named Carolanne Jackson (also known as Carolyne Ann Jackson or Carol Anne Jackson), who ran an antiques business from her home. She had complained at least twice to police about a stalker before she was found dead and tied up in the kitchen of her cottage. She died from asphyxiation and from head injuries, and police thought that she had been beaten to death by a burglar who had tried to get her to give him details of how to get into her safe, where a large amount of jewels were stored. They also revealed that the killer may have waited for Jackson to return from a trip abroad, and followed her into her home she was unloading her car. Jackson had lived alone, and she was also known to be very security-conscious and had her home protected by an alarm system. A few months before her death she had contacted police complaining of a man following her in her car, and had also reported a man standing outside her house, who then banged on the door. She had also made other previous complaints about being followed, and had been burgled the previous year. The lead detective on the case stated "It is my firm suspicion that regrettably Ms Jackson had been targeted by someone who knew what sort of trade she was in. Someone suspected she might have items at her home which would be of value. It is likely they had been hanging around the area waiting for her and, indeed, may have been in the area in earlier days or weeks." Some suggested that, had Jackson been stalked, her murder could have been sexually motivated.

Janet Brown was born in Southampton, an only child. She worked as a research nurse at the Public Health and Primary Care department of Oxford University. Her husband, Grahaem Brown, worked in Switzerland as a senior executive at Ciba-Geigy, a pharmaceuticals company. The couple had three children. The family lived in a remote farmhouse, situated on an 11-acre (4.5 ha) estate in Radnage, Buckinghamshire, valued at £345,000 (1995 prices).

Janet Brown was at home alone on the evening of the 10 April 1995. Her husband was working in Switzerland, her eldest daughter and son were at university and her youngest daughter was staying at the home of a friend. At some point after 2020 GMT, an intruder or intruders entered the house and handcuffed and gagged Brown, and then beat her across the head with a blunt instrument, possibly a crowbar, until dead. Police described the attack as "extremely brutal".

Janet Brown (27 January 1944 – 10 April 1995) was an English nurse who was murdered by an intruder in her house in Radnage, Buckinghamshire in 1995. The case remains unsolved, and the investigation remains open. Links have also been suggested between her murder and that of 50-year-old Carolanne Jackson 10 miles away in Wooburn Green, which occurred in similar circumstances and on almost the exact same day two years later. In 2015 it was announced by police that a DNA profile of Brown's killer had been extracted.

The murderer had tied Jackson's hands and feet and took a Rolex watch from her body, as well as other jewellery. One of the items taken from her wrist was a gold 1930s Cartier bracelet, which has never been recovered. Her gold Rolex watch was worth £2,000 and had been worn by her every day for 20 years. The police were unable to open the house safe to see if the attacker had taken anything from it. The cottage had been ransacked and the contents of the cupboards and drawers were thrown over the floor. The severe wounds on her head had been caused by her being hit by fists and a blunt instrument. The items used to tie her hands and feet had come from her own home.