Police investigating the linked murders in 1975 of a bunny girl and a teenager have offered a £40,000 reward for information that brings their killer to justice.
Eve Stratford, a 22-year-old who worked at London’s Playboy club, was found with her throat slashed from ear to ear in her Leyton, east London, home on the evening of March 18 1975.
Six months later, 16-year-old schoolgirl Lynne Weedon was brutally attacked and raped in an alleyway near her home in Hounslow, west London, at 11pm on September 3, as she returned from a night out with friends.
She was found abandoned and barely alive at an electricity sub-station the next morning and died a week later.
The murders were linked in July 2006 after a review and advances in technology determined that the same DNA had been found on both victims.
Scotland Yard announced tonight that it is offering a new reward of £40,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the person or people responsible for the killings.
Investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh said: “DNA work is complex and lengthy and we are still following this line of enquiry.
“However, I firmly believe there is someone out there who has information about who carried out these murders.
“It’s inconceivable the killer of Eve and Lynne has kept the perfect secret for 40 years.
“It’s a heavy burden to carry and he must have let details slip over the years – maybe to a partner, a friend, even a cellmate – and I would appeal to anyone with information to contact us.”
Mr McHugh appealed in particular to mental health professionals and prison officers who may have received disclosures from a patient or prisoner.
Eve’s father, her last living relative, has since died without finding out who killed her or why.
Lynne’s parents, both in their 80s, said they are still waiting for answers.
Her mother, Margaret Weedon, described the murder 40 years ago as a “true life sentence” for the family.
She said: “We have missed out on so much; she missed out on life, no relationship or marriage, no career or children or even just travelling the world, all taken from her.
“We are left 40 years on always wondering what it would have been like.
“We are well aware that whoever murdered Lynne also murdered Eve Stratford. That young lady also had her life snubbed out. Her family have died now. Another true life sentence.
“The hurt eases but the pain still sits deep somewhere inside. There are so many questions. So many thoughts. So much heartache.
“I will make a mother’s plea for anyone who can tell us some information about the person who took my daughter and Eve Stratford’s lives to come forward. Please, please give us some sort of closure.”