John Pope was linked to Karen Skipper’s murder at the time

A 59-YEAR-OLD labourer accused of murdering a dog-walker in 1996 had been linked to the crime at the time of the killing, a court heard yesterday.

John Randall Pope denies killing 34-year-old motorcycle enthusiast Karen Skipper by tying her wrists with dogs’ leads and throwing her in the River Ely in Cardiff.

Her dogs, Ellie and Samson, were still standing on the river- bank when her semi-naked body was pulled out of the water by police divers on March 10, 1996, the morning after her disappearance.

A major police investigation was launched, resulting in an e-fit being produced of a man seen in the area around the time Ms Skipper was murdered.

Robin Spencer QC, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court the resemblance to Pope was noted by his colleagues at engineering firm Bearings.

He told the jury of eight men and four women: “Someone cut out the picture from the local newspaper and stuck it on the wall, near the clocking-in machine for the upstairs staff, where John Pope worked.

“Someone had written a sarcastic remark like: ‘Bet you can’t guess who this is?’.”

Another workmate, Clifford Randall, became concerned and contacted Crimestoppers.

Police took a witness statement from Pope, who claimed to have spent the evening of March 9, 1996, at home after drinking in a Cardiff pub.

His former wife was also interviewed and told officers Pope would tie her hands behind her back before sex, in a similar way to how Ms Skipper had been restrained.

Mr Spencer said: “The defendant was annoyed that he was questioned by police, and he challenged Clifford Randall at work and accused him of making trouble by giving his name to the police.”

Ms Skipper’s ex-husband Phillip was eventually charged with murder, but found not guilty after a trial the following year. He died of cancer in 2004, aged 48.

Mr Spencer added: “When Phillip Skipper was arrested, Clifford Randall apologised to John Pope.”

Pope’s name was later mentioned during Mr Skipper’s trial, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

A colleague giving evidence to the first trial said he saw John Pope at a bus stop in the Ely area of Cardiff, near the field where Ms Skipper died, on the night of March 9, 1996. Pope had denied being there, Mr Spencer said.

He was not charged until late 2007, when a speck of blood on the inside of Ms Skipper’s jeans was found to match his DNA.

When police arrested him at his home in Cherwell Close, Fairwater, Cardiff, he asked them: “Is this the one that Randall reported me for? This is unbelievable.”

On the opening day of the trial the court was told that, following his 2007 arrest, Pope claimed to have had a “chance encounter” with Ms Skipper three weeks before she was murdered.

He told officers he was walking past a shop when he saw Ms Skipper’s dogs outside and, realising one had a thorn stuck in its paw, had stopped to remove it.

In the process, his own hand was cut and Ms Skipper offered him a tissue to stem the bleeding when she emerged from the shop, Pope said.

Mr Spencer dismissed this explanation for Pope’s blood being on Ms Skipper’s clothing as “patent nonsense”.

The trial, due to last five weeks, was adjourned until Monday.

http://benedict-xvi-news.newslib.com/story/4318-3273640/

Man Gets Life For Murder Of Dog Walker


Breaking News

11:17am UK, Thursday February 19, 2009
A "devious" father-of-four who murdered a dog walker by tying her hands behind her back and throwing her into a river has been jailed for life.

ohn Pope, 60, was convicted yesterday of murdering 34-year-old Karen Skipper, who was found in the River Ely in March 1996.

The labourer, from Fairwater in Cardiff, was only caught after DNA evidence emerged more than a decade after Ms Skipper's half-naked body was found.

Judge Mr Justice Davis at Cardiff Crown Court described Pope as a "devious" man.

"This wasn't simply callous, it seems to me that it was almost sadistic," he said.

Pope was arrested over the death in December 2007 after his DNA matched two spots of blood on Mrs Skipper's clothing.

Her hands were tied behind her back with her dogs' leads before she was thrown into the water to drown, the jury heard during the month-long trial.

There was a one in a billion chance that the blood on Mrs Skipper's jeans came from someone other than Pope, the court was told.

Pope was jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years.

In 1977 Mrs Skipper's estranged husband, Phillip Skipper, stood trial for her murder but was acquitted.

He died of cancer in 2004 at the age of 48.

More follows...

Such a shame her husband died without knowing they got the person who committed this horrible murder. I hope the pig gets all he deserves in prison.

Posted By :Tizz


I agree with this 100%

Thank God for DNA and forensic testing!!

Now this woman's family can rest.

eddie wrote:Thank God for DNA and forensic testing!!

Now this woman's family can rest.

Shame it didnt work for Madeleines DNA.

fruitcake wrote:

eddie wrote:Thank God for DNA and forensic testing!!

Now this woman's family can rest.

Shame it didnt work for Madeleines DNA.

wrong! it worked

but some people didn´t want to work

pm wrote:

fruitcake wrote:

eddie wrote:Thank God for DNA and forensic testing!!

Now this woman's family can rest.

Shame it didnt work for Madeleines DNA.

wrong! it worked

but some people didn´t want to work

yeah i know. I was being sarcy

They lost the hair samples too. And this is supposedly from the best in Britain? yeah right

fruitcake wrote:

pm wrote:

fruitcake wrote:

eddie wrote:Thank God for DNA and forensic testing!!

Now this woman's family can rest.

Shame it didnt work for Madeleines DNA.

wrong! it worked

but some people didn´t want to work

yeah i know. I was being sarcy

They lost the hair samples too. And this is supposedly from the best in Britain? yeah right

imagine that the PT lab lost the hair samples!!!!!!!!!!

pm wrote:

fruitcake wrote:

pm wrote:

fruitcake wrote:

eddie wrote:Thank God for DNA and forensic testing!!

Now this woman's family can rest.

Shame it didnt work for Madeleines DNA.

wrong! it worked

but some people didn´t want to work

yeah i know. I was being sarcy

They lost the hair samples too. And this is supposedly from the best in Britain? yeah right

imagine that the PT lab lost the hair samples!!!!!!!!!!

Its amazing they didnt blame them already. Mind you i've read a few times that Birmingham didnt lose them but thats only the supporters saying it with no proof.

fruitcake wrote:

pm wrote:

fruitcake wrote:

pm wrote:

fruitcake wrote:

eddie wrote:Thank God for DNA and forensic testing!!

Now this woman's family can rest.

Shame it didnt work for Madeleines DNA.

wrong! it worked

but some people didn´t want to work

yeah i know. I was being sarcy

They lost the hair samples too. And this is supposedly from the best in Britain? yeah right

imagine that the PT lab lost the hair samples!!!!!!!!!!

Its amazing they didnt blame them already. Mind you i've read a few times that Birmingham didnt lose them but thats only the supporters saying it with no proof.

PJ asked the samples back to send to another lab

the UK lab said: ooppssss we lost them

this is a fact - is on amaral´s book and i heard it many times in TV