Who killed Valerie Graves?
TUCKED away in the parish magazine between the Women’s Institute reports and details of church services is the only hint that anything has been amiss.
Valerie was found dead in a downstairs room by her sister who was house sitting for friends
A small article confirms that police are beginning to DNA test men in the village of Bosham in West Sussex. It’s a year this month since Valerie Graves, a 55-year-old grandmother, was bludgeoned to death there as she slept. She’d been house-sitting at a £1.6million waterfront property.
In the aftermath of the apparently motiveless killing extra police patrols were organised to reassure the fearful local residents. Every inch of the place was scoured for clues and hundreds of doors were knocked on and the inhabitants questioned by detectives.
Tranquillity has now been restored to this haven on the south coast with its thriving sailing community but beneath the veneer of normality there remains a sense of unease. Despite a breakthrough when a DNA sample was obtained from the murder weapon tests have not yet led to the culprit.
This is already the biggest investigation in the county for more than a decade and has featured on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme. About 5,000 people have been interviewed and the reach of the inquiry has extended across the UK.
She was just a big kid at heart who loved playing with her grandkids. Who would want to hurt anyone so lovely
“Obviously people are concerned there has not been an arrest,” says John Dean, chairman of the parish council, voicing the worries of village residents. Valerie, an artist who was described as a “free spirit” by her relatives, was sleeping in a downstairs room at the back of the five-bedroom house when she was killed.
She had celebrated her birthday there on Christmas Day with family. At the time of the killing a core group remained, including Valerie’s older sister Jan, and her partner Nigel Acres, and her elderly mother Eileen. They were looking after the property while the owners were enjoying a holiday in Costa Rica.
Police believe the murderer may have been watching the house before slipping in through an unlocked door after everyone had retired to bed at about 10pm. Valerie’s body was discovered the next morning when her sister took her a cup of tea but no one had heard any commotion during the night.
It was later revealed that Valerie, who had recently given up her artists’ studio in the Borders of Scotland to return south to care for her frail mother, was ferociously attacked. A single blow would have been sufficient to kill but she was hit dozens of times around the head with a hammer, which was found about 800 yards away in a nearby lane.
So far police have been unable to establish a motive and don’t think that Valerie knew her killer. The private lives of Valerie and her family have been combed. She was separated from Roy Wood, father of her two grown-up children, Tim and Jemima. He is a former rock band roadie and lives in Brighton.
Jemima and Tim at a press conference in January
Valerie, a London Metropolitan University graduate, was devoted to her family and doted on her two grandchildren. Her son Tim, 32, says: “She was just a big kid at heart who loved playing with her grandkids. Who would want to hurt anyone so lovely? I don’t think we will ever get over the shock.
“She is going to miss so much. Her grandchildren growing up, things she wanted to do and all the places she wanted to travel.” Her 35-year-old daughter Jemima says there are times when she forgets her mum is gone and wants to send her text messages.
Nigel Acres says: “We still can’t comprehend how it happened when we were asleep in the house.” One line of inquiry has been an advert on a website for swingers, which features the house. It said the place could be used as a venue for “casual sex” and a “discreet relationship”. The property’s owners Malcolm and Caroline Chamberlain have denied all knowledge of the advert.
Mysteriously, it reportedly featured a photograph of Malcolm naked. His explanation was that someone was “making mischief”. The ingredient of illicit sex has added to the intrigue surrounding the case.
According to villagers the Chamberlain family have now rented out the house, which was put up for sale after the murder but did not attract a buyer. In the 1980s Malcolm, 67, was coach of Kingston Basketball Club in South-west London.
He met Nigel, 60, then a player who is now an architect, and they went on to become firm friends. Detectives have explored the possibility of someone having a grudge against Malcolm, who is a successful businessman working in the leisure industry, and have also considered mistaken identity.
A bungled burglary is another avenue of investigation for detectives who have questioned known criminals living in the area. Through the National Crime Agency detectives have also examined previous attacks, looking for similarities.They have also appealed for professionals working in prisons and mental health services to contact them if they have had dealings with anyone who has talked of using a hammer to cause harm.
Unusually, police have set up a website dedicated solely to the Valerie Graves case. And there’s a £20,000 reward on offer to anyone who helps trap the killer. At the time of the murder Bosham was engulfed by floods and police say there was no reason for anyone to be in the village by chance.
The house where Valerie died, which overlooks the natural inlet of Chichester harbour, is off the beaten track away from the most built-up section of the village. It’s thought the killer has some tie to the area, either through family or work and could have been visiting relatives over Christmas.
It’s certain the murderer’s clothes would have been heavily bloodstained. One villager says: “The police have been to businesses asking about employees who were new to the area. They have also been taking a keen interest in foreign workers who might have had seasonal jobs.”
After months of frustration police announced in October that they had obtained a partial DNA sample from the murder weapon. It was described as a “significant breakthrough” and raised hopes that it would quickly unlock the case.
However, although confirming that the killer is male, it has proved to be another false dawn. The sample is either so small, or degraded after lying in the open, that it cannot be used to compare with five million possible matches on the national DNA database.
But it can be used to eliminate individuals whose DNA is very different, which could help police narrow down the list of suspects. Police have not ruled out DNA testing every one of the 1,200 men living in Bosham but it’s a major exercise.
Unless someone is under arrest, a DNA sample can only be given voluntarily. For now they are focusing on men, from inside and outside the area, who were known to be in the vicinity on the night of the killing.
They also want villagers who have any lingering suspicions about family members, friends, neighbours or colleagues to come forward with this information so that more names can be crossed off the list.
The house in Bosham where Valerie was staying
Next week officers will gather at the Millstream Hotel in Bosham for a case conference to examine the results of the DNA testing and consider their next steps. DNA could yet hold the key. Even if the sample is too small to provide a positive match immediately, advances in technology are being made all the time and the killer will never be able to sleep easily.
As the anniversary of the murder on the night of December 29 draws near, in the village it will bring memories of the tragedy to the surface. Bosham once featured in an episode of TV drama Midsomer Murders but this real-life killing still lacks a neat conclusion.
Elly Scott, 20, who has lived in the village all her life, says: “There has been a lot of gossip and rumours about what happened. It was quite a shock because it’s a small village and they still haven’t found him. Sometimes at night you think about that and it is a little scary.”
Others, including Mike Whittle, 74, who edits the parish magazine, regard it as an isolated incident and feel safe. Revealing some of the scope and doggedness of the police investigation, he says: “They visited me months ago and were focusing particularly on the hammer, which is quite distinctive.
“I know some people in Bosham have been questioned two or three times. My daughter was with us over Christmas and she was quite surprised to get a call from the police after she had returned home to Lincolnshire.
“They are looking for any snippet of information. “Obviously it’s still a talking point in the village and the announcement about the DNA testing created a bit more interest.” This week Sussex police declined to discuss the case in detail but Chief Inspector Justin Burtenshaw says:
“We continue to have a significant number of officers and staff working on the investigation. “This inquiry remains a priority for the force and we are determined to find Valerie’s killer and get justice for her and her family.”