Three West Midlands killers whose true victim counts may never be known

Murderers may have killed more victims and hidden their bodies in the West Midlands - but it's feared the monsters have taken their chilling secrets to the grave. The quest for the truth and justice for the victim's loved ones continues.

Convicted killer John Cannan, who died in prison at the age of 70 last week, was the prime suspect in the Suzy Lamplugh police probe. Despite searches at his mum's former house in Sutton Coldfield, estate agent Suzy has never been found.

Evil child killer Brian Field has long been linked to the disappearance of two Solihull schoolboys dubbed the "Milk Carton kids." He died in prison in April. And Walsall child killer Raymond Morris was accused of carrying out several other murders before his death ten years ago.

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John Cannan

Cannan, from Sutton Coldfield, was jailed for life over the 1987 abduction and murder of newlywed Shirley Banks, 29, from Bristol. Her body was found in the Quantock Hills six months later.

It led to police believing he might be the killer of Suzy Lamplugh who was 25 when she disappeared in July 1986. She left her west London offices to meet a mystery client known only as “Mr Kipper” for a flat viewing viewing in Fulham - but was never seen again.

She was later declared dead and presumed murdered. Her body has never been found. According to reports, Cannan was nicknamed "Kipper" during an earlier prison sentence. He bore a striking resemblance to an efit of a man seen with Suzy on the day she went missing.

Police also found a false numberplate on his car - 'SLP 386S' - which officers believe could stand for his victim's name and the year she went missing.

Cannan was questioned in prison in relation to the case, but no charges were ever brought. Police also carried out excavations at Cannan’s mum's former home in Sutton Coldfield in 2018, a former army barracks in Pershore, a field outside the village of Drakes Broughton, in Worcestershire, and woodland in the Quantock Hills, Somerset - but nothing was found.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “HMP Full Sutton prisoner John Cannan died on November 6. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”

Brian Field

Evil Field, from Solihull, kidnapped and sexually assaulted Surrey hitchhiker Roy Tutill in 1968. The 14-year-old's body was found in woodland three days later. He only confessed to killing the schoolboy three decades later when he was stopped for drink-driving in 1999.

The 87-year-old died at HMP Full Sutton, in Yorkshire, in February, the Ministry of Justice confirmed. But Field remains linked to several cases locally.

Patrick Warren and David Spencer went missing from Chelmsley Wood on Boxing Day, 1996. They were reported missing early the following day. Patrick’s red Apollo bike, a prized Christmas gift, was later found at the back of a petrol station. They became known as the 'Milk Carton Kids' after their photos appeared on milk cartons during nationwide appeals.

When the schoolboys disappeared, the police were accused of not taking the case seriously due to the working-class background of the boys. West Midlands Police re-opened the case in 2006. Field was quizzed then, but the violent paedophile denied any involvement in the disappearances.

Mark Billington, 15, went missing from his home in South Yardley on September 1, 1984. Mark had ridden his bike to fly a kite near his Birmingham home. His body was found hanging from a tree more than two months later. He was found by a group of men out hunting for rabbits in a copse off Somers Lane, Meriden - about seven miles from his home - on November 11.

An inquest initially recorded an open verdict in 1998. But police reviewed the case and reclassified it as a murder investigation.

Mark’s murderer has never been caught and his family said previously the killer could have been Field. They begged police to interview Field again in 2021 "before it's too late." They said Field was a "good suspect" as he lived a ten-minute walk from where Mark was last seen. He had also been released from jail months before Mark vanished.

Raymond Morris

The 84-year-old, from Walsall, died from natural causes at HMP Preston in March 2014. But he was notorious for murdering seven-year-old Christine Darby, who went missing in 1967. Her body was later found in Cannock Chase.

Her abduction had followed the disappearance of two other girls. These were Margaret Reynolds, six, from Birmingham, and Diane Tift, five, from Bloxwich.

Each of the victims were abducted, raped and murdered. Their bodies were then buried on the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. But factory worker Morris was only ever charged with Christine's murder.

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