Unsolved: Inside the murder that shocked Cornwall as mum was stabbed in the back

Housewife Linda Bryant desperately fought to fend off the stranger who attacked her. Detectives know that from the stab wounds to her back, neck and chest – some inflicted while Linda struggled on her feet, others after she slumped to the floor.

Those injuries also revealed the contact between Linda, known locally as Lyn, and her killer was prolonged. A tourist found her body at 2.30pm on October 20, 1998, close to a farm gate in Cornwall’s wild, remote Roseland Peninsula.

Like schoolgirl Kate Bushell - who was murdered one year earlier in the nearby West Country - Linda’s dog, the family lurcher Jay, waited at the scene as if standing guard over its owner. It is a gruesome, unsolved crime with a macabre, curious twist. Linda was wearing distinctive, tortoiseshell-rimmed glasses at the time of her death. A meticulous, fingertip search of the scene failed to uncover them – and experts went over that muddy area with a fine-tooth comb.

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Four months later, on February 2, 1999, those glasses were returned to the gateway. Was the killer playing a game of cat-and-mouse with his pursuers?

“The re-appearance of Lyn’s glasses remains a real mystery in this case,” said a police spokesperson. “Why were they put back there? Were they found by somebody and returned to the scene or were they put there by the murderer? Any information on how or why Lyn’s glasses were returned could be vital.”

The discovery of Linda’s body sparked one of the biggest manhunts ever embarked upon by Devon and Cornwall Police, an investigation that cost over £2 million. Officers faced a race against time: They believed the sadistic stalker may have also killed Kate Bushell and feared it was only a matter of time before he struck again.

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In all, 7,844 statements were taken, 6,573 vehicles and their owners traced, 3,144 doors knocked, 1,600 people traced and investigated, 6,000 DNA samples gathered. In the last five years, 450 new enquiries have been made.

The murder was also re-enacted on Crimewatch, and a £20,000 reward was offered.

Unlike Kate’s case, police have a DNA profile of the murderer, the sample discovered in 2016 during a forensic review of the case.

They also have blue polyester cotton fibres – possibly from a sweatshirt – that were retrieved from Linda’s body. They came from the killer’s clothing.

Still justice eludes Linda’s loved ones.

As senior investigating officer Stuart Ellis stated to the BBC in 2018: “It has always been a frustration that someone has been able to get into that rural location, commit such a murder and not be seen or identified by anybody.”

For those who worked – and still work – on the case, “frustration” is an understatement.

That emotion would’ve been fuelled by the in-depth detail of Linda’s movements in the hours before her murder. Few cases have been aided by a clearer picture of what the victim did and when they did it.

We know Linda began the day by cleaning the home of a local couple, then visited her parents.

At 1.05pm, Linda pulled up at a garage in the village of Ruan High Lane – only a stone’s throw from the murder scene, and purchased petrol and groceries.

On the forecourt, something significant occurred. A “scruffy” white van – seen in the area in the days before – pulled up, its driver described as having a big build, sporting an unkempt, grey-flecked beard. The van came to rest at a strange angle, almost blocking Linda’s vehicle, and pulled away as Linda left the premises, as if following her.

Garage workers described the moment as “odd”.

Since Linda’s death, police have traced, and eliminated, 6,700 white vans that matched the description.

The police spokesman said: “Why has this man never come forward despite repeated appeals?”

That is a key question.

From the garage, Linda returned home, watched an episode of Emmerdale with teenage daughter Erin and then, at around 1.30pm, prepared for the afternoon ritual of walking her pet, Jay. She put on a wax jacket, jeans and walking boots to protect herself from the blustery, wet conditions.

The white van driver is not the only individual detectives have attempted to trace.

Several people saw Linda walking the secluded pathway that led to High Lanes Methodist Chapel and one spotted her chatting to a man, aged in his 30s, at around 1.45pm. This was close to the murder scene and was the last time Linda was seen alive. This was highly significant.

Again, despite repeated appeals over the years, the man has failed to come forward.

There is one more sighting, described as “critical” by the force. Between 2.45 and 3pm, a farmer saw a man walking across a field close to the murder. It had no footpath access and was not used by the public.

Was he the same individual Linda was seen chatting to?

Police continue to hunt for the killer.

Last year, detective inspector Rob Smith said: “For 25 years the family of Lyn Bryant have lived with this terrible loss and uncertainty.

“However, time has not diminished our commitment to bring the killer to justice and to give the family some peace.”

Linda’s daughter, Lee Taylor, was only 21 when officers broke the news her mother had been murdered. She is still scarred by the memory of that day.

She is haunted by thoughts of Linda’s last moments. “I think that’s probably the hardest bit that I do try not to think about,” Lee told the BBC in 2018.

“We are just hoping there is somebody out there who had suspicions at the time, but wasn’t able to do anything about it.”

In a tribute to her mother, Lee said: “She was a lovely lady – very popular, friendly and very sociable. She had time for everybody.

“She was really family-orientated. Her children and her husband were the most important things to her and she was really looking forward to having more grandchildren.”

Police are convinced the murderer was either local to the area or had strong local connections.

“Lyn’s walking route took her from the A3708 Tregony to St Mawes main road into a very remote rural area. It is not an area that you would expect someone to just happen upon,” said DI Smith last year.

“It is more likely that someone had a reason to be there, whether through work, family or another connection. For this reason we believe they were local at the time.”

If that is true, then it is inevitable someone in Linda’s own community holds the information that can solve the crime.

Someone must know, or strongly suspect, who did it. They cannot, surely, carry the crippling weight of that secret to their grave.

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