Murder of Bernard Oliver

Bernard Michael Oliver (1950 – January 1967) was a British warehouse worker from Muswell Hill, North London. He disappeared on 6 January 1967, and his remains were found ten days later in the village of Tattingstone, Suffolk. His body had been cut into eight pieces and left in two suitcases. For this reason the crime, is sometimes referred to as the Tattingstone Suitcase Murder. The case received widespread media attention, partly because police, unable to identify the body, took the unusual step of releasing a photograph of the victim’s head to the media.

The murder remains unsolved.

On Friday 6 January 1967, Oliver did not return home after spending the evening with friends, and was reported missing by his father the following morning. Several days later, on 16 January, farm worker Fred Burggy discovered human remains in two suitcases left behind a hedge in a field near the village of Tattingstone, Suffolk. It was believed that the murder had occurred around 48 hours before the discovery of the body. Post-mortem tests showed that Oliver had been sexually assaulted and strangled before his body was dismembered. Unable to determine the identity of the victim, police took the unusual step of releasing a photograph of the victim’s head to the media. Oliver’s family contacted the police after seeing the photograph.

The police investigation was initially headed by Detective Superintendent Tom Tarling of East Suffolk Police, before being taken over by Detective Superintendent Harry Tappin of the Metropolitan Police. The location of the murder has never been identified, although police believed that the murder and dismemberment had taken place in Suffolk.

Following the murder, witnesses reported sightings of Oliver in and around the Muswell Hill area in the time between his disappearance and the discovery of his body. In Tattingstone, a witness said she saw “a man, who was middle-aged and wearing a dark trilby and a long trench coat, walking in the direction of Tattingstone on the Harwich road, carrying a suitcase” on the night the suitcases were left.

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Wikipedia