Stay ConnectedFifty years ago, on March 26th 1971, the body of a young man was found in a secluded spot, an island in the River Trent with extremely limited access. He was buried in a kneeling position, naked except for socks and a wedding ring. His hands and ankles had been bound.
So began one of the UK’s most baffling murder mysteries, a grisly crime that has remained unsolved to this day.
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I receive a detailed theory from the ex police colleague of the original investigating officer, Peter Hough - and it seems a good place to pause and reflect as we reach the 50th episode and map out the way forward.
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The Mysterious Case of the Gentleman of Heligoland
https://open.spotify.com/show/5ZdZyq4kWHyRDzdMQ3DZYZ?si=82fe5dce6630471c
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Ken Davies
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We take a closer look into the discovery story and particularly the claim that Garth Hamp-Gopsill was at the Grammar School instructing shooting. We also meet a man who the police believed may have been connected to John Gick's disappearance and learn some things that might prove useful.
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It's time to revisit the original discovery story and go over it with a fine-toothed comb. A process that yields some interesting inconsistencies. And there's some unexpected developments from the Isle of Man.
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I travel to the Isle of Man in search of more information about John Gick and return to speak to someone connected with the case who has a very clear idea of what may have happened to Fred. Oh,.... and by the way, there's something quite important I've been meaning to tell you!
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There's a number of interesting conversations that reveal some new ideas, an eagle eared listener spots a very strange coincidence and there's news of our new website.
Show Notes for Episode 46
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Steve the Transit Camper YouTube Episode
What would you do in John Gick's shoes? - Our investigation in to that thought yields an astonishing potential connection - One, absolutely nobody, saw coming!
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Summer's over, so its back to work on the investigation. There's a few interesting developments to update you on on John Gick, on the Kun family emigration and the first Fred the Head meet up which was such a great success.
John Gick disappears without trace on Saturday 1st February 1969, leaving the scout group he had brought with him from the Isle of Man without its leader. In this episode we track down the second in command on that trip and explore what he remembers about that fateful journey and what he remembers about John Gick and the clues that emerged from the investigation that followed his disappearance.
Episode 42 - Digging Deeper - We take our investigations into the missing scoutmaster to the next level, as we try to establish how the unsolved disappearance of a man in February 1969 could be related to our case.
Our routine investigations pay dividends - When a man emerges from the archives who seems to match Fred - and the more we dig, the more and more intriguing it becomes.
In a long interview, we meet with the man who claims to have been an accessory to Fred's murder, who tells a remarkable tale in his own words.
There's one final question I need to ask Zoe, I spend far more time than I should digging through the archives with interesting results and we receive an offer of some very useful help
Jo has been busy uncovering more about Matthew James Jackson, I'm able to speak to someone who knew Frank Kun very well and there are some intriguing questions raised by listeners.
In our end of year review, we try and marshall all of the salient points we have discovered so far, map out the work ahead of us and, in the process, uncover some new and potential important information about Matthew James Jackson.
1969 - The Cold War is at its height. The clandestine battle of secrets, spies and espionage is raging on both sides of the Iron Curtain. It sounds glamorous, but in reality espionage was a dirty, sordid, small time business. Was Fred's death related to these activities.
My request to the senior levels of the Police service about Isotopic Analysis yields results of an unexpected kind and I get to speak with someone who's been working on the Fred case for far longer than me.
We hear about something that may change everything. A possible link between the body and the killer.
We've got work to do in our continuing investigation into whether there was any connection between Bible John and Fred. That starts with a deep dive into the dentistry and that process generates a new idea that I need to get to the bottom of.
We've been systematically combing through marriages in an ever-widening circle from Burton as part of an ongoing process to capture marriages in around 1969. Those few who we can't trace afterwards populate the worry list. In the meantime Iain has been on the trail of Anthony Hardy in a process that yields unexpected results, bring a completely fascinating new possibility into our thinking.
Welcome to Season 2 - Where we learn more about Fred's dentistry. plan our campaign for the new season and investigate two incidents from the time of the murder that might have a bearing on the case.
I need to understand more about how Czechoslovak refugees found their way to the UK in 1968 and fortunately I find someone who could help me with this, and I get to learn a great deal that could prove very useful in the fullness of time.
In the second half of the podcast, I try to construct a hypothesis of what might have happened. By taking a step back and selecting the key findings over the last year which we believe to be true, I try to formulate a working hypothesis that can form the basis of how we move forward in Season 2.
I receive an offer of help on analysing Fred’s dentistry, the results of which open up a new avenue of investigation. One that links our victim to the broader political upheavals that were happening around the world in in the late 1960s. And a conversation with Zoe Kun adds more intrigue to that possibility. There’s also some interesting news I wanted to share with you.
I’m following the trail to discover more about Mr A, the man at the centre of the story in Episode 23. I manage to find and speak with someone who knew him really, really well. So here was my chance to test the accuracy of the account.
That call proved very interesting, but not only in the way I had imagined. I also learned something else that cast a new light on the case. One that linked to earlier stages of the investigation.
Trying to trace George Robinson, who died in his shack in Stapenhill is proving difficult, very difficult, but we’ve simply got to find him. But in the process of trying to find him, I discover another witness. Someone who can tell me much, much more about one of the other main characters in the story. Mr A – the man at the centre of the murder.
I’m trying to find the identity of the man in the shack, to understand who he was and whether he was involved in the case in any way. That investigation leads us down another fascinating avenue.
I needed to dig deeper and deeper into the story that we had been told, and that involved another conversation with the person who told me the story. That conversation revealed something I hadn’t quite understood…. Exactly when he was told about the murder, and if thats true, it could have major repercussions for the investigation.
We’d heard a compelling account of what had happened – but was it true? - I needed to take a deep dive to investigate the truthfulness of the account. However during that investigation I'd learn something new that cast a completely different light on the case.
When I receive a message from someone who claims to have told the police the real story of what had happened to Fred over 12 months ago, and now wants to tell me, I’m interested. This episode is his story, and it’s fascinating.
Trying to find the identity of the man at the bar, I stumble upon something unforeseen that casts a new light on the early stages of the police investigation that may have fascinating implications.
I finally get to speak to someone I’d been trying to speak to for a few months – and something they say stops me in my tracks. Something that links a living person in 1969 with the body found in 1971.
We receive a second anonymous letter, but are things exactly what they appear to be? We dig deeper into who was living on the Level and at Frank Kun’s old addresses which yields another mystery, and I have a fascinating conversation with someone who worked on Bass’s Meadow in the 1960s, which makes me think more about what might have been going on there.
I try and retrace the car journey to identify exactly where the young man was dropped off. We discover the final pieces of the Mr Czenner story and uncover another address I really need to investigate
In a longer than usual episode, I’m on the track of Matthew James Jackson and with the help of some great detective work from a listener, we are able to inch closer to the truth. And having spoken to one of Zoe’s old school friends, another long conversation with Zoe really intrigues me.
I uncover the reason why the police believed the dentistry to be unusual, and what that tells us about the police investigation and the victim. Developing other lines of enquiry leads me back to Zoe in Australia, who shares even more intriguing memories.
I manage to find the Scenes of Crimes Officer from the time of the discovery of the body, the man who dug the body out of the ground and the first person to see the body since the murderer, and I learn some fascinating new facts. Then, things take an unexpected and intriguing turn.
A new discovery takes me on an unexpected detour, and takes me on the trail of another missing man
I needed to find the exact date of a story that appeared in the Burton Mail, as it could provide vital information. But how was I going to find three consecutive years of newspapers from 50 years ago - and what would they reveal?
I'm on the hunt for a man who vanished from Burton in 1971. But how do you find someone from 50 years ago who no one has been able to track down since?
A very good question leads to the next stage of the investigation, leading to a series of conversations which open up more and more lines of enquiry.
My most promising lead has disappeared at a critical point of the investigation and that means that my quest to find the identity of the body is at risk.
I'm on the trail of Jozsef Czenner, the man who seems to be associated with a series of strange coincidences. How exactly does he fit into the investigation?
Following the leads from the last episode, I get to work on trying to identify Joszi, the man someone had been looking for in early 1969. But then a discovery deep in the archives raises some further questions about what could have possibly happened to Joszi, and just maybe, an identity.
Sometimes, you've just got to follow the evidence wherever it leads you, and this time it led us to somebody with an amazing story to tell.
And one that brings us within touching distance of identifying the victim.
Over the years a number of missing people have emerged as potentially being the victim, and more recently a potential perpetrator has also emerged. We take a deep dive in to these claims and provide an update on the current investigation.
I discover that in 2013, the University of Derby was involved in work to recreate the skull in 3D form, at the same time they ran some tests that gave clear indications on possible nationality of the skull. I interview the project leader, it leads to an idea that, if true, might just bring us very close indeed to exactly who Fred the Head really is.
When we are trying to solve a 50-year-old cold case and I read in the local paper the headline "Man claims to speak to Fred the Head from beyond the grave", that's just too good an opportunity to miss. We interview him and this is that interview. Interesting......
From what we have already discovered, I try and piece together the simplest explanation to the five most basic questions: When?, How?, Who?, Why? and Where?
I'm joined in the process by Andy Hough, former Head of Serious Crimes, and together we take a deep dive into the options.
The process certainly moves things forward in my mind, and just maybe, we make a minor discovery about the date the murder took place.
As news of the discovery of a dead body spreads through Burton like wildfire, the police start their investigations. Some unique aspects of the body give cause for optimism that the identity will soon be solved.
Fifty years ago, on March 26th 1971, the body of a young man was found in a secluded spot, an
island in the River Trent with extremely limited access. He was buried in a kneeling position, naked, except for socks and a wedding ring. His hands and ankles had been bound.
In Episode2, we examine the circumstances of how the body was found by talking to the man who made the gruesome discovery all those years ago.
They say that in the case of a mysterious death, the first 48 hours are critical. If investigators don't make a breakthrough in that time, the chances of it being solved are greatly diminished.
But what if they don't get a breakthrough in the first 48 hours, or the first 48 days. What if they don't get a breakthrough in 48 years?
On March 26th 1971, the body of a young man was found in a secluded spot, an island in the River Trent in the UK with extremely limited access. He was buried in a kneeling position, naked except for socks and a wedding ring. His hands and ankles had been bound.
So began one of the UK’s most baffling murder mysteries, a grisly crime that has remained unsolved to this day. 50 years ago police had no idea who he was, how he died and how he came to be buried. Today, they still don’t.
In the absence of an identification, he was given a name. Because his skull was retained by police, he became known as “Fred the Head”
To mark the 50th anniversary of his discovery, a new podcast series. “The Mysterious Case of Fred the Head” has been released which takes a deep dive into the strange nature of this unsolved crime.
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