Violet Milsom

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Avon And Somerset (CONSTABULARY)

Offense Location:

Bristol, England

Summary:

Violet Milsom was a 62-year-old grandmother and mother of three who lived alone in a basement flat on Ashley Road in St. Paul's, Bristol, England. She was sexually assaulted, strangled with her own clothing, and mutilated with a utility knife in her basement flat, with the murder occurring between September 30th and October 1st, 1985. Despite 30 years passing, Violet Milsom's murder remains a haunting mystery, and the community and her family continue to seek justice.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

At around 4:45 p.m. on September 30th, 1985, Violet was seen going to the shops near her home and was later known to have withdrawn her £37 pension from the bank. On Tuesday, October 1st, a friend came over to the flat to help Violet with the gardening but instead found the woman dead. Violet Milsom was found dead in her basement flat at 61 Ashley Road, St Paul's, on 1 October 1985, and she had been strangled with a piece of her clothing and her hands had been tied with a pink belt. She had been sexually assaulted and brutally stabbed to death with a five-inch knife, and the killer had cut the ties around her wrist before fleeing the scene. The pink belt used to bind the victim did not match any of her clothing and was believed not to belong to her.

Additional Details:

There was no sign of a break in at the flat, and no neighbours reported hearing any screams or sounds of a disturbance, and while all of the pension money was missing, a small amount of cash was found in a purse in Violet's flat. Police believed that robbery was only a secondary motive and that the primary motive was sexual. DCI Malcolm Hughes, leading the investigation, stated in 1985: "We may be looking for a man who is a thief as well as a sexual pervert. What he did to Mrs Milsom was done deliberately, and not in the heat of the moment". Evidence included a pink dressing gown belt used to restrain her, missing £37 pension money with no signs of break-in, and an old Christmas card signed "Steve" found in her flat. One neighbor told police they had heard some shouting and banging noises on the night the murder took place, and Violet had reported an attempted robbery at her flat on September 3rd when three boys had smashed a window but had run away when spotted. Detectives decided to approach the TV series Crimewatch UK for assistance, and a TV reconstruction was made to re-enact the last few days of Violet's life in an appeal to the wider public for information. Although the investigation is reviewed regularly, no further progress has been made in bringing Violet's killer to justice.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 30, 2026