Megan Tooze

Status:

Open

Offense Location:

Llanharry, Wales

Summary:

Megan Tooze, aged 67, was shot and killed alongside her husband Harry at their remote farmhouse in Llanharry, Wales on July 26, 1993. The couple were shot at point-blank range with a 12-bore shotgun in an execution-style killing. The case remains one of Wales' most notorious unsolved murders, though an 86-year-old man was arrested in December 2024 as part of an ongoing forensic review.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On the morning of Monday, July 26, 1993, Harry and Megan Tooze left their farm at Ty ar y Waun to collect their pensions in Llanharry and were seen arriving back at 11:00 AM. Around 1:30 PM, neighbors heard two gunshots but did not consider it unusual given the farm setting. Their best china was found mysteriously laid out on the table in the farmhouse as if they were expecting a guest, and lunch was found cooked but uneaten on the stove. Police believe Harry was the first to be shot, with Megan shot as she tried to escape. Both were blasted at point-blank range at the back of the head from about one meter away. The bodies were covered in a carpet and hidden in a cowshed beneath bales of hay and potato sacks. The couple's daughter, Cheryl, raised the alarm when her regular daily telephone call to her parents went unanswered that evening. When she could not reach them, she contacted their neighbor Owen Hopkins, who discovered the farmhouse door unlocked and the half-prepared lunch. Hopkins called police around midnight. Officers attending the farm discovered the bodies early Tuesday morning, July 27, 1993.

Additional Details:

Jonathan Jones, the boyfriend of the Toozes' daughter Cheryl, was arrested four months after the murders and initially convicted of the killings in 1995. He was convicted largely on the basis of a fingerprint found on a teacup, with prosecutors alleging he killed the couple to obtain Cheryl's £150,000 inheritance as she was an only child. However, Jones' conviction was quashed on appeal just a year later in 1996 after only five minutes of deliberation by three appeal court judges. Jones, a self-employed recruitment consultant at the time, stated he had been in Orpington, Kent on the day of the murders, looking for office space to rent. Cheryl stood by his side throughout his wrongful imprisonment and they later married. The case led the Lynette White murder investigation team to review it in 2003 using advanced forensic techniques, but this investigation was scaled down in 2008 with officers being pulled from the case. South Wales Police commenced a comprehensive forensic review of the case in 2023, working alongside forensic scientist Dr Angela Gallop, focusing on exhibits retained from the crime scene to determine potential for further forensic testing using modern DNA technology. An 86-year-old man was arrested in December 2024 in connection with the murders, but faced no further action in early October 2026. The case remains unsolved and is considered among Wales' most infamous criminal cases.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 04, 2026