Jo Yeates / Glenis Carruthers

'Whoever killed our daughter may have murdered Jo Yeates' say family of student found dead in 1974

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:04 AM on 7th January 2011

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• Both strangled, clothed and NOT sexually assaulted
• Officers dredge drains outside Joanna's home
• Police tracing victim's 200 Facebook contacts
• Chris Jefferies expects to be cleared as suspect 'in days'

The family of a woman strangled close to Joanna Yeates' flat in the 1970s today said both victims could have been killed by the same person - because there are such striking similarities between the two cases.
The murder of Glenis Carruthers who died in 1974 aged 20 after leaving a party 350 yards from Joanna's flat has never been solved.
Both women were found without shoes, neither were sexually assaulted and they were attacked at the same time of night.

Same killer? Glenis Carruthers, 20, left, was at a party just 350 yards from Joanna Yeates flat in Clifton, Bristol, on the night she was murdered in January 1974. Detectives in the two unsolved cases are liaising

Glenis and Miss Yeates, 25, do not seem to have struggled, both died at a similar time of the year and were a similar age.
Miss Carruthers was discovered dead outside Bristol zoo on January 19, 1974 after leaving the 21st birthday party of her friend Sandra Hardyman.
Helena Carruthers, the stepmother of murdered Glenis told the Telegraph last night: ‘Glenis was killed more than 30 years ago but the two cases do seem very similar’.

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• Did killer strangle Jo with her own ski sock then take it as a trophy?
• Snow plays havoc with the forensic tests in Joanna Yeates murder investigation

Deidre Newley, 69, the older sister of Glenis also told the paper: ‘We’re aware that the police are looking into the two cases together but it’s just too early to say anything yet. We can only wait and see what they find.
‘It’s impossible for us to speculate on whether the two cases are linked but clearly there are some similarities.’

Search: Police were scouring drains in the streets surrounding Joanna Yeates' flat in Clifton. Around 40 were being checked for clues that might help in the investigation

Similarities: Glenis was at Sandy Hardyman's 21st birthday party at this property just 350 yards from Miss Yeates' flat she shared with boyfriend Greg Reardon, 27

Police are scouring Joanna Yeates’ Facebook contacts for clues in the murder search, it emerged last night after a day search teams spent going through drains close to her property looking for a missing sock which may have been used to strangle her.
An industrial drain cleaner was used to dredge debris before police used sticks to work through the leaves and mud from about 40 drains, as well as searching an open rifle range in the grounds of Clifton College behind the building.
A rifle range at the nearby Clifton College was also looked at as the investigation into the death of the 25-year-old landscape architect who lived with boyfriend Greg Reardon, 27, continued.
Avon and Somerset Police launched a cold case review into the ‘similar’ murder of Glenis 37 years ago last year. Detectives investigating both killings have been analysing the similarities between the two deaths.
Over 16,000 people were interviewed during the Glenis Carruthers murder hunt and 175 police officers were involved in the inquiry.
She left the party in Worcester Crescent, Clifton, close to Joanna’s flat, at around 10.20pm to use a telephone box. There were no other confirmed sightings of her until the body was discovered.
The killer of Miss Carruthers was disturbed by a zoo keeper who described the man as aged in his 20s, around 5ft 10ins tall with brown shoulder length hair.
Remarkably the cousin of 1974 party host Miss Hardyman was a man called Geoffrey Hardyman - who lives above Miss Yeates' rented flat in Canynge Road, Clifton.
The 78-year-old former Clifton College classics master spoke out in the days following the disappearance of Joanna on December 17.

Murder scene: The spot where Miss Carruther was found dead by Bristol zoo. She had been strangled

Tragic Joanna: The landscape architect (second row, far left) is shown here in her sixth form badminton team in 2002 in Southampton, Hants

Mystery: The killer of Glenis was never found - despite more than 16,000 people being interviewed by police

He said: 'I wasn’t very well on the night she went missing and didn’t hear anything. I have heard reports there was a party in the area, but I heard absolutely nothing and I am quite a sensitive sleeper.
'Everyone has been shocked and saddened by what has happened. But I don’t think there’s any particular fear in the building.'
He has also supported Chris Jefferies, Miss Yeates’ landlord and the only person to have been arrested over the murder.
The 65-year-old is currently on police bail and staying at an unknown location. He has told friends in an e-mail that he expects to be cleared ‘within days’ and is considering suing police for wrongful arrest.
Police are increasingly convinced the 25-year-old was killed by someone who knew her and was possibly welcomed into her rented flat in Bristol while her boyfriend was away for the weekend.
There was no sign of a break-in and Miss Yeates had let it be known to friends that she was planning to be alone that weekend for the first time since the couple moved in together last October.
Earlier this week, police placed an advert on Facebook in an attempt to reach as many ­witnesses as possible. Now officers are ­contacting many of the 200 or so people Miss Yeates had listed as ‘friends’ on her Facebook profile.
She had more than 200 friends on Facebook from all sections of her social life including friends from university, the local rowing club, her family home in Hampshire and other connections.
Her body was found without a coat or boots, and with one woollen size-five ski sock ­missing.
In addition, a pizza bought by Miss Yeates on the night of the murder on December 17 is missing. At least one half-empty bottle of cider, also purchased earlier that night, was found in the flat.
Miss Yeates’s body was found on Christmas Day by the roadside near a quarry and a short drive from her home on the other side of the Avon Gorge.
She was last seen on December 17 after leaving a pub where she had been drinking with work colleagues.
Asked about the Facebook link, a spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: ‘This is a complex murder investigation and detectives are looking into many lines of inquiry.
‘It would be inappropriate during a live investigation to go into detail about specific pieces of information we may or may not have been given.’

Probe: The drains were pumped with an industrial cleaner to dredge up debris before police worked through leaves and muds with sticks for murder clues

Miss Yeates was recorded by cameras at the Hophouse pub (pictured) in Clifton, Bristol at 8.44pm on Friday, December 17

Now second witness tells of screams on Jo's street

A second witness has told police they heard screams from the direction of Joanna Yeates’s flat on the night she went missing.
The cries were reported to officers while Miss Yeates was still a missing person, just a few days after she ­disappeared on December 17.
It is believed the witness was walking down Miss Yeates’s road at the time.
A partygoer at a flat across the road from the 25-year-old’s home had already told detectives she heard loud screams – but put it down to festive high jinks.
Both witnesses are believed to have heard the screams around 9pm, less than 15 minutes after Miss Yeates is thought to have returned to her home on ­Canynge Road in Bristol’s affluent Clifton area.

Expecting to be cleared: Chris Jeffries believes he will be exonerated within days over Miss Yeates' murder

Detectives believe the scream could have been Miss Yeates being attacked on her doorstep, which would help them to ­narrow down times on their inquiries.
The first witness was having a cigarette outside while attending a Christmas drinks party in a flat opposite.
She told officers that although she heard a loud, high-pitched scream from the direction of Miss Yeates’s flat, her view was obscured by trees.
The woman did not report the incident until a day after she learnt of Miss Yeates’s disappearance through media coverage. Police have contacted all the two dozen or so guests from the party and have collected DNA samples from the men.
Meanwhile, it emerged last night that Miss Yeates’s landlord expects to be cleared of all involvement in the crime ‘within days’.
Former public schoolmaster Christopher Jefferies, 65, is currently on police bail having been arrested in connection with Miss Yeates’ murder last Thursday.
Since the arrest, police have been searching the building he shared with Miss Yeates and her boyfriend. That lengthy search was said to have finished last night.
Two days after his release on Saturday, Jefferies emailed and spoke on the telephone to Irving Steggles, a close friend from their time at Oxford University 45 years ago, who now works as a Baptist pastor in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Yesterday Mr Steggles, 65, said: ‘He wasn’t upset or emotional, in fact he remained quite calm and rational as we spoke. But it is clear that this has had a devastating impact on his life.
‘Now, apparently, they [police] are just waiting for the forensic evidence to come back. That shouldn’t be too long. When it comes back, Chris is confident he will be cleared.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344957/Joanna-Yeates-Murder-Whoever-killed-daughter-murdered-Jo-say-family-student-dead-1974.html#ixzz1ALc0s9GO