RONALD JEBSON'S HORRIFIC CRIMES AT BABES IN THE WOOD AND EPPING FOREST

In a chilling revelation that spanned over three decades, the dark history of Ronald Jebson, a notorious British child murderer, has finally been laid bare in a court of law. Jebson, born in 1939, met his tragic end at the University Hospital of North Durham in April 2014, but his heinous crimes continue to haunt the memories of the families affected.

Jebson’s criminal career was marked by a series of brutal offenses against children, beginning with his first imprisonment in 1974 for the murder of eight-year-old Rosemary Papper. His violent acts did not stop there; he was also responsible for the deaths of Susan Blatchford, aged 11, and Gary Hanlon, aged 12, whose bodies were discovered in Epping Forest after they mysteriously disappeared from their neighborhood in Enfield, North London, in March 1970.

The tragic events unfolded on the last morning of Susan’s life, when she was teaching her younger niece and nephew how to fly a kite. Later that afternoon, around 4:30 p.m., she visited her best friend, 12-year-old Gary Hanlon, and invited him to join her for an afternoon of play. The two children were last seen walking hand-in-hand along a quiet lane in their North London suburb, their laughter echoing in the peaceful surroundings. However, as evening fell and Gary failed to return home by 8 p.m., his worried parents, Frank and Beryl Hanlon, contacted the police. Simultaneously, Lionel and Muriel Blatchford, Susan’s parents, anxiously awaited her arrival, as it was highly unusual for their daughter and Gary to skip dinner without informing them.

Initially, the local police dismissed the disappearance as a typical case of children playing and not returning home. They advised the parents to wait, confident that the children would reappear. In 1970, Enfield was considered a safe community where children rarely went missing. The night of March 31 was bitterly cold, with temperatures dropping below freezing, and the following day, April 1, brought snowfall. Both children had been wearing light coats, inadequate for the harsh weather conditions, which added to the growing concern.

As days turned into weeks, the police launched an extensive investigation, involving Scotland Yard and a team led by Detective Chief Superintendent Leonard “Nipper” Read, famed for his work on the Kray twins’ case. Over 600 officers interviewed more than 15,000 residents and searched nearly 4,500 homes. Among those questioned was Ronald Jebson, a convicted pedophile, who had spoken to police on two occasions. Despite having an alibi for the night of the children’s disappearance, authorities, eager to pursue promising leads, did not follow up on his statements at the time.

One of the key areas searched was Epping Forest, a vast wilderness about half an hour’s walk from the children’s homes. Despite the extensive search, no evidence was found initially. It wasn’t until June 17, 1970, that a breakthrough occurred when a man walking his Labrador in a wooded area near the forest’s edge was alerted by his dog to something unusual. Investigating the stand for birdwatchers, the man discovered the badly decomposed bodies of Susan and Gary. Their clothes were disheveled, and they lay close together, arms around each other, in a tragic tableau.

The medical examiner examined the remains but was unable to determine the cause of death due to advanced decomposition. The bodies were so badly decomposed that the cause was listed as “unascertainable,” and the coroner speculated that foxes might have torn off Susan’s bra and underclothes. This theory, however, was widely disputed by the victims’ families and many investigators, who believed the children had been murdered. Muriel Blatchford, Susan’s mother, insisted, “The only animal that could remove Susan’s bra, pants and tights is a human animal.” She warned that if the killer was not caught, similar tragedies could recur.

Detective Nipper Read and the families remained unconvinced by the official explanation that the children had simply become lost and succumbed to exposure. The evidence, they argued, pointed to foul play. Despite this, many authorities maintained that the children had died accidentally, a conclusion that Read and the families found unacceptable. The case of Susan and Gary remained unsolved, marking the only murders during Read’s distinguished career at Scotland Yard that he was unable to resolve. It was later revealed that the killer was still active, and it would take another 30 years before the full extent of his crimes was uncovered.

The perpetrator, Ronald Jebson, was a deeply disturbed individual with a long history of sexual offenses against children. His criminal activities dated back at least 15 years before the murders of Susan and Gary. Jebson had only recently been released from prison, having served a two-year sentence for indecently assaulting a six-year-old girl. His troubled childhood included being abandoned by his mother and adopted by the Jebson family, though he later reverted to his birth name, Harper, claiming rejection by his adoptive parents. His military service was brief and marred by medical discharge and desertion.

Jebson’s criminal record was extensive, including 11 prior convictions for sexual offenses, and he was known to be an alcoholic and amphetamine addict. He once admitted to a prison psychiatrist that he was “evil” and feared himself. Despite his violent tendencies, he refused treatment while incarcerated, dismissing it as superficial political posturing.

In early March 1970, shortly after his release, Jebson moved in with an old school friend, Robert Papper, in Hatfield, near Epping Forest. It was during this period that he kidnapped and murdered Gary and Susan. Jebson later boasted to police about his manipulative skills, claiming he could make people feel sorry for him to gain control.

Four days after the children’s murders, Jebson lured an 11-year-old boy from Nottinghamshire into his car, took him into nearby woods, and sexually assaulted him. For this crime, he received a five-year prison sentence. Remarkably, upon his release in 1973, Jebson was taken back into the Papper family home, but he was asked to leave in early 1974. Enraged, he vowed revenge, telling the Pappers, “I’ll get even with both of you,” and shortly thereafter, he carried out his threat.

On June 9, 1974, Jebson abducted Rosemary Papper, the daughter of his former hosts, from school. He bought her candy, then raped her before strangling her with twine. His brutal act was a mirror image of his earlier murders. The following day, he was arrested, confessed to the crime, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 20 years.

Jebson’s sentencing judge described him as “an extremely dangerous man indeed,” emphasizing the horror of his crimes. Despite his incarceration, Jebson’s obsession with revenge persisted. Nearly 20 years into his life sentence, he contacted police claiming to have information about Susan and Gary’s deaths. His story was initially dismissed, but in 1996, detectives exhumed Susan’s body and reopened the case.

Jebson’s confession was chilling. He recounted how he randomly selected his victims after visiting an employment office in Enfield. He described raping Susan in a field, then turning on Gary when he tried to escape. He strangled both children and kept Susan’s tights, bra, and underwear as trophies. Jebson claimed he confessed because he believed he was dying and wanted to clear his conscience, but investigators, including Detective Donnelly, doubted his sincerity.

Detective Donnelly described Jebson as “a fixated, sadistic pedophile,” and believed his confession was motivated more by ego than remorse. Jebson was ultimately sentenced to two life terms in 2000, with authorities emphasizing that he was a dangerous, compulsive offender. The families of Susan and Gary, present in court, expressed their grief and anger, each blaming the stress of their children’s loss for the subsequent deaths of their husbands.

Muriel Blatchford reflected on her own feelings of guilt, recalling, “I was working in the afternoons and I remember being in such a rush that I never got to kiss her goodbye. Can you imagine that? I never got to kiss her goodbye.”

Jebson’s violent past was detailed in a timeline: at age 15, he indecently assaulted a four-year-old girl; in 1968, he was imprisoned for two years; in 1970, he murdered Susan and Gary; in 1974, he murdered Rosemary Papper; and in 1996, he confessed to the earlier murders. His death in April 2014 marked the end of a long, dark chapter in Britain’s criminal history, but the scars left by his crimes remain deeply etched in the memories of those affected.