The six most puzzling unsolved murders of Liverpool and Merseyside that will chill you to the bone

An unsolved crime or a cold case is a crime that has not yet been solved by the police. It is not currently the subject of a criminal investigation but often new information comes to light in the present day that leads to the re-opening of a cold case.

The main reason this happens is the advancement of technology which was not available to the forces when the original crime was committed. However, even with modern day technlolgy, there are still many unsolved murder cases here in Liverpool that baffle the police.

The murder of Julia Wallace

This unsolved case is 91 years old and still baffles police to this day. The case is known locally as ‘The Locked Room Murder’ and has been heavily debated since 1931.

Julia Wallace, was bludgeoned to death in her home in Anfield. The 60-year-old lived on Wolverton Street with her husband William Herbert Wallace.

Wallace discovered his wife’s body in their home after attending a chess club. It was peculiar because the house was locked and there was no evidence as to who could have committed the crime. Before he found his wife’s body, Wallace received a mysterious phone call from a man he didn’t know asking him to meet.

Despite having a solid alibi Wallace was arrested and charged for the murder of his wife - and sentenced to death by hanging. Luckily for Wallace there was an appeal which meant that he walked away and did not lose his life. But the killer of Julia was never found.

The murder of George Parker

Back in 1944, the body of George Parker was found at the Liverpool docks. He died from multiple head injuries which are thought to have been inflicted by a blunt instrument.

The 65-year-old man lived in Melville Place in Liverpool and worked down at the docks where he was killed. He was seen sleeping in a bunk just hours before he was found dead on April 22, 1944.

His death was seen as a murder but the killer was never found and convicted.

The murder of Charles Greeney

Charles was found dead in his home (62 Edge Lane, Liverpool) on February 2, 1945. The 11-year-old boy was hanging by a rope when a relative discovered him in the kitchen.

Six men were charged with his murder but they were aquitted when it came to light that there had been a robbery on the property, but it could not be linked to the child’s death.

Charles’ official cause of death was rapid asphyxia without evidence of violent struggle. There were several investigations into the child’s death but an outcome was never found.

The murder of Jaw Kay

Jaw Kay was aged 57 when he was stabbed to death in his home at 44, Scotland Road, Liverpool on February 2, 1946.

His body was found 60 hours after the incident in his laundry room. He had been stabbed more than 19 times including in the throat, chest, face and arm.

Police attempted to trace a middle aged man who had been in the laundry room previous to the incident - but the case was never solved.

The murder of Alice Barton

This gruesome murder occured on Saturday, September 24, 1955. Alice Barton was strangled and mutilated before her body was dumped in a wartime pillbox in the Fender Valley area of Woodchurch in Birkenhead.

Not much is known about Alice but she was aged between 50 to 60 and may have been involved in sex work. Her body was found by an 11-year-old boy two to three days after she was killed.

Police never traced a weapon or the killer, despite interviewing more than 20,000 people in relation to the crime.

The murder of Julie Finley

Julie vanished from Liverpool city centre on August 5, 1994. The 23-year-old woman was last seen at Royal Liverpool University Hospital talking to a man believed to be in his 20s or 30s.

Her body was found the next day in a carrot crop field in Rainford, St Helens. Julie’s body was naked when it was discovered and it was determined that she had been strangled.

There have been many appeals to solve the murder over the past few decades but her killer has not been found despite 20 different people having being arrested and questioned in connection to the crime.