Murder Case of

Leanne Tiernan

By: Madalyn Spoden and Jenna Goeppner

Basic Facts

• Victim: Leanne Tiernan
• 16 year old
• Abducted from the Houghley Gill path, got grabbed from behind, mouth covered, and brought to the man’s house.
• Strangled and killed

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• Disappeared in November 2000.
• Body found in August 2001, at Lindley Woods, in West Yorkshire.
• Buried in a shallow grave.

Basic Facts continued...

• Perpetrator: John Taylor
• Divorced and had kids
• 44 years old at the time
• Hunted and poached animals
• Worked for Royal Mail

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• Charged with Abduction Murder
• Arrested in October 2001.
• Given two life sentences.

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Evidence

1. Dog collar: class, had many similar ones bought
2. Twine: individual, produces only one batch
3. Hairs: individual, used mitochondrial DNA
4. Carpet: individual, had specific dye patterns
5. Bloodstains: individual, belonged to Leanne Tiernan
6. Cable Ties: class, specific to company

Crime Scene Description

• Body found wrapped in a floral duvet cover and buried in a shallow grave.
• Black plastic bag over her head, held in place with a dog collar.
• Scarf and cable tied around her neck.
• Cable ties holding her wrists together.
• Body wrapped with green plastic bin liners, tied with twine.

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Crime Scene Evaluation

• When Leanne had disappeared, more than 1,000 properties were searched, a 3-mile canal was drained and garbage was not collected
• The parents provided emotional appeals and there were several sightings of Tiernan, but none of them lead to her
• Uniformed officers, operational support, dog section, mounted section and underwater search and air support
• Post mortem examination showed she wasn’t in the grave for nine months
• There was no DNA from the murderer left on the body, so police had to follow a different approach
• There was Dog DNA found on Tiernan. Samples were sent to a university in Texas that developed a DNA profiling technique for pedigreed animals

Crime Scene Evaluation

• Police searched for anyone related to the Bramley area
• There was a dog collar around her neck, and police contacted over 100 pet stores
• One store had records of all the purchases and this lead to a man named John Taylor
• Police found out that Taylor was a parcel employee and the cable ties found on Leanne were almost solely made by this company
• Forensic scientists were then appointed to help prove that Leanne was at Taylor’s house
• Pink carpet fiber found on Leanne’s jumper and the same pink carpet fibers were attached to a nail in Taylor’s house
• Leanne’s blood was then found under Taylor’s floorboards
• Found dog skull in garden

Crime Scene Evaluation

• The hair found on Leanne failed DNA tests, so mitochondrial DNA was used to create a DNA profile from the small amounts found inside the hair shaft
• Leanne’s blood was then found under Taylor’s floorboards
• Found dog skull in garden
• 45 year old John Taylor was arrested on October 16th, 2001
• Police blocked off his house and began a search
• Dug up garden and found remains of 28 ferrets and four dogs
• Tan leather collar found was produced by a company in Nottingham that sold their collars by wholesale
• The green bin liners found around Tiernan’s body were found in Taylor’s house

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Crime Scene Evaluation

• Police questioned Taylor’s ex-girlfriends
• They revealed that Taylor had a desire for tying up women
• During the trial, Taylor only admitted to kidnapping Leanne and not killing her
• Decomposition on the body proved that Leanne had not been buried for nine months
• The judge concluded that the body was kept in Taylor’s freezer for some time before disposing of her body in the woods
• On July 8th, 2002, Taylor pleaded guilty to abduction and murder
• Sentenced to two counts of life imprisonment

Additional Information

• First time dog DNA had been used in a British criminal case.
• Largest case West Yorkshire had ever worked.
• When the body was discovered by a man walking his dog, it had been reported that an elderly couple had seen Taylor dispose of the body just a few days earlier

Works Cited page

http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/forensic-cases-murder-leanne-tiernan.html

http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/john-taylor-killer-in-the-woods/crime

http://murderpedia.org/male.T/t/taylor-john.htm