From unsolved mysteries to chilling crimes, Oxford’s history includes tales of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy that continue to fascinate. Here, we delve into two infamous cases and one enduring mystery that still troubles visitors.
The Tragic Tale of Rachel McLean
In 1991, the idyllic village of Ascott-under-Wychwood đź”—, about 20 miles from Oxford, found itself connected to a horrifying crime that shocked both the local community and the nearby student population. Known for its academic prestige and literary detective stories like those of Inspector Morse, Oxford suddenly became the backdrop for a grim reality: the murder of 19-year-old English student Rachel McLean.
Rachel was a bright, promising university student in a relationship with John Tanner, a 22-year-old New Zealand native studying in Nottingham. Their relationship appeared normal, even happy, on the surface. However, what happened during a seemingly ordinary weekend in April 1991 revealed a much darker reality.
Tanner had come to visit Rachel in Oxford. They spent the weekend in her student house; Rachel focused on her studies while Tanner relaxed, watching the FA Cup semi-finals. But beneath this façade of normalcy, tensions simmered. At some point that day, Tanner snapped. Overcome by possessiveness and anger, he strangled Rachel in a fit of rage.
In an attempt to conceal his crime, Tanner hid Rachel’s body beneath the floorboards of her student house. The next morning, he left Oxford and returned to Nottingham, creating a disturbing plan to cover his tracks. He posted a letter to Rachel, as though she were still alive, thanking her for “a wonderful weekend.” Tanner also called her housemate, casually asking if Rachel was home, in an effort to maintain the illusion of her continued presence.
Days passed, and Rachel’s absence became increasingly concerning to her friends and family. The police were finally alerted, but an initial search of the house failed to uncover her hidden body. Tanner, meanwhile, played the role of the grieving boyfriend to perfection. In a televised press conference, he appealed to the public for help, declaring, “In my heart of hearts, I know she is still alive.”
However, Tanner’s behavior did not go unnoticed. His calm and calculated demeanor began to raise suspicions. The case took a decisive turn when Rachel’s body was discovered hidden in the cavity beneath the floorboards of her house. Within hours, Tanner was arrested. Evidence and Rachel’s personal writings revealed the truth behind their relationship. Rachel had grown increasingly uncomfortable with Tanner’s controlling nature and had even written in her diary about him, describing him as “sick, childish—” a heartbreaking testament to her desire to break free.
Faced with the prospect of losing her, Tanner’s possessiveness turned deadly. Convicted of murder, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, Tanner’s time behind bars was surprisingly short; he was released after serving only 12 years. Upon returning to New Zealand, his violent tendencies resurfaced. In 2018, he was imprisoned again for assaulting a partner.
Giles Brindley’s Oxford: Crime, Death and Debauchery offers a fascinating dive into the darker side of Oxford’s storied history. Far removed from its idyllic image of academia and tradition, this book uncovers chilling crimes, mysterious deaths, and scandalous debauchery that have punctuated the city’s past. Brindley’s engaging writing style brings these tales to life, blending meticulous research with a flair for storytelling. From infamous murders to eerie urban legends, the book is as compelling as it is unsettling.
The Tragedy in Didcot: A Troubled Family’s Breaking Point
In May 2015, the quiet Oxfordshire town of Didcot was rocked by a crime so harrowing it left the entire community in shock. Three lives were lost in a single night: 48-year-old Janet Jordan, her partner Philip Howard, 44, and her six-year-old daughter, Derin. The perpetrator? Janet’s son, 21-year-old Jed Allen, a young man whose struggles with inner turmoil and family dysfunction had reached a tragic crescendo.
The chilling events began when Jed, a bodybuilding enthusiast, attacked his half-sister, his mother, and her partner with a hunting knife in their family home. After the killings, he scrawled the words “I’m sorry” in blood on a bedroom wall—a haunting admission of guilt. Jed then fled the scene, leaving his friends and family in horror. A cryptic text message sent to his friends, stating, “I’ve done something bad,” hinted at the tragedy that had unfolded.
Three days later, Jed was found dead in a wooded area near Didcot, having taken his own life. The police investigation closed, but the deeper complexities of the case only began to unravel. Initial media coverage fixated on Jed’s peculiar obsession with the fictional character Wolverine. In one photograph, Jed had posed with steak knives between his fingers, mimicking the Marvel antihero’s iconic claws. While this detail captured headlines, the underlying causes of the tragedy revealed a far more complex and heartbreaking story. In the months leading up to the murders, Jed posted a haunting online video, shouting, “This is a mad house, I can’t take it anymore!”
His relationship with his mother, Janet, was central to his struggles. She had long battled alcoholism and mental health issues, eventually becoming addicted to heroin—a habit that Jed reportedly financed out of frustration and obligation. Philip Howard, Janet’s partner, was also said to be a heroin user. In the weeks before the murders, tensions escalated when Howard was temporarily thrown out of the house, adding to the family’s turmoil.
“Jed’s family life was extremely dysfunctional. There were so many problems weighing on him,” a close friend later revealed. Despite the empathy some expressed for Jed’s circumstances, his actions—ending the lives of his mother, stepfather, and young sister—remained incomprehensible.
This tragedy exposed the devastating impact of untreated mental health issues, substance abuse, and family instability. While the Didcot murders remain one of Oxfordshire’s most disturbing crimes, they also stand as a somber reminder of the importance of support systems and intervention in breaking cycles of dysfunction before they turn fatal.
The Unsolved Shadows of 1931: The Killing of a Widow in Oxford
In August 1931, Oxford was shaken by the gruesome murder of 54-year-old widow Anne Kempson, a crime that still sparks debate and speculation decades later. Kempson was found brutally battered, her throat stabbed with a sharp implement, in what appeared to be a burglary gone awry. Her home had been ransacked, pointing investigators toward robbery as the motive.
As police canvassed the neighborhood for leads, a striking detail emerged from a neighbor, Mrs. Andrews. She recounted a visit from a traveling vacuum cleaner salesman named Henry Seymour đź”— the day before the murder. Seymour, claiming to have lost all his money while swimming, had been offered a place to stay overnight by the Andrews family. The next morning, Mrs. Andrews observed something unusual: Seymour carried a hammer and chisel among his belongings, a detail that would later raise suspicion.
The police launched a nationwide manhunt for Seymour, who had a criminal record and eventually apprehended him in Brighton. Seymour was promptly charged with the murder of Anne Kempson. The trial, held that same year, ended with a guilty verdict, and Seymour was executed at Oxford Prison in December. On the surface, justice appeared to have been served—but was it?
Doubts about Seymour’s guilt emerged almost immediately. The evidence against him was circumstantial at best, with no direct proof linking him to the crime. Some defense witnesses even testified during the trial that they had seen Kempson alive after Seymour had already left the area. Nevertheless, his previous record as a fraudster seemed to cast a long shadow over the case, possibly influencing the jury’s decision.
In later years, writers and criminologists revisited the case, questioning whether Seymour had been wrongfully convicted. Michael Tanner, author of The Oxford Murder, highlighted these inconsistencies, suggesting that Seymour might have been a scapegoat. Could his criminal history have biased the jury and the court, leading them to dismiss exculpatory evidence?
To this day, the true story behind the murder of Anne Kempson remains shrouded in uncertainty. Was Henry Seymour the killer, or was he an innocent man condemned to death by the weight of his past? The answers may be forever lost, leaving this tragic case as one of Oxford’s enduring mysteries.
