The Unsolved Murder of Patricia Parsons

42-year-old Patricia lived in Friern Barnet, a suburb of London. Patricia was a wealthy lady, owning 3 properties, with her main home said to be worth £500,000 back in 1990. Patricia worked as a masseuse in Camden Town. However, the bulk of her income came from working as a discreet escort, serving clients at her home. Patricia was known to her colleagues as Debbie and to her friends as Lee. At the time of her death, Patricia was divorced but was dating a man named Ozzie. Patricia had loaned Ozzie money to open a restaurant in Harlow. 

On the 23rd of June 1990, Patricia was due to attend Ozzie's restaurant for a party in the evening. At 6 pm Ozzie called Patricia at her home. When she answered the phone, she told him that she was still getting ready, but would be there for the party at 7.30 pm. At 7.30 pm, Patricia was seen driving away from her home, returning approximately 30 minutes later, the police could not determine where Patricia drove to. At 8 pm, Patricia had still not arrived at the party, Ozzie called her again at home, she answered and told him that she had something to tell him but she had to do it in person and would tell him when she got to the party.

At approximately 8.30 pm, Patricia's next-door neighbour heard an argument between a man and a woman coming from Patricia's home. The neighbour went outside to see if he could see anything, but could not. The neighbour said that he saw Patricia get into her white C-reg VW Golf GTi Cabriolet on the passenger side, a male, who the neighbour did not recognise got into the driver's side and the pair drove away. The man was described as being white with fair hair. 

Ozzie called Patricia again at 9.15 pm, but she did not answer the phone. 

The next day, Patricia's car was found near Long Street in the Epping Forest, Essex by some ramblers. Patricia was found dead inside. She had been beaten and shot in the head 3 times with what police think was a crossbow. Police appealed for any witnesses to come forwards that may have seen or heard anything. They believed that Patricia's murder was planned. 

A witness came forwards and told police that she noticed two strange men near Fernhall Lane on the 23rd of June, near where Patricia was found. She told the police that at about 1.30 pm she was on her way to the shops when she saw two men in two separate cars parked on either side of the road, a red one and a green one. When she returned home from shopping approximately 5 hours later, these men were still sitting in their cars. It is possible that these men had been there from 1.30 pm to at least 6.30 pm.

Another witness said that at approximately 5 pm on the 23rd of June, they saw a very nice black car pull onto Patricia's drive. The driver did not get out of the car, he turned around, gave a nod and drove off. The man was described as being black and the car had a distinctive V-shaped aerial.

A notebook that contained Patricia's clients had been taken from her home and has never been found. This book contained the names of over 200 clients, which was said to have included many celebrities, a judge, accountants, barristers and a television presenter. There was a theory that Patricia was going to disclose some of her clients to a newspaper and that this was a murder for hire. 

A year earlier, in 1989, Terry Gooderham and Maxine Arnold were found dead in their Mercedes Benz in Epping Forest. Like Patricia, they had been shot in the head. Their murders have never been solved.

In 2007, thanks to breakthroughs in DNA technology, police arrested and questioned 58-year-old Colin Rosenheim over Patricia's murder. He was questioned for five hours but it is said that he refused to answer any questions. He was released on bail, but no charges were made against him.

There have been no more updates in Patricia's case. As of 2022, Patricia's murder remains unsolved.

Sources and Further Reading

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/13/ukcrime.matthewtaylor

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/net-closes-in-on-crossbow-killer-after-17-years-7201990.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6357189.stm

http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=993&termRef=Terry%20Gooderham