A DNA breakthrough and a long and complex police investigation has led to the conviction of a man for the manslaughter of a woman 49 years ago.
A jury found John Apelgren, 80 (08.04.43) guilty of killing 22-year-old Eileen Cotter, who was found strangled by a block of garages in Finsbury Park on the afternoon of 1 June 1974.
He will be sentenced on 23 June.
A murder investigation was immediately launched in 1974, but despite lengthy and thorough enquiries, her murderer could not be identified.
As science develops, unsolved cases are subject to periodic review to see if new techniques can assist in identifying those responsible. This process developed DNA from the original exhibits and a DNA hit in 2019 was the breakthrough needed to bring Apelgren to justice.
Detective Chief Inspector Laurence Smith, Specialist Crime, said:
“Eileen tragically died at a young age after being raped and badly beaten, with her body then discarded on the street.
“When my team reviewed the original investigation, we were impressed by how thorough it was. Investigators at the time used every available method to find the suspect, including operations with decoy women. This was a tactic used at the time where female police officers under protection were placed at the scenes of crimes in efforts to draw out predatory men.
“Unfortunately, they did not have the science available to us now and although he should have been in prison decades ago, her killer has now been brought to justice.
“Investigating violence against women and girls is a priority for the Met, and we will relentlessly pursue predatory men, whether a crime took place decades ago or today.”
The key to solving the case was the arrest of Aplegren in February 2019 for a domestic assault. After admitting this offence, his DNA was found to match samples recovered from Eileen’s body decades before.
Eileen, who lived in North London had been a sex worker at the time of her death and various DNA samples had been recovered from her body. Detectives worked closely with forensic scientists to prove that the location of the DNA evidence on Eileen’s body pointed to a timeline of events which meant only Apelgren could have been the killer.
This was complex work and on 22 June 2022, Apelgren was arrested and charged with Eileen’s murder. He was also charged with the indecent assault of another woman in 1972.
He appeared at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 23 June where he was remanded into custody.
The prosecution argued that Apelgren had sex with Eileen before he killed her and then left her partially undressed in a garage courtyard behind Hamilton Park, N5.
In police interview Apelgren said at the time of the murder he was living in Leyton, He denied having been to the Hamilton Park garages, said he did not know or recognise Eileen and claimed he never went to the general Finsbury Park area. He later conceded he did have sex with Eileen but did not kill her.
On Friday, 16 June, Apelgren was found guilty of the manslaughter of Eilieen Cotter and the indecent assault of an 18-year-old woman at his own wedding in 1972. The woman told police about this when she was spoken to during the investigation into Eileen’s death – she had never disclosed it to anyone before then.
