Margaret Reynolds (left), Diana Tift (centre) and Christine Darby (right)
Other names
The A34 murders Babes in the Ditch murders The Half-Day murders
Motive
Child sexual abuse Rape[1]
Details
Victims
1 (convicted); 2 (alleged)
Span of crimes
8 September 1965 – 19 August 1967
Country
United Kingdom
Location(s)
Staffordshire, England
Date apprehended
15 November 1968
The Cannock Chase murders (also known as the A34 murders, the Babes in the Ditch murders and the Half-Day murders[2][3]) were the murders of three girls aged between five and seven in Staffordshire, England, between 1965 and 1967.[4] The bodies of all three children were discovered on Cannock Chase, a vast area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire.[5]
Raymond Leslie Morris was arrested for the attempted abduction of an intended fourth victim on 15 November 1968.[6] He was convicted in February 1969 of the 1967 murder of seven-year-old Christine Ann Darby at Stafford Assizes. Although never charged with the murders of the first two victims discovered on Cannock Chase, following Morris's conviction, a police spokesman informed the media all investigators involved in his apprehension remained convinced that all three children had been murdered by Morris,[7][5][8] who is also believed to be responsible for the abduction, sexual assault, and attempted murder of a fifth girl in 1964.[9]
The manhunt to identify and apprehend Morris is reported to be one of the largest initiated to apprehend a child killer in British history.[7][10][11][12] He died of natural causes at HMP Preston on 11 March 2014.[12][13][14]
^Not the Moors Murders ISBN 978-0-863-83473-8 p. 79
^Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Half-Day Killer: Two Children Found Dead". The Canberra Times. 15 January 1966. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
^Cite error: The named reference Frasier was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCartledge, James (8 September 2005). "Child Killer 'Should Rot in Prison'". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
^Not the Moors Murders ISBN 978-0-863-83473-8 p. 171
^ ab"Our Century 1950-1975: Chase Killer Jailed for Life". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. Archived from the original on 23 June 2002. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
^Cite error: The named reference Wilson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Cannock Chase Child Murderer Raymond Morris is Dead". Express & Star. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
^"Yard Nabs Suspect in Child's Murder". The Hartford Courant (1923–1984) – Hartford, Connecticut. 17 November 1968. pp. 19A. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
^Not the Moors Murders ISBN 978-0-863-83473-8 p. 115
^ ab"Murders Left Area Asking: Whose Child Will be Next?". Express & Star. Retrieved 8 September 2009.[permanent dead link]
^Cite error: The named reference All was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Taking Ten With...Bob Warman". Staffordshire County Council. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
and 26 Related for: Cannock Chase murders information
The CannockChasemurders (also known as the A34 murders, the Babes in the Ditch murders and the Half-Day murders) were the murders of three girls aged...
CannockChase (grid reference SK000165), often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England...
The True Story of the Double Initial Murders ISBN 978-0-811-70 Nightmare in Rochester: The Double-Initial Murders ISBN 978-1-790-16809-5 p. 16 Irene Schmidt...
2014) convicted of the CannockChasemurders in the late 1960s, served 45 years in prison. Louise Porton (born 1996) woman who murdered her two children in...
sentences for 1982 murder of Dalston family". BBC News. 17 December 2010. "'Crossbow Cannibal' gets life term for Bradford murders". BBC News. 21 December...
and civil parish in the CannockChase District, in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of CannockChase next to the River Trent;...
Secretary of the RMT (since 2002). Raymond Leslie Morris, 84, murderer (CannockChasemurders). 12 March George Donaldson, 46, singer (Celtic Thunder). Calvin...
began his career with the Metropolitan Police. The hunt for the CannockChasemurderer was led by Bailey, Staffordshire's assistant chief constable at...
nearby Conishead Priory Military Hospital. He was later reburied at CannockChase German Military Cemetery, Staffordshire. His sister Carin von Herff...
Moors, Welsh mountains (including Snowdonia), Shropshire Hills and CannockChase.[citation needed] The name is first recorded as Mowel around 1270 AD...
NES/Famicom She is the cousin of two main characters, Princes of Midenhall and Cannock. Tsarevna Alena of Zamoksva Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen NES...
Retrieved 7 June 2022. "CannockChase". Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015. German article on CannockChase German Military...
protection for renters. She proposed a strategy for London to reach zero murders by 2034, in part by hiring youth workers. She said she supported expansion...
Trust, is a floodplain two miles south of the town centre Brewood CannockCannockChase Creswell Eccleshall Great Haywood Heath Hayes and Wimblebury Hednesford...
century, but ceased to be local seat of government when the enlarged CannockChase District Council was formed in 1974. Despite the objections of a local...
England. It is to the south of Stafford, north of Wolverhampton, west of Cannock, east of Telford and south-east of Newport. The wealthiest establishment...
Garrison) 174 Provost Company (Donnington) 116 Provost Company (Reserves) (Cannock and Manchester) 243 Provost Company (Reserves) (Livingston and Stockton-on-Tees)...
a shot was fired at the entrance to Territorial Army Firing Range, CannockChase, Staffordshire. No injuries. 1991, 7 February: The IRA carried out a...
around 1189, to become a hay or division of the royal forest of Cannock or CannockChase. Levedale, which also had the de Staffords as overlords. At Domesday...
known as Bill Skitt, was a British police officer. Skitt was born in Cannock, Staffordshire, the son of Frederick Albert Skitt and his wife Laura Kathleen...
remarkable sons". June Anne Devaney (1944-1948) – three-year-old victim of murder, which resulted in the first-ever mass fingerprinting operation in history...
Retrieved 26 August 2015. Harris, Stephen (19 August 2015). "Close friend of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence pulls out of the race to be London's next mayor"...
start of their careers. On crime, Berry pledged to reduce the number of murders in the city to zero in ten years by investing in preventative measures...
Global Information