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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Lucy Thornton

'Did you kill my sister?' Victim's brother wants to quiz jailed child killer

Police say he is one of Britain’s most dangerous predators.

And an experienced judge described jailed child killer John Taylor, 62, as a “sexual sadist who exudes evil”.

The monster is expected to die behind bars for murdering Leanne Tiernan, 16, in 2000 and a string of rapes and other sex attacks over three decades.

But detectives believe he may have killed four other young women in West Yorkshire before they caught him.

The relatives of one want to look Taylor in the eye in prison and ask: “Did you murder our lass?”

Factory worker Deborah Wood’s body was found near the delivery driver’s home in Leeds 23 years ago.

Craig Wood, 44, will write to ask to see jailed predator John Taylor (Ben Lack Photography Ltd)

Like Leanne, the 20-year-old had been stored in a freezer before being dumped.

Her brother Craig Wood, 44, said: “I really believe he killed my sister and I’m going to write to him and ask him to see me. There’s far too many coincidences.

“The police told us she was dumped in a blanket and wrapped in bin bags like his other victim.

“It also said in the coroner’s report that she was kept in cold storage.

“And why would she be in that area? She had no links there and Taylor only lived a short walk away.

“He’s not getting out now so he should admit to this crime. If I saw him I’d say, ‘You’ve had a bad life and it’s time to come clean. You’ve caused so much ­misery for all these years’.

“He needs to let people like me and my mum and our family get some peace while we are still alive.”

An experienced judge labelled John Taylor a "sexual sadist who exudes evil" (PA)

Craig’s mum, Linda Vernon, 74, is also ­desperate for answers and is also ready to visit the killer at Wakefield prison.

She said of Taylor: “I want him to put me out of my misery before I go.

“I’m sure it was him. When I saw his eyes they sent chills through me.

“I want to see him face to face and just ask him. Tell me the truth. This has been 23 years of hurt. I can’t describe the pain.”

Her daughter was last been seen on January 4, 1996, when she met her dad Peter for drinks in Leeds city centre.

Ten days later her charred body was found on an embankment near Burley Park rail station in Leeds – a 12-minute walk from Taylor’s home in Bramley.

Forensic evidence suggested she may have been kept in cold storage for up to ten days – just like Leanne.

Schoolgirl Leanne was snatched by Taylor four years later on her way home from a Christmas shopping trip.

Divorced dad of two Taylor, a keen poacher and animal breeder, strangled her and kept her body in his kitchen freezer for nine months before dumping it in woodland.

Chris Gregg, former head of CID at West Yorkshire Police, worked on the Leanne murder case and believes Taylor had killed before.

He said: “He is one of the most dangerous sexual predators in the prison system. He is one of the most evil predators I have ever had the ­misfortune to come up against.”

Two years after he was jailed for life for Leanne’s murder, Taylor pleaded guilty to two rapes and was given a 30-year term after a police review of unsolved sex crimes.

And last October a judge imposed a full-life tariff on him for another 16 offences – including three of rape – against five victims between 1977 and 1996.

John Taylor is expected to die behind bars for murdering Leanne Tiernan (PA)

They were pinned on him thanks to advances in DNA testing.

The judge told Taylor at Leeds crown court: “You carried out a 20-year campaign of rape and ­assaults fuelled by sadistic desire to inflict pain for sexual gratification.”

Police are now probing the ­monster over the murders of Lindsay Rimer, 13, in 1994, Yvonne Fitt, 33, in 1992 and the suspicious death of Donna Healey, 18, in 1991.

Deborah’s mum Linda still misses the “baby of the family” who had just moved out of her Wakefield home to a flat in Leeds when she vanished.

She had grown up ­sharing a room with her two sisters – Tracey, who died last year of pneumonia aged 47, and Joanne, 49.

Her mum told how she was on holiday in Barcelona when Deborah went missing. She had arranged to meet her to go shopping when she got back.

“When I was away I had this really bad gut feeling. It sent my heart racing, it was weird.

“We were supposed to meet outside the town hall in Morley. I remember it was freezing cold and foggy. I waited for more than three hours but she never turned up.

John Taylor was told in court that he carried out "a 20-year campaign of rape and assaults fuelled by sadistic desire" (Reuters)

“Then a news report came on the television to say they’d found a body on fire at the railway station.

“They said there were only bits of clothes left – red fingerless gloves, boots and a skirt. I knew then.

“Joanne, her sister, had given her the gloves and I’d bought the beige skirt.

“I rang the police. I knew it was our Deborah.”

She told two detectives who arrived at her home: “That’s my lass.” They ­identified Deborah through dental records. Linda recalls a “lady” police officer promising “We’ll find him, don’t worry. But they never did.” Linda says over the years she’s felt ­“forgotten” and ­“abandoned” by the police.

West Yorkshire Police’s Major Investigation Review Team is reviewing the murders of Deborah, Yvonne and Lindsay and the death of Donna.

Detective Superintendent Jim Griffiths said: “We never close a case until it is solved so are examining other historic West Yorkshire murders to see if there are any new lines we can take, any new evidence or any developments in forensic science that could help us bring people to justice.”

Police probe 'sexual sadist's' links to three more deaths

Yvonne Fitt

Yvonne Fitt's body was found yards from where Taylor dumped Leanne Tiernan (Ross Parry)

Yvonne Fitt’s body was found just yards from where Taylor dumped Leanne Tiernan in Lindley Woods in September 1992.

The beauty spot near Otley, West Yorks, is where Taylor had taken former girlfriends and where he went poaching.

Yvonne, a Bradford prostitute, had been stabbed to death eight months before.

Like Leanne, it is believed the 33-year-old single mum was also blindfolded.

Leanne, 16, lived just 1,000 yards from Taylor in Bramley, Leeds. He strangled her with a scarf and plastic ligature in November 2000. Her body was kept in a freezer for nine months before being dumped, wrapped in a floral duvet.

Lindsay Rimmer

The body of Lindsay Rimer was found in a canal (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

Lindsay Rimer, 13, was murdered after leaving her home in Hebden Bridge, West Yorks, to buy cornflakes at her local shop.

Linsday lived about 20 miles from Taylor’s home and her body was found in a canal in April 1995, six months after she vanished. She had been strangled.

Donna Healey

Donna Healey's mummified body was discovered yards from a Leeds police station (PA)

Donna Healey’s mummified body was discovered yards from a Leeds police station and five miles from Taylor’s home in 1991, three years after she vanished.

Donna, 18, from Bradford, disappeared while working as a prostitute. Tests indicated her body had been kept in a freezer for months.

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