Unsolved Leeds murders: Why police believe pensioner Isabelle Gray was killed by bogus tradesmen in her home

It was a ‘meals on wheels’ worker who found Isabelle Gray’s body in the kitchen of the terraced house in Cross Gates, where she lived alone. Reliant on a stairlift and mobility scooter, the 82-year-old had been subjected to a prolonged assault that left her with a fractured cheek and fractured spine.

The discovery of her body in January 1997 marked the start of a murder investigation that would twice feature on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme as those responsible eluded detectives. It also sent shockwaves through the local community and inspired campaigns to raise awareness of bogus callers as police remained convinced that such fraudsters were responsible for killing Miss Gray.

In the latest in our series on unsolved Leeds murders, we revisit the case and the evidence that investigators shared as they sought to bring those responsible to justice.

Miss Gray lived in a Victorian property in Austhorpe Road, opposite Manston Park. The front door to the house was closed but unlocked when the ‘meals on wheels’ worker arrived at around noon on January 29. Sensing something was not right, the woman ventured inside and made a terrible discovery.

An inquest the following year would hear that Miss Gray had been unlawfully killed, almost certainly by bogus tradesmen calling at her door. Those intruders had placed her on a kitchen chair after the attack and left her there to die.

Evidence suggests she had been assaulted in the hallway, dragged into the kitchen and forced to tell the attackers where she kept her money. A handbag was found to be missing and cash had been taken from a chest of drawers in the bedroom.

The pensioner’s keys had been left on the stairs, something which the detective leading the investigation thought could be a quirky habit seen in other break-ins. Detective Superintendent Brian Steele also believed footprints found on the floorboards of Miss Gray’s attic had been made by the killers.

During enquiries, it was reported that two men travelling in a white Transit Van had called at a house in nearby Poplar Avenue two weeks before the murder. They had asked the owner if they wanted their bushes pruning but were not seen in the neighbourhood again.

The sighting took on a particular significance as receipts found at the house suggested Miss Grey had previously been targeted by cowboy builders. It was thought that information about how she paid in cash and was vulnerable had reached those responsible for her murder.

Miss Gray was last seen alive by neighbours at about 1pm on January 27 as she returned home from a trip to nearby shops and parked her mobility scooter. It is believed two men call at the house at about teatime that day, adding to suspicions that she had been targeted by bogus tradesmen.

A reconstruction of that final trip to the shops was staged as part of the appeals by the Crimewatch team. The first in March 1997 led to more than 100 calls to police and at least 50 more to the BBC’s studio in Leeds. The second in December that year had a similar response, with another 80 calls from the public.

Speaking on the 20th anniversary in 2017 when a fresh appeal was made, Detective Chief Inspector Jim Dunkerley said: "The murder of Isabelle Gray was a horrendous crime that shocked the community at the time and is still seen as a particularly sickening offence even after all these years.

"Isabelle was a frail and vulnerable pensioner who was subjected to a brutal and prolonged attack by criminals whose only concern was to find out where her money was. Once they had that information, they took what they came for and left her to die. The appalling callousness of those individuals speaks for itself."

He said the case remains under review and West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team would welcome any new information, adding: “It is very possible that relationships or allegiances have changed and there may be someone who is now in a better position to pass on information that could assist the investigation. I would ask anyone who is in that position to search their conscience and provide that crucial information that will help us to bring those responsible for her murder to justice."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team via 101 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.