Harold Hill

Murderer

2known / alleged victims

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Case Facts

Gender: male
Country: Gran Bretaña
Location: Buckinghamshire, Gran Bretaña
Date of birth: 1915
Age at first offence: 26
Characteristics: kidnapping
Victim profile: Kathleen Trendle, 6, and Doreen Joyce Hearne, 8
Method of murder: St abbing with knife
Date(s) of murder: November 22, 1941
Years active: 1941
Date of arrest: —
Status: Executed
Executed by hanging at Oxford Castle on May 1, 1942

Case Summary

Background

Harold Hill was convicted of the murder of Doreen Joyce Hearne aged 8 and Kathleen Trundell aged 6.

He had not sexually assaulted the girls, so there did not seem to be any motive. One possibility was that he was disturbed or that he lost his nerve, but having already kidnapped the two girls, he had no other way out.

The offence

On 22 November 1941, the bodies of Kathleen Trendle and Doreen Joyce Hearne were found in Penn Wood, in Buckinghamshire.

Kathleen Trendle was six years old and Doreen Hearne was eight. The two girls had been missing for three days. They had both been strangled into unconsciousness before being stabbed repeatedly. The post mortem examination showed the two girls had died from stab wounds.

Doreen had six stab wounds to the body as well as three to the neck. Kathleen had almost a dozen stab wounds to the neck, and both girls had died from loss of blood.

Nearby were tyre tracks of a lorry and a large patch of oil. Doreen’s gas-mask holder was found, along with a khaki handkerchief with the laundry mark RA1019.

Investigation

A 12-year-old boy said that he had seen the two girls asking the driver of an Army truck for a lift and had given police the unit identification marks of the truck. Police traced the markings to a unit in Yoxford, Suffolk.

Police found the exact vehicle. The vehicle had a leaking back axle, and the tyre tread was matched against the casts taken at the scene. The tyre tracks matched the impressions exactly.

The driver was identified as 26-year-old Harold Hill, in 341 Battery, 86th Field Regiment Royal Artillery. He had the laundry mark RA-1019, and his fingerprints were found to match those on the discarded gas-mask container.

When his kit was examined, his spare uniform was found to be wet, and despite its recent washing, it still had bloodstains.

Trial

Harold Hill was tried in March 1942 and pleaded insanity, but this was not accepted. He was found guilty.

Sentencing

He was executed at Oxford Castle on 1 May 1942.

Outcome

Harold Hill was convicted of the murder of Doreen Joyce Hearne aged 8 and Kathleen Trundell aged 6, and was executed by hanging at Oxford Castle on May 1, 1942.

Other details

The case was described as strange in that there did not seem to be an obvious motive, and it noted that where children are murdered reasons are often sexual, but the girls had not been molested in that way.

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