At about noon on March the 1st 1978

A call was received from a Mrs April Purse

Noting that a woman had been stabbed

By an unknown assailant in front of her house

Five policeman were immediately sent to the scene

On arrival they found a woman barely conscious

Being attended to by Mrs Purse in the street

They did not enter the house in the Folkestone Road

And requested back up from other stations

As it appeared that a maniac might be on the loose

Fifteen minutes later the police entered the house

And found an elderly man dead in his kitchen


The woman who had regained consciousness

Told the police in the time before the ambulance arrived

That she had been collecting for an animal charity

When the occupant of the house had stabbed her

With what appeared to be a bayonet but she was not sure

She was then taken to a hospital in Dover with serious stab wounds


Police soon identified the elderly man as a Mr John Masters

Who had lived at the same address for over ten years

The name of the woman was still a mystery although Mrs Purse

Noted that she had seen her around Dover with very tall man

Who she supposed to be her boyfriend or husband


By the early evening the alert had been relaxed

As there did not appear to be a third party involved

It was reported that the injured woman

Had been treated successfully as her wound

Was not as serious as first thought

She had given her name as Vera Smith

A primary school teacher from Dover

Her husband Stephen Smith who was also a teacher

Arrived at the police station after visiting his wife

He had been in Deal with his class visiting the pier

At about the same time as the incident occurred


Mr Masters had it was thought died

From a self inflicted stab would

But this had not been proved

The police would have to await confirmation

And this might take some time


One of the investigating officers

Did note something rather strange

When he and other officers

Investigated the crime scene

It was a scrap of paper

Possibly from a school exercise book

West Sweden had been written in green ink

to be continued