Mother Brutally Killed At Sex Shop She Managed

Sandra Phillips was a 38-year-old mother of four from Swansea, Wales. She had been working as a manager at the Private Shop, a sex shop on Dillwyn Street. Reportedly, Sandra did not want to work there but was struggling financially. Her second husband, Peter, was a manager at a Co-Op store nearby.

On June 14, 1985, Sandra dropped her 14-year-old daughter at school and went to work. Around 2 PM, area manager Anthony Williams noticed the Private Shop was closed. He used his spare keys to get in and was shocked when he found Sandra lying in a pool of blood behind the counter.

The mother suffered a violent death. She was raped, her ribs and breastbone were fractured, and she was struck in the head. Sandra had a cord tied around her neck and was strangled to death. Although covered in gasoline, she was not set on fire.

Investigators say she was killed with an old-fashioned telephone handset, but the weapon was not found. A set of the shop’s keys belonging to Sandra were also missing.

In the hours after Sandra’s murder, a crowd gathered outside the Private Shop. According to authorities, two men caught their attention and were brought in for questioning. Wayne and Paul Darvell, known as petty criminals, were unemployed brothers who slept in hostels.

Investigators say 25-year-old Wayne confessed to watching his 26-year-old brother kill Sandra. Witnesses claimed they spotted the brothers near the shop with a container that may have been filled with gasoline.

Wayne told police he knew where the murder weapon was and admitted to taking a St. Christopher medal from Sandra’s body, although she never owned one. He also gave police a charity collection box he claimed was from the shop where Sandra worked, but it was actually from a different location.

Paul maintained his innocence, and there was no DNA to link him to the crime scene. Nevertheless, just a day after Sandra’s killing, the Darvell brothers were arrested.

In 1986, an eight-week trial took place at Swansea Crown Court. Wayne denied his previous statements and claimed he had confessed under duress. Despite skepticism and the lack of proof, both brothers were sentenced to life.

The British television show Rough Justice looked into the Darvell brothers’ conviction, which led to the case being sent to the Court of Appeal in 1992.

The police were accused of rigging Wayne’s confession, falsifying notes, and planting evidence. They alleged that evidence of a bloody palm print on a phone board near Sandra’s body “had been suppressed.” This print did not match Sandra or the brothers. It was also revealed that Wayne had a history of confessing to things he hadn’t done.

A jury concluded that Wayne and Paul should be released from prison as their convictions were “unsafe and unsatisfactory.” The brothers received an £80,000 compensation for the six years behind bars and returned to a nomadic lifestyle. In 2005, 42-year-old Paul was found dead in his home of non-suspicious causes.

In 2005, Sandra’s murder case was re-examined. A false wall had been placed in the shop after her death. Investigators removed it, hoping the killer’s DNA had been preserved on the original wall. They also re-interviewed 200 men who had belonged to the Private Shop’s blue movie club.

By 2009, authorities had “exhausted” all lines of inquiry and forensic evidence.

Elizabeth Grace appealed for information on her mother’s murder on BBC’s Crimewatch in 2004,

“It’s now been 20 years and I’d like whoever did it to not be walking around having his life. Catching whoever did it won’t bring mum back, but I want them to realise what they’ve done, not just to myself but also to my family’s next generation.”

Sandra Phillips’ murder remains unsolved 38 years later.