Killer walked free for 30 years

By Mark Simpson
BBC North of England correspondent

Castree also assaulted a nine-year-old whom he abducted in a taxi

For three decades, Ronald Castree thought he had got away with murder - but advances in forensic science meant his brutal past finally caught up with him.

The mystery of who killed Rochdale schoolgirl Lesley Molseed has finally been solved, 32 years after she disappeared on the way to the shops, wearing a blue coat, pleated skirt and her stripey Bay City Rollers socks.

Back in 1975, life was very different. The Scottish band were top of the charts, but no-one had heard of musical gadgets like iPods, DVDs or even the internet.

Life was very different in the police service too. In TV terms, it was perhaps more akin to Life on Mars than CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Crucially, few people had heard of DNA.

In spite of many mistakes by the police in how they handled the case, one thing they did do right was preserve evidence from the murder scene.

Lesley Molseed had not just been stabbed 12 times, she had been sexually assaulted, and police were able to find traces of semen on her underwear and body.

Lesley's sisters painted a tribute on a rock at the murder scene

Although this turned out to be of little use at the time, 30 years later this DNA proved vital.

Ronald Castree was arrested a year ago on an unrelated matter. His DNA was taken, and the results of a Buccal swab were sent to forensic scientists for analysis.

It turned out to be a direct match to the DNA taken from Lesley's underwear.

Police then knew they had finally found the killer.

Experts say the chances of the match simply being a coincidence are one in a billion.

And one of the factors which indicated this was no accident, was the fact that Lesley Molseed was not the only vulnerable, young schoolgirl that Castree attacked in the mid-1970s.

'Vulnerable' girl

He also sexually assaulted a nine-year-old whom he abducted in the taxi which he used to drive round Rochdale.

The girl told the police what he had done to her and Castree was convicted. He was fined but not sent to jail.

This was less than a year after Lesley's death, and in the same town. So why did detectives not question him about the Molseed murder?

The answer is that they had already charged another man, Stefan Kiszko, who was of course later wrongly convicted of the killing.

So for 30 years, Castree lived a lie. He watched as an innocent man went to jail for his crime, and he sat back while Kiszko's conviction was overturned and the Molseed family agony continued.

Lesley was sexually assaulted and stabbed 12 times

For Lesley's two older sisters, Laura and Julie, one way to help them cope with the grief was to return to the murder scene, high up on the moors between Oldham and Ripponden.

Painted on a large moorland rock is Lesley's nickname, Lel, and it's surrounded by a large heart.

You can just about see it on the right hand side of the M62 when you are travelling from Leeds to Manchester at the highest point of the motorway.

Although Lesley was 11 years old when she died, she was less than four feet tall and weighed only three stones. She also had mild learning difficulties. It is difficult to imagine a more vulnerable little girl.

Castree abducted her on her way to the shop. She was going to buy a loaf of bread, and her mum had given her a £1 note which she had put in her purse.

When police found her battered body four days later, her purse was beside her. It was empty.