Brutal Unsolved Murder of Kate Bushell – 14-Year-Old's Throat Slashed While Walking a Dog

On a quiet Saturday afternoon in 1997, 14-year-old Kate Bushell left home to walk her neighbour’s Jack Russell terrier, Gemma, along a peaceful lane in Exwick, Exeter. She never made it back. Hours later, her own father found her body in a field just 300 yards from their front door – her throat savagely slashed in a single, ferocious knife attack. No sexual assault. No clear motive. Just pure, random horror.This is one of Britain’s most haunting unsolved murders. Operation Deakin became one of Devon & Cornwall Police’s biggest investigations: over 5,000 interviews, thousands of DNA samples, nationwide Crimewatch appeals, and a mysterious blood-soaked “running man” seen fleeing the scene. A silent blue car in the lay-by. A possible link to another dog-walker murder the following year. Yet the killer has never been caught.In this episode of Crimes That Haunt Us we reconstruct Kate’s final hours, examine every chilling clue, the eyewitness sightings that went nowhere, and why – nearly 29 years later – advances in DNA might still hold the key.If this case has haunted you too… drop your theories in the comments. Could the killer still be living locally? Was it random or part of something bigger? For the documentary version see here https://youtu.be/0TDEjU27sIA(00:00) The Haunting Case of Kate Bushell(1:06) Who Was Kate Bushell?(03:31) The Day of the Murder(4:02) Kate Sets Off on the Fatal Walk(6:25) Kate is Murdered(8:20) The Killer is Seen Fleeing(10:14) Investigation Begins(14:36) Blue Car Sought(15:45) William Lambert(19:51) Lyn Bryant is Murdered(23:05) Multiple Further Knife Attacks(27:49) Partial DNA Profile Isolated in Bryant Case