Stephen Akinmurele was 20 years old when police arrested him on November 1, 1998, on suspicion of murdering an older couple in Blackpool. By December 11, 1998, he had been charged with three more murders: of his former landlady in Blackpool, and of two older women in the Isle of Man village of Ballasalla, whose deaths went back to 1995 and 1996. The two Isle of Man charges were later withdrawn on a legal technicality. In August 1999, weeks before he was due to stand trial, he was found hanged in his cell at Manchester Prison. He was 21. No jury ever heard the evidence, and none of the charges against him was ever proved.
Eric Boardman was 76, a retired seaman who was well known in Blackpool's seafaring community. His wife, Joan, was 74. Neighbors remembered her as friendly and always ready to help. The couple lived in an end-terrace house in Blackpool.
On October 30, 1998, their daughter found them both dead at home. Post-mortem examinations found that Joan had died of injuries to the neck and Eric of injuries to the head and neck. Detective Superintendent Bob Denmark, who led the investigation, called it a savage attack on two defenseless elderly people.
On November 1, 1998, police arrested Akinmurele, then 20, on suspicion of the Boardmans' murders.
The inquiry soon widened. Jemima Cargill, 75, had been Akinmurele's landlady. She had died in a house fire in Blackpool on October 2, 1998, before the Boardmans were found. By December 11, 1998, according to the Gazette, Akinmurele had been charged with her murder.
The two other charges came from the Isle of Man. Marjorie Ashton, 72, died in May 1995, and Dorothy Harris, 68, in February 1996. Both women were found dead at their homes in Ballasalla. Dorothy Harris was partly blind and partly deaf.
By December 11, 1998, Akinmurele had been charged with both murders, as well as with the murder of Jemima Cargill. The Isle of Man charges were later withdrawn on what the Gazette describes as a legal technicality. Dorothy Harris's brother told the paper that he had no doubt Akinmurele was responsible for her death.
While in custody, according to the Gazette, Akinmurele confessed to three further killings. One was of a rambler on the Isle of Man. Manx police carried out extensive excavations but found no body. They did find a gun that bore his fingerprint. No charge followed from any of these three confessions, and no court or inquest has found that any of the killings he described took place.
While he awaited trial, Akinmurele was held in custody. He had made two earlier attempts on his own life, and his girlfriend had warned the prison authorities that he was a danger to himself, the Gazette reported.
In August 1999, weeks before his trial was due to begin, he was found hanged in his cell. He was 21. An inquest heard that he had left a note to his mother. In it, he wrote that he "couldn't take any more of feeling like how I do now, always wanting to kill."
His death ended the case. Because he was never tried, no court ruled on the evidence against him over any of the deaths with which he had been charged.
Detective Superintendent Denmark later described Akinmurele as one of the most dangerous men he had ever met. He said there would have been enough evidence to convict him. That remained the view of the officer who led the inquiry; it was never tested before a jury.
The Gazette returned to the case in November 2023 and January 2024, when another killing in the same Blackpool street brought the Boardmans' deaths back into the news.
Akinmurele was never convicted of any of these deaths. He was charged with murder over the deaths of Eric and Joan Boardman, Jemima Cargill, Marjorie Ashton and Dorothy Harris. Two of those charges, the Isle of Man counts, were withdrawn before any trial. The three further killings he confessed to in custody were never charged, and no body was found. The detective who led the inquiry believed the evidence would have convicted him, and Dorothy Harris's brother believed he was responsible for her death; neither belief was ever tested in court.
May 1995: Marjorie Ashton, 72, dies in Ballasalla, Isle of Man.
February 1996: Dorothy Harris, 68, dies in Ballasalla.
October 2, 1998: Jemima Cargill, 75, his former landlady, dies in a house fire in Blackpool.
October 30, 1998: Eric Boardman, 76, and Joan Boardman, 74, are found dead at their Blackpool home by their daughter.
November 1, 1998: Akinmurele, 20, is arrested on suspicion of the Boardmans' murders.
By December 11, 1998: he has also been charged with the murders of Jemima Cargill, Marjorie Ashton and Dorothy Harris.
Later: the two Isle of Man charges are withdrawn on a legal technicality.
In custody: he confesses to three further killings, including a rambler on the Isle of Man; Manx police find a gun with his fingerprint but no body.
August 1999: weeks before his trial, he is found hanged in his cell at Manchester Prison, aged 21.