These disturbing crimes shook Ely to its core.
From the strange disappearance of landlady Deborah Steel to the brutal arson attack on mum Jenny Black, these are some of the worst crimes committed in Ely in living memory.
Shocking in their savagery, the macabre details of these crimes have been pored over by readers and discussed in households and workplaces across the county.
Time may pass but we will never forget.
The desperate search for Deborah Steel
In the early hours of Sunday, December 28, 1997, landlady Deborah Steel seemingly vanished without a trace, aged just 37.
As a familiar figure at the Royal Standard pub, she was a much-loved member of the community.
Over the years police have exhausted every line of enquiry in the search for Deborah.
Despite an appeal on ITV’s Britain’s Most Wanted, her body has never been found.
Police believe Deborah was murdered, and that the answer to what happened to her lies locally.
Deborah Steel’s last movements
Deborah was last seen leaving the pub in Forehill at around 1 am reportedly after an argument – and has never been seen since that day.
On her missing posters, police described her as being 5ft 6, of medium build, with ash blonde hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion.
She was last seen wearing brown trousers, brown boots and a dark-coloured anorak type raincoat.
Deborah worked her last shift on Saturday, December 27, 1997. The plan that night was for her to work her shift and then stay overnight in the pub.
When her partner woke in the morning, on Sunday, December 28, he found she wasn’t there and her bed had not been slept in.
Police say it would seem Ms Steel did leave the pub and did return home to her house in Longfields, Ely – about a mile and a half from the pub.
Officers said it would be very uncommon and very unlikely that Deborah would have walked all the way home, especially late at night having worked at the pub.
Evidence suggests Deborah walked a very short distance from the pub to the Almonry restaurant where she was picked up, probably by a local taxi driver that she knew.
20 years on, police still want to have a “proper conversation” with that taxi driver – and urge the driver to contact DCI Adam Gallop, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit.
Arrests and further questioning
In January 2015, two men who were arrested in connection with the disappearance of Ely pub landlady Deborah Steel were released without charge.
The men, aged 50 and 70 at the time and both from Ely, were told they would face no further action by officers when they answered bail at March police station.
However, officers re-bailed a third man, aged 72 at the time and also from Ely, who was arrested in connection with the case.
He was also later released without charge.
Police have also questioned a prisoner in HMP Whitemoor about Deborah’s disappearance.
The man, who has not been named, initially claimed he had killed a woman in East Anglia and buried her body in a shallow grave.
His description of the woman in part matched that of Deborah. Although the prisoner later withdrew his claim, police questioned the man at the high-security prison near March, Cambridgeshire in an effort to find the area he spoke about.
What do Deborah’s family think happened to her?
Speaking in 2017, Virginia Secker, Deborah’s half-sister, said she believes the missing landlady was murdered.
She said: “I think Deborah left the pub and I do believe she went home to her house in Ely before she went missing.
“I believe this because police found her jewellery, which she never took off unless she was going to sleep.
“She used to wear my mum’s engagement ring on a gold chain around her neck – she never went anywhere without it.
"Sadly I do believe she was murdered. There have been arrests but nothing has come of them.
"There are a few people I have always suspected, which I still suspect to this day."
Anyone with any information regarding Deborah’s disappearance should call police on 101 or visit www.cambs.police.uk/report .
Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org .
Murdered by an ex
Jenny Black, 56, suffered horrific burns after being attacked by her former partner Colin Bell, 47, in her flat in July 2003.
She fled by climbing through the bathroom window of her Ely High Street flat, but died in hospital six days later.
The court heard how Bell set fire to Jenny in a drunken rage and then sat down to roll a cigarette and watch television.
Bell used a gas lighter refill to set her hair on fire and splashed turps substitute over her and set it ablaze. She threw herself into the bath to douse the flames but suffered horrific burns to almost 30 per cent of her body.
He was given a life sentence after being convicted of murder.
Jenny's mum, Winnie, and son Ollie, were with the 56-year-old as she lay dying in Nottingham City Hospital.
Speaking in 2004 Winnie, 81, said: "All I can say is he's taken my daughter's life. I have nothing to say about him. What is there to say about someone like that?"
Ollie said: "It was just awful. She was so badly burned I knew she wasn't going to survive."
Winnie saw her daughter just days before Bell doused her in turps and set her alight.
She begged her daughter to stay away from Bell and get a friend to stay with her. She said: "It seems horrible and I wish I had stayed with her now."
Police were often called to Jenny's flat after Bell had attacked her during a drunken row. But they were not prepared for the horrific scene which greeted them on July 30 2003.
The detective who led the inquiry, Det Insp Paul Mann, said: "The memory of the scene and the injuries were very distressing to the officers. I can't even begin to think what she must have suffered."
He described Bell as a vicious control freak who could not accept that his relationship with his victim was over. He urged other women in a similar position to get help and try to escape their abusers.
He said: "What we would say to people is 'this is what we want to avoid'. Sometimes you need to look at things in the cold light of day and think how lucky you have been so far. You must take positive action."
Asked about Bell, he said: "He's a very intimidating individual - you may be surprised by that when you see him but witnesses will say they were frightened of him.
"I just think he's a vicious and horrible person."
Nicki Herron, a former housing support worker at Cambridge-based charity Wintercomfort, said at the employment tribunal Miss Black had told the charity's Ely office of Bell's threats to kill her a fortnight earlier.
Stretham murders of two sisters
Teenage sisters Davina Baker, 16, and Jasmine Baker, 13, were killed by their mother in frenzied stabbing at their home in Stretham, near Ely, in June 2007.
The girls' mother, Rekha Kumari-Baker, then 39, was later convicted of the crime and sentenced to at least 33 years.
She stabbed Davina 37 times and Jasmine 29 times with kitchen knives - admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The court heard how she had telephoned a friend - special police constable Natalie Barford - and left an answerphone message saying: "I’ve done something terrible Natalie. Please call me."
She also told Ms Barford: "At least the children are safe now. Nobody else can hurt them.
"I've been thinking about it for days. I don't know why today. I just woke up and decided I was going to do it there and then."
Passing sentence Mr Justice Bean said: “Your defence of diminished responsibility was flimsy and insubstantial.
“You knew quite well what you were doing and you were not mentally ill. The crimes were, as the prosecution rightly put it, murder, full stop.
“Davina and Jasmine were cruelly cut down in the prime of life. Their death has been a shattering loss to their father, David Baker, and their friends.”
A father's grief
The father of murdered teenagers Davina and Jasmine Baker has paid tribute to his daughters who "meant everything".
Their dad David Baker who split from mum Mrs Kumari-Baker in 2004, told of his love for his daughters.
He said: "I loved my girls, Davina and Jasmine. They meant everything to me and I loved them with all my heart.
"They have been taken from me and my whole family is in pain. They are irreplaceable. I just want them back.
"We have so many good memories. We all used to sing together and go shopping.
"I was so proud to walk down the street with my two beautiful daughters. They were so clever.
"Davina was just finishing her GCSEs and wanted to become a social worker. Jasmine was academically gifted and worked hard at school.
"Both the girls had a sharp sense of humour and made me laugh.
"Last weekend we watched the film Grease on TV. They were acting out the parts and singing along.
"They knew every word to the film. I hope they are at peace. I would like to thank my family who have rallied around and offered so much support."
Officers were so traumatised by what they saw at the time that they were offered sessions with trained counsellors.
