CAROL Morgan was brutally butchered in the Bedfordshire shop she ran with her husband Allen, who paid a hitman to kill his wife.
But the case remained unsolved for over 40 years until a key witness opened up — here’s everything you need to know.
Fairley & SimmonsAllen and Carol Morgan pictured on their wedding day in 1981[/caption]
PAAllen Morgan paid a hitman to kill his wife[/caption]
Who was Carol Morgan?
Carol Morgan was a 36-year-old woman who co-owned a shop with her husband Allen Morgan in Linslade, Bedfordshire.
In August 1981, she was found hacked to death in the shop she ran with her husband
The case remained unsolved for over four decades until developments led to her husband’s conviction.
Allen Morgan’s motive
Allen Morgan, now 75 years old, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder his wife Carol in 2024.
He hired a hitman to kill Carol so he could pocket her fortune and start a new life with his mistress.
Morgan was engaged in an affair with his current wife, Margaret Morgan — then Margaret Spooner — at the time of Carol’s death.
He was having financial difficulties and felt he could not divorce her, which led him to orchestrate her murder.
It came to fruition on 13 August 1981, when Carol was brutally attacked while working in their shop.
After his wife was murdered, Morgan lived off her life insurance with Margaret — who has since been cleared of all charges — as the pair fled to Yorkshire to start a new life.
Cold case
In 2018, the cold case was re-opened by Detective Superintendent Carl Foster from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit.
He noticed holes in the original investigation and embarked on the six-year battle to put Morgan behind bars.
Now retired, Mr Foster told The Sun: “I made the decision to reopen it in 2018. I was head of the cold case unit and this case came up for review.
“When I read it I was just struck by how neither Allen Morgan, nor Margaret had ever been in the position where they were treated as suspects, or arrested or interviewed.
“The main reason for that was because Allen Morgan had manufactured this concrete alibi, where he wasn’t around that evening, he’d gone to the cinema with Carol’s children.
When we knocked on [the witness’] door, her response was ‘I’ve been waiting 40 years for you to come here’
Detective Superintendent Carl Foster
“The investigation was rightly focused on trying to identify who this murderer was, there was a lot of panic in the local community about such a horrific murder happening on their doorstep.”
A crucial breakthrough came in 2021, when officers re-interviewed an original witness called Jane Bunting.
Mr Foster described her as a teenager who would, “by police standards, be considered vulnerable”.
The former detective explained: “As a result of that the local authority asked Margaret to tutor her, but in Jane’s own words, she credited Margaret with saving her life and changing the direction.
News Group Newspapers LtdAllen Morgan pictured on holiday with his girlfriend Margaret Spooner in 1982, who later became his wife[/caption]
“She was remarkably loyal to Margaret, and her relationship with the police was not great, she wasn’t a criminal, just a troubled child.
“She told us she thought that even if she’d told police what she knew at the time, they wouldn’t believe her.”
He added: “When we knocked on her door, her response was ‘I’ve been waiting 40 years for you to come here’.”
Witness Jane opened up about a conversation she had with Morgan and Margaret at The Dolphin pub, which took place shortly before the attack.
PAAllen Morgan’s crime didn’t come to light for over 40 years[/caption]
Mr Foster explained: “Allen and Margaret proceeded to have a conversation where Allen made it clear he wanted to get rid of Carol.
“He knew Jane was seeing a boy and asked if he knew anyone who could do it for them.
“The background is, Jane had been having a relationship with a married man and teenage jealousy made her say ‘oh I wish his wife was dead’, and Allen said ‘why don’t we do each other a favour, I will get rid of her for you and you can help me get rid of Carol’, or something along those lines.
“The conversation became so detailed and obvious it wasn’t a joke, she felt uncomfortable and walked out of the pub.
MirrorpixAllen Morgan and his second wife Margaret Morgan arriving at Luton Crown Court in July 2024[/caption]
“The police had never been aware of that piece of evidence until we saw her in 2021.
“This was the vital piece of direct evidence that had been missing the whole time.”
Sentencing
The trial at Luton Crown Court lasted nine weeks, with a jury finding Margaret Morgan not guilty of conspiracy to murder.
On July 29, 2024, Allen Morgan was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years.
At the sentencing, Mr. Justice Martin Spencer described Morgan as a “wicked person”, emphasising that he was the only one who knew the identity of the hitman — a secret he had kept for four decades.
The identity of the hitman Morgan hired to kill his wife never came to light.
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