Secrets, Suspects, and the Hunt for Her Killer: The Vanishing of Suzy Lamplugh

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[00:02:03] The case featured in this episode has been researched using police records, court documents, witness statements, and the news. Listener discretion is advised. All parties mentioned are innocent until proven guilty, and all opinions are my own.

[00:02:19] Hey everyone, my name is Nikki Young, and this is Serial Napper, the true crime podcast for naps. I'm back with another true crime story to lull you to sleep, or perhaps to give you nightmares. The date was July 28, 1986. It was supposed to be just another day of work for 25-year-old Susie Lamplaw, an ambitious and confident young real estate agent from London, England.

[00:03:05] On that warm summer morning, she left her office, ready for what seemed like a routine task, showing a house to a client. Her meeting was scheduled at 37 Shoralds Road in Fulham. The man she was supposed to meet? A mysterious figure only known as Mr. Kipper. No first name or any other details about his identity.

[00:03:31] However, nothing about this appointment seemed to raise any red flags for Susie. It should have been just another potential sale of a home. But it wasn't. Hours later, Susie's white Ford Fiesta was found abandoned near the Fulham Football Club. The doors were locked. Her purse was inside, but the keys? They were gone.

[00:03:55] Despite extensive searches and investigations, no trace of Susie was ever found, and she has never been seen or heard from again. In the years that followed, there have been numerous theories about what may have happened to her. One theory initially suggested that she may have been abducted and taken abroad, but this remains speculative.

[00:04:18] The identity of Mr. Kipper remains unclear, and some have speculated that the name was a pseudonym and that there is a connection between the letters of Mr. Kipper and an eerie anagram, adding to the sense of a carefully planned crime. Over the years, several individuals have been investigated, but no one has been definitively linked to her disappearance.

[00:04:44] So, dim the lights, put your phone down, and listen to the case of Susie Lampla, one of UK's most baffling and chilling missing persons cases. So let's jump right in. Susie Lampla was born on May 3, 1961, in Cheltenham. She was the second of four children in the Lampla family. Raised in South London, she was the kind of young woman who seemed to embrace life with an unrelenting energy.

[00:05:11] Her father, Paul, would often say that Susie knew how to live life fully, a sentiment that was shared by those who knew her best. Can I tell you about Susie? Well, she was the really lovely girl that she appears to have been. She was a very positive person.

[00:05:38] She was very thoughtful and jolly good fun. I always remember one day Diana talking to her in her kitchen and chiding her for doing too much. And she answered straight away, Come on, Mom. Life's a living. That's what it's all about.

[00:06:05] And in a way, that's a lovely message which I'd like to be left with. She had a busy social calendar. She was outgoing, adventurous. Those who were close to her describe her as someone who always had a positive outlook. But she was also dependable and conscientious. Though Susie was dyslexic, she didn't let this define her.

[00:06:33] With the help of her father and private tutors, she kept up with her peers, never letting her condition hold her back. Susie was determined to succeed. And it was this drive that helped her carve a path for herself, both personally and professionally. Before she entered the world of real estate, Susie's career path was far from conventional.

[00:06:58] She worked as a beautician on the renowned QE2 cruise line, traveling the world. It was fun and exciting. And it was during this time that she built a reputation as a hard worker. Someone who enjoyed the thrill of new experiences. Susie was no stranger to adventure. She loved swimming, windsurfing, and skiing. But she also enjoyed the simple pleasures of life.

[00:07:25] Gathering with friends at parties, dining out, and enjoying a drink at the local wine bars. Her life was full, rich with experiences that made her memorable to all who crossed her path. But by the mid-1980s, Susie had settled into life on land. She transitioned from the open sea to the real estate world, working as a negotiator at Sturgis Estate Agency on Fulham Road in London.

[00:07:54] Her personal life mirrored her career in many ways, full of energy, curiosity, and commitment. She shared a flat with a male friend, purely platonic, and had several boyfriends in her short life, though none of them seemed to define her. She was, after all, a woman with her own ambitions and desires, fiercely independent. But as we know, Susie's story would take a tragic turn.

[00:08:21] One that left her family, friends, and a whole nation grappling with the mystery of what happened to her. It's Monday, July 28, 1986. The sun is shining brightly over London, casting a warm glow over the bustling city streets. For 25-year-old Susie, the day begins just like any other. She leaves the two-bedroom flat in Putney, ready to start her workday at Sturgis Estate Agency.

[00:08:50] It's a job that she's held for just over a year, working her way up in the world of real estate, a career that she's eager to build. On this day, she's dressed in a gray skirt and dark jacket, low stiletto heels clicking against the pavement as she makes her way into work. It's been a fairly ordinary morning, but by the afternoon, everything will change. At around 12.30pm, Susie prepares to leave the office for a scheduled house viewing.

[00:09:20] She grabs the bare essentials, her house and car keys, a purse containing 15 British pounds, and a few credit cards. And then she heads out for an appointment that she's set up with a potential buyer, someone only known as Mr. Kipper, a name that she has written down in her planner. Her appointment was supposed to be at 12.45pm, located at 37 Shorald Road, a property that had only been on the market for about a week.

[00:09:49] It's close to the office, so she doesn't plan to be gone for long. Shortly after leaving for her appointment, she's seen waiting outside of the property all alone. Then, witnesses describe seeing a man stepping out of a sleek, black or dark blue BMW. He was dark-haired and carrying a bottle of champagne that had ribbons around it. This was believed to be Mr. Kipper.

[00:10:16] At around 1pm, he and Susie were seen together, walking away from the property. One passerby would later say that the pair got into a car and it looked like they were arguing. These sightings would later be used to make up a sketch to try to find out who this Mr. Kipper was. Later that afternoon, Susie's mother, Diana, receives a phone call from Susie's manager at the agency. He would say something along the lines of,

[00:10:45] Do you have any idea where your daughter might be, Mrs. Lamplaw? We wondered whether she could have called into home for lunch. I don't want to worry you, Mrs. Lamplaw. But Susie left to show a house to a client just before lunch and she has not returned. We just wanted to check anywhere we could. Diana would recall that moment vividly. The worry creeping in. It was so unlike Susie to disappear without a word.

[00:11:12] She was always punctual and she always followed the rules. Something must have gone wrong. Something wasn't right. At 6.45pm that evening, Susie's disappearance was officially reported to the police. Just hours later, at 10pm, the police find Susie's company car. A white Ford Fiesta. It's about a mile away from the office.

[00:11:39] It's parked haphazardly on a nearby street. The doors are unlocked, the handbrake is off, and the ignition keys are missing. Inside the car, her purse, still containing 15 British pounds, sits in the driver's door. The seat is reclined very far back in an unusual way. But there's nothing else. No signs of a struggle. No fingerprints. Just a car abandoned. Empty.

[00:12:07] Now, I do want to note something here. It does not appear that Susie actually drove her car to the home showing. The property was close enough for her to walk, so it is believed that she actually walked the property. So she likely parked her car that morning when she arrived to work at the office, and then she just never returned to it. In the search for answers, police turned their attention to those closest to Susie. Her then-boyfriend, a 27-year-old stockbroker, and her male flatmate.

[00:12:36] They were both questioned by the Metropolitan Police. Both men cooperated fully, providing confirmed alibis for the day and time in question. They had both spent time with their colleagues or friends, and many witnesses corroborated their accounts. This meant that both men were quickly eliminated from the investigation. They weren't really pursued any further. In the search for clues, police also conducted a thorough search of Susie's two-bedroom apartment.

[00:13:05] But despite their best efforts, nothing notable or suspicious was found. No hidden evidence, no trace of foul play that would point to a suspect. Just an empty apartment. A missing person. Susie Lamplaw was gone. In the span of just a few hours, a promising young woman, vibrant and full of life, disappeared without a trace.

[00:13:30] Now, in every investigation, there's a moment when everything seems to hinge on a single clue. A breakthrough, a lead, or even just one name that could unravel the mystery. In the case of Susie's disappearance, that key seemed to be a man, Mr. Kipper. But who exactly was he?

[00:13:52] Described by witnesses as a white male, between the ages of 25 and 30, he was said to have a darker complexion and dark hair slicked back with precision. His attire was said to be impeccable. A charcoal suit that made him look like a man of sophistication and wealth. Witnesses described him as, quote, a public schoolboy type. But here's where things get kind of complicated.

[00:14:18] As the investigation progressed, more and more people came forward with their accounts of what they had seen that fateful day. As the pieces seemed to fall into place, inconsistencies began to surface. A short distance from where Susie was last seen, her car, that white Ford Fiesta, was discovered.

[00:14:40] It was parked poorly, about a mile away from the scene, and several witnesses reported spotting it there throughout the day, not being moved. But here's where it gets even more confusing. Barbara Whitfield, a close friend of Susie, she came forward with her own account. Now, according to Barbara, she actually saw Susie driving north up Fulham Palace Road, with the same mysterious man by her side in the car.

[00:15:07] Barbara was absolutely certain that this was Susie. She waved to her, but Susie, busy talking to the man in the car, she just didn't notice. Barbara was the only witness that day who actually knew Susie personally. So for this reason, her sighting, though different from the others, it kind of carries a little bit more weight. But how could Barbara's account line up with the others? And what about Mr. Kipper? Did he even exist?

[00:15:37] Investigators only had this name because it was scribbled down in Susie's planner, but they didn't know if this was his real name, if it was made up, or if Susie was actually meeting with someone entirely different. It's time for a quick break and a word from tonight's sponsors. Hang on, I'll be back before you know it. Are you feeling off-balance thanks to hormonal changes? You are not alone.

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[00:17:33] That's happymammoth.com. And use the code CERIALNAPPER for 15% off today. Now back to our story. Investigators began to wonder about the name Mr. Kipper. What if it wasn't just a name? What if it was a clue? An anagram, perhaps? And when they played around with the letters, they made a terrifying discovery.

[00:18:00] If you were to swap the letters of Dan Kipper, you get Kidnapper. They wondered if his name might actually be a twisted clue to his intentions. Was there a Dan Kipper? But there was more. A few days before Susie disappeared, according to her office manager, Susie had received a bouquet of red roses from an unknown man. The gesture, while romantic on the surface, now kind of took a sinister edge.

[00:18:29] What if these gifts were from Mr. Kipper? Perhaps this man, this Mr. Kipper, was stalking her. But even as these unsettling pieces began to fall into place, Susie's parents, Diana and Paul, they were left to grapple with their own fears. Just days after her disappearance, they appeared on national television, twice, desperate for answers. On BBC's Breakfast Time, Diana shared her deep anxiety, saying, quote,

[00:18:58] I feel she is shut up somewhere, that she is being held against her will. I feel that because she hasn't contacted us. She is a very strong, very fit lady, so she should be able to cope with most situations. But as the days dragged on, Diana's fears began to shift. About a week after Susie's disappearance, during an interview on BBC TV's London Plus, Diana spoke words that no parent ever wants to say. She said,

[00:19:29] I can face up to the fact that she has died, but I cannot face up to what has happened between. That's too much. Susie's father, Paul, also shared his pain, explaining that Susie had always had a deep fear of being in confined spaces. She had actually panicked once while in a cable car. Knowing how terrified that she would be to be locked away somewhere, they found it easier to believe that she was dead than that she was still suffering.

[00:19:59] As the years passed, the police were flooded with calls. People from all over the world, from Saudi Arabia to Greece, they claimed to have seen Susie. They interviewed Mr. Kipper's men who had the name Mr. Kipper all around the world. These leads, they were endless, but none of them led to Susie. However, one lead did kind of stand out, something that they believed could finally bring them closer to finding the truth.

[00:20:27] In 1989, three years after Susie's disappearance, the police decided to focus on a new suspect, a man named John Cannon, a convicted killer who had been locked up for a separate crime. John Cannon was a name whose prison nickname, Kipper, had not gone unnoticed. His name alone was enough to raise eyebrows. Not only did he resemble the sketches of the man last seen with Susie,

[00:20:56] but he also had an extensive criminal history. John Cannon, a former car salesman, was a man with a violent and disturbing past. In July 1988, he was convicted of murder and sexual offenses and given three life sentences with the recommendation that he should never be released because he was that violent. His crimes were horrific. The murder of newlywed Shirley Banks in Bristle in October 1987,

[00:21:26] the attempted kidnapping of Julia Holman, and then the rape of a woman in Reading, all carried out with shocking brutality. Cannon's crime spree was marked by cold, calculated violence. He held Shirley Banks hostage in his flat for 18 hours before killing her. Her body was found dumped at a place ominously named Dead Woman's Ditch. Inside Cannon's BMW, because, yep, he drove a BMW,

[00:21:56] detectives discovered disturbing evidence. An imitation handgun, handcuffs, and the tax disc from Shirley's car. Just days after Cannon's arrest, police made another grisly discovery. Shirley Banks' car, hidden away in Cannon's garage, complete with a false license plate that reads, SLP 386S. At first glance, it seemed like just another piece of his horrific crime spree. But for the detectives

[00:22:26] investigating Susie Lamplaw's disappearance, those letters, SLP, they were enough to make them sit up and take notice. Could it be a clue? Could SLP stand for Susie Lamplaw? And then the number 86, the year Susie vanished? Now let's be honest, this theory, it kind of feels like a stretch. It might just be a coincidence. Yet the police, they couldn't ignore the possibility

[00:22:55] that Cannon's past and his involvement in the violent death of Shirley Banks was somehow tied to Susie's fate. Investigators believed that Cannon might also be connected to a series of unsolved rapes back in the late 70s. As his troubled marriage was beginning to fall apart, a series of brutal rapes rocked the West Midlands. The victims were assaulted in homes that were for sale, properties where real estate agents

[00:23:24] would have open houses. The rapist quickly became known as the house-for-sale rapist. Over the course of several years, at least 20 women were assaulted in these vacant homes. But the police were never able to catch the perpetrator. No one was ever arrested for these crimes, but many believe that Cannon may have been responsible. It wasn't until he was later convicted of murder that detectives, they began to suspect

[00:23:53] that the house-for-sale rapist and Cannon were one and the same. However, to this day, there is no official charge connecting him to these crimes. But perhaps the most chilling connection to Susie Lamplaw lies in the timing of Cannon's release from prison. Just days before Susie went missing, Cannon was set free. And he resembled the man that was seen with Susie on the day of her disappearance, according to witness descriptions.

[00:24:23] Was Cannon the Mr. Kipper who Susie met that day? Here's where things get even more eerie. A former girlfriend of Cannon's revealed that he had shown an unnerving interest in the case of Susie Lamplaw's disappearance. In fact, Cannon himself kind of spoke about it. He talked about it all the time. And he claimed that in the weeks before Susie's disappearance, he had been frequenting wine bars in Fulham. And it was there that he met a woman named

[00:24:52] Susie who he had begun to date. So was this Susie that Susie? And remember, witnesses had also exactly the type of car that John Cannon drove. It wasn't hard to imagine that the two could have crossed paths. After all, Cannon was known for his ability to attract women. He was the type of man who could charm a woman

[00:25:22] into his grasp before turning violent if he was rejected. He often claimed to be a West Country businessman, offering flowers and champagne before his true dark nature took over. And then, there's Cannon's story about that fateful day, his complete denial of involvement. Cannon claims that he has no recollection of his whereabouts on the very day that Susie vanished. But he has denied any involvement in her disappearance.

[00:25:51] His claims, however, would be difficult to verify, and no evidence ever actually linked him directly to Susie's case. In August 1991, four years after Susie's disappearance, Cannon took the unusual step of writing a letter to a local paper, Sutton News. In this letter, he once again denied any part in the crime. His words seemed to design a deflect suspicion to keep himself out of the spotlight. But why

[00:26:21] did he feel the need to defend himself in such a public way? He was already spending his life behind bars, so why did he care? Despite two more rounds of questioning by the police, John Cannon's role in Susie's disappearance, it remains shrouded in doubt. John Cannon's connections to violent crimes, his eerie timing, and his unrelenting behavior, they only added more weight to the suspicion that he may have had something to do with Susie's fate.

[00:26:50] But there's never been anything solid to connect him directly to Susie's disappearance. Sadly, Susie was officially declared dead in 1993, and she's presumed to have been murdered. By who? We still don't know. When a person vanishes, they leave behind a trail of heartbreak, confusion, and often a profound silence. But for the family of Susie Lamplaw, that silence has been

[00:27:20] deafening, stretching on for decades, and only deepening the mystery surrounding her disappearance. Susie's mother, Diana, wrote five years after her daughter's disappearance, quote, there has not been a single trace of her, nothing, just as though she has been erased by a rubber. But for Diana and her family, the fight for answers, it's never stopped. In 2002, after years of investigation, the Crown Prosecution

[00:27:49] Service decided that there simply was insufficient evidence to charge John Cannon with Susie's murder. But the story didn't end there. That same year, in an unprecedented move, Scotland Yard held a press conference naming Cannon as the man that they believed was responsible for Susie Lamplaw's death. Their suspicion of him was clear, but the evidence, just not enough to bring him to trial. In 2006, Scotland Yard reaffirmed their belief,

[00:28:19] stating once again that Cannon was the prime suspect. They were steadfast in their pursuit, even when Cannon, a man who had been locked away for many years, complained publicly that he was devastated and distressed by the police's public naming of him. Despite Cannon's protests, he has remained the key figure in Susie's case. In the final years of his life, John Cannon, stricken with cancer, he was receiving end-of-life palliative care behind bars.

[00:28:49] Yet despite pleas from Susie's family for him to come clean to reveal the truth of what had happened to their daughter, Cannon remained silent. His death in prison came before investigators could find the evidence they'd been seeking to confirm what they had long suspected, that John Cannon was the man who took Susie Lamplaw's life. In 2018, detectives even conducted an excavation at Cannon's mother's former home, hoping to uncover any

[00:29:19] evidence that might give them the answers they so desperately sought. But once again, they found absolutely nothing. As Susie's parents grew older, the mystery of their daughter's fate remained an unrelenting burden. Both Diana and Paul spent the rest of their lives searching for answers, clinging to the hope that one day they would learn the truth. But tragically, both died without ever knowing what had happened to their beloved daughter Susie.

[00:29:48] Diana, after years of battling Alzheimer's and a stroke, she passed away in 2011. Paul, having spent decades searching for his daughter, died in 2018, surrounded by his children. He was given awards for his tireless efforts in the fight for personal safety, but the one thing he longed for, a resolution to Susie's case, it never came. In December of 1986, just months after Susie vanished,

[00:30:18] her parents, Diana and Paul, they had established the Susie Lamplaw Trust. Diana devoted her life to improving personal safety for others, focusing specifically on issues like stalking and harassment. Her belief? That Susie had been a victim of stalking, and that the act of stalking needed to be brought to the forefront of public consciousness. Through their foundation, Diana and Paul Lamplaw, they campaigned for safer streets,

[00:30:48] for better education, and for greater awareness of the dangers that women face every single day. The Susie Lamplaw alarm, a small rape alarm that became synonymous with her legacy, it was handed out to generations of students at universities, a reminder of the importance of safety in a world that often felt unsafe. But despite their work, despite their tireless efforts, the Lamplaw family, they never found peace. Diana's

[00:31:18] wish to know what had happened to her daughter, it went unanswered. And as the years have passed, Susie Lamplaw's disappearance, it remains one of the most haunting unsolved mysteries in British criminal history. Today, Susie's case, it's still open. The name John Cannon, it lingers in the shadows of the investigation, but with no new evidence, the police are left with a grim reality. They may never truly

[00:31:48] know what happened to Susie that day in 1986. All that's left are the memories, the questions, and the legacy of a young woman whose life was stolen far too soon. That's it for me tonight. If you want to reach out, you can find me on Facebook at Serial Napper. You can find my audio on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. I post all of my episodes in video format over on YouTube, so go check it out. And if

[00:32:18] you're watching on YouTube, I'd love if you can give me a thumbs up and subscribe. I'm also on Patreon. If you'd like to get your Serial Napper episodes early and ad-free, hop on over and check out all the details at patreon.com slash Serial Napper. Until next time, sweet dreams, stay kind, especially in the comments. Bye.

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