Julie Finley, 23, screamed ‘help me, help me, for god’s sake, help me’ to a witness who has never come forward before she was strangled and dumped in a carrot field
Detectives investigating the unsolved murder of a young woman 32 years ago hope advances in DNA technology can crack the case.
Julie Finley was picked up in Liverpool before being strangled and dumped naked in a carrot field near Rainford, Lancashire, on August 6, 1994. The 23-year-old had screamed “help me, help me, for god’s sake, help me” to a witness who fled after he was threatened by her killer.
Howard Rubbery, Head of Merseyside Police’s Serious Crime Review Unit, said: “Following advances in forensic science, we are currently in the process of taking DNA from individuals identified from the initial investigation for elimination purposes.”
As Mr Rubbery makes a fresh appeal for witnesses the Daily Mirror looks at the three decade mystery.
THE DISAPPEARANCE
Julie came from a close-knit Catholic family and had wanted to become a hairdresser. But she fell victim to the heroin epidemic that swept through Liverpool in the 1980s and 90s and became addicted to the drug.
Her lifestyle had taken its toll and by the time of her murder 5ft 2in Julie weighed just 6st. In the months before her death Julie had been staying at the homes of friends in the Toxteth area of Liverpool – sleeping on the floor.
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She had previously lived with her parents, Pat and Albie, in the Dovecot area of the city. Julie had been with her boyfriend on the night she died before going out alone.
She was seen at around 10.30pm on Friday August 5, 1994, near the Royal Liverpool Hospital, talking to a white man, of average build, aged in his 20s or 30s.
Another witness who came forward later said he saw a young woman arguing with a man at about 12.30am outside the Wheatsheaf public house in Rainford, around ten miles outside of Liverpool. This was just yards from where Julie’s body would later be found. The unknown man was attempting to force the young woman into a white Transit van.
THE DISCOVERY
Julie’s body was discovered at 1.30pm the next day and the pathologist called to the scene estimated she had died between midnight and 1am. She had been dumped in a field alongside a lay-by off the A570 dual carriageway near the village of Rainford. Her clothing was missing.
“A cyclist who had stopped to relieve himself stumbled across her,” said Det Chief Inspector Francis Youell, who led the murder hunt for many years. “At first he didn’t realise it was a human body – she looked so frail.”
Police believed Julie was killed elsewhere, potentially in a vehicle, and her body brought to the spot where it was dumped. A pathologist found that it was likely she was killed by a compression to the neck with a weapon that was around an inch wide.
In the early stages, a core team of 15 detectives worked tirelessly to probe the mystery killing and, in the first six months, more than 40 men were questioned. Twenty people were arrested over the years but nobody has ever been charged.
DNA
A mixed DNA profile has been obtained from exhibits taken from the crime scene but it is not known if it belongs to the killer. The sample does not match anyone on the national DNA database.
Mr Rubbery said of the DNA clue: “This is just one line of inquiry that we may carry out for unsolved murders. Let me be clear – the investigation into Julie’s murder, as with every unsolved murder, is not closed.
“Our Serious Crime Review Unit (SCRU) regularly reviews cases, often spanning decades, to identify new forensic opportunities or fresh lines of inquiry. We remain as determined as ever to get justice for Pat and the rest of Julie’s family.
“Families of the bereaved are at the forefront of our reviews and we will always look to contact them if there is a development in a case. We are also always willing to speak to families if they want to contact us with any questions or concerns they may have.
“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal once more for anyone with information about Julie’s murder to come forward.
“There are people out there who know exactly what happened and we need them to find the courage and do the right thing by coming forward. You may have previously felt unwilling to come forward but as the years go by, allegiances change, people move away, and you may now feel more comfortable providing information.
“Any piece of information could be the key to progressing this investigation, however trivial you think it may be.
“We know that people can be reluctant or fearful in coming forward, but please be rest assured there are special measures that we can put in place to protect witnesses.”
CHRISTOPHER HALLIWELL
The Mirror has previously established that double killer Christopher Halliwell was living four miles from the spot where Julie was found at the time of the murder.
He was working fitting windows and driving a D-reg white Transit van like the one spotted at the scene. In a 1995 interview which emerged last year the lead officer in the case said the van was a D, E or F reg.
Swindon taxi driver Halliwell, 60, murdered Becky Godden-Edwards, 20, in January 2003 and buried her body in a field. She was found in 2011 when he took detective Steve Fulcher to the spot after his arrest for killing office worker Sian O’Callaghan, 22.
Like Halliwell’s victims, Julie was small, in her early 20s and alone when lured into a vehicle, murdered and dumped in a rural spot in a neighbouring police force area.
Other unusual characteristics that bore the killer’s hallmark was the fact there was no sign of an overt sexual attack, her clothes were missing and a solid object had apparently been thrust into her neck. Like Sian, Julie was found face down in bushes.
Julie’s mum Pat, 81, said in 2024: “I just want the police to go and interview him in prison about our Julie. He’s doing life so he’s not going to get any extra time if he admits it.”
THE MYSTERY HITCHHIKER
In the months after the murder a motorist said he was told by a hitchhiker that he had seen a naked woman screaming for help in a van at the same layby.
He said he could hear bangs and screams coming from the vehicle and saw a young woman who screamed: “Help me, help me, for god’s sake help me”.
The hitchhiker, who was in his mid-20 with short blond hair and was believed to be from St Helens with a grandfather in Ainsdale, has never come forward.
Det Chief Insp Francis Youell told the BBC’s Crimewatch in November 1995: “Certain things he told the driver, I and I alone know, other than anybody who was at the scene of Julie’s murder. I firmly believe that he was the last person to see Julie alive other than the killer, that he spoke to Julie and that the man he confronted was Julie’s killer.”
The detective said the van had a “D,E or F” registration, meaning it was made between 1986 and 1989. Pat said Mr Youell had been committed to solving Julie’s case before he died. But she said: “If someone knows something, can they please come forward and give us some peace.”
Remembering her husband Albie who passed away in 2019, she said: “He died without getting justice. I’m 79 now and I want justice before I go.”
If you have any information, please DM @MerPolCC, call 101 or contact @CrimestoppersUK anonymously via social media, by calling 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information .”
