True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

 I had heard about this case a few years ago and stumbled across it on my list of cases to cover last week. I was surprised to see that nobody else had covered the case so far so I thought it was important to share this story in the hopes that other true crime bloggers, podcasters or youtubers would pick it up, I feel it's important that the victim in this case be remembered and for nobody to ever forget what an evil, sadistic man, Darren Vickers is. 

This is my 66th case and I want to warn you that it is going to be quite a harrowing read. I will be talking about the death of a child and the horrific manner in which the death occurred, To read about a murder is always hard but when the victim is a child it is even more difficult to take. 

Jamie Lavis had the face of an angel with a cheeky smile, he was so small, almost like a tiny little doll at just 4 feet tall. He was so small that despite being 8 years old, his mum Karen had to dress him in clothes made for 5 to 6 year olds. He was a bundle of fun and typical of a boy of his age, when he wasn't watching cartoons he was outside searching for a new adventure. 

Jamie grew up on a notorious area known as Openshaw in Manchester, England. It was May 1997 and kids would often go out to play in the street but on this particular Bank Holiday Monday, Jamie was hanging around the street bored and looking for something else to do. Being the little adventurer as he was, he headed to the bus station, like a lot of boys his age, buses, trains, cars, they all fascinated him.

That very night on the 5th of May 1997, little Jamie Lavis didn't come home. When he didn't return at 5pm for his dinner, his parents became concerned but thought he would come through the door at any minute thinking he just got held up playing with friends. As the clock stuck 8 pm their fears began to grow stronger and his parents and family took to the streets to look for him. After a couple of hours and no sign of him, they called the police.

The next few days were anxiety ridden with his family wondering where he was, imagining the worst, the police coming to the house back and forth and his mother, Karen appealed for information via a TV appeal for any help on her son's whereabouts. 

Phone calls and tips of various alleged sightings of Jamie were passed onto the police but it all came to nothing, Jamie's family were beside themselves with worry. 

Nobody could understand how this little boy could go out to play like he always did and not return home.

The days that followed and the more time that Jamie was gone, the more and more people were imagining the worst.

But one day, Jamie's sister was approached by a man who claimed to have seen Jamie. This man was a 28 year old local bus driver who made a statement to the family and the police that he saw Jamie on his bus. He told them that the child had bought an 'All Day Rider' ticket and spent quite a while on the bus before being dropped off near his home.

This man who's name was Darren Vickers came across as such a nice man, he just wanted to help the family and felt that his information could somehow help the police with their investigation. Darren couldn't have been any nicer, he offered to help the family any way that he could and soon he was being invited over for dinner and ended up moving into the family home. 

Darren, apparently wanted to take the stress off of the family by doing all of the appeals for Jamie, he did tons of interviews on the family's behalf and had elected himself as their official spokesperson. The family seemed to think of him as an absolute Godsend and began to rely on him. Rumours also went around the local community that Karen and Darren were having an affair (which she has always denied), the police however were not convinced that Darren Vickers was the nice guy he was painting himself out to be.

There was discrepancies in his statement about seeing Jamie on the day that he went missing, he claimed that Jamie had come onto the bus with a ticket, however, CCTV footage from the bus station emerged showing Darren leaving his bus to approach the little figure who was Jamie. He was seen following Jamie around and playing with the little boy's hair before going onto the bus with him. Witnesses on the bus that day also came forward and described how Jamie was having the time of his life as Darren was letting him play with the ticket machine and sit in the drivers booth with him. 

The ''All Day Rider'' ticket that Darren had claimed that Jamie had bought was not issued to children and Jamie did not have a ticket that day. Further investigation into Darren's background also led police to his work references which were all fake contacts apart from one referee who turned out to be a convicted paedophile. 

Darren, the nice guy, suddenly became the prime suspect and Jamie's family were outraged. They believed that the police were clutching at straws and couldn't come up with anything so they were just focusing on Darren for the sake of it. When Darren was at the police station, the family were outside waiting for him, supporting him. When no further evidence turned up and the police let him go, the family held a party at their house for him.

To the police and no doubt some of the local members of the community who suspected that Darren Vickers was not all that he seemed, this was shocking and unbelievable.

Darren Vickers must have thought he was very clever having the family at his beck and call and I don't want to come across as feeling any negativity towards the family, at the end of the day they were worried sick about Jamie, their minds were all over the place and this man was a master manipulator. The net was closing in on Darren, his constant courting of the local media and TV appearances backfired on him. Two teenagers who had spotted him on TV reported to the police that he had tried to abduct them one night.

This report led to the police taking Darren back to the station where they pressed him for hours about Jamie. The police asked the two teenagers where Darren was the night he tried to abduct them and the police were directed to a wooded area. Investigators and a forensic team were then sent to this location to do a thorough search. 

During the search of the woods the police found some pieces of clothing that matched the clothes that Jamie was wearing on the day that he went missing. When they took the wet materials back to the forensic lab for further testing, a piece of human jaw bone was found entangled in the clothing. 

Unfortunately the jaw bone and the pieces of clothing had indeed been identified as belonging to Jamie Lavis. It became clear that Jamie had been abducted, murdered and dismembered. The majority of Jamie's remains were never found. 

When Darren was charged and taken to court, he denied guilt and began making a number of allegations against Jamie's family including that he and Karen had been having an affair and that she was pregnant with his child. He also tried to pin the blame on Jamie's father. Karen later said that she had a DNA test done on her child just to prove that Darren was lying and to silence the local gossips who believed that she had been having an affair with him.

Darren Vickers was sentenced to life for the murder of Jamie Lavis in April of 1999. Darren confessed that he abducted, sexually abused, murdered and dismembered the little boy.

It was shocking and sickening that this vile creature was able to pull the wool over the eyes of the family for 5 months during the search for Jamie. I can't imagine what that must feel like for the family. They had their son's murderer living in their house, sitting at their dinner table. The horrible details of what this sick individual did to Jamie is too much to bear. 

In 2014, Darren Vickers was the victim of a random hammer attack at Frankland Prison in Durham. He suffered skull fractures and spent some time in hospital but made a full recovery....unfortunately.

As I mentioned earlier, this case was a very heavy going one to cover but I wanted to share Jamie's story. It's so heartbreaking and this story is so unbelievable. 

As well as being my 66th true crime case that I have covered, this will also be my last post on this blog for 2020, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of the support over the past 12 months and I look forward to bringing you more content in 2021. All the best for New Year and have an amazing Christmas.

RIP Jamie. 

Further Reading & Sources:

- Darren Vickers Article | The Northern Echo Newspaper

- The Lavis Case Article | Manchester Evening News

- Article On The Case | The Guardian Newspaper

- Darren Vickers Trial | The Independent Newspaper

- Darren Vickers Article | Daily Mail Newspaper

- Killers: Documentary

Thank you for taking the time to read my latest post. See you in the next one x

For my 65th post, I decided I would cover this horrific and truly shocking murder case from here in the UK which took place back in 1998. Some of the details that I will be sharing are quite disturbing so please keep that in mind and you're welcome to skip over this case if it gets too much. 

First of all, just a reminder that you can help support my work, if you enjoy my weekly posts by donating here or if you would like more exclusive content, personal posts etc, check out Kofi or my Patreon page. For all of my social media platforms, please click here. For all enquiries, please email me at: caledoniankblog@yahoo.co.uk or jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com 

So let's go back to the late 1990s in Southport, on the coast of Merseyside in the UK and let me share a brief background of the case...

Beautiful Lynsey Wilson was just 17 years old when she found herself pregnant, she had been in a long term relationship that turned sour and was facing the prospect of starting motherhood on her own. Her family supported her as much as they could but still, it was a daunting time for her at such a young age. Lynsey was always a friendly, outgoing girl who also had a shy side and a maturity about her. She was never involved in any trouble and pretty much kept herself to herself. She was just like any typical teenage girl, she loved makeup, music and spending time with friends.

When she got half way into her pregnancy, insecurities began to sink in further and she was very vulnerable and at times felt very alone not because of her family but the idea of being a single mother, would she be able to meet someone else who would accept that she already had a child? It was at this point, about five months into her pregnancy that she met a 20 year old man by the name of Mitchell Quy. He had a confidence about him and he seemed to latch onto Lynsey straight away. 

Lynsey was over the moon, she though she'd found this amazing guy who loved her and was willing to help bring up the baby as his own. Mitchell was such a gentleman and very sweet to Lynsey, the pair fell deeply in love and it wasn't long until they were both living together and married within weeks. Lynsey's family were concerned, it was good for them to see Lynsey so happy but they felt that it was all moving to fast, plus there was something about Mitchell that they couldn't put their finger on...he seemed too nice to be true. In their minds, all that mattered was that Lynsey was happy and they supported her and the relationship.

The family had a right to be concerned because on the very night of their wedding, the pair were at each other's throats. Mitchell flew into a rage out of nowhere and Lynsey was devastated that he managed to ruin what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their lives. Once he calmed down he managed to get around her with apologies and sweet talk. She thought it was just a one off, pressure because of the wedding, something like that. She forgave him and tried to focus on the future ahead with him as her husband.

It became clear though as time went on that this was not an isolated incident, Mitchell was like a yo-yo with his moods, one minute he'd be up, the next he would be down and his temper was terrible. He was really paranoid and controlling of her, he had to know where she was at all times. He would have the nerve to constantly accuse Lynsey of cheating on him when in fact it was him who was going around sleeping with other women behind her back. The relationship was a nightmare and every time he flew into a rage he would come crawling back to her, begging forgiveness and they would make love and then the next day he'd be upset about something else and the whole cycle would start again.

In amongst all of this drama, Lynsey found herself being sick in the mornings and realised that she was pregnant again. It was a very difficult time for her, she already had one child and to be fair to Mitchell, he did act like a father but the prospect of having a child with him was not something she wanted but he convinced her that he was going to change his ways but she decided on her own that she would have an abortion. When he found out about this he went crazy and physically and verbally assaulted her before grabbing his things and storming out of the house. Mitchell never forgave her for what he later said publicly in an interview as ''Killing our baby''. 

Lynsey was glad to see the back of him and her family breathed a sigh of relief but five months later, Mitchell was back on the scene. It's unclear how he managed to persuade her or what he said but he ended up moving back in and the pair were planning on having a baby together.

Things seemed to be going well and Lynsey fell pregnant as planned. One day she went out to run some errands and went she returned to the house she was met with utter chaos. Mitchell had gone berserk and turned the house upside down, threw a TV though one of the windows, destroyed furniture, smashed ornaments, ripped doors off of their hinges before going outside and smashing up the car. The house looked like a bomb had been dropped on it and the damage cost several hundreds of pounds to repair, as a result, both Lynsey and Mitchell were told to move out of the property and Lynsey wanted nothing to do with him.

Despite all of the stress and drama, Lynsey was able to give birth to a healthy baby boy and with the help of a local woman's charity, she was able to find a new home for her and the children. For a while she was like her old self again, the kids seemed happy, she seemed happy but there was a worry in the back of her mind that Mitchell would find out where she was an spoil everything. 

Around this time, Mitchell had made a number of threats that he was going to kill Lynsey so she had an injunction taken out on him as a way to protect herself and the children. 

It's not known who managed to contact who but a few months later, Lynsey was on the phone with Mitchell and he was begging and pleading to see his son on his birthday. Lynsey eventually gave in to the annoyance of her friends and family who felt that she and the kids were doing so well without him in their lives.

The cycle repeated itself and soon Lynsey found herself at the other end of Mitchell's temper tantrums and she often recorded her thoughts and incidences that took place in a private diary she had hidden from him. She now felt like a complete prisoner because of him and friends and family couldn't understand why she had taken him back and because of his hostile behaviour towards them they felt uncomfortable to visit the house.

Her sister did visit her not knowing that it would be the last time that she saw Lynsey alive. Even though Mitchell was in the house at the time and making it pretty clear that he didn't want her sister there, they continued to have a quick chat and a drink. When Lynsey went to say goodbye to her sister at the front door she slipped a note into her hand before going back into the house.

Her sister put the note in her bag and opened it when she got home, it said: ''Please help me! Get me out of here.''

In December of that year (1998) Lynsey and the kids were excited about Christmas and spent the beginning of the month getting bits and pieces ready for the house, Lynsey was determined to make Christmas really special for the kids despite the horrible atmosphere at home. She did see some other members of her family around the 13th of December and she seemed to be in good spirits, however, when her family tried to contact her on Christmas Eve to arrange dropping gifts off for the children, Mitchell turned up on their doorstep with the kids instead claiming that Lynsey was going out with friends. He told her mother that he suspected Lynsey was having an affair and called her a ''psycho''.

Despite Mitchell's strange behaviour and negativity about Lynsey, her mother didn't take it too much on board as he was always like that and she handed over the gifts and he left. Obviously over Christmas, Lynsey's family may have been expecting a phone call or something from Lynsey but there was no word from her at all.

Surprisingly, even though weeks had gone on without a word or appearance of Lynsey, she wasn't reported missing until the 5th of February 1999 and that was by a concerned social worker after not being able to get in touch with her for weeks.

Mitchell played the part of the concerned husband and claimed that Lynsey had walked out on him and the kids for another man. His story didn't sit right with anyone who knew Lynsey personally, they knew she would never leave her children ever. 

It seemed that Mitchell was enjoying all the attention a little too much and seemed to almost have a smirk on his face a lot of the time. He did endless interviews and dragged Lynsey's name though the mud. He claimed to be the long suffering husband who had to deal with this woman who (in his words) ''killed'' their baby. He let TV cameras into the house to film an interview with him and he said (about the police): ''I know they are clutching at straws but what do they think, that I shagged her to death?'' (Shagged is an English term for sexual intercourse). 

All he could talk about during the interviews was himself and downplayed a lot of his destruction in the relationship, when a reporter asked him if he had killed his wife he said: ''I'm not going to answer that question because I don't need to''. He brands the question as ''stupid'' before adding (with a smile on his face), ''wait and see''. 

This whole performance from Mitchell carried on for 18 months, he even claimed that he had seen Lynsey around town, being driven in an expensive car or talking with another man and that she had walked out on him and the children on Christmas Day.

The police were at their wits end because although they suspected him, they had no evidence of foul play. Her family also believed that Lynsey had died at the hands of Mitchell Quy.

Various searches around the house and the local area by investigators, family, friends and volunteers provided no clue to what really happened to Lynsey. 

The police discovered that Mitchell had been cashing Lynsey's welfare cheques and arrested him for fraud. They tried to get him on a number of charges for her murder but because of the lack of evidence the majority of the charges were dropped. His punishment for being found guilty of fraud was community service in a local charity shop and he said at the time ''Me having to do this and leaving me with the kids, I wouldn't piss on her if she was on fire.''

The police were not going to leave it there though and the investigation into Mitchell continued, they believed that he killed his wife and were going to stop at nothing to find out what really happened to her and finally put him behind bars where he belonged. Mitchell had his own ideas though and being as over-confident, arrogant and cocky as ever, he continued to court media attention and play the husband who had been so wronged by his wife and the police.

Mitchell even resorted to taunting the lead investigator of the case, badmouthing the gentleman and also sending him a bottle of hair dye to (in his words) ''cover up his greys and help his confidence.'' He also sent Christmas cards to the police. 

Investigators discovered that Lynsey had made an appointment with a divorce lawyer on the 15th of December 1998 but didn't show up. She was seen publicly for the last time the day before as she had visited a local Post Office as a welfare cheque had gone missing (which Mitchell had stolen). 

It's unknown how events transpired between Lynsey and Mitchell on the 14th of December but police found that she had contacted authorities about the missing cheque and she was looking to divorce Mitchell. It is believed that an argument occurred between the pair with Lynsey telling him it was over for good. 

With the net closing in, Mitchell was taken in again for questioning and managed to keep the performance up for 36 hours but eventually he gave up and admitted he did kill Lynsey.

On the 8th of June 2000, Mitchell Quy was finally charged with the murder of his wife. He'd admitted to strangling her but the horror didn't end there, it just got worse. Together with his brother Eliott, they dismembered Lynsey's body in a bath tub. Mitchell told the police that he cut Lynsey's head off, her hands and legs off whilst his brother held the bags open. The children were in the house when all of this was going on. 

Mitchell took investigators to the places where he had dumped parts of Lynsey's remains. Her head and hands were never found. Mitchell was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum tariff of 17 years and his brother Eliott was sentenced to 7 years. His brother is now out of prison but Mitchell is still behind bars after a  couple of attempts at parole were rejected. Mitchell's life behind bars has also been full of trouble with accusations that he has bullied fellow prisoners as well as substance misuse issues. 

A psychiatric nurse who encountered Mitchell in prison claimed that Mitchell made a sick joke about where he had buried one of his wife's body parts. Mitchell Quy had never shown an ounce of remorse for what he has done.

A petition was set up, which is still live and currently has over 27,000 signatures (please sign) to keep Mitchell behind bars. His next chance at parole could be as early as January 2021 (I will keep an eye on any updates). Lynsey's family are concerned because the prison system has been trying to deal with the Covid-19 situation and there's been talk of certain prisoners being paroled and having early release. We recently seen the early release of Mairead Philpott (read about her case here) to the shock and outrage of the British public. 

In my opinion Mitchell Quy should never be released, he is a dangerous, manipulative individual who murdered a beautiful young woman who had her whole life ahead of her, took a mother away from her children, emotionally tortured her family, wasted police time and stole Government money. His horrible personality and evil ways have continued behind bars. He is bad news and it would be a big mistake for him to be released.

This story is as heartbreaking as it is sickening. Mitchell managed to gain control of Lynsey from a young age and manipulated her. She was abused physically and psychologically by him. He should not be allowed near women.

My heart goes out to her children and family. RIP Lynsey.

Thank you for taking the time to read my latest case, I will be sharing my thoughts as well as extra bits of info on this case over on my Patreon page. 

See you in the next post (my 66th case) x 

Further reading & sources:

- Mitchell Quy Article | Liverpool Echo Newspaper

- Support For Lynsey & Family | Facebook Group

- Petition To Keep Mitchell Quy Behind Bars

- Article Ft Mitchell Quy | NewsWirral

- Mitchell Quy | Mirror Newspaper

- Mitchell Quy Article | Champ News

- Mitchell Quy Docu | Killers

- Mitchell Quy Clip | Investigation Discovery

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, hopefully I'll see you'll join me in the next one x