Philip Saunders' Murder Remains Unsolved After Nearly Four Decades
Cardiff newsagent Philip Saunders was fatally attacked in 1987, and his murderer has yet to be identified.
Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing.
Philip Saunders was a familiar and well-liked figure at Cardiff's former bus station, where he operated a newspaper kiosk.
In October 1987, the 52-year-old was found severely injured in the back garden of his home following an assault involving a shovel.
The attack appeared to be a violent robbery aimed at stealing Saunders' day's earnings.
Three days after the assault, Saunders was taken off life support, and the incident was officially classified as a murder investigation.
Despite the passage of almost 40 years, the perpetrator remains unidentified.
South Wales Police has announced a renewed examination of evidence from the night of the attack, hoping that advances in forensic science might yield new leads to identify the responsible individual.
There has been an increasing trend of revisiting cold cases through a dedicated Forensic Opportunities Programme, an external initiative focusing on unsolved murders and rapes predating 2016.
Recent DNA technology breakthroughs have led to solving decades-old crimes, including a Scottish murder resolved through a cigarette butt and the identification of a rapist-killer in what was termed the UK's oldest cold case.
'A Kind-Hearted Man'
"Phillip Saunders was a kind-hearted individual whose life was unjustly taken, and the person or persons responsible have yet to be held accountable."
These words come from Michael O'Brien, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 11 years after being convicted of Saunders' murder.
O'Brien, along with Darren Hall and Ellis Sherwood, formed the group known as the "Cardiff Newsagent Three." All three were sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing before their convictions were overturned in 1999.
"Reopening this case will allow for the examination of all potential leads that were overlooked and the re-evaluation of the evidence with modern technologies,"O'Brien said.
"It's a chance to correct the narrative of this case and provide closure to those still affected by Phillip's tragic death, particularly his family."
Philip Saunders was described by his brother Ted and sister-in-law Marge as "a loving brother and a caring uncle," who unfortunately never reached the retirement he had worked hard to achieve.
Cardiff's central bus station, where Saunders operated his kiosk, has since been demolished and replaced by the Central Square office complex, but older residents still recall the newsagent and his presence.
On the evening of 12 October 1987, Saunders finished work around 9:30 pm and went to a pub on nearby St Mary Street for a drink.
He was carrying £500 in takings when he left the pub and headed to his home in Anstee Court, Canton.
However, an assailant awaited him, and Saunders was violently attacked and robbed before being left gravely injured outside his residence.
Investigators soon believed they had identified suspects, leading to the arrest and charging of the Cardiff Newsagent Three for murder and robbery.
The prosecution's case heavily relied on a confession from Darren Hall, who claimed to have been on lookout during a robbery that went wrong.
All three men—Hall (19), Sherwood (19), and O'Brien (20)—were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in June 1988.
However, in December 1999, their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal, which characterized Hall as living a "Walter Mitty" fantasy and exhibiting traits of a pathological liar.
The prosecution's own psychiatric expert acknowledged that Hall's admissions were "at risk of being unreliable."
Michael O'Brien, who was wrongfully convicted, later received a £300,000 settlement from South Wales Police, but for many years, prospects of identifying the true killer appeared slim.
This was despite the existence of an extensive case file containing over 20,000 documents, 90 witness statements, and physical evidence such as clothing recovered from the crime scene.
South Wales Police stated:
"South Wales Police is carrying out a review of exhibits to assess whether there is any potential for further forensic investigation. This work is being carried out by the force's Major Crime Review Unit in the hope that advances in forensic science will provide the breakthrough needed to identify who was responsible for Phillip Saunders murder in 1987.
Mr Saunders' family and others affected by this case have been informed and our thoughts continue to be with them."
Advances in Forensic Science Offer New Hope
Significant developments in DNA technology and other investigative methods across the UK suggest that the Saunders case could still be resolved.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice, established the Forensic Opportunities Programme in 2024.
The programme focuses on re-examining closed murder and rape cases from before 2016 where the offender remains unidentified.
A spokesperson for the CCRC explained:
"Our purpose is to find, investigate and refer potential miscarriages of justice, so it is imperative that we take advantage of opportunities offered by scientific developments to do that."
One notable example of forensic success involved the 1984 murder of Mary McLaughlin, who was found dead in her Glasgow flat on 2 October 1984.
Her killer was not identified until 2021, when DNA from a cigarette butt recovered at the scene provided the crucial evidence.
Another example is the resolution of what was previously considered the UK's oldest cold case: the 1967 murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in Easton, Bristol.
Following an extensive manhunt that included palm print collection from nearly every man in the area, the suspect remained unidentified for decades.
Ryland Headley, now aged 93, was eventually apprehended through DNA evidence and sentenced to prison last year.
Police believe that Saunders' killer may still be at large, and Michael O'Brien remains optimistic that the renewed investigation will bring justice.
"Because I met the victim's family and I've seen the pain they were going through, to get justice for them would be amazing, more so for them than myself,"O'Brien added.
