Page 13 of Making a Killing

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Infamous – possible lead

OK, this is what I’ve dug up so far. The kid’s name was Daisy Mason, and it was all over the UK press for weeks. As far as anyone could tell at the outset the whole thing seemed to come out of a blue sky – nice family, fancy neighbourhood in North Oxford. The kid – Daisy – was a dead ringer for JonBenét Ramsey. Blonde hair, blue eyes, the works. Looked like a ‘straightforward’ abduction, only turns out it wasn’t quite that simple. Pretty bloody dark, actually, but I’ll let the press coverage do the talking on that.

The parents are still getting trolled online, even now, but you can see why. The 2021 ep ofKiller Momsdoesn’t pull any punches either.

I’m guessing this Smith woman’s line is going to be that the mother really is as innocent as she keeps claiming. Though Jesus she comes over as a nasty piece of work, full-on Cruella de Vil (which would of course make her fabulous interview fodder, if it gets that far). There was also a seriously dodgy back-story from 1991 involving her and her kid sister in a boating accident that left the little kid dead (also attached). The prosecution made much of that at the trial, suggesting she was jealous of the sister and later jealous of the daughter in exactly the same way (the daughter and sister apparently looked incredibly alike – more good visuals).

The key exculpatory factor where she’s concerned is that they never found the body, so there’s no direct forensic link to the murder. The police had a working theory about where it was (which is pretty gruesome in itself) but they never found it, and still haven’t.

Anyway, I reckon it’s worth a few hours of a researcher’s time. And if this woman really does have something new …

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Daily Telegraph, 12th January 2017

Sunday Times, 15th January 2017

IMDb database

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Croydon Evening Echo, 3rd August 1991

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Importance: High

Date:Fri 24/05/2024, 11.07

From:Nick Vincent

To:Tarek Osman

Subject: Daisy Mason

OK, I’ll bite. Get someone on it. A Brit for preference, so we don’t get stiffed for the air fare.

Importance: High

Date:Fri 24/05/2024, 11.45

From:Tarek Osman

To:Nick Vincent

Subject: Re: Daisy Mason

Great. Leave it with me. I think someone told me Rob was planning a vacation in the UK around now. I’ll check. Kill two birds and all that.

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Adam Fawley

23 July 2024

08.15

‘You don’t need to read to me. I can read it myself.’

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