Eileen Cotter: Man, 80, convicted of manslaughter 49 years ago

A sex attacker has been convicted of the manslaughter of a woman nearly 50 years ago following a DNA breakthrough.

John Apelgren, 80, from south London, was found guilty of strangling Eileen Cotter, 22, following a two week trial.

The Old Bailey heard that DNA samples found on Eileen Cotter, who was a sex worker in north London, were a match with Apelgren.

The defendant was 31 when Ms Cotter was discovered in Hamilton Park, Highbury on 1 June 1974.

A pathologist found the cause of death was manual strangulation and that she had a black eye and bruising to the neck and face.

Apelgren was not found guilty of murder.

Prosecutor Alexandra Healy KC told the jury that it appeared Ms Cotter had been pushed out of a car after Apelgren had sex with her.

"Her body was discovered in the position it fell, without shoes, and with her tights and underwear still around her right leg," she told the court.

The cold case remained unsolved, but the investigation was re-opened in 2012 following advances in DNA profiling.

Samples that were originally taken in 1974 were used to extract DNA profiles, but the prime suspect at the time did not prove a match.

Then in February 2019 Apelgren was cautioned for an assault on his wife and his DNA became available to police for the first time.

Samples recovered from two places on Eileen Cotter's body matched Apelgren's DNA with a billion-to-one probability of a match.

The court also heard that Apergren had mistreated his then wife and applied force to her neck with both his hands on one occasion.

When interviewed in 2019 by police Apelgren claimed not to know Ms Cotter, but accepted he had sexual relations with other women during his marriage.

Apelgren was also convicted by the jury of a charge of indecent assault on 14 October 1972 which came to light as part of the police investigation into Ms Cotter's death.

The court heard that two years before he killed Ms Cotter, Apelgren had indecently assaulted an 18-year-old guest at his wedding reception.

The victim had not told anyone about the incident as she was afraid she would be blamed, the court heard.

Apelgren, who did not give evidence in his defence, will be sentenced on 23 June.

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