The Murder of Derek Saville

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Sources:
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/unsolved-murder-bus-driver-last-28170909
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/50-year-old-murder-case-reopened-2247261
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/wales-on-sunday/20231210/281809993676743
https://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/image_galleries/canon_pyon_exhumation_gallery.shtml?6
https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/missing-man-case-reopened-after-witness-claims-to-have-seen-a-grave-6593864.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dig-for-body-in-1954-murder-case-fr0p08j788p
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/6266630.stm
http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=1366&termRef=Derek%20Saville

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Pyon
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 – 1954), Sun 26 Dec 1954 Page 21 The busman Romeo posed a mystery
Birmingham Gazette, Wed December 15 1954
Sunday Dispatch, Jan 2 1955

Music credit:
S.D.D.C – Cause of Death
CO.AG Music – Father Marcus
CO.AG Music – Abandoned

S.D.D.C – Cause of Death
CO.AG Music – The Rake
CO.AG Music – Father Marcus
Kevin McLeod – Colorless Aura
Kevin McLeod – Ghost Story
Myuu – Collapse

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[Music] not much is publicly known about his early life however Derek savil was born Circa 1929 in abeni a momouth shire marketing Town located approximately 6 miles from the southern border between Wales and England abria Veni which is nestled by the black mountains within the southeast area of Breen Beacon National Park is known for its Rich history with the town being home to Roman remains medieval Mansions standing stones and castles and it is also known as the gateway to Wales it was December of 1954 and 25-year-old Derek savl known affectionately by his loved ones as cly was residing in Bush Bank a hamlet in herfordshire England approximately 35 miles north of his birthplace he was employed as a bus driver and was in a relationship with an 18-year-old woman named Ivy Wood a secretary who lived in the nearby Village Village of Canon Pion which sat approximately 1 mile from Bush Bank it was 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday the 7th of December 1954 and Derek kissed Ivy farewell at the front door of her home Corner House in Canon Pion the couple had spent the evening on a walk and also had a few drinks at the Nags Head the local public house Derek had visited his mother earlier that evening in newent in The Forest of Dean gloucestershire he had planned to walk back to his residence in Bush bank which would ordinarily take approximately 20 minutes however Derek who left Ivy’s home carrying a laundry bag failed to make it home that night Derek’s land lady Ethel Thomas was puzzled to find the next morning that his bed had not been slept in and following this she raised the alarm herfordshire police collected hundreds of statements and searched the village and surrounding fields and Woodland with the help of local volunteers but nothing of significance was found 60 policemen soldiers and Airmen aided in the search scouring the woods and scrub Land Two Rivers were also dragged but nothing was found the police appealed to Derek himself urging him him to contact his loved ones and promised that his Vanishing would not get him into any trouble with the authorities they strongly believed that Derek was alive and well the Winter Chill cloaked the country in frost and snow with Christmas marching closer the towns of Canon Pion Bush bank and back home in abeni was bustling with Shoppers who were on the hunt for not only Christmas gift s but cozy warm nuks to relax in with cups of apple cider where words of Derek’s disappearance traveled between uneasy locals with many people concerned that someone among them knew what had happened to him it was reported in the Birmingham Gazette that on the 14th of December a 12-hour search was conducted for Dereck with herfordshire police utilizing special constables and tracking dogs two German Shepherds Robbie and Bronx were utilized in the search for Derek they began scouring Ivy’s home through Canon Pion towards devil’s cave despite their best efforts nothing was found Ivy Wood told police that her boyfriend had been threatened by an unidentified man and it was possible that Derek may have been attacked Ivy stated in the Birmingham Gazette December 15th issue quote Derek was attacked in October of this year he was going home after seeing me when he heard something rustling in the Hedge when he turned he saw a man with his arm upraised Derek dropped his cycle to defend himself but the man jumped over the hedge and ran away Ivy continued quote I am terribly worried about his disappearance when he left me last Tuesday he was quite as usual there had been no trouble between us he is a nice quiet boy speaking of the last time she saw her boyfriend Ivy said quote we have been going about together for 3 months Derek called for me about 8:30 last Tuesday night we had a drink at the Village Pub where he was very popular as a member of the darts team and walked back to my home Derek was in his normal good space after chatting in the house with mother and me he left at 11:30 at the Garden Gate he kissed me his last words to me were good night dear see you tomorrow night when he did not arrive the next evening I thought he might have been called on for a different shift I am in a complete fog if Derek lost his memory and was wandering surely someone would have reported something about him by now it doesn’t look as though he has gone willingly speculation was rif and some thought the threatening man was an ex-boyfriend of Ivy however speculation was all it remained as this former partner denied any involvement in derk’s Vanishing he stated quote I know the gossips are saying that I was jealous of savil but it is all nonsense as far as I am concerned I broke off with her there is no question at all of jealousy I now have another girlfriend he said of the unidentified man who had threatened Derek quote the police saw me about it but it was not me I have a clear conscience on this whole matter I saw savil in Canon Pion on the night he vanished but that was quite early in the evening I was back home by 9:00 and stayed in listening to the radio I never went out again that evening on December 22nd reports emerged that police were searching for two stolen guns potentially linked to Derek’s disappearance these Firearms were reported missing from an out building at Holly Croft in tellington where Ivy’s ex-boyfriend had resided however it was noted that the guns had only vanished a week after Derek went missing the police believed the guns had been borrowed earlier and subsequently stolen rumors circulated in Canon pon suggesting that Derek’s friendship with a female had ruffled feathers and jealousy was suggested as a motive for his disappearance the landlord of the Nags Head Pub Richard Hardy stated that he had heard mumblings about a person who had been loitering in the village he further elaborated I understand this man is hanging about late at night and hiding behind trees I am told that on one occasion he jumped out on savil Derek savil was quot a ladies man and was seen as a charming and attractive young man who was popular with women in the area some people thought that because of this another man may have become jealous and caused Derek some sort of harm when Derek vanished his girlfriend Ivy Wood as well as four other women spoke of their experiences with Derek with the police reports suggested that Derek had proposed marriage to Ivy and 19-year-old Hazel Stokes both women had apparently told him to wait for their responses five women in total came forward identifying themselves as girlfriends of Derek Hazel said of Derek quote he was so Charming I was terribly fond of him I still am I suppose Ivy said quote he began going with me after after Hazel I know there were a lot of other girls women couldn’t help making a fuss of him David Harvey who dedicated himself to investigating Derek’s disappearance spoke with Derek’s mother and learned that the Widow and her son had a close relationship and if Derek had chosen to disappear he would have at least written a letter to her explaining his plans it became apparent that Derek had been fearful of a man who had threatened him further commenting that Derek had allegedly saved £18 in a thrift Club at the plow Inn and the sum was due to be paid out around 2 weeks after he vanished Derek also failed to collect his weekly salary David Harvey also uncovered that Derek’s bicycle had a puncture in one of the wheels and was stored in a garage in the bus facility where Derek worked David Harvey strongly believed that because no money had been collected and his belongings including his driver’s license were left untouched der savil had not disappeared of his own valtion but had been murdered as the investigation continued over 1,000 statements were collected Lorry drivers who passed through the village were also questioned in the hope that perhaps someone had picked Derek up however this line of inquiry was fruitless one witness statement in particular caught the attention of investigators on Christmas Eve 16-year-old Pat Knight who resided in the nearby Village of Wellington stated that as she cycled home at dusk on the 7th of December quote a shape jumped out behind her in a threatening manner this resulted in Pat cycling as fast as she could back home where loved ones noticed she was in distress due to the incident Derek’s sister spoke of her heartache as Christmas arrived with both she and her husband being forced to move out of their home quote we had been looking forward to spending our first Christmas together in our rooms in Railway Place coming on top of the worry about my poor brother this is a dreadful shock we do not know which way to turn we may go into a carav van we were told by the land lady that she could not have her name or house associated in any way with Derek’s disappearance the land lady commented that she was struggling to deal with the publicity and attention she received during that time as the New Year rang in and no answers had been found locals of Canon Pion took matters into their own hands and 25 days on from Derek’s disappearance they condu conducted their own searches believing too that Derek had been murdered newly married Mrs Brenda Piller of Norton Cannon another nearby Village made a statement to police which turned the tide in the investigation she told the police that on the night of the 7th of December she witnessed two men in a van these men allegedly said quote we are looking for savil to give him a beating up not long after this encounter the men reappeared and according to Brenda one of the men had a bloodstained shirt Brenda stated quote they told me my life wouldn’t be worth living if I said anything her husband Mr Piller had urged her to speak with police after it had become obvious to him that his wife was being troubled by something according to reports Mr Piner said he was certain that an individual had been stalking the area around their Cottage and as a result he began routinely sleeping with a loaded gun by the bedside the police discovered two soup buttons with fragments of dark fabric attached in a hedge approximately 200 yard from Derek’s last known location these items were sent for examination but no further information about the results have been disclosed unfortunately the the case went cold with Derek’s loved ones without answers as to what happened to the 25-year-old that fateful night in June 2007 it was announced that the case was to be reopened after lying dormant for decades officers from the West Mercia constabulary reopened the investigation after a new witness who now lives in Australia revealed that when he was 7 years old he saw his now deed father along with a group of four or five unidentified men digging what seemed to be a makeshift grave around the time of Derek’s disappearance the witness had been on holiday in the United Kingdom and made the decision to speak with the police about the horrific event he saw an excavation of the area in a field was carried out on a 20 M square area measuring 6 ft deep in early July the search was called off after no human remains were found a West mer police spokesperson stated quote there are other lines of inquiry that we will be following up so the investigation is still ongoing we still believe the evidence from the witness was credible and genuine that they believe what they saw investigating officers suspect that Derek savil may have been attacked and killed possibly unintentionally by some someone driven by jealousy the police have reportedly identified several suspects as reported in 2007 who at the time were between the ages of 70 and 90 another suspect known to have been threatened and intimidated Derek passed away in January 2007 after a long illness there have been no further updates on the case since and 70 years after Derek’s dis appearance his fate remains a mystery [Music]