Eastbourne Murder Sites - Hollywell Shelter, Eastbourne Seafront

Murder Site

Hollywell Shelter, Eastbourne Seafront

Date - 22nd January 2005

Victim - Jennifer Kiely (1969-2005)

Murderer - Unknown

A Sad & Pathetic Death      March 2005
To many Eastbourne residents who had seen Jennifer Kiely shuffle through their town centre she was for all intents and purposes just another 'Mad Bag Lady' pushing around an empty childrens buggy containing items and food that she had  just pulled from the garbage tip, or sitting along the seafront drinking cheap cider with all the other town drunks and dropouts. An irritating and pathetic site to most "just another nutter on the scrounge". But according to a former partner John (pictured below) she enjoyed her life as a mother, bringing up her young family with him. She took her children to the park and was proud of her council house in Orpington, Kent.

But shortly after the birth of her third child, Christopher, in 1993, her life started to go wrong. 
That was 11 years ago.

Last month, her partially burnt body was found in a shelter on the seafront close to Beachy Head in Eastbourne, Sussex. She had been raped and stabbed 16 times.

When police began to investigate the background of the 35-year-old, they found that, on an official form, under the heading of family, "no next of kin" had been inserted.

Ms Kiely's story, up until her violent death, is typical of many other homeless adults suffering from mental illness.

In 1996, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which was becoming worse and had left her delusional and withdrawn. She eventually split up with John, who was given the custody of their children, two boys and a girl. Shortly afterwards, she vanished from their home and from their lives.

Despite numerous attempts by her family to trace Ms Kiely, she had made no contact with them for the past six years. After leaving Kent, Ms Kiely went to Brighton, where she sold The Big Issue magazine. In September 2003, she made her way to Canterbury and stayed in a sheltered-housing scheme run by the Scrine Foundation.

Lloyd Hobbard-Mitchell, the chief executive of the organisation, recalled: "She was co-operative. She was not aggressive or angry and kept  herself out of trouble".

In the meantime, her former partner John, daughter Yasmin 15,  and two sons  Andrew 12 and Christopher 11, had tried in vain to get a message to her to say that she was still loved.

Ms Kiely left Canterbury in September 2004 and made her way to Eastbourne.
 Largely built in the late 19th century as a resort for the Victorian upper classes, the town has split into two distinct parts. It remains a fashionable tourist resort and longer-term destination for young, London families looking for a change in lifestyle and cheaper housing, but it also has another side. Large housing estates, bedsit conversions and hostels for asylum-seekers provide a stark contrast to the upmarket image. It was into this second world that Ms Kiely moved.

Police said that while in Eastbourne Ms Kiely was befriended by a woman who let her sleep in her house and take a bath, but that she regularly chose to sleep in the open. She was often seen on the seafront late at night. She was considered to be extremely vulnerable.

John said of her: "She was a caring and friendly person who was left in a vulnerable position due to being affected by an illness. I wish that the family could have found her before this happened."

The police are still unsure what happened early on Saturday 22 January. They know that earlier she had taken a bath at the house where she often stayed, and then went into town. At about 1am she was walking along the seafront when she was probably confronted by her killer. Her body was found in the early hours by council workers in a thatched, half-timbered shelter overlooking the sea. Her killer built a bonfire in the shelter and set fire to the body in an attempt to destroy the evidence.

Two local men have been arrested but both have been released without charge.One theory is that it may have been a  Middle Eastern looking person seen running into the road early that morning, this would fit into the situation as no DNA would be available to the police from the growing number of illegal immigrants now making their home in the seaside town.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony O'Donnell, heading the murder hunt, said: "She was a housewife and mum of three young kids. They seemed to be her life and then she developed this mental health problem and eventually lost everything."

                                                                                                           










jenniferkielymurder