The Sinister Story of Kim Newell, Raymond Cook and The 1967 'Red Mini Murder'

and the other evening of March the 8th 1967 two men came across this scene of a crashed red mini car here near pepard in Oxfordshire next to it was a badly injured woman and leaning over her was a man seemingly giving her first aid still inside the car A man was sitting in a passenger seat dazed but otherwise unhurt the woman was rushed to hospital where she would ultimately die from her injuries though the crash seemed like a tragic accident the police immediately became suspicious on seeing the scene and the car the aptly named Constable Stephen Sherlock had been told that the women's injuries were caused by her being flung through the windscreen but oddly the screen was unbroken as the investigation progressed it would soon be revealed that all was not as it seemed this episode is sponsored by hellofresh if you're like me then lately you've found you have less and less free time to go food shopping well hellofresh have you covered with their wide selection of recipes and convenience 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June was 33 and Raymond 24 the pair tying the knot male Weeks Later which surprised June's family who thought she had married beneath herself after all June cook was a highly educated woman whose first husband eventually became a professor at a college in Cape Town South Africa meanwhile Raymond was an electrical engineer who had been forced to change Fields after his firm was closed becoming a student nurse this meant a huge cut in salary but despite their differences the cooks appeared happy June was often seen with Raymond at Social Gatherings and the two had camping holidays together in addition Raymond was often heard quoting June during lectures and discussion groups beginning his sentences with my wife thinks or my wife says within seven years the cooks had two sons whom June took to church every Sunday while non-religious Raymond stayed home or played football his work place boracort hospital had its own team and Raymond rarely missed a match despite his small salary Raymond loved his job at the hospital indeed his patients loved him but things began to change when surprisingly he failed to pass his finals the possibility of this had not even crossed his mind and according to his friends Raymond was shattered he lost interest in his job and began to take days off and even though he always handled his patients professionally his Flair was gone just at that lowest moment a new nurse candidate arrived for an interview at buttercourt the candidate was a bright 23 year old named Kim Newell who had brought her elder sister Jeanette to the hospital with her another nurse Myrtle Thompson was standing with Raymond when they noticed the pretty blonde and her companion and jokingly asked which one do you fancy Ray while Rey replied he didn't know he also couldn't take his eyes off Kim the once shy girl had grown up to be a beautiful young woman who had quite a reputation back in her hometown of wrexham she was known as the girl who could get out of anything just by talking so it was not just her looks that got Ken what she wanted needless to say Kim was quickly hired at Borough Court the hospital provided care and work for people with learning difficulties and psychiatric problems and as an assistant nurse she began delivering articles that patients made in therapy workshops to factories in and around reading Raymond happened to be working in one of these workshops and he and Kim grew quite friendly a month later on August the 5th the two saw each other for the first time outside the hospital when they attended a staff party at son in common that night Kim was dressed in a stunning black dress with a square cut neck and had her golden blonde hair up in a bouffant style Raymond was mesmerized even though he knew many other guests at the party he stayed glued to Kim the whole night as if there was nobody else in the room after the event the two were inseparable even at work as one of their co-workers recalled stating quote they never made any effort to hide anything it seemed they purposely went about together in public just out of bravado end quote soon other staff members would find themselves in the awkward situation of having to make up excuses when June cook called the hospital to look for her husband while he was out with Kim the hospital authorities eventually decided they were not going to tolerate such behavior and Kim was sacked however the affair continued now jobless Kim returned to her one-bedroom flat in Sydney Street Reading where she would play music loudly shout and argue late at night while others in the building tried to sleep she was in almost every way different than her Lover's wife but she and June both had dominating personalities unlike Raymond he lacked character and got hooked on Kim's way of living co-worker Angus McDonald stating once Raymond got the taste of it he couldn't give it up by now Raymond had admitted to his supervisor he was not happy in his marriage and wanted to get a divorce by September he was living with Kim paying her rent and bills spending way more money than he could afford over the course of five months he had spent a total of 1077 pounds which is equivalent roughly of 22 300 pounds today despite this heavy spending Raymond quit his job in December 1966. around this time Kim found out she was pregnant the idea of resigning had likely only become possible because the pair had come up with another more Sinister way of making money June cook was very well off she had assets worth 6 670 pounds the equivalent of 138 100 pounds today and she owned two houses at some point despite being the main Breadwinner June changed her personal account to a joint bank account so that Raymond could also access it perhaps trying to keep him happy and save their marriage but when he moved in with Kim that Arrangement was quickly withdrawn she also made a new will cutting out her husband and leaving everything to their children Before Christmas Raymond and Kim visited friends Cleland and Myrtle Thompson the conversation eventually turned to Raymond's situation with his wife and Cleland asked him if he was going to return home but Kim didn't let her lover answer instead she replied herself saying she had told her and he had to choose her or June needless to say he decided to stay with Kim but what really stood out of all the things that two couples talked about that day was Kim mentioning an argument she had had with June she claimed she had visited her Lover's wife at her home and the conversation had escalated into a fight she told the Thompsons that June was a [ __ ] who had a lot of money but didn't know what to do with it and added she would kill June if she thought she could get away with it and if she knew anyone who would do it for money while nobody can say for sure what she had said sounded a lot like bait as if she was testing whether Cleland would offer to kill June for her but instead he replied you talk nonsense like that if you kill her you'll have no life to live at all Kim and Raymond visited the Thompsons again after Christmas shortly after they had learned June had changed her will this time Kim said she wanted Raymond to return to his wife so that June would agree to include him in the will again in his favor and that is exactly what happened on January the 21st 1967. Raymond went back to his wife and June changed her will to read I give and bequeath all my wills chattels and personal property whatsoever to my husband Raymond Sydney cook June also mentioned their children who were to get 500 pounds each but of course the will alone didn't do much for Raymond's current situation he needed the money now he didn't have time to wait for his wife's natural death he had Kim just lacked the courage to implement the next phase of their plan and for that reason Kim contacted a 42 year old man named Eric Jones Kim and Eric met for the first time when she was just 15 years old and lived in the same area in wrexham the two eventually began a sexual relationship which resulted in Kim becoming pregnant at the age of 17. the pregnancy was aborted by Eric and now Kim was going to use that detail to her Advantage with Raymond and toe she met with Eric and a Chinese restaurant in wrexham during their conversation Eric boasted about a rather disturbing Talent he said he was good at removing wives and losing them from that point forward the three began seriously discussing how to get rid of June cook eventually a plan began to form it was decided that a faux car crash was the best option as June was insured for 1 000 pounds in the event of an accident in effect the insurance would pay the cost of the Hitman however the question of how they would actually go about actioning their plan remained the treacherous Trio went through four separate iterations of their plot such as running June's mini car into the river D in North Wales but there was always something that didn't work out eventually Kim grew frustrated with Eric who she felt was making excuses she called him and threatened to contact his wife and expose him for the abortions he had performed on her there had been at least four of them Eric didn't have any other choice than to get the deed done on March the 8th 1967 Raymond and June dined here at The George Hotel in Pangborn perhaps June was thinking everything would turn out all right in the end after all unaware that the man she loved was plotting her death the real reason Raymond had brought her here for dinner was to ply her with alcohol as June and Raymond were driving home and her red mini Eric Jones flagged them down and Ramah hedge would pretending that his car a blue Ford Cortina had broken down the pair stopped and as June knelt down to examine the damage she was struck several times across the back of the head with a carjack during June was then bundled back into the red mini which was driven further down the road and into a tree attic and Raymond then began setting the scene with her head injuries so severe they were going to pretend that she had flown through the windscreen and hit the tree she was dragged out of the mini but before they could complete the setup two men arrived at the scene offering their help they found Eric Jones hovering over June's body they assumed offering first aid as they approached Jones told them that he would go to his car to get some blankets he never returned later Constable Sherlock received a call about the accident with him arriving at the scene around 10 50 p.m he noted the large amount of blood in the vehicle in comparison to how little actual damage there was the front bumper had come off a headlight was broken and part of the front Wing had bent down onto the tire the windscreen however was intact Sherlock returned home but at around midnight he rang the hospital to check on June and Raymond's condition he was told that June had died of her injuries while Raymond was seemingly unharmed though he seemed dazed and incoherent the Constable then decided to pay a visit to the hospital to view June's injuries and speak to Raymond he was shocked at the extent of Mrs Cook's injuries but seeing that Raymond was shook up but otherwise unharmed he offered him a lift-back home though the doctors had said he seemed incoherent and seemed junk Sherlock noted that Raymond gave clear and concise directions back to his house whilst talking to Raymond Sherlock discovered that June's parents lived next door so he decided that it would be best to let them know the tragic news of their daughter's death while speaking with them it became very clear what they thought of Raymond with that Constable Sherlock decided it would be prudent to investigate what kind of person Raymond cook was and it didn't take long for him to learn about the affair with Kim Newell with suspicion Rising June's body was re-examined initially the pathologist who had not seen the accident scene had said her head injuries were caused by her flying through the windscreen and hitting the tree this was of course impossible as the screen was intact and a second examination revealed that she had in fact been hit over the head approximately seven times with a blunt object Raymond was then arrested and charged with the murder of his wife afterwards police turned that attention to the man who was seen hovering over June's body but who had then fled the scene they were able to trace the car he had driven off in to a plant hire company in wrexham when police turned up to investigate they found Eric Jones climbing into the driver's seat and he was quickly Dragged In for questioning Kim new was brought in to be interviewed on the 23rd of March but with little evidence to directly link her to the Murder She was released without charge that would soon change when Ken Adams the husband of Kim's sister Jeanette came forward he revealed that Kim had confided in his wife telling her all the details of the plot and Murder She had done this because she feared Eric Jones May kill her in an effort to obfuscate his involvement in her efforts to make sure Jones would be caught if he tried to kill her she had unwittingly provide did the evidence that would seal all three's fate a child took place and both Raymond cook and Eric Jones were eventually found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment Kim Newell received the same sentence but was convicted only for being an accessory before the fact of murder even though she was arguably the main instigator Kim was eventually released after serving 12 years in prison upon her release she moved to Wales and worked in a school before dying of cancer at the age of 47 as it often happened just before her death Kimmy expressed remorse for her actions saying June didn't deserve to die what Kim had to say about Raymond cook and Eric Jones embodied how unnecessary the murder was I never loved them I only loved my dog thank you for watching right then take care and I'll see you next time with another story to make you say well I never

Channel: Well, I Never

Views: 179,249

Keywords: well i never, paul brodie, true crime, disasters, bizarre, the red mini murder, 1967 red mini murder, british true crime, true crime documentary, full episode, kim newell murderer, june cook, raymond cook, 1967 murder of june cook

Id: W1gWgkdeHe8

Length: 19min 40sec (1180 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 16 2022