Back in 1996 Kathryn Sharples was found murdered in her bedsit in Newquay, she had been beaten to death. A divorcee from Farnworth, she was murdered by William (Billy) Tolcher, then aged 31, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, having been arrested for the murder within a week.
Kathryn, aged 43, had moved to Newquay two years before and lead a busy life, but lived alone. Kathryn had been married 4-5 times.
Police believed that she might’ve known her killer as there were no signs of forced entry at the bedsit.
Police discovered Kathryn’s disability benefits book dumped and £69 had been withdrawn from it on the Monday.
Last November Tolcher killed again when he stabbed a fellow inmate at Dartmoor prison, Alex Cusworth, in an unprovoked attack; William Tolcher had a kitchen vegetable knife in his hand at the time.
Billy Tolcher is now on trial for the murder of Alex Cusworth, from Baswich, Staffordshire. Alex was the adopted son of a Baswich Councillor, Ann Edgeller, Alex was in prison for grevious bodily harm with intent and had been sentenced to eight years at Dartmoor.
UPDATE: On 20 May 2016 William Tolcher was found guilty of murdering Alex Cusworth and was sentenced to 33 years. Originally in prison “for life”, he has now been handed a mandatory life sentence, so he wouldn’t even be considered for parole for 33 years, by which time he’ll be 84. However, it’s quite probable he will never be released and will die in prison.
