Two pensioners charged in 1981 murder investigation of Bedfordshire shopkeeper Carol Morgan

Two pensioners have been charged in a cold-case investigation into the death of woman 42 years ago.

The body of Carol Morgan, 36, was found at Morgan’s Store in Finch Crescent in Linslade, Bedfordshire, on 13 August 1981.

On Tuesday, officers from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit arrested a man and a woman aged in their 70s from Brighton, East Sussex.

Allen Morgan, 73, and Margaret Morgan, 74, of Stanstead Crescent, Brighton, appeared at Luton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday charged with conspiracy to murder.

They have both been remanded in custody and will appear at Luton Crown Court on Tuesday.

Det Supt Carl Foster, leading the investigation, said: “We launched a murder investigation into the cold case of Carol Morgan over five years ago.

“My team have worked relentlessly to piece together the events that led to her untimely death and have explored investigative opportunities available to us in the time that’s passed since the 1980s.

“I want to thank our community for supporting the investigation.

“Our cold case unit continues to review every unsolved murder and no murder investigation is ever closed.”

Several arrests were made at the time of Ms Morgan’s death, and again in 2019, but no one had been charged until now.

Anyone with information can tell police via a dedicated web page.

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