'Beast of Wombwell' Peter Pickering dies before facing justice over Elsie Frost's murder

A convicted child killer and rapist who was due to face charges over the unsolved murder of Wakefield schoolgirl Elsie Frost has died in custody.

Peter Pickering – who was dubbed the 'Beast of Wombwell' – was last week convicted of the rape and false imprisonment of a woman in South Yorkshire in 1972.

He was already in custody after being convicted of raping and killing Barnsley 14-year-old Shirley Ann Boldy in the same year.

Pickering, aged 80, died last night after being taken ill in secure psychiatric accommodation in Berkshire where he was being held.

His death is not being treated as suspicious.

Pickering's most recent convictions followed a renewed investigation by West Yorkshire Police into the murder of Elsie Frost, who was stabbed to death in a tunnel in 1965.

Detective Superintendent Nick Wallen, of the West Yorkshire Police Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: “We can now formally confirm that Peter Pickering was the man we arrested and interviewed over the last two years as part of the renewed investigation into the murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Elsie Frost in Wakefield in 1965.

“We strongly suspected that Peter Pickering was responsible for her murder. We had been liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service and it was our expectation that Pickering would be charged in due course.

“His unexpected death clearly means that will no longer happen. We have informed all those involved in the case of this development and we will be liaising with the West Yorkshire coroner as to what proceedings are now necessary in relation to Elsie Frost’s death.”