Penny Bell: £20,000 offered to find killer of woman stabbed to death in her Jaguar in 1991

The mother-of-two was a partner in a successful employment agency in north London.

Penny Bell, 43, was found dead in the driver’s seat of her powder blue Jaguar XJS (PA)

A £20,000 reward has been offered for new information that could help to solve the decades-old cold case of Penny Bell, who was found murdered in her car.

The 43-year-old mother-of-two was stabbed 50 times and found dead in the driver’s seat of her powder blue Jaguar XJS in a swimming pool car park in Greenford, west London, on 6 June 1991.

Thirty years later, Ms Bell’s daughter has made a fresh appeal for information.

The Metropolitan Police are now asking for new information that could help to catch and prosecute Ms Bell’s killer.

Following an appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch Live, Ms Bell’s daughter, Lauren Bell, said: "Thirty years marks an extremely painful milestone but, with the help of Crimewatch and their viewers, we could be one step away from finding the perpetrator who still walks among us.

"Any information would be life-changing for us as a family and a result would mean we could finally find closure."

Although no witnesses were identified among the people interviewed when Ms Bell’s body was discovered, a new witness contacted police in January 2019 with some information, Detective Sergeant Susan Stansfield, of the Metropolitan Police, said.

The witness said they had seen a man in his underwear, who appeared wet, walking across the footbridge over the A40 Western Avenue in Greenford on the day Mrs Bell was murdered.

She described him as a bronzed or tanned man, in his early 30s, who was tall, with short brown hair, and was wearing blue striped boxer shorts, a white T-shirt, a chunky chain-link bracelet, and carrying a rucksack.

Ms Bell was a partner in a successful employment agency based in Kilburn, north London.

At the time of her death, she was overseeing building work to her home in Denham Buckinghamshire, where she lived with her husband, Alistair, and her two children.

She was choosing wood and wallpaper samples for her bedroom. A wallpaper sample was found on the centre console of the car, and under Ms Bell’s body. It is believed the sample was already open prior to the attack.

On the day of her death, Ms Bell had left home at 9.40am, telling builders she was late for a 9.50am appointment. However, the appointment had not been recorded in her diary, which was unusual, and it was never established who she was supposed to meet.

When her body was found, it was apparent nothing had been stolen from her grey handbag.

Three days prior to her murder, Ms Bell withdrew £8,500 from her and her husband’s joint bank account, but police have never discovered why she did so and the money has never been found.

DS Stansfield has asked people to come forward with any new information as the 2019 witness did.

She said: "Did you also see something odd at the time that you now might think is connected? Or did you also see this man in his underwear and think nothing of it? If so, we need to speak to you as soon as possible."

Additional reporting by Press Association