There is an understatement on the gravestone that marks the burial place in Rochdale cemetery of Charlotte Kiszko and her son, Stefan. ‘A loving wife and a very devoted mother,’ reads the inscription commemorating Mrs Kiszko.
No one could possibly have been more devoted than Charlotte Kiszko, who campaigned tirelessly for 16 years to prove the innocence of her son, Stefan, convicted, after a bungled police investigation, of the murder of 11-year-old Lesley Molseed in 1975. This week, many years after both she and her son were buried in the vast old cemetery, a man has been charged with the murder.
It is 30 years since Stefan Kiszko, an Inland Revenue clerk with the mental and emotional age of a 12-year-old, was found guilty, and 13 since he died after a brief taste of freedom. His mother died a few months later. Could a case as shocking happen today?
The man who helped to prove Kiszko’s innocence, and who acted as his mother’s ally, believes we are now just as much in danger of ignoring equally egregious miscarriages of justice.
‘In the current climate more miscarriages will take place,’ said Campbell Malone, the solicitor who took over the case and saw it through its successful appeal. ‘It is nonsense to suggest miscarriages of justice are less likely to happen now. We are more at risk – the climate is just as bad as it was in the 1970s when you had all the Irish cases. I am profoundly gloomy about the situation.’ Guardian online article Duncan Campbell 11th November 2006
The murder of eleven-year-old Lesley Molseed casts a long shadow. It was an horrific crime that destroyed three families. And it played on the mind of one man for more than thirty years. Real Crime with Mark Austin s7e4: The Thirty Year Secret, ITV 2006
A flawed police investigation that led to one of Britain’s most infamous miscarriages of justice. ibid.
‘She’d been stabbed twelve times.’ ibid. rozzer
As a social misfit Kiszko was an easy target for local suspicions. ibid.
Castree was arrested and pleaded guilty a week later. But despite the seriousness of the offence [child indecent assault & gross indecency] the punishment was shockingly lenient. 1976: £25 fine. ibid.
Kiszko vehemently denied any involvement in the murder. ibid.
His mother Charlotte refused to give up hope and waged a one-woman campaign. ibid.
Castree: A catalogue of abuse … ‘he was totally weird in the bedroom department.’ ibid.
Stefan Kiszko had been cheated out of sixteen years of his life. This vital piece of evidence [lack of sperm-heads] would have proved his innocence beyond doubt but was never disclosed by police. ibid.
17th February 1992: The Court of Appeal finally quashed his conviction. ibid.
1993: Stefan Kiszko suffered a heart attack and died. ibid.
After Lesley’s murder you see he [Castree] lived a very unhappy, deviant and dark life. ibid.
Ronald Castree was accused of rape by a prostitute and later arrested. ibid.
The police had arrested a man after having a direct hit with the DNA taken at the scene [Lesley Molseed]. The suspect provided a DNA sample after being arrested in connection with another sex attack the previous year … The suspect was named as 53-year-old Ronald Castree. Truly Criminal: The Murder of Lesley Molseed 2021
His dreadful reputation preceded him. He was heavily disliked by his neighbours who said he had an extremely nasty temper. He had an abusive relationship with his wife and the marriage had ended in divorce in 1997. ibid.
A disturbing history of convictions. In 1973 he abducted and sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl. He was charged £50 for the offences of incitement to commit gross indecency and indecent assault. 3 years later he was convicted again of indecently assaulting a 7-year-old boy. He was told to pay a fine of £50. ibid.
The court heard how Castree had abducted Lesley from the street near her home. He then drove her to Rishworth Moor, sexually assaulted her then stabbed her to death in a frenzied, brutal and savage attack before leaving her body at the side of the road. ibid.
The search for a young girl ends in tragedy. A miscarriage of justice which destroyed two families. And a risky search for evidence that was hidden for thirty years. Forensics: Catching the Killer s3e3: Lesley Molseed, Sky Crime 2023
11-year-old Lesley Molseed from Rochdale: she’d been reported missing three days before. Her body was discovered on the moors.
Her killer had evaded police for almost a quarter of a century. ibid.
Lesley had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death. ibid.
CASTRO, LOU: Deadly Cults TV -
We all believed he had these powers and he was actually an angel. Deadly Cults s2e2: Angel’s Landing, victim, Amazon 2020
Another person associated with Lou Castro has died … We need to arrest Lou Castro before the next person dies. ibid. rozzer
Lou created Angel’s Landing and brought more people together. ibid. victim
Now I know we have a chance of keeling Lou Castro in jail for ever. ibid. rozzer
CATES, KIMBERLY murder: Signs of a Psychopath TV -
October 2nd 2009: It was like, we could go in and torture them, and then we got to the house … It was almost like an excuse to kill somebody. Signs of a Psychopath s6e8: An Excuse to Kill Somebody, Christopher Gribble
New Hampshire state troopers have just arrested four individuals suspected of the brutal murder of Kimberly Cates. ibid. TV news
CAUSLEY, RUSSELL: When Missing Turns to Murder TV -
A woman visits her solicitor about divorcing her husband. The next day she disappears. A mother is missing and yet another devastating blow. When Missing Turns to Murder s1e6, Netflix 2023
‘He was very very ruthless. Would cut you down as quickly as he could.’ ibid. comment
‘Carole left school at 15 and met Russell at a factory in Reading.’ ibid.
‘Russell continued this affair under the roof of the family home.’ ibid.
For the police though everything is becoming clear. Carole Packman hasn’t been seen since 15th June 1985. Police now believe they are investigating her murder. ibid.
1996: Russell had been charged with the murder of Carole. ibid. rozzer
‘No body and no paper trail.’ ibid. man
The outcome of this trial is far from a foregone conclusion. ibid.