Coventry killing is the longest unsolved murder in the West Midlands

As Coventry emerged badly bombed but resilient from World War Two, Amy Davis was the landlady of a popular pub.

The widow, 68, had continued running the Ring O’ Bells, Hillfields, after her husband’s death and was respected by customers.

“She was running the pub on her own, known to be fair but very, very firm,” said local historian Adam Wood.

But, on the morning of 25 October, 1945, she was found brutally murdered after what had seemed like an “ordinary day” in the pub, shocking the city.

At nearly 80 years old, it has become West Midlands Police’s longest unsolved murder and is being retold by the BBC’s Secret Coventry series

The case remains open and has seen several developments, including what appeared to be a confession letter sent to a newspaper.

Some people still hope it can one day be solved.

Warning: This article and audio contains material some people may find distressing.

Coventry was rebuilding after the war and the Ring O’ Bells in Yardley Street was as popular as ever, with many regulars.

“They’d be the same faces , the same people would know each other,” Mr Wood said, with many having a “favourite seat” and part of the pub.

Going to pubs was “the social activity” at the time, with most people going as often as they could afford, said Fred Luckett, author of Coventry Pubs.

The Ring O’ Bells was in a deprived area of the city, an old “Victorian suburb” with homes dating from 1830, which was why it was later developed, Mr Luckett explained.

Mrs Davis was the sister of alderman Fred Lee, three-times mayor of Coventry, who co-owned a brewing company with several pubs in the city.

He employed his sister as a pub manager and she had carried out the role for about 16 years, continuing after her husband Charlie’s death.

He had “died tragically” in 1942, Mr Wood said, slipping in snow, breaking his leg and then catching pneumonia.

Mrs Davis had an established routine, making sure customers left on time and then tidying up and counting the takings, before going to sleep in the private quarters upstairs.

“All the reports that you read in the newspapers say that she had no enemies and they all appreciated her strict manner – she didn’t suffer any fools gladly,” said Mr Wood.

On the night of 24 October, she began “flashing the lights on and off” as 22:00 approached to show time was about to be called.

But the next day, a cleaner raised the alarm when she could not get an answer at the pub and noticed Mrs Davis’ bedroom curtains were still shut.

She contacted Mr Lee’s son Fred, a manager of the brewing firm with a key to the pub, who found the kitchen “completely ransacked”, the till open and, unusually, milk poured into the trays, said Mr Wood.

Police later said this was an attempt to destroy any fingerprints. Cash bags containing copper coins were found in the yard.

After going upstairs, Fred found his aunt’s body in the bath where she was clothed and her head was covered in blood and a towel.

Officers’ first thoughts was that it was “botched burglary” by someone who had hidden on the premises who was “startled by Mrs Davis”.

Police found cash and jewellery had been taken.

“It’s one of those situations – did she know the burglar?” Mr Wood said.

There was no sign of a break-in and footprints were found in the attic.

Mrs Davis apparently did not like strangers coming in the pub, preferring people she knew and trusted.

But Mr Wood said, on the day of the attack, police statements suggested there “were a few faces that people didn’t know”.

Detectives from London’s Metropolitan Police were brought in to help. It was believed the landlady was attacked with a hammer and that the suspect was an experienced burglar, perhaps someone previously in trouble.

About 1,500 people were interviewed but there were no arrests amid a lack of evidence and the case went cold.

It hit the headlines again in 1988, when the Coventry Evening Telegraph received an anonymous letter, claiming a death-bed confession.

The letter writer said: “I’ve got to tell you something that has been on my conscious for the last 42 years because I won’t be long in my grave and it’s time the truth was told.”

Pete Walters, a features writer working with feature editor Chris Arnot in 1988, told BBC CWR they looked at it and passed it to the police.

“We discussed it and wondered if it was real or if it was just somebody messing about,” he said.

“I have to say at the time, I certainly felt this could be real.”

The letter appeared to explain what happened that night, saying two men who were short of money were involved and one of them, who had hidden, attacked Ms Davis.

But Mr Wood said there was “nothing in the letter which couldn’t have been found in the newspapers” in 1945, so it was unclear if it was genuine.

A second letter was sent to the newspaper later in 1988.

This claimed to be from a man who said he overheard the murderer’s name in a conversation between relatives when he was aged 11 and it began with the letter “F”.

Both letters said the killer died in 1973.

Then, in 2013, a woman walked into Willenhall Police Station, claiming to have information about the case, which led to it being reopened.

But in 2020, West Midlands Police apologised for being unable to identify the person responsible for Amy Davis’ murder.

“We acted on some information provided at the time which identified the potential involvement of a local man, but he had died,” “Det Ch Insp Alastair Orencas said in 2020.

However, Mr Wood said he was recently given hope of a breakthrough after reading a police report which “specifically said that a fingerprint expert had been there and found fingerprints”, including on a bathroom light bulb at the pub.

“That means that the murderer’s fingerprints are on file and they could be matched with somebody else’s in time, if the right lead comes along,” he added.