Who was Geraldine Hughes and what happened to her?
A small village in South Wales was rocked by the disappearance and murders of three young girls in 1973
Geraldine Hughes was one of the victims but her killer was not exposed until 30 years after her death.
Who was Geraldine Hughes?
Geraldine was a 16 year old who lived in a small town in the south of Wales.
She worked in a sewing factory, earning £16 per week.
What happened to Geraldine Hughes?
One Saturday night, she had gone out clubbing with her friend and work colleague Pauline Floyd near Swansea.
At the end of the night, the two had left the club together to make their way home.
An eyewitness testimony put the girls at a bus stop near the club in the direction of their home when a white car swerved up to them and they got in.
Hitchhiking was a common practice so not a strange thing for the pair to do.
Sadly, they did not reach home.
Geraldine’s body was discovered 50 yards away from Pauline’s, close to the M4 which is quite a busy road, even at night.
Geraldine had been raped prior to her death, she too had been strangled.
What did Geraldine Hughes’ parents say?
On the third anniversary of their murders, Geraldine’s mother Jean led a protest march.
Jean and 50 of her sewing factory colleagues marched on 10 Downing Street.
They bore banners calling for the return of the death penalty, demanding that whoever is guilty of the girls’ death feel the same that they did.
Jean had also amassed a petition with 9000 signatures.
She said: “I can’t accept what happened to Geraldine. It has left me very bitter. If they ever catch the person responsible, they should hang him. I want him to feel a rope around his neck like the girls felt.”
Who committed the Steeltown Murders?
The Steeltown murders were committed by Joseph Kappen.
He was discovered as the perpetrator of these heinous crimes 30 years after the last murder.
This happened after significant advancements in DNA testing and the DNA from these murders matched DNA from a car thief.
Although the car thief was only a child at the time of the murders, it was revealed that the thief was Joseph Kappen’s son.
Investigators then managed to convince Kappen’s ex-wife and daughter to submit swabs for testing.
After their DNA results came back, investigators were able to get Kappen’s body exhumed.
DNA samples taken from his teeth and femur remains were a positive match for the DNA found on the victims, thus solving a three decades old cold case.