Dennis McGrory raped and murdered Jackie Montgomery at her Offord Road home in 1975

A VIOLENT man who killed his “courageous and bright” niece almost 50 years ago has finally been convicted of her murder after new DNA evidence came to light, writes Anna Lamche.

Dennis McGrory, 75, was this week found guilty of the rape and murder of his 15-year-old niece Jackie Montgomery in her Offord Road home in 1975.

McGrory had been charged with Jackie’s murder shortly after her death in 1975, but was acquitted at trial.
Under the “double jeopardy” laws that existed at the time, he could not be tried twice for the same crime. But in 2003, these double jeopardy principles were altered to allow for retrials if new, significant evidence comes to light.

Following a recent forensic review of Jackie’s case, advancements in DNA technology clearly linked McGrory to the crime scene after a trace of his DNA was found on a swab taken from Jackie’s body at the time of her murder.

Officers used this new DNA evidence to convince the Court of Appeal that a retrial should be held.

In 2020, McGrory was re-arrested at his home in Milton Keynes and charged with Jackie’s murder for a second time. Now a pensioner, he was 28 when he raped and murdered his niece while she was home alone.

He arrived at his victim’s house in Barnsbury in search of his ex-partner, Jackie’s aunt, who had recently ended their relationship and moved to Manchester in an attempt to get away from him.

Jackie’s aunt was not there when McGrory arrived at the address and, according to police, who said “it is likely he took his anger and frustration out on the teenager”.

Jackie’s body was discovered by her father in the early hours of 2 June 1975. A post-mortem examination showed she had been stabbed several times, strangled with the cord of an iron, and received injuries to her face.

There was also evidence that Jackie had been sexually assaulted. DNA evidence uncovered in the recent forensic review confirmed this, showing she had been raped by McGrory before she was killed.

The court heard it was likely that McGrory ‘took his anger and frustration out’ on 15-year-old Jackie

When police arrived at Jackie’s home, the crime scene showed signs of a struggle, with the phone left off the hook – suggesting the teenager had tried to call for help before her death.

Officers later estab­lished the phone line had been disconnected since 1 June, indicating she had been killed the day before her body was found.

Shortly after Jackie’s murder, a visibly shaken and excitable McGrory visited one of his niece’s neighbours.

He showed the neighbour a slip of paper allegedly bearing the address of Jackie’s aunt. He said he had been assaulted by four “geezers” who then gave him the address of Jackie’s aunt.

Shortly after the discovery of Jackie’s body, detectives arrested McGrory. Pictures from the time showed he had a bruised lip, a long scratch along his neck and smaller scratches on his wrist and arm.

Officers on the original investigation also discovered the piece of paper bearing the false address had in fact been torn from Jackie’s diary, which was discovered to have a page missing when it was found at the murder scene.

While the slip of paper provided detectives with circumstantial evidence placing McGrory at the scene of the crime, the newly uncovered DNA evidence acted as indisputable proof that he had both raped and murdered Jackie.

He was found guilty by a jury at Huntingdon Crown Court on Monday.

Jackie’s sister, Kathy, said: “Jackie and I always said that we could trust no one. A violent man who had been living within our family [raped and] murdered my sister. He has been able to live his life. He has spent nearly 50 years as a free man doing as he pleased.

“I find that unbearable when my sister didn’t even reach her 16th birthday. His actions caused trauma to so many people and there were no consequences for him. The investigation of the last few years has meant revisiting memories of the murder which has caused pain and stress for me and my family and I am relieved that we finally have justice for Jackie.”

Detective Superintendent Rebecca Reeves, of Central Specialist Crime, said: “McGrory is a violent man, a bully who terrified the women in his life. He thought he had got away with murder, but thanks to the hard work of specialist detectives and expert forensic scientists, he has now finally been held accountable for taking the life of a young girl in 1975.

“Jackie was courageous and bright. She stood up for her aunt who had fled from McGrory’s violence and abuse. She is missed deeply by her siblings and by the other members of her family who are still alive and my thoughts are with all of them today.

“I hope this case, in its own way, sends a message to domestic violence offenders today about the determination of police and prosecutors to make London safer for women and children.”