Murder of Debbie Griggs

Deborah Elizabeth Griggs
Born(1964-12-10)10 December 1964
Deal, Kent, England[1]
Died5 May 1999(1999-05-05) (aged 34)
Cause of deathUndetermined. Homicide
NationalityBritish
Known forMurder victim

Debbie Griggs was a 34 year old woman who disappeared from her family home in Deal, Kent, on 5 May 1999.[2] She was married to Andrew Griggs and was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.[3]

Investigations and trial

At the time of her disappearance, Griggs had three sons with her husband Andrew and was pregnant with her fourth child.[4][5][6][2] Andrew had previously claimed to relatives, medical professionals, and neighbours that Griggs had been struggling with postpartum depression (a claim which Griggs wrote in her diary was false) and was not compliant with medications. A day after her disappearance, Andrew told police that Griggs had depression and had "stormed out"; as a result, her disappearance was initially treated as a missing persons case. Though Andrew later became an initial suspect in the police's investigation into her disappearance, prosecutors at the time were not trained on matters of domestic abuse, and the Crown Prosecution Service found in 2003 that the evidence submitted to them offered "no realistic prospect of conviction".[1]

A new investigation began in 2018, upon which Andrew was later charged and found guilty of her murder following a trial held at Canterbury Crown Court.[7] Griggs was handed a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 20 years.[1]

Possible motive

Debbie had discovered her husband was grooming a 15-year-old girl and wasn't willing to cover up for him.[8][6] It seems he feared she would get half the family freezer business if she divorced him over the abuse.[6]

Discovery of remains

Her remains were discovered in 2022 after a tipoff to police.[9][10] Her remains were found in the back garden of a house in St Leonards, Dorset where her husband had moved to after the initial investigation.[11][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Williams, McLennan (2019-10-30). "Andrew Griggs: The wife killer who escaped justice for 20 years". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  2. ^ a b "Debbie Griggs: Remains found of woman murdered by husband in 1999". BBC News. 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  3. ^ Courtney-Guy, Sam (2022-10-17). "Remains of pregnant woman murdered by her husband in 1999 found in a garden". Metro. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  4. ^ Shrestha, Naman (2023-06-26). "Debbie Griggs Murder: Where is Andrew Griggs Now?". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  5. ^ Church, Edward (2022-10-19). "Debbie Griggs' sister says discovery of body made nightmare real". Dorset Live. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  6. ^ a b c Griffiths, Rhys (2022-10-17). "Debbie Griggs murder: How the tragedy unfolded over 23 years". KentOnline. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  7. ^ Boyden, Katie (2019-10-28). "Husband found guilty of killing pregnant wife 20 years ago". Kent Live. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  8. ^ "Debbie Griggs death: Murder accused 'was having sex with girl, 15'". 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  9. ^ "Remains of pregnant woman murdered 20 years ago found buried in garden". Sky News. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  10. ^ a b "Remains of woman murdered over 20 years ago found in English garden". RTÉ News. 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  11. ^ Adam, Bertie (2022-10-17). "Remains of woman murdered 20 years ago found in Dorset garden". Dorset Live. Retrieved 2023-12-13.