Killer's letters to victim found dumped in woodland

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The letters, written by Mark Goldstraw to 16-year-old Samantha Carter, were discovered in a plastic carrier bag by a teenage schoolboy walking his dog between Ipstones and Cheddleton, north Staffordshire.

Goldstraw, 31, was found guilty of killing his teenage ex-girlfriend, her seven-year-old brother Marcus, 10-year-old sister Patricia and their 44-year-old stepfather Roddy Hine in an arson attack at their home at Cheddleton, near Leek.

During the trial, the court heard he torched their home on March 9 last year out of anger at Samantha's decision to end their relationship.

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said it was unclear if the letters were ever posted to, or read by, Samantha, adding the bag appeared to be have been dumped, rather than buried, but was well protected from the elements.

The spokesman said: "The letters were clearly written by Goldstraw to Samantha Carter, and the strong presumption is that it was he who dumped them where they were found, although we don't know when.

"There is nothing to confirm that the letters were ever posted to or read by Samantha, although it is possible that she did read and then return them to Goldstraw."

The carrier bag, which also contained cards and an item of clothing, was recovered from the scene immediately on July 22 and handed to detectives who had worked on the investigation.

The spokesman said the contents of the bag would not have altered the case against Goldstraw, or the outcome of the trial, and added that officers had no plans to question him about the find.

"If anything, they (the letters) serve only to reinforce the strength of his obsessive behaviour towards Samantha," he said.

In November last year, Goldstraw, of Compton House, Leek, was convicted of the four murders by a jury at Stafford Crown Court and sentenced to a minimum of 35 years.

It emerged at the trial that at the time of the attack Goldstraw, described by police as an "obsessive loner", was out of prison on licence, having served four years of a seven-year sentence for the manslaughter of his former lover in 2001.