Trevor Hardy - Arrest, Trial, and Conviction

Arrest, Trial, and Conviction

Although Hardy was arrested for Skala's murder after bragging about it to his younger brother, he was freed on the basis of an alibi he had arranged with his partner, Sheilagh Farrow, and because he had filed his teeth so they would not match the bite marks found on her body. He would go on to kill Mosoph six months after being freed.

Trevor Hardy was arrested for the murders of Wanda Skala and Sharon Mosoph in August 1976. He confessed to the murders and to that of Janet Lesley Stewart - who until then had been a missing person. Prior to Stewart's murder, Hardy had been released on parole for battering a man with a pickaxe. He reportedly mistook Stewart for a schoolgirl with whom he was infatuated. Hardy removed Stewart's ring and gave it to another girl as a "love token". Morris had also kept Skala's blood-stained clothes and her handbag as "grisly trophies". The investigation revealed that Morris killed Mosoph after she witnessed him attempting to burgle a shopping centre at night.

At his trial, Hardy fired his attorney and attempted to confess manslaughter; however, the plea was rejected and he was found guilty of murder. On 2 May 1978 at the Manchester Crown Court, Hardy was sentenced to three life sentences for the murders with a minimum of 30 years.

Hardy was still serving his sentence more than 30 years after his arrest at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire where he was reported to have a "good work record".

He maintained his innocence and reportedly sent a letter to Mosoph's relatives blaming his parents. On 23 February 2008, The Times revealed that Hardy was one of up to 50 prisoners in Britain who had been issued with a whole life tariff and were unlikely to ever be released. The whole life tariff was reaffirmed in June 2008 by the High Court.

Manchester locals had long suspected Hardy in the 1971 murder of 17-year-old Dorothy Leyden, and in 2004 family members requested that the Greater Manchester Police re-examine old evidence. Detectives reviewing the cold case believe forensic evidence exonerates Hardy in the murder of Leyden, as DNA samples examined more than 30 years after the crime were found not to match Hardy.