Castree's Arrest and Conviction
In February 2003 a television appeal for new information was made by Detective Chief Superintendent Max McLean of West Yorkshire Police on the BBC Crimewatch programme, publicly announcing the existence of a DNA profile of the killer for the first time, but no new leads were forthcoming.
On Sunday 5 November 2006, it was announced that a 53-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the murder. DNA evidence was alleged to have shown a "direct hit" with a sample found at the scene of the murder. In 2000 forensic scientists had developed a ground-breaking technique especially for this investigation, allowing them to re-examine the tapings taken from the victim’s clothes. Ronald Castree of Shaw and Crompton, Greater Manchester, was charged with the murder of Lesley Molseed and made his first court appearance on 7 November 2006 where he was remanded in custody. On 3 July 1976, Castree had been charged with a sexual assault on a nine year-old girl, less than a mile from where Lesley Molseed had been abducted, and had that same night confessed this crime to his wife. Castree was duly arrested and charged, but was later fined only £25 for his crime at Rochdale Magistrate's Court.
On 1 October 2005 Castree was arrested for allegedly committing a violent rape against a prostitute in Oldham. When arrested, his DNA was routinely taken. Although innocent of the offence, and later released without charge, the DNA matched that on sperm heads that had been left on Lesley Molseed's underpants thirty years earlier. At a court hearing on 19 April 2007, Castree pleaded not guilty but on 23 April his application for bail was refused. Castree's trial began at Bradford Crown Court on 22 October 2007. and on 12 November Castree was found guilty. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years. Ronald Castree was found guilty of Molseed's murder by a 10-2 majority.
Outteridge, having not been charged over Kiszko's wrongful conviction, gave evidence at the trial of Castree. The West Yorkshire Police finally apologised for Kiszko's wrongful arrest and imprisonment, on the day the Castree verdict was announced, when McLean said of Kiszko's wrongful imprisonment: "We are very sorry. I think everybody regrets enormously what happened to Stefan Kiszko. It was a dreadful miscarriage of justice. I am so pleased that today we have finally put things right."
Read more about this topic: Murder Of Lesley Molseed
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