Ronald Castree (born 18 October 1953 in Littleborough, Lancashire, England) is an English convicted murderer. He was convicted on 12 November 2007 of the murder of Lesley Molseed, who had died 32 years earlier.
As revealed in the ITV television documentary Real Crime: The 30 Year Secret, Castree was convicted in 1976 of gross indecency and indecent assault against a nine-year-old girl in Rochdale. He was fined £25.
On 5 November 2006, it was announced that a 53-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the murder of Lesley Molseed that had taken place in 1975. DNA evidence was alleged to have shown a "direct hit" with a sample found at the scene of the murder. Ronald Castree, a comic bookshop dealer, 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. At a court hearing on 19 April 2007, Castree pleaded not guilty. On 23 April 2007 he was refused bail.
Castree's trial began at Bradford Crown Court on 22 October 2007. He was found guilty on 12 November 2007 and jailed for life, with a recommendation to serve a minimum of 30 years, which is expected to keep him in prison until the age of 83.
A DNA sample from Castree, taken on 1 October 2005 when he was arrested but not charged in connection with another sex attack, was a direct match with a semen sample found on Lesley's underwear, although Castree was not charged with this offence as it was later dropped. During the trial a scientist has told a jury how DNA taken from the underwear of murdered schoolgirl Lesley Molseed were linked to the man accused of her murder. Dr Gemma Escott explained to Bradford Crown Court the chances of the semen samples belonging to anyone other than the defendant were one in a billion.
Two weeks before he killed Molseed, Castree's wife had given birth to a son whose biological father was another man with whom she had had an affair. On 3 October 1975 Castree's wife went back into hospital with deep vein thrombosis, leaving Castree home alone on the day of the murder. It is believed that his wife giving birth to another man's child was a trigger for Castree's murder of Molseed. The couple had two further children together, but split up in 1995. Two years later they divorced.
Originally from the Turf Hill estate of Rochdale, for many years, Castree was a taxi driver who lived in nearby Shaw and Crompton. He was unpopular with his neighbours, who said he had a very nasty temper. His former wife said "he was foul with his mouth, and foul with his fists".
Stefan Kiszko, a civil servant from Rochdale, spent just over sixteen years in prison for the murder of Molseed until scientific evidence showed he could not have committed the crime. This evidence was known to the police at the time but was suppressed and not disclosed to the defence. His conviction was overturned in February 1992; he died of a massive heart attack 22 months later.