A BOOK investigating Jersey’s only unsolved murder has sparked a continuing flow of information that will be incorporated in a second volume, the author has revealed.
Although he intended that the publication in May of his work on the brutal killing of 20-year-old Finnish woman Tuula Höök in 1966 would mark the end of his investigation, Mark Bridgeman said new leads were still emerging.
“After all the build-up for two-and-a-half years prior to publishing, you wouldn’t have thought there was anybody with anything left to tell me,” Mr Bridgeman said during a return visit to the Island.
“But as soon as the book comes out, I guess it creates a different type of publicity, maybe that all the previous stuff hasn’t done and so I’ve been contacted by new people.
“I feel the responsible thing to do is follow them through because I’m trying to be open-minded, so if somebody gives me a name or a new fact or a rumour, I’m investigating to see where they take me.”
On his recent visit, the author returned to the field in St Clement where Miss Höök’s body was found on the morning of 31 December 1966 and assessed the likely route the murderer may have taken on leaving the scene at Rue Laurens.
Information has also been received regarding the possibility that the murder weapon was found in a nearby disused quarry, from a former colleague of Miss Höök’s at the Southampton hotel in St Helier, and from another young Finnish woman working in Jersey in 1968 who had spoken to a taxi driver claiming to have witnessed the build-up to the earlier crime.
Mr Bridgeman said he was seeking to come up with viable theories that fitted the facts gleaned about the case during his research, and that he was sharing information with relatives of Miss Höök in Finland, as well as with States of Jersey Police.
Knowing that Miss Höök had arranged to have a graduation picture taken by a photographer in St Helier in 1966 – the picture features on the front cover of the first book – the author said he believed it was possible she may have been asked to do a more risqué photo-shoot and then regretted her decision or been pressurised as a result of this.
The first volume identified several people who could have carried out the murder, with the author focusing on a prime suspect who he believes was an associate of a wealthy, married Islander who may have become involved in a relationship with Miss Höök.
A podcast is planned as part of the True Crime Investigators UK series, while Mr Bridgeman is also working with a production company on a proposed TV documentary.
Helsinki-based publisher WSOY has also bought the rights to the first book and is planning to release a Finnish version of the book around the time of the 60th anniversary of the murder in December.
Mr Bridgeman said he is hoping to publish the second book by the middle of next year, and asked anyone who still has information to email him at mark@markbridgemanauthor.co.uk
