Did the same man who killed Norman Rickard (February 18th) strike again next day? That was the question detectives asked themselves when the body of John Vigar, 23, a costume dresser for ABC TV, was found naked in his bed with his hands tied behind his back, in his Pimlico, south-west London, flat. He too was a homosexual and he too had been strangled.
The theory that the same killer was involved was so strong that inquests on the two victims were held on the same day. The Vigar inquest was told something perhaps not so well known then as it is today, that recreational and casual homosexuality was widespread in London although at that time it was illegal. The absence of marks or bruising on the naked men suggested they had consented to sex.
The coroner said both men were regular participants in anal sex in the case of Rickard this had been going on for a number of years and they had engaged in such acts on the night they died. The handsome stranger seen in Paddington may have been involved in both murders, but he has never been traced.