Having shown promise as a cricketer in Rhodesia, 19-year-old Simon Kerr flew to England to further his career, and in 1973 he joined Gloucestershires 2nd XI.
On the evening of MARCH 16th, 1974, he went to a party thrown by some nurses at their bedsit in Bristol. Desmond Carroll, 24, a tenant in the house, was among the guests, and as the party continued after midnight and Kerr became hopelessly drunk Carroll took him to his room to sleep.
The noise of the party drowned what happened next, as Carroll got a kitchen knife and stabbed Kerr three times in the back and three times through the heart, finally stamping on the knife.
He made no attempt to escape justice, telling the police it took Kerr 15 minutes to die, and he felt better for killing him. He had never met his victim before the party, and the attack was apparently motiveless.
At Bristol Crown Court on October 3rd, 1974, Carrolls defence of diminished responsibility failed to get the charge reduced to manslaughter, and he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.