A boy who went to the toilet on the 3.25 p.m. Southampton to Reading train on Monday, June 29th, 1964, found the body of 15-year-old schoolgirl Yvonne Laker lying on the floor, her throat cut with a broken bottle. Thinking it was a suicide, local police then cleaned up the toilet and wrapped the body up in two old carpets.
Later, Yvonnes shoes and hat were found along the track. She was probably murdered just after Winchester station, when the train was almost empty. Several passengers said they saw a young man running from the train after the discovery.
Three days after the murder police arrested a 27-year-old man who lived near Basingstoke. He was charged with Yvonnes murder after he said he was on the train and saw Yvonne being dragged along the corridor to the toilet. But the suspect, who was described as of limited intelligence, had no blood on his clothes even though the toilet was heavily bloodstained, and none of the girls fibres were found on him. He was acquitted.