In December 1992, Suzanne Capper endured a week of relentless torture in Greater Manchester, England. Then, she was burned alive.
Suzanne Capper was only 16 when she died. Although her death was horrific, it was largely overshadowed in the press by the murder of two-year-old James Bulger two months later.
Suzanne Capper’s story is about a quiet, friendless girl who desperately held onto the few connections she had, despite how violently and terribly they treated her. It stands as one of the most sadistic accounts of murder in British history.
This is the disturbing story of Suzanne Capper’s death.
Suzanne Capper’s ‘Friends’ Mistreated Her Long Before The Murder
Born in Greater Manchester, England, in 1976, Suzanne Jane Capper was described by her mother as “very forgiving.”
Growing up, she and her sister Michelle never knew their biological father. They were primarily raised by their mother, Elizabeth Dunbar, and their step-father, John Capper. However, the couple split when Suzanne was only 14 years old, which proved traumatic for the whole family.
Suzanne and Michelle alternated between staying with their mother, their step-father, family friends, or in the care of local authorities. This instability and frequent relocating eventually led Suzanne Capper to the home of Jean Powell.
Suzanne and Jean met after Suzanne had a chance encounter with a boy her age named Clifford Pook, Jean Powell’s younger brother.
Jean, who was 10 years older than Suzanne, was a 26-year-old living with three children in a dilapidated home not far from John Capper’s house. Suzanne often babysat Jean’s young children for free, spent the night at their home, and skipped school the next morning.
Soon, Suzanne was spending more time with Jean and her friends than with anyone else, while her family was largely unaware of the true horrors happening behind the scenes.
“We found out that Jean had taken Suzanne out of school and was making her work as a cleaner at the CIS building in town,” Suzanne’s mother later said. “She was taking Suzanne’s money, just letting her keep £5 a week, while we thought she was in school. When we confronted her about it, she actually threatened to burn our house down.”
The real trouble began, however, when a neighbor named Bernadette McNeilly moved in.
Jean Powell And Bernadette McNeilly: A Dangerous Duo
Twenty-four-year-old Bernadette McNeilly had three children and lived just a few doors down from Jean Powell. By 1992, she had practically moved into Powell’s house with her children.
According to The Independent, the already run-down house had become a hub for drugs, parties, and sex.
Jean and Bernadette were weighing amphetamines in the kitchen, dealing them in the living room, selling stolen car parts, and having sex with various people who came by for drugs — including a 16-year-old named Anthony Dudson, who was involved with both Powell and McNeilly, as well as Suzanne Capper.
The house was also frequented by Jean’s 29-year-old ex-husband Glyn Powell, 26-year-old drug addict Jeffrey Leigh, and Clifford Pook.
Around late November 1992, at one of their drug-fueled parties, Capper and Jean met Mohammed Yussif, a friend of a friend. Capper encouraged Jean to sleep with Yussif, which Jean didn’t like.
Jean later told the police that she beat Capper for trying to make her “go with an Arab.”
Capper allegedly told neighbors that Jean Powell had tied her up and held her for four days, but none of them believed her.
This was the beginning of several petty conflicts that eventually led to Suzanne Capper’s tragic death.
In another incident, McNeilly, Dudson, and Jean and Glyn Powell all got pubic lice. McNeilly blamed Capper.
Angry at this accusation, the group forced Capper to shave her pubic hair in front of them and clean it off the floor.
McNeilly also believed that Capper had stolen a pink duffle coat from her, worth around $60.
Then, on Dec. 7, 1992, Jean Powell and Bernadette McNeilly went to John Capper’s house to invite Suzanne to a party. They told her that a boy she liked would be there.
In reality, there was no boy and no party.
The Gruesome Torture And Murder Of Suzanne Capper
Suzanne Capper was lured to Powell’s house by a group high on amphetamines, including Bernadette McNeilly, Jean Powell, Glyn Powell, and Anthony Dudson. They shaved her head, attacked her, beat her with wooden utensils and belts, and suffocated her with a plastic bag. That night, they locked her in a cupboard where she screamed through the night. The six children in the house heard her cries.
The next day, her so-called friends moved her to McNeilly’s former home, where no children could hear her. They tied her to a bed frame with cords, ropes, electric flex, belts, and a chain. They injected themselves with amphetamines and began a days-long torture. McNeilly, high on amphetamines, started calling herself “Chucky” after the Child’s Play character. Clifford Pook and Jeffrey Leigh also participated in the torture.
They stuffed socks in her mouth to keep her from screaming, bathed her in concentrated disinfectants, and burned her skin with cigarettes. Hours before her death, McNeilly injected Capper with amphetamines, placed headphones on her, and blasted rave music featuring Chucky’s catchphrase: “I’m Chucky. Wanna play?”
The torturers pried out two of her front teeth to make her body harder to identify. They decided to kill her, loaded her into a stolen car trunk, and drove 13 miles to a wooded area near Stockport. Leigh, Dudson, and McNeilly shoved her through the bramble. As she lay nearly naked on the ground, McNeilly doused her in gasoline and set her on fire. Jean Powell later testified, “I saw Suzanne in flames. She was screaming. I was numb. I was scared.”
They left her for dead, singing “Burn, Baby, Burn” on the way home. But Suzanne wasn’t dead yet. She dragged herself to a nearby road where a passing driver found her. In the hospital, before falling into a coma and dying, she identified her attackers to the police.
Jean Powell, Glyn Powell, and Bernadette McNeilly received life sentences, though McNeilly’s sentence was reduced by 12 months for good behavior. Leigh was released in 1998, Pook in 2001, and Dudson in 2013.
“Suzanne was very forgiving,” her mother said. “But she also tried to sort out her problems on her own. In the end, she survived her ordeal long enough to name every single one of them.”