JACK ARMSTRONG was a Cardiff taxi driver whose death in October 1979 went unsolved despite a thorough police investigation.
What we know about Armstrong and what happened to him is as follows.
Who was Jack Armstrong?
On October 8, 1979, a Welsh taxi driver named Jack Armstrong was found murdered.
Armstrong was 58 years old when he vanished on October 5, 1979, while picking up a customer in Cardiff.
Despite a thorough investigation by South Wales Police, Armstrong’s murderer was never apprehended.
This is despite the fact that police took hundreds of statements from residents about what they remember from the day in question.
What happened to Jack Armstrong?
His taxi was discovered stained with blood in Bridgend later that evening, October 5, 1979. Three days later, his body was discovered in Cowbridge; he had died as a result of fatal blows to the head.
The only information available about the incident is that the person he picked up was named Mr Williams and requested to be taken to Cowbridge.
South Wales Police decided to revisit the investigation 41 years later, in December 2020.
Police are hopeful that modern forensic techniques will help them solve the case.
Investigators believe the attack occurred in the taxi before his body was dragged out, which explains why Armstrong was discovered so far away from his car.
The pathologist who examined Armstrong’s injuries speculated that the damage to his head was caused by a hammer, but no weapon was found.
Jack was the father of seven children who never received answers.
Jean Heath, Armstrong’s daughter, wants justice for her father’s death.
She said of his death, saying: “I just went into shock really. I had to have an injection, a sedative because I was just traumatised. If they can find out exactly what happened, my father can be put to rest properly.”
He said: “The 1979 investigation was thorough and this review is no reflection on our colleagues who were involved at the time. We do, however, owe it to the victim and his family to make sure we exploit every scientific advance available to us to try and secure the breakthrough we need.”
