I wonder if anyone can help me identify this crime.
I came across this crime about 20-25 years ago when I thought it may be a good deed to become a penpal to a prisoner. I read one ad that mentioned the prisoner had been in prison for almost half her life - yet she must have only been about 30-35, so I was naturally curious to why she was in prison for so long, so young and began googling - there was lots of info on the net about the crime at the time, including multiple appeal hearings.
As far as I can remember, a young child had wandered off while the mother was shopping, while the mother is looking for the missing child, she encounters a white woman, probably about 18/19, sitting on the kerb, not a care in the world, while eating candy. Maybe sucking a lollipop.
The mother recognised the candy as the same that her child had when they went missing and instantly realised something terrible had happened.
The body of the child was found quite soon, he or she had been sexually assaulted, and this young woman and her boyfriend were arrested, charged and convicted of the murder. I think it was a pretty open and shut case.
Another distinctive part of the case is that they refused to testify against each other, I think they never admitted to any involvement or would speak about the case at all.
I think the timeline puts the murder anywhere from the 80s to the mid 90s.