She Went Through Hell – The Murder of Suzanne Capper

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What drives a group of people to turn against someone they called a friend? In this heart-wrenching episode of the Human Wreckage True Crime Podcast, we unravel the horrific tale of Suzanne Capper—a 16-year-old girl whose longing for love and acceptance led her into a nightmare. From the unstable and abusive environment of Jean Powell's home to the unimaginable acts of cruelty Suzanne endured, we aim to shed light on the tragic sequence of events that led to her death in December 1992.

Join us as we recount Suzanne's troubled life, filled with neglect and fleeting hope, and how petty grievances spiraled into a week of unspeakable torture. Through detailed narrative and chilling accounts, we reveal the moral failures and societal cracks that allowed this tragedy to occur. This episode serves as a poignant reminder of the impact of neglect and the extremities of human cruelty, and seeks to honor Suzanne's memory by telling her story in full.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Suzanne Capper, 16, suffered from a week of torture
before being set on fire by agroup of people she considered
her friends.
Welcome to another episode ofHuman Wreckage True Crime
Podcast.
This case is very disturbing.
The details of what poorSuzanne Capper suffered is
heartbreaking.
Details are a little graphic.
Let's get into it so.

(00:27):
So.
Susan Capper was a 16-year-oldgirl from Greater Manchester,

(00:47):
england.
Those who knew her said thatall she wanted in her life was
to be loved.
She didn't know her real fatherand she lived with her
stepfather, john, after he splitup from her mother, elizabeth.
She soon started to play truantfrom school and drifted from
house to house, trying to findaffection from anybody.
While Susan had her issues, shewas still known as a
high-spirited, well-manneredgirl who would help her

(01:10):
stepfather out around the houseand was thoroughly polite.
Soon, suzanne started to hangout at the house of Jean Powell,
26, who she had babysat forwhen she was 10 years old.
The dilapidated house at 97Langworthy Road was a hot spot
for drug dealing parties and sex.
Amphetamines would be weighedout on kitchen scales and stolen
cars would be traded.

(01:30):
I tried to stop Suzanne goingthere, but she had a very strong
will, said John.
Moreover, john didn't know theextent of what was going on
behind closed doors.
He just had a strange feelingabout Jean and those who
frequented her home, oftenreferring to it as a house of
evil.
It was here in this house thatSuzanne fell in with the wrong
crowd.
Glynn Powell, 29, was Jean'sex-husband, who had convictions

(01:53):
for burglary, theft and beingdrunk and disorderly.
Bernadette McNeely, 24, was adrug-addicted mother of three.
Anthony Dudson, 17, was Jean'son-again, off-again boyfriend.
Jeffrey Lee, 26, hadconvictions for robbing his
86-year-old disabled aunt.
Clifford Hayes, 18, was Jean'sbrother and Suzanne's

(02:14):
ex-boyfriend.
Suzanne continued to frequentthe home despite the fact that
almost everybody there bulliedher and took advantage of her
kind nature.
It was not that she was scaredof them, it's just that she
would do anything for them.
She pampered their every whim,recalled her sister, michelle.
In fact, in late 1992, suzannewent to her mother's home after

(02:36):
being beaten up by Gene.
Her mother cruelly turned heraway.
When Suzanne begged to be letin the house and allowed to stay
overnight, her mother said herboyfriend wouldn't allow it and
Suzanne walked back to Jean'shouse.
I believe that had she donesomething to help Suzanne,
things might be very differenttoday.
As a parent myself, I wouldfind what Suzanne's mother did
very hard to live with, saidMichelle's fiancé, paul Barlow.
Before Suzanne became involvedwith the group at Jean's house,

(02:58):
she had no human companionshipother than from her family.
In this squalid house onLangworthy Road, suzanne found a
source of human contact and shefound it difficult to break
that friendship up, despite thefact it was abusive.
Then, in December of 1992, thegroup claimed that Suzanne had
stolen a pink duffel coat andinfected them all with pubic
lice.
At the time, anthony was havingsexual relations with Jean

(03:22):
Bernadette and Suzanne.
According to Anthony, he musthave contracted the pubic lice
from Suzanne.
While these grievances, whethertrue or not, would appear
insubstantial and trivial, thecumulative effect was to bring
Suzanne into contempt and thenturn that contempt into
hostility.
On the 7th of December 1992, thegang lured her from her
stepfather's home back to theirhome under the pretense that a

(03:43):
guy who she fancied was thereand was wanting to see her.
Once inside, suzanne was helddown while Glynn shaved her head
, eyebrows and pubic area.
Afterwards, he placed a plasticbag over her head and walked
around her while hitting her onthe head, laughing and shouting.
The gang took turns, hittingher with belt buckles and large
ornamental wooden spoons.
The beating was so severe thatone of Suzanne's arms would hang

(04:06):
useless by her side for therest of her imprisonment.
Following the beating, suzannewas locked in a cupboard Out of
fear Suzanne's cries and screamswere disturbing Jean and
Bernadette's children, who alsolived in the grimy home.
The gang moved her toBernadette's abandoned home,
which was just a few doors downhere.
Suzanne was shackled and spreadeagle to an upturned bed with

(04:26):
chains and ropes.
She had socks stuffed in hermouth to muffle any screams.
Over the next five days Suzannewas subjected to a catalogue of
torture.
Her two front teeth were pulledout with pliers and another was
snapped in half, leaving thenerve exposed.
She was injected withamphetamines and burned on the
face and body with cigarettes.
After the stench of Suzannelying in her own excrement

(04:48):
became unbearable, she wasshoved into a bathtub filled
with concentrated disinfectantand scrubbed with a yard brush
until her skin came off.
Through all of the torture andabuse, suzanne was subjected to
a tape of Chucky repeating I'mChucky, wanna play through
headphones as well as rave musicat maximum volume.
In the early morning hours ofthe 14th of December 1992,

(05:09):
suzanne was forced into the bootof a Fiat Panda car that the
gang had stolen.
They drove her to remotewoodland near Stockport where
she was forced out of the carand shoved down an embankment,
rolling through dank leaves andbrambles, with thorns cutting
her bare feet.
Bernadette poured gas over theterrified teenager and they set
her alight.
She went straight up in flamesand was screaming, said Jean.

(05:30):
The gang presumed she was deadand left the scene laughing and
singing burn, baby burn.
However, suzanne didn't die asquickly and anonymously as the
gang had hoped.
Somehow Suzanne managed tosurvive the brutal attack.
She staggered up the embankmentand was found by Barry
Sutcliffe, who was driving towork.
When she was found, suzannerepeatedly thanked Barry before

(05:52):
muttering Over there in thefield.
They burnt me, they put gas onme.
Barry did not need to be toldwhat had happened to Suzanne.
It was clear from the skinhanging from her battered body.
Suzanne had suffered from burnsto 80% of her body.
Unfortunately, suzanne diedfour days later in Withington
Hospital, but not before shenamed all of her killers.

(06:13):
It was clear from the outsetthat Suzanne was unlikely to
survive.
She suffered superficial butwidespread burns that led to
several complications internally.
There was a partial collapse inone of her lungs, said Dr
William Lawler, a home officepathologist.
When police arrived at 97Langworthy Road, they were met
by a complete and utter mess.
The living room was strewn withrubbish and there were stolen

(06:35):
car seats along the walls inlieu of sofas.
In the home, they foundSuzanne's hair in the bin, a
pair of bloody pliers andSuzanne's discarded teeth.
Initially, the gang all deniedany involvement, but then
Anthony, urged by his father,began to tell the truth.
As the story began to unfold,we just couldn't believe it.
I kept asking myself how onehuman being could do this to

(06:56):
another, said a detectiveworking on the case.
Even the most hardened officerswere moved to tears During the
trial.
The gang turned on each otherto alleviate the blame from
themselves.
Also, all of them distancedthemselves from the final act of
horror of the burning ofSuzanne.
According to Jean, she sat inthe car while the others set
Suzanne alight.
I was numb, I was scared, shealleged.

(07:18):
She also claimed that she hadlocked Suzanne in a cupboard for
her own safety and that sheloved her as a sister, adding
that she can't stand violence.
I don't even smack my ownchildren.
Bernadette claimed she had heldthe canister of gas but said
that Anthony had grabbed it fromher moments before Suzanne went
up in flames.
She also claimed that she hadinjected Suzanne with

(07:39):
amphetamines to protect her frombeing injected with heroin.
Anthony told the court thatGlynn had been the one to set
Suzanne on fire.
During the sentencing phase,judge Francis Potts called the
murder as appalling a murder asit is possible to imagine.
He sentenced Jean Powell,bernadette McNeely and Glynn
Powell to life imprisonment witha minimum of 25 years.

(07:59):
Jeffrey Lee was sentenced to 12years.
Anthony Dutson was detainedindefinitely with a minimum
tariff of 18 years.
Clifford Hayes was sentenced to15 years In 2012,.
Jean Powell's sentence wasreduced by two years after she
allegedly showed remorse andhelped prevent a jail escape.
Bernadette McNeely, who enjoyeda romance with Myra Hindley

(08:20):
behind bars, jeffrey Lee andClifford Hayes have all since
been released.
Thanks for joining me again.
Told you this was one messed upcase.
Can't imagine the horror andpain Suzanne went through.
Was justice served?
In my mind?
No, it was not.
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Till next time, please takecare of yourselves.