Bizarre Murder Mysteries- The First Case

Thrillers have always been a favorite genre for many of us since our childhood. We all love to apply our knowledge and put our grey matter into use while the detectives solve a case. It's as if we are assisting them. And admit or not, murder mysteries have got to be the most fascinating ones. But these murder mysteries are not just limited to watching on screen. There are some very strange and weird unsolved murder cases that will be discussed in this series which will make you scratch your head. So, Let us have a look at the first case.

Bella down the Wych Elm.

Driving along the A456 (Hagley Road) between Central Birmingham and Woofferton, Shropshire you'll pass the border of Hagley Wood. The dark falls, the trees naturally look misty and menacing. No wonder there is a mystery lurking here since the 1940s.

On April 18, 1943, three boys who were in for hunting birds' nests spotted an enticing Wych elm, one of the most common breeds of the European elm tree. The tree's wide trunk was virtually hollow. As one of the boys climbed down the trunk, he looked down and through a knothole, he saw a skull. Strands of hair were attached to the skull, and some, which were inarguable, human teeth.It was very much clear that someone's body had been stuffed inside the tree trunk.

The boys were shocked, but they did not inform the police at first. They did this because they were trespassing and were afraid of being caught. But, finally one of them did.

The investigators found that it wasn't just the skull that was there. They found most of a skeleton, along with a wedding ring, and a shoe. It does not end there. In the skull's mouth, they found crumpled taffeta. Forensic investigation revealed she'd been smothered then hidden inside the tree almost immediately after death.

In 1944 someone did a graffiti on a wall in Birmingham which read "Who put Bella down the Wych Elm – Hagley Wood." Since then, the same question has appeared over and over again —often written as "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm" since the 1970s on the side of an obelisk not far from the site.

In the forties, one theory suggested that witches sacrificed Bella in a ritual. It claimed that it was the time of war, so it was possible that she was a spy or a woman who knew too much and that is why needed to be killed. But to this day, no one really knows the real reason.