Murder of Marion Crofts

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The '''murder of Marion Crofts''' is a British [[child murder]] case which occurred on 6 June 1981, when a 14-year-old girl was abducted, [[rape]]d, then [[Blunt trauma|bludgeoned]] and strangled to death while cycling from her home in [[Fleet, Hampshire]] to the town of [[Farnborough, Hampshire|Farnborough]]. Despite an intense contemporary investigation, her murder remained unsolved for twenty-one years until advances in [[Genetic testing|DNA analysis]] enabled investigators to identify her murderer as a 41-year-old lorry driver and former soldier named Tony Jasinskyj, who had been been stationed at [[Aldershot]]—less than {{convert|2|mi}} from the site of Crofts' murder—at the time of her death.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|last=Payne|first=Stuart|title=DNA Link Traps Girl's Killer after 21 Years|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1393847/DNA-link-traps-girls-killer-after-21-years.html|access-date=16 October 2023|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=11 May 2002}}</ref>

The '''murder of Marion Crofts''' is a British [[child murder]] case which occurred on 6 June 1981, when a 14-year-old girl was abducted, [[rape]]d, then [[Blunt trauma|bludgeoned]] and strangled to death while cycling from her home in [[Fleet, Hampshire]] to the town of [[Farnborough, Hampshire|Farnborough]]. Despite an intense contemporary investigation, her murder remained unsolved for twenty-one years until advances in [[Genetic testing|DNA analysis]] enabled investigators to identify her murderer as a 41-year-old lorry driver and former soldier named Tony Jasinskyj, who had been stationed at [[Aldershot]]—less than {{convert|2|mi}} from the site of Crofts' murder—at the time of her death.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|last=Payne|first=Stuart|title=DNA Link Traps Girl's Killer after 21 Years|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1393847/DNA-link-traps-girls-killer-after-21-years.html|access-date=16 October 2023|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=11 May 2002}}</ref>

Jasinskyj was brought to trial for Crofts' rape and murder at [[Winchester Law Courts|Winchester Crown Court]] in April 2002; he was convicted of all charges and jailed for life the following month.<ref>{{cite news|last=McGowan|first=Patricia|title=DNA Traps Man for 1981 Murder|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/dna-traps-man-for-1981-murder-6310998.html|access-date=9 July 2025|work=[[Evening Standard]]|date=12 April 2002}}</ref>

Jasinskyj was brought to trial for Crofts' rape and murder at [[Winchester Law Courts|Winchester Crown Court]] in April 2002; he was convicted of all charges and jailed for life the following month.<ref>{{cite news|last=McGowan|first=Patricia|title=DNA Traps Man for 1981 Murder|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/dna-traps-man-for-1981-murder-6310998.html|access-date=9 July 2025|work=[[Evening Standard]]|date=12 April 2002}}</ref>