The cousin of Winnie Love spoke to the ET about the kind hearted woman she had known since childhood.

Widow Mrs. Jessie Law (74) recalled the happy times they had as youngsters playing in the streets of Kettering. “I still can’t really believe it all happened,” she said at her home in Montagu Street, Kettering. “She was such a gentle soul and would have done anything to help you. I just don’t know what the world is coming to.”

Mrs. Law, as one of only two known living relatives in the area, had to officially identify the body of 76 year old Mrs. Love, who was found bound and gagged. “It was horrible. She was only a frail little woman, not weighing much more than seven stones. Certainly she was very thin and weak and wouldn’t have been able to fight back if attacked,”said Mrs Law.

Born in Wood Lane, Kettering, Mrs Love was the daughter of sewerage worker Mr. Ernest Murdin and his wife Elizabeth. She had a brother Walter and two sisters, May and Nellie, who all died many years ago. But since her husband left her and moved to Bristol 30 years ago, she lived alone at 35 Station Road, Burton Latimer.

“Sometimes she would come over to see me on the bus in the morning. I would help her to do her shopping in the afternoon before seeing her to the bus to go home,” said Mrs. Law. “When she slipped and broke her leg a few years ago I used to spend many weekends with her. She kept in good health but she could never walk too well after her accident, though she refused to use a stick.”

Mrs Love lived in West Street, Kettering during her early childhood but later moved to Railway View – only a few houses away from Mrs Law.

“We were always out and about playing together when we were little girls. They were happy days. But when she got married we lost touch for years and years until just before her death. But with the bad weather, I had only seen her once since Christmas.”