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Bolton was in blackout as a police officer went about his rounds in the pitch-dark of Saturday, November 16, 1940.

Two nights earlier, the Luftwaffe had launched a devastating blitz on Coventry, with nearly 500 bombers pounding the city over 11 hours.

So there was a good reason the lights were off across Britain - but the blackout designed to hide homes and factories from German bombers was also the perfect cover for a murderer in Bolton , as that lone officer was about to find out.

Earlier that evening, 17-year-old Minnie Stott left home at Clarence Street, near Bolton town centre, at around 7.45pm, telling her dad Fred she was going to the cinema.

Minnie, known as Peggy by her close friends, was dressed in a striking blue woollen coat, crepe de chine scarf, green twe

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