Man found guilty of murder 35 years after body found in lake

Shani Warren's body was found in Taplow lake

Published 17th May 2022
Last updated 17th May 2022

A convicted rapist has been found guilty of murdering a woman who was found bound and gagged in a lake in Buckinghamshire 35 years ago.

66 year old Donald Robertson was charged in 2021 after a police cold-case team found new DNA evidence allegedly linking him to the death of Shani Warren in April 1987.

The body of the 26-year-old, who lived in Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire, was found in Taplow Lake on the Easter weekend that year.

Robertson denied the false imprisonment, indecent assault and murder of Shani Warren between April 16 and 19 1987.

He also denied the kidnap and rape of a 16-year-old girl, who cannot be identified, on July 16 1981.

Robertson did not give evidence in his defence.

Pictures from the Shani Warren murder case

Shani Warren was 26-years-old at the time of her death and lived in Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire.

The scene where Shani's body was found in 1987

Shani's car parked on what's alleged to be the murder scene

Shani's car outside police station

Evidence shown to jury: a piece of cloth thought to have been used as a gag

Evidence shown to jury: A tow rope

Aerial view of the lake where Shani Warren's body was found

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.