Man serving life sentence for killing Peterborough step-daughter dies in prison
Her body has never been found
Last updated 4th Jan 2024
A man who murdered a 17-year-old girl and refused to tell her family where her body is has died in prison where he was serving a life sentence.
Scott Walker was jailed in 2021 for the murder of Bernadette Walker, who had called him her father but was not his biological daughter, after she claimed he had sexually abused her over a number of years.
He was found guilty of her murder and of perverting the course of justice following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court, and he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 32 years.
Photography student Bernadette was last seen alive on July 18 2020 when Walker collected her from his parents' house in Peterborough.
He died at HMP Full Sutton near Pocklington, Yorkshire, on December 22 last year, aged 53.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Prisoner Scott Walker died on 22 December at HMP Full Sutton and, as with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.
"We know this will be difficult news for the family of Bernadette Walker and our thoughts are with them."
Judge Mrs Justice McGowan said, at Walker's sentencing in 2021, that his refusal to tell police where Bernadette's body is "means she can't be shown the respect she deserves".
"Cruellest of all it's likely to mean some members of her family and friends will go on hoping she might be alive and might someday come back into their lives," she said.
Prosecutors said that Walker killed Bernadette to "prevent her pursuing her allegations of sexual abuse any further".
She had written in a diary entry: "Told my mum about my dad and the abuse.
"She called me a liar and threatened to kill me if I told the police."
Scott Walker said that Bernadette ran away from his car when he stopped the vehicle, but jurors at Cambridge Crown Court rejected his account.
It is not known how she was killed or where her body is.
Prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC said that Walker formed an "unholy alliance" with Bernadette's mother, his ex-partner Sarah Walker, to cover up the girl's death, sending messages from Bernadette's phone to give the impression she was still alive.
Sarah Walker, who was 38 at the time of the sentencing, was convicted of perverting the course of justice and sentenced to six years in prison.