Robin Stanislaw Ligus
Classification: Serial killer
Characteristics: Robberies - For money to buy drugs
Number of victims: 3
Date of murders: April-October 1994
Date of birth: 1952
Victims profile: Robert Young, 75 / Trevor Bradley, 53 / Brian Coles, 57
Method of murder: Beating with an iron bar
Location: Shropshire, England, United Kingdom
Status: Sentenced to life in prison in 1996. Ordered to be detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital in 2011
Robin Stanislaw Ligus, is a serial killer, who operated in Shropshire, killing three men in 1994. In 2011 he was ordered to be detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital, as he is suffering from the effects of a stroke.
Victims
Trevor Bradley: his body was found in a burned out car in Melverley.
Brian Coles: found in his home in Higher Heath, near Whitchurch, having been beaten to death with an iron bar.
Robert Young: killed in Shrewsbury during a burglary of his home.
Justice at last after brutal killings
July 21, 2011
A JURY has found that a convicted murderer from Shrewsbury killed two other men.
A jury decided that 59-year-old Robin Stanislaw Ligus had beaten Brian Coles, 57, to death with an iron bar at his Higher Heath home in Whitchurch 17 years ago.
Following a month long trial at Birmingham Crown Court the jury also found that he had killed 53-year-old Ludlow antiques dealer Trevor Bradley in April, 1994.
But the jury cleared Ligus of involvement in the death of Bernard Czyzewska, whose body was found in the River Severn.
The court had been told that Ligus, who is already serving life for bludgeoning a pensioner to death, was declared unfit to plead because of his mental state and the jury was instructed to determine if the defendant had been responsible for the acts that led to the deaths of the three men.
Ligus, a father-of-three, who was jailed for life in 1996 for killing 75-year-old Robert Young in Shrewsbury in October 1994, is due to be sentenced later this month.
After the trial Mr Coles’s family demanded an apology from police describing the initial investigation as a “debacle”. Peter Coles, Mr Coles’s cousin, said: “Brian’s death was deemed not murder, then days later it was murder, then weeks later not murder.
“We, the family, expect an apology from those who were responsible for this debacle.”
Ligus was charged by West Mercia police with the murders of all three men in September last year after a cold case review and police described the 17-year investigation as “long and complex”.
Detective Inspector Andy Parsons, who led the inquiry, said it was hoped the outcome went some way to help the families of Brian Coles and Trevor Bradley to come to terms with their loss.
The court had heard that Ligus made “wholesale confessions” to cell-mates, police and a psychologist.
“The result has proved that Robin Ligus was, in fact, a serial killer and not a serial confessor.
“His victims were vulnerable and were brutally killed in horrific circumstances,” he added.
Mr Bradley’s remains were found in a burnt out car at Melverley, near Oswestry, in April, 1994, and Mr Czyzewska’s body was recovered from the River Severn at Shrewsbury in November that year.
Robin Ligus: Shropshire murderer's mother remembers son
16 July 2011
"It's a good photograph of him, it hasn't been taken off the wall in 16 years," says Phyllis Ligus.
The picture of her son Robin was taken when he was about two years old.
Now aged 59, he is currently serving a life term for the murder of Robert Young during a burglary at the 75-year-old's home in Shrewsbury in 1994.
In September last year he was charged with murdering three other men in Shropshire in the same year.
A jury found he killed Trevor Bradley and Brian Coles but acquitted him of being involved in the death of Bernard Czyzewska.
Jurors were asked to give a verdict following a trial of facts after Ligus was declared unfit to plead following psychiatric assessment.
Sitting in her home in Monkmoor, Shrewsbury, his mother says she does not know what led her son to kill.
She remembers a "lovely little lad" who was not treated any differently from his nine brothers and sisters.
"We've got three lads and they were all treated the same," she said.
"They never got into trouble the other two."
She struggles to explain why her son turned to a life of crime, but believes his drug addiction contributed.
She said: "It was just in him. I don't know why he did it.
"I remember him when he was 14, just the same as any other lad.
"But then he got in with other lads and got into trouble and that was it."
She said he had been in and out of prison since the age of 18 until he was jailed for the latest time 17 years ago.
Since then police have re-examined the deaths of Trevor Bradley, 53, Brian Coles, 57, and Bernard Czyzewska, 36.
At Birmingham Crown Court, prosecutor James Curtis QC said it was up to the jurors to decide whether the father-of-three was a "serial killer or just a serial confessor".
The prosecution claimed Ligus, who previously lived in Middletown Square, Shrewsbury, was a heroin and cocaine user and had committed the crimes to obtain money for his drug addiction.
He allegedly hit Mr Bradley on the head before setting fire to his car in Melverley where his body was found in April 1994.
Mr Coles' body was discovered six months later following a burglary at his home in Higher Heath, near Whitchurch, and Mr Czyzewska was thrown into the River Severn in Shrewsbury in November of that year, the QC said.
Mrs Ligus is now 85 and does not get to see her son very often.
Her husband Stanley, Robin's father, is confined to a wheelchair due to a stroke and rheumatoid arthritis and so is unable to take her to visit their son in prison in Buckinghamshire.
But Mrs Ligus says she and Robin write to each other every week.
The former painter and decorator had been due to be considered for release this year but Mrs Ligus said she did not think he would ever be released now.
She said she believed her son killed Mr Young over a perceived insult.
She said: "That was awful (that he) killed Robert Young.
"He lived not far from where we lived."
She said she had heard Mr Young had insulted Robin.
"Robin wouldn't forget that. (But killing him) was a stupid thing to do."
She said she was proud of her other two sons who she said had never been out of work.
She said she was left with holding on to the memory of the little boy she once knew.
Full confession
"I can't blame anyone else. He had a mind of his own," she said.
"I don't know why he did it. He was a lovely little lad."
Police reopened files into the deaths of the three men after new evidence came to light.
Ligus allegedly told a psychologist and his cellmate that in the same year he killed Mr Young he also killed Mr Bradley, Mr Coles and Mr Czyzewska.
He then "confessed in full" during a formal police interview in January 2000, but owing to some inconsistencies in his account, no charges were brought against him for the three unsolved murders, the prosecutor said.
Further evidence emerged following the exhumation of Mr Bradley's body.
Horrific time
For Micky Bradley, the youngest of the Bradley family's 22 children, the exhumation brought back memories of his brother's death.
Recalling the day his brother's body was discovered he said: "I had a phone call from my sister asking me if I'd seen the newspaper and I said yes but I never took notice of it.
"I just saw something about a burnt out car I thought had been stolen.
"My sister explained the police had been at her door to say a body had been found in the back of the car and they strongly believed it was my brother Trevor."
He said it had been a "horrific" time for his family.
Ligus's sister is married to one of the Bradley brothers, but Micky Bradley said there had been no animosity between the families.
He said he felt sorry for Ligus's parents.
"My heart goes out to them, they're lovely people."
He said over the years several of his elder family members had died so they had never got answers as to who killed Trevor.
He said: "Life goes on. I've lost a lot of members of the family but they've always said 'No matter how long it takes, justice will be done'.
"I hope they're up there somewhere taking note of what's happening."
Ligus responsible for two murders, jury rules
July 15, 2011
A Shropshire murderer serving life for bludgeoning a pensioner to death in 1994 committed two other brutal killings in the same year, a jury has ruled.
Robin Stanislaw Ligus, 59, formerly of Shrewsbury, who will now be de-tained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital, watched via videolink as a Birmingham Crown Court jury found him responsible for the murders of Trevor Bradley and Brian Coles.
A month-long trial heard that Ligus killed Mr Bradley by knocking him out and setting his car on fire in Melverley, near Oswestry, and beat Mr Coles to death with an iron bar at his home near Whitchurch
But Ligus, who will be sentenced on July 29, was acquitted of involvement in the death of Bernard Czyzewska, whose body was found in the River Severn in Shrewsbury in November 1994.
Because of Ligus’s mental state, jurors were instructed to rule on whether the father-of-three did the acts alleged against him, rather than being required to return verdicts of guilty or not guilty.
Speaking after the jury returned its rulings today, the families of Mr Bradley and Mr Czyzewska spoke of “closure”.
But Mr Coles’s family demanded an apology from police describing the initial investigation as a “debacle”.
Peter Coles, Mr Coles’s cousin, said: “Brian’s death was deemed not murder, then days later it was murder, then weeks later not murder.
“We, the family, expect an apology from those who were responsible for this debacle.”
Police, who refused to answer questions from reporters, described the 17-year investigation as “long and complex”.
Detective Inspector Andy Parsons, who led the inquiry, said: “We respect the jury’s findings and hope the outcome goes some way to helping the families of Trevor Bradley and Brian Coles come to terms with their loss.
“This case has shown that the impact upon the families of murder victims and the community does not diminish with the passage of time.”
Referring to “wholesale confessions” made by Ligus to cell-mates, police and a psychologist, he added: “Today’s result has proved that Robin Ligus was in fact a serial killer and not a serial confessor.
“His victims were vulnerable and were brutally killed in horrific circumstances.”
The detective added: “It is unlikely Ligus will ever again be at liberty to become a threat to the communities of Shropshire.”
A statement read out on behalf of Mr Bradley’s family thanked police for the investigation and said: “It was very hard at the beginning in 1994 to learn that we had lost a brother in such a cruel way. We now know this was by a sadistic human being.
“We, the family, are glad that it has now finally come to an end.”
A statement from Mr Czyzewska’s family said: “We’re glad it’s come to an end but we are disappointed at the outcome and sorry it is not the decision we were hoping for.”
Ligus was jailed for life in 1996 for killing 75-year-old Robert Young in Shrewsbury in October 1994.
Ligus was charged with the murders of Mr Bradley, Mr Coles and Mr Czyzewska in September last year after a cold case review.
Robin Ligus
Robin Ligus
The picture of a young Robin Ligus is still on the wall of his mother's house.
Phyllis Ligus says she does not know what made her son turn to crime.
A scenes of crime officer takes items from Brian Coles’s home at Higher Heath, near Whitchurch.
A scenes of crime officer at Brian Coles’s home on October 19, 1994.
Trevor Bradley’s car is examined by forensics officers.
Police investigate the death of Trevor Bradley.
The victims
Robert Young was murdered in his home during a burglary.
Trevor Bradley’s charred body was found inside his burnt-out car on April 26, 1994.
Brian Coles’ body was found at his home in Higher Heath, near Whitchurch, in October 1994.
Robin Ligus was acquitted of involvement in the death of Bernard Czyzewska, whose body
was found in the River Severn in Shrewsbury in November 1994.
Classification: Serial killer
Characteristics: Robberies - For money to buy drugs
Number of victims: 3
Date of murders: April-October 1994
Date of birth: 1952
Victims profile: Robert Young, 75 / Trevor Bradley, 53 / Brian Coles, 57
Method of murder: Beating with an iron bar
Location: Shropshire, England, United Kingdom
Status: Sentenced to life in prison in 1996. Ordered to be detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital in 2011
Robin Stanislaw Ligus, is a serial killer, who operated in Shropshire, killing three men in 1994. In 2011 he was ordered to be detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital, as he is suffering from the effects of a stroke.
Victims
Trevor Bradley: his body was found in a burned out car in Melverley.
Brian Coles: found in his home in Higher Heath, near Whitchurch, having been beaten to death with an iron bar.
Robert Young: killed in Shrewsbury during a burglary of his home.
Justice at last after brutal killings
July 21, 2011
A JURY has found that a convicted murderer from Shrewsbury killed two other men.
A jury decided that 59-year-old Robin Stanislaw Ligus had beaten Brian Coles, 57, to death with an iron bar at his Higher Heath home in Whitchurch 17 years ago.
Following a month long trial at Birmingham Crown Court the jury also found that he had killed 53-year-old Ludlow antiques dealer Trevor Bradley in April, 1994.
But the jury cleared Ligus of involvement in the death of Bernard Czyzewska, whose body was found in the River Severn.
The court had been told that Ligus, who is already serving life for bludgeoning a pensioner to death, was declared unfit to plead because of his mental state and the jury was instructed to determine if the defendant had been responsible for the acts that led to the deaths of the three men.
Ligus, a father-of-three, who was jailed for life in 1996 for killing 75-year-old Robert Young in Shrewsbury in October 1994, is due to be sentenced later this month.
After the trial Mr Coles’s family demanded an apology from police describing the initial investigation as a “debacle”. Peter Coles, Mr Coles’s cousin, said: “Brian’s death was deemed not murder, then days later it was murder, then weeks later not murder.
“We, the family, expect an apology from those who were responsible for this debacle.”
Ligus was charged by West Mercia police with the murders of all three men in September last year after a cold case review and police described the 17-year investigation as “long and complex”.
Detective Inspector Andy Parsons, who led the inquiry, said it was hoped the outcome went some way to help the families of Brian Coles and Trevor Bradley to come to terms with their loss.
The court had heard that Ligus made “wholesale confessions” to cell-mates, police and a psychologist.
“The result has proved that Robin Ligus was, in fact, a serial killer and not a serial confessor.
“His victims were vulnerable and were brutally killed in horrific circumstances,” he added.
Mr Bradley’s remains were found in a burnt out car at Melverley, near Oswestry, in April, 1994, and Mr Czyzewska’s body was recovered from the River Severn at Shrewsbury in November that year.
Robin Ligus: Shropshire murderer's mother remembers son
16 July 2011
"It's a good photograph of him, it hasn't been taken off the wall in 16 years," says Phyllis Ligus.
The picture of her son Robin was taken when he was about two years old.
Now aged 59, he is currently serving a life term for the murder of Robert Young during a burglary at the 75-year-old's home in Shrewsbury in 1994.
In September last year he was charged with murdering three other men in Shropshire in the same year.
A jury found he killed Trevor Bradley and Brian Coles but acquitted him of being involved in the death of Bernard Czyzewska.
Jurors were asked to give a verdict following a trial of facts after Ligus was declared unfit to plead following psychiatric assessment.
Sitting in her home in Monkmoor, Shrewsbury, his mother says she does not know what led her son to kill.
She remembers a "lovely little lad" who was not treated any differently from his nine brothers and sisters.
"We've got three lads and they were all treated the same," she said.
"They never got into trouble the other two."
She struggles to explain why her son turned to a life of crime, but believes his drug addiction contributed.
She said: "It was just in him. I don't know why he did it.
"I remember him when he was 14, just the same as any other lad.
"But then he got in with other lads and got into trouble and that was it."
She said he had been in and out of prison since the age of 18 until he was jailed for the latest time 17 years ago.
Since then police have re-examined the deaths of Trevor Bradley, 53, Brian Coles, 57, and Bernard Czyzewska, 36.
At Birmingham Crown Court, prosecutor James Curtis QC said it was up to the jurors to decide whether the father-of-three was a "serial killer or just a serial confessor".
The prosecution claimed Ligus, who previously lived in Middletown Square, Shrewsbury, was a heroin and cocaine user and had committed the crimes to obtain money for his drug addiction.
He allegedly hit Mr Bradley on the head before setting fire to his car in Melverley where his body was found in April 1994.
Mr Coles' body was discovered six months later following a burglary at his home in Higher Heath, near Whitchurch, and Mr Czyzewska was thrown into the River Severn in Shrewsbury in November of that year, the QC said.
Mrs Ligus is now 85 and does not get to see her son very often.
Her husband Stanley, Robin's father, is confined to a wheelchair due to a stroke and rheumatoid arthritis and so is unable to take her to visit their son in prison in Buckinghamshire.
But Mrs Ligus says she and Robin write to each other every week.
The former painter and decorator had been due to be considered for release this year but Mrs Ligus said she did not think he would ever be released now.
She said she believed her son killed Mr Young over a perceived insult.
She said: "That was awful (that he) killed Robert Young.
"He lived not far from where we lived."
She said she had heard Mr Young had insulted Robin.
"Robin wouldn't forget that. (But killing him) was a stupid thing to do."
She said she was proud of her other two sons who she said had never been out of work.
She said she was left with holding on to the memory of the little boy she once knew.
Full confession
"I can't blame anyone else. He had a mind of his own," she said.
"I don't know why he did it. He was a lovely little lad."
Police reopened files into the deaths of the three men after new evidence came to light.
Ligus allegedly told a psychologist and his cellmate that in the same year he killed Mr Young he also killed Mr Bradley, Mr Coles and Mr Czyzewska.
He then "confessed in full" during a formal police interview in January 2000, but owing to some inconsistencies in his account, no charges were brought against him for the three unsolved murders, the prosecutor said.
Further evidence emerged following the exhumation of Mr Bradley's body.
Horrific time
For Micky Bradley, the youngest of the Bradley family's 22 children, the exhumation brought back memories of his brother's death.
Recalling the day his brother's body was discovered he said: "I had a phone call from my sister asking me if I'd seen the newspaper and I said yes but I never took notice of it.
"I just saw something about a burnt out car I thought had been stolen.
"My sister explained the police had been at her door to say a body had been found in the back of the car and they strongly believed it was my brother Trevor."
He said it had been a "horrific" time for his family.
Ligus's sister is married to one of the Bradley brothers, but Micky Bradley said there had been no animosity between the families.
He said he felt sorry for Ligus's parents.
"My heart goes out to them, they're lovely people."
He said over the years several of his elder family members had died so they had never got answers as to who killed Trevor.
He said: "Life goes on. I've lost a lot of members of the family but they've always said 'No matter how long it takes, justice will be done'.
"I hope they're up there somewhere taking note of what's happening."
Ligus responsible for two murders, jury rules
July 15, 2011
A Shropshire murderer serving life for bludgeoning a pensioner to death in 1994 committed two other brutal killings in the same year, a jury has ruled.
Robin Stanislaw Ligus, 59, formerly of Shrewsbury, who will now be de-tained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital, watched via videolink as a Birmingham Crown Court jury found him responsible for the murders of Trevor Bradley and Brian Coles.
A month-long trial heard that Ligus killed Mr Bradley by knocking him out and setting his car on fire in Melverley, near Oswestry, and beat Mr Coles to death with an iron bar at his home near Whitchurch
But Ligus, who will be sentenced on July 29, was acquitted of involvement in the death of Bernard Czyzewska, whose body was found in the River Severn in Shrewsbury in November 1994.
Because of Ligus’s mental state, jurors were instructed to rule on whether the father-of-three did the acts alleged against him, rather than being required to return verdicts of guilty or not guilty.
Speaking after the jury returned its rulings today, the families of Mr Bradley and Mr Czyzewska spoke of “closure”.
But Mr Coles’s family demanded an apology from police describing the initial investigation as a “debacle”.
Peter Coles, Mr Coles’s cousin, said: “Brian’s death was deemed not murder, then days later it was murder, then weeks later not murder.
“We, the family, expect an apology from those who were responsible for this debacle.”
Police, who refused to answer questions from reporters, described the 17-year investigation as “long and complex”.
Detective Inspector Andy Parsons, who led the inquiry, said: “We respect the jury’s findings and hope the outcome goes some way to helping the families of Trevor Bradley and Brian Coles come to terms with their loss.
“This case has shown that the impact upon the families of murder victims and the community does not diminish with the passage of time.”
Referring to “wholesale confessions” made by Ligus to cell-mates, police and a psychologist, he added: “Today’s result has proved that Robin Ligus was in fact a serial killer and not a serial confessor.
“His victims were vulnerable and were brutally killed in horrific circumstances.”
The detective added: “It is unlikely Ligus will ever again be at liberty to become a threat to the communities of Shropshire.”
A statement read out on behalf of Mr Bradley’s family thanked police for the investigation and said: “It was very hard at the beginning in 1994 to learn that we had lost a brother in such a cruel way. We now know this was by a sadistic human being.
“We, the family, are glad that it has now finally come to an end.”
A statement from Mr Czyzewska’s family said: “We’re glad it’s come to an end but we are disappointed at the outcome and sorry it is not the decision we were hoping for.”
Ligus was jailed for life in 1996 for killing 75-year-old Robert Young in Shrewsbury in October 1994.
Ligus was charged with the murders of Mr Bradley, Mr Coles and Mr Czyzewska in September last year after a cold case review.
Robin Ligus
Robin Ligus
The picture of a young Robin Ligus is still on the wall of his mother's house.
Phyllis Ligus says she does not know what made her son turn to crime.
A scenes of crime officer takes items from Brian Coles’s home at Higher Heath, near Whitchurch.
A scenes of crime officer at Brian Coles’s home on October 19, 1994.
Trevor Bradley’s car is examined by forensics officers.
Police investigate the death of Trevor Bradley.
The victims
Robert Young was murdered in his home during a burglary.
Trevor Bradley’s charred body was found inside his burnt-out car on April 26, 1994.
Brian Coles’ body was found at his home in Higher Heath, near Whitchurch, in October 1994.
Robin Ligus was acquitted of involvement in the death of Bernard Czyzewska, whose body
was found in the River Severn in Shrewsbury in November 1994.
