30 years on: Murder Case Re-opened

Family of Nottingham Taxi Driver want answers.

Gurcharn Singh Landa was found dead in Cyprus Road, Mapperley, during the early hours of Saturday 14 August 1982. He had been stabbed 87 times. 

The 33-year-old, known as John, was a brother, husband and father to eight children. 

Despite extensive enquiries in the years that followed, Mr Landa's murder is still unsolved. 

Today (Tuesday 14 August 2012), on the 30th anniversary of his death, his family have joined Nottinghamshire Police in issuing an appeal for information. 

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Heydon said: Mr Landa's death not only devastated a family but shocked an entire community. Thirty years may have passed but justice still needs to be done and someone out there could have vital information that would help us to identify the person, or people, responsible for Mr Landa's murder."

Mr Landa went to pick up a customer waiting at a phone box at 4am on Peel Street - a man who said he wanted to go to Mapperley.

Officers believe Mr Landa picked up the customer before driving to Cyprus Road, about a mile away. 

At about 4.05am a woman living in Cyprus Road heard a car brake suddenly and from her home saw Mr Landa's taxi rocking violently as though a fight was taking place. She also reported seeing a man searching the dashboard area of the taxi. After calling police, the resident went out into the street to find the body of Mr Landa on the pavement just yards away from his cab. 

He had been stabbed 87 times to the head and torso. Police believe robbery was the motive for the attack as money was missing from the taxi. Extensive enquiries were carried out with a number of arrests made at the time but no one has been charged with Mr Landa's murder.

DCI Heydon added: All unsolved murders are reviewed every few years with the potential for further forensic examination, in light of any new techniques, considered. Anniversary dates often provoke a response from the public and I can assure you that any information given to police will be followed up. 

Mr Landa's family deserve to see justice so please think back to that day and consider if you remember anything significant. You may have known Mr Landa, or even worked with him, and may have information that could be vital to us. Take a moment to cast your mind back. 

Your own view may have changed, you may have been told something after the incident that could help us, or you may know someone who might have information. What you know could be the final piece of the jigsaw."

Mr Landa's family also remains determined to see justice done. His son, Jasvinder Singh Landa, 37, of Radford, was just seven years old when Mr Landa was killed. 

"I try to hold on to the few memories I have of my father but they all seem so vague. I remember him having friends round and enjoying himself, I remember the tattoos on his arms, I remember us buying him a blue pair of trainers for his birthday just before he was murdered and I remember his big brown leather jacket. After that, there?s nothing. I feel I owe it to my father, mother, and entire family to see the person responsible for his death brought to justice so the spirit of my parents can rest in peace and we can have some form of closure.

Mr Landa's eldest daughter, Satnam Kaur, 41, said: I remember that day in August 1982 so well. I got up early in the morning and went into my mum and dad's room to see that dad wasn't there. Then two detectives came round and my world came crashing down around me. 

Thirty years on and I'm married with three children and they too are married with kids. My dad has missed all this. Every day I ask the same questions - Why my dad? Why hasn't the person who did this to him faced justice? Mr Landa's son Joginder Singh Landa, 38, said: I get upset when I see my uncles with their grandchildren because I feel that my children have been robbed of a grandfather's love. My memories of my father were happy but short-lived"

As part of the anniversary appeal, leaflets will be distributed in the city by officers, particularly around the Mapperley Park area. Public appeals were made during services at Sikh Gurdwaras in the city on Sunday with information also being circulated to taxi drivers and communities in Nottingham. Anyone with information is urged to call the incident room on 0115 8446913, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.