After more than three decades of mystery and heartache, a major breakthrough has emerged in one of Wales’s most notorious unsolved double murders. An 86-year-old man was arrested early Wednesday, December 17, 2025, in connection with the 1993 killings of Harry and Megan Tooze at their remote Ty Ar y Waun farmhouse in Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The arrest, announced by South Wales Police, marks a dramatic new chapter in a case that has haunted the region for over thirty years and brought renewed hope to a family long desperate for answers.
Harry, a retired fruit wholesaler aged 64, and his wife Megan, 67, were found dead with shotgun wounds in a cowshed on their property on July 26, 1993. The couple’s bodies were discovered after their daughter Cheryl, unable to reach her parents for their regular daily phone call, raised the alarm with a neighbor, Owen Hopkins. Hopkins, after finding the farmhouse locked and empty, suggested Cheryl contact the police. Officers arrived to a grim scene: both Harry and Megan had been shot in the back of the head from a distance of about three feet, then covered in carpet and hidden under hay bales, according to detectives cited by BBC News and Sky News.
The day of the murders began as any other. The Toozes left their farmhouse on the morning of July 26, 1993, driving their Land Rover to Tesco in nearby Talbot Green for their weekly shop and stopping to collect their pensions on the way home. They were seen returning at 11:00 GMT. At around 1:30 pm, neighbors reported hearing two gunshots. Yet on a working farm, such noises hardly raised an eyebrow; many assumed Harry was out shooting rabbits, and no one called emergency services at the time.
It was only after Cheryl’s unanswered phone call that concern mounted. Hopkins checked the property but could find no trace of her parents. The police, responding to the call, made the grim discovery in the early hours of the following morning. Both bodies had been moved after death—investigators believe the couple were not killed in the cowshed but carried there and concealed under hay bales, as reported by Daily Mail.
The killings sparked a massive police investigation. Four months later, the focus turned to Jonathan Jones, Cheryl’s boyfriend at the time. Jones, then a self-employed recruitment consultant, told police he had taken the day off work and traveled to Orpington, Greater London, to look for office space. However, police could find no one who had seen him that day, and his partial thumbprint was discovered on a cup and saucer in the Toozes’ living room. Arrested in December 1993, Jones was charged and, in 1995, found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life in prison.
Yet doubts soon emerged about the strength of the case. The original trial judge was criticized, and it later came to light that police had failed to properly seal the crime scene. Just a year after his conviction, Jones was freed on appeal—three judges took only five minutes to reach their decision. According to BBC News, Cheryl Tooze stood by Jones throughout, moving in with his family and later marrying him. The couple went on to have a son together, and Cheryl campaigned for the case to be reopened, even offering a £25,000 reward for information.
Despite several reviews over the years, the case remained unsolved. But forensic science has come a long way since the early 1990s. In 2023, South Wales Police launched a new cold case review, dubbed Operation Vega, under the guidance of renowned forensic scientist Professor Angela Gallop—famous for her work on the Stephen Lawrence and Lynette White cases. For two and a half years, Gallop and her team meticulously re-examined every exhibit retained from the original murder scene, searching for clues that might have been missed by earlier investigations. Advances in DNA technology meant even the tiniest stains could now yield vital evidence.
Detective Superintendent Mark Lewis, the senior investigating officer, described the arrest as a “significant development in the investigation,” but emphasized that the inquiry remains ongoing. “This case has affected many people over the years and our aim is to find the answers to the unanswered questions which remain about their deaths over 30 years on,” Lewis told BBC News. “Even with this passage of time I appeal to anyone who has any information about the murders to come forward and speak to police.”
The arrest has reignited interest in the case and stirred strong emotions among those who have followed it for decades. Jones, who now lives as a recluse, spoke in 2023 about his “inner turmoil” and the pain of waiting for the real killer to be found. The Tooze family’s ordeal has been marked by grief, controversy, and persistent hope that justice would one day be served.
Operation Vega’s work highlights how cold cases can benefit from scientific advances and fresh investigative eyes. Forensic techniques have evolved dramatically, with DNA analysis now capable of extracting profiles from minute traces of evidence previously considered unusable. Professor Gallop’s involvement brought both expertise and public confidence to the renewed inquiry.
For the community of Llanharry and the wider Welsh public, the Tooze case has long symbolized the anguish of unresolved tragedy. The couple, described as quiet and hard-working, were well known locally. Their brutal deaths shocked the rural region and brought an outpouring of sympathy for their daughter Cheryl, who lost both parents in a single day and later endured the ordeal of seeing her partner wrongly convicted.
While the identity of the 86-year-old suspect has not been released, police have urged anyone with information to contact them, quoting occurrence number 2300016841. The arrest comes as a reminder that, even after decades, justice can still move forward—sometimes slowly, sometimes in leaps, but always with the hope of closure for those left behind.
The Tooze murders remain a chilling chapter in British criminal history. With the latest arrest, the possibility of long-awaited answers has never felt closer. For Cheryl, her family, and a community still searching for peace, the next steps in the investigation will be watched with bated breath.