Margaret Hogg (c. 1939 – October 1976) was a manslaughter victim whose body was preserved in

Wast Water Wast Water or Wastwater () is a lake located in Wasdale, a valley in the western part of the Lake District National Park, England. The lake is almost long and more than wide. It is a glacial lake, formed in a glacially 'over-deepened' valle ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

for eight years. Wast Water is England's deepest lake.

Life and career

Margaret Hogg had worked as an airline

stewardess A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

and her husband, Peter Hogg, was a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. He was 19 years older than she. He had made front-page news on 16 August 1974 when he landed at Luton Airport as the captain of a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar of

Court Line Court Line was a 20th-century British tramp shipping company that was founded in 1905. In the 1960s it diversified into shipbuilding and charter aviation. Its merchant shipping interests were based in London. Its shipyards were at Appledore in ...

that he had piloted overnight from a refuelling stop at Gander,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, bringing Clarksons holidaymakers back from St. Lucia. This was the airline's last flight as Court Line had ceased trading the previous day.

Marital stress, murder and disposal in Wastwater

Margaret had a three-year affair with

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

Graham Ryan, and often flaunted it before Peter. In October 1976 she attacked her husband, hitting and kicking until he "grabbed her round the neck and squeezed hard". She suffocated and he wrapped her body in a carpet, tied it to a block of concrete, drove north overnight from Surrey and dumped it in

lake in the Lake District National Park. The body settled at a depth of 34 metres (110 ft), only a short distance away from much deeper parts of the deepest lake in England. Due to the lack of oxygen the body did not

decompose Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is ...

, but over time was preserved by the formation of adipocere.

Discovery of body

In 1983, the lake was searched for the body of Veronique Mireille Marre, a missing French student. Subsequently, the remains of Margaret Hogg were found tied in the fetal position with co-ax cable with a dry-cleaning bag over her head and the body wrapped in a hessian cover, by a diver, Neil Pritt, on 29 February 1984, who initially thought them to be just a roll of old carpet. Shortly after the recovery, the body was identified by friends. The police investigation was made easier by noting "Margaret 11.11.63 Peter" that was engraved on the inside of the

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

wedding ring A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage, though the modern prac ...

recovered on the floor of the mortuary at West Cumberland Hospital. Peter Hogg, the prime suspect, initially denied the murder before making a confession. He was sentenced to four years for manslaughter, obstructing a coroner, and

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

in his

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

proceedings.

Veronique Mireille Marre

The body of Veronique Mireille Marre was eventually found in April 1985. Her remains were found on a mountain at the bottom of a cliff, but no cause of death could be officially given.Lakestay, Wasdale's Lady in the Lake Mystery
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hogg, Margaret 1976 deaths History of Cumbria Deaths by strangulation British manslaughter victims Year of birth uncertain Manslaughter in the United Kingdom