Sunday Mercury Big Exclusive: Killer facing jail over 25-year Birmingham death riddle

Jan 22 2012 by Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury

HIS mysterious death 25 years ago was put down to a tragic accident.

When Anthony Pryke’s body was found in a drain at an empty Birmingham home, it was assumed he had climbed in and been suffocated by sewage fumes.

But the truth was far more sinister. He had been killed by 18-year-old pal Mark Masefield after a furious row.

Incredibly, Masefield, now aged 43, and from the Birmingham area, only revealed his deadly secret after a drunken confession.

He handed himself in to the police and now faces jail after admitting manslaughter at Birmingham Crown Court earlier this month.

Anthony’s body was discovered in a drain at an empty house in Bluebell Drive, Chelmsley Wood, in December 1987 – four months after he went missing.

Until now it had always been assumed the 18-year-old must have climbed into the drainage shaft and died.

Victoria Jones, senior crown prosecutor with West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service’s Complex Casework Unit, who had overall conduct of the case, told the Sunday Mercury how the case had been cracked after 25 years against all the odds.

“Anthony lived at the house where his body was later found,” she said. “In August 1987 he simply disappeared.

“His father, to whom he was very close, had recently died and he had apparently taken it hard. Local rumours suggested Anthony might simply have left the area.

“His mother went to the police and a missing persons investigation was carried out, but he never surfaced.”