Joanna Yeates murder investigation: Suspect Chris Jefferies 'spied on tenants'

The landlord held yesterday over Jo Yeates’ murder used to peep in the windows of a flat he rented out, two former tenants alleged yesterday.

The couple also claimed nosey Chris Jefferies, 65, refused to let them put up net curtains to protect their privacy in the building where Jo, 25, lived.
The husband said: “He made my wife feel very uncomfortable.”
It emerged yesterday ex-teacher Mr Jefferies bought the Bristol flat Jo rented from an old colleague who is in jail for child abuse. Police may now reopen the nearby unsolved 1974 killing of Glenis Carruthers.

Chris Jefferies’ tenants felt uneasy when they thought they spotted him peering into their flat and asked to put up net curtains.


But their plea to protect their privacy was apparently refused by the eccentric landlord, who said it would not be in keeping with the grand building’s style.
They claim they caught the retired private school teacher, 65, peeping into their lounge and bedroom several times.
The husband and wife also say he would not let them fit a chain lock to their door after he allegedly let himself into their home uninvited on several occasions.
Their awkward encounters soured their relationship with the flamboyant loner, who rented them one of his three flats in the four-storey house six years ago.
Yesterday the couple, who asked not to be named, revealed their experience of living in the flat to murder detectives after Jefferies was arrested in a dawn swoop.
The pensioner is being quizzed on suspicion of killing his tenant Jo Yeates, 25, whose body was found dumped by a roadside next to woodland on Christmas Day.
She had disappeared from his building eight days earlier and been strangled.
Recalling “nosey neighbour” Mr Jefferies yesterday, the former male tenant, 39, said: “My wife wasn’t keen on him at all and he made her feel uncomfortable.
“He always seemed to be hanging about. If we left the flat he was always outside.
“On several occasions he even entered our flat unannounced.

UNSETTLING
“He acted surprised and left when my wife confronted him. It was intrusive, he looks very strange as well, so it did make my wife feel uncomfortable.
“He has a set of keys for all of the flats he lets out. I had a word with him and told him to only come in if it was pre-arranged.
“He didn’t allow any of the tenants to have blinds or net curtains up. We asked for them and he refused. I seem to remember it was in the tenancy agreement that we could not have them.
“My wife spotted him looking through the window a few times and the boys in the dorms at the local boarding school opposite used to look in and wolf whistle as well which wasn’t very nice. We had the basement flat, so if anyone stood outside they could look straight in.
“My wife used to get changed in the bathroom because our bedroom had no privacy. We couldn’t prove anything or accuse him of spying on us, but it just felt strange.”
Police interviewed the two ex-tenants last night after Mr Jefferies’ arrest.


The landlord was taken into custody by police after they swooped on his home in upmarket Clifton, Bristol, at 7am. His home is two floors above the basement apartment landscape architect Jo shared with boyfriend Greg Reardon, 27.
The former English teacher’s silver 2002 Chrysler Neon LX was towed away from its parking spot in the road outside.
An atlas, road map and A to Z map of Bristol had been left on the back seat. An hour later, police also removed a silver Volvo S40 parked on the gravel drive.
The arrest came less than 24 hours after neighbours revealed bachelor Mr Jefferies told them he saw three people leave Jo’s flat around 9pm on the night she vanished from her £200,000 rented home.
White suited police forensic experts spent yesterday removing large packages – believed to contain clothes and bedding – from Mr Jefferies’ flat.
The former tenants said their experiences with the pensioner – who was head of English at nearby private school Clifton College and renowned for his bouffant blue hair – left them “concerned”.
The husband, who rented the flat next door to Jo’s for a year, added: “He is very eccentric. Chris always wore exactly the same clothes, he lived in his polo neck jumper and that coat.
“Whenever we saw him in the village he was always on his own. But he did occasionally have friends to visit and had the odd dinner party. He never mentioned any family. His study is crammed full of books, he loves literature.
“Sometimes he was chatty, but if he was in a bad mood he was best avoided.
“He once had a row with a utility company and he went into a blind rage and was swearing and shouting. Chris was a real nosey neighbour and if something happened in the flats or the garden he knew about it. He is incredibly precise.
“His arrest freaked us out a bit. He was always looking out of his window and in the garden – if anyone visited the property he’d be able to give you a description.”
He added: “Chris is a snob really and a bit elitist. The letting agent said he wanted the right type of people in his flats.”
Jo’s boyfriend Greg drove to Sheffield to see his brother hours before she vanished on Friday, December 17. Before setting off, he visited Jefferies around 7pm to ask for help starting his car because his battery was flat and he did not have jump leads.
Mr Jefferies drafted in neighbour Peter Stanley over the phone.
Mr Stanley revealed yesterday: “I came out to meet Greg and helped him get his small car started. His car had iced up in the cold and he said he was driving up to Yorkshire to spend time with family. We got the car going and I believe he left shortly after that.”
Jo’s tearful dad David Yeates, 63, yesterday said he was pleased police were progressing with the case. He said: “At this time our focus is still with Jo. During the investigation police have not told us everything they have discovered but we understand there are certain things they cannot reveal.”
A source close to the police investigation – known as Operation Braid – said it was believed Jo’s murderer had tried but failed to conceal her body.
Jo disappeared after arriving home from a pub drink with work colleagues. Dog walkers found her body outside a quarry three miles from her home eight days later.
Oliver Cullen, who used to own two flats in the same building and has known Mr Jefferies many years, said: “I don’t believe for one minute that Chris has done this.
“He would not be physically capable for one thing. He only weighs about 11 stones. He would not have the strength.
“He is a nice man. A bit vocal perhaps and certainly rather eccentric, but he was just an old school teacher really.”
Asked if there could have been a sexual motive for the attack, Mr Cullen replied: “Not where a woman was concerned, no.”
Jefferies was employed as a English master at Clifton College from 1967 to 2001.The school was unavailable for comment.