Peter Sullivan was considered a terrible crime he did not commit because of one of the biggest miscarriages at the time.
He was only 30 and 68 when he was sentenced for killing a 21-year-old woman-haired man and woman-haired man, 17 years after three senior judges first tried to overturn it, three senior judges dropped his conviction for the killing.
Here is what we know about the case:
What happened to Peter Sullivan?
Diane Sindall was found dead in August 1986 in Bebington, Merseyside, and Mr. Sullivan was arrested the following month and convicted in November 1987, but remained at the bar despite being granted a minimum term of 16 years.
The waitress is well known to live in Wirral, where her family owns a flower shop.
She saved her marriage in 1986, so she worked behind the bar at Wellington Pub in Bebington, five miles south of Westcom.
She worked there on August 1, 1986, and it was her last night she was alive.
How she left the bar after shifts of 23.45, but ran out of gas on the way home.
The BBC Crimewatch appealed, with a taxi driver coming home saying he saw a woman quarrel with a man on the side of the road, while others reported hearing screams after midnight.
The next morning, her half-naked body was found in a small alley in the borough.
She died of a cerebral hemorrhage, believed to have been caused by multiple blows to the head.
What happened after her death?
Merseyside police investigated the brutality of the murder, causing a nationwide shock.
Officials spoke to 3,000 people, and as part of the investigation locals organized a parade for the safety of women and girls in the area.
But for weeks, they seemed to have no clues, nor how Ms. Schindel ended up in the alley, as no one saw the attack happen.
How was Peter Sullivan arrested?
On the second day of the murder, some of her clothes were found burning in a small fire, and a couple told police they saw a man running out of the bush and they were considered “Peter.”
But when the officers organized the identity parade, they did not pick him out.
After the Crime Watch Reconstruction aired on TV, more and more witnesses contacted the officers, leading police to suspect Peter Sullivan.
Officials arrested him for alleged murder, and reportedly gave officers many “completely different” records of his movement, then “shewed” and admitted to the murder.
He withdrew his confession for the day, but soon resumed his confession.
Since then, it has been revealed that Sullivan has not gained access to legal advice, while police have cited “a barrier to inquiries.”
On September 25, when he was given a chance as a lawyer, he withdrew his confession and told police that he had made up for them.
The court heard his obvious confession at the 1987 trial, and the claim that the bite on Ms. Kendall’s body could match Mr. Sullivan’s teeth.
However, it was later revealed that he made the confessions after being attacked by police.
What happened after his trial and conviction?
He first tried to challenge his conviction in 2008, and the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) refused to forward the case to the Court of Appeal, and then he lost the appeal in 2019.
He once again asked the CCRC to mention his case in 2021, and the committee found that the DNA samples collected from the site did not match Mr. Sullivan.
What happened to Peter Sullivan now?
During a hearing on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, Mr Sullivan said in the London Court of Appeals that new evidence suggests that Ms. Schindle’s killer was “not the defendant.”
The Crown Prosecutor’s (CPS) barristers told the court that there is “no reliable basis” related to DNA evidence because “basically, this is enough to make people doubt the safety of being convicted”.
Lord Holroyde sat with Justice Goss and Justice Brian to refute the conviction, and noted that they “no doubt are necessary and equal in the interests of justice” to accept new DNA evidence.
