The Oxford Murder | Proposal Denied, Strangulation, and Deceit of Rachel McLean

In April 1991, Rachel McLean, a 19-year-old student at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, was murdered by her boyfriend, John Tanner, after she refused his marriage proposal. Tanner, who had arrived to visit McLean, strangled her in her own home and then ingeniously hid her body under the floorboards. Following the murder, Tanner crafted an elaborate facade to mislead both McLean's family and the police, pretending she was missing and even participating in public appeals for her whereabouts.It took 17 days for the police to discover McLean's body, concealed in a cramped space under her house's floorboards. Tanner's lies unraveled, and he was eventually arrested, tried, and sentenced to life imprisonment, though he was released in the early 2000s after serving more than 11 years. The case shocked the community and remains a stark reminder of the betrayal and violence that can lurk beneath the surface of intimate relationships.