Neilson then drove Whittle to Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire. There he forced her down into the drainage shaft of the nearby reservoir. Inside the shaft he placed a hood over her head, removed the dressing gown leaving her naked and then tethered her to the side of the shaft by a wire noose. There was a mattress and a sleeping bag. On 6 March 1975 police found Whittle's body hanging from a steel wire only 180mm from the bottom of the 6m deep shaft.