Margaret Hogg
Margaret Hogg (c. 1939 – October 1976) was a manslaughter victim whose body was preserved in Wast Water, Lake District National Park, Cumbria, for eight years. Married to Peter Hogg, she had worked as an airline stewardess for Air Europe; her husband was a pilot.
Peter was 19 years older than Margaret, and briefly achieved front-page news on 16 August 1974 when he landed at Luton Airport as the captain of a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar of Court Line that he had piloted overnight from a refuelling stop at Gander, Canada, bringing Clarksons holidaymakers back from St. Lucia. This was the airline's last flight as Court Line had ceased trading the previous day.
Margaret had a three-year affair with banker Graham Ryan, and often flaunted it before Peter. One night in October 1976, Mrs Hogg attacked her husband, hitting and kicking until he "grabbed her round the neck and squeezed hard". Margaret Hogg suffocated and Peter wrapped her body in a carpet, tied it to a block of concrete, drove north overnight from Surrey and dumped the body in Wast Water lake in the Wasdale valley in the Lake District National Park, England.
The body settled at a depth of 34 metres (110 ft), only a short distance away from much deeper parts of the deepest lake in England. Due to the lack of oxygen, her body did not decompose, but over time was preserved by the formation of adipocere.
In 1983, the lake was searched for the body of Veronique Mireille Marre, a missing French student. Subsequently, the remains of Margaret Hogg were found by a diver, Neil Pritt, in March 1984, who initially thought them to be just a roll of old carpet. Shortly after the recovery, the body was identified by friends. The police investigation was made easier by noting the two sets of initials engraved on the inside of the gold wedding ring recovered from Margaret's body.
Her husband Peter, the prime suspect, initially denied the murder before giving a confession. He was sentenced to four years for manslaughter, obstructing a coroner, and perjury in his divorce proceedings.
The body of Veronique Mireille Marre was eventually found in April 1984. Her remains were found on a mountain at the bottom of a cliff, but no cause of death could be officially given.