The brutal, unsolved 1975 murder of Playboy Bunny – and two similar murders – are re-examined in the ITVX series, as her friend says there is now no one left to fight for justice

A former colleague of a Playboy Bunny who was brutally murdered in her own home in 1975 has made a plea for a re-examination of the case, saying there are now only a few people left to ‘protect her’.

The murder of German glamor model Eve Stratford, 22, has never been solved and – along with two similar murders to which her death has been linked – is the subject of a new ITVX true crime series.

Filmmaker Marcel Theroux interviews Barbara Haigh for the two-part series, who once worked with Eve at the Playboy Club in London’s Mayfair and was photographed with her in the brand’s signature bunny outfit just weeks before she was murdered.

The Playboy Bunny Murder, which airs next Monday and Tuesday at 9pm, explores her death in East London in 1975.

The glamor model was found in her bedroom; her the throat had been cut between eight and twelve times.

Stratford, who also went by the names Eve Van Bock and Bunny Eve, was found tied up with a scarf and stocking tied around her leg – it is believed she had been raped.

Haigh tells Theroux that she felt sick when she heard the news of her friend’s murder. She said: ‘ [I felt] Pretty sick. Really quite sick, that someone could be so cruel as to kill such a child for no reason.

She added: “She would never have done anything to provoke that kind of murder. She is just a child and there is no one left to defend her.

A former colleague of Eve Stratford’s, Barbara Haigh, appears in ITVX’s The Playboy Bunny Murder; she says there are now no relatives of Stratford’s ‘to protect her’

Filmmaker Theroux said: ‘This is a story that has obsessed me for years. How could a serial killer kill multiple victims in 1970s London and remain unknown? What evidence was missed?’

The diptych, presented by filmmaker Marcel Theroux, reexamines the case. Pictured: A photo of model Stratford, left, taken just a few weeks before her murder

Haigh, who also worked as a glamor model in the 1970s, says she felt ‘very sick’ when she heard what happened to her former colleague

The glamor model, pictured with Eric Morcambe in 1974, was found in her bedroom; her throat had been slit between eight and twelve times

“Her parents are dead, her whole damn family is dead. There’s no one but us old boilers from 1975 who can protect her.”

Detectives said at the time that there was no sign of forced entry into the flat, leading them to believe the model had invited the killer and may have known them.

Six months after Eve’s death, Lynne Weedon, 16, was brutally attacked and raped in an alley near her home in Hounslow at 11pm on September 3. She died after being found barely alive in an electricity substation the next day.

The murders of Eve and Lynne were linked in 2007 after matching DNA was discovered on the victims, who did not know each other.

In 2015, Lynne’s mother Margaret Weedon made an impassioned plea for information. She said: “It has been 40 years since our beautiful young daughter Lynne was violently taken from us.

“We are acutely aware that whoever killed Lynne also killed Eve Stratford. That young lady also took her own life. Her family has now passed away. Another real life sentence.”

Theroux spent four years investigating the Stratford murder, which has been linked to two other murders: Lynne Weedon, who was 16 when she was murdered in September 1975, and croupier Lynda Farrow, who was murdered in 1979.

The case is linked to the death of Lynne Weedon just four months after Eve Stratford was murdered. The 16-year-old was beaten and raped 30 meters from her home in Lampton Avenue, Hounslow.

The series also investigates the murder of Lynda Farrow, a croupier with years of experience in nocturnal London. Many believe that Farrow, who was stabbed to death in her home in 1979, was also the victim of the same killer.

Theroux spent four years trying to find police files on the case and looking for possible breakthrough information.

The filmmaker said: “This is a story that has obsessed me for years. How could a serial killer kill multiple victims in 1970s London and remain unknown? What evidence has been missed?

‘Which clues could the police at the time not make use of? As witnesses reach the end of their lives and their memories fail, this could be the last chance to get justice for the three victims.”

The Playboy Bunny Murder airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX