Do you mean Joanna Yates? I don't even remember the name of the guy who murdered who, but I do remember Chris Jefferies, her other neighbour, who was wrongly accused.
I believe they lived in the same house, which was converted into flats. They were not strangers.
Here's an example of a stranger murder at home.
http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/burglar-guilty-murder-after-stabbing-6745400
I must say that I had to look quite hard for that. It doesn't seem like a common crime.
What definition of "stranger" are we talking about?
Different countries seem to have varying definitions...
Kidnapping
(...)
Non-family abduction was subdivided into "stereotypical kidnappings" which fit the public stereotype of the crime, and legal definition abductions, which are generally short-term forced movement or detention of children to facilitate another crime such as robbery or sexual assault..
In 1999, there were an estimated 115 "stereotypical kidnappings," defined as abductions perpetrated by a stranger or slight acquaintance and involving a child who was transported more than 50 miles and detained overnight, held for ransom or with the intent to keep the child permanently, or killed.
In 1999, there were an estimated 58,200 child victims of non-family abductions, defined more broadly to include all non-family perpetrators (including friends and acquaintances as well as strangers) and crimes involving lesser amounts of forced movement or detention in addition to the more serious crimes entailed in stereotypical kidnapping.http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/kidnapping/CEOP:
Stranger abductionChild abduction is an offence under Section 2 of the Child Abduction Act 1984.
Although such cases
are relatively rare, children face the risk of abduction by strangers who approach them in public.Such strangers may be motivated to commit sexual offences.
Alternatively, children may be
abducted as a result of family feuds.Children and young people may also be targeted and groomed by adults for sexual abuse,
exploitation, criminality and other under illicit activities. In the present information and
communication technology age, children are increasingly targeted and groomed online and through
other media devices.
The term ‘stranger abduction’ may not be relevant in
these situations as the child or young person may feel that the abductor is known to them and will often refer to them as a ‘friend’.http://ceop.police.uk/Documents/ceopdocs/Missing_scopingreport_2011.pdfJust thinking out loud...
Ylenia was abducted (albeit not at home) and murdered by a stranger - someone who presumably would never have encountered her before. I guess that's the strictest sense of "stranger".
MariLuz was abducted and murdered by someone living locally, but seemingly would have been in the "slight acquaintance" category by virtue of living nearby.
Jo Yates was killed at home and her body removed by a neighbour (Vincent Tabak), but he also seems to have been in the "slight acquaintance" category.
In an adult scenario, if you're in a bus queue and someone strikes up a conversation, is that person still a stranger or does he/she then become a "slight acquaintance"?
In a child scenario, would simply having said "thank you" to someone then constitute a "slight acquaintance"?
In Madeleine's case, her sphere of social contact was restricted, both because of her age and because she wasn't in her normal place of residence. In this case, I would consider a "stranger" to be either a total stranger (had never seen the person before) or someone she may have met for a minute or two, but whose presence in the apartment at night would be considered as alarming.
A slightly different thought... people assume that it was necessarily a male, but what if it was a female? Although I was two years older, some total stranger (female) came creeping into my bedroom late in the evening to check on me (halfway between a child-listening and child-minding service) and because it was a female, I just went straight back into a deep sleep. If it had been a strange man, I'd have screamed the place down.
