Chilling google reviews by Anita Rose killer show he visited village multiple times
Roy Barclay viciously assaulted Anita Rose on her morning dog walk on July 24 last year and left her for dead on a country path in Brantham.
Barclay was given a life sentence with a minimum mandatory term of 25 years at Ipswich Crown Court on Wednesday.
Roy Barclay was jailed at Ipswich Crown Court. (Image: Suffolk Police) Before the murder and during his time on the run on Suffolk's most wanted criminals list, he avoided being recalled to prison for two years by sleeping in makeshift camps.
During this time, Barclay left a large digital footprint, leaving hundreds of reviews on Google Maps.
One review, which Google says was last edited a year ago, shows that Barclay visited Decoy Pond, which is just 8 minutes away from where Anita Rose was found.
Google Maps shows that Roy Barclay left more than 40 reviews in the area near where Anita Rose lived over a three-year period. (Image: Google)
Analysis shows the photos were posted between April and July - the month he murdered Anita Rose.
The review said: "Decoy Pond is a very scenic, tranquil place.
"Despite its ugly surroundings, Decoy Pond somehow manages to remain a secluded spot, even when there's the frequent noise from the nearby mainline railway embankment."
Meanwhile, another review, which was marked two years ago, showed he visited Pattles Fen in the north of the village.
The review said: "It's really for dog walkers, with just the one path that meanders around & comes out pretty well where it began."
Ms Rose was attacked by Barclay in Brantham while she was on her morning dog walk. (Image: Suffolk Police) He also reviewed the Cattawade Picnic site, which is just a 22-minute walk from the site where Anita Rose was killed.
In total, Barclay wrote 598 Google reviews and posted over 4,175 photos between 2022 and October 2024, predominantly rating sites in East Anglia.
He reviewed the area around Brantham, East Bergholt and Manningtree more than 40 times over that period.
He posted pictures of churches, Amazon lockers, libraries, beaches, council buildings, statues and more, earning himself a 'Level 8' contributor status (the highest being level 10).
After the murder, he also wrote consistently about Flatford in his final reviews.
"It's a beautiful, unspoilt rural idyll that somehow exists in its own timelessness, as if awaiting the return of John Constable," he wrote in a review in October 2024.
Six days later, on October 21, Barclay was arrested at Ipswich County Library and was subsequently charged with murder.
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