Police have yet to find the body of a woman killed by her partner some 20 years after the harrowing crime. Donald Graham murdered Janet Brown in order to get hold of her money. He then managed to convince police that she was still alive, lying about her death for five years and stalling a police investigation. But Graham’s lies ultimately didn’t protect him from the long arm of the law forever, and he was convicted of Janet’s murder and jailed for life, with the case believed to be Northumbria Police’s only conviction without a body, ChronicleLive reports . Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE Despite his conviction, Graham continues to protest his innocence and claims not to know about the manner of Janet’s death, or the location of her body. June 28 was the 20th anniversary of Janet’s disappearance. Her body has never been found. Campaigner Marie McCourt, 81, whose daughter’s death in Merseyside led to her fighting for the introduction of “Helen’s Law”, told Chronicle Live: 鈥淢y heart goes out to Janet who, 20 years after being murdered, has still not been laid to rest. To take a life is heinous enough. But to then hide the body of a murder victim is such a cruel, callous, deliberate act that causes untold pain and distress to families. 鈥淚t was for this very reason that I fought so hard for Helen鈥檚 Law, which was introduced in 2021. I鈥檇 urge Janet鈥檚 killer to do the right thing. Tell police what you did with her so that she can be found, brought home and given the funeral she and her loved ones deserve.鈥 Janet came from a wealthy background and had set up her own business in property development, as well as working as an extra on television and as a mystery shopper. She had also travelled a lot by herself. She and Graham had been in a relationship for around two years prior to her disappearance, and had been living with her elderly parents Olive and Eric Brown at Plane Trees Farm in Lowgate near Hexham. Janet vanished in 2005, but astonishingly her disappearance would not be discovered until five years later in 2010. Her disappearance finally came to light thanks to a sharp-eyed bank employee, who alerted police when they spotted signatures on documents relating to Janet’s bank accounts that did not quite match up. This triggered a fraud investigation by Northumbria Police, but when no trace of Janet could be found anywhere the case was passed on to the murder squad. Analysis of the bank accounts found that a large sum of money had been transferred to Graham from her account shortly before her disappearance on June 15 2005. The pair had been due to travel to France together just a few days later. Janet’s last confirmed contact with someone was when she spoke to a friend on June 15, and her friend had said they would look after her dog while she was away. Detectives think that Janet was murdered between June 15 and June 18. Janet did not show up for work on June 28, and police went to her home to check on her. Her parents told them that they thought she had extended her holiday. Meanwhile, Graham had continued to steal from her bank accounts while keeping up the pretence that she was alive. The killer even wrote letters to her parents pretending to be her, keeping up the ruse by saying that she had found a new job abroad. When her parents died in 2007 and 2008 Graham attended both the funerals. Janet did not. Eventually in April 2010 Graham, aged 60, was arrested. In a bid to locate her remains police searched Graham’s property and her parents’ house using specially trained police dogs and gruond-penetrating radar in their attempts. Despite this, how Janet died and where her body was hidden are still not known. Graham denied murdering Janet, but a jury convicted him at Newcastle Crown Court in 2014. During the case jurors were told how Graham had defrauded both Janet and her family of some 拢500,000 to fund his lifestyle, including driving a Ferrari. Graham was caught out as Janet’s parents intended for their estates to go to Guide Dogs for the Blind if Janet, their only daughter, died before them. However, a bank clerk spotted a signature on a document which did not match that of Janet’s father. This was because Graham had been posing as Janet’s dad and trying to move money around. The bank became suspicious and alerted the fraud department who began attempting to contact Janet, unaware that she was dead. In court it was suggested that Janet’s body may have been dumped into a mine shaft or deep pit by Graham, who had driven JCB diggers in the past. After being convicted Graham was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 32 years. This means if he lives long enough he will be in his 90s before he can apply for release on licence. Det Chief Insp Paul Woods, who worked on the Northumbria Police investigation into Janet’s murder, has previously described how unique the case was. He said: “These cases are extremely rare. My understanding is this is the only case Northumbria Police has had of somebody being convicted of murder when a body has not been found. “It could have been the perfect murder, that no one would know had taken place.”