A Knowle Bank Teller Shot Dead 1949 It is a sad fact of life that some murders go unsolved and that sometimes killers get away. However, nowadays new scientific techniques such as genetic finger printing offer a way of tracing the killers. Bristol Bank Raid Murder Unsolved 1949 OUR tragic Story starts in January 1949: It was 3pm on a chilly Friday afternoon and staff at the Lloyds bank branch at the corner of Wells Road and Broad Walk, Knowle, were preparing to close for the day. A youngish man who had been loitering in the bank since about 2pm was waiting, he told staff, he was waiting for a bookmaker called Murray to turn up. Then, just before the bank closed, the man slammed the front door, swung round and barked: 'This is a stick-up.' George Black, a married 52-year-old family man who lived in Clifton, was in charge, and tried to struggle with the robber. But, in front of his shocked 17-year-old cashier Donald Twitt, he was shot twice. The robber shoved Twitt into a cloakroom and grabbed £1,430 in £5, £1 and 10-shilling notes - worth more than £25,000 today - from the till. Carrying a briefcase, he left the bank, got into an Austin Saloon which had been stolen that morning, and drove off. John Rowe, a trainer at the nearby Knowle greyhound stadium who had just left the premises after banking some takings, felt uneasy and at 3.10pm phoned 999 and left a message. He left the phone box, tried to stop the robber from driving off, and then rang the police again, saying: 'A rough-looking man has just rushed out of the bank and driven towards the city in an Austin 16 car, registration number JHY 812.' Shortly after the robbery the car was found abandoned in Totterdown - but the murderer had vanished. A local chemist, Auker Hewlett, tried to give first aid to George Black but he was already dead. Audrey Ball, who saw the killer leave the bank, said he looked 'like an ordinary, well-educated man'. A murder hunt was launched and officers scoured pubs throughout the city in case drinkers had seen the man. Within two days, the search had widened to Birmingham, as his description tallied with a man wanted by police there. Cashier Twitt, a former pupil of the Cathedral School and the son of a police inspector, had a police escort to work every day. Detectives described the killer as aged about 26, five feet six or seven inches tall, pale and with a round face. He was wearing a dark overcoat and trilby and carrying a black leather briefcase. The glasses he was wearing might have been part of a disguise. A badly-written note, believed to have been by the killer and signed with the name, Joe, was found on the floor of the bank but police were unsure whether it was genuine or a deliberate red-herring. Bristol police distributed 10,000 leaflets throughout the country detailing the suspect's description. They stressed that the killer was probably not an experienced criminal - after all he had drawn considerable attention to himself in the bank and in the stolen car - but may have be leading a respectable life with a wife and family. Many leads were were followed up but all came to nothing. The Cornish police became involved when a grocer in Bodmin said a man answering the killer's description had tried to cash a bogus cheque but the trail ran dry, and it has been that way ever since. In 1949, Lloyds offered a £1,000 reward - worth £18,602 today - to catch the killer. It has never been claimed. 2007 - Bank hero gets posthumous honour A Bristol man who died trying to foil a bank robbery more than 50 years ago is being honoured with a blue plaque outside his former home. Bob Taylor was awarded a posthumous George Cross after the raid in 1950 on a Lloyds Bank in Westbury Park. The World War II veteran was one of several bystanders who chased two armed raiders after the heist. He was shot point blank in the face as he tackled one of the robbers - who were later hanged - and died, aged 29. The plaque, which marks houses where 'great men and women have lived or where they have performed or created important works', will be unveiled at the Fishponds home Mr Taylor shared with his parents. A second man, Peter Scarman, from Keynsham and now 81, was also awarded a medal for risking his life to catch the bank robbers. The last blue plaque to be unveiled in the city was for comedian and actor Bob Hope, in 2004.