Oatley was a married woman who, at the outbreak of World War II, had turned to prostitution, using the alias Leta Ward, to supplement the income she earned as a nightclub hostess. Three eyewitness later informed investigators Oatley had been approached by a young, clean-shaven and moustachioed airman with chestnut brown hair, approximately () in height, outside a restaurant in Shaftesbury Avenue late in the evening prior to her murder. According to these witnesses, when Oatley had asked this individual what his sexual preferences were, he had simply replied, "I like blondes." Oatley was last seen alive by a fellow tenant of 153 Wardour Street named Ivy Poole, who observed her enter the stairwell to the property in the company of this individual at approximately 11:40 p.m. According to Poole, shortly after midnight, she was awoken by the sudden increase in the volume of Oatley's wireless. She did not investigate this disturbance.