On 15 July 1951, Straffen went to the cinema on his own. His route took him past 1 Camden Crescent in Bath, where 5-year-old Brenda Goddard lived with her foster parents. According to Straffen's later statement to the police, he saw Brenda gathering flowers and offered to show her a better place. He lifted Brenda over a fence into a copse, after which she fell and hit her head on a stone. She was unconscious, and he strangled her. Straffen did not make any attempt to hide the body and simply went on to the cinema, watched the film "Shockproof", and returned home.