THE 35-year-old cold case of a pensioner tortured and murdered in his flat could finally be solved after a new tip off to cops, The Sun can reveal.
The body of retired veterinarian William Howe, 63, was found tied up at his home in Worthing, West Sussex, on January 9 1990.
The property had been ransacked and because Mr Howe had been falsely rumoured to keep thousands of pounds hidden in a safe detectives suspected theft was the initial motive.
The victim had been hit in the head with a hammer, as well as having his back stamped or knelt on, suffering broken ribs.
His cause of death was ruled as asphyxia due to compression of the neck by a pathologist from Guys Hospital in London, who also found he had suffered severe facial injuries, reported the Lancing Herald at the time.
Former Sussex detective Tom Curry has told The Sun someone recognised him in a TV documentary and tipped him off about a possible suspect earlier this month.
Mr Curry – who left that force in 1983 – said: “They contacted me and said ‘I watched you on the telly.
“’By the way, I was on the scene of this murder in the 90s and I’ve got something to tell you’.”
Mr Curry added: “I’ve left the police but I haven’t left my sense of morals or injustice.”
Sussex Police confirmed to The Sun that new information has been flagged to them.
The spokesperson said a review was due to take place – though could not confirm if the case would be officially re-opened.
Mr Curry added: “I think they will play it close to their chest at this stage.”
Mr Howe’s body was found by a couple who had called to his first floor flat on Victoria Road to take him out to dinner the day he died.
They found the door unlocked at around 8pm but there was no reply.
Cops were called when blood was seen on the flat’s walls.
Another friend of Mr Howe’s had already been to his flat after the killing and waited in another room for him to return – not knowing he lay dead nearby.
He had arrived at the property hours before the couple and found the front door open.
The pal was questioned, along with at least two other men, but they were all eliminated from police inquiries.
The Worthing Herald reported Detective Inspector Ron Chillingworth said of the pal: “He found boxes had fallen over and moved them to one side and saw blood and assumed Mr Howe had injured himself and gone to the hospital.”
ARMS AND LEGS BOUND
Mr Howe’s arms and legs had been tightly bound with electricity flex.
He is reported to have been in a long-term relationship with another man who had died a year before his killing – but cops ruled out homophobia as a motive for the attack.
Mr Chillingworth said: “At the end of the day, we think it was a robbery that went wrong.”
Shortly after the murder, police offered a £10,000 reward for information.
They had also been keen to speak to the owner of a light coloured Volvo parked on the same road as Mr Howe’s flat.
By 1993, police were looking for a match to fingerprints found in the property, including on a piece of furniture.
This is understood to have been on an ornamental Victorian writing box – while a photo of the type of shoes which left one of two sets of footprints in blood was also released.
The first were from Brooks baseball boots, marketed in three models called Artillery, Arsenal and Summer Heat – and the second Reebok Exo-Fit trainers.
Mr Chillingworth said in 1994: “Even in the last few weeks I’ve been making new inquiries.”
By that point, 1,790 items found at the scene or during the investigation had been logged.
However, some of the victim’s jewellery, including a gold neck chain on which he kept his mum’s wedding ring, were never found.
The Herald said while investigators were looking at similar murders they became interested in someone who was in the Brighton area around the time of Mr Howe’s death.
Mr Chillingworth had said: “This man was involved in the drugs world and we knew he had visited some people who knew Mr Howe and who were involved in drugs.”
He was wanted for another assault and a team from the Howe investigation arrested him before he was eliminated from suspicion.
Cops also traced another man who met Mr Howe while serving a prison sentence for manslaughter in Sussex – but he too was eventually released without further action.
MYSTERY CALLER
In November 2002, a caller contacted the Herald and claimed they knew who killed Mr Howe.
They said the murder was linked to the death of an unnamed 83-year-old man who was pronounced dead on arrival at Worthing Hospital in January 1996.
Their information was passed onto the police by the newspaper.
At the time, DI Jeff Riley said: “We are anxious to speak with the man who spoke with the Herald offering information.”
That June, the Herald reported that acting DCI Martyn Underhill had said forensic science may bring police a step closer to solving Mr Howe’s death.
He confirmed he had spoken at length with crime writer Derek Bailey, who had been running his own investigation into the case.
Mr Underhill said: “There is potential for new forensic leads. On that basis, we are reopening the case and looking at it again.”
However, by the following March, the anonymous caller had still not contacted the cops.
A Sussex Police spokesperson told The Sun: “Can confirm we have recently received some information in relation to this case, which will be reviewed in due course.
“We have no further information at this time.”
Do you know more? Email ryan.merrifield@thesun.co.uk
