Fresh Appeal In Horrific Heather Barnett Murder

Police investigating the mysterious death of mother-of-two Heather Barnett in Dorset five years ago have issued a fresh appeal after new scientific analysis of cut hair found in the dead woman's right hand.

Mrs Barnett was found dead in the bathroom of her ground floor flat in Capstone Road in Charminster on November 12, 2002, by her two children Terry, then aged 14, and Caitlin, then aged 11.

The 48-year-old had been hit over the head with a hammer-like object and stabbed several times. Her breasts had also been cut off and placed next to the body. Strands of hair belonging to someone else had also been placed in her right hand.

Dorset Police have revealed that chemical and isotope analysis of the hair strands showed that the hair belonged to a person who had lived in the UK and had travelled abroad twice and changed their diet twice in the three months before the hair was cut.

The results showed that the person visited the Valencia to Almeria area of eastern Spain and/or the Marseille to Perpignan area of southern France for up to six days around eleven weeks before the hair was cut. They also visited the urban area of Tampa in Florida in the southern US for around eight days between two to two-and-a-half weeks before the hair was cut.

The tests were carried out by Dr Stuart Black, an expert and senior lecturer in environmental radioactivity at the University of Reading in Berkshire.

The new appeal for information came as Italian detectives re-opened their investigation into the disappearance of a teenager 16-year-old Elisa Claps, in the town of Potenza in southern Italy in September 1993. Her body has never been found.

Dorset police are liaising with their Italian counterparts in the investigation and are due to appear on the Italian version of the BBC One 'Crimewatch' programme, called 'Chi l'ha visto, broadcast by the state television channel RAI - in order to appeal for information from the public on both investigations.

Detective Superintendent Mark Cooper, who has worked on the Heather Barnett case since the start, says that identifying and locating the person whose hair was found in Heather's hands could be vital in helping to catch her brutal killer.

He said: "We are very keen to speak to the person that this cut hair belongs to because they could be a significant witness. The results of the analysis on the hair are a very exciting and very significant development. We are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry and all possibilities are being investigated. This is an unusual murder case, it continues to be a challenge - and is always - the help of the public is vital.

"Information about a Nike 'Terra Part' training shoe, the blood print of which was found at the murder scene - and a man pictured on closed circuit television walking past the Richmond Arms pub in Charminster Road, Charminster, around 9.30am on the morning of the murder - continue to be very significant parts of the enquiry. I'm very keen to establish the owner of that training shoe and identify the man and I continue to appeal to the public for information.

"It may be five years on from the brutal and horrific killing of Heather Barnett but the investigation to find and bring her killer to justice continues to be professional and focused."

Heather' daughter, Caitlin, now 16, said: "The police have been testing the hair found in mum's hands and I want people to stop and think about this and if you know any information at all no matter how small or insignificant you think this may be then this could be the important vital clue that helps solve this crime. So, please, please, think back to that day and if you know anything get in touch with the police."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on: 01202 222 500 or Crimestoppers anonymously on: 0800 555 111.

(KMcA)