Body parts 'all from same victim'

Apr 12 2009

Suspected body parts which were under examination are likely to be from a murder victim whose remains have been scattered across the English countryside, police believe.

Police sources said part of a torso was found on Saturday evening at Standon in Hertfordshire and it was likely it would be linked to the murder investigation.

Part of Gore Lane in Standon in the east of the county was closed after a call from a member of the public.

The murder inquiry was sparked when a left leg and foot attached was found in a green holdall in a lay-by on the A507 in Cottered, Hertfordshire, on March 22.

On March 29, an arm, dismembered at the elbow and wrist, was discovered on a grass verge in Wheathampstead, about a 40-minute drive from Cottered.

Two days later, in Asfordby, Leicestershire - about 95 miles from Wheathampstead via the M1 and A606 - a head was discovered. This time it was a farmer on his own land who made the shocking find.

Post-mortem examinations confirmed that the head, arm and leg had all belonged to the same man.

Police have said since it is "highly likely" that a right leg found near the A10 Puckeridge bypass in Hertfordshire on April 7 came from the same man.

A full DNA profile has been obtained from post-mortem examinations but detectives are yet to trace the victim on the missing persons register. The man was white or Asian and between 5ft 6in and 5ft 10in. His shoe size is believed to be between seven and nine.

The Hertfordshire police spokeswoman said detectives from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit and detectives in Leicestershire had been informed of the new find. "At this stage it is too early to say what has been recovered, or to confirm whether it is linked to the ongoing murder investigation," she said.