POLICE are investigating the possibility that the hooded suspect in the Elsie Hughes murder may not have been alone.

Witness accounts have alerted police to the presence of a second person.

Detective Chief Superintendent Ross Duffield said: 'They have raised the possibility that a second person may have been in the area keeping watch or he may have been the driver of a vehicle and that vehicle may have been a dark Escort.

'We still have a number of sightings of individuals who have not been identified.

'There is no suggestion that the second person was seen in the fish and chip shop with the hooded man and no suggestion he was with him as the hooded man was seen walking down Hawarden Road.

'Because there are various other sightings, we cannot eliminate the possibility of a second person.

'Whether there was a second person in the house is something we cannot totally exclude, but the information from the forensics does not suggest that.'

It has been four weeks since the brutal murder of the 90-year-old grandmother in Abermorddu.

Det Chief Supt Duffield believes the motive for the murder was theft, and has confirmed that money, believed to be less than £200, was taken from Mrs Hughes's property.

He said: 'It does not seem at this stage that anything else was stolen.'

So far a team of more than 30 officers has taken 201 statements from witnesses and there are 862 documents logged into the inquiry database.

Fingerprints of workers carrying out refurbishment on nearby council properties have been taken to help eliminate people from inquiries.

Just weeks before her murder, Mrs Hughes had been the victim of a distraction burglary, when her life savings were stolen.

'We are still keeping an open mind about whether the person who did this is local,' said Det Chief Supt Duffield. 'The distraction burglary is still a line of inquiry.'

As the Wrexham Mail went to press, BBC's Crimewatch programme on Wednesday evening was due to include the reconstruction of the hooded suspect's movements in Hawarden Road.

Helen Hutcheson, Mrs Hughes's granddaughter, was to make an appeal for information on the show, along with Det Chief Supt Duffield.

As she prepared to travel to London to record the programme, Mrs Hutcheson said: 'She was a loving, funny and, most importantly, defenceless woman who would not hurt a fly.

'If anyone has any information, no matter how small, please contact the police. I don't want anyone else to go through the pain my family are going through at the moment.'

North Wales Police has been allocated a four-minute slot on the programme.

Det Chief Supt Duffield said: 'The individual who left Elsie's home on Thursday evening, September 8, would have been heavily bloodstained and I am confident that someone must hold some further information on this individual.

'If anyone knows of a friend, acquaintance or family member that has been acting strangely since this attack, changed their appearance or discarded clothing, contact us immediately.'

The key suspect is described as aged 25-30, about 5ft 10 tall and wearing a light-coloured, baggy 'hoodie' with a navy jumper underneath. He is also described as having short, dark hair with a fringe that had no parting, and said to be softly spoken with no distinctive accent.

Police have established a vehicle out-side the Kowloon takeaway between 6pm and 7pm was a blue Ford Galaxy, and are renewing their appeal for the couple seen in it to come forward.

Extensive house-to-house enquiries have been undertaken, along with road checks, and a poster campaign has been issued. Scores of people have responded to appeals but officers have not obtained any confirmed sightings of the hooded male after 9pm.

Anyone with information should call North Wales Police on 0845 6071001 (Welsh Language line) or 0845 6071002 (English Language line) or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.