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John Cannan, suspected of murdering missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in 1986 has died in prison before police were able to finish a forensic probe into her death, said a detective
John Cannan has died before police were able to complete a forensic probe into Suzy Lamplugh’s murder, a detective who quizzed the killer has revealed.
Former Scotland Yard officer Jim Dickie said: “It’s unfortunate that he has gone to his grave without revealing publicly where he might have disposed of Suzy’s body. I feel for her family who have been deprived of some closure by being able to bury Suzy.
“Cannan was rightly refused parole last year because he was still seen as a risk to the female population of this country. They say you should never speak ill of the dead, but at least he will not be able to reoffend and I’m thankful for that.”
A forensic review is being carried out by the Met that is thought to focus on hair, fibres and tissue samples found in her abandoned car. Mr Dickie told the Mirror in 2022 that DNA from a fingerprint on the white Ford Fiesta’s rear-view mirror may lead to her killer.
Scientists could not extract a profile from it in 2000 when Mr Dickie was leading the investigation – but he was hopeful it could be done now. The ex-Met detective superintendent said on Wednesday: “It’s unfortunate that they have not come back with a result on the forensics. That is the only outstanding line of enquiry that has not been progressed.”
Scotland Yard said last year that it had begun a forensic review but would not reveal what was being examined. And now a police spokesman said: “The Metropolitan Police Service’s investigation into the disappearance and murder of Suzy Lamplugh is ongoing, and detectives remain committed to securing justice for her family. Suzy Lamplugh was aged just 25 when she was reported missing on Monday 28 July 1986. She was last seen in Fulham, West London, at around 13:00hrs on that day.
“Suzy was working as an estate agent, and left her office to meet a prospective client to view a flat, but she did not arrive back at her office. Her car, a white Ford Fiesta, was later found abandoned in Stevenage Road, Fulham. Suzy is presumed dead, and is believed to have been abducted and murdered.
“Her body has never been found. More than 38 years have passed, and the police investigation into Suzy’s disappearance is still active with detectives from the Met’s Cold Case Homicide Team, part of Central Specialist Crime, continuing to pursue leads. One man was arrested in December 2000 and questioned, and a file was later submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service. However, it was decided that there was insufficient evidence to support a prosecution.”
Suzy’s company car was found in Stevenage Road, Fulham, at 10.01pm the day she vanished, poorly parked a mile from the Shorrolds Road flat she was due to show “Mr Kipper”. The handbrake was off, her purse was in a door pocket and her seat was pushed back, suggesting she was not the last person to drive the car.
It was parked outside another flat marketed by her employers and close to the Thames. Police divers searched the river in the early days of the hunt. Suzy, who was 5ft 6in tall and wearing a black jacket, grey skirt and peach-coloured blouse, was spotted by a friend with a man she did not recognise driving north up Fulham Palace Road at 2.45pm.
The case is thought to be the UK’s longest-running murder probe, having been actively investigated since the day she disappeared. One friend saw Suzy with a man she did not know later that afternoon. The investigation is the longest running murder probe in the UK. Mr Dickie believes that Cannan is also responsible for the murder of Bournemouth insurance clerk Sandra Court, 26. Her body was found in a ditch in May 1986.
