Wisbech: One Year Since Pensioner Found Murdered

13 January 2014, 06:21 | Updated: 13 January 2014, 13:20

A year to the day since a Wisbech pensioner was found murdered, Cambridgeshire Police hope the anniversary will trigger people to come forward.

Nobody has ever been charged over the death of 86-year-old Una Crown who was stabbed and set on fire in her bungalow in Magazine Lane.

Mrs Crown's body was discovered in her bungalow on January 13 2013.

She had been stabbed and then set on fire in an apparent effort to disguise her injuries and destroy evidence.

She had not been seen alive since Friday, January 11, but had spoken to a friend by telephone at about 5pm on the Saturday.

Detective Chief Inspector Jon Hutchinson said: "This weekend was exactly a year since Una Crown's body was discovered in her bungalow in Magazine Lane.

This is still a very active investigation and we have a dedicated team working on solving this horrific murder of an elderly woman in her own home.

We are determined to get justice for Mrs Crown and her family and are following up a number of lines of enquiry in order to catch and convict the person responsible.

However, we still believe the answer to this crime lies in the local community and we need their help.

I would urge people to think back to this time a year ago, did a friend or loved one come home with blood on them or smelling of smoke? 

Were they acting strangely around that time?

Did they suddenly come into money?

Any information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, could prove crucial to solving this terrible crime and giving some closure to Mrs Crown's family who are desperate for answers."

Una Crown's niece, Judy Payne, made an emotional appeal for help to find the people responsible, back in July 2013, six months after the murder.

In the plea, Mrs Payne said, "I really hope that somebody out there who knows anything, or thinks they know anything at all, comes forward to the police. Six months has now gone by and for us, it's a lifetime. We need answers.

"It's important that they catch somebody as they could be out there and do it to somebody else and that is the last thing we would ever want.

"We wouldn't want anybody to go through what we have been through."

Anyone with any information should call the Major Crime Unit on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.