Heather Barnett murder - Italian link

Detectives investigating the brutal murder of a Bournemouth mother-of-two found mutilated in her bathroom - with strands of cut hair placed in her right hand by the killer - have travelled to Italy as part of ‘several lines of specific, detailed and continuing enquiry.’

Police are also renewing appeals to the public for help in identifying a man pictured on CCTV near the murder scene on the day of the murder; help in tracing the owner of a Nike 'Terra Part Stormy' training shoe identified from a blood print of its sole at the murder scene - and for women who have had their hair cut in unusual or suspicious circumstances to come forward.

Forty-eight year old Heather Barnett was found dead at her Capstone Road home in the Charminster area of Bournemouth by her two children, Caitlin then aged 11 and Terry then aged 14, just after 4pm on Tuesday, 12 November 2002.

The seamstress - who grew up in the North Dorset town of Sturminster Newton - had been hit over the head with a hammer-like object and stabbed several times. The killer had also cut her breasts off and left them beside Heather's body.

Since 2002, detectives with Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team have been working to track down the brutal killer of the seamstress known to her friends as 'Bunny'.

Police have also been utilising both recent and continuing advances in genetic DNA analysis to try and identify Heather's killer.

Since the start of this week, a team of four detectives from Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team have been in Italy interviewing and taking DNA samples from the hair of 15 women in the Rome, Potenza, Turin, Rimini and Milan areas who have reported having their hair cut in unusual or suspicious circumstances. Detectives are due to return to Dorset by the weekend.

A forensic genetic profile of those DNA samples will be produced and compared to the forensic profile of the cut hair strands - not from Heather's hair - found in her right hand at the murder scene after being left by the killer.

The fifteen women across Italy had reported the unusual or suspicious hair cutting occurrences after seeing an item about the Heather Barnett murder investigation on the Italian TV version of BBC Crimewatch - RAI's 'Che la Vista' - two years ago.

Detectives are also renewing their appeal for public help in identifying a man pictured on CCTV in Charminster Road, Bournemouth - close to the junction with Capstone Road on the day of Heather's murder - on Tuesday, 12 November 2002.

Police are also appealing for public help in tracing a distinctive Nike 'Terra Part Stormy' training shoe which police have identified from a blood print of its sole found at the murder scene.

Superintendent Mark Cooper, of Dorset Police, said: "The Heather Barnett murder investigation is never closed and we remain as resolute and committed to catching her brutal killer as we were in the days and weeks after Heather's tragic death.

"This is an unusual murder case and the professional and focussed investigation continues to be a challenge.

"We are utilising the latest advances in DNA genetic profiling and Dorset Police is committed to achieving justice for Heather, her two children and the rest of the family.

"We are following several lines of specific, detailed and continuing enquiry and detectives travelling out to Italy this week is just one example of that. We have been liaising closely with Interpol and the Italian police.

"I am continuing to appeal for help in identifying the man pictured on the CCTV in Charminster Road, close to the junction with Capstone Road, on the day of the murder; for help in tracing the owner of a Nike 'Terra Part Stormy' training shoe identified from a blood print of its sole at the murder scene - and for women who have had their hair cut in unusual or suspicious circumstances to come forward.

"Someone - perhaps several people - has information that could help this murder enquiry which is just as focussed and determined as it was after Heather's tragic death on that November day back in 2002," explained Superintendent Cooper.

Witnesses and anyone with information should contact Dorset Police in confidence on 01202 222 222 or the free and anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111 where mobile phone tariffs may apply.