Heather Barnett murder

Detectives determined to find killer six years on

Detectives investigating the chilling murder of Heather Barnett are still determined to bring the killer of the Bournemouth mother of two to justice - on the sixth anniversary of the incident that shocked the residents of Charminster.

Detective Superintendent Mark Cooper and Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team are renewing their appeal for public helping in identifying and tracing the owner of cut hair strands found in the right hand of the murder victim.

The pledge to bring Heather’s brutal killer to justice comes on the sixth anniversary of Heather’s mutilated body being found by her two children - Terry then aged 14 and Caitlin then aged 11 - in the bathroom of her ground floor flat in Capstone Road, Charminster, Bournemouth, just after 4pm on Tuesday, 12 November 2002.

The 48-year old seamstress - who grew up in Sturminster Newton in North Dorset and was known to her friends as ‘Bunny’ had been hit over the head with a hammer-like object and stabbed several times. Her breasts has been cut off and placed next to the body.

Last year, chemical and isotope analysis of the nine centimetre long strands of hair - not belonging to Heather and representing nine months’ growth - revealed that the person the hair belonged to lived in the United Kingdom. The tests also revealed that the owner of the cut hair strands travelled abroad twice, and changed their diet twice, in the three months before the hair was cut.

That person visited the Valencia to Almeria area of Eastern Spain and or the Marseille to Perpignan area of Southern France for up to six days some eleven weeks before the hair was cut. They then visited the urban area of Tampa in Florida, Southern USA, for eight days some two to two and a half weeks before the hair was cut.

Detectives are appealing for anyone who undertook, or recognises, the patterns of travel to the USA and Europe - before Tuesday, 12 November, 2002 - to call detectives in confidence on 01202 222 222 or the free and anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111 where mobile phone tariffs may apply.

Involved in the case since the beginning, Detective Superintendent Mark Cooper said: “This investigation is still continuing and the case will never be closed until Heather’s brutal murder is solved and justice achieved for her children and family.

"…I feel sure that someone - perhaps several people - has information that could help this murder enquiry which is just as focussed and determined as it was immediately after Heather’s tragic death on that November day back in 2002.”