Find Them Dead

37 Friday 10 May

A briefing room at Chichester police station was being used for the press conference. Roy Grace sat in the centre of a row of chairs that had been placed facing the healthy turnout of local media that he had anticipated, flanked on his right by the local district commander, Chief Inspector Emily Souders, and on his left, PC Kerry Foy, the community officer; to her left sat Tony Morgan from the Sussex Police comms team.

In the two rows of chairs facing them were Siobhan Sheldrake from the Argus, as well as reporters he recognized from the West Sussex Gazette, the Chichester Observer, the Bognor Regis Post, Radio Sussex and Radio Solent, a camera operator and presenter from Meridian TV, and a student reporter from the Southampton media school.

Some police officers, in Grace’s experience, viewed all press and media with suspicion and hostility. But he had always found that if you handled them in the right way, far from being the enemy they could be not only a good ally, but could play a key role in getting that vital public engagement. And right now, when all their investigations had so far drawn a blank on Operation Canoe, hopefully today’s conference might just lead to a member of the public coming forward with a piece of information that could unlock the puzzle.

He began with a restrained smile, friendly but serious. ‘Thank you all for attending today, we are hoping, through your coverage, you may be able to help us solve a very nasty crime. Stuie Starr was a thirty-eight-year-old man with Down’s Syndrome, who shared his home with his brother, Michael, who is currently on remand in Lewes Prison.’ He coughed to clear a frog from his throat.

‘By all accounts, Stuie was a sweet, trusting man, who loved everyone he met and had one dream, which was to run a fish and chip shop with his brother. Yesterday, local police were called to a house, at 23 Smithgreen Lane, Chichester, following a call from Stuie’s carer, who looked in on him daily to check he was all right. They found his body, very savagely beaten, with multiple injuries including kicks to his head — a number of which, according to the pathologist’s report, were inflicted with sufficient violence to have been fatal on their own.’ He paused to clear the frog again.

‘I do really want to emphasize the savageness of this murder. There is no indication Stuie put up any defence — this was an act of gratuitous violence against someone we believe had no enemies. The time of this attack is estimated at somewhere between the morning of Wednesday the 8th of May and the following morning. We are keeping an open mind on the motive, but we are aware his brother is currently awaiting sentence on drugs charges. We are also aware that property may have gone missing from the house, so one of our key lines of enquiry relates to whether the motive was burglary.’

Grace paused again, then continued. ‘If this was burglary, we are considering whether it might have been opportunist thieves who did not realize the house was occupied, or whether whoever did this was searching for a cache of drugs or cash. We believe this attack was the work of at least two people. Stuie’s home was just off a busy main road and opposite a garage. Someone must have seen the perpetrators arriving or leaving. I’m appealing for anyone who was in the area at the relevant time to come forward. You might just have seen something you did not think was significant at the time. Were you driving or cycling through this area with a dashboard or helmet-mounted camera? Or walking past?

‘I want to stress that Stuie Starr was an extremely vulnerable man. If this was a burglary, the level of violence was completely disproportionate and unnecessary, and we are looking at the actions of at least two callous and sadistic individuals who put no value on human life. I would now like to introduce my colleague, PC Kerry Foy, to talk about the community impact of this murder.’

Foy, a short, friendly-looking officer with an empathetic nature, said, ‘I knew Stuie and often saw him around. He was well known in the local community and loved by everyone. He often attended local events, and he was always dressed in his trademark T-shirt emblazoned with the legend I’M A HOMIE WITH AN EXTRA CHROMIE, or else in one of his chef outfits. He was friendly to everyone — I just cannot imagine why anyone would have wanted to harm him.’ She glanced down at her notes. ‘Until the offenders have been apprehended, I would ask the local community to be extra vigilant over locking their doors and who they let into their homes. But I would like to stress we believe this is very likely to be an isolated incident and that risk to the community at large is low.’ She turned to Chief Inspector Souders.

The District Commander nodded. ‘I have to agree with PC Foy. It makes no sense that anyone would have wanted to harm such a warm and loving person. It is my strong view that in all likelihood this was a one-off attack, carried out by villains who knew that Stuie’s brother was in prison, and who may have been looking for drugs and cash. However, I have put extra patrols and a visible police presence in the area. And I would like to reiterate that Chichester is a safe place to live and work.’

‘We’ll now take a few questions,’ Roy Grace said.

Several hands immediately shot up. Siobhan Sheldrake called out to Emily Souders. ‘Commander?’

‘Yes?’ she answered.

‘You’ve just said the perpetrators might have been looking for cash or drugs concealed in the house. Are you implying that the police team who must have carried out a thorough search of the house after the brother’s arrest might have missed these?’

Roy Grace stepped in quickly with a reply. ‘The search team were highly professional and experienced and it is highly unlikely they would have missed anything of significance following Michael Starr’s arrest. The point being made is that if this was a burglary, the offenders were clearly ignorant of the depth of search that would have been done.’ He shot a glance at Souders.

She nodded. ‘That is correct.’

Another voice shouted out, the reporter from the West Sussex Gazette. ‘Detective Superintendent, do you have any suspects?’

‘We are working on a number of leads but at this time, no, we have no prime suspects. But we are confident we will find the offenders and bring them to justice.’

He fielded a number of further questions, then brought the conference to a close. ‘I would like to again thank you all for attending, and to remind you that how you report this could, ultimately, be the make or break in bringing these vile people to justice. Someone will know something or have seen something. Anyone with basic human decency must be repulsed by this attack. I would request that you publicize the number of the Incident Room from the sheets you have been given and stress that alternatively they can call Crimestoppers, in complete anonymity, the number of which is also on the sheet. Thank you again.’

Along with the others, Grace hurried out of the room, then followed Souders along to her office for a quick debrief. He was, as usual after press conferences, sodden with perspiration, knowing he had done his best, but aware, as always, he could probably have done better.