Dark Room

Landy Murder Mystery

Police admit to being puzzled about the murder of an dealer Russell Landy, 44. whose battered body was found two nights ago by his wife, Jane. "The premises were broken into," said a police spokesman, "and some paintings stolen, but we cannot account for the frenzied attack on Mr. Landy. This sort of specialist robbery isn't normally associated with extreme violence. Art thieves pride themselves on their professionalism."

The police are asking dealers and collectors to watch out for the stolen paintings. "If we can establish that robbery was the motive," said the spokesman, "it will assist us in our inquiries. At this stage, it is not clear whether the sledgehammer used to murder Mr. Landy was already on the premises or was brought there by the attacker. Clearly, we have to consider that murder may have been the intention all along."

Jane Landy, 24, is the only daughter of Adam Kingslcy, millionaire chairman of Franchise Holdings Ltd. He is said to be deeply upset by his son-in-law's death, despite declaring publicly after the wedding that Russell Landy was little better than "a gold-digging cradle snatcher " He has two sons by his second marriage, Miles, and Fergus, aged 16 and 14.

Friends of the Landys say Russell was a popular man with no enemies. "He was an intellectual with a wonderful sense of humor," said a close friend. "I cannot understand why anyone would want to kill him."

The stolen paintings have been valued at Ł230,000 but police believe they will be difficult to sell. Michael Paggia's work is well known in minimalist art circles but his appeal has a narrow base. His mast famous work, "Brown and Yellow," two large brown canvases on either side of a smaller yellow canvas, is currently on display at the Tate. It caused a furor when it was bought. One critic described it as "S**T and P**S."

"It is very unclear," said the police spokesman, "why thieves would bother to steal paintings like this. Who would buy them?"

Daily Telegraph extract * 3 February, 1984