A WIDOW’S bloody fingerprints helped snare her killer 12 years after she was murdered and set alight at her home.
Una Crown, 86, was discovered in a pool of blood by family members at her bungalow in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in January 2013.
Una Crown was found dead at home in 2013[/caption]
The retired postmistress had been knifed in the neck and chest and her clothes were set alight in a bid to disguise her injuries.
Police initially believed Una had died from a heart attack when she accidentally set herself alight when trying to extinguish a fire from a faulty hob ring.
Officers also believed the marks on her throat were caused by the pressure from a scarf as her body hit the floor and waited two days to preserve the horror scene.
But after a post mortem in 2015 found Una had been stabbed, a murder investigation was launched.
Police discovered DNA under the widow’s fingernails that proved suspect David Newton was behind the gruesome killing.
The 70-year-old was today found guilty of murder – just over 12 years after carrying out the slaughter.
Cambridge Police have now released an image of the bloody fingernails that helped snare Newton.
The force also apologised to Una’s family for “mistakes made during the initial investigation”.
Cambridge Crown Court was told Una was last seen alive two days before the January 13 horror when she went shopping.
She had also spoken to a friend on the phone the day before her body was discovered.
Newton was seen drunkenly walking from the direction of Una’s home at about 8.30pm on January 13.
He was interviewed but denied any involvement and claimed he only knew the pensioner “in passing”.
After the case was re-opened, officers were able to place him at the scene thanks to advances in DNA.
Police also discovered Newton was living on benefits at the time but was seen “playing “spending freely” on fruit machines at a club on the night of Una’s death.
Money had been taken from the widow’s purse but no motive for the murder has ever been given.
Detective Superintendent Iain Moor of Cambridgeshire Police said: “The DNA allowed us to cast doubt on David Newton’s claims that he hadn’t seen Una on the day, or days, before her death and place him at the scene of her murder.
“For more than a decade he thought he had gotten away with this most horrendous crime, but today’s result shows you cannot hide forever.”
Newton will be sentenced tomorrow.
Una, pictured with her late husband Jack, lived alone in her bungalow[/caption]
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