Ann Widdecombe murder investigation police will be focusing their efforts on three scenes and throw everything they have to secure justice for the former Tory minister, a former detective has said. Marc Cananur served in the police for 30 years in Kent and the City of London, working on a wide range of crimes, including murder and fraud.
He told the Daily Express: “Any loss is devastating regardless of status, but this is more devastating because of Ann’s vulnerability. She was 78 years old and lived alone. Whether you supported her views or not, she was a likeable character. But she was alone in her own home and, from what we can surmise, was bludgeoned to death. Horrific.”
He added: “Because of the case’s higher profile, [detectives] won’t want to get this wrong. She was loved by many and they will want to ensure [the culprit] is brought to justice for the family, community and her supporters. The stakes are high for them.”
The ex-cop explained three key scenes will be Miss Widdecombe‘s house, the suspect’s home and a car which police seized at about 3am on Sunday (July 12).
Miss Widdecombe, a former Conservative minister and later Reform UK spokeswoman, was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor at about 11.40am on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries.
A 28-year-old white British man was arrested at an address in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on Saturday evening. On Sunday, there was a substantial police presence at a house in Byrley Road in the Kimberworth Park area of Rotherham – an address linked to the suspect and more than 200 miles from the former minister’s home in Devon.
Counter-terrorism officers on Monday said the man was re-arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and are now leading the investigation into her death. They said that new information and evidence had come to light during the inquiry.
Mr Cananur said the latest development may have resulted from a search of the suspect’s devices and internet search history. The former detective said officers will continue to delve into the suspect’s life, scouring his social media, devices and home for clues.
He added that highly-trained officers, known as POLSAs or Police Search Advisors, will painstakingly go through the suspect’s home to find evidence, while digital forensics officers will be stripping apart his digital devices, working with mobile providers to download everything they store.
Mr Cananur said: “Part of that will be to look at what views he has on certain things and Ann Widdecombe’s views and how their paths might have crossed for some reason.”
He said that to date the police have not commented on the suspect’s mental health, adding: “The fact a neighbour filmed him suggests to me that maybe they had concerns over this individual.”
Footage of a man putting a wooden stick into a car parked outside a house linked to the murder suspect emerged over the weekend.
The suspect’s family, friends, neighbours and any colleagues will also be questioned as part of the overall investigation, according to the security expert.
But police will not want to release too much information to prevent anything emerging which could hinder the investigation or compromise the case when it comes to court.
A priority now will be protecting the evidence that has already come to light and preserving forensic details, such as DNA samples, from Miss Widdecombe’s home and fast-tracking these to the lab.
Mr Cananur said: “For me, this is how this individual was identified so quickly – through fast-tracked forensics. I suspect they had a quick forensic hit.”
Officers will be testing the suspect’s accounts during police interviews as they race to quiz him before the limit for keeping someone in custody suspected of serious crimes without charge ends.
Detectives will also be testing the suspect’s mental state to determine whether or not he was of a state of mind required to establish criminal liability – a legal term known as mens rea.
Mr Cananur said the force will work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to test whether or not they have sufficient evidence to charge the suspect.
In this case, if the threshold for a murder charge isn’t reached before the legal limit on keeping someone in custody expires, then police might seek a “holding” charge on a lesser crime so police and prosecutors can build a stronger case.
Devon and Cornwall Police will have closely followed the steps laid out in what officers call the “murder manual”, which details the process required in such cases.
Forensics officers will be ripping the car apart looking for his DNA as well as Miss Widdecombe’s, on top of looking for the wooden stick which the suspect is reported to have put into the vehicle on the morning the former Tory minister died.
Detectives will also be scouring CCTV, dash cam footage and any details from Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to build a picture of the vehicle’s movements.
Police continue to maintain a large presence at Miss Widdecombe’s home, which Mr Cananur suggested is to protect evidence and provide reassurance to the public.
Mr Cananur said the location of the crime in Devon would also have hit the public hard, given the county’s reputation for being a relatively peaceful holiday destination. He added: “For something like this to happen there, it will send shockwaves through the community.”