A man who murdered an 86-year-old widow 12 years ago has been sentenced to life imprisonment, after a re-examination of DNA evidence from his victim’s fingernails led to his conviction.
The body of retired postmistress Una Crown was found at her bungalow in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on 13 January 2013. She had been stabbed four times and her throat had been cut.
Cambridgeshire Police did not treat her death as suspicious until two days later, but neighbour David Newton, 70, who was previously arrested but then released, was eventually charged last April.
A judge at Cambridge Crown Court, where a jury found Newton guilty of murder on Thursday, said he must spend at least 21 years in jail.
Ahead of the court hearing, Mrs Crown’s niece Judy Payne told the BBC she “could finally smile again” following Newton’s conviction.
Mrs Crown’s body had been discovered in the hallway of her home by relatives who had arrived to take her to Sunday lunch.
Police officers initially treated the death as “unexplained”. It meant police, firefighters, paramedics and undertakers all walked around the house and some even touched Mrs Crown’s body to move things around.
It was not until two days later – after a post-mortem examination – that the death was finally deemed suspicious.
Cambridgeshire Police admitted that “mistakes were made during the initial investigation in 2013” and that they had apologised to Mrs Crown’s family.
However, DNA taken from Mrs Crown’s fingernails at the time of her death was retested by forensic scientists 10 years on, leading to Newton’s charge.
He was found guilty of her murder by a majority of 10 to two jurors.
