Volunteers give DNA to help murder hunt (From This is Hampshire)

Volunteers give DNA to help murder hunt

4:50pm Tuesday 16th March 2010 in

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POLICE hunting the killer of a Basingstoke coffee merchant’s widow have gathered DNA samples from members of the public as they continue their hunt for the murderer.

Last Wednesday and on Saturday, members of the public volunteered to provide DNA to police investigating the brutal murder of Georgina Edmonds.

Some 120 people living within the Eastleigh community have received letters asking them to provide a mouth swab so they can be ruled out of the mass inquiry.

Many who turned out for the voluntary screening shared the same view – they will do whatever they can to help the police find the man responsible.

It’s now more than two years since Mrs Edmonds – the widow of Basingstoke coffee merchant Harry Edmonds – was killed in the kitchen of her cottage in Brambridge.

Her killer stabbed her repeatedly across the top of her body with a paring knife – thought to be a form of torture to extract her PIN for her cashcard. He then rained blows on her head with a marble rolling pin.

One of the first volunteers through the door at The Progressive Club in Twyford Road, where the DNA screening took place, was local resident Stephen Collins.

The 40-year-old was one of a number of people spoken to by the police since the murder on January 11, 2008, and came in to the inquiry because he was known to wear a yellow jacket. Detectives spoke to him along with dozens of others because the prime suspect in the murder was wearing a similar coat when he was captured on CCTV hours after Mrs Edmonds was found murdered.

Mr Collins said: “The police came to see me because I wear a yellow jacket when I ride my moped. I received a letter asking me to come and provide my DNA and I’m more than happy to take part. I just hope it helps them find whoever did this – it was a particularly nasty crime.”

David Goodall, 69, from Allbrook, had contacted the police some time after Mrs Edmonds was bludgeoned to death, when he discovered a knife lying in a flower basket outside his home. “I thought it was a bit strange so I called the police and they took it away. Giving my DNA doesn’t worry me at all,” he said.