Sarah murder police ready to make arrest
Filed Under Country Curtain | Posted on December 15, 2007
POLICE hunting the killer of eight-year-old Sarah Payne are to arrest a man next week on suspicion of murdering her.
The man is likely to be arrested on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Roy Whiting, 41, originally from Littlehampton, West Sussex, has twice been arrested in connection with her disappearance. Within days of her being dragged into a white van from a lane outside her grandparents’ home near Littlehampton in July, he was arrested on suspicion of abducting her.
After her naked body was found a fortnight later in a field at Pulborough, West Sussex, he was re-arrested on suspicion of murdering her. On each occasion, he was released on police bail without charge. Sources close to the seven-month investigation say the latest evidence came last month when Sussex police appealed for information as they released a photograph of a clown-patterned curtain.
It is believed that the curtain played a part in the abduction of Sarah and the 40-strong team of officers involved in Operation Maple declared themselves delighted when more than 300 people responded to appeals for information on TV’s Crimewatch programme and in the press.
Among the people to come forward were the original owners of the curtain, which had been subjected to exhaustive tests since being seized by officers based at Littlehampton, the headquarters of the search for Sarah’s killer.
A spokesman for Sussex police last night declined to comment on any operational matters relating to the investigation. Detective Superintendent Peter Kennett, leading the investigation, also refused to comment. One source, however, said that the police had received vital scientific evidence for which they had been seeking for months. Sarah’s parents are understood to have been kept informed of the latest developments.
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