Una Crown: Mistakes leave Wisbech murder unsolved, says niece

Una Crown, pictured with late husband Jack, lived alone in her bungalow

The niece of a widow murdered 10 years ago said she believed the case would have been solved without "big mistakes" in the police investigation.

Una Crown, 86, was found dead at her bungalow in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in January 2013. Police had thought she had accidentally set herself alight.

Her niece Judy Payne said she would "never rest" but believed the killer would not be found.

Cambridgeshire Police said it was "deeply sorry" for the failings.

Mrs Crown's body was found on 13 January, surrounded by burnt newspaper and lying in a pool of blood in her hallway on Magazine Lane by Mrs Payne's husband, John.

Two attending police officers concluded the death was not suspicious, believing Mrs Crown's clothing had accidentally caught fire from a faulty hob ring which she tried to put out with a tea towel, panicked and died from a heart attack.

They also concluded "two slits to her throat" had most likely been torn by pressure from the scarf as her body hit the floor.

Mrs Crown's family were allowed into the house to collect her belongings, but Mrs Payne said she had her suspicions about the death because of "the smell of blood and the smoke".

Judy Payne said she would"never rest" in her search for justice

Mrs Payne said: "We had no idea how she could have done that herself and the fact that she was lying face-down in the hall, one slipper was off, there was no way on this earth that could have been an accidental death for auntie.

"She'd put up a fight somewhere along the line... at the time we just took the police's word for it."

Two days later, the family were told her death had been declared a murder, but a decade on no-one has ever been charged despite numerous arrests.

Asked if she believed the case would or could have been solved without police errors, Mrs Payne, 79, said: "I think it would've been solved."

Mrs Payne said the police had made "big mistakes" and she had been left feeling "totally disgusted", adding: "If the police couldn't see that that was something that she couldn't do to herself, laying in pools of blood, you know, it doesn't bear thinking about."

Una Crown was found dead at her home in Magazine Lane

She said she was told by police "the only way they would find who did it is by DNA now, if it matched somebody who'd done something else".

"We've not heard a word in years," she said.

When asked if she believed the case would ever be solved, Mrs Payne said: "I live in hope while I'm alive. I'll never rest, for sure."

Det Ch Inspector Iain Moor said the case had never been "closed" and regular reviews were conducted "in order to identify new leads".

"I want to take this opportunity on the 10th anniversary to re-appeal to the public," he said.

"We still believe the answer to solving this case lies within the local community. I am urging anyone who has information but not yet come forward, to do the right thing and get in touch - someone out there knows what happened to Mrs Crown."

In response to criticisms, he said: "We recognise the failings by our officers in the initial stages of this investigation and we are deeply sorry for any hurt this caused and still causes Mrs Crown's family.

"A review was carried out in June 2013 following complaints by the family and we have carried out the recommendations made."