Wisbech: Police probe murder similarities says victim's family

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

Police are investigating links between two unsolved murders with "similarities" that happened in a town 10 years apart, says a victim's family.

Eliza Bibby, 47, died in January in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, almost exactly a decade on from the 2013 killing of widow Una Crown, 86, at her bungalow.

The BBC understands a man who was arrested on suspicion of murdering the two women has died in prison.

Mrs Crown's niece urged those with information to come forward.

The body of Judy Payne's aunt was found on 13 January 2013, surrounded by burned newspaper and lying in a pool of blood in her hallway on Magazine Lane.

Police have apologised to Mrs Crown's family after initially wrongly believing she had accidentally set herself alight and that two slits to her throat had most likely occurred by pressure from her scarf as her body hit the floor.

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

On the 10th anniversary this year, Mrs Payne said she believed the case would have been solved without "big mistakes".

Three days before that anniversary, Ms Bibby was found stabbed to death in her home on Beechwood Road. Three people were arrested and one has since died in prison.

Mrs Payne said she was contacted by a senior officer who said police were investigating links between the two cases.

Police set up a cover over a door to Eliza Bibby's home in Wisbech

"All he said was there are similarities between the two, but until they get any proof they really can't say," said Mrs Payne.

She said the officer also asked her about a brooch and Mrs Crown's wedding ring.

Mrs Payne said the officer asked: "'Did I believe her wedding ring had gone?' And I said, 'Yes' - 100% that had gone because she would never have taken that off."

She said the officer appeared "more determined... to get to the bottom" of her aunt's murder, and she urged those with information about links between the two killings to come forward.

"We're desperate to get results," she added.

Una Crown was found dead at her home in Magazine Lane in 2013

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said: "The deaths of Una Crown and Eliza Bibby remain live investigations and we continue to seek any information the public may have that will help us to bring those responsible before the courts.

"Any information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, could be key to solving either of these crimes."