West Yorkshire Police want Elsie Frost murder probe made public

Peter Pickering (pictured in 1972) admitted killing schoolgirl Shirley Boldy and was suspected of murdering Elsie Frost

Detectives who investigated the unsolved 1965 murder of schoolgirl Elsie Frost want evidence gathered against their prime suspect to be made public following his death.

Peter Pickering, 80, died on Saturday in a psychiatric hospital in Berkshire.

Prosecutors had been considering charging Pickering, who had been detained since he admitted killing a girl in 1972, with murdering Elsie.

Det Sup Nick Wallen said releasing the details would give her family justice.

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Elsie Frost was stabbed several times

Elsie's body was found near a railway tunnel in Wakefield on 9 October 1965. She had been stabbed several times.

No-one was ever convicted of her murder and in 2015 West Yorkshire Police launched a fresh appeal to find the killer.

Last year police passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and had been expecting a decision on whether to charge Pickering or not when he died.

Elsie's body was found on 9 October 1965 beneath a railway line in Wakefield

Mr Wallen said he "strongly believed" Pickering was responsible and his death had "snatched away" justice for Elsie's family.

He told BBC Radio Leeds that he hoped to be able to air the details of the investigation.

"We will now look towards perhaps a coroner's inquest for Elsie Frost, where all of the evidence can come out that we have gathered," he said

"I will be making contact with the coroner in the next couple of days. If that is not possible, we will be looking at whatever format we possibly can to get the facts out."

Speaking after Pickering's death, Elsie's brother Colin said it felt "like a hollow victory".

Pickering admitted killing 14-year-old Shirley Boldy in Wombwell, near Barnsley, in 1972, and was awaiting sentence for raping and abducting an 18-year-old woman, also in 1972, at the time of his death.

A spokeswoman for the CPS said the complete file of evidence from the investigation into Elsie's murder was not received until January and was under review at the time of Pickering's death.

She said: "We understand that this turn of events must be very distressing and frustrating both for the victim in the rape case for which Pickering was awaiting sentence, and for Elsie's family. Our thoughts remain with them."