Nora Tait murder: DNA analysed in hunt for killer

Nora Tait, a retired seamstress, was 69 when she was killed at her home in Doncaster

Detectives are using new techniques to analyse DNA samples in a bid to catch the killer of a Doncaster grandmother 15 years ago.

Nora Tait, 69, was bludgeoned to death at her home in Stone Close Avenue in Hexthorpe on 12 October 2005, shortly after buying fish and chips.

South Yorkshire Police said she was found the next day with her takeout untouched on the dining room table.

The force has renewed an appeal for information to help catch her killer.

Det Ch Insp Mark Oughton, senior investigating officer, said: "Nora was killed in the most horrific circumstances and, 15 years on, we are still very much committed to finding her killer and bringing some element of closure for her family."

"Advancing DNA technology regularly provides us with new opportunities in cases like this," he said.

"This has led to successes in other historic investigations and I am hopeful that it will lead to new lines of inquiry here."

He added: "We have always believed that the answers as to what happened... lie within the local community.

"Nora's family deserve to know what happened to her."

She was found by a friend at her home in Hexthorpe. Her fish and chip meal lay untouched on the dining room table

In a statement, her family said: "She was taken away in the most cruel way, and never being granted the closure that we all deserve only adds to the ongoing pain we all feel.

"Somebody knows something, has had or overheard a conversation relating to it, and is carrying this with them.

"It is time to do the right thing," the statement added.

The case featured on the BBC's Crimewatch programme in 2010, but despite a number of leads no-one has ever been charged.

No attack weapon has never been found and the only item taken was a black leather purse, police said.

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