Jogger murder: new lead

Detectives investigating the murder of American artist Margaret Muller today issued an urgent appeal to a mystery caller who rang in with the name of a possible suspect.

They believe the information about the murder in Victoria Park could prove vital and urged the caller, who phoned anonymously on the Crimestoppers charity line, to phone again.

The move came as police released a new photograph of the 27-year-old artist posing with one of her paintings, a self portrait of herself as a ballet dancer.

Taken by a friend at the Slade Art School where she studied a few months before she died, it shows Ms Muller in a happy and relaxed mood.

Detectives are to return to the park on Tuesday next week to make a new appeal, exactly one year after the murder. A memorial service is also being held at the scene of the attack near the rose garden. It is expected to be attended by members of Ms Muller's family who live in Britain.

A tree planting ceremony is also planned with Tommy Walsh, one of the BBC Ground Force TV show presenters. He was jogging in the park with his wife on the morning of the attack and helped police with their investigation.

Detectives say the anonymous caller gave Crimestoppers the name of a suspect and they describe the call as " significant".

Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Shatford, who is leading the investigation, said: "This caller may hold vital clues which could assist and possibly help us solve this investigation.

"We ask them to either call our detectives working on this case or to contact Crimestoppers again." He said there are still people who were in the park at the time of the murder - 8.30am on 3 February 2003 - who had not yet come forward.

"We are still working relentlessly to catch the person responsible for her murder. Despite extensive inquiries to trace everyone in the park on the day of the murder we are aware that there are still several individuals who are yet to come forward. We continue to appeal for their assistance and ask them to contact us," he said.

"There is every chance that the individual responsible for this attack has made some form of confession to someone in authority and we would appeal to anyone in the education, health or probation sectors to revisit their records and let us know of any suspicions they may have."

A reward of £15,000 is still being offered to anyone with information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the attack.

At one stage police linked the murder with an attack on a jogger in Clissold Park in December. However, a 15 yearold youth from Finsbury Park has been charged with the attempted murder of the jogger and police now say the two attacks are not linked.

Detectives are still puzzled as to how the killer could have fled the scene, apparently without being seen. One possibility is that someone in the park shielded him. Meanwhile, police are still checking on hundreds of care in the community patients living in the Hackney and Stoke Newington areas.