Katerina murder: man held

Scotland Yard today announced the arrest of a suspect in its worldwide search for the killer of a 12-year-old girl.

Katerina Koneva was strangled at her home in Hammersmith six years ago, sparking one of the biggest manhunts in the Yard's history.

Her father disturbed the killer and chased after him thinking he was a burglar, only discovering his daughter's death when he returned.

A CCTV camera filmed the killer being chased by the father.

Today the suspect, a 46-year-old foreign national, was being questioned by detectives.

Katerina, whose family had fled Macedonia to start a new life in Britain, died after the killer, described as Eastern European and aged between 40 and 50, knocked on the door of the family flat in Iffley Road and persuaded the schoolgirl to let him in.

He throttled Katerina in the living room with his hands and then strangled her with a ligature.

Moments after the attack, he was disturbed by Katerina's father Trajce who had just returned from work.

The killer jumped out of a window and was pursued by Mr Koneva through local streets.

The murderer then hijacked a Fiat Uno from a woman driver at knifepoint and drove it to Shepherds Bush where he abandoned it before taking a bus to Hammersmith.

Mr Koneva returned home to find his daughter dead.

Katerina was described by her devastated parents as "bright and promising".

They eventually found the strain of dealing with the loss of their daughter too much, and parted.

Police believe the motive for the killing was "sexual homicide" although Katerina was not sexually assaulted.

They believed the killer knew the area near the Koneva home and had previously stalked two other girls - one only half an hour before the attack. Officers and criminal profilers were convinced the killer would strike again, but he was at first thought to have fled abroad.

Scotland Yard contacted police forces in 26 countries to check for similar attacks or suspects.

Four years after the killing, a breakthrough in DNA investigation methods meant police could isolate a new pool of 100 potential suspects.

Forensic scientists obtained a partial DNA profile of the murderer from items left at the scene of the crime.

Detectives have been using the national DNA database to try to track down possible suspects.

They hoped that by cross-checking with other information on the suspect's distinctive appearance they could narrow the list even further.

In the initial stages of the inquiry police investigated and ruled out 600 suspects.

Detective Chief Inspector Norman McKinlay, who is leading the investigation, said: "This was an absolutely horrendous murder."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "A 46-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder of Katerina Koneva on May 22 1997.

"He is being questioned by police today."