Nickell murder: new suspect

A psychopathic sex killer has emerged as a new prime suspect in the Rachel Nickell murder inquiry.

He is a paranoid schizophrenic being detained indefinitely at a mental institution for an almost identical attack 16 months after Miss Nickell's killing in which he stabbed a young mother to death in her London flat and smothered her four-year-old daughter.

The woman, strikingly similar to Miss Nickell, was stabbed eight times, sexually assaulted and so badly mutilated that the police photographer who recorded the scene could not work again for months. One senior detective called her killing "one of the most revolting and disgusting" murders this country has seen.

Miss Nickell was murdered on Wimbledon Common in 1992, and the new suspect's name first surfaced in connection with it two years later, but detectives were prevented from questioning him by psychiatrists on medical advice. He cannot be identified for legal reasons.

For more than a decade the Nickell inquiry has been impeded by a lack of DNA evidence, but dramatic advances in forensic science mean police can now achieve results from minute samples.

It is believed the breakthrough has been achieved through the latest DNA testing methods and "painstaking, brilliant detective work".

Developments in technology enabled detectives from the Yard's Murder Review Group - which specialises in unsolved cases - to find traces of DNA on Miss Nickell's underwear, which had not been possible at the time of her death. It will be several months before detectives are able to question the new suspect and it could be years before any case comes to trial.

Police chiefs said much more detective work was needed before the case came to a close. A Yard spokesman added: "It's an ongoing inquiry, so it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage."

Miss Nickell's murder has baffled police for 12 years. The 23-year-old was walking on the common with her son Alex and their dog when the killer struck, stabbing her 49 times and slitting her throat in front of the two-year-old boy.

Optimism over the new findings will be tempered by more questions over Scotland Yard's troubled first investigation into the case.

The initial prime suspect was loner Colin Stagg, now 41, who spent a year in police custody before being cleared of all charges in 1994.

A minor offender, Mr Stagg was allegedly spotted following a woman shortly before Miss Nickell's murder.

A blonde police officer was used as part of a "honeytrap" plot to encourage him to confess, but despite admitting to being aroused by thoughts of Miss Nickell's killing, he never admitted responsibility for it.

He is now likely to seek huge compensation claims if another suspect is arrested.