Man whose remains found in river unlawfully killed

A man whose remains were discovered partially submerged in a river was likely killed violently, an inquest has heard.

Body parts including pieces of skull, arms and legs, were found in black bin bags in the River Stour in Sudbury in August 2020.

A murder inquiry was launched by the police, but no perpetrator was ever found and the identification of the victim was also never established.

At Suffolk Coroner's Court, coroner Nigel Parsley concluded the man was unlawfully killed.

The inquest heard the remains were found by a woman close to the Meadow Gate bridge near the Croft on 27 August that year while she was walking her dog.

Fearing kittens were potentially inside the bags, she called a local ranger.

Det Supt Mike Brown from Suffolk Police told the inquest there were bags within bags, filled with shingle, rocks, some bricks and some soap products and air freshener products that became obsolete in 2011.

Asked by the coroner if he believed someone had wanted to ensure the bags remained sealed and did not smell, Det Supt Brown said "absolutely".

Dive teams were also called to the scene where a second bag of bones was found slightly further down the river on 29 August.

They included pieces from a person's skull and were linked by DNA to the first bags.

Det Supt Brown said the victim had suffered a "violent and unnatural death" and no DNA matches had been found on national or international criminal databases or databases for missing people.

The force believed there was a "criminal element" and that someone with "skills in butchery" had dismembered the body, he added.

Home Office pathologist Dr Ginni Fitzpatrick-Swallow, who examined the bones, said the evidence suggested the man was the victim of a homicide.

Dr Gillian Fowler, a forensic anthropologist also giving evidence in court, suggested the man was attacked by someone with a machete or a knife, possibly to "make a point or to hide the identification" of the victim.

The court heard how radiocarbon dating analysis indicated the man died at some point between 2008 and 2012, aged between 60 and 70.

Parsley said initially experts could not ascertain the cause of the man's death, but in his view it was more likely than not that he "died as a result of a violent act".

He recorded the cause of death as unnatural (violent assault) due to the "amount of violence inflicted" on the skull.

"It's a tragedy we cannot identify him as there must be some loved ones somewhere wondering where their loved one is," he added.

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