- 'I am keeping an open mind,' says detective leading hunt
- Sexual motive not ruled out
- Appeal to trace light-coloured 4x4 vehicle seen near where body was found
- Women in Bristol area warned not to go out alone after dark
In love: Joanna Yeates, with boyfriend Greg Reardon. He said she was 'one of the most lovely and genuine people to grace this Earth'
More than one suspect could be involved in the killing of Jo Yeates.
The detective in charge of the inquiry yesterday refused to rule out a sexual motive, or the possibility of multiple murderers.
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones said a DNA sample found on Miss Yeates’s body is a key piece of evidence which could lead to ‘her killers’.
Asked to explain this use of the plural, he said: ‘The phrase emphasises that I am not making any assumptions on this and I am keeping an open mind.’ Mr Jones’s hint raises the possibility that an accomplice is involved in the crime and covering up for the strangler, making the police task all the more difficult.
The detective remained tight-lipped about the precise details of his team’s methods, for fear of jeopardising what he described as a ‘potentially long and complex’ inquiry.
But he appealed for help in tracing a light-coloured 4x4 vehicle seen on the night of December 17 near the remote spot in Failand where Miss Yeates’s snow-covered body was later found. It is three miles from her Bristol flat.
Christmas parties were being held that night at two golf clubs and a hotel in the area. Mr Jones urged taxi drivers and any partygoers to search their memories.
Officers have already warned women in the Bristol area not to go out alone at night and fears were growing yesterday that more than one sexual predator could be on the loose.
Until now it had been assumed that 25-year-old Miss Yeates probably knew her killer.
But Mr Jones acknowledged for the first time that the murderer might have broken into her £200,000 basement flat in the affluent Clifton area, despite previous police claims that there were no signs of forced access.
Keeping an open mind: Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones said a DNA sample found on Miss Yeates's body is a key piece of evidence which could lead to 'her killers'
He admitted in the fullest public statement since the landscape architect went missing 18 days ago that there were huge gaps in the investigation.
Police still do not know where or when Miss Yeates was murdered, or when her clothed body was left on the side of a snowy country lane, to be found on Christmas Day.
A crucial piece of the jigsaw, the pizza which she bought at Tesco on her way home is still missing, along with its packaging.
Search goes on: Forensics officers enter the flat belonging to Joanna's landlord Chris Jefferies, in Clifton, Bristol
And officers have not yet established if she was followed home on the night of December 17 after early-evening drinks with friends at a pub. Mr Jones said: ‘I am satisfied that Jo got back to her flat but I am not going to speculate whether she let someone into the flat, whether someone was already there, or whether someone broke into the flat. These are all lines of inquiry which my team are pursuing.’
Bailed: Christopher Jefferies was released by police on Saturday night after two days of questioning
Asked about signs of unauthorised entry into the flat, he said: ‘I am considering a number of hypotheses in relation to that and they are lines of inquiry that I am pursuing at this time.
‘At this stage there is no evidence to suggest that Jo was sexually assaulted, however I have not ruled out that there may have been a sexual motive.’
The possibility that more than one killer was involved echoes a report that Miss Yeates was seen leaving her flat on the night she disappeared with two other people, talking in hushed tones.
However, that report was attributed to her landlord, 65-year-old Chris Jefferies, who Mr Jones said was ‘still a suspect’ after being released on police bail following days of questioning.
The details of Mr Jefferies’ bail conditions have not been spelt out, but it is believed he is not allowed to return to his flat on Canynge Road and is staying with a friend. He is believed to be considering legal action.
Despite the problems with the investigation, Mr Jones sought to reassure the public, saying his team of more than 70 officers were working round the clock as they followed 239 priority lines of inquiry created from over 1,300 tip-offs.
This has included sorting through almost 300 tons of domestic rubbish picked up from the area around the flat Miss Yeates shared with her boyfriend Greg Reardon in a Victorian block.
A forensic search of the building is still unfinished, and is expected to continue for several more days.
Tributes: A police officer stands next to flowers left outside the entrance to Joanna's flat
Nine days after the post-mortem examination of Miss Yeates – which was delayed because of the frozen state of her body – officers still do not know whether she had eaten any of the pizza she bought.
Mr Jones denied suggestions of a delay in the forensic search of the building, where Miss Yeates and Mr Jefferies lived two floors apart.
He said: ‘Joanna Yeates’s flat was searched shortly after she was reported missing and in the interim days before her body was discovered. The premises were searched on a number of occasions.
‘We have gone back to the premises and have conducted a further examination. In relation to the other premises there was no delay. The arrest which was made I believe was made at an appropriate time.’
GWYNETH REES: The fear on my street
When news of a missing Bristol woman began making the headlines this Christmas, I – like most other females around the country – felt concern.
But this had turned to outright fear long before the police warned that it isn’t safe for me to walk the streets alone or answer the door to strangers.
Joanna Yeates was six years my junior and lived, and was possibly murdered, in a flat just streets away from the Georgian terraced house I share with my seven-month-old daughter.
As a journalist I have reported on many horrific murders up and down the country. But never before have I encountered such a chilling crime on my own doorstep and it has shocked and terrified me in equal measure.
The main reason – as trite as it sounds – is that Clifton is such an unlikely place for a killing like this to occur. It is the affluent suburb of Bristol; home to Brunel’s Suspension Bridge, Clifton College and the lodgings of High Court judges.
Aston Martins are parked in the road, bikes left unlocked in front courtyards and neighbours chat over garden fences.
Affluent: The area in which Joanna Yeates lived - and possibly died - boasts delis and boutique gift shops
Clifton Village – which Joanna passed through on her last walk home – boasts delis and boutique gift shops. The Albion pub offers an annual ski trip for regulars.
Like her, I would have felt comfortable walking home alone in the dark – but that has changed since her disappearance on December 17.
I have become paranoid about security, always putting the chain across the front door and locking all the windows. One night I even moved the heavy oak bench in the bedroom across the back of the door.
I know it is selfish to be concerned about my own safety when a young woman has been murdered, but I suppose it is only a rational fear. And I hope no other woman falls prey to such a horrendous crime and that Clifton will soon again be the safe, sleepy suburb I always thought it was.
Charity donations pour in to fund set up by parents and boyfriend
A charity fund set up by Jo Yeates’s devastated boyfriend in her memory has raised more than £1,900 in just two days.
The internet site has attracted hundreds of donations for the charity Missing People, and enabled family and friends to pay tribute to the murdered landscape architect.
Greg Reardon established the fund because he wanted to help other families whose loved ones
had disappeared.
The justgiving.com page shows Miss Yeates holding her cat Bernard, along with a picture of her with Mr Reardon.
On the site he describes his 25-year-old girlfriend as a ‘talented and kind-hearted woman who was tragically murdered’.
More than 6,000 people have also joined a Facebook tribute site, Rest in Peace Joanna Yeates, where hundreds of messages have been left offering condolences.
Mr Reardon said: ‘If you feel you’d like to give something back in Jo’s name, I have set up a donation web page – www.justgiving.com/joannayeates.’
The Missing People charity helps reunite broken families with loved ones who run away or are snatched from the arms of those dearest to them by tragedy or social problems.
It offers a lifeline for the 250,000 people who run away and go missing each year.
THE DISAPPEARANCE
What is known: Joanna was last seen walking from the Ram pub in Bristol city centre to her home in Clifton on December 17 from 8pm. At 8.30pm she used her mobile phone to ring a friend. CCTV shows her visiting three shops. Her visit to Tesco Express, above, at 8.40pm is the last known sighting of her.
ANALYSIS: Police know she returned to the flat because her purse and timed shopping receipts were found, but they do not yet have a clear idea of what happened inside. They are considering three main options – that she let her killer into the flat, the killer was already there or the killer broke in after her return.
But police have given no clue as to which option they favoured. Detectives are also considering the credibility of a partygoer at a neighbouring flat who heard screams around 9pm.
THE PIZZA AND CIDER
What is known: She bought two bottles of cider from Bargain Booze and a pizza from Tesco Express. One cider bottle was found half empty in the flat and the other was unopened.
ANALYSIS: Police say the pizza is a ‘vital clue’. They have searched fruitlessly for it through 293 tons of household rubbish. Officers suspended refuse collections in the area but now fear the killer may have eaten the pizza and thrown the wrapper into a bin further away which has now been emptied into general landfill. Despite a post-mortem, officers still do not know if Joanna ate it. The identity of the person who drank from one of the cider bottles also remains unanswered.
WHERE JO WAS KILLED
What is known: A couple walking their dogs on Christmas Day at 9am found her body slumped against a wall which backs on to a deep quarry. However police are certain she was not killed there and are focusing their inquiries on her home. Forensic officers have spent days removing tems of interest in brown paper bags, and have even removed her front door for testing.
ANALYSIS: DCI Phil Jones said he could not say where or when Joanna was killed or when her body was dumped in the country lane. The intensive police operation around her home suggests they believe she was killed there and moved later. Fears have grown that her body may have been hidden and then moved during the snowfall when the rural roads were quieter
WHERE SHE WAS FOUND
What is known: Joanna was strangled, but the post mortem found no obvious signs of a sexual assault. She was also fully clothed when she was found, although her coat was found in her flat. A DNA sample from another person was found on her body.
ANALYSIS: The nature of the sample is unclear. DNA samples in other crime scenes often come from a piece of skin, a drop of blood or a fragment of fingernail. It is also unclear if the particle has provided the police with a full and unique DNA profile or is so-called ‘low copy’ DNA which makes it much harder to pinpoint to a single individual. Heavy snowfall which covered her body in the days before Christmas made it difficult for forensic specialists to determine accurate timings of events.
THE MOTIVE
What is known: Police have been careful to avoid publicly declaring a prime motive, but yesterday said they were considering a sexual motive.
ANALYSIS: Given that 88 per cent of murder victims know their killer, police are focusing a significant part of their investigation into the background of anyone who was acquainted with Joanna. Other credible theories include the possibility that she may have been followed to her flat by a random stalker or killed by a man whose romantic advances were spurned, possibly during her drinking session after work
that evening.
THE ARREST
What is known: Yesterday police revealed that the murderer might have had an accomplice. They have already publicly declared that Jo’s boyfriend Greg Reardon is not a suspect because he was en route to Sheffield on the night she disappeared. Detectives arrested Chris Jefferies (pictured), a 65- year-old former English teacher, last Thursday on suspicion of murder, but released him on bail two days later. He
remains the only known suspect although he insists he is innocent and is considering legal action.
ANALYSIS: It is not known whether detectives really believe there was more than one killer, or whether they are forced to keep their minds open because they have so little evidence to be sure of anything. They could have either charged Jefferies with murder or released him. They chose a third option, to release him on police bail (so he must not leave the country or go into his flat, and must report to police his whereabouts) – some 48 hours before the time limit for holding him expired.