COP KILLER WHO BEAT NOOSE IS MURDERED SLAIN; BATTERED TO DEATH: FREED GANGSTER FOUND IN POOL OF BLOOD.
A TRIPLE police killer has been beaten to death 33 years after escaping the hangman's noose, it emerged yesterday.John Witney, 69, was jailed for life in 1966 for his part in the cold-blooded shootings of three unarmed policemen.
The killings sparked calls for the return of the death penalty as Witney would have been hanged if the murders had been committed a year earlier.
The judge at the Old Bailey branded the murders "the most heinous crime" in a generation.
He recommended Witney serve at least 30 years but warned him and his two accomplices they might never be freed.
Witney was released on licence in 1991 - the first police killer ever to be freed from jail.
He set up home in Horfield, Bristol, but on Monday, he was found dead in a pool of blood at his home.
A post mortem revealed he suffered horrific head injuries.
A 38-year-old man - believed to be an acquaintance of Witney - yesterday appeared before Bristol Magistrates Court charged with murder.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Hems said: "We are investigating the murder here as opposed to the events in 1966. There is no connection with his convictions in 1966."
Witney and co-defendants Harry Roberts and John Duddy were jailed for life at the Old Bailey in London.
They had been convicted of murdering Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, Detective Constable David Wombwell and Constable Geoffrey Fox.
The officers were gunned down as Witney, Roberts and Duddy rehearsed an armed robbery in Shepherd's Bush, London, on August 12, 1966.
The trio were practising a hit on a rent collector and had a stash of guns hidden in their van when they were pulled over by police.
When the policemen asked Duddy to reveal the contents of a bag in the van, Roberts seized a Luger handgun and blasted DC Wombwell to death.
Terrified Sgt Head tried to run for cover but Roberts leapt from the van and shot him in the back.
PC Fox tried to escape but Duddy fired a single shot into his skull.
The murderers fled the scene but witnesses noted the van's registration and it led detectives to Witney.
Former carpenter Witney claimed he had sold the van earlier in the day but he was charged with the triple murder three days later.
Hours later he confessed and named Duddy and Roberts as his accomplices.
Duddy was arrested in Glasgow but Roberts used survival skills he learned during army service to stay on the run for three months.
During their trial, Witney and Duddy denied the murders. Roberts admitted killing DS Head and DC Wombwell but pleaded not guilty to murdering PC Fox.
Getaway driver Witney - who claimed he did not fire a shot - said Roberts told him: "Drive unless you want some of the same."
The jury took 30 minutes to convict all three of the murders. They were jailed for a minimum of 30 years - the longest sentence passed since the abolition of the death penalty a year earlier.
Roberts is still serving his sentence in Ashwell prison in Leicestershire. Duddy died at Parkhurst Prison in 1981.
Witney was transferred to Leyhill open prison in 1985 and released in 1991. His sentence was cut because he did not fire a shot.
Witney was on licence and regularly had to report to his probation officer.
Witney's neighbours in Bristol had no idea of his terrible secret.
One neighbour said: "I expect people around here would have been very worried if they had known."
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| Author: | McLEAN, GRACE |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Aug 19, 1999 |
| Words: | 583 |
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