Una Crown was found dead in her bungalow on January 13, 2013, with her throat cut, stab wounds to her chest, and her clothing on fire. Police initially did not consider her death suspicious, and vital forensic evidence was lost after her relatives were allowed back into the house. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Prosecutor John Price described this initial assessment as a 'grave error of judgment', noting that officers could see visible injuries and fire at the scene.
A breakthrough came when new forensic techniques revealed male DNA under Una Crown's fingernails, which was protected from the fire because her hand was clenched in a fist under her body when she fell. The DNA matched David Newton, an alcoholic odd-job man, leading to his conviction following a two-week trial at Cambridge Crown Court in February. The motive for the murder remains unknown, and the specific forensic techniques used have not been disclosed.
When I joined the Major Crime Unit, the first thing my wife said to me was, 'You've got to solve this murder'.
The case features in the latest episode of Channel 4's '24 Hours in Police Custody', which follows Detective Superintendent Iain Moor and his colleagues. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Detective Superintendent Iain Moor described how his wife urged him to solve the murder when he joined the Major Crime Unit. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Detective Inspector Lee Martin described the preserved DNA as evidence that Una Crown 'guarded that hand waiting for us to find'. David Newton's sentence has not been reported.
No. What's going to happen is going to happen. I've told them the truth of what I know.
No one touches them. That's why they call me The Shovel, the size of my hands.
Even with the benefit of hindsight, it may seem difficult to understand how those officers managed to persuade themselves that this death should not be treated as suspicious, given they could see Mrs Crown had a wound to her neck, there was a lot of blood on the floor where she lay and there were three separate seats of fire within the house.
When Una was burned, after her death, her hand was underneath her body and was away from the fire and I like to think that she left that for us. That it's almost like she guarded that hand waiting for us to find that evidence.