Town linked to mystery death

A sketch of the murdered man who has still not been identified

Detectives investigating the death of an unknown man believe a Norfolk town could hold the key to his identity.

The man's body, which had been stabbed and shot, was found on fire in a field at Upton, near the Cambridgeshire border with Northamptonshire, in December 2002.

So far attempts to identify the man, which have included television appeals in England and Germany, have been unsuccessful.

However, Cambridgeshire Police said on Friday it is focusing its attentions on the King's Lynn area of Norfolk.

Detectives have taken one call from the area which provided information about the man's possible identity and they also arrested a 41-year-old man from King's Lynn on suspicion of murder.

The man was released on bail and is due to return to report back to police in October.

False identity appeal

Acting detective chief inspector Bert Deane said: "Our focus has turned once again to the east coast, especially the King's Lynn area, where we would appeal to anyone who thinks they may know the victim, to contact us.

"We are not ruling out the possibility that someone is using the victim's identity and we would urge people to think back to Christmas time last year.

"Did someone turn up in your town or village who you did not recognise? Could they be using a false identity?"

Tests on the man's body, which was found on 21 December, revealed he was a resident in the UK for up to six years prior to his death and spent some of that time living on the east coast of Britain.

In the four weeks before he died he also spent time in either north Germany or Holland.

Mr Deane added: "I find it very difficult to believe someone who has not been seen for nine months has not gone unnoticed by someone."