Fifth body part 'from same man'

MAP OF BODY PART FINDS 1: 22 March: left leg found at Cottered 2: 29 March: forearm found at Wheathampstead 3: 31 March: head found at Asfordby 4: 7 April: right leg found at Puckeridge 5: 11 April: torso found at Gore Lane, Standon

A man's torso found in a suitcase in Hertfordshire is from the same victim as other body parts found across the country, police have confirmed.

The latest find was made in a ditch in Gore Lane, Standon, on Saturday.

It follows the discoveries of a left leg, head and an arm in Leicestershire and Hertfordshire.

A police spokeswoman said these finds have been linked, while a right leg found last Tuesday was also "highly likely" to be from the same body.

The spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that it is the torso of a man, and that it is linked to the ongoing joint murder investigation taking place between detectives in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit and detectives in Leicestershire."

She added that it followed "the discovery of body parts in Hertfordshire and Leicestershire in recent weeks".

The torso had been in the spot close to the main A10 road for "some time", officers said.

Police have yet to identify the victim, but said the man was believed to have suffered from a form of fungal infection to his toenails, with his small toenails "discoloured and thickened" and curled under.

Earlier Det Ch Insp Michael Hanlon, of Hertfordshire Police, revealed: "The victim had two front teeth missing.

"They are the front right tooth and the tooth to the immediate right of that.

"They are believed to have been missing for several years."

The BBC's Barnie Choudhury says the man is hard to identify

The right leg was found near a lay-by, also on the A10 Puckeridge bypass, last Tuesday.

The man's head had previously been found in a Leicestershire field, while a forearm and left leg from the same body were found in Hertfordshire.

The left leg was found in a field near the A507 at Cottered on 22 March and the forearm was discovered in nearby Wheathampstead a week later.

The head was found on 31 March near a cemetery in Hoby Road in Asfordby.