Met police to quiz limbs in loch killer

Beggs was jailed for life for murdering Barry Wallace

Limbs in the loch killer William Beggs is to be interviewed by police in connection with an unsolved murder in London.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police want to question the 38-year-old about the body of an unidentified man which was found in December 1998.

The man's torso and head were found washed up in the Thames near Pepys Estate in Deptford, south east London.

Barry Wallace's body was dismembered

The man is believed to be of Mediterranean origin, but efforts are still being made to identify him and track down his killer.

A reward of £5,000 information leading to the conviction of the person or group responsible for the killing has been put forward.

Beggs, from Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire, was jailed for life last month after a jury found him guilty of murdering 18-year-old Barry Wallace, also from Kilmarnock, in December 1999.

The severed limbs of Mr Wallace, who disappeared after a Christmas night out, were later recovered from Loch Lomond by police divers, while his head was washed up on Barassie Beach, near Troon, Ayrshire.

Beggs, originally from Northern Ireland, had picked up the teenager in Kilmarnock, took him back to his flat and sexually assaulted him before murdering him.

'Not a strong suspect'

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said Beggs was one of a number of suspects expected to be questioned over the man's death.

She said: "We wish to speak to William Beggs in connection with the incident in the Deptford area when human remains were washed up in the Thames."

The spokeswoman said Beggs was "not a strong suspect" but said officers from the force were keen to talk to him.

Divers found body parts in Loch Lomond

It is understood Beggs may have been in London at the time when the man's body was discovered.

His lawyers have lodged a notice of intent to appeal against his conviction and sentence, which carries a minimum term of 20 years, with the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh.

Beggs was convicted of a similar murder in 1987 at Teesside Crown Court after killing and mutilating Barry Oldham, 28.

However, he was later freed by Appeal Court judges on a technicality and went on to attack another man in Kilmarnock, being sentenced to six years as a result.