Murders suspect matched by DNA

Police had exhumed Mr Kappen's remains in May

The 29-year murder mystery of three teenage girls is finally over after DNA evidence taken from the prime suspect's body matched samples from the crime scenes.

Detectives exhumed the buried remains of Joe Kappen on 20 May in connection with the rape and murder of the girls, all aged 16, in south Wales, in 1973.

Joe Kappen may be linked to other murders

He died from lung cancer in 1991, aged 48, but became the chief suspect over the attacks after police deployed breakthrough new forensic techniques.

While the results were conclusive, police cannot definitively say he committed the murders without a trial.

However, South Wales Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the murders of the teenagers.

Police are to liaise with all forces across the UK to find out if Mr Kappen, who worked as a driver in the 1970s, is linked to any other unsolved sex attacks or murders.

Sandra Newton was found dead after a night out

And they said they still want to know "what made him tick."

Detective Chief Superintendent Wynne Phillips said: "We are looking at a number of unsolved rapes in our area.

"But Mr Kappen's photograph is being circulated to every police force in the country - there may be a link to other rapes and murders."

His relatives, including three children, have been informed of the test results and the case will be closed.

• The bodies of Geraldine Hughes and Pauline Floyd, both 16, were found at woodland in Llandarcy in September 1973.

• They had each been raped and strangled, police said.

• The body of Sandra Newton, 16, was found in a Tonmawr ditch three months earlier after a night out in Briton Ferry.

Modern techniques

A nightclub bouncer from Port Talbot, Mr Kappen was amongst 30,000 people interviewed during the original murder hunt.

But South Wales Police were never able to bring anyone to justice over the murders due to a lack of evidence.

Modern forensic techniques employed in the inquiry recently established a link between the three killings.

Geraldine Hughes: Hitched a lift

The investigation was re-opened two years ago after a DNA profile of the killer was established from samples at the crime scene, which is near to Port Talbot.

Detectives had applied to the Home Office for the exhumation of Mr Kappen's body in a bid to prove his guilt and close one of south Wales' most notorious unsolved murder cases.

After working throughout the night at Port Talbot's Goytre Cemetry, gravediggers removed his coffin from the plot he shared with two relatives.

Mr Kappen lived within five miles of the victims, was married and in his 30s at the time of the attacks.

Detective Chief Superintendent Wynne Phillips said earlier the suspect was estranged from his wife when he died in 1990.