'Good response' to TV murder plea

Widow Mrs Hughes was murdered almost a month ago

Detectives investigating the murder of a 90-year-old widow say they have had "a very positive response" to the BBC's Crimewatch programme.

Elsie Hughes was attacked by an intruder in her home at Abermorddu near Wrexham on 8 September, and died later in hospital.

Her granddaughter, Helen Hutcheson, made a public appeal for information on Crimewatch on Wednesday night.

Police said the programme prompted a number of calls to the incident room.

"The investigation is progressing well and information received will be looked at in more detail and processed," a police spokeswoman said.

In an interview on the Crimewatch programme, Helen Hutcheson said her grandmother was a popular member of the local community.

It's a waiting game now and you just can't see an end to it Helen Hutcheson

"She was just fantastic, she was just such a lovely lady," she said.

"We were all so close. Everything that we did involved her.

"She had a fantastic network of friends and neighbours. We would all go and see her as well."

Speaking earlier on Wednesday she said that the family were eager for an arrest to be made.

"Obviously it won't bring my nana back. But I can't live with the fact that whoever has done this to her - which is absolutely disgraceful - could potentially happen again and another family will have to go through what we're going through."

Despite intensive inquiries into the four-week old murder, detectives have so far failed to make any major breakthrough in the inquiry.

On Tuesday, police who have been hunting a man wearing a white hooded top seen leaving Mrs Hughes' home on the night of the attack, said that he may have had an accomplice.

Crimewatch also included footage of the retired school cook at her granddaughter's wedding, and an interview with Det Ch Supt Ross Duffield, who is heading the inquiry.

Elsie Hughes (R) at granddaughter Helen Hutcheson's wedding

As time passed dealing with the murder had become harder for the family, said Mrs Hutcheson.

"It was such a shock to begin with and everything happened so quickly.

"We're just trying to appeal to people to come forward with any snippets of information you might have.

"It's a waiting game now and you just can't see an end to it."

Her husband Ian said: "Looking at what this has done to the family it's just devastation right the way through and this isn't something that's going to go away overnight."

The murder came weeks after the widow, who lived alone, suffered a distraction burglary in which less than £200 was taken.

Police have staged a reconstruction of the time before the murder and have studied hours of CCTV footage in an attempt to identify the killer.

Detectives have also tried to trace a couple seen at a nearby Chinese takeaway between 1800 and 1900 BST on the evening of the murder.

Anyone with information is asked to contact North Wales Police on 0845 6071001 (Welsh language line) or 0845 6071002 (English language line) or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.