Murder witness image to go on walls

Hampshire officers are turning to technology to help identify a “significant witness” in the hunt to find who murdered 85-year-old Delia Hughes.

She was found dead on August 18 by relatives at her ground-floor flat in Atlantic Close, Ocean Village, Southampton.

Up to 60 officers are working to find the killer who bludgeoned Mrs Hughes to death with a blunt instrument.

CCTV footage of a hooded man aged between 20 and 30, seen in the area of Mrs Hughes’s flat at the time she could have been killed, has been circulated but the man has not been found.

To coincide with the four-week anniversary of the murder, officers are trying to increase awareness about the man they want to speak to by projecting images of him onto buildings in the Woolston area of Southampton where he was last seen.

Bluetooth messaging will also be used by officers to circulate details of the man in the hope that someone picking up the message will be able to identify him.

Local cinemas are also screening the man’s description and images to their audiences.

Detective Superintendent Tony Harris, who is leading the investigation, said: “Despite saturating the area with a description and images of this man through the local media, social media, the distribution of appeal leaflets and by displaying posters, it has become clear from our house-to-house enquiries that not everyone is aware of our interest in this man.

“We have therefore had to look at alternative communication channels to bring this to the attention of as many members of the public that we can. By sending out Bluetooth messages and projecting images onto buildings, we hope to achieve this.”

Mrs Hughes was originally from Blackpool but had lived in Southampton for the past 17 years. Before she retired, she worked as a supervisor for Littlewoods.