Police hunt plastic-bag murder suspect

POLICE yesterday named the man they want to question in connection with the bodies-in-the-bag murder inquiry.

Anthony John Hardy, who is in his fifties, lived at a flat in Royal College Street, Camden, North London, near where body parts were found in black bin bags.

Detective Chief Superintendent David Cook told a Scotland Yard press conference that police were trying to establish the identity of the two female victims one is in her late teens or early twenties and the other is in her thirties or forties: "There is still a number of body parts missing. A search of the area continues."

Mr Cook added: "Yesterday we gave an indication one victim could be as young as 14. With the other parts now found and the further investigation we are becoming more satisfied that the younger of the victims could be in her late teens or early twenties. The other victim we put at middle-aged.

"The early indication is that they are not related.

"During the course of house-to-house inquiries we identified a premises on the estate which we entered and in the premises we found another substantial body part which is now subject to forensic examination.

"There are still a number of body parts missing."

Mr Cook added: "We are identifying the occupant of the flat of Anthony John Hardy as the person we would like to speak to in connection with this murder. He has not been seen in the last couple of days.

"As much as we would wish to speak to him in connection with the murder, we have also, naturally, because of events that have taken place, to be concerned for his safety and well-being." Mr Cook said that Hardy was in his mid-fifties, had a grey beard and was known to frequent the Camden area.

He added that Hardy was believed to have lived in London for some time and his relatives had been contacted but they had not seen him.

Talking about the victims, he said his team were no further forward in identifying the women but they did not believe they were living in the flat where the latest body part was found.

Mr Cook said the last body part to be found in the flat was the major part of a torso of the middle-aged victim.

Officers were still looking for the heads of both victims and some limbs.

The officer once again praised the tramp who had found the first body part, saying if he had not been foraging for food in the bins that day they would have been emptied and the evidence lost.

Mr Cook refused to reveal the type of instrument used to chop up the bodies.

He added that forensic tests would continue on the body parts and in the area for several days to come.