Cops stumped as shocking one in four murder cases still remain unsolved
Cases such as the shooting of Jill Dando just one of thousands to have left police grasping at straws
POLICE have at least 1,583 unsolved homicides on their books, it was revealed yesterday.
Their clear-up rate is also getting worse. Last year almost a quarter of murders went unsolved.
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In 1996 the figure was 13 per cent.
TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas, who is an ex-detective, blamed the dip on police cuts.
He said: “No police force wants to have unsolved murders.”
Most of those where killers have not been caught are “cold cases” more than two years old.
They include the doorstep shooting of BBC Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando, 37, in 1999.
Another is the London shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher in 1984.