Pensioner found dead on Saddleworth hillside from rat poison sparking year-long mystery is finally identified – but cops STILL don’t know why he travelled from Pakistan to die on moor
Today, at a short hearing at Heywood coroner's court, he was identified as David Lytton, 68
THE man found dead on a Peak District moor over a year ago has finally been identified today - but police still do not know why he flew from Pakistan to die on a hillside.
Despite identifying the smartly-dressed pensioner as 67-year-old David Lytton cops are still baffled as to how he ended up dead on Saddleworth moor with a lethal dose of rat poison in his system.
He was found lying face down on the ground near Dove Stone Reservoir with only three train tickets and £130 in cash in his pockets on December 12, 2015.
Traces of stychnine poison were found after toxicology tests on the man. It is a white powder that is used to kill rats.
At the time Detective Sergeant John Coleman said: “It’s illegal to purchase strychnine in the UK. There is no antidote, There are still many more questions than answers with this case.”
Today, coroner Simon Nelson read out a statement from the Det Sgt, who had been investigating the case.
He praised the investigation and said it was "a highly professional investigative strategy".
The inquest today was listed in the name of Neil Dovestones - a nickname said to have been given to him by mortuary workers at Royal Oldham Hospital.
In a statement, the force said: "After more than a year of painstaking inquiries, which included media appeals being released in the UK and Pakistan, as well as assistance from the National Crime Agency, detectives investigating the mysterious case of 'Neil Dovestones' have made a positive identification.
"At an inquest in Heywood earlier today, senior coroner for Oldham, Mr Simon Nelson confirmed that the true identity of the man found close to Dovestones Reservoir is David Lytton, 67, from London."
Officers had checked passenger records from a flight from Lahore in Pakistan which tallied with Mr Lytton's details.
They had also checked airport and train station CCTV to confirm Mr Lytton's movements.
After officers discovered he had travelled to the UK from Lahore, Pakistan, two days prior to his death, his name was confirmed.
The family of Mr Lytton have been informed and officers compared DNA from the mystery body with that of a relative to confirm a match.
Detectives spent almost a year trying to identify the man found dead on a track above Dovestone reservoir, in Saddleworth, but are no closer to knowing why he appears to have gone to the hillside to die.
He was wearing black slip-on shoes, a blue coat and a white shirt with a collar.
No documents, scars, marks or tattoos were found on his body, although a couple of teeth were missing. His DNA was checked and no match found against a series of databases.
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Smartly dressed and lying prone close to the Indian’s Head Summit, he had nothing on him except the train tickets and £150 - all in £10 notes.
An empty medicine bottle, with Arabic writing, was also found nearby as the mystery deepened surrounding his death.
Officers broadened their search to Pakistan with police appealing to surgical staff there to offer help as Mr Lytton had undergone an unusual surgical procedure involving a device only used in a handful of hospitals in that country.
Theories have been offered including that he perhaps lived in the area as a younger man and was re-visiting.
He was seen striding with an apparent purpose “backwards and forwards” through Ealing in west London before making his way to Ealing Broadway railway station at 9am on the day before his body was discovered.
So how DID detectives finally ID mystery man?
Cops used CCTV to trace Mr Lytton’s movements back from Saddleworth, to Manchester Piccadilly Station then Euston and back to Ealing Broadway.
They then guessed he may have started his journey on the Piccadilly Line at Heathrow Airport and began to search flight records for older men who had flown into the country from Pakistan in the days before his death.
They knew to search flights from Pakistan after a post mortem investigation revealed he had undergone surgery in the country.
Det Sgt John Coleman said identifying the country as a clue became key to solving the case, as police checked airport and train station CCTV to confirm his movements.
They were eventually able to compare DNA from the mystery body with that of a relative to confirm a match.
Det Sgt Coleman said: “Ealing station is on the Piccadilly line which goes to Heathrow. Putting two and two together we thought he could have come into the country through Pakistan.
“We set up a profile for a male aged between 65 - 75, possibly travelling alone from Pakistan to Heathrow between December 8 and 10, 2015.
“We went back a few days - we could only go back that far because of the enormous number of people travelling through the airport each day.
“There is a massive number of travellers and a number of flights to and from Pakistan each day.
“We asked for the names and came back with a male that might be a match.
“We then looked at his passport picture, which was 10 years old, and got an image from Lahore Airport from the previous day’s CCTV.
“We discovered that Mr Lytton had travelled over here from Pakistan on December 10.”
At 9.07am on December 11, 2015, he bought a ticket to Euston station where he was seen buying a return to Manchester Piccadilly. It departed at 10am and arrived in Manchester at 12.07pm.
Once at Piccadilly he spent about 50 minutes in various shops at the station – including Boots and M&S – buying food.
He then spent four-and-a-half minutes at the information counter, although enquiries had not established why he spent so long there or what he was asking about.
Then he went to the taxi rank at Piccadilly before coming back into the station and heading out through the front entrance.
Melvin Robinson, landlord of The Clarence pub in Greenfield, was the last person Mr Lytton spoke to after he stopped off at The Clarence asking for directions to the Indian’s Head Summit.
The concerned landlord told him there was no way he could make it back before sunset but the man set off to the beauty spot undeterred.
His body was discovered on the hillside the following day.
Mr Robinson said last month: “It’s become more of a mystery as time has gone on. I think we would all like to resolve it just for peace of mind.
“When I spoke to him he just seemed like a normal person just looking at the local interest spots. It all seemed quite normal.
“My theory on why he was there keeps changing. If it was strychnine poisoning that causes you to convulse but he had his arms by his side. Then I wonder if somebody robbed him and left him like that - but why wouldn’t they take the money. It’s so strange.
“Nobody can alter what happened but it would be good if we could at least get some answers and find out what happened.”
A full hearing will take place at Heywood Coroner's Court on March 14.
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