Article 3.
Eddie Gilfoyle: new evidence prompts police review of murder case
Dominic Kennedy, Investigations Editor, The Times, February 21, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5776614.ece
The police yesterday launched a review into the conviction of Eddie Gilfoyle for the murder of his pregnant wife following the publication by The Times of new evidence that could help to clear him after 17 years in prison.
Merseyside Police said that it had called in the Crown Prosecution Service with a view to referring Gilfoyle's conviction to the official body that investigates miscarriages of justice.
Yesterday The Times disclosed that it had discovered long-lost notes of police interviews which suggest that Gilfoyle was at work at the time that his 32-year-old wife Paula died. The notes reveal a series of blunders by police at the scene, including the destruction of evidence.
Gilfoyle told The Times that he would rather forgo the possibility of parole than admit his guilt. "I've told them year after year I'm not admitting to something I haven't done. I would sooner die in jail," he said.
Merseyside Police had repeatedly denied that notes were taken during an internal investigation. Mrs Gilfoyle, who was eight months pregnant, was discovered hanged in the garage of her home on the Wirral in June 1992. A suicide letter in her handwriting was found in the house.
The police notes state for the first time that the surgeon at the scene estimated that the time of her death was six hours earlier, when Gilfoyle was still at work in a hospital.
Only after The Times faxed the notes to Patricia Gallan, the Assistant Chief Constable, did the force accept that they had been taken, although it said that they were "not retained".
After the story was published yesterday, the force stated: "We are reviewing this information with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). We will then decide whether to refer the case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, any other body or agency and what further action, if any, is required to be taken." The CPS said that it was "considering the implications".
Alison Halford, Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside at the time of Gilfoyle's conviction, believes that he is innocent. She told The Times: "I just knew that all the documents regarding the case would be somewhere. Police hate throwing things away.
"The question is why was the time of death withheld. It was glaringly obvious that there should have been one. It's absolutely routine. So many lives have been ruined."
Source for this message:
The Times, February 21, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5776614.ece
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