'Hair in hand' case: Danilo Restivo guilty of Heather Barnett murder

Man with fetish for cutting locks of hair from women faces extradition over earlier killing of teenager in Italy

A man with a fetish for surreptitiously cutting locks of hair from girls and women has been found guilty of murdering a British seamstress and now faces extradition over the killing of a teenager in Italy.

Danilo Restivo was convicted of killing his neighbour, Heather Barnett, at her Bournemouth flat and mutilating her body before placing a hank of someone else's hair in her right hand and a clump of her own beneath her left.

During his seven-week trial at Winchester crown court, Restivo, an Italian national, was also accused of killing 16-year-old Elisa Claps in the loft of a church in Potenza, southern Italy, and leaving cut strands of her own hair in her hands and next to her body.

Both women suffered wounds to their chests but the jury was told the killer's "hallmark" was to leave cut hair at the scene.

Restivo admitted he had a "fetish" for cutting hair from women and girls in the UK and Italy, often while they travelled on buses. The court was told he had cut the hair of 15 women in the UK and nine in Italy.

Restivo, 39, was born in Sicily and lived in Potenza before moving to Bournemouth in Dorset in May 2002.

Police quickly came to believe Restivo had killed Barnett, 48, in November 2002 and kept him under intense surveillance amid fears he would strike again.

But it was not until Claps's body was discovered in the church loft where she had been killed in 2010 17 years after she vanished that the British authorities felt they could make a case against Restivo largely based on the similarities of the two ritualistic murders.

The Italian authorities want Restivo extradited to face trial over the murder of Elisa Claps. Officers may also quiz him about other unsolved murders in Italy.

In the UK the Criminal Cases Review Commission has been watching the Restivo trial because the legal team for a man called Omar Beng! uit conv icted of killing a student, Jong Ok Shin, in July 2002 three streets from Heather Barnett's home claim that Restivo could also be guilty of that attack. Shin was also stabbed to death.


guardian.co.uk Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Son of star wars' base in Yorkshire finally ready to open

Peace campaigners slam secrecy over $10bn Menwith Hill project that puts UK in line of fire A "star wars" inspired defence shield that will alert the US to the launch of ballistic missiles is expected to be operational from a North Yorkshire airbase before the end of the year. The Space Based Infrared System is seen as the successor to Ronald Reagan's unrealised "star wars" programme, which would have detected Soviet missiles and shot them down using lasers. The new system, which has cost more than $10bn, has taken almost two decades to build and has been subject to numerous delays and cost overruns. The imminent completion of the project at the RAF Menwith Hill base near Harrogate has revived fears that space is in danger of becoming militarised, with Britain in the vanguard. "I find this disturbing to say the least," said a local Labour MP, Fabian Hamilton. "It's as if they are saying this is a place in the US and you are foreigners. But ha
Keep reading

Wisconsin governor prank called

Republican is duped by a caller pretending to be one of the rightwing Koch brothers, two of his wealthiest backers The Republican governor at the centre of the union-busting protests in the US has been embarrassed by a prank call that he believed was from one of his billionaire backers. On the recording of the call, which has been released online, the Republican governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker tells a caller impersonating one of the rightwing Koch brothers that he is looking forward to flying to California to celebrate with them once the battle with the unions was won, and jokes about taking a baseball bat to slug Democratic leaders. Walker is under siege in his office in the state capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin, in a backlash against his proposed legislation to remove unions' right to collective bargaining and cut public sector workers' pay. Ian Murphy, who calls in pretending to be David Koch, suggests planting troublemakers among the protesters, who have been peac
Keep reading

As China Rolls Ahead, Fear Follows

Image
As China Rolls Ahead, Fear Follows - China kept economy growing in past couple of years by printing money. Now it's feeling consequences. Inflation in consumer prices, speculative bubble in property. Milk dearer in Shanghai than in New York Agence France-Presse — Getty Images China is looking to restructure its economy away from dependence on exports like textiles. For nearly two years, China’s turbocharged economy has raced ahead with the aid of a huge government stimulus program and aggressive lending by state-run banks. But a growing number of economists now worry that China — the world’s fastest growing economy and a pillar of strength during the global financial crisis — could be stalled next year by soaring inflation, mounting government debt and asset bubbles. Two credit ratings agencies, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings , say China is still poised for growth, yet they have also recently warned about hidden risks in its banking system. Fitch even hinted at the
Keep reading