Handbag crucial in bid to find killer
Reporter: LEWIS JONES
Date published: 26 January 2012
A TELEVISED appeal recreating Nellie Geraghty’s final moments will air tonight.
The Chronicle reported how the BBC’s “Crimewatch” camera crews used an actress to play the 79-year-old, who was attacked in a Shaw alleyway on November 24, last year.
The show, which goes out on BBC1 at 9pm, will appeal to the public for any information to find Nellie’s killers and include new interviews with her sister and daughter.
Police have also released a picture of the bag strap that the great-grandmother was still clutching when she was found, desperate to hold on to the bag that contained her husband Frank’s ashes.
Nellie’s Elizabeth Grove home can be seen in a clip from the show, while the actress makes her way towards the alleyway.
Sister Maureen Barrow says: “When he died she wouldn’t go out anywhere, she didn’t like people going to the house to visit her. Just after 12 o’clock the phone rang and they said ‘can you get to us as soon as possible, she’s going fast’, but by the time I got there she’d gone.”
A revived appeal last week saw a £5,000 reward offered by a member of the public in exchange for information that leads to the bag’s recovery or conviction of the offender.
Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Rawlinson said: “I would like to think that tonight’s appeal will make anyone pass on information if they haven’t already done so. Finding the handbag will not only bring closure to Nellie’s family so that her and Frank can be together, it will also give the investigation an opportunity for detailed forensic analysis which could potentially link it to the offender, and his movements since the offence.
“The public response has been a credit to the people of Shaw. Many people have helped us piece together an understanding of the events leading to the attack on Nellie, which tonight’s programme will depict.”
Two boys aged 14 and 17 were arrested on suspicion of murder and are on police bail until next month.
Another man, aged 37, is also on bail until Tuesday, February 14.
