New police appeal on 10th anniversary of 'Goldfinger' murder

BBC News, Essex

John Palmer was convicted at the Old Bailey in 2001 of a timeshare fraud that had about 16,000 victims

Detectives have renewed their appeal for information 10 years after the murder of notorious and once wealthy criminal John "Goldfinger" Palmer.

The 65-year-old was shot six times in the garden of his woodland mansion in South Weald near Brentwood at about 17:30 BST on 24 June 2015.

Palmer earned his nickname after being accused of melting gold from the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery and he scammed thousands of timeshare owners out of millions of pounds in Tenerife in the 1990s.

Essex Police says his family still "rightly want answers" and believes loyalties in the "criminal fraternity" have changed.

"His killing was a brutal, planned execution," said Det Supt Stephen Jennings of the Essex and Kent Serious Crime Directorate.

"Over the years there has been much commentary, media coverage and even television programmes speculating about his connections to the underworld, high profile crimes and his past.

"But whatever someone's past, John was a father, partner and much-loved by his family."

The 65-year-old could be seen pottering about his home on the garden CCTV in the hours leading up to his death

In 1983, armed robbers stumbled upon £26m worth of gold, diamonds and cash in the Brink's-Mat warehouse near London Heathrow Airport.

Palmer was found not guilty of conspiring to handle the stolen bullion at an Old Bailey trial in 1987, but the Met Police continued to investigate him.

He amassed an estimated fortune of £300m in the 1990s, with a portfolio including mansions, helicopters, restaurants, a £750,000 yacht and classic cars.

But in 2001, he was jailed for eight years at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to defraud, having scammed about 16,000 couples out of millions on Tenerife.

Essex Police believes the professional hitman used this hole in a fence of the property to spy on Palmer in the days leading up to his murder

In May 2015 - a month before his murder - Spanish prosecutors charged him with fraud, firearms possession and money laundering in relation to his timeshare scam.

Police believe a contract killer watched him through a spyhole in his fence at his property, before scaling the fence and shooting him at the only spot not covered by CCTV.

Remarkably however, two police officers assessed his death as non-suspicious, owing to his wound from gall bladder surgery which took place a week earlier.

A post-mortem examination on 30 June revealed he was actually shot in the chest, abdomen, arm, elbow, back and kidneys.

The two officers later faced disciplinary action and Det Supt Jennings has previously admitted the force failed to carry out "background checks on John" and did not "really check the body well enough".

John Palmer was found unconscious by his son and his son's girlfriend

In 2019, other individuals were found guilty as part of the same Spanish fraud indictment that Palmer had been charged with.

"We know the key to solving John's murder lies within the underworld and we have always suspected it may have been linked to the fraud trial," said Det Supt Jennings.

"A lot has changed within the criminal fraternity, including loyalties, and people may now feel able to come forward."

A 43-year-old man from Rugby, Warwickshire, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder in 2015, but was released without charge.

In February 2017, detectives said a 50-year-old man from Tyneside, who lived in southern Spain, was questioned on suspicion of murder in what was a voluntary interview. He faced no further action.

Anyone with information can call Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via its website crimestoppers-uk.org.