Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Evidence of my dad’s secret life will prove that I did not kill him
Campaign to free son of fraudster Victimhad used alias to buy property
A FORMER public schoolboy convicted of murdering his dad claims to have uncovered evidence which could help to prove his innocence.
Mark Alexander is serving life for killing Samuel, 70, burning his remains and burying them in concrete in the garden of the family home.
Samuel was found six days after worried neighbours in Drayton Parslow, Bucks, raised the alarm. In 2010 Alexander, then a 22-year-old law student, was convicted of murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years.
Reading crown court was told that he could not bear the weight of his domineering father’s expectation and sought to be free to “lead the life he wanted”.
It emerged during the trial that Alexander, who was studying at King’s College, London at the time, faked his father’s signature in Christmas cards as part of a plan to conceal the murder. But there was no forensic evidence linking him to the murder.
In an investigation conducted from his cell at HMP Coldingley in Surrey, Alexander has learnt his secretive father – who was born in Egypt – had a string of aliases. And he claims four potential suspects were working at his father’s home around the time of his death.
But he says that police never spoke to them and the jury were never made aware. Alexander has always denied being involved. He said: “There’s no drawing a line under a tragedy like this.
“Our family has been shaken by it. “None of us thought we’d still be fighting for justice 10 years down the line.
“I’ve always maintained my innocence, you just assume the system will work, but we didn’t have enough time or evidence to prove it, particularly against the story the prosecution were spinning.
JAILED FOR FATHER’S DEATH
If we’d known everything we know now, I’d never have been convicted.”
Alexander said. “Dad’s involvement in confidence tricks and fraud is another important lead for us. Nothing will ever justify what they did to him, but I just need some answers. Dad always seemed to be running or hiding from something.”
Documents reveal how Samuel used almost a dozen aliases to buy properties and vehicles, obtain credit, register to vote, and even to enrol his son at a string of different schools.
Campaigners fighting for Alexander’s freedom have also learned Samuel cheated his estranged partner – Alexander’s mother – in a property scam. They are working on the theory he may have fallen foul of revenge after perpetrating a similar con on someone else.
And in a move believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, Alexander has used Human Rights laws to obtain files on Samuel’s multiple identities from HMRC.