SLAIN MUM’S REMAINS MAY LEAD COPS TO KILLER
Family tell of relief after body confirmed as 2002 murder victim Hopes new forensic evidence will finally help bring conviction
LOUISE tiffney’s body could yield the vital secrets which trap her killer, police said last night.
It was confirmed yesterday the missing mum’s remains had been found after 15 years and
detectives officially launched a fresh murder hunt.
Detective Chief Inspector Keith Hardie said: “This is very much a murder inquiry and there was a comprehensive investigation done at the time of Louise’s disappearance which we will be continuing with the added benefit of forensic examination.”
A police insider added: “With the recovery of Louise’s remains, there will hopefully be the forensic evidence police didn’t have 15 years ago.”
The 43-year-old Edinburgh mum’s son, Sean Flynn, was cleared of her murder in 2005 on a not proven verdict.
Hardie said they were not at this stage interested in speaking to Flynn, now 36 and believed to be living outside Scotland.
Louise’s relatives spoke of their “relief ” yesterday as police revealed that the remains found near East Lothian stately home Gosford House are those of the missing mum.
The family had been made aware earlier this week of the identification, which was done from dental records.
A male relative who answered the door at the home of Louise’s sister, Kathryn Touchene, 56, said: “I think the sisters are just so relieved that she’s been found.”
Police later reopened the A198 along with a car park at the popular East Lothian beauty spot where Louise’s remains were found.
Officers identified a tree at the site for members of the public to pay their respects and touching messages were attached to bright bunches of flowers left by Louise’s loved ones.
One read: “Auntie Louise may you finally rest in peace x the girls.” Another read: “Dreamt and prayed for this day to come. The search is finally over. We love you.”
A cyclist stopping for a rest break made the grim find last Sunday evening at the entrance to Gosford House.
Forensic teams have been working at the scene since then but full recovery of the remains was completed yesterday.
Detectives will continue to liaise with the Crown Office and procurator fiscal while their own investigation is ongoing.
Hardie said the team are awaiting further forensic test results from the crime scene and Louise’s remains.
He said: “Our thoughts are once again with the family of Louise who have waited 15 years for this news. After all this time, they’d given up any hope of finding Louise alive.”
The DCI said while the area around Gosford House had been searched by officers during the original inquiry, the specific area where the body was found had never been searched before.
In March 2005, Louise’s sister, June Tiffney,
Thoughts are with the family who have waited so long for this news DCI HARDIE
urged police to carry out a major search of the grounds of Gosford House.
June told our sister paper, the Sunday Mail: “I would beg the police to help. I want them to search this estate thoroughly and properly.
“I would plead for them to go back out there with their dog team. I am sure members of the public would also want to help.”
Police had a theory the killer had driven to Gosford House to bury Louise’s body in a shallow grave.
A car linked to their investigation which contained Louise’s blood also had minute traces of leaves and flowers. Officers enlisted botanical experts to try to find where they came from.
A police source told the Sunday Mail dogs had been used to search the estate but they were hampered by its 60,000-acre size. The source added: “The estate is so big, it was not possible to search every inch.”
Hardie said yesterday: “We look to maximise every possible potential evidential opportunity around the recovery. This will be treated as any other murder investigation.”
He confirmed police had not made any contact with Flynn, adding: “We have no reason to speak to Sean Flynn at this time and he’s not of any interest to us at this point of the inquiry.”
A police source said: “To bring about a new trial under double jeopardy, there has to be fresh evidence.”
Louise went missing in May 2002, days before Flynn was due to appear in court to plead guilty to causing two deaths by dangerous driving the previous year.
His cousin Paul Ross and friend Christopher Magee, both 18, died.
The month after his mum went missing, Flynn was sentenced to three years and nine months in youth custody.
He was still in Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution in February 2004 when he was charged with Louise’s murder.
At Flynn’s 22-day murder trial at the High Court in Perth the following year, prosecutors alleged he snapped and killed Louise after arguing with her over the upcoming sentencing for the driving case and over his relationship with an older woman.
Despite traces of Louise’s blood in the boot of the car he drove and mobile phone records revealing he was in East Lothian when he claimed to be in Edinburgh, the jury let him go.
Flynn claimed Louise walked out of the family home after they argued.
He said at the time: “Even if she is dead, then it wasn’t by my hand. I don’t know if she just took the argument the wrong way. I don’t know where she is.”
His defence team said Louise could have committed suicide.
After Louise vanished, her daughter Hannah, six, made a heart-rending appeal. Clutching her aunt’s hand, she pleaded: “Please come home, mummy.”