MAIL WRITER’S LINK TO CASE
A REPORTER with our sister paper the Sunday Mail was the last person to be in contact with murder victim Adrian Greenwood.
Feature writer Heather told how she was shocked to find that police had to rule her out as a suspect.
Writing in yesterday’s Sunday Mail, Heather said: “When I arranged to speak to Adrian Greenwood about his latest book, I never dreamed I’d end up part of the police investigation into his murder. It turned out I was the last person to be in contact with him before he died.
“I had phoned him on the morning of April 6 to interview him about his biography of Victorian general Colin Campbell but there was no answer.
“A few days later, I read about his horrific death. I was so shocked. He had emailed me the day he died.
“It wasn’t long before Thames Valley Police were on the phone looking to speak to me about my relationship with Adrian. By this stage, I was back in Northern Ireland visiting my mum.
“For a while, I felt like a suspect as it looked like I had phoned the victim then fled to Ulster after his death.
“After being questioned several times over the phone, police came to interview me and take a statement.
“It took two hours and they left with copies of the correspondence I’d had with Adrian. It soon became clear my emails were a vital part of establishing a timeline for his murder.” WHEN the police knocked on Elaine Danaher’s door late one night and told her that her husband had been arrested on suspicion of murder, she laughed.
The news seemed so ridiculous, so impossible, that she simply didn’t believe it.
Just home from a birthday celebration with her two sons, Elaine struggled to comprehend what the officers were saying about Michael Danaher, the man she had been married to for 12 years.
“I just had this permanent stupid grin across my face, it was a very surreal moment,” said Elaine, 47.
But it was no mistake, Danaher had just been arrested for the murder of antiques dealer Adrian Greenwood.
The historian and art dealer, who collected early editions of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books, was stabbed after he was targeted for a first edition copy of The Wind in the Willows – valued at £50,000.
Danaher, 50, was separated from Elaine after their marriage broke down. He was in £13,000 of debt and so desperate for cash he planned to sell the book on eBay.
Elaine said: “Now, I just can’t believe this is the same man I married. I feel like my whole marriage was a lie.
“You never prepare yourself for anything like this because you think it’s not going to happen to you.
“Mike would never raise a hand or go out intent on picking a fight. That is one of the hardest things to get my head around, that it’s just not the same person. It’s like he’s got two personalities.”
The horrific details of the crime cannot have been easy for his wife and two sons, Ryan, 15, and Jacob, 10, to hear.
Adrian, 42, was found dead at his home in Oxford in April last year by his cleaner. He had been stabbed 33 times.
Danaher knifed Adrian’s back, chest and neck. He broke the historian’s arm by stamping on him, then scoured his home for items to steal as his victim lay dying.
When detectives realised Adrian’s mobile phone was missing, they traced its movements on a route taken by only one car – owned by Danaher, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
They found the bloody knife blade and The Wind in the Willows book at his flat. He even took a selfie after the murder.
Elaine met Danaher through their jobs at department store John Lewis, where Elaine still works.
They split five years ago and, despite bitter relations, Danaher had access to their children. Looking back, Elaine said: “He made me laugh, we were happy. We never had any problems until the latter parts of our marriage. There was no violence in our family… “I could see after the loss of his parents that he was depressed and needed help. But he said he was all right. “It got to the stage where the boys didn’t know what kind of mood he would be in when he got home from work. “When we moved out of the family home, I didn’t want to have anything to do with him because it had all been very hurtful. “I just told him if he hurt the boys, he’d never see