JIGSAW TO CATCH BRUTAL MURDERER

starting point we knew whoever did it had a set of keys to the flat,” said Det Supt Ord. “But this was a rental property so we had to identify everyone who had ever had a key to that flat and either eliminate or include them in the enquiry.”

It then became apparent that the keys used to get in were those stolen from Mr Hoyle in the street robbery, which had been caught on CCTV. So the team set about attempting to identify the other man in the footage.

“The key part was the CCTV,” said the detective. “He had left images of himself having committed that robbery. We circulated them to all 4,000 offices in the force and every young offender team and probation office in the area.

“Thousands of people watched that CCTV. We asked the public to come forward with information and we got several dozen names. Each had to be investigated so they could be included or eliminated from the enquiry.”

However, despite the overwhelming response to the CCTV release, Johnson’s name had still not been mentioned.

So police turned to their third clue – a bizarre 999 call had been made to police shortly after David is believed to have been killed, in which a man says he is lost in Sunderland and asks for a lift home.

Investigations revealed the call was made from David’s mobile phone, which had been taken from the flat.

Det Supt Ord said it was very unusual for a killer to call police so soon after a murder, and virtually unheard of to use his victim’s phone to do so. “There have been previous cases where people have committed a homicide and then they have rung the police,” he said. “But we are not aware of another incidence where the perpetrator had rung the police on the victim’s phone, which just shows how open-minded you have to be when conducting these types of investigations.”

Detectives released the audio to The Chronicle and other local newspapers, television and radio stations and asked anyone who recognised the voice to come forward.

The team also enlisted the help of Professor Peter French, the UK’s leading expert in voice analysis.

He was able to tell cops that the man who made the call had a mixture of a Tyneside and Wearside accent, and was likely to be someone from Tyneside who spent time on Wearside.

Following the media appeal, a witness came forwards giving the name of Daniel Johnson, from Gateshead.

“A member of the public came forward and said they recognised the voice to be Daniel Johnson,” said Det Supt Ord. “Once we got his name we went to visit lots of Daniel Johnson’s friends.”

Johnson’s family and friends confirmed that it was in fact his voice on the tape and he was the man in the CCTV footage. And enquiries revealed that he was someone who moved between Gateshead and Sunderland.

Finally, the pieces of the jigsaw came together, and Johnson was arrested.

Police also found pictures posted on Facebook that showed Johnson had been at a house party in Swan Street, just 500m from Mr Wilson’s flat on Southwark Street.

Witnesses said he had left via a window at around 3.30am, close to the time Mr Hoyle was robbed.