The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Partial DNA profile in bid to solve 1998 murder case
‘Significant’ development in investigation into the killing of Cornish mother-of-two
Police investigating the murder of a Cornish mother-of-two 20 years ago have developed a partial DNA profile for what is believed to be her killer.
Linda Bryant, 40, was stabbed in the back, neck and chest as she walked her dog in her home village of Ruan High Lanes, near Truro, in October 1998.
The attack is believed to have been sexually motivated, as Mrs Bryant’s clothing had been disturbed when her body was discovered.
Four months after the murder her tortoiseshell glasses were found at the scene, which had been fingertip searched at the time.
A number of reviews of the case have taken place, with one in 2015 resulting in the discovery of new forensic evidence.
Retired detective inspector Stuart Ellis, senior investigating officer, said: “We have found a partial DNA profile.
“I am as confident as I can be that that particular DNA would relate to Lyn’s killer.”
Following the murder, DNA samples were taken from 6,000 people but these had to be destroyed in 2013 due to changes in legislation.
Police are now in the process of retaking DNA samples and comparing them to the partial profile.
So far, hundreds of samples have been taken from across the UK.
The partial DNA profile has also been searched on the National DNA Database but there have not been any matches.
Police examined more than 100 exhibits from the scene of Mrs Bryant’s murder to develop the partial profile, known as a crime stain.
Mr Ellis said: “The crime stain that we have now found is significant.
“It is frustrating, the fact that it is only now we have the advances in technology that we are able to have it.”
The profile was developed from a broad range of samples, including tapings, swabs and clothing from the scene.
Mrs Bryant was local to the remote part of Cornwall where she lived with her husband Peter, who she had been married to for about 19 years.
They had two children, Lee, then aged 21, and Erin, then aged 19.
Lee’s son Keelan was aged 10 months at the time.
At between 1.45pm and 2pm on the day of her murder, October 20, Mrs Bryant was seen talking to a cleanshaven man at a junction by Ruan High Lanes Methodist Chapel.
This man has not been identified. Mr Ellis said: “This man is of great significance as he may be the last person to see Lyn alive.”
A holidaymaker discovered Mrs Bryant’s body, lying in the gateway to a field near the chapel, at about 2.30pm.
There were vivid blue fibres on Mrs Bryant’s body that were not from her, or anyone connected to her home address.
The weapon used to attack Mrs Bryant has never been found but is thought to be a small knife.
The murder investigation was one of the biggest conducted by Devon and Cornwall Police.