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17-01-2005 Scotsman Police hunting Milly's murderer focus on Scot who killed student By Gethin Chamberlain FRESH investigations are being carried out to establish whether Lance Corporal David Atkinson can be linked to the murder of Milly Dowler, the teenager who went missing on her way home from school nearly three years ago. The case is one of a number which police forces across Britain and in Germany are re-examining in the wake of the murder of student Sally Geeson. Atkinson committed suicide by setting himself alight and jumping from the sixth floor of a Glasgow hotel the day after the discovery of Ms Geeson's body. He had abducted her in Cambridge in the early hours of New Year's Day and raped and strangled her shortly afterwards. With more information continuing to emerge about Atkinson's predatory nature and his record for violence, police are liaising with the Ministry of Defence to ascertain whether he could have been responsible for other killings and sexual attacks. Among those who have returned to old cases are three German police forces. Atkinson, a Royal Engineer from East Kilbride, was previously stationed in Germany and while he was there he spent eight months in military custody for an attack on an 18-year-old Polish girl, who he dragged into his car. More serious charges against him of assault and kidnapping were dropped. The three German forces have asked for details of Atkinson's DNA to establish whether he was responsible for one murder and a number of other attacks. However, it is the case of Milly Dowler which is potentially more worrying for the MoD, which is to review its procedures in the light of the murder of Ms Geeson to see "if lessons can be learned". One of the issues which will be reviewed is whether police should be routinely informed of soldiers' convictions Police in Surrey are looking at Atkinson's movements almost three years ago to establish whether he could have been behind the murder of the 13-year-old, although they have stressed that he is not the prime suspect. Milly went missing on her way home from school in Walton-on-Thames on 21 March, 2002. Her body was found in woods at Yateley Heath, Hampshire, six months later, close to barracks where Atkinson had been based the previous year. Although at the time of Milly's murder Atkinson was at the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham, Kent, the MoD said he had spent time at Gibraltar Barracks in Minley, Hampshire, in 2001, the year before Milly's death. But a spokeswoman for Surrey Police dismissed suggestions that Atkinson was now the central focus of the Milly Dowler murder investigation. "He's not a prime suspect, he's a person of interest," she said. "We are liaising with the senior investigating officer in the Geeson murder investigation for information that may be relevant, but also with the military police to find out if Atkinson was or could have been in Surrey at the time of Milly's murder." She added: "Checks were carried out on military personnel who were in the area at the time of Milly's death." Yesterday, Ms Geeson's twin sister Julie, 22, said she believed that Atkinson was capable of Milly's murder, and she questioned why he had been allowed to remain in the army. "All I can say is that if this is true and he is responsible, I don't understand, after what happened in Germany, and with his track record, how he could still be in the army. "How could he still be among people and walking free? After what happened to my sister he is clearly capable of an attack like this." Meanwhile, more details emerged about Atkinson's final hours before he killed himself. He is reported to have picked up a prostitute in Glasgow and taken her back to his hotel room.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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