MURDER TRIAL: A POLICE manhunt to find Lizzie Cooper's killers sparked one of the biggest ever murder inquiries in Trowbridge.

More than 100 police officers and detectives were drafted in after the grim discovery of Miss Cooper's body at 57 Longfield Road on May 6, 2001.

Sniffer dogs were used the next day to track down a scent trail left by Jason Lee and Timothy Seviour quickly leading officers to wasteground where they found Seviour's black holdall used to carry the murder weapons to Kevin York's house. Inside was a Club 18-30 holiday booking form.

Underwater search teams from Avon and Somerset police recovered two knives from the River Biss under County Way, while scene of crime officers and forensic scientists scoured Kevin York's home for evidence.

The weapons were identified as a 25cm Lion Sabatier knife and a 25cm baby machete. Both belonged to Seviour's girlfriend Melissa Gibbings and were engraved with her initials M.A.G.

Forensic tests found Miss Cooper's blood on one of the blades.

Det Sgt Dave Martin, a senior officer in the murder investigation, said officers were frantically tracking down the brother's last movements and were on the verge of making a nationwide appeal when the brothers turned themselves in to Bath police.

He said: "We started as soon as the body was found. It was a gruesome find for the first officers on the scene.

"We went to the addresses where the brothers had last been seen, including Melissa Gibbings's flat in Lambrok Road.

"Kevin York was under armed protection as the brothers had failed in their bid to kill him and he was at risk of a repeat attack.

"Sniffer dogs tracked down the trail and we could see the knives glinting in the river."

Avon and Somerset police officers played their part in the investigation finding the brothers' bloodstained fleeces dumped in a Bath wastebin.

More than 200 witness statements were collected as detectives tried to piece together the complex relationships between the four main people.

DS Martin said allegations of sexual abuse made by Lee against Mr York had to be fully investigated.

He said: "We treated Kevin as a suspect but there was no evidence to support the allegations. The trial painted a very one-sided picture and a lot of evidence not used told a very different story.

"For all the remorse shown by the brothers, on the night, they acted worse than animals. Although it was a murder investigation this was particularly tragic because of the way Lizzie lost her life, it was so brutal and savage. Had Kevin not got away he would have suffered a very similar fate.

"At the end I was a bit emotional and was relieved the jury came back with a guilty verdict.

"For a judge to say it was the worst stab wounds he has ever seen shows just how bad it was. Lizzie's last moments of life must have been horrific. Now as a consequence two children have lost their mother and I don't know how they will ever get over that.

"It was clear from their previous convictions that both brothers had a propensity for violence. Jason Lee had already committed two armed robberies."

Family liaison officers were called in from the start to comfort the families of Miss Cooper and Mr York along with officers specialising in homophobic hate crime.

Det Ch Insp Norman McKeaveney said: "It has been a challenging inquiry from the outset due to the relationship between Kevin York and his attackers. It was treated as a homophobic motivated incident.

"I would like to thank my own officers who have conducted not only a professional investigation which enabled the jury to reach its difficult verdict but also for their very high level of sensitivity."

Three Trowbridge police officers who responded to the initial 999 call and were the first to see Miss Cooper's bloodied body were praised by Judge Maurice Kay along with DS Martin and Det Ch Insp McKeaveney for their "thorough investigation."

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