Police seek mystery author of poem naming alleged killer
· Verse clues led police to knife thrown in river
· Witnesses to pub stabbing 'frightened to speak out'
Lee Glendinning
Tuesday March 27, 2007
The Guardian
A mysterious poet who left an emotional verse near the site where a father-of-two was murdered may know the identity of the killer.
Detectives investigating the murder of Paul Kelly, 32, have been trying to trace the author of the poem, which has appeared by the dozen on lamp posts and bus shelters near the scene of the murder in Somerset over the past week, naming the alleged attacker and giving other possibly vital clues.
Mr Kelly was stabbed to death outside the Longacre Tavern in Bath early on New Year's Day and police believe as many as 20 people may have witnessed the killing.
According to the poem, several people witnessed the attack but are afraid to come forward because they have been threatened by the killer. As well as naming the alleged killer, the poem, entitled, Running From Paul Kelly, suggests the murder weapon was disposed of in the river Avon. Detectives have since recovered a knife from the river and are carrying out forensic tests.
Avon and Somerset released the text of the poem yesterday, but withheld the name of the alleged killer. Detectives say the person named in the poem is known to them and was being investigated.
The composition also hints that the crime was racially motivated. It warns time is running out for the killer and justice will eventually catch up with him.
"The truth is there like an open grave," it reads. "A defenceless man is dead and his blood's gone cold. But the story of his end is going to be told. You can run and run till your shoes wear thin.
"And hope that you're safe, 'cos of the colour of your skin. Paul Kelly lies dead, and who held the knife? It was you XXXX, we all saw you take his life."
Mr Kelly, who was originally from Glasgow, is believed to have been involved in an argument inside the pub which then spilled out into the street, where he was stabbed several times. He died of his wounds on the pavement.
The line which led police to search the river Avon for the knife read: "You gonna run once more through the streets, all a quiver?/ Will wash yourself down in the deep, deep river?/ Yow, young XXXX, where you threw the knife."
Superintendent Nigel Rock, leading the investigation, has urged the writer to contact him. "The poem appears to reinforce our belief that a significant number of people almost certainly know the identity of Paul Kelly's killer," he said. "But for reasons best known to themselves, these people are still reluctant to come forward. I am saying to anyone out there who has information about who is responsible for this crime: please help this family to be able to put a closure on one chapter of this tragedy."
Extract
Now I will show how a few words can be made
As sharp and deadly as any bwoy's blade
How running away will not you save
The truth is there like an open grave ...
The New Year was but a short hour old
When you and your mates were: Oh, so bold.
You put us to shame,
But we did the same.
It was black on white, so it must be right
It was you who said: 'He had it coming that night' ...
You said we would be next if we breathed a word
We took in your threats that now sound absurd ...
So where will you run when, at last, you face a brave man?
You gonna run once more through the streets, all a quiver?
Will wash yourself down in the deep, deep river?
Yow, young XXXX, where you threw the knife,
Listen to what I say and take good heed:
You can wipe your bloody hands in the grass,
till they bleed
But you will never, never get them clean.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article ... 54,00.html
