Thursday 29 November 2007


Suspect, 41, is charged with murder of Rachel Nickell
By Jonathan Brown and James Macintyre
Published: 29 November 2007
Fifteen years after the brutal murder of Rachel Nickel on Wimbledon Common shocked a nation and threw the one-time suspect Colin Stag into the limelight, police have announced they are charging another man for the killing amid fresh hope the case could finally be solved.
Robert Napper, 41, will appear at City of Westminster magistrates' court on Tuesday, Scotland Yard said, charged with sexually assaulting and stabbing to death Ms Nickell in broad daylight as she walked with her two-year-old son.
Hilary Bradfield, of the Crown Prosecution Service's Serious Casework Unit, said the new charges were brought after a "painstaking" review of the case. "As the investigation has developed, I have been carefully examining and assessing the evidence," she said. "It has been a painstaking process and alongside the police we have considered all aspects of the case in detail.
"This week, we have reached a decision that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and have authorised the police to charge [Mr Napper]."
Scotland Yard would only say: "Robert Napper, 4

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