The body of man murdered in the 1960s has been found buried in a garden by builders working on a £1million home.
The gruesome find was made at the property in Wimbledon, London, as workmen built an extension to the family home
Met Police have now released a 3D digital image of the man who they say was bludgeoned to death and dumped in the shallow grave in the 1960s.
The body was discovered just 1ft deep in the rear garden of the four bedroom Victorian terraced house located near where the oldest tennis tournament in the world takes place every year.
It was found in 2017 and 14 months after a mum an her family moved into the property.
Initially the body was believed to be a model skeleton left by medical students who maybe once lived there.
Speaking about her horror after being told about the backyard body, the mum told the Evening Standard: "I said to them, ‘You must be kidding? I was in total shock.
“They had dug down a foot into clay. There was the skeleton and some clothes — a shirt, tie and trousers. We called the police and the forensics came, it was like we were in the middle of a crime drama. I didn’t tell my children as I did not want to scare them.”
The remains were forensically excavated and a post-mortem concluded the victim was dismembered after receiving a traumatic head wound.
Detective Chief Inspector Kate Kieran said: "There was a bash to the skull which our pathologist put down as the cause of death. That turns it into a murder. For a host of reasons, they’ve buried him in the back garden rather than calling anyone. Someone must know who the victim is. We’d like to put a name to him."
The man was buried wearing a shirt, red silk tie, trousers, shoes and socks, with clothing expert determining the remarkably preserved items were indicative of the era.
A biological profile from anthropologists say he was likely of Asian ancestry, aged 35 to 55, about 5ft 7in and of muscular build.
It was also determined the man had a sugar-free diet for most of his life because his teeth showed no evidence of dentistry.
Experts used skull measurements to reconstruct a craniofacial image of his face which Ms Kieran believes is “100 per cent accurate”, adding: “It was amazing work by the team.”
Missing persons, NHS and police forensic databases confirmed no records of him had been made.
Detectives have tracked down and eliminated all living past occupants of the property.
DCI Kieran added: “Crucially, the DNA of the family that lived there in the 1960s does not match that of the person who is in their back garden.
"This is a 60-year-old mystery and information could help us solve it.”
