An execution style murder still remains one of Leeds’ most confounding unsolved mysteries, nine years on.
A woman woke up to discover her boyfriend, lying next to her in bed, had been shot in the head. There were no signs of forced entry in their home in Moorland Avenue, Hyde Park, on July 29, 2004.
That man was Richard Clarke , 32, who was shot in the head with a 12-bore shotgun. His body was discovered by his 14-year-old son who shook Richard’s girlfriend, who later said she’d taken a sleeping tablet and hadn’t heard a thing.
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Detectives interviewed the 32-year-old's family and more than 300 people living in Hyde Park while carrying house-to-house enquiries, to try and identify the killer, but they have never been found. The police said Richard’s family was left “traumatised” by the event but were helpful in their enquiries.
In the following month, Richard’s girlfriend and her three sons had to be moved from the house as there was disturbance from a “prowler” one night at 2am. Detectives refused to speculate whether it could have been the murderer returning to the scene of the crime, or if they had gained entry to the house.
Richard’s brother Barry Clarke, 35 at the time, told the press Richard had recently reunited with his 15-year-old daughter for the first time in ten years.
In an appeal to the public, he labelled the murder a “cowardly act”, reported The Evening Standard. He said: “He wasn't given the chance to say goodbye, which must be everyone's worst nightmare.
"Richard was taken away from us in a cowardly act, may I repeat cowardly, and the person or persons responsible need to be taken off the streets."
Detectives said there was a positive response from the Hyde Park community at the time, even from the criminal fraternity. Three men were later charged in connection with the murder. The men, aged 19, 26 and 40, were all accused of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
But these appeals, leads and charges haven’t led to any concrete answers regarding Richard’s murder.
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