Three released in OAP murder probe

12 April 2012

Detectives have released three of four men arrested in connection with the murder of a pensioner found battered to death at her country cottage.

The men were detained on Monday at an ex-offenders' hostel in Otterbourne, near Winchester, Hampshire, 500 yards from where 77-year-old Georgina Edmonds was found dead at her home.

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said three men, aged 21, 28 and 36, have been released without charge.

But a 37-year-old man remains in custody.

Magistrates have now granted detectives a further extension to continue questioning the remaining man, she added.

Mrs Edmonds was discovered by her son, Harry, 52, and a family friend when he returned home from work on Friday The popular pensioner lived in a cottage in the grounds of her son's home at Brambridge, and a post-mortem examination found she died from extensive head injuries.

The men were arrested at the Elderfield House hostel at about 7.40am on Monday morning.

An intensive examination of the buildings has taken place with forensic officers combing the grounds.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Barton, who is leading the investigation, said detectives were keeping an "open mind" and he appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Elderfield House is a "moving on" church charity hostel for ex-offenders wanting to rebuild their lives after prison, but local people have longed campaigned for it to close saying the occupants cause trouble and come and go as they please.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in