Police seeking killer of Saudi Arabian student in Colchester issue efit

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/03/killer-saudi-arabian-student-colchester-efit

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Detectives seeking the killer of Saudi Arabian student Nahid Almanea, who was stabbed to death in Colchester more than two weeks ago, have issued an efit of a man they would like to question in connection with the investigation.

The man was identified as having been seen running away from the Salary Brook Trail on the morning of 17 June, at around the time 31-year-old Almanea was stabbed 16 times on the quiet footpath.

He is white, aged between 18 and 25, of medium build with dark hair. He was wearing a long-sleeve plain hooded top that is described as London bus red and dark trousers. He was seen running up Hewes Close at 10.56am on the day of the murder.

The man in the efit is one of 11 people that police appealed for help in identifying earlier this week. They were all seen on or near Salary Brook Trail around the time Almanea was killed.

DCS Steve Worron said on Tuesday that police were making progress with the investigation and building up a more detailed picture of who were on or near the footpath a the time of Almanea's murder.

"Two weeks on, my officers have been back to the area near the Salary Brook Trail and to the University of Essex to talk to people who may have been in the area," he said. "The information being given to officers is helping to piece together some vital details that will help us to find the person or people responsible for her death."

Almanea, a 31-year-old PhD student who arrived in Britain at the beginning of the year, had been walking alone to her University of Essex campus.

More than 100 police officers from Essex, Kent and the Metropolitan police are involved in the investigation into her killing, as well as profilers from the National Crime Agency.

Detectives have not ruled out a link between the student's murder and that of James Attfield, who was stabbed more than 100 times in an unexplained attack in a nearby park on 29 March.

Crimestoppers has offered a £10,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the attack on Almanea.