Murder case suspects in court but no body found

Joseph Doe, 36, from Essex, and David Butler, 25, from Slough, are accused of murdering father-of-three Jesse Richards, who was kidnapped and killed in July 2009.

Both appeared before magistrates in Birmingham on Tuesday and were committed to the city’s crown court, due to appear as the Courier went to press yesterday (Thursday).

Chesterton Windmill near Harbury was among the sites searched in the hunt for the body of Mr Richards, a scrap dealer, who had travelled from his Surrey home to Sheffield, before heading to Cleeve Prior near Evesham. There the 41-year-old was attacked by a group of armed men, who detectives believe bundled him into a van, killed him and dumped his body in Warwickshire. The burnt-out van was discovered in Bedworth the next day.

West Mercia police officers, who also searched addresses in Stoke and Corley, are still trying to find Mr Richard’s remains.