29 Jun 2011

Restivo guilty of ‘hair fetish’ murder

The man accused of the murder of a mother of two from Bournemouth has been found guilty. Danilo Restivo killed Heather Barnett and mutilated her body in 2002.

Warning: this report contains material some people may find distressing

Convicted killer Danilo Restivo who was today found guilty of the murder of Heather Barnett

Italian national Danilo Restivo, 39, entered the flat of his neighbour Heather Barnett in Bournemouth, Dorset, in 2002 and bludgeoned her with a hammer before cutting her throat.

He then mutilated Ms Barnett’s body while leaving a clump of someone else’s hair in her right hand and some of her own underneath her left hand.

Mrs Barnett’s horrified children Terry, then 14, and Caitlin, then 11, found their mother’s body in the bathroom of their flat in Capstone Road when they came home from school.

Restivo, from Charminster Road, Bournemouth, denied Ms Barnett’s murder and claimed he was on a computer course when the killing took place.

But the jury took only five hours to reject his version of events and find him guilty of her murder.

In a “repulsive charade”, Restivo helped comfort the youngsters before the police arrived as he had just arrived back at his home 50 yards away with his wife.

This was a horrendous and brutal murder and I cannot even begin to describe (Restivo) DS Mark Cooper

Caitlin, now 20, was in the public gallery throughout the trial and watched intently as Restivo gave rambling evidence, claiming he suffered memory problems and that the police could not be trusted.

Murder inquiry ‘complex and challenging’

Speaking outside court, Mrs Barnett’s sister, Denise, said she was a feisty woman with a sense of humour who loved her children very much.

“Heather would have been horrified by the cruel and callous way Danilo Restivo designed her murder and mutilation so her children would find her body on return from school.”

She said the Barnett family was happy Restivo was now behind bars.

Detective Superintendent Mark Cooper, who the led the investigation, said the inquiry had been “complex and challenging”.

“This was a horrendous and brutal murder and I cannot even begin to describe (Restivo),” he said.

Under surveillance

Police had been so worried about Restivo attacking again that he was put under surveillance, sometimes for 24 hours a day, and in 2004 he was stopped by officers who found him dressed in a coat, over-trousers and gloves as he followed women on a warm day.

A knife, balaclava and scissors were also discovered.

During one covert operation, Restivo was stopped at Pig Shoot Lane in the Throop area while observing female passers-by. He had scissors, waterproof clothing, a balaclava and a knife in the back of his vehicle.

16 year old Italian Elisa Claps who Danilo Restivo is suspected of killing as well

Restivo planned seamstress’s killing

Presenting the prosecution’s case, Michael Bowes QC told the court that Restivo had planned Heather’s murder, visiting her at her flat to enquire about curtains shortly before her death.

Heather had been left so concerned that Restivo had stolen a spare set of her house keys during this visit that she even wrote to his fiancée, now wife, asking if he had found them.

The court heard that Restivo had also falsified an alibi on the day of Heather’s murder, first buying a bus ticket during the morning and later altering log-in records at his place of study.

Links to other murders

In Italy Restivo has also been linked to three killings of young women in Perpignan, France, between 1995 and 2000 and that of Yvonne O’Brien, 44, whose mutilated body was found in her apartment in Majorca in August 1999.

The court heard there were also striking similarities between Ms Barnett’s murder and the murder of 16-year-old Italian Elisa Claps in Potenza, Italy in 1993.

The jury of five women and seven men was told the manner in which Mrs Barnett was murdered could be considered Restivo’s “hallmark” and linked the killing to the murder of Ms Claps in Potenza, Italy, in 1993.

Michael Bowes QC, prosecuting, alleged during the six-week trial that Restivo, who then lived in Potenza, had arranged to meet Elisa at the Most Holy Trinity Church on September 12, 1993.

The teenager was never seen again and her body was only discovered in a loft of the church last year, almost 17 years later, with her cut hair by the body.