Characteristics: Mutilation - Hair fetishist

Danilo Restivo (born April 1972) is an Italian man serving a life sentence with a 40-year tariff in Britain for the 12 November 2002 murder of Heather Barnett in Bournemouth, England.

Investigators suspected Restivo had murdered Barnett because of his involvement in the 12 September 1993 disappearance of Elisa Claps in Italy, but they were unable to charge him because of lack of evidence.

Subsequent to the 2010 discovery of Claps's body, Restivo was tried for the murder of Barnett, with evidence of similarities in ritualistic placing of hair on the bodies of Claps and Barnett being heard by the English court.

He was found guilty of murdering Barnett, and later convicted in absentia of the murder of Claps by an Italian court. Lawyers for Omar Benguit, convicted for the 12 July 2002 murder of a Korean woman, Jong Ok-Shin, in Bournemouth, have suggested that Restivo may have committed the crime for which Benguit was convicted. The Court of Appeal is to hear Benguit's case.

Background

Restivo was born in Sicily. In 1993 he was living with his parents in the Italian city of Potenza, he would attempt to arrange dates with girls by claiming to have a present for them. Restivo harassed those who rejected him with phone calls in which he would play the soundtrack to Profondo Rosso, a Giallo film about a serial killer. Claps, the 16-year old daughter of a tobacconist, felt sorry for him. Despite misgivings, she agreed to see Restivo at the 15th-century Church of the Most Holy Trinity in the centre of the city.

Disappearance of Elisa Claps

On Sunday 12 September 1993, Claps, accompainied by a female friend, went to meet Restivo at the church, arriving at approximately 11:30 AM just as mass finished. When she did not return home, Claps' elder brother, Gildo, telephoned Restivo's family residence and was told that Restivo was out of town and they had no knowledge of Claps's whereabouts.

When Gildo went to the church, he found the priest in charge, Domenico Sabia, had left, taking the only key giving access to the upper story of the church building with him. Gildo reported the disappearance of his sister to police, but he was at first told the matter had "no urgency".

When a policeman questioned him, Restivo said Claps had left the church while he had stayed to pray. He explained a cut on his hand as the result of an accident. Later that day, he said, he had gone to Napoli. The Restivo family declined the policeman's request for clothes Restivo had been wearing on 12 September to be handed over, and the officer was denied authorisation to search the Restivo family home by his superiors. Sabia opposed a search of the church.

Restivo was known to police who believed him to have been responsible for nine incidents in which women had their hair clandestinely cut. He was also thought to have tied up two children before cutting one with a knife. A magistrate refused to issue an arrest warrant for Restivo in June 1994, but four months later he was taken into custody. An Italian policeman who questioned Restivo described him as "cunning" and "precise in his answers".

Conspiracy-theorising and false leads

Claps' disappearance was the subject of intense media interest and speculation. Tobias Jones writes "The case gradually became, for many, an obsession, one of the iconic Italian mysteries that enabled people to engage in dietrologia, literally 'behindery' or conspiracy-theorising. Claps' face – her long, dark hair, thick glasses and carefree smile – haunted the nation."

An acquaintance of Claps said that she had been abducted by criminals. Claps' diary had a page missing, tests suggested that there were words written in Albanian. A connection to Albania was thought by some to be the most promising line of inquiry. Claps' elder brother, Gildo alleged the investigation into his sister's disappearance had been hindered by deference to prominent community figures. The investigation was taken away from the Potenza authorities and moved 120 km away to Salerno.

Claps's friend suspected

A close friend of Claps, who had accompanied her on the day of her disappearance, told investigators that she had last seen Claps outside the church at 11:30 AM, when Claps had left to meet Restivo in the church. She said Claps had told her she would be back in half an hour. Prosecutors accused her of lying and suspected her of involvement in the disappearance; they asserted that she had been seen with Claps later in the day.

Investigation takes wrong track

The assumption that Claps had left the church moved the focus of the investigation away from the church building and onto other lines of inquiry; the church was not thoroughly searched.

Italian criminal procedure

The accused is presumed innocent, but the prosecution can appeal against sentences. If found guilty the accused is absolutely guaranteed an appeal to a trial of the second grade, which is similar to a trial de novo where all evidence and witnesses can be re-examined. With conviction at a trial of the second grade an appeal to the Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) can only be made on procedural grounds or on issues of the interpretation of law.

Trial of Restivo with Claps's friend

In 1996, Restivo was tried for giving false information. He testified that he had met Claps in a curtained area behind the altar before she left minutes later. He admitted he had previously taken girls to a room on the first floor of the church. In 2010, the remains of Claps were found yards from that location.

Tried along with Restivo were an Albanian man and Claps' close friend. Restivo alone was convicted, he was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and lost an appeal. Because short sentences are suspended in Italy, Restivo remained free and without restriction on his movements. The prosecution appealed against the acquittal of Claps' friend, at a second trial she was found guilty on a charge of perjury and sentenced to 14 months imprisonment, the Italian supreme court later overturned the conviction.

Exoneration of Claps' friend

When the body of Claps was discovered, it became clear that her friend had been telling the truth. She testified via a video link at Restivo's trial for murdering Barnett.

Murder of Heather Barnett

In May 2002 Restivo arrived in England, and moved in with a Bournemouth woman. He lived across the street from Barnett, a mother of two who worked from home as a seamstress. Restivo visited Barnett's flat on 6 November 2002, ostensibly to discuss having curtains made.

On 12 November 2002, Barnett was found by her children, aged 11 and 14, when they came home from school. They waited for police to arrive at the home of Restivo. She had been bludgeoned to death with a hammer and her breasts, which had been severed, were beside her head. A lock of hair, which was not Barnett's, had been placed in her right hand and some of her own hair was under her left hand. The time of death was estimated to be shortly after Barnett had returned home after taking her children to school that morning.

Investigation

Restivo was immediately a person of interest for detectives because he had been first on the scene, having been returning home with his female companion when the alarm was raised by Barnett's children. Police took him in for questioning, three days later he was released without charge. At an early stage he had produced a bus ticket timed stamped 8.44am to support his alibi of having been on his way to a computer course at the time of the murder.

The detective heading the inquiry later said that Restivo gave the impression of being "bumbling". Forensic investigation showed the killer had left few traces at the crime scene. Luminol tests showed a trail of bloody shoe-prints that ended suddenly, this was thought to indicate the killer had changed his shoes before leaving Barnett's house.

Although Barnett's son told police the day after the murder that his mother's keys went missing after Restivo's visit of 6 November, and he was found to have soaked the trainers he had worn on 12 November in bleach, Restivo was not strongly suspected at first because of his alibi.

In the light of Restivo's connection to Claps' disappearance and suspicious behaviour[2] detectives regarded him as chief suspect, but there was not sufficient evidence for a prosecution. In March 2004 he was put under close surveillance using electronic tracking and listening devices; police overheard Restivo being spoken to by his parents and female companion as if he were a child.

He was observed on repeated visits to a beauty spot where he was covertly filmed as he apparently stalked lone women. On 12 May 2004 the surveillance team became alarmed, a uniformed patrol was ordered to stop and search Restivo on a pretext. Although it was a warm day he was wearing waterproof over-trousers. In his car police found an identical change of clothing, filleting knife, scissors, balaclava and gloves.

In June 2004 a schoolgirl identified Restivo as the man who had cut her hair on a bus, in November 2006 he was rearrested and his home searched. Police found a lock of hair. Trainers he had worn on the day of the murder had traces of blood, but it could not be identified. In 2008 new techniques revealed a bloodstained towel left at the murder scene had a DNA match for Restivo, but he claimed to have left it on the visit to the home of Barnett on 6 November. The evidence was still judged insufficient for a prosecution.

Body of Elisa Claps discovered

Sabia died in 2008, he had denied ever being acquainted with Restivo, but a photograph of Restivo's 18th birthday party emerged that showed Sabia had been one of the guests. In March 2010 a body was found in the church, in a brick alcove beside the bell tower. Forensic DNA analysis initially suggested the body was not that of Claps, but on re-testing it was found to be her. Strands of Claps' own hair had been cut from her head shortly after her death and placed near her hands. Italian investigation found DNA and other evidence indicating Restivo was the murderer of Claps.

Restivo charged

In a move that the prosecutor said was unrelated to the Italian investigation, it was decided that the evidence against Restivo was sufficient for a prosecution. Two months after the remains of Claps were found, Restivo was charged with the murder of Barnett.

Trial and appeal

It was ruled that the English court could hear evidence that Restivo had murdered Elisa Claps in Italy, and about the similarities of that murder with the murder of Barnett. Italian investigators testified to the English court that DNA recovered from the clothes on the body of Claps matched Restivo and was consistent with blood. In May 2011, Restivo was found guilty of murdering Heather Barnett, the judge sentenced him to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Appealing against the whole life term Restivo's lawers argued the judge was wrong to take the Claps murder into account when sentencing Restivo for the murder of Barnett, as Restivo had not been convicted of it at that time. In November 2012 the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Restivo and altered his minimum sentence to 40 years, but said it was 'highly improbable' he would ever be released.

Related legal review

In 2011 the Criminal Cases Review Commission began examining the conviction of Omar Benguit to determine if it should be referred to the Court of Appeal. After juries at two previous trials had failed to agree on a sentence, Benguit was found guilty in January 2005 on a charge of murdering Jong-Ok Shin, a 26-year old Korean woman who had come to England to study. She was attacked yards from her home, three blocks from where Restivo lived, in the early hours of 12 July 2002.

A criminologist who has researched the case expressed the opinion that the likelihood of different killers with similar long bladed knives comitting murders three streets apart within four months is "very,very small". According to Benguit's lawyers, security video of the street in the time-frame of the murder shows that the testimony of the main prosecution witness in the case is unreliable; while several lines of circumstantial evidence point to Restivo. In December 2012 the Criminal Cases Review Commission announced Benguit’s case is to be submitted to the Court of Appeal.

Further reading

• Tobias Jones, Blood on the Altar: In Search of a Serial Killer, Faber & Faber, 2012

• Michael Litchfield, The Cutter, John Blake Publishing Limited, 2011

• Federica Sciarelli, Gildo Claps, Per Elisa: Il caso Claps. 18 anni di depistaggi, silenzi e omissioni, Rizzoli, 2011

• Pierangelo Maurizio, L'uomo che amava uccidendo. La storia di Danilo Restivo, Koinè Nuove Edizioni, 2012

Wikipedia.org

Danilo Restivo to spend life in prison for murder of 'inhuman depravity'

Judge tells killer with a fetish for cutting hair from women that he will never be released

By Steven Morris - The Guardian

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Danilo Restivo will spend the rest of his life in prison for the ritualistic killing of mother-of-two Heather Barnett after a judge ruled that his crime was of such "inhuman depravity" he should never be freed.

Restivo, who had a fetish for cutting locks of hair from girls and women, killed seamstress Barnett at her flat in Bournemouth before mutilating her body and placing a hank of someone else's hair in her right hand and a clump of her own beneath her left.

Restivo, an Italian national, now faces extradition over the killing of 16-year-old Elisa Claps in the loft of a church in Potenza, southern Italy, in 1993. He left strands of her hair in her hands and next to her body.

Restivo was found guilty in just five hours by a jury at Winchester crown court of the murder of Barnett, 48, in 2002.

All 12 members of the jury chose to return to court to hear Restivo's sentence. Some wept as they heard a victim impact statement read on behalf of Barnett's daughter, Caitlin, aged 11 at the time of the murder, who found the body when she came home from school.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Burnett told Restivo the murder was so serious that no minimum term would be appropriate.

"The seriousness of this offence is exceptionally high... the depravity of the killing, the careful planning and preparation, its sexual content and the previous killing of Elisa Claps drive me to the conclusion that the alternative starting point (for a minimum prison term) of 30 years would not be appropriate.

"I can find no mitigation in this case, none have been advanced on your behalf. There is, in my judgment, no minimum period which could be properly set – you will never be released from prison."

The judge said the crime was of "inhuman depravity", made worse by the fact that Restivo would have known his victim's children would find her body.

He said: "You knew an 11-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy would find their mother butchered on the bathroom floor. This feature of the case will haunt those who sat through it.

"Why you picked Heather Barnett as your victim I do not know but it's clear that you did so to satisfy a sadistic, sexual appetite. The evidence in this case shows you are a cold, depraved, calculated killer."

Restivo is now subject to a European arrest warrant and is expected to be extradited to Italy – where the case has attracted huge interest – to stand trial for the murder of Claps.

Outside court Heather Barnett's brother, IT teacher Ben Barnett, spoke of his relief at seeing Restivo jailed for lifeand revealed the killer attended his sister's funeral.

Undercover police observed mourners at the funeral and wake, where Restivo may even have consoled Heather's children Terry, then 14, and Caitlin.

Detectives had told the grieving family they were sure Restivo would show up at the service in February 2003 because he would get a thrill from it.

Mr Barnett said: "Restivo and his wife, Fiamma, came to Heather's funeral and the wake. They were neighbours and at that stage he was one suspect of about 10 or so.

"The police approached us before the funeral and asked if they could attend to see who else turned up. They thought the murderer might come and get some gratification from it.

"He would have spoken to the children, because they knew him as a neighbour. He is a callous and calculating person. "He left Heather for her children to find and made sure he was the person who tried to comfort them. I will never understand that."

Mr Barnett added: "I feel relieved; relieved that we don't have to go through this anymore and that the police suspicions were right all along.

"Our biggest fear was always that this might happen to somebody else and the evidence shows that it quite realistically could have done. I think he would have killed again.

"Restivo has already had eight years of freedom that my sister never had. I've thought about the death penalty, but I think it's too good for him. It seems like the easy way out. I think he's going to have a miserable rest of his life in prison.

Mr Barnett also criticised the Italian police investigation and said that, if Claps's body had been found earlier, Heather would still be alive.

He said: "The thing I find most confusing is that they should have found Elisa's body in the place where she was suspected to have been murdered. All the evidence points to the fact she had been there from that day and I don't know how the police could have missed it. Somebody has a lot of questions to answer.

"If the investigation had been carried out properly and they proved Restivo murdered Elisa, then my sister would still be alive today."

Danilo Restivo convicted of murder and mutilation of neighbour after nine years

Italian faces extradition to homeland over 1993 death of teenager whose remains were found in Potenza church

By Steven Morris - The Guardian

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A man with a fetish for surreptitiously cutting locks of hair from girls and women will be jailed for life on Thursday for the ritualistic murder of his neighbour and is facing extradition over the killing of a teenager in Italy.

Danilo Restivo was convicted of murdering Heather Barnett at her Bournemouth flat in 2002 and mutilating her body before placing a hank of someone else's hair in her right hand and a clump of her own beneath her left.

Restivo, an Italian national, has also been accused of killing 16-year-old Elisa Claps in the loft of a church in Potenza, southern Italy, in 1993 and leaving cut strands of her own hair in her hands and next to her body, which was not discovered until last year.

As well as being questioned over the killing of Claps, Restivo may also eventually be investigated over other murders in southern France and Spain. In the UK, the Criminal Cases Review Commission has been watching the seven-week trial amid claims that he might also be behind the killing of a student, Jong-Ok Shin, in Bournemouth four months before Barnett was murdered.

Outside court on Wednesday, Barnett's relatives expressed relief that nine years after her death, Restivo, 39, had been brought to justice. But they were angry at what they see as failings in the Italian police investigation into the murder of Claps, pointing out that if he had been caught then he could not have killed Barnett.

Claps's body was found in the church where she had last been seen and there are conspiracy theories in Italy that people in Potenza knew the body was hidden there. There have also been rumours about the role of the mafia and the church.

It has been a long ordeal for Barnett's family, some of whom criticised British police on Wednesday for not being aggressive enough in the early stages of their inquiries.

The murder on 12 November 2002 of Barnett, a mother of two who worked as a seamstress from her home in Dorset, could hardly have been more brutal and disturbing. Barnett, 48, was battered around the head with a hammer-like object and dragged into her bathroom. Her throat was cut, she was partially stripped and her breasts were sliced off. The killer left a clump of another woman's hair in Barnett's right hand and some of her own beneath her left.

Her children, Terry, then 14, and Caitlin, 11, found their mother's body on their return from school. Terry told how his sister "went absolutely ballistic" as she opened the bathroom door. When he peered in he was horrified. "I saw her lying on her back. I saw blood absolutely everywhere and I thought 'Oh no.'"

When officers arrived at the scene Restivo was comforting Terry and both children were taken into his home while forensic scientists began work.

Detective Superintendent Mark Cooper, the senior investigating officer, said police were instantly suspicious of Restivo. "He was in the inquiry right from the start. From day one he was on our list," said Cooper. Four days after the murder, police visited Restivo's house and a detective sergeant asked what shoes he had been wearing on the day of the killing as police believed the killer's footwear could have been contaminated with blood.

Restivo showed them a pair of trainers lying in the bath, which smelled of bleach. They had been dirty, Restivo said.

Police began to dig into Restivo's background. He was born in Sicily but moved to Potenza in southern Italy when his father was hired to set up a prestigious library there.

The link to Claps propelled Restivo from person of interest to prime suspect. As a 21-year-old Restivo fell for Claps but she rejected him. On 12 September 1993 he met her at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Potenza. And then she vanished. In 1995 he was convicted in Italy of giving false information about an injury to his hand on the day Claps vanished.

Police and the Italian media suspected he had killed her but no body was found by that stage and there was no proof.

In May 2002 Restivo moved to Bournemouth having met a woman on the internet. Six months later Barnett, who lived opposite him, was dead.

Cooper said that by early 2003 Restivo had become the "sole focus" of the investigation. Police did not have the evidence to charge him and instead began intense surveillance. They were soon alarmed by his behaviour.

In May 2004 police watched Restivo at secluded locations observing or following women. On one occasion he was stopped by officers who found he had a large knife, a balaclava and two pairs of scissors. "He was an immediate and real danger to women," said Cooper.

Police continued to watch Restivo, sometimes 24 hours a day. Meanwhile they were following up inquiries into the hair left in Barnett's hand.

Detectives discovered that numerous women in Potenza and Bournemouth had complained of having hair snipped while on buses or, on one occasion, sitting in the dark of a cinema. There were 15 reports from women in the UK and nine in Italy.

Restivo would claim at his eventual trial that he started cutting hair at around age 15 for a bet. "I started liking it and I kept doing it. The problem was that I liked touching the hair and also smelling it. It was not a sexual attraction," he claimed.

In November 2006 Restivo was arrested and his home searched. Police found a lock of hair tied with green cotton – which Restivo said must have been planted.

In 2008 scientists finally made a link between DNA material found on a green towel recovered from Barnett's flat and Restivo. Still it was not judged strong enough to charge him.

Then in March 2010 the body of Elisa Claps was found a few metres from where she had met Restivo 17 years previously. Her remains had been hidden in the loft of the church beneath a pile of old tiles.

She had been stabbed and, most significantly, strands of her own hair cut from her head shortly after her death had been placed in each hand and locks of hair had been placed near her body.

Restivo was charged with Barnett's murder two months later. He showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered. Barnett's daughter, Caitlin, sobbed. Outside court, Barnett's sister, Denise Le Voir, said the family feared Restivo, who continued to live in the same flat in Bournemouth after the killing, would return to murder Caitlin.

She criticised the Italian inquiry saying: "Elisa was found in the church where she had last been seen and I cannot understand why that church wasn't thoroughly searched top to bottom sooner. It would appear someone was covering up."

How Danilo Restivo was caught

Police quickly suspected him as Heather Barnett's killer but it took 10 years, close surveillance and a lock of hair to catch him

Theguardian.com

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Within hours of the bloody, ritualistic murder of Heather Barnett detectives began to investigate her neighbour, Italian-born Danilo Restivo.

It has taken almost a decade of scientific tests, many weeks of intense surveillance and the discovery of another woman's body 1,000 miles away to finally bring Restivo to justice.

The murder on 12 November 2002 of Barnett, a mother of two who worked from her home in Bournemouth, Dorset, as a seamstress, could hardly have been more brutal and disturbing.

Barnett, 48, was battered to death around the head with a hammer-like object and dragged into her bathroom. Her throat was cut, she was partially stripped and her breasts were sliced off. The killer left a clump of another woman's hair in Barnett's right hand and some of her own beneath her left.

Her children, Terry, then 14, and Caitlin, 11, found their mother's body when they returned from school. Terry told how his sister "went absolutely ballistic" as she opened the bathroom door. When he peered in he was horrified. "I saw her lying on her back with blood. I saw blood absolutely everywhere and I thought 'Oh no.'"

The police's first contact with Restivo came just a few minutes later – when officers arrived at the scene he was comforting Terry and both children were taken into Restivo's home while forensic scientists got to work on the murder scene.

Detective Superintendent Mark Cooper, the senior investigating officer, said police were instantly suspicious of Restivo. "He was in the inquiry right from the start. From day one he was on our list," said Cooper. "He was one of the first people on the scene and he comforted the children."

Four days after the murder police visited Restivo's house as part of their house-to-house inquiries. A detective sergeant asked Restivo what shoes he had been wearing on the day of the killing because police believed the killer's footwear could have been contaminated with blood.

Restivo showed the officers a pair of trainers lying in the bathtub. They smelled of bleach and Restivo claimed he had soaked them because they had been dirty. The shoes were taken away for examination.

Police began to dig into Restivo's background. He was born in Sicily but moved to Potenza in southern Italy when his father was hired to set up a library there.

It was Restivo's link to a 16-year-old girl called Elisa Claps that propelled him from person of interest to prime suspect.

As a 21-year-old Restivo fell for Claps but she rejected him. On 12 September 1993 he met her at the church of the Most Holy Trinity in Potenza. And then she vanished.

In 1995 he was convicted in Italy of giving false information about an injury to his hand on the day Claps vanished. Police and the Italian media suspected he had killed her but no body was found and there was no proof of Restivo's guilt.

In May 2002 Restivo started a new life away from his homeland when he moved to Bournemouth having met a woman on the internet. Six months later Barnett was dead.

Cooper said that within a few months – early 2003 – Restivo had become the "sole focus" of the investigation. Police did not have the evidence to charge him and instead began carrying out intense surveillance to try to secure that evidence. They were soon alarmed by his behaviour.

In May 2004 police watched Restivo at secluded locations observing or following women. On one occasion he was stopped by officers who found in his bag a large knife and a packet of tissues. In the boot of his car there was a hooded jacket with a balaclava and gloves in the pockets. Two pairs of scissors were in the driver's door pocket.

"We considered Restivo was a real risk to the public and we did everything necessary to make sure that he was being watched and observed. He was an immediate and real danger to women," said Cooper. Police continued to watch Restivo, sometimes 24 hours a day.

In June 2004 Restivo was arrested and questioned about a number of matters, including the trainers, but he insisted he had nothing to do with Barnett's death.

Meanwhile police were following up the hair left in Barnett's hand. Detectives discovered that women in Potenza and Bournemouth had complained of having hair snipped as they travelled on buses or, on one occasion, while sitting in the dark of a cinema. There were 15 reports from women in the UK and nine in Italy.

At an identity parade in 2004 a young woman called Holly Stroud picked out Restivo as the man who had cut her hair while she travelled to school the year before. Still it was not enough and he was freed.

In November 2006 Restivo was rearrested and his home searched. Police found a lock of hair tied with green cotton. Restivo said the hair must have been planted.

Scientists continued to re-examine material recovered from the scene of Barnett's murder. Experts had found traces of blood on Restivo's trainers but it had not been possible to extract a DNA sample.

In 2008 scientists finally made a link between DNA material found on a green towel recovered from Barnett's flat and Restivo. To the frustration of detectives it was not judged strong enough to charge him.

In March 2010 the body of Elisa Claps was found, a few metres from where she had met Restivo 17 years previously. Her remains had been hidden in the loft of the church of the Most Holy Trinity beneath a pile of old tiles.

Like Barnett, Claps had suffered brutal chest wounds probably inflicted with a knife. Most significantly, strands of her own hair cut from her head shortly after her death had been placed in each hand and locks of hair had been placed near her body. Restivo was charged with Barnett's murder two months later.

His conviction after a seven-week trial at Winchester crown court is not the end of criminal proceedings against him.

The Italian authorities want him extradited to face trial for the murder of Elisa Claps. If sent back, he will be returned to the UK at the end of those proceedings to serve out his sentence in Britain.

Lawyers for a man convicted of murdering a student three streets away from Restivo's home four months before Barnett was killed are asking the Criminal Case Review Commission to look at whether Restivo was the real killer.

Retired detective superintendent Phil James, who was involved in the Barnett investigation in the early days, said it was one of the "most traumatic" crimes he was involved in.

"It's the sort of thing you see in The Godfather," he said. "This result has been a long time coming and it's an absolute relief to know that this man will now be off the streets."

Timeline: Danilo Restivo trial

A chronology of events in the Heather Barnett murder case

By Steven Morris - Theguardian.com

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

August 1954 Heather Barnett born. Grew up in Dorset. Had two children, Terry, born 1987, and Caitlin, born in 1991.

April 1972 Danilo Restivo born in Sicily. Family moved to Sardinia and then to Potenza in southern Italy.

1992 Angela Campochiaro, then 23, has a 10cm lock of hair cut from her head in a cinema in Potenza, one of nine women in Italy who complain of being targeted in this way.

12 September 1993 Elisa Claps, 16, goes missing after meeting Restivo at the church of the Most Holy Trinity in Potenza.

March 1995 Restivo convicted in Italy of giving false information to prosecutor over an injury to his hand sustained on the day Claps disappeared. Her body remains missing.

May 2002 Restivo arrives in Bournemouth to live with a woman he met on the internet. Moves into house opposite Barnett's home.

12 November 2002 Heather Barnett is murdered.

2002-2004 Restivo cuts the hair of 15 women and girls in the Bournemouth area.

17 November 2002 Police seize the trainers Restivo was wearing on the day Barnett was murdered. He had cleaned them with bleach.

Early 2003 Restivo becomes chief suspect but police cannot find the evidence to prove his guilt.

March 2004 Police put Restivo under surveillance.

May 2004 Restivo stopped at beauty spot wearing waterproof clothing on a dry warm day. Police find large fillet knife, tissues, balaclava, gloves and two pairs of scissors.

June 2004 Restivo interviewed by police on a number of matters, including trainers. Schoolgirl identifies Restivo at an ID parade as the man who snipped her hair on a bus.

November 2006 Restivo is interviewed again and his home searched. A lock of hair tied with green cotton is found in bag. Restivo claims hair had been planted.

2008 Police re-examine original forensic tapings of green towel found at Heather Barnett murder scene. DNA sample found and linked to Restivo, but it is still not strong enough to charge him.

March 2010 Elisa Claps' body is found beneath a pile of tiles in a loft in the Most Holy Trinity church in Potenza.

May 2010 Restivo charged with Heather Barnett's murder.

June 2011 Restivo convicted of Heather Barnett's murder and faces extradition to Italy to face trial for the murder of Elisa Claps.