Suspect in murder case freed on bail

The 53-year-old, who is not being named, was arrested in Widdrington, Northumberland, in March last year on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder and soliciting another person to commit murder.

He was questioned over the killing of father-of-two Keith Slater, 35, who died from a single stab wound to the neck after answering a knock at the door of his home in Hessle, East Yorkshire, early on August 27, 1988.

The man who has now been released is a former resident of the Willerby area of East Yorkshire and was questioned as part of the initial inquiry into the killing.

Martin Brown, now 47 and originally from Anlaby in East Yorkshire, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of Mr Slater’s murder in 2007 in a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Brown had also been quizzed as part of the initial investigation, but it was not until advances in DNA technology that police were able to find vital evidence against him.

He was extradited from Australia in 2006 after emigrating to New South Wales.