Forensic leaps needed to solve Wolverhampton father's knife death

A smudged fingerprint was found on the blade of a knife embedded in Paul Daly's chest. But an inquest heard that it can't be identified with the current forensic techniques available.

Mr Daly was found dead at his home on Reedham Gardens in Penn, Wolverhampton, on April 9, 2006, having sustained a single stab wound to the chest.

Since then police have made three arrests, conducted 18 interviews with suspects and taken more than 200 witness statements, but the case remains open

The 35-year-old was found sitting upright on a settee in the living room of his home at around 8.30am on April 9, 2006, with a cigarette between the fingers of his right hand, a mobile phone in his left hand and kitchen knife protruding from his chest.

Mr Daly's stepdaughter Rachel told the inquest that she had seen him slash his wrists and that he had been 'saying for years that he was going to stab himself'.

But his sister Jennifer Daly told the inquest that his family refused to believe her brother would have committed suicide.

She added: "Paul was the youngest of five children and he was very close to our mother. "She died when he was 15 and it caused him a lot of distress. But he was a good man and he helped to care for his elderly father and his children."

Speaking at the inquest at Smethwick Council House yesterday, Detective Sergeant Ranj Sangha said: "A partial fingerprint is visible on the blade of the knife used in Mr Daly's death, but unfortunately it is not clear and cannot be identified. We wanted to see if advances in forensic science could help, but at this moment we are not in a position to be able to say who the print belongs to."

Mr Daly was 35 at the time of his death, and he lived with his partner Jane Cullis, now Jane Brooks, their two young children Mary and Beth, and two of her children from a previous relationship, Rachel and Liam. Jane told the inquest Mr Daly was a heavy drinker who was prone to outbursts of violence and regularly threatened to kill himself.

She said she had left their home with her two youngest children on the Friday evening two days before his body was found in April 2006 after Mr Daly had smashed an ashtray against a wall and threatened to burn the house down.

Rachel Brooks, who was 18 at the time of Mr Daly's death, told the inquest she found his body on the Sunday morning.

She said: "When I walked in to the living room I saw the knife.

"He had been saying for years he was going to stab himself, so straight away I thought that was what he had done."

Recording an open verdict, Black Country Senior Coroner Robin Balmain said: "Despite all the available evidence we still don't know the answer."

Mr Daly's sister, Jennifer Daly, told the inquest the family refused to believe her brother would have committed suicide.