Mystery of suspected killer linked to murder of mum and teen

Already on the radar of police for the merciless gangland execution of a teenage boy, when Kevin Parle was suspected of another killing he simply disappeared.

For more than 20 years, detectives have been searching for the 6ft 5ins (1.9m) privately education Liverpool man - who remains among the UK's most wanted.

Parle - known as "Hemp" or "Joseph" - is now 49 and, despite reports linking him to Spain, Australia and Dubai, has never been arrested.

Despite high profile campaigns - including a fresh National Crime Agency appeal - cash rewards, media coverage and even a series of true crime podcasts - no credible leads have emerged.

The murders Parle is wanted in connection with were both considered "cold blooded executions" by detectives and involved shotgun blasts at close range.

Lucy Hargreaves, a mother of three, was asleep under a duvet on her couch when three men burst through the front door of her home in Walton, Liverpool, on 3 August 2005.

Within seconds she had been shot three times with a sawn-off shotgun.

The killers then poured petrol around the bottom of the stairs and doorway at the home on Lambourne Road and set it alight, despite the cries of Hargreaves' two-year-old daughter upstairs.

Her partner Gary Campbell was in bed with the toddler at the time and was forced to climb out of a window with his daughter to escape.

The father left their daughter with a neighbour and went back to try and rescue Hargreaves, but her gunshot wounds proved unsurvivable.

At the time, Parle was on police bail for the killing of Liam Kelly, 16, who was ambushed in the Dingle area on 19 June 2004 after a row over a £200 debt.

Two men had approached him from different directions on Grafton Street before one opened fire with a shotgun, striking Kelly in the chest and arm as he tried to escape into a nearby house.

After being arrested and bailed for that murder Parle is believed to have fled the country.

Others have been charged over Hargreaves' death but later cleared after a judge ruled they had no case to answer.

Notorious organised criminals Tony Downes and Kirk Bradley, both from the Huyton area, went on trial for Hargreaves' murder in 2007 at Liverpool Crown Court.

Their trial heard how, in 1993, Hargreaves' then teenage partner, Campbell, had been the passenger in a stolen car which struck and killed Downes' four-year-old brother, Kevin Downes.

Prosecutors had claimed Campbell was the intended target in a plan motivated by revenge.

In court, Parle was named as the alleged third man involved in the attack.

Downes and Bradley are both serving lengthy prison sentences for unrelated offences linked to high level organised crime - including shootings and a plot which saw a grenade left outside the home of former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish.

In Liam Kelly's case, a then 22-year-old man called Anthony Campbell - no relation to Gary Campbell - pleaded guilty to arranging the shooting.

Yet in court, Parle was described as the gunman.

Last year the independent charity Crimestoppers offered a £10,000 reward for Parle's whereabouts.

Gary Murray, Crimestoppers' North West regional manager, said at the time: "We know there are people who may know where Kevin Parle is.

"It's time to do the right thing.

"Our guarantee of anonymity means you will never be identified by anyone, and your information could help bring justice and solace to those who have suffered for the last 20 years."

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