John 'Goldfinger' Palmer murder probe: Man questioned

Credit: PA

A man has been questioned on suspicion of the murder of notorious criminal John "Goldfinger" Palmer.

The 50-year-old man, who lives in Spain but was interviewed in the UK, attended a police station voluntarily, Essex Police said.

Who was John Palmer?

Once described as Britain's richest criminal and thought to have been worth £300 million, John Palmer ran his empire for years from his house at Battlefields near Bath.

He gained his nickname after being acquitted of handling gold bullion in the £26 million Brink's-Mat raid in 1983.

Mr Palmer was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2001 for a £33 million timeshare fraud which had 16,000 potential victims.

Palmer lived for many years near Bath Credit: ITV West Country

After moving to Essex, the 65-year-old was found dead in the garden of his home in South Weald, in June 2015.

Essex Police originally thought he died of natural causes, but it later emerged he had been shot at close range, and that the crime had "all the hallmarks" of a contract killing.