Manchester Examiner, 10 Dec 2009

Brutal Downtown Killing Leaves Police Looking for Answers, Suspect

((Picture of the mouth of the alley where the body was found))

Manchester - Investigators are coming a downtown alley for clues to the identity of a suspect in the murder of a Bedford woman. Police were called the to crime scene, after a witness reported a man making animalistic sounds as he knelt over the victim. Officers arrived on the scene to find the body of Evonne Layton, covered in cardboard boxes.

The victim had suffered a number of different traumas, including the signs of having been chewed on. Police refrained to comment on details beyond saying that from things found at the scene, that it was apparent that Ms. Layton had been fending off an attacker. A partially expended vial of pepper spray lay several feet away.

The identity of Ms. Layton's attacker is a mystery, though hair, blood and skin samples were taken from under her fingernails. Homicide detectives hope that DNA profiling will turn up a possible suspect. A recent spree of violence in the downtown area has federal and local officials scratching their heads as to the cause.

(continued on page A-8)