A man who played the role of a murder suspect in a BBC Crimewatch reconstruction has been named as a suspect, around two decades later.
Nursery worker Julie Pacey was found dead in the bathroom of her Lincolnshire home in 1994.
The case has never been solved, however, in a bizarre twist Steve Watson – who was 31 at the time – has been named as a suspect by officers investigating the crime.
Mr Watson lived just 15 miles away from the crime scene at the time and had a striking resemblance to the police sketch of the killer who was found to have strangled and sexually assaulted Pacey.
After responding to a BBC advertisement to play the wanted man, his resemblance resulted in him being cast in the role.
But his likeness would go on to result in serious problems in the weeks and months after the episode was broadcast, he was abused by people who mistook him for the killer and, on one occasion, he was nearly arrested by an officer when he visited the police station in costume with the TV crew.
The episode was shown again last month following a breakthrough in the case, two viewers subsequently contacted police and identified him as the killer.
Police reportedly arrived at Mr Watson’s home in Newark, Nottinghamshire, where they collected a DNA sample and he still remains a suspect.
The Press and Journal understands he has been angered by the broadcaster’s failure to contact him prior to his appearance in last month’s episode.
Detective Inspector Helen Evans, of Lincolnshire police, said: “We would be remiss not to thoroughly investigate every solid piece of information that has come in and decide whether or not it is relevant to the enquiry.”
The BBC has defended its position, stating that it “always [tries] to contact actors involved when reconstructions are re-used, unfortunately this actor’s details were not listed in our records.”
