The mysterious murder of postman with secret past killed on his morning round

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The unsolved murder of a postman killed on his morning round as investigators work to close in on his killers.

Postie Paul Savage lay dying on a snow covered drive more than fifteen years ago,


Why he was killed and by whom remains a mystery.

Now, not for the first time the case - which has never been closed - will be thrust back into the public consciousness.

The murder will be the subject of BBC One’s Crimewatch Roadshow Live at 11am today, the Daily Post reports.

Paul Savage had been mid-way through his rounds in Mold, in Flintshire, Wales, on February 4, 2003 when he was repeatedly coshed around the head so violently that the base of his skull was crushed.

It was at 7.15am on a bitterly cold February morning that he lay dying on the drive of an ordinary Flintshire home, the Daily Post reports.

His killer struck so quickly and efficiently that no one appears to have seen the crime.

If there had been a scream from the victim, no one had heard it.

The first that the owner of Coleshill, the property on Clayton Road where Mr Savage was attacked, had realised what had happened was when he went to his car a short while later.

There he found the unconscious postman who had been beaten “ferociously” with a blunt weapon.

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As the 30-year-old father-of-one was rushed to Wrexham Maelor Hospital the police operation to find the assailant got underway.

Witnesses later reported seeing two young men wearing hoodies near where Mr Savage had left his bicycle about the time that the attack took place.


A reconstruction video of the murder has been released. (Image: DailyPost)
Immediate theories were that the postman had been the victim of a horrific robbery gone wrong or, less likely, an unprovoked attack.

Shortly before 11am, the detectives were no longer investigating a violent assault but a murder, as Mr Savage sadly passed away. He died without regaining consciousness.

It did not take long however for officers to reassess their initial thoughts behind the killing.

As they probed into the postman’s past, a picture emerged that suggested it may not have been some random tragedy.

Originally from Sale, Greater Manchester, Mr Savage, they learned, could boast a lengthy criminal record stretching back some ten years.

He was jailed for nine months by Blackfriars Crown Court in October 2001 for possessing drugs with intent to supply. He had been caught with cannabis worth more than £1 million.

On leaving prison he did not stay long around his old haunts, instead taking his wife Charlotte and four-year-old daughter to North Wales, settling in the village of Gwernaffield, near Mold.

There he had joined the Royal Mail as a casual employee and had not long been working full-time.

But with such a criminal past, police began to suspect that he could have been killed in a gangland hit or grudge attack.

Over the next few days and weeks detectives sought the help of the public revealing more details about the deadly assualt.

They revealed Mr Savage had been struck several times with an 18-in (45cm) club, believed to have been fashioned from a banister rail.

Horrified locals did all they could to assist the police but that came to nothing.

Greater Manchester Police intelligence unit also assisted in the investigation.

That spring there appeared to be a breakthrough when five people were arrested and questioned but they were released without charge.

A £100,000 reward also failed to bring the killer or killers to justice.

But as officers delved deeper into Mr Savage’s death, they exposed a criminal network throughout the area.

And in November an undercover operation codenamed Lion, that had been set-up to investigate the murder, resulted in a series of arrests of suspected traffickers.

Although none of those snared in the dawn raids were believed to be involved with the murder.

Earlier this year police announced they would be be reviewing the forensic evidence, in the hope that advances in DNA would offer some vital new clue.