Wall of silence on man's death

The body of divorced father-of-two Stephen Milburn was found on the kitchen floor of his council house in The Grove, Coxhoe, County Durham, on November 14.

It is thought he may have been dead for up to three weeks.

The 43-year-old had been stabbed twice in the chest, but police have yet to determine whether the wounds were self-inflicted or not.

Detective Superintendent Harry Stephenson, who is leading the 36 officers investigating the death, said that throughout the ten-day inquiry, his officers had repeatedly been told by Coxhoe residents that Mr Milburn was a convicted child sex offender.

He said: "There is absolutely no evidence to support these allegations.

"I have a very real concern that people may be holding back because of these unfounded claims."

Posters have been put up around the village by detectives trying to piece together his final days.

Detectives have appealed for help tracing his movements in the weeks either side of the last confirmed sighting of Mr Milburn on October 26, when a neighbour saw him in the street near his home, and the discovery of his body.

Det Supt Stephenson said: "The Grove in Coxhoe, where the dead man lived, is a tight-knit community, but we are getting remarkably little information about his movements in the month between late September and late October."

He said his team was struggling to establish Mr Milburn's whereabouts between September 20 and the day he was last seen alive.

"The conundrum is that, while on the one hand, Mr Milburn appears to have cut something of a lonely figure in the community where he lived, he also appears to have known a lot of people across the region," he said.

"It is a bit of a puzzle we are struggling to solve at the moment.

"We urgently need the public's help, particularly the people of Coxhoe and the surrounding area."

Anyone who has information has been asked to call 0191-375 2236 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.