For the last 10 months, the murders of Peter and Sylvia Stuart have been the subject of a major police investigation leading upto today’s conviction of Ali Qazimaj.
It spanned several countries as officers worked to find who had killed the couple and why.
Here is how the investigation unfolded:
May 29, 2016 – Peter and Sylvia last seen: Mr and Mrs Stuart are seen alive in public for the last time at Goodies Farm Shop in Pulham Market, where they were captured on CCTV.
June 3, 2016 – Reported missing: The couple, from Weybread, are reported missing by a female relative who said she had not seen them since the previous Saturday. A police search begins.
June 4, 2016 – A body is found: A murder investigation is launched after a body – later confirmed to be that of Peter Stuart – is found in woodland around 50ft from the couple’s home. He had been stabbed multiple times.
June 5, 2016 – An arrest is made: Police confirm a man, from Leicester and reported to be the couple’s son-in-law, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He is later released without charge.
June 6, 2016 – Appeal made and flat searched: As the search for Sylvia Stuart continues, an appeal is made to trace a man called Ali Qazimaj, aged 42, said to be living in Essex. His car is located in Dover and his Tilbury flat is searched.
June 7, 2016 – An international manhunt is launched: Police confirm they have “reliable information” that Qazimaj was at the Port of Dover ferry terminal. He is said to have travelled unaccompanied and on foot, on a ferry from Dover to Calais. Suffolk Constabulary adds it believes the inquiry will become a double homicide investigation and says it is working with law enforcement agencies between France and Kosovo to find Qazimaj.
June 17, 2016 – A second arrest is made: A man believed to be Ali Qazimaj is arrested in Luxembourg.
June 20, 2016 – Extradition appeal: The man arrested in Luxembourg appeals extradition to the UK, with Suffolk police officers given 20 days to outline the case against him.
June 29, 2016 – Son-in-law released: Steve Paxman, the son-in-law of the Stuarts, is released by police facing no further action.
July 4, 2016 – Extradition granted: A judge in Luxembourg grants the extradition of the man arrested in connection with the murders there.
July 22, 2016 – First court hearing: The man accused of being Ali Qazimaj, who says he is in fact called Vital Dapi, refuses to appear at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court without an Albanian interpreter.
August 19, 2016 – Not guilty plea: The man who says his name is Vital Dapi refuses to leave his cell again to appear in court. The hearing proceeds in his absence and not guilty pleas are entered to the murder charges.
September 7, 2016 – Inquests open: Peter Stuart’s inquest hears his body was found in a stream near their home wrapped in black material. Sylvia is presumed dead.
February 7, 2017 – The trial begins: The trial of a man accused of killing Peter and Sylvia Stuart begins at Ipswich Crown Court. The man maintains his defence that he is not Ali Qazimaj.March 13, 2017 - The verdict: Ali Qazimaj is found guilty of murdering Peter and Sylvia Stuart.
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