Almost a year since a manhunt was launched for a South African for the alleged murder of his gay friend in the UK, an inquest has found there was foul play.
|||Durban - Almost a year since Sussex police launched a manhunt for a South African man wanted for the alleged murder of his gay friend in the UK, an inquest has found there was foul play.
Ricardo Pisano, who has also been on the run from New Zealand police for 11 years, is wanted for the murder of Michael Polding, 62, in Brighton, Sussex.
The hunt for Pisano intensified this week after a pathologist ruled that Polding had been murdered.
A British police team is however yet to come to South Africa to trace relatives and friends of Pisano.
A R70 000 reward is also being offered for any information leading to the arrest of Pisano, who police describe as a man of many guises, and who is also known as Brandon Victor Pillay, Ricky and Ree.
Sussex police said they believed Pisano had family in South Africa and confirmed they would be coming to the country to conduct further investigations.
Polding was discovered in his St George’s Road flat last July, with multiple injuries. Police believe he may have been dead since May.
Pisano and Polding had known each other for four years, police said.
Sussex police spokeswoman, Emily Bridges said that coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley had held an inquest last Wednesday into the death of Polding.
After the inquest, Detective Inspector Jon Fanner of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team said: “We will continue to work to investigate the circumstances surrounding Michael’s death and to locate Pisano. This has been an incredibly traumatic and difficult time for Michael’s family and they deserve to know some answers about Michael’s final days and hours.”
Fanner said Polding’s family were still battling to come to terms with his death.
In a statement, the family said: “The inquest offers us some closure, but we cannot start to move on with our lives until we can fully understand what happened.”
Said Fanner: “We know that Ricky adopts other names and changes his appearance so I would urge people to look closely at the photographs on our website and get in contact with Sussex Police in the UK if they recognise him.”
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Pisano can also contact Sussex Police at 0044 1273 470 101.
Daily News