Family of Blackpool man say they're still in disbelief at brutal murder
Edward Forrester was killed and his dismembered body dumped.
The family of a man murdered in Blackpool say they're still in disbelief about what happened to him.
Edward Forrester, 55, known as Eddie, was battered and his dismembered body dumped in September 2023.
Yesterday, William Wilkinson, 65, of Seafield Road was jailed for life and told he would have to serve a minimum of 19 years and 3 months for Eddie's murder.
In a statement read outside Preston Crown Court, Eddie's siblings said: " When we were initially told Edward had been murdered, we thought it would be a single act possibly a punch. Someone who would be sorry for what they had done.
"But what we found to have happened to Edward, to disregard him as a human being and prevent him being laid to rest, as a whole person, has sickened our family. It's something we will never get over."
Brutal and savage murder
Eddie was last seen in Seafield Road, Blackpool, at 1.31pm on September 1st last year. He was reported missing the following day.
When Lancashire Police attended Eddie’s property, they noticed blood on the door of the downstairs flat belonging to Wilkinson.
When they entered the property Wilkinson wasn’t present but they found traces of blood at the door and evidence of a clean up.
Officers found a broken wooden stick with a heavy metal bung at one end in a bin liner. Wilkinson used this stick – thought to be the murder weapon – to strike Eddie to the head multiple times.
Wilkinson was subsequently arrested by officers from Cumbria Police in Windermere on September 5th.
During his initial police interviews he denied knowing where Eddie was and denied having any dispute with him. He answered no comment to questions put to him in further interviews.
On September 13th, reported finding partial human remains – which later transpired to be Eddie’s - in a suitcase on land off Ashes Lane, Staveley, Kendal.
Further discoveries were made in Cumbria over the following days and weeks.
On November 17, and having been presented with overwhelming evidence of his criminal wrongdoing, Wilkinson pleaded guilty to murder and perverting the course of justice.
Most appalling crime - police
Following sentencing Det Supt Mark Haworth-Oates said: “On the afternoon of Friday September 1st 2023, Edward Forrester was captured on CCTV as he walked home with his beloved dog. There was no indication that this was would be the last time he would be seen alive.
“The joint focus and perseverance of Lancashire and Cumbria Police and in particular the CCTV and search officers deployed in this harrowing task led to the recovery of the majority of Eddie’s remains.
“Sadly, for Eddie’s family, some of his remains were never found, and such is the passage of time that it is unlikely that they ever will be. William Wilkinson had his chance at the outset, to do the right thing, to assist the Police in recovering the remains and to allow the family and friends of Eddie the opportunity to properly lay him to rest. He never took that opportunity.
"Instead, he frustrated the investigation, destroyed evidence and only admitted his guilt in the face of overwhelming evidence against him.
“William Wilkinson was a man of previous good character and only he knows what happened on that Friday afternoon that led him to commit this most appalling crime. I welcome the life sentence imposed upon him today and hope that the family and friends of Eddie can have some comfort knowing that the person responsible for the offence will likely never be released.”