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Mystery Still Surrounds Murder Of Homeless Man Who Lay Dead On A Busy Street

Mystery Still Surrounds Murder Of Homeless Man Who Lay Dead On A Busy Street

Almost 30 years on police are still stumped.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A tragic case of a homeless man who was bludgeoned to death lay on a busy street, while people walked past him unaware he had died, remains unsolved almost 30 years later.

Michael Fahey, 33, was eventually found on 12 January 1989 with police saying it would be a 'difficult case with no real leads' right from the start.

Several people had walked past the body, which was left on a derelict sight in Montpelier, Bristol, before it was discovered. The night before the body was found a heavy rain had hit Bristol, washing away vital evidence, the Bristol Post reports.

A cameraman is even reported to have taken photos of the body, which police thought could help solve the case. However, 30 years on detectives are no closer to discovering who bludgeoned Fahey, when or why.

Generic image. Credit: PA

A post-mortem showed Fahey had died of head injuries from a blunt instrument, but how long he had been lying there or if he even killed where he was found, was never known. The weapon was also never found.

Fahey had been living on the streets for over 10 years and was well-known in the area; a police appeal asking for information about Fahey's whereabouts in the run-up to his death, brought a slow trickle of responses. It was established he was last seen alive at 2pm the day before his body was found.

The identity of a man who stopped to photograph Fahey was also never discovered. At the time, Sergeant Tony Booker told the Bristol Post:"It may be that this man has taken pictures of Mr Fahey's body without realising it.

"But equally it may be another vagrant who was sleeping and then got up and walked away. We just do not know at the moment.

Generic image. Credit: PA

"We need to speak to this photographer to find out. It could be that he has photographed something vital without knowing."

DSI Sarginson told the Post the case would be hard to crack, just two weeks after the investigation began. He said: "It is an exceptionally difficult case and we have no real leads.

"Vagrants have no idea of time and one day is very much like another, and they can't exactly say where they were on any given day of the week.

"But they are trying to be as helpful as they can."

Police in Bristol have not given up on the case and it is still periodically reviewed by the cold case team.

Featured Image Credit: Generic photo. No photos of Fahey still exist. PA