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| | | | Reward offered in murder case of Karoly ‘Charlie’ Varga | |
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Added: Monday 9 July 2012
Please note that this is archived material and may not necessarily reflect the current position of Northamptonshire Police
A £10,000 reward has been offered by the family of Karoly ‘Charlie’ Varga for information leading to the successful arrest and prosecution of the murderer, after the case against Mr Elemer Patakfalvi, 47 was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr Patakfalvi, who was arrested and charged with murder in December last year, was released in June 2012 after a review of the case by the CPS revealed that the prospect of conviction was unlikely, resulting in the case being withdrawn.
A renewed appeal is being made by investigators and the family who hope that the significant reward will help people to come forward who may have information on the murder, the murder weapon - a small axe like instrument - and the offender's footwear and clothing which remain undiscovered.
76-year-old Charlie Varga's body was discovered in his home on 30 July 2011, he had been struck a number of times with an axe-like weapon.
Officers have re-released CCTV footage from the day of the murder, which shows a man entering the home of Karoly Varga, in the hope that this will help trigger someone’s memory.
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Kinchin, leading the investigation, said: "It is likely that Charlie Varga was killed on Wednesday 27 July 2011, sometime after CCTV footage shows him letting a person into his house. We can see from the footage that there were a number of people passing at that time who may have seen that visitor - I want to speak to those people.
“We also know that Charlie's killer left via his back gate into Bell Street and Bell Court. That person had with them a small, potentially axe-like weapon and would have potentially been lightly blood stained.
"That murder weapon has never been recovered and potentially is still lying wherever it was hidden. I can also now reveal that the offender was wearing Lonsdale training shoes at the time. These shoes would have been bloodstained and so again would have been disposed of or hidden in somewhere in Wellingborough.
“There is a chance that somebody has found the discarded weapon in their garden and simply put it in their shed, unaware of its significance or somebody knows where a pair of Lonsdale trainers lie discarded on waste ground and it is hoped the reward will encourage people to come forward.”
Police are in the process of leafleting houses in the local area, encouraging them to check their property.
Rita Groves, Mr Varga's daughter, said: "We are aware the police have worked hard to detect our father's murder and it is disappointing that they have not yet been unable to convict the person who robbed us of him. Our father was a kind man, who was no threat to anybody and we cannot understand why anybody would want to attack him in this way. We have put forward this reward in the hope it will encourage anybody who has any information to come forward.
"We know the murder weapon is still missing and we hope this reward will encourage people in Wellingborough to check around their properties in case the weapon, the Lonsdale trainers or clothing left by the offender are still laying somewhere, waiting to be found.”
Anybody with any information can contact Northamptonshire Police on 101, or call Crimestoppers in complete confidence on 0800 555 111.
Witnesses to this incident, or anyone with information, should call Northamptonshire Police on 101 - alternatively, information can be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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