Sherlock Holmes house

Life sentence for 51-year-old after murder 30 years ago

Almost 30 years ago, a woman was murdered near the fictitious address of super detective Sherlock Holmes in London. Now a court in the British capital has sentenced the perpetrator to life imprisonment. The 51-year-old can only be released from prison after 19 years at the earliest, as the Old Bailey Criminal Court ruled on Friday.

The crime scene in Chiltern Street is not far from Holmes' alleged place of residence 221b Baker Street - the address was invented by Sherlock author Arthur Conan Doyle for his hero, the house number does not exist in the well-known street.

The then 21-year-old perpetrator had always denied having killed the woman in August 1994 with more than 140 stab wounds in her apartment near Baker Street. His fingerprints were found on a plastic bag at the scene of the crime. However, as he helped out in his father's kiosk, where the bag came from, this was not considered evidence. The kiosk is located opposite the private Sherlock Holmes Museum.

The perpetrator was only convicted and charged last year after his DNA was found on one of the victim's rings and he was linked to a bloody footprint on a baseboard. A jury then found him guilty.