A MAN jailed last week for the murder of an Ayrshire woman has been
questioned by detectives hunting the killer of Irvine woman Shona
Stevens, who died three days after being attacked as she walked home in
broad daylight last November.
A judge at the High Court in Kilmarnock jailed Edward Mullen for life
last Thursday, with a recommendation that he serve at least 15 years,
after he admitted the murder of Mrs Yvette Wilson, 27, on January 19 in
a bothy in West Kilbride railway station.
A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that Mullen had
been interviewed in connection with the murder of Ms Stevens, who had a
seven-year-old daughter Candice.
A police spokeswoman said yesterday: ''We can confirm that Edward
Mullen has been questioned in connection with the Shona Stevens
investigation.'' The spokeswoman declined to comment further.
Ms Stevens, 31, a divorcee, was dragged into bushes and savagely
clubbed about the head by her attacker as she walked home at lunchtime
from shops through Middleton Park, in Bourtreehill, Irvine.
She died three days later in the neurosurgery unit of the Southern
General Hospital, Glasgow.
Detectives involved in the case confirmed in March that they were
looking to former boyfriends for help in finding Ms Stevens' killer.
They claimed she had relationships after she left her husband in South
Africa and returned to her mother's house in Irvine, Ayrshire.
Detectives also received several phone calls after the reconstruction
of the murder was shown on the BBC's Crimewatch UK programme in
February.
Mullen, 25, is understood to have been questioned at Barlinnie prison,
Glasgow, while awaiting trial for the murder of Mrs Wilson.
In September, 1991, at the High Court in Glasgow, he was convicted of
assault and roberry and assault with intent to ravish. He was released
from Peterhead Prison in June 1994 -- having been given remission -- and
lived in Ardrossan, then West Kilbride.
The High Court at Kilmarnock heard that Mrs Wilson, a waitress at
Inverkip Marina and part-time design student, had been on her way to an
evening out with friends when she was grabbed by Mullen.
She was taken into an outhouse, known locally as the bothy, where a
scarf was placed round her neck then stuffed into her mouth, suffocating
her. The body was later burned beyond recognition.
The court heard that Mullen had told police of his ''urges to harm
people, mainly women'' which he had kept under control, but there was no
record of Mullen seeking psychiatric help at Peterhead.
It heard that for some weeks before Mrs Wilson's killing, Mullen had
shown particular interest in the movement of young women around the
station, but this was never reported to police.
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