Detectives are examining new claims in a TV documentary about one of Britain's most notorious unsolved murders.
Staffordshire Police said officers are "considering the content" of the programme about the 1978 shooting of paper boy Carl Bridgewater, which raised questions about the alibi of an initial suspect in the investigation.
Carl, 13, was hit at point-blank range after apparently disturbing a burglary at Yew Tree Farm in Prestwood near Stourbridge.
Read more: Scots criminologist finds new evidence in notorious Bridgewater murder case
Bert Spencer, an ambulance driver and former neighbour of the Bridgewater family - who later served time in prison for a murder in the same village - was a suspect questioned by police at the time, but has always denied the murder.
An ex-hospital secretary who provided Mr Spencer with what he described as a "cast-iron" alibi for his whereabouts on the day of Carl's killing told the Channel 4 documentary she cannot prove where he was that day.
In the programme, aired on Sunday, Mr Spencer's ex-wife Janet also spoke for the first time about how her then husband disposed of a legally-owned shotgun at the time, and how she had come home to find him washing a green jumper which she never saw again.
Mr Spencer denied her claims, and said: "My ex-wife blamed me for everything, including breast cancer."
Police went on to charge the Bridgewater Four after they were arrested for an armed robbery in nearby Halesowen.
In one of the UK's biggest miscarriages of justice, Patrick Molloy, James Robinson, and cousins Michael and Vincent Hickey had their convictions overturned after 18 years amid concerns about the police evidence.
Months after the Bridgewater Four were jailed in 1979, Mr Spencer used a shotgun to kill his friend Hubert Wilkes at a farmhouse.
Read more: Viewers really didn't know what to think while watching Interview With A Murderer
In a statement released on Friday, Detective Chief Superintendent Laurie Whitby-Smith said: "Like all unsolved murder cases, Staffordshire Police conducts periodic reviews to ascertain if there is any new evidence available to take cases forward.
"This could be new evidence or revisiting existing evidence which may be subject to review based on advancing forensic science.
"Over many years, the Carl Bridgewater case has been subject of periodic reviews.
"Staffordshire Police is aware of, and has seen, the recent documentary which aired on Channel 4, having been informed by the programme's production company.
"We are now considering the content of the documentary to ascertain whether new information is available beyond what we already know. This process will inform what, if any, action is to be taken in the future."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here