UK carpenter feared to have been murdered by suspected serial killer - Daily News
UK carpenter feared to have been murdered by suspected serial killer - Daily News / @share-toolfree2593 British,carpenter,feared,murdered,suspected,serial,killer A British carpenter feared murdered by a suspected serial killer in the US three decades ago died of multiple gunshot wounds, a coroner said today. Stephen Scane moved from his home in Frome, Somerset, to Wyoming in 1981 after falling in love with a girl he then married.But his skull was found in undergrowth in Utah in 1984, after the 26-year-old had been classed as a missing person.Two detectives came out of retirement to investigate unsolved crimes and claimed Mr Scane was one of up to eight people killed by Tracy Petrocelli.The pair - Dean Carr and Mike Wilkinson - found evidence Mr Scane's credit card had been on notorious killer Petrocelli when he was arrested. Police think Petrocelli went on a killing spree after murdering his fiancée outside a Seattle restaurant.Petrocelli, now 66, later shot dead used car salesman James Wilson during a test drive of a car and is still in jail for two murders after spending 35 years on Death Row. But receipts showed Petrocelli had been using Mr Scane's credit card as he travelled throughout the western US. Mr Scane's skull and collarbone were returned to the UK and an inquest to allow them to be buried is being held by Coroner Tony Williams in Taunton this week.Mr Williams said: 'On August 12, 1984 bones were found in the desert on the Utah and Wyoming border, the skull had evidence of a number of gunshot wounds.'The bones were identified as Stephen's. In 1987 the bones were returned to England and they have been retained by the family. Share this article Share 'The family have now requested permission to bury the bones and the purpose of the Inquest is to allow the Coroner to issue a Burial Order.''The cause of death was confirmed by a post mortem examination in the USA was 'multiple gunshot wounds of the head'.'No one has ever been charged in connection with Stephen Scane's death.'Mr Scane's uncle, Derek Scane, a retired construction worker living in Frome, said the wait for burial for the family had been 'terrible'.The 67-year-old said: 'It's terrible it has taken so long to bury Stephen. He was a clever kid who seemed to be good at everything he did.'He fell in love with a girl and went out to America to be with her, but then he married someone else. 'We had contact every day with him until November in 1981, but then we heard nothing. We were later told he was shot. It is time we are allowed to lay Stephen to rest.'Mr Scane's daily contact with his parents, Gillian and Bryan, ended and he was declared missing on December 16, 1982.On August 12, 1984, his skull and collarbone were discovered by hikers in a national forest park in Utah, 32 miles from the town of Evanston in neighbouring state Wyoming.Mr Carr and Mr Wilkinson later began digging into the mystery of the 'Christmas Meadows skull' shortly after they joined the Summit County Sheriff's office as volunteers.They say they were astounded that no one had ever looked at the scraps of paper found in the stolen ca
