WOOTTON MURDERS: Coroner calls murders 'vile and barbaric'

An inquest into the death of the Ding
family opened today

The murder of a family of four has been described as 'vile and barbaric' by the coroner who will look into their deaths.
Anne Pember made the statement during the opening of the inquests into the deaths of Jifeng - known as Jeff - Ding, 46, Helen Chui, 47, Xing Ding, 18, and Alice Ding, 12, according to a report on the Northampton Chronicle & Echo website today (Wednesday).
The Chron's report says Northampton High School pupil Xing had to be identified by her headteacher, while her parents and sister were also identified visually, with dental records used to confirm their identities.
The cause of the deaths was confirmed as multiple stab wounds. The four were found by police at their home in Pioneer Close, Wootton on May 1. It is believed they were killed on April 29.
Meanwhile, the hunt for 52-year-old prime suspect Anxiang Du, a Coventry-based businessman who Northamptonshire Police believe had a fall out with the Dings over a business deal, continues.
Mr Du featured on the 'Most Wanted' board of the BBC programme Crimewatch last night - attracting 19 calls during the show and 23 in total.
Hopes of an arrest were briefly raised by viewers, including those on the Chron's newsdesk, when the Beeb's teaser for the Crimewatch update show announced there had been a major development in one of the featured cases - and flashed up a picture of Mr Du.
Chron editor David Summers, tweeting as @ChronEditor, even wrote: 'Front page cleared awaiting Crimestoppers update at 10.35pm - heavily hinting at significant update...'

Anxiang Du

But the development turned out to be for a different case.
However, the 23 calls was the highest tally of all the appeals featured, with police describing some of them as 'particularly promising'.
Crimewatch regularly receives more than 100,000 hits on its website following shows and Mr Du's profile will feature there until he is tracked down.
So far police have received more than 180 sightings of the suspects in all, with London and the West Midlands the primary areas of focus. 
Detective Superintendent Glyn Timmins was at the Crimewatch studios last night.
He said: "The appearance on Crimewatch was extremely valuable and we are confident that the calls received will move the investigation forward. 
"The investigation is ongoing and we are working through every piece of information we have extremely thoroughly. I am confident that we will locate Anxiang Du in due course – the investigation team is living and breathing this case and we will not rest until we have bought the offender to justice, no matter how long it takes.
"We still need the help of the public though, even a small piece of information will help us to locate Anxiang Du sooner rather than later.
"We also ask the people local to Wootton to cast their minds back to the day of the Royal Wedding, did you see Mr Du? Did you speak with him? Please contact us on 0800 096 1011 or 0207 158 0126."
Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £10,000 for anyone providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons linked to the murders of the Ding family.
Information can be passed to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or emailing http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/