Murder of woman, 22, linked to Marsha case

The murder of a woman, 22, whose body was found on a green in London could be linked to four other attacks, including the bludgeoning to death of a 19-year-old student.

The murder of a woman, 22, whose body was found on a green in London could be linked to four other attacks, including the bludgeoning to death of a 19-year-old student.

The victim was found on Thursday with a serious head injury on Twickenham Green, south-west London, three miles from where Marsha McDonnell, 19, was killed with a blunt instrument in February last year.

Detectives are investigating possible links between these two murders and three other attacks amid fears that a serial attacker is at large. "There is nothing specific to link the incidents at this stage, but it is obviously an important line of inquiry," said a spokesman from New Scotland Yard. "We are keeping an open mind."

One of the possible linked attacks was a serious assault nearby in Twickenham on Wednesday, in which a 34-year-old woman was found with a head injury following a night out in a restaurant opposite the green.

The murder of Ms McDonnell, who was killed close to her home in Hampton 18 months ago yesterday, occurred as she was getting off a bus.

It subsequently emerged that a 17-year-old girl had been attacked just four weeks earlier, a mile away in Strawberry Hill.

Just a few weeks after Ms McDonnell was killed, an 18-year-old man was attacked half a mile from the scene of her murder but escaped unhurt. He described the weapon he was struck with as a "specialised tool" which was "hammer-like".

The woman who died on Thursday was found by a passer-by at just before 10.30pm, lying near a cricket pitch.

A foreign national, she had a serious head injury and was pronounced dead shortly after midnight after being taken to hospital. Police believe the woman had been on a night out in Twickenham. She had been seen in nearby Crystals Winebar before catching a number 281 bus towards Hampton. It is thought she got off at the green. She is described as white, with shoulder-length blonde hair. No arrests have been made.

The woman who was attacked on Wednesday had been drinking with friends at Harringtons restaurant.

She was found by a motorist in Hampton Road near the junction with Twickenham Green at around 10.30pm, suffering from a head injury. Police said that the woman had no recollection since leaving the restaurant and had still not regained her memory of the incident.

A police spokesman said officers investigating the Twickenham murder would consult detectives from the McDonnell inquiry and the two other linked cases.