'No foul play' in Eiger death

First Edition

POLICE have ruled out foul play in the death of a woman who fell while climbing the Eiger with the man at the centre of the Jeremy Thorpe affair, an inquest in Hammersmith was told yesterday.

The West London coroner, Dr John Burton, said there was no evidence that the death of Caroline Mayorcas, 45, 'was in any way intentional'.

He could not give a formal verdict because Mrs Mayorcas, of Chiswick, west London, died abroad. The coroner concluded that she died 'of a head injury' while climbing in the Swiss Alps in August last year with Hann Redwin, formerly known as Andrew Newton.

Mr Redwin, of Chiswick, told how they were roped together when Mrs Mayorcas slipped and they fell down the mountain. Police began an investigation after discovering the rope had been cut.

At the resumed inquest, Mr Redwin, 46, was cleared of all blame by a Scotland Yard detective who said a doctor had cut the rope later. Swiss police also ruled out foul play because they said anyone wishing to commit murder would have chosen a drop which would 'almost certainly lead to a fatal injury'. A post-mortem examination found Mrs Mayorcas suffered massive brain haemorrhaging and had never regained consciousness.

The then Mr Newton was jailed in 1976 for shooting a dog belonging to Norman Scott, a homosexual friend of Mr Thorpe, the Liberal leader.