Killer begs 'forgive me' in suicide note

THE RAPIST and killer Alan Conner pleaded for forgiveness to the family of his final victim in notes he wrote before he hanged himself, an inquest was told.

Conner, 32, a convicted rapist who murdered a chambermaid, Sandra Parkinson, in Devon last month and who is suspected of six other killings, wrote: 'I can't do anything to help you through your grief. I really wish I could. All I can do is kill myself. I hope it helps, even if it's just a bit.'

Conner's body was found hanging from a tree in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on 7 August, the inquest at Huntingdon was told. Underneath the body were three notes.

Ms Parkinson, 22, was gagged, raped and strangled last month as she went for a clifftop walk at Sharpitor, near the holiday resort of Salcombe where she worked.

Forensic scientists used DNA tests to establish that her killer had also raped a 67- year-old former magistrate, Muriel Harvey, in Ludlow, Shropshire, in 1992.

Conner was also convicted in 1986 of raping a 16-year-old near his home village of Thurnscoe. He served four years of a six-year sentence.

In the longest suicide note, Conner wrote: 'This letter is to the mother and brothers of Sandra Parkinson. Please, I am sorry for what I did to her. Please believe me, it wasn't me, it was the other bastard I can't live with. I beg that you can forgive me for what I did.'

The coroner, David Morris, recorded a verdict of suicide.

Conner's notes exposed a character tormented by remorse who wanted to be punished, according to former chief psychologist at Broadmoor Tony Black.

He said: 'Many people who commit violent crimes blame all sorts of other factors, but there is a group who are well aware that they can't control themselves.'