British police have appealed for information about the whereabouts of a man with local ties wanted for murder in the UK.
|||Cape Town - British police have again appealed for information about the whereabouts of a man with ties to the city - and dubbed “New Zealand’s greatest prison escaper” - wanted in connection with a murder in the UK.
In a statement, police in Sussex announced the international hunt for Ricardo Pisano, who also goes by the names Ricky, Ree and Brandon Victor Pillay, was continuing and they released new photographs of him. Pisano, about 35 years old, is wanted in connection with the killing of Michael Polding, 63, who was found dead by police in his Brighton flat on July 16 last year.
The statement said Pisano was believed to be the last person to have seen Polding alive. It said a coroner had found a “combination of injuries” caused his death.
“(Pisano) is known to have links to South Africa and New Zealand and detectives believe he could now be anywhere in the world,” it said. A £5 000 (R70 000) reward was being offered for information which would lead to his arrest.
According to an article in the New Zealand Herald, Pisano is from Cape Town.
Last year, the Sussex police launched a website dedicated to trying to track down Pisano. It said the investigation team planned to travel to South Africa this year to gather more information about him.
The website described Pisano as “a man of many guises” who could change his name, appearance and accent.
“He… was convicted of extortion in New Zealand in 2001… (and) jailed for 15 months…
However, in August 2001, partway through his sentence, he escaped. He managed to leave the country and eventually flee to the UK,” it said.
On the Facebook page “Wanted: Ricardo Pisano a.k.a Brandon Victor Pillay”, a user who described himself as a male escort said Pisano “always dressed in similar garb to the circulated images”. Most noteworthy, he said, was his “dishevelled” appearance.
caryn.dolley@inl.co.za
Cape Times