The chief suspect in the murder of 19-year-old Leah Croucher left a suicide note before taking his own life just two months after her death.
Convicted sex offender, Neil Maxwell, 49, was found hanging in a Milton Keynes bike shed in April 2019.
Leah went missing on February 15, of that year while walking to work from her home which sparked a huge police search.
It wasn’t until October 12, 2022, that her decomposed body was found in the attic of an unoccupied house where Maxwell worked as a handyman.
That month, the national press requested to see the public record of the inquest into his death.
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But, unusually Tom Osborne, the coroner who looked into Maxwell’s death, refused to release the details, initially promising they would be made public after a few weeks.
When November came, he still refused to make them public, saying police believed the release could ‘seriously jeopardise’ the murder investigation.
At the time Mr Osborne said: "The presumption in favour of open and transparent justice would normally dictate that I disclose the record of an inquest.
"However, I have every reason to believe that disclosure of the document at this stage may seriously compromise and indeed jeopardise the ongoing investigation.
"For that reason the balance is in favour of not disclosing the document, for the time being, although it is a matter that will be kept under constant review."
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The inquest details released this week contain only Maxwell’s name, date and place of birth (February 9, 1970 in Bushey, Hertfordshire) and minimum details about his death.
His occupation is stated as ‘builder’ and his address as North Street, Milton Keynes.
He died on April 20, 2019, and the place of death was recorded as ‘Bike shed, Mainstay Court, Campbell Park’.
The cause of death was hanging and the verdict was suicide.
The record states: “He left a suicide note.”
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Sources say Maxwell left another polite handwritten note on the cupboard, saying: "Please do not come in.
"There is a dead body inside.
"Call the police."
The investigation into Leah’s murder remains ongoing.
A post mortem was unable to establish the cause of her death.
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