From: RustyBullethole, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: 17 Feb 2001
Publication: The Journal
Murder detectives seek restaurant mystery man -
Slain drugs baron opened his front door to assassin
by Helen Charlton and Bill Wilson
Murdered cocaine baron Peter Beaumont-Gowling
probably opened the door to the hit-man who shot him
dead in his Newcastle flat.
Detectives are convinced the key to the former
Newcastle restaurant owner and socialite's brutal death
lies in his business and private life - and particularly
want to to trace a man seen with him hours before he was
gunned down.
A drug-related revenge or vendetta attack is seen
as the likely reason for the killing at his flat in
Osborne Road, Jesmond, on Wednesday night.
Last night more details of the dead man's lifestyle
- and his boasts of being a major player in the murky
world of drugs - emerged.
Gowling, 52, had been released from prison in
December after serving almost five years of an 11-year
sentence for laundering L2.5m worth of drugs money.
A former remand prisoner who knew Gowling in Durham
Prison said: "He cut a very flamboyant character in the
prison. He was driven by the need to make money.
"He had photos of the cash he had been caught with
pinned to the wall of his cell."
Officers are still piecing together the divorced
father's final hours but say he was spotted with a
mystery man having lunch at an Italian restaurant near
his home.
They left Scalini's in Osborne Road, at 1.30pm on
Valentine's Day. No more sightings of Gowling have been
reported for the next 10 hours until his long-term
girlfriend found his body just before midnight.
Police found no sign of a break-in and that the
flat, one of five in the building, was still tidy.
Det Supt Derek Storey, leading the investigation,
said: "Mr Gowling would be able to see who was standing
outside his main door and seemed perfectly happy with
whom he was letting into his home."
Mr Storey said he could not reveal what sort of
weapon was used or where and how many times he had been
shot.
He said: "We are keeping an open mind. The early
indications are that this murder is directly attributed
to Mr Gowling and no one else.
"Mr Gowling had recently been released from a
penal establishment having served a prison sentence
for drugs offences. It's open to speculation that this
may have been a vendetta or revenge attack.
"It's particularly important that we establish
his movements on Wednesday we know that he was last
seen leaving Scalini's.
"He was accompanied by an unidentified male, I
would ask him to contact us.
"We have no sightings of Gowling after 1.30pm.
I would urge anyone with information to come forward."
Gowling's girlfriend, in her 30s, last saw her
partner on Wednesday morning when she said everything
seemed normal.
Det Supt Storey said the woman was still in an
extremely distressed state.
Police could not confirm whether there was more
than one assassin. Forensic scientists were still
combing the area for clues, but a Red Rover car was
removed from the front of the terraced property yesterday.
Anyone with information can all police in
confidence on (0191) 214-6555 ext 62501 or 62512. A
mobile police unit has also been set up outside St
George's Church.
------------------------------
It looks like 2001 is going to easily outstrip 2000 in
terms of shootings.
Rusty
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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