The book on Lord Lucan

Debate on the fate of Richard John Bingham, the seventh earl of Lucan, who has not been seen since Nov. 7, 1974, when nanny Sandra Rivett was killed and his wife, Veronica, attacked in the family's home in London's wealthy Belgravia district, has been a national pastime since he vanished, leaving behind a bloodstained car near the English coast.

Some say he drowned himself in the English Channel; others believe he fled abroad to live under an assumed identity.

Despite a 1999 High Court declaration that Lucan was dead, London's Metropolitan Police is reopening the investigation using techniques not available when the case was last reviewed 10 years ago, such as DNA profiling and computer imaging, detectives said Oct. 16.

A police spokesman said the case was being reviewed again "just to ensure all the potential lines of inquiry have been followed and pursued, and to see if any new ones come up as a result of DNA techniques."

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 23, 2004
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