Leah Croucher murder suspect, 49, killed himself in bike shed two months after teenager went missing
THE CHIEF suspect in the murder of teenager Leah Croucher killed himself and left a suicide note just two months after her death, it emerged today.
Convicted sex offender Neil Maxwell, 49, was found hanging in a bike shed in April 2019.
Leah, 19, went missing on February 15, 2019, while walking to work from her home in Milton Keynes, Bucks, sparking a huge police search.
Her decomposed body was found in the attic of an unoccupied house in Milton Keynes where Maxwell worked as a handyman.
Shortly after her body was found police named Maxwell as the chief suspect.
Milton Keynes coroner Tom Osborne had been requested to release information from an inquest held into the death of Neil Maxwell.
Today the coroner revealed that Maxwell had been found hanging in a bike shed two months after Leah disappeared in April 2019.
His death was recorded as suicide note, the coroner revealed.
He had left a suicide note but no details from the note have been released.
Last October, immediately after he was declared a suspect, national press requested to see the public record of the inquest into his death.
But, unusually Mr Osborne 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 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.”
The inquest details released this week contain only Maxwell’s name, date and place of birth (9 February 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.”
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.