Who did kill Karen Chandler?

All the evidence against him was circumstantial and despite the prosecution claiming it was "compelling" evidence the jury rejected it after a two week trial at Bristol Crown Court.

Wiltshire police will now review the investigation to see if there are any other lines of inquiry.

The murder inquiry, headed initially by Det Spt Colin Dixon, then DCI Steve Higgs and latterly by DCI Trevor Symes, was one of the biggest murder investigations conducted by the Wiltshire force. When the search began for Mrs Chandler more than 100 officers were involved.

Bryan Maloney, 64, of Haggs Lane, Urchfont, who had known Mrs Chandler and her family for ten years, was questioned about Mrs Chandler's disappearance the day after she had disappeared and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of her kidnapping.

Three days after Mrs Chandler's disappearance he was charged with her murder. Her burnt out car containing her remains was found on Salisbury Plain three days after she disappeared.

The police ruled out Mrs Chandler's boyfriends as being her killer after checking their whereabouts on the day she disappeared and their backgrounds.

At the time of her death Mrs Chandler had been in a long term relationship with work colleague David Wright and was eight weeks into a relationship with soldier Craig Corfield. Neither man knew about the other.

The prosecution claimed Mr Maloney lured Mrs Chandler, 40, to his home in Urchfont on her way to work as a security guard with the Ministry of Defence at Ludgershall, with the intention of murdering her.

They said he got into her car with a knife forcing her to drive up the concrete track leading to Dogtail Plantation. At Dogtail Plantation there is a gate which is kept locked and Mr Maloney was one of the people who knew where the key was kept to open it.

After killing her, the prosecution said, Mr Maloney drove her car on to Salisbury Plain leaving it in a remote spot then setting it on fire with her body inside.

The fire did much to remove any clues as to how she died. Her body was too badly burnt to establish a cause of death. A knife was found in the car but there was no forensic evidence to suggest it had been used to kill Mrs Chandler, despite the fact the prosecution claimed it was the murder weapon.

Mr Maloney, who gave evidence in court for four and a half hours, admitted that he loved Mrs Chandler and hoped to have a relationship with her but disputed he was obsessed with her.

He said that Mrs Chandler did not turn up as planned shortly after 5am on June 20 2000 after he told her he would leave two buckets out for her which she wanted to wash cars at her workplace.

The prosecution said Mr Maloney's motive in murdering Mrs Chandler was because he was obsessed with her and realised his chances of being with her were dashed when he met her with her new boyfriend, soldier Craig Corfield, now 28.

Mr Maloney's defence counsel Neil Ford QC said Mr Maloney did not know about Mrs Chandler's private life and did not know Mr Corfield was her boyfriend and to suggest he would kill her after one momentary meeting with Mr Corfield was tenuous.

The court heard Mr Maloney showered Mrs Chandler with gifts, including flowers, chocolates, jewellery and ornaments. But Mr Ford said Mr Maloney also bought gifts for Mrs Chandler's two sons, her mother and her dogs.

Mrs Chandler also bought gifts for Mr Maloney, although she put the names of all the family on the gift tag.

On the day Mrs Chandler disappeared Mr Maloney was seen cycling from the direction of Salisbury Plain on his bicycle by two dog walkers, Marion Hayle and Nicholas Dobb.

Mr Dobb told the court he saw Mr Maloney riding from the top of the concrete track passing by Dogtail Plantation but Mr Maloney said the hill was too steep for him and he had ridden part way up the hill before turning back down.

He did not tell the police he had gone for a bike ride when quizzed by them the following day but after they told him they had a witness who saw him on his bicycle he agreed he had been out for a ride.

Mr Dobb said Mr Maloney was calm and unflustered and he did not see any blood on his clothes.

Mrs Chandler's blood was found on Mr Maloney's underpants and vest which he said had got there after Mrs Chandler had pricked her finger on a rose bush after she helped him gardening at her place of work more than a week before she disappeared.

Forensic scientist Claire Galbraith said the blood staining on the garments was not indicative of a battering attack where blood would be sprayed but said it showed the garments had been in contact with wet blood from Mrs Chandler.

The other aspect of the prosecution's case which they said pointed to Mr Maloney's guilt was telephone records.

Mr Maloney rang Mrs Chandler at home or on her mobile phone several times a day, most days.

These included early morning calls if Mrs Chandler was starting work at 6am, an arrangement that Mrs Chandler had agreed with him.

The prosecution asked why he did not ring Mrs Chandler when she did not turn up at his home to pick up the buckets, as he said they had arranged, on her way to work on June 20.

They also said it did not make sense that after being told she was missing he did not ring her.

But Mr Ford said Mr Maloney did not ring Mrs Chandler every day, up until her death on June 20 there were three days in June when he had not called her , and Mr Maloney himself said in court that he didn't think it was unusual for Mrs Chandler to fail to turn up and he thought she would ring him later.

Mr Maloney also kept photographs of Mrs Chandler in two photo albums but Mr Ford said they were innocent photos.

In his summing up to the seven man, five woman jury Mr Ford said: "Mr Maloney is a fairly unsophisticated and elderly man who adored Karen Chandler. Anyone is entitled to their hopes and dreams, no matter how unrealistic, but that doesn't make them a killer."

He said no one saw Maloney with Mrs Chandler the morning she disappeared and no one could say how the fire in her car was started.

He told the jury: "If Karen Chandler hadn't died and you had been told about the letters Mr Maloney wrote and the photos that he had of Mrs Chandler you would say he's rather a sad, shy, lonely old man but it's all pretty harmless."