The criminal underworld holds the key to the shooting of notorious gangster John “Goldfinger” Palmer according to detectives investigating his death.

Five years to the day after he was gunned down in his own garden in South Weald, Essex, police have renewed their appeal for information about the killing.

Once described as Britain’s richest criminal, thought to be worth around £300 million, Palmer was shot six times in the only part of his property not covered by CCTV.

His partner Christina Ketley previously said she believes he was “stalked like an animal” by a suspected hitman, who is thought to have scratched a spyhole in his garden fence before leaping over and shooting him.

Officers originally thought he had died of natural causes because of recent keyhole surgery to his chest. The fact that he had been shot only emerged during the post-mortem examination.

Palmer gained his sobriquet “Goldfinger” after being acquitted of handling gold bullion from the £26 million Brink’s-Mat raid in 1983.

The theft of gold, diamonds, and cash from a warehouse at Heathrow was up to that point Britain’s biggest ever robbery. Most of the haul has never been recovered.

He was also a known associate of some of the career criminals convicted over the £14 million Hatton Garden raid in 2015.

There has been speculation that his connection with the Hatton Garden gang may have been behind his death. Palmer was illiterate and was known to make recordings of conversations and deals.

It has been suggested that underworld figures feared these would find their way into the hands of the police.

Another theory centres around his brutal Tenerife timeshare racket, the source of much of his vast fortune. At its heart was a simple scam – people would pay a deposit for apartment contracts that proved worthless. Some 17,000 people were conned. Palmer was sentenced to eight years in jail for the fraud in 2001, but continued to run it from his prison cell.

When he was released it is believed he was forced to make some dangerous alliances with members of the Russian mafia who were taking over his territory.

In the weeks before his death in 2015 Palmer, along with 10 others, was charged by Spanish police in connection with the Tenerife fraud.

Rumours have circulated that he was about to cut a deal with prosecutors to have the charges dropped in return for giving evidence and was killed by a hitman to stop him talking.

Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, who is leading the inquiry into Palmer’s murder said that over time loyalties in underworld circles change and that someone might now be willing to come forward.

“Five years is a long time for John’s family to be left without answers and without anyone facing justice for his cold-blooded murder,” he said.

“In the years since his death a lot has changed, particularly within the underworld.”

He continued: “There has always been speculation and rumour within the media and underworld about Mr Palmer’s connection to organised criminals; specific high profile crimes; that he was a police informant; and that charges brought against him in Spain were about to be dropped.

“Over the years a number of these rumours have been found to be untrue or based wholly in speculation.

“Regardless of Mr Palmer’s past the reality is that he was much-loved by his family and he was murdered in a calculated, callous killing within the grounds of his own home.

“It is impossible to imagine how his family must feel, without justice and answers, and we continue to do all we can to bring his killer to come forward.

“We know that the key to solving Mr Palmer’s murder lies within the underworld. Loyalties do change and people may now feel able to come forward.”

Detectives investigating the murder have gathered intelligence in the UK and abroad, taken hundreds of witness statements, traced vehicles, examined more than 1,400 documents and pursued more than 700 lines of inquiry, however his killer has yet to be identified.

An inquest in 2016 heard there were “failings on behalf of Essex Police” in handling the case.

:: If you have information about the murder of John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer call Essex Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Alternatively, use the anonymous online form at Crimestoppers-uk.org

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