


A Home Office pathologist concluded that Brosnan had struggled with an attacker before suffocating to death as a result of being pressed face-down into bedding. The nurse who reported the death claimed at first that Brosnan had suffered a cardiac arrest, but later changed her story to say that the deceased had used tights to hang herself from the bedhead. ħ0-year-old Bridget Brosnan died in a hospital's psychiatric ward.

The cause of death was asphyxia, and it is believed he died the day before police found his body. In the period leading up to his death, he was tortured by being hit with a hammer and having his back stamped or kneeled on, suffering broken ribs as a consequence. Because the flat had been ransacked, and because Howe had tens of thousands of pounds hidden in a safe there (which the offender/s did not find), robbery is thought to have been the motive for the killing. The body of the 63-year-old retired vet was found tied up in his flat on 9 January. Main article: List of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom 1990s Year
