During the afternoon of 10th December 1994, Scottish-born scientist Dr Michael Meenaghan was gunned down in his council estate home. The case has never been solved.
LOVE TANGLE CLUE TO SCIENTIST'S MURDER
Inspector Morse cops probe 'grudge' hit
Author: Jeff Edwards, Crime Correspondent
THE tangled love life of a murdered Oxford scientist was being investigated by detectives last night.
Pony-tailed Dr Michael Meenaghan, 35 was shot dead through the kitchen window of his home as he made a cup of tea.
The researcher at Oxford University's Sir William Dunn School of Pathology was hit by a single shotgun blast to the chest.
Detectives believe the easy-going bachelor had a string of woman friends- and may have been killed by an angry husband.
Murder squad officers in the city featured in the Inspector Morse TV series were examining letters and diaries at the victim's terrace home on the Blackbird Leys estate.
Dr Meenaghan, an expert in DNA profiling - the crime-busting Science of genetic fingerprinting - had recently stepped up security at the house. Locked
Friends have told police he had made his telephone ex-directory, kept his doors locked at all times and the curtains drawn.
One officer said: "This is like an episode from Inspector Morse.
"The victim was single but we believe he had several lady friends.
"It is possible that it was something in the background of one of those relationships that caused his death.
"We don't think he was linked with any criminals or involved in any secret wrong doing."
Police have not ruled out the possibility of a contract killing by a hitman.
The gunman struck late on Saturday afternoon.
He crept along an alley beside Dr Meenaghan's home and blasted him through the kitchen window from about six feet.
As Dr Meenaghan fell dying he managed to dial 999.
But an operator could only hear him gasping and choking before the line went silent.
Police found all the doors of the house securely looked.
Neighbours, who knew Dr Meenaghan as "Spike," claimed the woman he lived with left last Easter and another woman and her young son moved in.
Val Dorgan said: "The couple were kissing and cuddling about the place until she moved out a few weeks later." Another neighbour, 62 year-old Mrs Barbara Andrews, said: "He was such a quiet young man. He kept to himself.
"He lived alone with his black and white kitten." Work
One university colleague recalled: "Mike spent some of his time lecturing but most of his work was focused on special research projects."
Tim Beesley, a fellow academic at the School of Pathology, said: "Spike was quite a character and well liked in the department. He was originally from Glasgow."
Detective Superintendent John Bound said: "We don't know who killed him or why. It is possible this was contract killing."
Shot scientist knew he was on death list
Hitman guns down DNA expert with a tangled love life
Author: John Coles and Alex Hendry
A SCIENTIST blasted to death in a shotgun killing at the weekend knew he was on a hit-list, police believe.
Dr Michael Meenaghan, 35, was an expert in genetic fingerprinting - used by police to help trap murderers and rapists.
He was gunned down as he made a cup of tea in his kitchen by a killer he may have known.
And although he made a 999 call just seconds before his death, all the emergency operator could hear was someone struggling for breath.
Last night neighbours told how the pony-tailed doctor - known as Spike - had recently begun taking extraordinary security precautions.
They also told of his complicated love life which saw him sharing his home with two different women.
The curtains at his end of terrace home in the heart of Oxford's notorious Blackbird Leys estate were always drawn.
His telephone number was ex-directory and his windows and doors were always locked.
He even draped a sheet over an upstairs bedroom window so no one could see if he was inside. Alley
But his murderer - possibly a professional - spotted him in his kitchen on Saturday afternoon when he went to make a cup of tea.
The Scots-born doctor had not covered the window and was in full view from a narrow alley running alongside the house.
The killer walked down the alley smashed a window with his shotgun then fired at close range.
Dr Meenaghan was hit in the chest and died quickly. When police broke into his house they found him bleeding on the kitchen floor. The phone was off the hook.
The victim was a lecturer at the renowned Sir William Dunn School of Pathology which featured in the Inspector Morse television series.
His complicated love life is a central part of the police inquiry. Detectives are examining letters which point to a series of relationships.
Neighbour Val Dorgan said yesterday: "He moved here with his wife two years ago.
"She moved out at Easter and at the same time a girlfriend moved in with a little boy.
He said: "They were kissing and cuddling about the place until she moved out a few weeks later."
Another neighbour, Danny McKinlay, 32, added: "A few months before his wife moved out there was some sort of domestic incident between them, and the police were called."
Dr Meenaghan studied DNA profiling, which is used to help identify crime suspects.
Colleagues at the School of Pathology described him as "dedicated to his profession and a real expert in DNA".
