Real murder mystery

This gripping documentary lifts the lid on the unsolved shooting of criminal John “Goldfinger” Palmer

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Former CID detective David McKelvey

On 24 June 2015, notorious criminal John Palmer was gunned down in his Essex garden.

Palmer, 65, nicknamed Goldfinger for his role in melting down the three tonnes of gold bullion stolen in the infamous 1983 Brink’s-Mat heist, had six bullet wounds. However, police initially believed he had died of natural causes, attributing the wounds to recent keyhole surgery.

Now former CID detective David McKelvey, is investigating his murder for a new Sky documentary, backed by his private investigations firm TM Eye.

“It was only when the pathologist went to carry out a normal postmortem that he immediately saw that he had a series of bullet wounds,” says David. “In fact, he had one bullet still in him. It's quite unbelievable, particularly with a man like John Palmer who, if he'd have suddenly fallen dead in his soup over dinner, you would have immediately thought, ‘Has he been poisoned?’”