Exactly a decade after the brutal killing of John "Goldfinger" Palmer, Essex Police have renewed their appeal for information in a case that has baffled investigators and haunted his family. Palmer, once dubbed Britain’s richest criminal, was shot six times in the garden of his secluded woodland mansion in South Weald, near Brentwood, Essex, on the evening of June 24, 2015.
The 65-year-old was outside burning rubbish when it’s believed a professional hitman scaled the fence surrounding his property and fired multiple shots, striking Palmer in the chest, abdomen, arm, elbow, back, and kidneys. Despite his grievous wounds, Palmer managed to stagger a short distance toward his house before collapsing, where he was found unconscious by his son and his son's girlfriend. He later died from his injuries.
Detective Superintendent Stephen Jennings of the Essex and Kent Serious Crime Directorate described the murder as a "brutal, planned execution" and emphasized the pain that still lingers for Palmer’s family. "They still rightly want answers as to who murdered him and why," Jennings said. "Over the years there has been much commentary, media coverage and even television programmes speculating about his connections to the underworld, high profile crimes and his past – but whatever someone’s past, John was a father, partner and much-loved by his family. His murder was callous and calculated."
Palmer’s nickname, "Goldfinger," stemmed from his alleged involvement in the infamous 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery, where armed robbers made off with £26 million worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash from a warehouse near London Heathrow Airport. Although Palmer admitted to melting down gold bars from the haul, he was acquitted at the Old Bailey in 1987 of conspiracy to handle the stolen bullion, claiming ignorance of their illicit origins. Despite the acquittal, police investigations into his activities continued for years.
Throughout the 1990s, Palmer amassed an estimated fortune of £300 million, investing in mansions, helicopters, restaurants, a £750,000 yacht, and classic cars. However, his criminal enterprises did not end there. In 2001, he was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiracy to defraud, having scammed approximately 16,000 couples out of millions of pounds through a timeshare fraud based in Tenerife. The scale of this scheme was staggering, and in the years following his death, Spanish prosecutors charged Palmer and ten others with offences related to a real estate fraud in Tenerife, involving an estimated £30 million. Several of those involved were found guilty and sentenced.
In the weeks before his murder, Palmer was under intense scrutiny, facing charges of fraud, firearms possession, and money laundering connected to the timeshare scam. Police believe the murder may have been linked to this ongoing fraud trial, suggesting a possible motive rooted in the criminal underworld’s shifting loyalties.
Evidence gathered by Essex Police points to a professional hitman who spied on Palmer in the days leading up to the murder, using a small hole carved into the wooden fence surrounding his property to keep watch. On the day of the killing, the assassin exploited the only blind spot in Palmer’s CCTV coverage to carry out the attack.
Initially, two police officers who attended the scene mistakenly assessed Palmer’s death as non-suspicious, attributing his wounds to recent gall bladder surgery performed a week earlier. However, a post-mortem examination revealed the true cause: six gunshot wounds. These officers later faced disciplinary action, and Detective Superintendent Jennings admitted the force failed to conduct adequate background checks on Palmer or thoroughly examine his body at the time.
Despite exhaustive investigations over the past ten years, involving hundreds of lines of inquiry and thousands of pieces of evidence, the identity of Palmer’s killer remains a mystery. A 43-year-old man from Rugby, Warwickshire, was arrested in 2015 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder but was released without charge. Similarly, in 2017, a 50-year-old man from Tyneside, residing in southern Spain, was questioned voluntarily but faced no further action.
Detective Superintendent Jennings expressed hope that changes within the criminal fraternity might encourage those with information to come forward. "A lot has changed within the criminal fraternity, including loyalties, and people may now feel able to come forward. If you do have information, please, now, do the right thing. Ten years on, John’s family must have justice and answers," he urged.
The case has also garnered renewed public interest due to the BBC drama series "The Gold," which dramatizes the Brink’s-Mat robbery and explores Palmer’s controversial life and criminal exploits. The series has brought Palmer’s story back into the spotlight, reminding viewers of the unresolved questions surrounding his death.
Anyone with information about John Palmer’s murder is encouraged to contact Essex Police on 101 or reach out anonymously to Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111. The family and authorities continue to seek justice for a man whose life was as complex as it was notorious, and whose violent death remains an open wound in the community.
