Detectives arrest suspect over 1993 murder of Tina Wardlow in Belfast

DETECTIVES investigating a murder in south Belfast in 1993 have released a suspect.

Tina Wardlow, who was 32, was found strangled at Majestic Drive in the Donegall Road area 20 years ago.

A 50-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for questioning about her killing.

He was arrested by Serious Crime Branch in Derry/Londonderry and taken to Limavady PSNI station.

The man has now been released without charge.

Ms Wardlow was found strangled in 1993 behind flats in the Sandy Rowarea of Belfast – two days after she went missing on a night out in the city.

The divorced mum-of-four had been stripped and her sadistickiller had cut and burned her genitals.

In 2004, approaching the 11th anniversary of his sister’s grislydeath, Wesley Winchester told newspapers that he thought she might have died at the hands of evil killer Philip ‘Big Foot’ Smith.

“He killed three women in England in the space of a week and I believe he may have been in Belfast around the time of Tina’s death,” he said.

“Information I have from people tells me he was travelling around with a fairground which was in the area at the time.”

Smith, 39 – nick-named Big Foot because of his 25 stone weight and 6ft 5in frame – was arrested in 2001.

He had murdered three women after going on a four-day killing spree in the Birmingham area.

The monster mutilated their bodies in a way which has echoes of what happened to Tina.

Said Wesley: “I heard all the reports when he actually got caught and the way he murdered his victims, so there could definitely be a link. There were also stories about how he might have killed other women.”

Two of the women Smith did kill were throttled and dumped naked.