Michael Todd's murder refuses to be cleared up.

There was no mention of foul play or murder at the very brief inquest into the unexpected death of Michael Todd (ACPO head of terrorism) who was found dead on Snowdon on March 10th 2008.

The coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones , recorded a narrative verdict, suggesting that Mr Todd had died of exposure in conditions where the wind chill factor was -18C (0F) “when his state of mind was affected by alcohol, a drug and confusion in his personal life”.

The Times reports that Todd had drunk most of a bottle of gin, laced with the non-prescription sleeping drug Nytol, and then, in a confused, possibly hallucinatory and hypothermic state, stumbled or slid 300ft on to the snow-covered slope below, where he lay dying with his head resting on his forearms.

An unopened bottle of champagne had been discarded or dropped and was found in the snow.

Detective Sergeant Kevin Evans told the inquest at the Gywynedd Council offices in Caernarfon that Mr Todd sent 319 texts to friends, colleagues and his lover between Thursday, March 6 and the following Monday night, when he was found dead. (sending texts in the dark with a wind chill of -18) - why not use the voice ?.

The Daily Telegraph report that a (un-named senior police officer contacted around 10 women to tell them that they may take leave during the inquest if they wish.

One source said: "All the women in the GMP suspected of having an affair with Mr Todd or named as being linked with him will be offered paid leave. They (were) advised to keep a low profile during the inquest.

The inquest contained many curious features ;

1. Recipients of the text messages sent by Todd were not identified other than by a coded alphabetical letter.

2. The time and location of the sending of those texts - especially on the fatal Monday have not been made public. This is important as pres rports state that the initital searches were a wild goose chase based on wrong (?) information about the location of Todd's phone.

3. The finders of the body off the well worn track in atrocious weather (the worst storm in 10 years) were not identified nor it appears gave evidence.

4. The route (and crucially the timing) of Todd's police vehicle which will have had a tracker device - which could be confirmed by the NW Wales network of Number Plate Recognition cameras remins unpublished.The inquest was aklso told that Todd had visited suicide websites and drove to Cumbria on March 9 but had “bottled out” and gone home.

5. The role / activities / liason with the Police , of the Llanberis Mountain rescue team, and the various helicopters - "men in dark suits" remains still a mystery.

GMP Condolence site