Child killer and rapist Robert Howard (71) has died in prison. He was suspected to be involved in the unsolved disappearance of a Northern Irish schoolgirl, Arlene Arkinson.
Howard was last seen with the teenager from Castlederg, Co Tyrone before she disappeared from a disco in Co. Donegal in August 1994. Howard was acquitted of her murder eleven years later.
However, the jury was did not know of his history of sex attacks and his conviction for strangling south London teenager Hannah Williams in 2001. Howard was in jail in County Durham, England, and was due to give evidence at the re-ordered inquest into Arlene’s death in Belfast
A spokesman for the Prison Service division of the UK’s Ministry of Justice said: “HMP Frankland prisoner Robert Howard was pronounced dead in hospital at 1.55pm on Friday. As with all deaths in custody there will be an investigation by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.”
Arlene’s body has never been found.