Adrian Greenwood's murder lifted the lid on the sinister world of antiquarian book dealing

Alexander Larman

The Telegraph  - 27 October 2016 •

 

Murder victim Adrian Greenwood Credit: SWNS

The murder of the antiquarian bookseller Adrian Greenwood in Oxford in April was a particularly shocking and brutal one, even by the standards of the city that gave us Inspector Morse. Grisly details revealed at the trial included the fact that Greenwood had been stabbed 16 times, had numerous other knife marks that indicated some sort of torture had taken place, and his right arm had been stamped on with such force that it had been broken. Sentencing Greenwood’s murderer Michael Danaher to a life sentence with a minimum of 34 years in prison, Judge Ian Pringle described how the "savage stabbing" had come about after a process that required "significant planning and premeditation". It was no accident that the object Danaher stole after the murder was an extremely rare first edition of The Wind In The Willows in its original dustjacket; it was valued at £50,000.
MORE