AT first Richard Emery was being treated by police as a vulnerable missing person.

He had been reported missing on April 29 last year by staff at the Castle Dene Lodge sheltered housing flats where he lived on the Townsend estate in Bournemouth.

Enquiries were made by Dorset Police officers to try and trace the 61-year-old and establish his last movements, and an appeal was made for information through the Daily Echo.

But Mr Emery, who was well known among the town’s street drinkers, had been brutally and callously murdered.

At the end of May, officers received an important tip-off that Mr Emery had been killed by Richard Ormond and Samantha Faulder before being stuffed in a suitcase and buried yards from his home.

Following a lengthy search using specialist teams and Charlie the Border Collie from Dorset Search Dogs, an area of freshly dug ground was discovered under a bush and the painstaking work began to excavate the site.

DCI Neil Redstone said it took two days to carefully remove the suitcase from the ground and seven hours to carry out the post mortem examination.

Mr Emery was identified through fingerprints.

Speaking after the case, DCI Redstone said: “This was a most callous crime and these two heartless individuals took the life of an elderly and vulnerable member of our society to satisfy their greed.

“From early in the investigation, the evidence indicated that Ormond and Faulder were responsible for the murder and today’s verdict reflects this.

“This case once again highlights the depth of experience and breadth of expertise available to Dorset Police within the ranks of detectives and other specialists.

“Forensic science specialists, crime scene investigators, image analysis experts, specialists in interview techniques – as well as family liaison officers – all had a key role in this investigation.

“Most importantly however, good old fashioned detective work by officers on the Major Crime Investigation Team brought all of the evidence together resulting in today’s successful conviction of Ormond and Faulder for the murder of Mr Emery.”