Body in chains: man on murder charge
By Matthew Lowe
September 1, 2000
A MAN aged 36 was last night charged with the murder of transsexual Brian Hooley, whose naked body was found on a beach wrapped in chains.
Charles Halfacree, of Upper Bridge Road, Chelmsford, will appear before Lowestoft magistrates this morning charged with the offence following more than a day of questioning by detectives.
He was arrested on Wednesday morning along with a 38-year-old woman, of Roxwell, near Chelmsford, who has been bailed pending further inquiries.
The charge comes six months after the 28-year-old’s corpse was found bound in chains and weights on the beach at Kessingland, near Lowestoft.
Mr Hooley, who lived in Roxwell, had also been known as Christine Chappel since undergoing a sex-change operation six years ago. Police forces in Essex and Suffolk have been working on the case since the discovery of Mr Hooley’s body in the small coastal resort on March 2.
It came just days after Mr Hooley’s disappearance at the end of February.
A second post-mortem examination revealed Mr Hooley had suffered head injuries caused by a flat-surfaced object before ending up in the water.
Australian-born Mr Hooley lived in Lancashire and studied electronic engineering at Salford University before moving to Essex.
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