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Chippenham man arrested on suspicion of murder

6:46pm Friday 19th March 2010 in


A 41-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the disappearance of Chippenham man Donavan Van Lill.

It follows a decision yesterday by Wiltshire police to set up a major incident room and put 40 officers on the case.

Mr Van Lill, 29, disappeared more than two weeks ago and friends had become increasingly worried about him.

Today team mates from Corsham Rugby Club voiced their fears that Mr Van Lill, who had come to Wiltshire from South Africa a few years ago, was dead.

Detective Superintendent Norman McKeaveney, who was appointed as the senior investigating officer, said yesterday: "Donovan’s disappearance will necessitate a methodical, but detailed, investigation."

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: "During the late afternoon of Friday 19th March 2010, a 41 year old Chippenham man was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Donovan Van-Lill. "He is currently in custody at Melksham Police Station, awaiting interview by detective officers. "There will be continued police activity in the Chippenham area over the coming weekend."

Comments(23)

dragon22 says...
10:08pm Fri 19 Mar 10

This is really sad news for the family and friends. But it does beg the question of what the police have known already to be arresting someone for murder. From what I can tell it seems to be a ridiculously slow investigation that could well have been resolved sooner if they had moved quicker. This was all very suspicious from the start and it took to long to get their backsides moving!!!!

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I.M.O says...
11:28pm Fri 19 Mar 10

As a friend of Donavans...I whole heartedly agree with the above comment...

All I can hope for now is to get justice for Don...& I know that each & every single one of his friends, myself included will not rest until we do...

Things won't be the same without you Don...x

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Local Bloke says...
11:59pm Fri 19 Mar 10

Here we go again, lets all knock the Police. Has anyone got any idea just how difficult these investigations can be? No, I guess not. But let's all criticise anyway because we can. MAybe all you 'do-gooders' could have given the Police your help a bit sooner, as you obviously have a great deal of information already.

Put up - or shut up. If you can do better, lets see it.

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Local Bloke says...
11:59pm Fri 19 Mar 10

Here we go again, lets all knock the Police. Has anyone got any idea just how difficult these investigations can be? No, I guess not. But let's all criticise anyway because we can. MAybe all you 'do-gooders' could have given the Police your help a bit sooner, as you obviously have a great deal of information already.

Put up - or shut up. If you can do better, lets see it.

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dragon22 says...
12:16am Sat 20 Mar 10

So everybody else could see how strange this looked from the very beginning and yet it took nearly 2 weeks for the police to step up their investigation? Plenty of people (myself included) were doing the best they could to get information after just a couple of days. Ive seen more on here about police requesting help for a bloody ram raid than I have for Donovan!!

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onthesofa says...
6:19am Sat 20 Mar 10

I have to agree with Local Bloke,yes it seemed a long time before action was taken to us,however there is a lot that goes on with the police that the public are not aware of and there is a hell of a lot of red tape for the police.This must be a terrible time for family and friends but we must remember there will of been a lot of things the police were not allowed to make public to us all and lets be grateful that they have a suspect already.Lets remember though nothing is final until they find this poor chap and just all help the police with their investigations if anyone can rather that slating them.There are times when there are ill patients in danger that i have to work along side police and there are a so many guidelines and regulations to be followed that can complicate things for them,me and patients.

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old bert says...
7:11am Sat 20 Mar 10

Our old Granny used to say, 'tis fair-to-middling easy to be wise after the event". A few armchair detectives around, it would seem from the comments. Was there anything at all to connect him with the man arrested?

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umpcah says...
8:23am Sat 20 Mar 10

"Man on murder charge" ? Seems unlikely if he`s only just been arrested. R.I.P. Don if you`re really not with us anymore.

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cght36 says...
8:34am Sat 20 Mar 10

theyve arrested someone but until they find a body, you should all be living in hope. never mind whos to blame and whos not, we dont know what the police have or havent been doing in those two weeks. just because they havent made it public knowledge doesnt mean they havent been doing anything.

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bsby666 says...
9:34am Sat 20 Mar 10

I have to agree, the police had to make sure he was missing first, before they started investigations, if they jumped everytime someone went missing for a week they would be criticised for that too and for wasting tax payers money!
I actually think they have done a great job and very quick, and no they dont tell us everything as that would jepodise the investigation.
But I sincerely hope it is all wrong and that Donavon will be back with his friends and family soon.

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angrybloke says...
10:02am Sat 20 Mar 10

Don't blame the police. A man going missing is not a crime. Society and lack of respect is the problem.

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JesseLake says...
11:49am Sat 20 Mar 10

Took too long for the police, but a great deal of the public were out putting up posters, raising awareness of his dissapearance and doing searches of their own, long before the police took much notice. The police didnt class him as a high enough risk till this week. The facebook group are staying positive, donating money into his fund for his mum to get over here as she really needs to be now and still praying that hes alive and well. There has been an arrest, but not charged yet so therefore he is still a missing person.

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cbutterfly says...
3:13am Sun 21 Mar 10

Ah Diddums - the link you added does not look like him at all. Don has a younger firmer face if you look at the photo above. I am following from Cape Town

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busy with kids says...
11:18am Sun 21 Mar 10

My post was aimed at insensitive people posting inapppropriate comments. Their verbal / written actions may amount to an offence of "hate crime" under the Act. I trust they now desist and let the Police do their job for the sake of the friends and family and all those who wishing for a happy conclusion.

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wanttosaysomething says...
4:41pm Sun 21 Mar 10

I can never understand why a small amount of people always come out of the wood work to make unpleasant and unfounded remarks about a person who are in no way able to defend themselves. Yes Don has a mother who is desperatley worried about him and just as important as that he has two young children who love him and who he loves without measure. PLEASE respect the fact that his family and friends are besides themselves with worry for Don and reading things like the hurtful comments above is nothing but wicked and cruel.

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slh217 says...
4:51pm Sun 21 Mar 10

wanttosaysomething wrote:
I can never understand why a small amount of people always come out of the wood work to make unpleasant and unfounded remarks about a person who are in no way able to defend themselves. Yes Don has a mother who is desperatley worried about him and just as important as that he has two young children who love him and who he loves without measure. PLEASE respect the fact that his family and friends are besides themselves with worry for Don and reading things like the hurtful comments above is nothing but wicked and cruel.
Hear hear.
People who take enjoyment from this kind of activity are truly despicable.

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onthesofa says...
5:31pm Sun 21 Mar 10

Sadly there are a couple of sick people on this site who need to keep it quiet and have no respect,take no notice of these as there are many people on here hoping and praying for you at this hard time,those poor little children,you can tell the sick comments are from childless bitter people.

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wanttosaysomething says...
6:48pm Sun 21 Mar 10

Radio Westbury thanks for the reply. Yes I and others have searched for our friend until the police asked us to refrain as they needed to complete searches themselves and were worried that although we have good intentions in searching for him whatever little clues there maybe out there could be lost as we are not trained in searching. So instead we have focused on making sure there has been as much media attention as possible so that it may help either prompt someone's memory of seeing him.

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dragon22 says...
8:57pm Sun 21 Mar 10

I cant believe the amount of sick-minded people using this story as a way to broadcast their purile views! I have differing views to others as to the way this case was handled but I think we are all entitled to differ on that, but to start bringing things like this mans sexuality into it just to get your kicks is purely sick. It is sounding more like the police aren't convinced of finding Donovan alive and the last thing his family and friends need now is idiots posting thoughtless comments for their own enjoyment. Sod off to a site more suited like Bigots-R-Us.com!

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dragon22 says...
9:00pm Sun 21 Mar 10

Martin David SUGDEN, aged 41 years, from Stanton, nr. Chippenham, has been charged with the murder of Donovan Van-Lill.



He will remain in police custody overnight, and will appear before the North Wilts Magistrates Court on Monday 22nd March 2010.

Taken from the Wiltshire Police website.

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dragon22 says...
10:44pm Sun 21 Mar 10

Carl Sagan wrote:
Does this mean that it's safe to use the gents toilets in Cheltenham now?
Thoughtful comment there. Take long to think it up?

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onthesofa says...
11:26pm Sun 21 Mar 10

Take no notice of sagan,either another sick minded person or the multiple name user diddums no doubt.

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Astraboy says...
9:38am Mon 22 Mar 10

If his Mum is coming over soon it would be good if people could check that they have spelt his name right on their webpages, its Donavan
NOT Donovan, it is wrong in every Police update, may be only a little thing but out of respect for him should be corrected!

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