abused Whitear—that their relationship was effectively over. In May, she secretly moved into a rented room in a small, three-bedroom terrace house at 4 Pound Street, Exmouth. On Tuesday 9 May, she left Fitzgerald a note, telling him that she needed her own space "uninfluenced by anyone, to develop a new life in." She is believed to have died the following day. Death Whitear is believed to have died on Wednesday 10 May 2000. She was 21 years old. Her body was discovered by her landlord, Darren Tynan, in her bedsit two days later. She is believed to have died while in the company of Fitzgerald, who would confess years later to having given Whitear the fatal dosage of heroin, and to have attempted to "clean up the scene" after she had overdosed on the drug. At the time of Whitear's death, she was actively seeking employment, had been engaging with drug counsellors and seeking medical treatment in efforts to defeat her drug addiction. In one of the final letters she is known to have penned to her friend Polly North in early 2000, she confided her struggles, stating: "I need to stop taking heroin, but it is hard. I'm absolutely dependent on it. It's destroying me: my house; my job; my relationships with my family. I have hit rock bottom." Whitear's body was later buried at St. Peter Churchyard in Herefordshire. Police investigation The initial police investigation into Whitear's death was criticised for their failure to observe correct procedures, and the conclusions of the investigation—which had ruled out any form of foul play—were questioned. Fingerprints were not taken from the bedsit where Whitear had died until two weeks after police were first called to the scene and officers from the Devon and Cornwall Police force originally investigated her death without conducting a post-mortem examination upon her body. Two men—one of whom was Luke Fitzgerald—were arrested in connection with her death, however, the Crown Prosecution Service did not have sufficient evidence to pursue manslaughter charges, and both were released without charge. A toxicology report upon Whitear's body revealed that the level of heroin in her bloodstream was 0.05 micrograms per millilitre; approximately one third of the 0.15 μg/ml generally considered to be a fatal dosage. As sufficient toxicological testing had not been conducted during the original police investigation, Whitear's mother decided her daughter's body should be exhumed in order that