murdered: valerie graves, 55, was killed while house sitting in west sussex in december 2013  more than 2,000 men have come forward to give their dna to eliminate themselves from the hunt for the murderer of a grandmother valerie graves, 55, was killed while house sitting over the christmas period in 2013 and forensic experts were only able to form a limited dna profile of the murderer from the evidence they gathered   establishing it was a man the mass dna screening in january and february asked all men aged over 17 who live, work or visit bosham in west sussex, to provide a sample and a thumbprint as part of the  investigation  artist ms graves was found dead in a bedroom in smugglers lane, bosham, on december 30 2013 so far 1,432 men have been eliminated from the enquiry and will receive emails or letters thanking them for providing their dna the village ms graves was murdered in   bosham   is a favourite with itv drama midsomer murders in total, 2,042 men came forward to give samples of their dna due to the volume of samples, eliminating those who have come forward can take up to two months detective superintendent nick may, of surrey and sussex major crime team, said: 'we want to thank all those men who attended the voluntary sessions in bosham, fishbourne and chichester over the three weeks to give their dna 'the response has been positive 'the process of elimination due to the volume of samples, can take up to two months, although this can sometimes be quicker and we have already given results to more than 1,200 men 'we expect to give more results over the coming weeks hunt for killer: more than 2,000 men have come forward to give their dna to eliminate themselves from the hunt for the murderer  'we still need those men who have not come forward to do so 'we will be doing house to house enquiries and knocking on doors during a week of action from 6 to 12 april asking those who have not given their dna to consider doing so 'if we don't get a reply we will also be sending out further letters asking them to attend chichester police station to give their dna 'we have to be tenacious in our efforts to catch the killer 'but we do understand that this is an entirely voluntary process and there is no compulsion for anyone to co operate with us 'we simply want to do the best we can for valerie's family and for the community in bringing the killer to justice' ms graves, 55, was staying at the property with her sister janet, 60, janet's boyfriend nigel acres, 59, and her mother, eileen, 87, when she was killed with a claw hammer cleared: so far 1,432 men have been eliminated from the enquiry after giving dna samples  the artist   who had just moved to west sussex from scotland   had gone to bed at 10pm on december 29, 2013 twelve hours later, on december 30, 2013, her sister found her dead in a ground floor bedroom at the rear of the house a post mortem examination revealed the grandmother had suffered significant head and facial injuries at the house in smugglers lane despite extensive investigations by police, her killer still remains at large forensic scientists have obtained a limited dna profile for the murder suspect, which although not suitable for a search on the national dna database, indicates the suspect is male a police officer stands outside the house where valerie graves was murdered on december 30 2013  as well as being swabbed for their dna, people volunteering also have their thumbprint and photograph taken detective constable steve taylor from the surrey and sussex major crime team said: 'it is important for the public to understand that we will only use the samples obtained to check against this particular crime and their dna profile will not appear on any database 'legal safeguards are in place to ensure we do not use them for any other purpose' anyone with information about the murder of valerie graves is asked to call 101 and quote operation ensign or to call the independent charity crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111
valerie graves 55 10pm 12 hours 2013 west sussex
valerie graves was found dead while house sitting in west sussex in 2013  artist, 55, went to bed at 10pm and her sister found her body 12 hours later  postmortem exam revealed she suffered significant head and facial injuries  forensic scientists have limited dna profile of killer but know it was a man  so far 1,432 men have been eliminated from enquiry thanks to dna tests 