A valuable missing painting bought in the Isle of Man 16 years ago has been linked to the death of a controversial Brighton antiques dealer.
Sixty-six-year-old Michael Underwood's widow Rachel describes 'Girls on the Beach' by William Orpen as 'voodoo' and says it helped kill her husband.
He bought the picture, thought to be worth ?30,000 at the time, for ?300 from an elderly woman on the Island in 1993, after which it disappeared.
Edward Oldham has more (text, below, from attached audio file):
Police officers tried in vain to recover the painting but Mr Underwood always refused to say what had happened to it.
In 2006 he went to prison for six months after refusing to reveal its whereabouts.
Police claimed he had used underhand means to buy the painting but Mrs Underwood said her husband never knew the value of the painting when he bought it.
Mr Underwood, described as a 'loveable rogue' by his widow, had numerous brushes with the law over the years.
In 1993 he was sent to prison for two years after being found guilty of stealing a Berlin plaque worth ?3,000 from an elderly woman in Chelsea, London.
He never did reveal the whereabouts of the 'Girls on the Beach', taking the secret to his grave, and there are doubts it will ever be found.
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