DETECTIVES are appealing for help to trace the movements of the gunman who shot dead off-duty police officer Ian Dibell in Clacton.

It has emerged that Peter Reeve travelled from Colchester to Chelmsford by train before killing himself.

PC Dibell, 41, was killed as he bravely intervened in an incident close to his home in Redbridge Road, Clacton, on Monday last week.

Reeve, 64, from Fairlop Close, was chasing and shooting at his downstairs neighbour Trevor Marshall when he shot PC Dibell in the chest.

The gunman was found dead in a cemetery in Writtle the following morning, but it was not known how he made the 40-mile trip while a police manhunt was underway.

Senior investigating officer, Det Con Insp Simon Parkes, said: "We know Peter Reeve got a train from Colchester to Chelmsford at approximately 7.30pm on July 9 and tried to visit friends and family in the Melbourne area a couple of hours later.

“We then have no further sightings until we found his body in the grounds of All Saints Church in Writtle at 8.30am the following morning.

“This was after a gunshot was heard. We need to find out how Peter Reeve got to Colchester and how he came to be in Writtle on Tuesday morning.

“We would wish to speak with anyone who put him up for the night or saw him sleeping rough.”

It is understood Reeve was spotted in Chelmsford shortly after 9pm that Monday night.

Det Con Insp Parkes added that witnesses in the Chelmsford area on that Monday evening hold the key to finalising the police investigation into the killer’s movements.

Anyone with information is asked to call Colchester’s Major Investigation Team on 101 or email scdappeals@essex.pnn.police.uk.