THE foster father of the school girl, Billie Jo Jenkins, was arrested yesterday in connection with her murder 10 days ago. Mr Sion Jenkins, deputy headmaster of a comprehensive school, was last night being questioned by detectives at Hastings police station.
Billie Jo Jenkins (13) was bludgeoned to death with an 18 inch tent spike in the back garden of her family home as she painted the patio doors. She had lived with Mr Jenkins, his wife Lois, and their four natural daughters since 1993.
Mr Jenkins originally told detectives his daughter Lottie (10) stumbled on Billie Jo's body after they returned from a music lesson to their house in Lower Park Avenue, Hastings, in East Sussex. He said she had been left alone in the house for just 40 minutes during the Saturday afternoon.
Detectives yesterday refused to identify the man in custody, but sources said Mr Jenkins was arrested following a planned operation yesterday morning. A Sussex police spokesman said: "A local man in his 30s has been arrested and is helping with inquiries at Hastings police station."
Mr Jenkins (39), headmaster designate of William Parker Secondary School in Hastings faced the cameras last week, three days after Billie Jo's murder.
At a press conference, he said the family had been "totally devastated" by the killing, and paid tribute to his "buoyant, articulate, practical," and "helpful" daughter. "We are working closely with the police in the hope her killer will be found and that we can eventually piece our lives back together over the coming years," he said.
Yesterday, his white MG sports car, which had been parked outside the family home since the murder, was missing. A secretary at William Parker school said Mr Jenkins was absent on leave.
Mrs Jenkins (35), a social services department project manager, last week revealed the family had decided to move house following a series of disturbing incidents in the weeks before Billie Jo's death.
A neighbour had called police after a prowler was spotted in the Jenkins's garden. The family had also complained following break ins at the derelict house next door. Detectives also said Billie Jo had told school friends she believed she was being stalked, it emerged.
Mr and Mrs Jenkins became legal guardians of Billie Jo in December. They share custody with her natural father, Mr Bill Jenkins, who is no relation. He is separated from her mother, Ms Debbie Wood.