A NATIONWIDE manhunt is continuing for a 34-year-old former dustman wanted in connection with the murder of twins and an elderly couple on the same night.
Police have warned the public not to approach shaven-headed Mark Hobson as police across Britain, forensic teams and criminal profilers joined in the search.
Officers investigating the deaths of 27-year-olds Claire and Diane Sanderson in the North Yorkshire village of Camblesforth say Hobson was also seen close to the house 25 miles away where elderly couple Joan and James Britton were also found dead on Sunday morning.
Det Supt Javad Ali told a news conference in York he thought the killings of the twins and the frail, housebound couple "may well be linked".
Officers are now working to establish any previous associations between the Brittons and the Sandersons.
Hobson is described as 5ft 9in, slim, with a shaven balding head and a 2in scar near his left eye.
Hobson is said to have attempted to sell Diane Sanderson's car to friends on Saturday at 8pm, according to newspaper reports. Maxine Firth, 36, and David Gilmore, 31, told The Sun that Hobson explained to them he needed cash to emigrate to New Zealand with the twins and their family.
Mother-of-three Mrs Firth, of Selby, said: "I've been shaking ever since. My young daughters and their friends were playing in the house. He seemed really agitated."
Hobson, believed to have three children, is separated from his wife Kay.
It emerged yesterday that at York Crown Court, Hobson had admitted unlawfully wounding a man called William Brace. He was sentenced in June 2003.
He was given a two-year probation order and ordered to do 100 hours' community service.
It is understood Hobson stabbed Mr Brace a number of times outside a shop in Selby in March 2002.
Hobson worked as dustman in Selby up until June this year when he left of his own accord, the firm Onyx said.
Det Supt Ali said Hobson was seen in the Wiggington Road area of York about 2am on Sunday.
Later, a man fitting his description was spotted at 9.15am in Strensall, which is just a short distance away, across fields.
Mr and Mrs Britton were found dead some time after 9.15am at their large £400,000 detached home just outside Strensall, north of York.
Det Supt Ali said: "This, together with other evidence recovered from both scenes, indicates that the two incidents may well be linked."
Police said Hobson had been dating Claire, a former work colleague, for some time and that he had been living for the last three months in the one-bedroomed flat where the girls' bodies were found.
