MYSTERY still surrounds why a man was murdered outside his Pitsea home, an inquest heard.

Richard Zephaniah, 39, was stabbed outside his flat, in Bockingham Green, Felmores, in January 2006.

Despite several police raids, no one has ever been brought to account for his death.

Three men were arrested during the course of the investigation, and a case was prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service. However, the CPS decided there was not enough evidence to pursue a prosecution.

Yesterday, at an inquest into his death, coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

She said: “There are lots of reasons why an inquest isn’t held straight away after the death.

“In this particular case it’s very much because there have been police investigations on the go.”

Mr Zephaniah suffered a single stab wound to the chest. Det Insp Anne Cameron said police had immediately treated it as a murder investigation because Mr Zephaniah had called someone to say he had been stabbed. Scenes of crime officers visited the site, checked telephone calls, and viewed CCTV.

They arrested three people on suspicion of murder and sent a file to the CPS in January 2007.

But the CPS ruled there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

Det Insp Cameron added: “As a result of that we obviously released our suspects from bail as we had no other evidence at that point.”

However, she said the case will be regularly reviewed.

Speaking to the family, Mrs Beasley-Murray said: “He clearly was much loved, and I hope you will be able to retain happy memories of him.

“It’s good to hear no case is ever finally closed and if any fresh evidence were to come up it would be pursued.”

The coroner’s court, sitting at New Bridge House, Chelmsford, also heard there had been problems with communication between the police and the family.