David Bieber
13 April 2012

A former US Marine was jailed for life today for the cold-blooded murder of traffic policeman Ian Broadhurst on Boxing Day last year.

David Bieber, a bouncer and steroid abuser who is wanted in the US for a murder plot, was also convicted of the attempted murders of two of Pc Broadhurst's colleagues.

A jury of six men and six women at Newcastle Crown Court convicted Bieber, 38, a day after retiring to consider verdicts.

They were unaware that he was a drug dealer who had fled to the UK from Florida where he was wanted by police over a plot to hire a hitman to kill a love rival.

He was also suspected of hiring the same gunman to murder his former girlfriend, but the attempt on her life failed.

Pc Broadhurst, 34, was gunned down during a routine check on a stolen vehicle in Leeds.

His colleagues Pcs Neil Roper, 45, and James Banks, 27, were shot but survived.
Bieber, who was driving the stolen BMW, fled the scene, triggering a manhunt which ended when he was found holed up in a £34-a-night hotel in Gateshead. He had hidden the murder weapon under a mattress.

Bieber, who was using the name Nathan Coleman at the time, tried to convince the jury the killer was a friend - dubbed "Mr X" by the prosecution - whom he refused to name, claiming he was a loyal friend he would not "stab in the back".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in