Questions abound over man of intrigue

Photo: Ken Bennett

SADNESS . . . Maureen Toogood with a photo of her husband

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THE miniature crystal keepsake catches the late afternoon sunlight in Maureen Toogood's third-floor flat.

Tragically, the elegantly-crafted swan is the only tangible reminder the retired nurse has of her life and times with David Lytton.

Mr Lytton created worldwide headlines after he made an unexplained 4,000 mile journey to die on a shale-strewn track on Saddleworth moor.

Soulmate

But Mr Lytton's life has proved to be just as mysterious as his tragic passing.

For more than 30 years, Maureen (69), an only child, was his soulmate.

Yet despite their close bond, he never told her he sold his two-bedroomed house in Streatham or of his move to live in Pakistan 10 years ago.

He did not call her when he returned from Lahore and booked a five-night stay at a London hotel ­- the day before he began his fateful journey North by train.

The couple first met in 1971 when he came to her assistance after she fell in a road near her home.

"David was so considerate," Maureen recalls in her cosy London council flat.

"He made sure I was alright, escorted me home and made me tea and toast.

"He rang the following day and the friendship just grew from that.

"He was very romantic and would regularly buy me flowers. He insisted I had my hair cut once a month at a top Mayfair salon. He was a very kind, caring and sensitive man."

The couple continued to live their lives at separate London addresses.

"David's home was very sparse," she said. "He didn't have a washing machine, fridge, cooker or any household goods.

"I even bought him an electric kettle and did his laundry. In the main, he would eat out."

Initially, Maureen did not know David had changed his name from the family's former name Lautenberg.

He slept on a mattress in one bedroom and used the other to keep his clothes in pristine condition laid out neatly on the floor.

"He was very particular about his appearance and would go to great lengths to buy the best clothes he could afford," she explained.

Agonise

"But though he earned good money ­- he always had £100 on him ­- he would agonise over what to buy.

"He would spend hours on the phone to me discussing everything from the purchase of underclothes to shoes.

"He would only buy good quality and if he could not afford them, he'd save up for them."

During their relationship, Maureen became pregnant but tragically lost the baby after five months.

"David was absolutely devastated. Things would have been very different if we'd had the baby" she said wistfully. "We would have got married."

In 1975, Maureen met and married John Toogood, a BBC radio presenter, who later died but she kept in regular touch with David until 2006.

"We'd continue to talk on the phone for hours and meet too," said Maureen, who is housebound and recovering from a stroke and heart attack.

Contact

"David didn't have credit cards and he was very careful with his eating habits.

"He normally only ate vegetarian food and never drank or smoked."

The last time the couple met was October, 2006. "When we parted, he gave me a kiss as usual and said goodbye."

But two days later he flew to Pakistan after selling his London home for a £220,000 profit.

"He had bought the house originally for £26,000 and owed just £5,000.

"I had no idea he'd left until one of his neighbours said he'd sold up and moved to America," she said.

"I even tried to contact him via the American Embassy without any luck."

The first Maureen knew David was living in Pakistan was when police called to see her a year after his death.

They found family members and established his identity by DNA in the UK.

"I couldn't take it all in," she said.

"Why did he tell people he had gone to America when he hadn't? Why didn't he see me when he flew home in December, 2015 ­- and why did he go to Saddleworth?

"He'd never been to the moor or even talked about the place throughout all our years together."

And she added poignantly: "He definitely didn't kill himself. He may have taken strychnine as a boost, a dab on his skin, which could entered though his skin and killed him. He had no time for drugs. He didn't approve of them."

Her gaze returns to the twinkling swan David bought for her 40th birthday. "I look out of my window towards where he lived and think about him every day."


* "Mystery of the Man on the Moor" ­- a TV documentary tracing the search to uncover Mr Lytton's identity, airs tonight at 10pm on Channel 4.