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Pensioner Hugh Watson said goodbye to his friends at a Llanrwst pub at about 9.30pm on Tuesday, December 9, 1975, and set off for home.

A recluse with no family, his home was a cowshed near a hay barn on a farm off Station Road.

The journey was doubly difficult for Mr Watson, who could only walk with the help of two walking sticks, which had made him a well-known character in Llanrwst.

He liked to have a few drinks at the Pen-y-Bryn Hotel, and would normally drink on his own as he enjoyed the warmth and pleasant surroundings, where he smoked his pipe.

But he was never seen alive again after leaving the pub that evening.

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The 77-year-old was attacked shortly after arriving home. He was stabbed - possibly with a pitchfork - and his body was left in the nearby barn, which was set alight.

The incident remains one of North Wales’ few unsolved murders.

A full-scale murder investigation was launched by North Wales Police the next day, following the discovery of Mr Watson’s body by firemen fighting the blaze in the hay barn.

Although the post-mortem revealed Mr Watson died from asphyxia, his body bore stab wounds which police said could have been inflicted by a weapon similar to a pitchfork.

Locals believe Mr Watson was a victim of gossip.

As he was a bachelor with no family, people thought he was a miser who had hidden his “riches” in the cowshed.

The alarm was raised when two police officers on patrol spotted the burning barn. They alerted the fire service and crews from Llanrwst and Betws y Coed were soon at the scene.

After the body was found among the hay bales, detectives searched the site under floodlights.

The barn stands behind houses on a quiet residential part of Station Road. Locals who came out of their houses to watch the blaze lingered on their doorsteps in the early hours as police activity built up.

The murder investigation was led by Detective Chief Superintendent Eric Evans, who later became North Wales Police’s deputy chief constable.

He said the post-mortem was carried out on site in the early hours of the morning by Home Office pathologist Dr Donald Wayte, and showed the cause of death was asphyxia. But Mr Watson also bore signs of being stabbed more than 20 times.

Some of the wounds were serious but others were superficial, suggesting that whoever committed the crime spent some time in the barn with the victim.

At the time, detectives were anxious to trace anyone who saw Mr Watson that night and appealed for them to come forward with information.

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An incident room was set up at Llanrwst Police Station to collate all the reports.

About 40 detectives were drafted in from all parts of North Wales, including members of the regional crime squad.

A number of people were interviewed and made statements.

The appeal for information was repeated the following week. All initial leads proved fruitless.

Mr Evans said later: “If the offender was a local person, we still feel sure that there must be someone who would have seen him with his clothing disarrayed or would have noticed a change in his manner, such as nervousness.”

At the time, detectives were trying to trace a bearded man whose description was given after the initial appeal.

He was seen on the night of the murder at 9.50pm at Llandudno Junction and just over an hour later at Station Road in Llanrwst.

He was described as aged between 20 and 30, 5ft 8ins tall, and of medium build with dark hair. He was wearing a dark overcoat and trousers.

Police said they wanted to interview him at the time so he could be eliminated from their inquiries.

Read: Llangernyw man killed wife with an axe

As Christmas of 1975 approached, the investigation continued and uniformed officers visited every house in the Llanrwst area as part of the inquiry.

Later, the house-to-house inquiry was extended to Trefriw. In all, police interviewed more than 6,000 people.

The barn was owned by a local farmer, but it is not known how long Mr Watson had lived in the cowshed. However, he had lived in the Llanrwst area for many years.

Mr Watson was believed to be a native of Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr near Cerrig y Drudion, and used to work as a roadman and farm worker in the district.

He also drove a steam roller and threshing machines on farms for part of the year.

Although the file has never been closed, Mr Evans later doubted anyone would be caught and brought to justice for the crime.

He told the Daily Post’s sister paper the North Wales Weekly News in 1988: “It’s always possible but with the passage of time the chances become more remote.

“Many clues were destroyed by firemen tackling the blaze. The clothing was burnt so we could not get any fibres for forensics. Mr Watson lived in a cowshed that was in a terrible state.

“If he had been living in a house, we could have looked for fingerprints.”