Sanctuary worker 'admits murdering Sixties model Eva'

A post-mortem examination was being carried out in Hungary today on the body of a former London model and friend of John Lennon who vanished seven months ago.

Eva Rhodes, 65, ran an animal refuge 200 mile from Budapest. Today it was reported that a worker at the sanctuary had confessed to police that he beat her to death and tried to burn her body before burying it in woodland close to her home.

Police said Ms Rhodes, who was married to a British architect and appeared in a film by Lennon and Yoko Ono, and the man had argued over his pay.

The suspect was identified early in the investigation after CCTV footage showed him with Ms Rhodes on the day she disappeared.

He had always denied being responsible for her death until taking a lie detector test yesterday.

Rhodes's sister, Judith Majlath, who lives in Kensington and campaigned for a wider investigation into her disappearance, claimed police refused to take her concerns seriously.

"I have known since last September that something like this must have happened. I've tried to tell the authorities but they just wouldn't listen to me. The Hunagarian investigation was a joke. I'm in deep shock and sorrow," she said.

Ms Rhodes was last seen in September talking to the man suspected of her killing. Her home was ransacked and a laptop computer and telephones were stolen.

Her office records and files were partially destroyed and her car was found abandoned nearby.

Ms Rhodes was born in Hungary in 1943 but came to England as a child and was a successful model in the Sixties.