A woman has told for the first time how a cold-blooded killer pumped four bullets into her partner and casually strolled from the scene.

The murderer - believed to be a professional hit-man - then calmly rode away on a motor scooter after shooting decorator Ron Fuller in the head and chest.

Behind him he left Mr Fuller's partner Larissa Tuitt screaming hysterically on the doorstep of their home in a quiet Grays street.

The full horror of the murder unfolded at an inquest on Thursday which heard how - 15 months after the brutal slaying - detectives have not found the killer.

Mr Fuller, who had a five-year-old son, was about to leave for work at 7.45am on Tuesday, August 29, 2000 when a man approached and shot him twice in the head and twice in the body with a 9mm handgun, the hearing heard.

Miss Tuitt, 28, told the inquest at Chelmsford Coroner's Court: "I went to the door and just saw the guy walking away. He was not in a hurry and walked so casually, it made me think: 'Did you just do that?'

"He wasn't in a hurry to leave and was just pulling his gloves on. He was medium build and was wearing a postman-type jacket, but it was not leather."

Miss Tuitt - who no longer lives at the house in Parkside - was speaking publicly for the first time about the murder.

The inquest heard how Mr Fuller, 30, died from multiple gunshot wounds and that nobody had been arrested in connection with his death 15 months ago.

Mr Fuller's brother Terry, 30, was also in court to hear coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray record a verdict of unlawful killing, and she added: "I offer my deepest sympathy to the family and the five-year-old boy."

Published Friday November 23, 2001