POLICE are investigating the murder of a man who fell from a ninth floor St Albans flat at the weekend.

Mr Shumin Hussain, 29, of Doggets Way, died after being found unconscious outside Telford Court in Alma Road on Sunday night.

Police were called to the high rise apartment block just after 10pm amid reports of screams and an argument coming from a flat on the ninth floor.

Mr Joseph Myland, who lives on the seventh floor of Telford Court and was one of the first to call the police, said: "I was on the phone to police when I saw this body just go past my window. It was quite shocking."

A 40-year-old man from St Albans was also taken to Hemel Hempstead Hospital suffering from injuries and was kept in overnight.

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sparrow said: "We know that Shumin was at a flat in Telford Court just prior to his death.

"We still need to trace the other people who were at the flat so that we can establish exactly what happened and how Shumin came to his death.

"We know that there are people who have not made themselves known to police who were in the flat on Sunday night.

"These people may have vital information about Shumin's death and we would urge them to come forward and tell us what they know."

Following the death, police immediately closed off the area around Telford Court and Alma Road.

People entering or leaving Alma Road were still being questioned on Monday morning Mr Myland said that police searched all the flats in Telford Court and residents had been told they could not put out their rubbish as officers and detectives sought further information.

Police are also appealing for anyone who has information or who may have witnessed the incident to come forward. They should call the incident room on 01707 354023 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Mr Shumin's family declined to talk.

A 40-year-old man, a 26-year-old man and 26-year-old woman, all from St Albans, have been arrested on suspicion of murder .

 POLICE are reassuring St Albans residents that there is no link between the recent death of a German woman and the killing at Telford Court on Sunday.

Two members of the public discovered the woman, aged in her mid-40's, in shrubland near Orient Close with a knife in her chest.

Detectives say they have had a good response to their inquiries but still need help tracing the woman's last steps.

A London taxi driver who drove the woman to St Albans from Heathrow after she arrived on Saturday, August 23, has providedpolice with important information. He is understood to have gone with her into several shops after parking his bottle green Nissan Primera.

DCI Adrian Tapp said: "We are appealing for anyone who was in Bhs or Robert Dyas in St Peter's Street who may have seen this woman. We understand that while in Bhs she used the lift and during the journey created a scene and began talking very loudly The taxi driver dropped her off in Orient Close, near where she was found dead on August 28. Anyone with information should call the incident room on 01707 354236.