A MAN jailed last week for the murder of an Ayrshire woman has been

questioned by detectives hunting the killer of Irvine woman Shona

Stevens, who died three days after being attacked as she walked home in

broad daylight last November.

A judge at the High Court in Kilmarnock jailed Edward Mullen for life

last Thursday, with a recommendation that he serve at least 15 years,

after he admitted the murder of Mrs Yvette Wilson, 27, on January 19 in

a bothy in West Kilbride railway station.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that Mullen had

been interviewed in connection with the murder of Ms Stevens, who had a

seven-year-old daughter Candice.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday: ''We can confirm that Edward

Mullen has been questioned in connection with the Shona Stevens

investigation.'' The spokeswoman declined to comment further.

Ms Stevens, 31, a divorcee, was dragged into bushes and savagely

clubbed about the head by her attacker as she walked home at lunchtime

from shops through Middleton Park, in Bourtreehill, Irvine.

She died three days later in the neurosurgery unit of the Southern

General Hospital, Glasgow.

Detectives involved in the case confirmed in March that they were

looking to former boyfriends for help in finding Ms Stevens' killer.

They claimed she had relationships after she left her husband in South

Africa and returned to her mother's house in Irvine, Ayrshire.

Detectives also received several phone calls after the reconstruction

of the murder was shown on the BBC's Crimewatch UK programme in

February.

Mullen, 25, is understood to have been questioned at Barlinnie prison,

Glasgow, while awaiting trial for the murder of Mrs Wilson.

In September, 1991, at the High Court in Glasgow, he was convicted of

assault and roberry and assault with intent to ravish. He was released

from Peterhead Prison in June 1994 -- having been given remission -- and

lived in Ardrossan, then West Kilbride.

The High Court at Kilmarnock heard that Mrs Wilson, a waitress at

Inverkip Marina and part-time design student, had been on her way to an

evening out with friends when she was grabbed by Mullen.

She was taken into an outhouse, known locally as the bothy, where a

scarf was placed round her neck then stuffed into her mouth, suffocating

her. The body was later burned beyond recognition.

The court heard that Mullen had told police of his ''urges to harm

people, mainly women'' which he had kept under control, but there was no

record of Mullen seeking psychiatric help at Peterhead.

It heard that for some weeks before Mrs Wilson's killing, Mullen had

shown particular interest in the movement of young women around the

station, but this was never reported to police.