MURDER squad detectives are trying to piece together the final hours in the life of a Bolton criminal blasted to death in his home.

Officers have interviewed friends of 42-year-old Billy Webb who were with him the night before he was shot through the head in what police believe was a gangland execution.

They have also examined a white car parked yards away from the flat where Webb had been living since he was freed from prison on bail pending a court appearance for drug offences later this year.

The vehicle was removed from the scene of crime while investigations continued into the shooting.

The well-known criminal was shot in the head and chest while he was asleep in bed with his girlfriend at their first floor flat in Whiteledge Road, Bryn, Wigan.

Webb -- full name William Craig -- was killed shortly after 3am on Friday. He was due to face charges of conspiracy to supply drugs in just five months time.

Police have now removed the cordon from around his street and a lone officer has been posted at the scene.

Webb's girlfriend was shot in the arm and was treated for bullet wounds. She had earlier staggered across the road into the arms of an elderly pensioner. As exclusively revealed in the BEN, Webb was linked in a murder trial to the killing of five-year-old Dillon Hill who died in 1997 when he was shot through the head as a gunman -- intending to kill his stepfather John Bates -- opened fire as the two were walking hand-in-hand in Bankfield Street, Deane.

Webb's girlfriend has been interviewed by detectives at her hospital bedside and has given detectives a full account of the shooting.

Officers have combed bushes, gardens and spare land in Bryn, a suburb of Wigan, in the search for clues and hunt for the murder weapon.

They are still appealing for witnesses. Phone the special police hotline on 0161 856 7150. All calls will be treated in the strictest confidence.