Ann Heron's murder which took place on the hottest day of 1990 remains the only unsolved murder to remain unsolved in the last 70 years so I can only imagine that it must be quite a thorn in the side for that area's police.
Mrs Heron was 44 years old and mum to three when she met her tragic end to an unknown murderer and her husband has been shrouded in suspicion. He was arrested and charged with Ann's murder in 2005 but all the charges were dropped and the case against him was abruptly discontinued after just 12 weeks. Sadly because no other suspect has been forthcoming and the murder has not been solved the 85 year old widower's name has never been fully cleared of suspicion.
Now, I have recently read quite a lot of material written about this case suggesting that the killer may be Christopher Halliwell, which in my opinion takes the focus away from the search for the real assailant. I am not an expert but, I really am frustrated to see people that claim to have a "high level of expertise" in criminal investigation writing books and articles simply suggesting one man's name for about 30 murders up and down the UK.
Sorry I digress. . .
So it seems that a dangerous criminal Michael Benson was on the run from prison where he had been serving a life sentence for violent crimes. Jen Jarvie has been working closely with the family of the late Ann for over 4 years now has said that she firmly believes that Benson should at least be considered as a serious suspect in the murder. Mrs Jarvie said "Benson has not been a suspect in the investigation throughout it's 30 year history and she believes he should be considered as a suspect".
Jen Jarvie went on to say "after 30 long years, the family needs conclusion. These are people's lives that we are dealing with. It is cruel, it is inhumane to keep them hanging".
3rd August 2020 sees the 30th anniversary in this unsolved case and it is in my mind high time that this case was investigated from a new angle, take away the automatic assumption that "Halliwell is responsible" and look more carefully at the information that we have available to us.
Ann Heron is thought to have been sunbathing in a fairly secluded garden at her somewhat isolated home and may well have been observed over a hedge. She was wearing her bikini and enjoying a very hot day, the hottest in the North East of England since records began in the 1930s. At 1645 hrs a blue car, possibly a Ford Sierra or Vauxhall Astra was seen parked outside Ann's home, Aeolian House, Middleton St George and at 1705 hrs a blue car was seen speeding down the 50 yard driveway and away in a westerly direction along the A66, having cut sharply across the A67, overtook a taxi and sped away.
The driver of the car was described as Heavily tanned possibly of a Mediterranean appearance with hair longer at the sides, aged between 35 to 45 years old. Unfortunately neither of the witnesses managed to get even a partial index for the vehicle and despite intense enquiries it was never found. It is quite clear that the vehicle and it's driver need to be identified but of course time has passed, the car has probably long since been scrapped and the driver will have changed considerably. If a witness comes forward they will need to be sure that the person they identify is the right one, but having said that no one must be put off. If anyone knows any information relating to that fateful day 3rd august 1990 particularly between abut 1630 hrs and 1710 hrs they really need to come forward and speak up.
The late Ann Heron's widower Peter is in his late 80's and it is so important to try to ensure any doubt about his involvement in his wife's death is lifted before he passes away so that he can rein peace. Peter came home that day and found the dog in the garden and Ann on the floor in the lounge in a pool of blood wearing just her bikini top. Ann who was booked to attend a party that evening had been repeatedly and brutally stabbed to death. Police suggest that the suspect had planned to rape Ann as her bikini bottom had been removed but whether that was the intention or not of course we cannot confirm.
I mean however unlikely there is no evidence available to confirm that Ann was in fact wearing the bikini bottoms prior to the incident which lead to her death, although there would be no logical reason why she would not have.
Sadly due to misreporting by the media (as usual) it was suggested that Ann's killer was planning to rape her but if that was the case why didn't he go through with it? After all he was presumably alone with Ann and as according to the police there was no sign of any struggle inside the house or indeed outside, this of course indicates that there was a very good chance the killer was known to Ann, but who was he?
30 years ago today 3rd August Ann's life was brought to an abrupt end seemingly without any reason or explanation. She was by all accounts a friendly lady, quite reserved and a mother that was very much loved so why would anyone take her life? Was this just an opportune killer who saw Ann sun bathing in the grounds of her home? If so then why no sign of any disturbance or of a fight? After all our natural human instinct when faced with danger is to fight or flee, neither of which seems to have happened on the hottest day of 1990.
Ann's husband has today written to the police and challenged them to either look at the new evidence and clear his name completely or charge him again and give him his day in court to prove to the world that he had nothing to do with his wife's death.
Peter said "You are innocent until proven guilty, but they never gave me the chance to prove I am innocent" He went on to say "I was guilty before I could be innocent"
I know it's a long time ago but I do urge anyone that may have any memories of 3rd August 1990 in or around Darlington in County Durham in particular the A67 between 4.30pm and 5,15pm to contact the police or indeed get in touch with The Northern Echo.
I would like to take this opportunity to say that I do not believe this lady's murder to be in any way connected to Christopher Halliwell and I urge anyone looking at the case to focus on more recent evidence raised by private death investigator, Jen Jarvie which links the late Michael Benson to the case. Here is a picture of him taken from the 1990 BBC Crimewatch appeal when he was on the run from prison and said to have been driving a blue Ford Orion. . .
I wish Peter Heron the very best and sincerely hope that his name will soon be cleared and the truth finally told on this tragic case.
Stay safe everyone, please do leave me a comment and don't forget to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/adams_jarad or
Update . . .
BBC News has today announced that a suspect has officially been put forward in this case by Jen Jarvie and now the family have high hopes that the case may at last be solved and most importantly the good name of Peter Heron be rightly cleared.
I will bring updates as they come in, here is the link to the news article, stay safe
