UK UK - Ann Heron, 44, found at home with throat cut, Darlington, 3 August 1990

[CSIAngus]

One further thought, and I don't profess to be an expert in this area: The day of the murder was a hot sunny day. AH was sunbathing as we know. Exposure to strong sunlight after even momentary eye closure, which you might do in direct sunlight, can result in 'white balance', as your eyes readjust which results in a blue effect as the blue part of the spectrum is marginally quicker so is reported to the brain first (DON'T test this by looking directly at the Sun then looking at a white car; there's plenty published on this effect). Was the car seen speeding away from the house blue, as was widely reported at the time, or was it in fact white? Taking the blue car out of the equation and replacing it with a white car would be highly significant. One witness said that they saw PH in his white car driving erratically at a roundabout near the house around the time of the murder.

 

[WiseOwl]

Looked at this one a bit after the C5 documentary and did a trawl of available online media - presented without comment at:

Ann Heron murder (Darlington, 1990): media trawl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyhXJ3dx3Ck Crimewatch October 1990 - witness account of blue car heading towards Darlington (05:43) ———————...

shadwellsblog.blogspot.com

Thanks for posting this @shadwell.

Some items I found interesting in these reports:

The Northern Echo 6 August 2015 (Taken from PH's letter to the police):

During my interrogation in 2005 and presumably as part of the prosecution case against me, the police insisted that I could not account for a full two hours of my day on August 3, 1990, the day of Ann’s murder.

That is wrong. I had lunch with Ann at 1pm and returned to the office at 2pm. At about 3pm I received a telephone call from a client, Cleveland Bridge, who asked me to attend his office to discuss a contract my company was tendering for. As requested by him, I left the office shortly after 3pm and made the short journey to Cleveland Bridge and was in front of the client and two of his colleagues by about 3.15pm. I left the meeting at about 4.30pm and returned to the office via Croft and through Middleton St George village arriving back in the office at 5pm, returning home at 6pm to find Ann dead on our living room floor. Each and every step of my movements as I’ve described are corroborated by witness statements in Durham Constabulary’s own prosecution bundle of ‘evidence’ presented to my solicitor.

Did PH have any witness to corroborate his drive through the village of Croft-on Tees between 4.30 - 5.00 though? Did he have a witness who saw him leave the meeting at 4.30 and another witness who saw him arrive at his office around 5.00 but did anyone see him inbetween?

Then there is this:

The Northern Echo 13 February 2008 (In relation to Ann):

"She was seen by a friend on a passing bus at about two o'clock and another friend telephoned her a bit later."

This information came from DS, PH's daughter. In the Channel 5 documentary, the police stated it was 3.30 when Ann was seen by a friend on the bus. So why the 90 minute discrepancy?

And:

"She always fed Heidi, her dog, at five o'clock, but on that day she didn't."

About 50 minutes after Heidi's scheduled feeding time had passed, 53-year-old Mr Heron walked in through the front door.

Again this information came from DS. I am beginning to wonder if the info in the documentary from the police that the dog was not heard to bark around 5.00 was in fact a misinterpretation of the dog not having eaten at 5.00? It would make more sense.

The police seem to have narrowed down the time Ann was killed based on the dog's situation (either having not eaten or barked) to around 5.00, but could the murder have occurred a bit earlier, say between 4.15 - 4.45?

 

[shadwell]

OTOH:

“…he arrived back at the depot at about 4.50pm. His colleague, Paul Stiller, had just taken delivery of a new car and they went together to see it.”

‘The gazelle is fighting for its life. That’s what it felt like’

In the third part of our exclusive series about one of the North-East's most notorious murders, Debbie Simpson tells Chris Lloyd about seeing…

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

 

[shadwell]

Also, denim is used in jeans, skirts, shirts, bags, jackets, hats; all kinds of attire.

Boiler suits?

 

[WiseOwl]

OTOH:

“…he arrived back at the depot at about 4.50pm. His colleague, Paul Stiller, had just taken delivery of a new car and they went together to see it.”

‘The gazelle is fighting for its life. That’s what it felt like’

In the third part of our exclusive series about one of the North-East's most notorious murders, Debbie Simpson tells Chris Lloyd about seeing…

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

I believe what you have quoted is from PH's daughter DS in 2008.

In 2005 PH stated the time he got back was 5pm:

'I left the meeting at about 4.30pm and returned to the office via Croft and through Middleton St George village arriving back in the office at 5pm'

I am innocent, it's time to clear my name - Peter Heron's letter to Durham police chief

ON the last day of our series of articles about Durham Police's only unsolved murder for more than 60 years, we publish a letter to the police from…

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

Similarly there have been different versions over the years as to the time that he arrived and left the meeting at Cleveland Bridge.

 

[shadwell]

Yup, the timings are (perhaps unsurprisingly) somewhat fluid - I was interested by the suggestion (particularly in light of PH’s later actions) that he went back to the office and then went off again in the company of PS.

 

[WiseOwl]

Yup, the timings are (perhaps unsurprisingly) somewhat fluid - I was interested by the suggestion (particularly in light of PH’s later actions) that he went back to the office and then went off again in the company of PS.

Has it ever been stated what type and colour was the car that PS had just acquired? Where did they go to see this new car, at PS's home? Where did he live? What time did they get back to the office?

 

[shadwell]

Has it ever been stated what type and colour was the car that PS had just acquired? Where did they go to see this new car, at PS's home? Where did he live? What time did they get back to the office?

No more info on this afaik- I *think* PS lived in Middleton at the time, but without going back through all the articles I can’t say for sure. Tbh I’m only now working out where Stiller’s yard was located.

 

[CSIAngus]

And another thing: PH arrives home to find his wife murdered yet at no time does he ever think that the murderer might still be in the house. He then phones police and his friend and goes outside to his car where he leaves traces of AH's blood on his car, thus removing any viable use of the car as evidence. His friend then arrives before police and he asks him to go in to confirm to him that it is true. Yet at no time does he consider that the murderer is still in the house and that he might be putting his friend's life in peril. Of course, he knew the murderer was not still in the house without the need to check.

 

[CSIAngus]

And another thing: PH arrives home to find his wife murdered yet at no time does he ever think that the murderer might still be in the house. He then phones police and his friend and goes outside to his car where he leaves traces of AH's blood on his car, thus removing any viable use of the car as evidence. His friend then arrives before police and he asks him to go in to confirm to him that it is true. Yet at no time does he consider that the murderer is still in the house and that he might be putting his friend's life in peril. Of course, he knew the murderer was not still in the house without the need to check.

In my mind, I think the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming that PH is the murderer.

 

[Tortoise]

I would say lack of blood on PH's clothes could easily be explained by PH being undressed at the time Ann was killed. Is it purely coincidence that Ann was killed in the same spot as the 36 deposits of his semen on the carpet? With no unidentified semen at the scene? In my opinion the speck of semen in Ann's throat was fresh, to have arrived there possibly through inhalation of air borne semen, not from dried stains on a carpet.

How does anyone know what time he got home?

How does anyone know he really did drive the long route back to the office as he claims?

 

[Jen Jarvie]

Hi Jen,

I know you took part in the TV documentary and are close to this case, so i hope you don't mind if you could answer a couple of questions for me please:

1. In the documentary the police stated that there was no sign of a struggle or forced entry, indicating she may have known her killer. The family dog had not been heard to bark to signal an intruder.

Where did the police get this information from about the dog not barking? The house is quite isolated so who was near enough to give that statement to the police?

2. Her husband went back to work at 2pm. Half an hour later, Ann spoke to a friend on the phone and seemed in good spirits. She was spotted sunbathing at 3.30pm at the front of the house where she had moved to avoid grass being blown into the back from a nearby tractor. It was the last known sighting of Ann alive.

Again, where did the information come from about Ann moving from the back of the house to the front to avoid grass being blown into the back from a nearby tractor? The only person we know who actually saw Ann after 2pm was the person who was on the bus who spotted her at 3.30pm, but they wouldn't have known about either Ann sunbathing at the back of the house or about the grass being blown into the back garden.

In the documentary the police mentioned both the dog not barking and Ann moving from the back to the front of the house, but they gave no explanation as to where they got the information from.

Hope you can help - thank you.

Hi,
Thank you for your interest. The house was not broken into. However, this does not indicate it being someone Ann Heron knew, merely that there was not a broken door, window etc. It is more plausible that it was a random and opportunist attack as the connection with the blue car seen speeding from the drive (that was not the lover's husband) was no one they actually knew/ could identify as knowing. The point made about the dog barking was ludicrous - how would anyone actually know if it bared or not? The house was isolated so a dog could have barked and there was noone to actually hear. The family collie was traumatised after the attack but this, sadly could have been due to it being threatened or beaten - unfortunately, we will never actually know.
The last know sighting of Ann alive was 15.25 from the observer on the bus, however, this is a dubious sighting. The last known interaction was at 14.40 with her friend on the phone.

The movements mentioned were taken from a cumulation of sources from the statements. There was nothing sinister about the repositioning due to the tractor.
Hope this clarifies things.

 

[Jen Jarvie]

In my mind, I think the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming that PH is the murderer.

Peter Heron has a cast iron alibi - there is no circumstantial evidence at all

 

[Jen Jarvie]

PH would no doubt argue that they had sex on that carpet many times. However, that doesn't explain the sperm in her throat.

Also, denim is used in jeans, skirts, shirts, bags, jackets, hats; all kinds of attire. She was wearing the bikini top but was naked below. Can we be certain that she didn't have and would never wear a pair of Daisy Dukes? Cut off jeans were not unknown in 1990. Were her bikini bottoms found at the scene? That PH 'never wore denim jeans in his life' doesn't mean he wouldn't wear them as disposables when doing his wife in.

PH taking the long route to the office rather than the shorter route by his house in order to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend walking her dog seems out of step with how PH dismissed the insignificance of his brief affair in the C5 documentary. Was that habitual dog walking corroborated by the ex?

Home invasion sexually motivated stranger murders are extremely rare and the perpetrator would never know that AH would be home alone. The only person that would know that was PH, who had at best a wobbly alibi, who found her body and whose sperm was in her throat. Nothing was out of place in the house, nothing had been broken or stolen and the dog hadn't reacted, as it wouldn't if the perpetrator was also its master.

Peter Heron did not have a 'wobbly alibi' at all. He has a cast iron alibi from 2pm -6pm.

 

[Jen Jarvie]

One further thought, and I don't profess to be an expert in this area: The day of the murder was a hot sunny day. AH was sunbathing as we know. Exposure to strong sunlight after even momentary eye closure, which you might do in direct sunlight, can result in 'white balance', as your eyes readjust which results in a blue effect as the blue part of the spectrum is marginally quicker so is reported to the brain first (DON'T test this by looking directly at the Sun then looking at a white car; there's plenty published on this effect). Was the car seen speeding away from the house blue, as was widely reported at the time, or was it in fact white? Taking the blue car out of the equation and replacing it with a white car would be highly significant. One witness said that they saw PH in his white car driving erratically at a roundabout near the house around the time of the murder.

The car seen driving from the driveway was definitely blue. The person who saw a white car could not have seen Peter Heron as when this sighting took place Peter Heron was in a meeting with three other people. It simply was not Peter Heron that they saw.

 

[Jen Jarvie]

Yup, the timings are (perhaps unsurprisingly) somewhat fluid - I was interested by the suggestion (particularly in light of PH’s later actions) that he went back to the office and then went off again in the company of PS.

There is no fluidity in the timings. Peter has a cast iron alibi from 2pm to 6pm when he discovered the body of his wife. This includes several witnesses, authorities, and people he knew.

 

[Jen Jarvie]

I would say lack of blood on PH's clothes could easily be explained by PH being undressed at the time Ann was killed. Is it purely coincidence that Ann was killed in the same spot as the 36 deposits of his semen on the carpet? With no unidentified semen at the scene? In my opinion the speck of semen in Ann's throat was fresh, to have arrived there possibly through inhalation of air borne semen, not from dried stains on a carpet.

How does anyone know what time he got home?

How does anyone know he really did drive the long route back to the office as he claims?

Having seen the crime scene photos there is no way that anyone could have left the scene without significant blood on them. Peter had the same clothing on all day and could not have killed his wife as there was not any open opportunity within his afternoon to do this. The deposit of semen in her throat was, in my opinion, cross-contamination following the removal of her body. Even if it was fresh semen - which it was not, this would not implicate her husband in their house with his wife.

 

[Jen Jarvie]

No more info on this afaik- I *think* PS lived in Middleton at the time, but without going back through all the articles I can’t say for sure. Tbh I’m only now working out where Stiller’s yard was located.

Stiller Transport was about 3 minute's drive from the house. Peter left there and then arrived home to call 999. There is not conspiracy of timing he was seen leaving and then the 999 call was recorded.

 

[CSIAngus]

Peter Heron has a cast iron alibi - there is no circumstantial evidence at all

The police don't think so.

 

[CSIAngus]

Having seen the crime scene photos there is no way that anyone could have left the scene without significant blood on them. Peter had the same clothing on all day and could not have killed his wife as there was not any open opportunity within his afternoon to do this. The deposit of semen in her throat was, in my opinion, cross-contamination following the removal of her body. Even if it was fresh semen - which it was not, this would not implicate her husband in their house with his wife.

How could the semen in her throat possibly have got there through cross-contamination? Why would fresh semen in her throat "not implicate" the provider of that semen. How do you know that it wasn't fresh semen? How can you be so absolute about that. You're doing an admirable job in defending PH, who you obviously passionately believe. So many of us on this thread obviously don't though.