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

[tes1984]

Hi,

The reward was £50,000 - it was misquoted in the press. The holiday was not with his girlfriend but his wife and daughters, their partners and children for his retirement. I hope that clarifies.

Reporting the reward as £500, rather than £50,000, is a pretty serious discrepancy.

'The Journal' on 20 July 1992, reported that Peter was off on a romantic holiday to Tenerife with his "new friend" F****, and planned to propose.

Some of the quotes attributed to Peter in this article include:

"I've made no secret of my relationship with F****. She came to our works Christmas dinner, and in February arranged a secret birthday party for me. F**** knows all about everything and I'm probably going to pop the question".

"We have discussed in detail our future together and maybe the cruise will be the right place to pop the question".

 

[tes1984]

There was no life insurance. Its not cut and dry when Peter Heron from day one has an accountable alibi.

You know a hundred times more about this case than I do, so I'm only really playing devil's advocate. However it's not unknown for a spouse to ensure an alibi, but have someone else actually commit the murder.

 

[WiseOwl]

There was no life insurance. Its not cut and dry when Peter Heron from day one has an accountable alibi.

He didn't have an accountable alibi from day one though, did he? You yourself have stated that he initially told the police he drove a different way to his office (presumably past Aeolian House) before changing it to driving back via the village of Croft. So, right from the very start, he has caused doubt about himself by giving two different versions of how he arrived back at his office.

I have asked you before (without receiving a reply) but when did Mr Heron change his story of his drive back to the office - was it before or after the affair with the barmaid became known?

 

[CSIAngus]

Was it ever disclosed she wanted to leave him? So he came home unannounced (after already being back for lunch) - Demanded / Got a BJ and then slit her throat? Then drove around / had meetings to bulk up his alibi. I'm far from convinced that PH is innocent, but I am not buying that scenario. Wasn't it proved she was killed after 3-4pm? So PH couldn't of committed the crime on his lunch break.

It was widely reported that Anne was unhappy in Darlington and wanted to return to her children in Scotland. The Link is My5 which is only broadcast in the UK.

No access outside UK

 

[Westchester76]

The problem for Peter Heron is that, there has never been a viable addtional suspect, or any evidence suggesting an intruder. A stranger attack would of surely resulted in clear evidence of a struggle between Ann & the culprit A burglary gone wrong, would result in items missing from the house surely? A burglar being rumbled kills the occupant but then doesn't steal anything?

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

Followed this thread/case for a while now , only posting once.

Love WiseOwl, Angus,tes, and others posts. I also feel a little for JJ and appreciate her occ posting and stance.

For me, IMO only, PH is guilty as sin,based on utter obfuscation, lies, motive, countertruths etc. The Police have no other suspects they are looking at and have clearly stated so, imho.

The dna throat evidence is overwhelming imo.

The only thing I worry about is, if PH commited the murder himself, how could he present himself in the immediate aftermath free of obv signs of attack, Blood, clothes etc,in the short timeframe?



All just Moo! Following until solved.

X

 

[Skigh]

Followed this thread/case for a while now , only posting once.

Love WiseOwl, Angus,tes, and others posts. I also feel a little for JJ and appreciate her occ posting and stance.

For me, IMO only, PH is guilty as sin,based on utter obfuscation, lies, motive, countertruths etc. The Police have no other suspects they are looking at and have clearly stated so, imho.

The dna throat evidence is overwhelming imo.

The only thing I worry about is, if PH commited the murder himself, how could he present himself in the immediate aftermath free of obv signs of attack, Blood, clothes etc,in the short timeframe?



All just Moo! Following until solved.

X

He was in his own home ,maybe given the throat evidence he was wearing little clothing.

I too would say PH is as guilty as sin.

 

[tes1984]

You know a hundred times more about this case than I do, so I'm only really playing devil's advocate. However it's not unknown for a spouse to ensure an alibi, but have someone else actually commit the murder.

Thinking a bit more about this, if PH had hired a hitman, he would have probably ensured he had a much stronger alibi than the ones he produced.

 

[Westchester76]

Thinking a bit more about this, if PH had hired a hitman, he would have probably ensured he had a much stronger alibi than the ones he produced.

True. The hitman theory is backed up by the method of kill and the lack of disturbance in the house. You would need have some sort of training with knives in order to kill this way. The hitman pounced on Ann and she had no chance to fight back or escape. Did Heron have this kind of training?

 

[dotr]

True. The hitman theory is backed up by the method of kill and the lack of disturbance in the house. You would need have some sort of training with knives in order to kill this way. The hitman pounced on Ann and she had no chance to fight back or escape. Did Heron have this kind of training?

Wouldn't the killer be splattered with blood after cutting Ms Heron's throat? speculation.

 

[Westchester76]

Wouldn't the killer be splattered with blood after cutting Ms Heron's throat? speculation.

Surely...and if he then left the house into a car or on foot there would of been a blood trail. Unless he cleaned up.

 

[tes1984]

True. The hitman theory is backed up by the method of kill and the lack of disturbance in the house. You would need have some sort of training with knives in order to kill this way. The hitman pounced on Ann and she had no chance to fight back or escape. Did Heron have this kind of training?

I don't know if PH had any training with a knife.

The profile for the Kate Bushell murder (in which the method was quite similar) said the killer may have had slaughterhouse experience.

I agree that a hitman/intruder type would have to be stealthy, but someone capable of this could have learned to use a knife in many different ways.
Slaughterhouse worker, butcher, military man, farmer, survivalist, chef, martial arts expert, or just a lunatic who killed animals as a child.

PH has home advantage, over even a ninja or SAS man, in that he could approach Ann without suspicion. She would let him get close without any fear, as he was her husband, not some stranger and home invader.

If it was a stranger, then I guess he would have immediately controlled Ann with the knife. Like many victims, she may also have completely frozen when confronted by a knifed maniac. None of us know how we'll react under immense threat. It's not always just a case of fight or flight.

 

[WiseOwl]

Whatever happened to the 'recent developments' that were due to be published in December 2023?

 

[lostboy182]

So, no sign of any struggle. The dog appeared placid and calm. No defence wounds. No marks on her wrists. Nothing under her fingernails...
Ann's bikini bottoms were removed and missing, but there was no sexual penetration?

That would indicate either the killer was disturbed before any sexual activity could take place, and therefore ran.

Or, and my opinion most likely, someone Ann knew well killed her, and before leaving, removed her bikini bottoms, in order to stage the crime scene and make it look like a stranger/intruder sex crime, so to deflect attention from him.

I can't imagine a killer burglar on the run doing any of the above, especially with zero evidence of any defence wounds.

 

[WiseOwl]

It has been almost 12 months now since the following appeal was made:

Fresh appeal by police 33 years on from mum-of-three's murder

Ann Heron, a beloved mum-of-three, was tragically found dead in her Darlington home in 1990

www.gazettelive.co.uk

Sadly, there doesn't appear to have been any updates on the appeal since then.

Jen Jarvie, the cold case investigator who has contributed to this thread, said that there were developments in the case that were due to be published last December, but nothing has been heard of regarding these developments.

With the anniversary of Ann's murder coming up next week, lets hope another fresh appeal by the police will go out and re-awake some interest in the case.

 

[WiseOwl]

There doesn't appear to be any fresh appeals regarding Ann's murder, the latest item about the case i could find is dated 24 June this year from the Metro:

The unsolved murder of a Scottish mum-of-three which left police baffled

'Why would anyone want to kill her?’

metro.co.uk

There is nothing new to report in the article, although in the last section it does say this:

Meanwhile, Durham Police continue to use advances in forensic technology to review items recovered from Ann’s home in their search for answers.

‘The investigation into the murder of Ann Heron remains open,’ Detective Superintendent Craig Rudd tells Metro. ‘The Major Crime Team continues to review the case and investigate any new information. Ann’s family have been left devastated by what happened – they deserve closure, and we will never give up trying to find who killed her.’

 

[tes1984]

I don't really like Benson as a suspect for this crime.
Six months ago, Jen Jarvie said she was going to provide further information, but nothing new has appeared.

 

[tes1984]

True. The hitman theory is backed up by the method of kill and the lack of disturbance in the house. You would need have some sort of training with knives in order to kill this way. The hitman pounced on Ann and she had no chance to fight back or escape. Did Heron have this kind of training?

Hitmen are often complete morons, who end up killing the wrong 'target'...

 

[sl77]

So why was PH arrested in 2005 for Ann's murder and the Crown Prosecution Service agreed to charge him? Couldn't have been on the basis of no evidence, surely.

Why not?

Michael Stone was convicted of murder with literally zero evidence.

 

[sl77]

I've just read all 17 pages.

@Jen Jarvie, thank you for contributing. <modsnip> And I thought it was a Stanley knife, not a box cutter. Either way, both of these must be very common tools! And their insistence there won't be a single microscopic trace of sperm down someone's throat simply because it was a warm day and they may have drunk fluids after... I'm pretty certain there'd still be some trace amount. Although I do find it interesting if that was the only part of the house with sperm on the floor.

However, I must agree I don't see any evidence whatsoever pointing to Benson. Stabbing a woman in the neck isn't remotely similar to committing armed robbery (and there wasn't even a burglary here). This is more like a Robert Napper type of behaviour. And as @tes1984 mentioned, an escaped convict isn't go to send letters taunting police etc.

I think PH has acted very odd but... I just don't see him stabbing his wife in the neck and then spending all his life "campaigning" for his name to be cleared. If he did do it, he won, so get on with your life? So that makes me think he's probably more likely to be innocent.

I don't see some random killer driving up to the house, in full view of the main road, to murder someone. So I've no idea what to make of the witnessed cars.

Most interesting thing for me would be if PH sat a lie detector test. I know it's not admissible evidence, but it'd still be interesting...

So... what on earth did happen?

I think it's something similar to the Chillenden Murders (no, Stone didn't do it). Random, no sexual motivation but extremely violent.