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

[CSIAngus]

As far as I can discover, all of his convictions involving violence were against men. I'm quite happy to be confounded.

What we're asked to accept is this random would-be psychopath sex killer (who had no history of that) just happens to be in the area. Sees AH sunbathing and decides to strip her bottoms and kill her with a box cutter (the type used by haulage companies) for no apparent reason on the very spot that PH (we are told) used to have sex with AH downstairs (to account for the sperm). There are no damages to the property and nothing stolen, despite Benson being a convicted robber. How would he know she was alone in the house from observing her sunbathing? Why was the only sperm recovered (from AH's throat) her husbands? Benson is a dead end IMO.

They say you need to rule out the in-laws before considering the out-laws. I can't rule out the in-law.

 

[Westchester76]

What we're asked to accept is this random would-be psychopath sex killer (who had no history of that) just happens to be in the area. Sees AH sunbathing and decides to strip her bottoms and kill her with a box cutter (the type used by haulage companies) for no apparent reason on the very spot that PH (we are told) used to have sex with AH downstairs (to account for the sperm). There are no damages to the property and nothing stolen, despite Benson being a convicted robber. How would he know she was alone in the house from observing her sunbathing? Why was the only sperm recovered (from AH's throat) her husbands? Benson is a dead end IMO.

They say you need to rule out the in-laws before considering the out-laws. I can't rule out the in-law.

Agreed. The Benson theory doesn't stack up. It was someone she knew.

 

[dotr]

Agreed. The Benson theory doesn't stack up. It was someone she knew.

Why take the bikini bottoms?

 

[ctaylor]

Jen Jarvie is a 'Verified Expert - Cold Case Investigator' on this site. She has received awards for linking Benson to this case but has repeated refused to state what evidence there is in Benson's (publicly available) conviction record that indicates that he was danger to women, despite stating that she has such information. That speaks volumes IMO. This must be my fourth or fifth request for her to reveal what was pronounced in public in front of a judge. What is Benson's criminal record of violence against women?

I just finished the Channel 5 documentary. Such a tragedy but I tend to agree with you @CSIAngus .

I can only assume Jen Jarvie has been allowed to see evidence that is not public?

I listened to her on a podcast after watching the show here - Ann Heron Update- Discussion with Jen Jarvie and from about 30 minutes in when asked about Michael Benson says she first connected him purely by watching the October 1990 Crimewatch episode that has Ann's reconstruction and then she says the November episode followed and there was a trace for Michael Benson. The trace for Michael Benson was actually in the December 1990 Crimewatch episode which is irrelevant maybe but mentions he stole the blue car.

That seems a really tenuous link but even with that, on the podcast at 33:10 Jen says he "steals the blue car and comes north, so we know he in is area". What area? Darlington? There's no evidence of that at all. Unless she has seen something else, no one knows he was "in the area" but is saying that publicly.

Then a couple of minutes later Jen mentions the blue car and "the more we looked it into the more he fits" and mentions he had family living 20 minutes away so "had every reason" to be in Darlington. Did anyone ask this family if he ever visited them? Then she says he fitted burglar alarms "so you can see where this is going". Surely the two Crimewatch episodes are not the award winning link?

I actually don't think Peter Heron did it either and I understand him and his daughter must have thought Benson being linked was a breakthrough but it just seems a bit convenient. Barely any circumstantial evidence apart from the colour of a car and the coincidence of him being featured in a Crimewatch episode 2 months later and suddenly he is named publicly as a witness which to be honest, is quite easy to do after the man's death.

 

[WiseOwl]

Why take the bikini bottoms?

I believe the removal of the bikini bottoms was an attempt to throw the police off the scent - to make it appear as if the motive for the murder was sexual, when, in fact, it wasn't.

JMOO

 

[CSIAngus]

I believe the removal of the bikini bottoms was an attempt to throw the police off the scent - to make it appear as if the motive for the murder was sexual, when, in fact, it wasn't.

JMOO

Quite. There was of course sperm recovered from the scene, including in AH's throat. That was matched to her husband. JJ dismissed this as AH breathing old sperm off the carpet as she was dying and of course why wouldn't they have sex around the house. That seems too much of a coincidence to me that it was exactly on that spot where they would have sex downstairs in the house that she was murdered, and quite remarkable that she would take old dried carpet sperm into her throat in her final moments. If it were fresh sperm then that takes some explaining as he supposedly hadn't seen his wife for hours and it wouldn't stay that long after oral sex, especially as it was a very hot day and she will have been drinking fluids. JMO of course.

 

[WiseOwl]

The biggest problem relating to Ann's murder is an apparent lack of motive; It wasn't sexual, nor a robbery gone wrong. It has all the hallmarks of being personal.

The reason why suspicion falls on Mr Heron is his actions that afternoon. The fact he was able to leave his office for what (according to the times we've been given) was a very short meeting. I wonder if there is a record of this meeting in police files, does it state why this was such a short meeting and why Mr Heron left rather quickly?

The police have stated they believe Ann was killed sometime between 4 & 5pm, while Mr Heron was out of his office sometime between 3.45 & 5pm. We haven't been given the time of the start of the meeting but he left at 4.20pm.

Coincidence?

 

[Jen Jarvie]

I just finished the Channel 5 documentary. Such a tragedy but I tend to agree with you @CSIAngus .

I can only assume Jen Jarvie has been allowed to see evidence that is not public?

I listened to her on a podcast after watching the show here - Ann Heron Update- Discussion with Jen Jarvie and from about 30 minutes in when asked about Michael Benson says she first connected him purely by watching the October 1990 Crimewatch episode that has Ann's reconstruction and then she says the November episode followed and there was a trace for Michael Benson. The trace for Michael Benson was actually in the December 1990 Crimewatch episode which is irrelevant maybe but mentions he stole the blue car.

That seems a really tenuous link but even with that, on the podcast at 33:10 Jen says he "steals the blue car and comes north, so we know he in is area". What area? Darlington? There's no evidence of that at all. Unless she has seen something else, no one knows he was "in the area" but is saying that publicly.

Then a couple of minutes later Jen mentions the blue car and "the more we looked it into the more he fits" and mentions he had family living 20 minutes away so "had every reason" to be in Darlington. Did anyone ask this family if he ever visited them? Then she says he fitted burglar alarms "so you can see where this is going". Surely the two Crimewatch episodes are not the award winning link?

I actually don't think Peter Heron did it either and I understand him and his daughter must have thought Benson being linked was a breakthrough but it just seems a bit convenient. Barely any circumstantial evidence apart from the colour of a car and the coincidence of him being featured in a Crimewatch episode 2 months later and suddenly he is named publicly as a witness which to be honest, is quite easy to do after the man's death.

Just to be clear I have the prosecution bundle, crime scene photographs and interview transcrips. The documentary and podcast simplified the process - it wasn't just a case of watching two programs and thinking hes got a blue car so he'll do.
There has been extensive research on Benson; including psychiatric files, crime records, efits, witness transcript from previous offences, family interviews and close friends and partners of Benson.

 

[Jen Jarvie]

Quite. There was of course sperm recovered from the scene, including in AH's throat. That was matched to her husband. JJ dismissed this as AH breathing old sperm off the carpet as she was dying and of course why wouldn't they have sex around the house. That seems too much of a coincidence to me that it was exactly on that spot where they would have sex downstairs in the house that she was murdered, and quite remarkable that she would take old dried carpet sperm into her throat in her final moments. If it were fresh sperm then that takes some explaining as he supposedly hadn't seen his wife for hours and it wouldn't stay that long after oral sex, especially as it was a very hot day and she will have been drinking fluids. JMO of course.

This was cross contamination not breathing sperms in. The sample is irrelevant as they lived in the same house as man and wife. This is the only evidence the police had, which is very weak in the circumstances.

 

[Jen Jarvie]

The biggest problem relating to Ann's murder is an apparent lack of motive; It wasn't sexual, nor a robbery gone wrong. It has all the hallmarks of being personal.

The reason why suspicion falls on Mr Heron is his actions that afternoon. The fact he was able to leave his office for what (according to the times we've been given) was a very short meeting. I wonder if there is a record of this meeting in police files, does it state why this was such a short meeting and why Mr Heron left rather quickly?

The police have stated they believe Ann was killed sometime between 4 & 5pm, while Mr Heron was out of his office sometime between 3.45 & 5pm. We haven't been given the time of the start of the meeting but he left at 4.20pm.

Coincidence?

The meeting was with three other people and called by them not Peter Heron. The timings mean he could not have been at the house during that time. There are several witnesses including a police officer that saw him away from the house after the meeting and before 5pm. This doesn't account for the fact a witness saw a blue car with a suntanned man driving leaving the scene.

 

[WiseOwl]

The meeting was with three other people and called by them not Peter Heron. The timings mean he could not have been at the house during that time. There are several witnesses including a police officer that saw him away from the house after the meeting and before 5pm. This doesn't account for the fact a witness saw a blue car with a suntanned man driving leaving the scene.

There are also witnesses who say they saw Mr Heron driving near to the house at the time he said he was at the meeting, including one who said it was definitely Mr Heron he saw around 3.55pm (i believe this was included in the 2022 Channel 5 documentary). If they were still alive, did you ever seek to speak to these witnesses to ask what they saw that afternoon?

 

[Jen Jarvie]

There are also witnesses who say they saw Mr Heron driving near to the house at the time he said he was at the meeting, including one who said it was definitely Mr Heron he saw around 3.55pm (i believe this was included in the 2022 Channel 5 documentary). If they were still alive, did you ever seek to speak to these witnesses to ask what they saw that afternoon?

I have their statements - some are reliable and others not. The one I think you are referring to was not a reliable source and Peter heron was in the meeting when the person thought they had seen him

 

[Jen Jarvie]

Jen Jarvie is a 'Verified Expert - Cold Case Investigator' on this site. She has received awards for linking Benson to this case but has repeated refused to state what evidence there is in Benson's (publicly available) conviction record that indicates that he was danger to women, despite stating that she has such information. That speaks volumes IMO. This must be my fourth or fifth request for her to reveal what was pronounced in public in front of a judge. What is Benson's criminal record of violence against women?

I maybe a verified expert and especially on this case but this does not mean that I am required or willing to discuss everything.

 

[dotr]

Could you live in a house that had been the scene of a murder?

What happens when a terrible crime transforms an ordinary home into a famously dark and macabre address? Francisco Garcia tours the UK’s ‘murder houses’ to find out

www.theguardian.com

Francisco Garcia 2023 rbbm
''Rejection was a common enough theme in my journey around the country in search of murder houses. My inquiries were often dismissed out of hand, or with the caveat that any contribution be kept anonymous, in case others got the wrong idea about the whole thing. This was not the case with Louise Bloomfield. For the past 23 years, she and her family have lived in an imposing house on the fringes of Darlington. In 1990, 44-year-old Ann Heron was brutally killed at their property, a crime which led to a nationwide media frenzy and remains unsolved to this day. “People will always be fascinated in it,” Bloomfield says. “It was such a big story here. It’s almost like it’s part of the heritage of the northeast.”

The macabre history never concerned Bloomfield or her husband, Andy. After a period of dereliction, they’d bought the house and began to run a dog kennel and training business on its expansive grounds, which continues to thrive to this day. Their children were born and raised on the property and the family was, and is, a happy one.

“I always felt safe here,” says Bloomfield. “I’m big into spiritualism, though my husband isn’t. I always felt her ghost here. We occasionally smell cigarette smoke in the house and neither of us have ever smoked.” Her clairvoyant told her that Ann was happy with their presence in the house and the tranquillity they’d brought to what had been a sad, secluded place. “I feel like Ann is almost a friend now.”

 

[WiseOwl]

I have their statements - some are reliable and others not. The one I think you are referring to was not a reliable source and Peter heron was in the meeting when the person thought they had seen him

Thanks for your reply.

Having watched the C5 documentary again last night, i noticed that DS (Mr Heron's daughter) mentioned the sighting of the white car around 3.50pm and that there were 3 witnesses who saw it, all had slightly different versions according to the statements.

She also stated that her father could not have been the driver of the white car as he was sitting in a meeting at 3.45pm. Yet recently, you stated he didn't leave his office for the meeting until 3.45pm, so he couldn't have actually been sitting in the meeting at the same time he was leaving his office, could he? Indeed, Mr Heron himself said in 2016 that he left for the meeting shortly after 3.00pm.

So not only is there 3 different statements about the white car, there are 3 different statements about the time of the meeting as well.

The information provided by DS in the documentary differs from information yourself & Mr Heron have stated, is there any reason for this?

TIA

 

[Jen Jarvie]

Thanks for your reply.

Having watched the C5 documentary again last night, i noticed that DS (Mr Heron's daughter) mentioned the sighting of the white car around 3.50pm and that there were 3 witnesses who saw it, all had slightly different versions according to the statements.

She also stated that her father could not have been the driver of the white car as he was sitting in a meeting at 3.45pm. Yet recently, you stated he didn't leave his office for the meeting until 3.45pm, so he couldn't have actually been sitting in the meeting at the same time he was leaving his office, could he? Indeed, Mr Heron himself said in 2016 that he left for the meeting shortly after 3.00pm.

So not only is there 3 different statements about the white car, there are 3 different statements about the time of the meeting as well.

The information provided by DS in the documentary differs from information yourself & Mr Heron have stated, is there any reason for this?

TIA

The white vehicle was seen three times at different points. The first being 3.45pm. However DS and myself mention about the sitting of the car where Peter Heron was mentioned. This sighting was during the meeting and could not have been Peter Heron. I hope that clarifies for you.

 

[WiseOwl]

The white vehicle was seen three times at different points. The first being 3.45pm. However DS and myself mention about the sitting of the car where Peter Heron was mentioned. This sighting was during the meeting and could not have been Peter Heron. I hope that clarifies for you.

Thanks again for your reply.

However, you haven't answered my question about why DS's version of the time of the meeting is different to yours. She clearly states that Mr Heron was sitting in the meeting at 3.45 that afternoon so couldn't possibly be the person seen driving the white car between 3.45 - 3.55, whereas on this thread a few weeks ago you stated that Mr Heron did not leave his office until 3.45 so he couldn't have been in the meeting at the time DS states.

I would of thought that DS & yourself have the same information about the time of the meeting but apparently not, so why the discrepancy?

TIA

 

[Jen Jarvie]

Thanks again for your reply.

However, you haven't answered my question about why DS's version of the time of the meeting is different to yours. She clearly states that Mr Heron was sitting in the meeting at 3.45 that afternoon so couldn't possibly be the person seen driving the white car between 3.45 - 3.55, whereas on this thread a few weeks ago you stated that Mr Heron did not leave his office until 3.45 so he couldn't have been in the meeting at the time DS states.

I would of thought that DS & yourself have the same information about the time of the meeting but apparently not, so why the discrepancy?

TIA

There's no discrepancy at 3.45 Peter was on his way/ checking into the meeting. The alleged sighting was some miles away from either the office or Cleveland Bridge ( only a 3 minute drive away from each other). Hope that clarifies for you.

 

[WiseOwl]

There's no discrepancy at 3.45 Peter was on his way/ checking into the meeting. The alleged sighting was some miles away from either the office or Cleveland Bridge ( only a 3 minute drive away from each other). Hope that clarifies for you.

Thanks again.

In the following article, Mr Heron reportedly spoke to The Northern Echo several times and in 1995 he told them he believed he knew who his wife's killer was:

Horror on a summer's day

In 1995 he told the newspaper ''i believe i know my wife's killer'', saying he was a local man, someone he rubbed shoulders with every day.

Who was this man, why did Mr Heron suspect him and did the police ever investigate him?

TIA

 

[Jen Jarvie]

Thanks again.

In the following article, Mr Heron reportedly spoke to The Northern Echo several times and in 1995 he told them he believed he knew who his wife's killer was:

Horror on a summer's day

In 1995 he told the newspaper ''i believe i know my wife's killer'', saying he was a local man, someone he rubbed shoulders with every day.

Who was this man, why did Mr Heron suspect him and did the police ever investigate him?

TIA

HI, It would not be ethical to say who was suspected at the beginning of the enquiry by Peter Heron. That person is still alive and has a family of their own to consider. This suspected person was ruled out as they had an alibi, and Peter Heron is satisfied that they have been exonerated.