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

[tes1984]

Welcome back to the boards Jen.

Do you know how often PH went home for his lunch? Every day? Once in a while?

 

[Westchester76]

@sl77 There is just an assumption of a Stanley knife that the press gave as an indication of the type of blade, (very sharp) no one knows if it was a knife, scaple, Stanley knife or box cutter, but as you mentioned, all are readily available even in 1990 by anyone.
The sperm found in Ann was one spermatozoon, just one, so unlikely to have been administered as suggested by oral sex. In my experience, no one just excretes just one!!!
Benson committed several crimes; none was armed robbery, but robbery with a carving knife, attempted murder and several instances of burglary and theft- all of which, when researched, do indicate a similar link. There is a lot that is not in the public domain about this too.
Peter has maintained his innocence for nearly 35 years and his predominant wish is for the killer of Ann to be found and that as a result of which, his name will be cleared of suspicion. Peter Heron has an alibi for the whole afternoon from 2pm - 6pm, which includes off-duty police officer and people he met and engaged with.

If it was Benson - He didn't steal anything. From a grand old house as well. He would of known someone was home as I believe Ann was out the front sunbathing. Even so, he broke/ walked into the house. Saw Ann, killed her without a struggle, and then left (without thieving anything) What was the point?

 

[WiseOwl]

@sl77 There is just an assumption of a Stanley knife that the press gave as an indication of the type of blade, (very sharp) no one knows if it was a knife, scaple, Stanley knife or box cutter, but as you mentioned, all are readily available even in 1990 by anyone.
The sperm found in Ann was one spermatozoon, just one, so unlikely to have been administered as suggested by oral sex. In my experience, no one just excretes just one!!!
Benson committed several crimes; none was armed robbery, but robbery with a carving knife, attempted murder and several instances of burglary and theft- all of which, when researched, do indicate a similar link. There is a lot that is not in the public domain about this too.
Peter has maintained his innocence for nearly 35 years and his predominant wish is for the killer of Ann to be found and that as a result of which, his name will be cleared of suspicion. Peter Heron has an alibi for the whole afternoon from 2pm - 6pm, which includes off-duty police officer and people he met and engaged with.

Good to see you back on this thread, as you have spoken in-depth with PH i hope you can answer the following questions for me:

1. At what point during the investigation did Mr Heron change his story from driving to his office from Cleveland Bridge on the A67 past Aeolian House to taking the longer route back via Croft-On-Tees?

2. The drive from Cleveland Bridge to Middleton St George via Croft takes around 25-30 minutes, he left the meeting around 4.20 so at what time & where exactly did the witnesses see him driving via Croft-On-Tees?

3. Did the witnesses who saw Mr Heron driving the long way back to his office come forward with this information before or after he had changed his story about his drive back to Middleton St George?

4. At any point during your investigation did you get to speak to any of these witnesses at all or does your information come from speaking with Mr Heron and reading the police files on the case?

TIA

 

[tes1984]

It would be good to map the short and longer routes of PH, and where the witnesses were.

The police will obviously have done timelines and maps to the nth degree for PH, so it's interesting that after doing this, they still didn't seem to think that any of the witnesses ruled PH out.

 

[tes1984]

I am open minded about PH's involvement in this crime. My attitude is that I wouldn't convict him on a jury, but I wouldn't consider him 'in the clear' either.

Even if he has an absolutely solid alibi, that doesn't rule out a him hiring a hitman scenario.

 

[tes1984]

As for Benson, I think he's a reasonable POI in a case without DNA evidence.

He's not my idea of a prime suspect though. No real geographical links, MO links, motor vehicle links, or forensics.

Just the idea he had a suntan, drove a blue car, was violent and wasn't that far from the north of England.

I haven't seen anything to show he was in Darlington years later when the letters were sent, and presumably the significant female phone caller wasn't his wife (or she would have just said).

AFAIK he wasn't one of the top 40 POIs looked at via handwriting. I may be wrong though.

 

[tes1984]

If I'm lead detective then I'm definitely keeping at least one eye on PH.

Check out the disappearance (murder) of Ann Myring from Bristol for an even more suspicious husband.

Or the recent conviction of Allan Morgan, for the murder of his wife Carol Morgan.

 

[Spoof]

As for Benson, I think he's a reasonable POI in a case without DNA evidence.

He's not my idea of a prime suspect though. No real geographical links, MO links, motor vehicle links, or forensics.

Just the idea he had a suntan, drove a blue car, was violent and wasn't that far from the north of England.

I haven't seen anything to show he was in Darlington years later when the letters were sent, and presumably the significant female phone caller wasn't his wife (or she would have just said).

AFAIK he wasn't one of the top 40 POIs looked at via handwriting. I may be wrong though.

I'm new to this so forgive me if I'm asking a question which has already been raised and answered but why is this a case without DNA evidence?

 

[dotr]

2021

The new evidence which could hold the key to solving 30-year murder mystery

A criminologist has urged police to investigate whether Michael Benson could have been responsible for the brutal murder

www.chroniclelive.co.uk

''After Ann's death someone claiming to be 'The Killer' sent sick letters to her family, the police, and Darlington-based newspaper The Northern Echo.

At the time detectives said publicly that they believed the handwritten notes had come from the killer, and were not a hoax, said Jen.

And last week Benson's ex wife, Ruth Bennet, was shown one of these letters by The Sun newspaper, and confirmed it was his handwriting.''

'There is other evidence that could link Benson, who was serving a 20 year sentence for attempted murder when he absconded from jail in 1989, to Ann's murder, said Jen.'

 

[tes1984]

I'm new to this so forgive me if I'm asking a question which has already been raised and answered but why is this a case without DNA evidence?

Sorry, I didn't word that well. What I meant is that there's no 'foreign' DNA evidence.

To my knowledge, the only DNA found was from PH (which doesn't prove much as of course he lived in the house).

If anyone other than PH killed Ann, then they seemingly managed to avoid leaving any forensic evidence.

AFAIK the last forensic review was in 2005. Perhaps it's time for another one.

 

[sl77]

I am open minded about PH's involvement in this crime. My attitude is that I wouldn't convict him on a jury, but I wouldn't consider him 'in the clear' either.

Even if he has an absolutely solid alibi, that doesn't rule out a him hiring a hitman scenario.

Hi Tes,

The only reason/motive PH has for killing his wife is because he was having an affair. But I don't see an affair as being a strong-enough reason.

And why would the hitman do it close to rush hour? PH could have gone out one night, left Ann at home and then the hitman could have killed her. Darkness, no witnesses etc.

It feels more like a mentally unwell killer, definitely if the letters are genuine.

 

[sl77]

2021

The new evidence which could hold the key to solving 30-year murder mystery

A criminologist has urged police to investigate whether Michael Benson could have been responsible for the brutal murder

www.chroniclelive.co.uk

''After Ann's death someone claiming to be 'The Killer' sent sick letters to her family, the police, and Darlington-based newspaper The Northern Echo.

At the time detectives said publicly that they believed the handwritten notes had come from the killer, and were not a hoax, said Jen.

And last week Benson's ex wife, Ruth Bennet, was shown one of these letters by The Sun newspaper, and confirmed it was his handwriting.''

'There is other evidence that could link Benson, who was serving a 20 year sentence for attempted murder when he absconded from jail in 1989, to Ann's murder, said Jen.'

I'm struggling to believe some random (no links to Darlington) prison escapee, with his criminal record consisting of armed burglary (theft) decided to enter a house set way back from the main road, during the middle of the day, tonnes of possible witnesses, slit someone's throat and not steal anything. Then 4 years later, whilst still on the run from police, decides to send letters boasting about it.

If she does claim that I'd like to see her produce another letter/envelope showing his handwriting.

 

[Stitches]

1. Is this threat ongoing
2. I'm new, could I be told what we have so far (If this is still ongoing)

 

[Stitches]

1. Is this threat ongoing
2. I'm new, could I be told what we have so far (If this is still ongoing)

THREAD* THREAD* OMG I MEANT THREAD. I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T CATCH THAT TILL NOW.

 

[dotr]

THREAD* THREAD* OMG I MEANT THREAD. I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T CATCH THAT TILL NOW.

Welcome to Ws @Stitches, lol, thanks for the giggle!

 

[Stitches]

Welcome to Ws @Stitches, lol, thanks for the giggle!

Haiii I came here after seeing the video from brew on how you guys handled the Abraham Shakespeare case. Inspired me to help out. Also, if it wasn't obvious enough, I like the game "Orwell" because it's got twists everywhere. How can I help on this case?

 

[tes1984]

Welcome to the boards. IMO the best thing to do first is read through the thread and get up to speed on the case.

 

[Stitches]

Welcome to the boards. IMO the best thing to do first is read through the thread and get up to speed on the case.

Cheers, will do.

 

[Stitches]

As for Benson, I think he's a reasonable POI in a case without DNA evidence.

He's not my idea of a prime suspect though. No real geographical links, MO links, motor vehicle links, or forensics.

Just the idea he had a suntan, drove a blue car, was violent and wasn't that far from the north of England.

I haven't seen anything to show he was in Darlington years later when the letters were sent, and presumably the significant female phone caller wasn't his wife (or she would have just said).

AFAIK he wasn't one of the top 40 POIs looked at via handwriting. I may be wrong though.

Are we sure Benson wasn't just having a laugh and wasn't actually involved in the case? As far as I've read, Tes said there was no foreign evidence. So for all we know he either:
-Wore gloves and was actually the killer
OR, my running theory
-PH did kill Ann and Benson, as insensitive as it is, made a joke out of the case.
Which one do you lot think is the most likely? I'll let you debate. In the mean time I'm gonna continue reading up on this case.

 

[tes1984]

The only reason/motive PH has for killing his wife is because he was having an affair. But I don't see an affair as being a strong-enough reason.

The Carol Morgan murder was a case of husband wants to leave wife, but doesn't want to lose everything in a divorce settlement, so has wife killed, keeps the house and money, and cashes in on her life insurance too.