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Ann Heron cold case: Detectives hope new forensic technology will solve murder 30 years on

Ann Heron's murder in 1990 remains Durham Police's only unsolved cold case over the last 70 years.

Friday 7 August 2020 21:31, UK

Ann Heron, 44, whose throat was slashed 10 years ago as she sunbathed at her isolated country home in County Durham. Detectives investigating the murder of the wealthy housewife said they are on the verge of a breakthrough in the hunt for the killer. * Forensic scientists using up-to-the minute DNA testing procedures have re-examined items recovered from the scene a decade ago and believe the new tests could produce the vital clues they need. 02/08/2001 Superintendent John Blake, who as a detective sergeant worked on the investigation at the time of Mrs Heron's murder, said that he was confident that new clues could still be uncovered following the tremendous advances in DNA profiling in recent years . More than 1,500 items were taken from the crime scene and forensic scientists have re-examined a small number of them for minute clues.
Image: Ann Heron was murdered in 1990. Pic: Durham Police
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Police in Durham have reopened a cold case murder of 30 years, in the hope that new forensic techniques will help solve the crime.

Ann Heron's body was found in a pool of blood in her living room in Darlington on 3 August 1990, after sunbathing at the nearby Aeolian House.

The 44-year-old's husband, Peter, was charged with her murder in 2005, but was eventually cleared, with no more leads for police to pursue.

Ann Heron
Image: Ms Heron (L) had been sunbathing before she was found dead. Pic: Durham Police

Now, police in Durham have said that they are using new forensic techniques to review material from the scene.

Detective Inspector Andy Reynolds, from Durham's Major Crime Team, said: "We are actively pursuing forensic inquiries using advances in technology in the hope of identifying evidence to prove who is responsible.

"If somebody is reading this and knows who killed Ann Heron, then please do the right thing and come forward.

"Her family deserve closure and she deserves justice."

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It comes after an appeal by Ms Heron's son, Ralph Cockburn, to reopen the case on the 30th anniversary of her death.

Mr Cockburn, a 56-year-old former detective, said: "After all this time, we still do not know who did this to mum, and why they did it.

Ann Heron. Pic: Durham Police
Image: Police are using forensic techniques to reopen the case. Pic: Durham Police

"If someone knows who did this and is withholding vital evidence, then I would urge them to rethink where their loyalties lie and do the right thing so my sister and I can finally get justice for mum."

He added: "Mum was loved by everyone who knew her and nobody had a bad word to say about her.

"She was the softest person you could ever meet and loved animals and children."

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Mr Cockburn said: "She has five grandchildren, three of which she never got the chance to meet, and four great-grandchildren that she has also never met.

"I think that is the saddest part, as she never got the chance to see them grow up.

"You watch these things happen on TV and think that it will never happen to you, but it did. And somebody out there knows who did it, and why."

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