Murder of Teresa De Simone

Teresa De Simone
A slightly faded picture of a young woman with curly brown hair surrounding her slightly smiling face. She is dressed in a simple blue frock and has a simple necklace.
De Simone
Born
Teresa Elena De Simone

24 June 1957[citation needed]
Died5 December 1979 (aged 22)
Cause of deathStrangulation
Body discoveredTom Tackle public house, Southampton, Hampshire
Parent(s)Mary Sedotti and Mario De Simone

Teresa Elena De Simone (24 June 1957 – 5 December 1979) was murdered in Southampton, England, in 1979. Her murder led to one of the longest proven cases of a miscarriage of justice in English legal history.[1][2] The murder occurred outside the Tom Tackle pub and was the subject of a three-year police investigation which resulted in the arrest of Sean Hodgson. Hodgson was convicted of the murder by a unanimous jury verdict in 1982 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.[Appeal 1] After serving 27 years in prison he was exonerated and released in March 2009. DNA analysis of semen samples that had been preserved from the original crime scene showed that they could not have come from him.[Appeal 2]

As a result of Hodgson's appeal, Operation Iceberg was created by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) with the aim of using DNA evidence in pre-1990 rape or murder cases.[3] This led to the review of 240 other convictions. The CCRC also requested that the Crown Prosecution Service identify and review similar murder cases from the time before DNA testing was available.[3] In September 2009, on the basis of DNA evidence from his exhumed body, police named David Andrew Lace as the likely killer.[4] Lace, who was 17 at the time of the murder, had confessed to police in 1983 that he had raped and killed De Simone, but officers refused to believe him. Lace committed suicide in December 1988.[5]

On 27 October 2012, three years after his release, Sean Hodgson died from emphysema.[6]

  1. ^ Pierce, Andrew; Edwards, Richard (12 March 2009). "Man jailed for murder 27 years ago could be longest miscarriage of justice". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 March 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  2. ^ Bird, Steve (23 May 2009). "Cleared of murder after 30 years – Sean Hodgson starts his new battle". The Times. Retrieved 8 October 2009.[dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b Law, Peter (20 September 2009). "Teresa Murder: 240 historic cases to be re-examined". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  4. ^ Booth, Jenny (17 September 2009). "Police name David Lace as true killer of Teresa De Simone". The Times. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  5. ^ "David Lace named as the killer of Teresa De Simone". Southern Daily Echo. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference dead was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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