Teresa Elena De Simone, a 22-year-old clerk for the Southern Gas Board who also worked part-time as a barmaid, was murdered in the early hours of 5 December 1979 in Southampton, England. She had finished her shift at the Tom Tackle public house on Commercial Road and gone to a nearby nightclub with her friend Jenni Savage. Savage drove her back to the pub car park between 00:30 and 01:00, and was the last person known to have seen her alive before she walked to her own car. The following morning her body was discovered on the back seat of her car by the pub's landlord, Anthony Pocock, when he attempted to move the vehicle for a delivery.
A pathologist determined De Simone had died of long, slow strangulation, with bruising consistent with a chain and crucifix she had been wearing, which was never recovered. Evidence indicated she had been raped shortly before death, and semen recovered from swabs indicated a male perpetrator with blood type A or AB. Numerous items of her jewellery and belongings were never recovered. Police, led by Detective Superintendent John Porter, conducted an extensive investigation involving thousands of interviews.
Sean Hodgson, who had been arrested in Southampton for an unrelated theft shortly after the murder, became a suspect. He had a history of compulsive false confessions and had been diagnosed with a severe personality disorder. In December 1980 he confessed to a priest and prison officials that he had killed a woman at the Tom Tackle pub, and gave police details that were later described at trial as "secret details" not publicly disclosed. In 1982, following a 15-day trial at Winchester Crown Court during which Hodgson did not testify, a jury unanimously convicted him of De Simone's murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Hodgson maintained his innocence throughout nearly three decades of imprisonment. In 2008, solicitors acting for him traced surviving forensic swabs believed destroyed, and DNA testing conducted by January 2009 showed the semen could not have come from him. His conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal on 18 March 2009, and he was released after 27 years in custody, in what became one of the longest-recognized miscarriages of justice in English legal history. Hodgson died in October 2012.
Following his exoneration, Hampshire Constabulary reopened the case as Operation Iceberg. Familial DNA searching led investigators to David Andrew Lace, who as a 17-year-old had confessed to raping and killing De Simone in a 1983 police interview while in custody for another matter; his confession had been dismissed at the time because he had misdescribed some details. Lace died by suicide in December 1988. His body was exhumed in August 2009, and in September 2009 police announced that DNA from the exhumation was a complete match to crime-scene evidence. The Crown Prosecutor stated the evidence would have been sufficient to charge Lace had he been alive, while noting this was not a declaration of guilt absent a trial. A subsequent search for De Simone's missing jewellery, based on details in Lace's confession, did not recover any items. The Independent Police Complaints Commission reviewed the original investigation's handling of Lace's 1983 confession but concluded in October 2009 that no further action was warranted given the passage of time and deaths of senior officers involved.
Tom Tackle public house, Commercial Road, Southampton, England
Case status
solved
Case timeline
1957-06-24
Teresa Elena De Simone is born.
1979-12-04
De Simone finishes her barmaid shift at the Tom Tackle pub and goes to a nightclub with friend Jenni Savage.
1979-12-05
De Simone is raped and murdered in her car outside the Tom Tackle pub; her body is discovered later that morning.
1979-12-06
Sean Hodgson is arrested in Southampton for an unrelated theft offence.
1980-12-11
Hodgson confesses to a priest that he killed a woman in Southampton the previous year.
1982-02-05
A jury unanimously convicts Hodgson of De Simone's murder at Winchester Crown Court.
1983-09-17
David Lace confesses to police that he raped and killed De Simone; the confession is dismissed.
1988-12
David Lace dies by suicide.
2008-03
Hodgson's case is taken up by solicitors after he responds to an advertisement in a prisoners' newspaper.
2009-01-30
DNA analysis confirms semen from the crime scene could not have come from Hodgson.
2009-03-18
The Court of Appeal quashes Hodgson's conviction and he is released after 27 years in prison.
2009-08-12
David Lace's body is exhumed at Kingston Cemetery, Portsmouth, for DNA testing.
2009-09-17
Police announce a complete DNA match between Lace and crime-scene evidence.
2009-10-28
The IPCC concludes no further investigation of police conduct will be undertaken.
2010-12
Hodgson is returned to prison awaiting trial on unrelated allegations of rape and sexual assault.
2011-05-13
Hodgson is sentenced to a three-year community order after pleading guilty to sexual touching in the 2010 case.
2012-10-27
Sean Hodgson dies from emphysema.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Creator
Dead Man's DNA Proves He Was 1979 Killer
People
Teresa Elena De Simone
VICTIM
22-year-old barmaid and gas board clerk raped and murdered in Southampton on 5 December 1979.
Phil McTavish
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Detective Chief Inspector who led Operation Iceberg, the reopened investigation following Hodgson's exoneration.
David Andrew Lace
CHARGED
Identified via familial DNA searching in 2009 as the source of crime-scene DNA; the Crown Prosecutor stated evidence would have been sufficient to charge him with rape and murder had he been alive. He had confessed to the crime in 1983 and died by suicide in 1988 before any charge could be brought.
Sean Hodgson
EXONERATED
Convicted of De Simone's murder in 1982 and sentenced to life imprisonment; conviction quashed in 2009 after DNA evidence excluded him, following 27 years in prison.
John Porter
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Detective Superintendent who headed the original 1979 murder investigation for Southampton CID.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Teresa De Simone, a 22-year-old barmaid, was raped and murdered in a car outside the Tom Tackle pub in Southampton in December 1979. Sean Hodgson was wrongly convicted of her murder in 1982 and spent 27 years in prison before DNA evidence exonerated him in 2009. Police later identified David Lace, who had confessed to the crime in 1983 but was disbelieved, as the DNA-matched perpetrator; he had died by suicide in 1988.
Where did the murder happen?
Tom Tackle public house, Commercial Road, Southampton, England.
