Mum’s relief as murderer named 30 years on

THE mother of a woman who was murdered 30 years ago spoke yesterday of her relief that her daughter’s real killer had now been named.

The body of David Lace, who took his own life, was exhumed last month from a cemetery in Portsmouth in connection with the murder of Teresa De Simone.

The murder investigation was re-opened when DNA evidence proved the man jailed for 27 years for the crime, Sean Hodgson, was innocent. DNA testing on Lace’s body was a billion-to-one complete match for samples found at the original crime scene, Hampshire police said.

Detective Chief Inspector Philip McTavish, of Hampshire police, said: “Following the exhumation of the suspect the Forensic Science Service has now completed DNA testing and comparisons against DNA found at the original crime scene.

“It has been confirmed that the DNA from the suspect is a complete match and belongs to David Andrew Lace, born September 2 1962, formerly of Brixham in Devon.”

De Simone’s mother Mary Sedotti, 77, said the naming of the suspect would help her and stepfather Michael come to terms with her daughter’s death. She said: “It does give closure and it is a relief to get it all done.

“Hopefully, we can all start to move on now.”

After the exhumation, she said Lace’s suicide meant the motive behind her daughter’s murder would never be known.

She said: “In a way, it’s hard knowing that he is not here to answer or explain. But then, at the same time, I think that what he did shows he must have had a conscience. He must have been very troubled.”

Hodgson’s solicitor Julian Young said the confirmation of the true murderer’s identity raises serious questions about how police handled the original case.

He added that his client, from County Durham, would be seeking compensation for his years spent wrongfully behind bars.

Hodgson confessed to the killing at the time, but later consistently protested his innocence.

He was convicted in 1982 at Winchester Crown Court despite Hodgson’s defence team saying he was a pathological liar.

Young added: “He is pleased that this brings a great deal of closure for the family of the victim, who after all are totally blameless in all of this.”

The half-naked body of gas board clerk De Simone was found on December 5, 1979, in her car parked at the rear of the Tom Tackle pub in Commercial Road, Southampton.

She had been raped and strangled, and her jewellery had been stolen.

Lace was 17 at the time of the murder and was living in his home city of Portsmouth.

He took his own life in December 1988 when he was living in Brixham and did not feature as part of the original police investigation.

At a press conference, McTavish said Lace confessed to the crime when he was being questioned about a series of burglaries.

He described Lace as an aggressive loner who said during the interview he wished to tell them about a murder he had committed.

“He stated that he could no longer live with what he had done and that he was better off in prison,” the detective said.

McTavish said police managed to find a record of the interview, conducted on September 17, 1983, around 18 months after Sean Hodgson was convicted and jailed for the rape and murder.

McTavish said officers at the time looked into the confession and decided it revealed “numerous and significant inconsistencies” including incorrect descriptions of the car and De Simone’s clothing.

He said very limited original paperwork was available and a total of seven men, including Lace and Hodgson, had confessed to the crime.