Kate Simpson: Cold case of Stockton OAP killed in own home

The brutal killing was described as a “callous and totally unnecessary attack on a defenceless elderly woman” who police believe opened the door to her killer. 

There were no signs of forced entry at the widow’s three-bedroom semi-detached home on Hartburn Avenue, which was cordoned off and guarded by police following the incident. 

It was a neighbour who was taking shopping to the 94-year-old that found her in a pool of blood on the floor, having been stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife.

Mrs Simpson was described by neighbours at the time as “not having an enemy in the world” and as someone who kept herself and her house “fastidious tidy”.

The scene of the killing of Kate Simpson (Image: NORTHERN ECHO ARCHIVE)

Three men were convicted of killing Mrs Simpson – but in 1992, all three of them were freed after their convictions were quashed by appeal court judges in London. 

At the time, The Northern Echo reported how there had been reports of bogus salesmen visiting pensioners’ homes in the nearby area.

And police initially believed that the killer was a burglar and theft was the motive. 

Detectives said neighbours’ descriptions of her tidiness had led them to believe household items had been disturbed in the room where she was found and about the house. 

65 police officers combed through Stockton to find evidence following the incident, searching nearby gardens and land and carrying out door-to-door enquiries. 

In the March 9, 1988 edition of the Echo, Cleveland Police’ Chief Superintendent John Ferguson said Mrs Simpson was “an ideal example of the elderly at risk”.

An excerpt from The Northern Echo on the death of Kate Simpson (Image: NORTHERN ECHO ARCHIVE)

He said: “She lived alone in an attractive, large house which was well furnished and maintained through hard work in earlier life. 

“It presented an element of affluence to the outside world which tends to feed upon rumour and general gossip. 

“The circumstances of her death raise a more sinister note. Did she recognise someone? Were injuries inflicted to persuade her to disclose some non-existent fortune? 

“Or are we simply looking for someone so evil and depraved that the killing was motivated not by logic but an uncontrollable lust to kill?” 

Decades later and Mrs Simpson’s killer remains unknown.

Mrs Simpson’s death is one of the many unsolved deaths or disappearances across the region that the Echo will be reporting on as part of our new ‘North East cold cases’ series.