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DNA tests reveal true killer of gas board clerk in 1979
Alison Richards17.09.09
A man whose body was exhumed is thought to be the killer of gas board clerk Teresa De Simone 30 years ago.
Police said DNA testing on the body of David Lace was a complete match for samples found at the crime scene.
Lace's body was exhumed last month after the investigation was reopened when DNA evidence proved that the man jailed for 27 years for the crime, Sean Hodgson, was innocent.
The body of Miss De Simone was found on 5 December, 1979, in her car, parked at a pub in Southampton. She had been raped, strangled and her jewellery stolen.
Lace was 17 at the time of the murder and was living in his home town of Portsmouth.
Lace made admissions to the murder in 1983 following Hodgson's conviction 18 months earlier.
Hodgson, 58, from County Durham, confessed to the killing but later denied the charge.
Lace took his own life in 1988 when he was living in Brixham, Devon.
Miss De Simone's mother, Mary Sedotti, 77, said the naming of Lace would bring some closure for her.
Reader views (3)
Wow, 27 years. How did Hodgson get convicted anyway? Just imagine this happened in the USA (Texas f.e.), he would have been given the death penalty while he's innocent!
- Smee, The Netherlands
Three lives lost, what a waste.
- Brazil Pat, NE Brazil
British justice took 27 years from the life of Sean Hodgson. I hope the "powers that be" are most generous in their offer of compensation.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
