Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast
Speaker 1: dedicated to missing people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime.
Speaker 1: Today we're going to be exploring a case which is
Speaker 1: quite close to me in proximity and one that police
Speaker 1: felt at the time did not get enough attention. The
Speaker 1: murder of fifty eight year old Edmund Simpson at a
Speaker 1: book shop in Manchester City Center was shocking in its
Speaker 1: ferocity and violence. Police expected that this would be a
Speaker 1: case that could be solved quickly, but sadly, forty three
Speaker 1: years later, it's still unsolved. This episode contains descriptions that
Speaker 1: some listeners may find distressing. Sole listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1: Burne's Bookshop was located on the corner of Victoria Street
Speaker 1: and Fennel Street and has been described as being in
Speaker 1: the shadow of Manchester Cathedral. It occupied a central location
Speaker 1: in the city and today that area is a hub
Speaker 1: of activity with many restaurants and bars, as well as
Speaker 1: being next to the Anddale shopping Centre. The area has
Speaker 1: had a lot of development over the years, particularly after
Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety six Manchester bombing attack, which led to
Speaker 1: many new areas and buildings being built. Eric Burns and
Speaker 1: his brother Dennis had founded the shop. However, by nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty two, fifty eight year old Edmund Simpson had worked
Speaker 1: in the shop for thirty six years and had ran
Speaker 1: it for thirty of those years. He was a part
Speaker 1: of the furniture of the shop and became partners with
Speaker 1: Eric Burns, who by then was seventy years old. Edmunds
Speaker 1: lived in the Greater Manchester area of Preswich, located around
Speaker 1: four and a half miles away from the city centre.
Speaker 1: He lived there with his wife, Norma, and they had
Speaker 1: a daughter together. Edmond has been described by those that
Speaker 1: knew him as the nicest man and one of nature's gentlemen.
Speaker 1: Eric Burns said about him, he was a good Samaritan,
Speaker 1: one of nature's gentlemen. He would do anything for anybody.
Speaker 1: If you were in trouble, he would be there in
Speaker 1: a minute. This seemed to be echoed by everyone that
Speaker 1: knew him, and he clearly enjoyed what he did. Edmund
Speaker 1: had been in the rif and after he was demobbed
Speaker 1: he went to work at the book shop, and so
Speaker 1: by all intents and purposes, he had dedicated his life
Speaker 1: to it. In nineteen eighty two, however, the future of
Speaker 1: the shop looked a little uncertain. The lead of the
Speaker 1: premises was due to end and the building was under
Speaker 1: a council demolition order, and so it looked unlikely to
Speaker 1: be able to continue. The previous year, Eric Burns had
Speaker 1: considered shutting down the business. He would later explain that
Speaker 1: this was something that worried Edmund, as he was concerned
Speaker 1: at his age, he would not be able to get
Speaker 1: another job and he'd be left with nothing. Eric Burns
Speaker 1: explained that this was one of the reasons why he
Speaker 1: had decided to keep the shop open, as Edmond was
Speaker 1: so worried about his future. On Monday, the ninth of
Speaker 1: August nineteen eighty two, Eric Burns was concerned when he
Speaker 1: hadn't been able to reach Edmund on the phone at
Speaker 1: the shop. This was unusual because Edmund was working that
Speaker 1: day and so he couldn't figure out why he wouldn't
Speaker 1: be picking it up. He decided to go down to
Speaker 1: the shop to check that everything was okay. When he arrived,
Speaker 1: he found that the front door was locked. He opened
Speaker 1: it using his key and stepped in. When he stepped in,
Speaker 1: he realized that something was wrong as he saw Edmund
Speaker 1: Simpson slumped on the floor of the shop. He was
Speaker 1: laying a pool of blood and Eric could see that
Speaker 1: he had severe head wad wounds. Being unable to believe
Speaker 1: what he saw, Eric quickly contacted the police and Edmund
Speaker 1: was rushed a Salford Royal Hospital. He was still alive,
Speaker 1: but he was seriously injured. It was clear from the
Speaker 1: outset that somebody had attacked Edmund and hit him around
Speaker 1: the head. Unfortunately, despite intervention from the hospital's staff, Edmond
Speaker 1: passed away from his injuries two days after he'd been attacked.
Speaker 1: This was a brutal attack which had now turned into
Speaker 1: a brutal murder, and getting to the bottom of how
Speaker 1: and why this had happened was crucial. Greater Manchester Police
Speaker 1: began an investigation into Edmund's murder to try and figure
Speaker 1: out what had happened. The post martem established that Edmund
Speaker 1: had died from a brain hemorrhage caused by several blows
Speaker 1: to the head with a blunt object. It's not been
Speaker 1: disclosed if this murder weapon was ever recovered. They also
Speaker 1: established that he must have attacks between around one forty
Speaker 1: pm and two forty pm. This appears to have been
Speaker 1: due to the fact that Edmund had wrung up two
Speaker 1: five pound transactions shortly before the attack. These were very
Speaker 1: important in establishing a timeline for what happened. Chief Superintendent
Speaker 1: Jack Ridgeway was in charge of the investigation, and he
Speaker 1: explained that he was anxious to speak to anyone that
Speaker 1: had been in the shop between one thirty and three
Speaker 1: thirty pm that day to try and eliminate anyone and
Speaker 1: also establish when the last person had seen Edmund. A
Speaker 1: theory of the case began to form. Police discovered that
Speaker 1: sixty five pounds had been taken from the shop, as
Speaker 1: well as Edmund's driving license. Nothing else appeared to be missing,
Speaker 1: and the crime scene showed no sign of a struggle.
Speaker 1: Chief Superintendent Ridgeway stated that he believed the motive behind
Speaker 1: the attack was robbery. An interesting piece of information was
Speaker 1: that this was not the first time that the shop
Speaker 1: had been robbed. It had been robbed two years previously,
Speaker 1: and that time Edmund had been held up by a
Speaker 1: man with a razor. This robbery had also taken place
Speaker 1: at around three pm in the afternoon, at a similar
Speaker 1: time to the more recent attack. Police ruled out any
Speaker 1: connection between the two robberies. However, it did indicate that
Speaker 1: this was a shop where criminals with the intention of
Speaker 1: robbing someone may want to go. There was another reason
Speaker 1: why police believed the shop may have attracted some questionable customers.
Speaker 1: While the bookshop had predominantly sold railway and military books,
Speaker 1: Edmund had discovered that selling what were described as girly
Speaker 1: magazines was more lucrative for business and made them more money.
Speaker 1: These magazines were placed on the top shelves and this
Speaker 1: increased the number of customers coming into the shop. It
Speaker 1: also increased the number of awkward interactions with customers. Eric
Speaker 1: Burns stated Edmund was a friendly man, but we did
Speaker 1: get some weird customers sometimes and we would have to
Speaker 1: eject them. Some were drunk. Despite his five foot eight
Speaker 1: height and ten stone weight, Eric described Edmund as a
Speaker 1: pretty tough guy who knew how to deal with awkward customers.
Speaker 1: This information was certainly of interest a greater Manchester Police,
Speaker 1: and the relatively new sale of these magazines could have
Speaker 1: put Edmund more at risk than he had been previously.
Speaker 1: Despite this lead, the information about the sale of the
Speaker 1: magazines could have put the investigation at a disadvantage. Any
Speaker 1: legitimate customers who had been in the shop may have
Speaker 1: been less likely to come forward through fear of embarrassment.
Speaker 1: This was a criticism that was later leveled at the
Speaker 1: customers of the shop by the police in the days
Speaker 1: following the murder. Detective Superintendent Jack Ridgway described the response
Speaker 1: from the public as appalling and said that these customers
Speaker 1: were directly hindering the investigation. He stated that there were
Speaker 1: seven principal witnesses that they wanted to speak to who
Speaker 1: might have important information. He said, shortly after the murder
Speaker 1: of the seven principal witnesses, we particularly wanted to see
Speaker 1: not one has come forward. They seem more concerned about
Speaker 1: preserving their reputations because they think if they come forward,
Speaker 1: people will say they went into the shop to buy
Speaker 1: dirty books. I couldn't care less why they went into
Speaker 1: the shop. Reporting from the time explains who some of
Speaker 1: these witnesses were. One witness was extremely important and was
Speaker 1: thought to be the last person to see Edmund alive.
Speaker 1: He was a man with a dark beard and sunglasses
Speaker 1: who was in the shop at around two pm. He
Speaker 1: was white, around five feet six inches tall, and was
Speaker 1: aged about thirty or forty. Another witness was seen at
Speaker 1: between two ten and two thirty pm and was described
Speaker 1: as a white man around forty years old and clean
Speaker 1: shaven with glasses. He was wearing a blue jacket and
Speaker 1: gray trousers. Another witness was not seen to go into
Speaker 1: the shop, but just look through the window. He was
Speaker 1: in his mid thirties and had an unkempt appearance. He
Speaker 1: was wearing a gray top coat. A group of witnesses
Speaker 1: were also asked to come forward, a group of men
Speaker 1: in their late teens or early twenties and a girl
Speaker 1: aged nineteen or twenty. The men were dressed in casual
Speaker 1: clothing and the girl was around five feet two or
Speaker 1: five feet four inches tall, wearing tight jeans, a white
Speaker 1: t shirt and a blue denim jacket. It's unclear if
Speaker 1: they were just spotted near the shop or had been
Speaker 1: inside the shop during the window of time that the
Speaker 1: police were interested in. More recent reporting from the Manchester
Speaker 1: Evening News describes a man that was seen fleeing the
Speaker 1: scene looking distressed. The man was described as five feet
Speaker 1: nine to six feet tall with dark hair. He was
Speaker 1: believed to be in his late twenties to early thirties
Speaker 1: and was wearing jeans, Again, it's unclear if this man
Speaker 1: was the same as any of the other descriptions from
Speaker 1: contemporary reports, or this was another person of interest. Of course,
Speaker 1: someone fleeing the scene looking distressed is certainly someone that
Speaker 1: the police wanted to find. The frustration that the police
Speaker 1: were feeling towards the public response was clear, and it's
Speaker 1: been described as though people did not care about what
Speaker 1: had happened to Edmund, and it had been hoped that
Speaker 1: as the attack had happened in the afternoon, when people
Speaker 1: were going about their business, that someone would have noticed something, especially,
Speaker 1: as Chief Superintendent Jack Ridgeway stated, traffic is often held
Speaker 1: immediately outside the shop at the busy junction, and drivers
Speaker 1: too may have seen someone coming out of the entrance
Speaker 1: or standing nearby. Greater Manchester Police decided to put up
Speaker 1: posters inside the shop describing what had happened to Edmund
Speaker 1: and appealing for information from anyone passing by who was
Speaker 1: hoped that for people who might have passed the shop
Speaker 1: every day on their way to work, for instance, it
Speaker 1: might jog their memories. It might have also pricked the
Speaker 1: conscience of someone who was holding back information. Unfortunately, however,
Speaker 1: this did not have the desired effect and information was
Speaker 1: not forthcoming. Eric Burns put up a five hundred pound
Speaker 1: reward for anyone with information. This would have been around
Speaker 1: two two hundred pounds in today's money. However, this did
Speaker 1: not also seem to tempt anyone to come forward. The
Speaker 1: investigation hit a brick wall very quickly, and without any
Speaker 1: new information, it went cold. Edmund's wife and his grown
Speaker 1: up daughter had to try and get on with life
Speaker 1: without him, and it was clear that he was a
Speaker 1: very loved man by all that knew him. He was
Speaker 1: such an unnecessary attack and the lack of information from
Speaker 1: the community was certainly disappointing. Sadly, there was no further
Speaker 1: progress reported on Edmund's case for decades until twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: when it was announced that Greater Manchester's Cold Case Unit
Speaker 1: would be reopening the case. It was hoped that now
Speaker 1: that new forensic technology existed, they would be able to
Speaker 1: find out new evidence that they couldn't obtain previously. It
Speaker 1: was also hoped after all these years, someone would be
Speaker 1: more willing to come forward with information. Detective Sergeant Julie
Speaker 1: Adams from the unit said, thirty three years have now
Speaker 1: passed since Edmund Simpson was brutally killed in the bookshop
Speaker 1: where he worked. This case will not be closed and
Speaker 1: detectives from the Cold Case Review Unit remain positive and
Speaker 1: will explore all lines of inquiry in the hunt for
Speaker 1: Edmund's killer. In twenty ten, we explored opportunities around the
Speaker 1: case and are doing so again now. We are considering
Speaker 1: any new forensic opportunities and other information we have received
Speaker 1: to ensure that we can pursue justice for Edmund's family.
Speaker 1: Edmund's daughter is obviously still very distressed about his murder,
Speaker 1: and for the sake of her and for Edmund's grandchildren
Speaker 1: to find some answers and justice, I would ask that
Speaker 1: anyone who may have information on what happened, or who
Speaker 1: may know the identity of the killer to contact the
Speaker 1: police as soon as possible on oh one sixty one
Speaker 1: eight five six five nine sixty one, or crime Stoppers
Speaker 1: anonymously on eight hundred five five five one one one.
Speaker 1: This seems to be the last update that has been
Speaker 1: made in this case, and ten years later, there has
Speaker 1: been no more progress reported. If forensic technology did help
Speaker 1: with progressing the case, there has been nothing published about
Speaker 1: it since. Like so many other cases, we cover. This
Speaker 1: case deserves more attention, and it seems like a case
Speaker 1: that could have been solved with just a small piece
Speaker 1: of information. You never know what your seemingly tiny piece
Speaker 1: of information could do for a case, or what connection
Speaker 1: it could make. Edmund's murder deserves to be solved, and
Speaker 1: his daughter and his grandchildren deserve to know what happened.
Speaker 1: If you do know anything about this case, then please
Speaker 1: let someone know using the information that we have just
Speaker 1: discussed and that's linked in the show not thank you
Speaker 1: for listening to today's episode. If you'd like to support
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Speaker 1: I'm Caprice and this has been unseen b