September 1994. Lincolnshire, England became the setting for a case that still confuses detectives. Julie Pacey. A devoted mother. Found murdered in her bathroom on a Tuesday afternoon. Police began uncovering unsettling clues, seemingly left by the killer. But why?
A False Sense of Security
Julie was 38 years old. She lived in a peaceful market town called Grantham in Lincolnshire. Where everyone knew everyone. Her husband was called Andrew and she had two young children. She had a part time job at the local nursery.
September 26th, 1994 was an unremarkable day. She dropped her children off at school, did some shopping, and returned home to her house on Longcliffe Road. No one had any reason to suspect she was in danger.
Unsettling Clues
Days before her death, she had a strange encounter. The first clue. This then became the focal point of the investigation after her death. Julie was home alone when the doorbell rang. On her doorstep was a man in overalls with bright cheeks, claiming he needed directions. Julie thought nothing of it. But that exact same stranger was seen lurking on her street again on the afternoon of her murder.
Then the second clue. Around the time of the attack, witnesses noticed a luxury blue BMW parked in the family’s driveway. Right next to Julie’s Audi. The Pacey family didn’t own a BMW. None of their friends did either. Moments later, that car was seen speeding out of the street, racing toward the town centre.
The Fatal Discovery
The time of the murder was narrowed down to between 15:10 and 16:15. 16:15. The time that Julie’s 14 year old daughter arrived home from school. She called for her mother but was met with silence.
As she walked through the house calling for her mother a mix of confusion and dread filled her. She entered the first floor bathroom to make the horrific discovery. Her mother had been violently sexually assaulted and strangled with a cord. The killer had fled. And had left a miraculously clean crime scene. There was only one thing missing. Julie’s rare Lucerne wristwatch.
The Stolen Vehicle
The discovery led to the launch of a large investigation by Lincolnshire Police. They focused almost entirely on the BMW and the ‘overall man’. They found that the vehicle had been stolen from a nearby town a few days prior. It was then found abandoned in a Grantham car park.
Forensic teams frantically searched the vehicle, finding hairs and fingerprints, but none of them matched people found in the 1994 database. There were national appeals and reconstructions on Crimewatch, but they didn’t uncover anything. The case went cold.
2015 DNA Breakthrough
Two decades had passed. Yet, still, they had no answers. However, in July 2015 scientists created a complete DNA profile of the killer from evidence preserved since 1994.
Could justice finally be served? The optimism was short-lived. The new profile still didn’t bring up any results on the UK database. The attacker had evaded being convicted of any crime in the decades following Julie’s death.
An Ongoing Search for Justice
Thirty years later. The perpetrator still roams free. The killer evaded the consequences, and still holds onto the Lucerne watch stolen from Julie. A memento.
Lincolnshire Police refuse to close the case, continuing to urge anyone with lingering suspicions or information regarding the ‘overall man’ to come forward. Justice is long overdue.
Will it ever be served?
Jade C. Miller is an avid reader and writer of crime fiction. When not analysing mysteries or crafting, you can usually find her hunting for vintage paperbacks in local bookshops.
