The Cold Case of Julie Pacey

Julie Pacey lived in Grantham, Lincolnshire with her husband, Andrew and their two children, 14-year-old daughter Helen and 11-year-old son Matthew. At the time of her death, Julie was 38 years old and worked part-time at a nearby nursery.

On Friday the 23rd of September 1994, one of the neighbours' children was approaching Julie's house on her way back from school. She would often go to Julie's house to wait for her parents to return home from work. On this particular day, the girl said that when she was approaching the house, she noticed a strange man entering the driveway of Julies home. As she got closer and walked onto the drive herself, the man was exiting out of the driveway. She described the man as being about 35 years of age with a chubby, round face. He was wearing blue dungarees and brown boots.

When the girl got to Julie's house, Julie said to her that she had just had a man come to the house and ask for directions. Julie said that when she heard a knock at the door, she assumed that it was the girl coming back from school so told the man to come in to the house.

Why would this man go to Julie's house specifically out of all the houses on the street, and why not just ask a passer-by for directions? Was he watching her house and her movements?

The following Monday, the 26th of September, Julie went to work at the nursery as normal, returning home at around 2.45 pm. A witness placed Julie at around 3.20 pm, just around the corner from her home on Highcliffe Road. Another witness claimed they saw the man in the blue overalls on Highcliffe Road, they remember as he walked out into the road and a car, which was believed to be Julie's grey Audi, almost hit him. The car stopped, and the man continued walking. However, the witness said that after he stopped, he then turned around and ran back down Highcliffe road, it looked like he was running after the car.

Julie drove a grey Audi 80, which the family said was her only car. However, several witnesses claim to have seen Julie in a blue BMW 5 Series. Someone that knew Julie also said that they saw a blue BMW on the day she was murdered pulling into her driveway. The same car was also seen by a witness speeding away from Julie’s estate on several occasions.

Julie's daughter Helen returned home from school at about 4.20 pm. She entered the house and called out for her mum. When there was no answer, she went upstairs to look for her mum. She found her mother's body on the bathroom floor. Julie had been sexually assaulted and strangled using an electrical cable.

There was no sign of a false entry, so Julie must have let her killer in the house, or the door had been left unlocked. Police did not think that it was a burglary gone wrong as nothing was out of place and nothing was missing, apart from, a Luc Desroches watch that Julie wore. Andrew, Julie's husband, had an alibi and so was ruled out.

Julie's case appeared on Crimewatch in the hope that someone would know the man in the blue overalls or know who owned the blue BMW. They received thousands of calls, but no solid leads.

In 2015, Crimewatch once again appealed for people to come forwards, 21 years after her murder. There had been significant breakthroughs in DNA technologies, with police stating that they now had a "nearly complete" DNA profile that was left by the killer. Police still do not know the motive for her murder. People called the police with information that could be related to the crime, but there was still no conviction.

A man that matched the description of the 'man in the blue overalls' as he became known had been seen in the local area for several days, both around Grantham and on Julie’s estate. Most witnesses describe him as being chubby and having a red face. People said that the man was asking for directions on several occasions. No vehicle was seen with the man. Another witness saw a man of the same description enter a shop and act suspicious. The actor that was in the Crimewatch reconstruction was also reported to police as a possible suspect.

During the same time as Julie's murder, there was some nearby building work on Longcliffe Road. Police thought that the man could have worked on the construction site, but nothing was found from their enquiries.

Lolly True Crime wrote on Medium of similarity in Julie’s case to that of Sharon Harper. Sharon was strangled to death only two months before Julie, and her case also remains unsolved. Writing on his blog in 2020, Jarad Cold Cases is also convinced that the two crimes are linked. However, police say that the two crimes are not connected.

Some reports stated that a 'rogue' hair, was found at the crime scene of Sharon Harper. We can assume that this was not a DNA match with Julie's case. The hair may not have been left by the killer, but a match was never found.

As of 2022, both Julie's and Sharon's murders remain unsolved.

If you have any information in relation to Julie or Sharon's murders, please contact Lincolnshire Police on their Incident Room Number: 01522 532222.

Sources and Further Reading

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/shocking-lincolnshire-murders-remain-unsolved-5403067

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-33694243

https://lolly-truecrime.medium.com/a-daughter-desperate-to-find-her-mums-killer-e8ca78b7a516

https://jaradcoldcases.blogspot.com/search/label/Julie%20Pacey%20Murder%201994?zx=17e631dab953b8e0

https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/daughter-s-plea-to-find-mum-sharon-harper-s-killer-in-another-grantham-murder-unsolved-for-21-years-1-6903935/

https://www.itv.com/news/central/2015-07-28/dna-breakthrough-over-1994-julie-pacey-murder

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-34218343

http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=1079&termRef=Sharon%20Harper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_t9wh-pjv4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKGQ_d_-KxM&t=252s

http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=1075&termRef=Julie%20Pacey

Crimewatch Episode - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1p_P1XaG70