Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime. Today we're going to be covering the nineteen seventy eight murder of Bill Simpson at his garage in the area of Small Heath in Birmingham. His murder was unexpected, incredibly violent and had some features of a gangland attack. But who would have wanted to kill this well loved father and husband in this awful way? This episode contains descriptions that
some listeners may find distressing, so listener discretion is advised. The area of Small Heath is located around two miles from the city center of Birmingham and quickly grew in popularity during the Victorian era due to its green space outside of the city and the number of terrace houses that were being built to accommodate the growing
population. During World War Two, Small Heath gained more importance as it was the location of the Birmingham Small Arms Company, which was the only factory which produced rifles in the UK. This meant that the factory and Small Heath became very important to the war effort and began to produce rifles and Browning machine guns an accelerated rate. The factory went from six hundred guns per week in nineteen
thirty nine to around sixteen thousand a month in nineteen forty two. The amount of people involved in the production massively increased and Small Heath was put on the map in terms of its relevance. The factory was bombed three times by the Loftwaffer in nineteen forty and this caused huge problem, with many people being injured, including residents workers, and resulted in the loss of life of fifty three employees. The production of rifles was also halted for around three months, which
of course had a devastating effect on the war effort. As a result, the production of rifles was spread out throughout the country so that they could not be as much of a target for German bombing raids. Since World War Two, Small Heath has continued to grow, with many more houses being built. Today, it's a very multicultural area and due to the popularity of the TV show Peaky Blinders, many people also know it as a location where the Peaky
Blinders street gang operated during the late Victorian era. During the nineteen seventies, Small Heath was continuing to grow with many people moving into the area to live and also to set up businesses. In nineteen seventy eight, this included William Simpson, or Bill as he was known. Bill lived in the area of Erdington, which is a suburb of Birmingham, located around five miles from the city center. Bill lived with his wife Mary, and they had three children
together, who at that time were all in their twenties. Bill was a mechanic who owned a garage in the area where he lived in Erdington before renting out a new lock up garage in a back street on Whitton Street in Small Heath in early nineteen seventy eight. Bill had qualified as a mechanical engineer in the Army, and when he was demobbed in nineteen fifty six he'd settled in the Birmingham area. He'd set up his company, Sampson Motor Repairs and Welding,
and now transferred it to this new garage in the new area. He was known as a hard working man who put all of the hours he could into his work at the garage, and he was a family man. Reports from his family members stated that sometimes he would be out from seven o'clock in the morning and didn't come home until ten or eleven o'clock at night. This continued when he moved to the garage in Small Heath in nineteen seventy eight.
By all accounts, Bill Simpson was a hard working family man who owned his own business and generally kept himself to himself. It seemed that he'd gained an excellent reputation in the area in the short time that he was there, and customers were happy with the work that he completed. Sampson Motor repairs therefore were successful and continued this way during nineteen seventy eight. On Friday, the twelfth of May of that year, however, Bill Simpson's garage was at the center
of a very strange and tragic series of events. That day, residents in the area of Whitton Lane noticed something odd coming from the alleyway in which Bill Simpson's garage was located. It looked as though there were flames coming out from the bottom of the door, and as the door was shut, there must have been concern about whether anyone was inside it or not. Firefighters arrived at the scene, and when they first got there, they discovered that the garage
door was locked. They had to break down the door to gain access to the garage and put out the fire. The scene was initially a very confusing one, given that there was no indication why the fire had started or what had happened. When the fire crew got inside and the fire was under control,
it became clear that something tragic had happened inside. There, lay face down with his head and shoulders underneath a blue Viva van was a man, and it was clear that he had been caught up in the flames, given that his clothing had been mostly burnt away and what remained was still on fire. When the fire crews arrived. On first glance, it looked as though there may have been an accident when the man had been working under the car.
It seemed as though the jack may have slipped and landed on the man and caused something else in the garage to fall over and set the fire. The fire crew lifted up the van and removed the jack, which enabled them to get a closer look at the body. It was at this point that they realized that this couldn't have been what happened. They discovered that the man had a bullet wound to his face, and from that point on, the
theory of what happened in there changed dramatically. This was now a murder scene. The remains were so charred that making an official identification was difficult. The body and the underneath of the van had been burned, as well as two of the rear tires. It's also reported that a cop mattress that was inside the van was also burnt. Next to the van was a new exhaust pipe, and it looked as though it was about to be fitted into the van
when the murder had occurred. As the garage was owned by Bill Simpson, it was assumed that this body would be his, and a later identification was made from his belongings that were inside the garage. The murdered man was Bill Simpson. From the evidence in the garage, it was clear that whatever had happened to him was brutal and the perpetrator's intention had been to kill him.
But why? What was the exact motive behind this? While the garage was further assessed for any evidence, Bill's family were told of what had been found. All of them were in complete shock about it and couldn't believe what they were hearing. Bill's wife, Mary was in such severe shock at the news that she had to be put under sedation. Bill's three children couldn't grasp what
had happened, let alone why. It was reported that their eldest son, Bill, flew straight home from Germany and was given compassionate leave from his role in the army with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers when the news reached him. The couple's youngest son, Terry, spoke to the papers about his father's murder soon after it occurred, and he told them that he couldn't understand it at all. He said, my father didn't seem to have an enemy in the
world. His whole life was the motor trade, and he lived for the cars. The police have asked us whether we know of anyone who might be responsible for the shooting, but we've not been able to give them any lead at all. We just cannot think of anyone or any reason for such a terrible thing. This was echoed by Bill's neighbors, who all talked about his kindly nature, with one of his neighbors, Stanley Watton, stating he was
well liked around here and was always helping people. He was very efficient and a hard working man. If anyone had any trouble with a car. He would be round straight away, not to make money, just to be helpful. This was the picture that was emerging from the initial investigation into Bill Simpson's murder. However, police had to try and figure out why someone wanted this
kindly, hard working man dead. From the post mortem, police were able to ascertain that Bill had been shot and then the garage had been set on fire, and therefore could establish that the shooting had taken place beforehand. This was crucial information and suggested that the killer had been using the fire to cover their tracks or to get rid of any other evidence that may have been left behind. The circumstances behind why this had happened or when, however, was
unclear. Police began doing door to door inquiries in the local area around the garage in the hope that someone had noticed something odd or heard something on that Friday. They spoke to the nearest house to Bill's garage, a man named James Moroney. He was asked if he'd heard a gunshot around the time that Bill was murdered. He told police that he hadn't heard anything that sounded like a gunshot. He told the newspapers later, although I was at home on
Friday. I cannot remember anything which I would describe as a gunshot. There's always a lot of noise from the garages of cars being revved up or the banging of metal. As well as interviewing people in the local area, the police also deployed dogs in the area to try and find more evidence, as well as using mine detectors. Despite these inquiries, information was not as forthcoming as it could have been, and police had to appeal to the public.
They announced that they wanted to hear from people who were in the area of the garage between twelve noon and two thirty on that Friday, or anyone who was a customer of Bills. One person did come forward, and he was the owner of the blue Viva van that Bill had been working on at the time of his murder. Sam Rafailia Rashid had left his van with Bill on that Friday morning, and he reported that he hadn't noticed anything strange or odd
about him that day. He had visited Bill's garage in the first place due to a recommendation from his brother, who said that Bill's work on his vehicle had been quick and efficient. Sam explained that when he dropped off his van on that Friday, Bill had appeared relaxed and happy, and there didn't appear to be anything wrong at all. Sam told the newspapers he was happy and relaxed when I saw him. The van was due for its moot in July,
and he said he would check it over for me. I gave him the keys and he told me to come back and pick it up on Sunday. Reflecting on when he'd heard about the news of Bill's death, he said, I'm horrified. It all seemed perfectly normal when I saw him the previous day. The news of his death was such a terrible shock. I couldn't believe such a thing could happen. It's clear that Sam was in shock that he had been there just that morning, and that something so terrible could have
happened not long after. This was unthinkable. The police knew that it was Sam's fan that he was working on when he was murdered. The motive, however, still eluded everyone, including his family. Bill's brother in law stated, this whole business has got us completely baffled. He had no money troubles,
and he was certainly not involved in anything political. Police seemed to be at just as much of a stand sill with Chief Superintendent Tom Mefferin from West Midland CID, stating it was a murder without a motive, without a direction to go in this was proving a difficult one to solve. Police had disclosed some information about people who they were speaking to, and one of the avenues they seemed to be heading towards was speaking to a man named Tony Walsh,
who had previously shared the garage with Bill. This appeared to be in an effort to learn as much as they could about Bill and about his life. Tony Walsh was later eliminated from inquiries. Police also made a statement which initially
seemed quite vague and brought up many more questions than answers. At a press conference on the thirteenth of May, Detective Superintendent Mike Murphy stated that Bill Simpson had been known to police, but not in any drastic This was an odd statement given that the murder had been and continued to be described as motivelest Just
two days later, however, this statement seemed to be explained. The Birmingham Mail reported that Bill had been at magistrate's court in January of nineteen seventy eight as he had been found to be in receipt of three stolen MOT certificates. It was later reported that during the investigation, police uncovered that there was an illegal mot business running in Birmingham at the time, and that there was a
scam involving a batch of three hundred stolen MOT certificates. This meant that certificates could be used to pass off cars as roadworthy when they weren't, or could be sold on to other people at a profit. Four of these certificates had been found at Bill's garage. Seven men were later arrested for their part in this scam. This was of course of interest to police, However, whether it had any bearing on Bill's murder wasn't clear. Neither was Bill's possible role
in this scam. There was no direct evidence that showed that Bill was involved in it, and it couldn't be proven. This did provide an explanation for why police had made the statement, explaining that Bill had been known to them, but not in a drastic way. They stated they were doing more investigation into the criminal underworld to see if this could in any way provide a motive
for the crime. On the same day, police announced that they did have descriptions of some people who they wanted to speak to who had been spotted in the area at the time during the two hour window between twelve and two when police believed that Bill had been murdered. Descriptions of these three men were given. The first man was described as being white, between the ages of thirty to forty, around five feet eight inches tall, with ginger hair. He
was described as being well built. He'd been wearing a PVC hip length zip jacket, black trousers with flared bottoms, and black high heeled shoes. Another man was described as mixed race, aged between thirty to thirty five and about five feet nine inches tall. He was well built with curly hair. He also had a goaty beard. He was wearing a brown V neck jumper and
a T shirt. The third man was also described as mixed race, aged between thirty eight and forty, about five feet seven inches tall and of medium build. He had a long face and mustache and a light beard. He had curly receding hair and was wearing an orange jumper with a double blue line
around the neck and was wearing dark blue trousers. Detective Superintendent Mike Murphy told the press these people were seen in the vicinity of the murdered man's workshop between noon and two pm on Friday. We would like them to contact us so that we can eliminate them from our inquiries. A mobile police station was set up at the scene for anyone that might know a vital piece of information. Despite these appeals, however, weeks began to pass without any further movement on
the case. During this time, Bill's family had to try and figure out life without him, and they were attempting to rebuild their lives in such tragic circumstances. Mary Simpson, Bill's widow, spoke to the press at the beginning of June nineteen seventy eight and described how she'd been affected. She stated, he could never have done anything so wrong that he deserved to die like that. I still cannot understand why the murderer did it, and that's the worst
thing of all. I lie awake at night trying to figure it out, but it's still a complete mystery. This worries me more than anything. At the moment, I feel like I'm about to snap. My husband was my whole life. By July nineteen seventy eight, the family were continuing to struggle as they had no closure to what happened, and personally their lives were being
torn apart. Reports from July nineteen seventy eight indicate that Bill and Mary's son, who was also called Bill, had to quit his career in the army to return home to look after his mother. She'd been unable to return to her job as a factory worker as she had a major internal operation was not
entitled to widow's pension. They were also dealing with the issue surrounding Bill's funeral and burial as his body was still in Birmingham City Marchery, as he couldn't be buried as a second post mortem may have been needed to be carried out if a suspect was arrested, this causing the family a lot more distress as he couldn't be later to rest. Bill said, this is making my mother even more upset. This thing just won't go away, and we're just as
baffled today as we were when we heard of the murder. Police addressed the fact that the investigation seemed to be going nowhere, saying that they hadn't forgotten about it, but they couldn't keep as many officers on the investigation as before Detective Superintendent Mike Murphy said, we found the rest of the divisional work was suffering with such a large scale murder operation, so we've been forced to cut
back to twelve officers on the inquiry. This was clearly a very upsetting idea to Bill's family, who just wanted answers as to who did this to him and why. It wasn't until October nineteen seventy eight that Bill's family were able to finally bury him. He was buried in Whitton Cemetery with his friends and family present, and they were able to finally gain some closure. After the police instructed the coroner to release his body, Mary Simpson spoke to the press
and appealed for anyone with information to come forward. She said, I appealed to anybody who knows anything to contact the police immediately. If I knew had done it, then I might know why I sit for hours trying to figure it out. I was trying to get over it, but the funeral has brought it all back again. All I can hope for now is that the
murder can be solved and my mind put to rest. Detective Superintendent Mike Murphy also commented on the investigation, saying we're still baffled as to the motive for this murder. We're quite satisfied the death was in no way connected with stolen mot certificates. This appeared to put to rest the previous rumors that this had somehow contributed to his murder. Bill Simpson's family were finally able to lay him to rest, but unfortunately Mary Simpson never got her wish for the case to
be solved. Many years in decades passed without any movement or progress being made, and sadly Bill's murder is still unsolved today. Many of the facts that were known immediately after Bill's murder are the only facts that we still know today, and there doesn't appear to have been any new evidence or information found. The only more recent information I can find comes from an article from the Birmingham Male, which describes much of the information that appears in the contemporary news reports.
There is nothing new added to this. Sadly, forensic evidence was not known about when Bill's murder took place and so was not something collected, and also the killer had set fire to the scene before leaving. This means that unfortunately, evidence that might have been recovered couldn't be. This has ultimately led to just speculation. In this case, was this someone who knew Bill? Was it something to do with his work? Why had someone been so angry
with Bill that they would commit such a horrendous crime. Many of these questions don't have answers, and this remains a crime without motive given that there isn't enough evidence to prove any potential theory. Bill Simpson's murder remains unsolved and his family never got the answers they deserved. His murder seems to have just been forgotten since nineteen seventy eight, and this is so sad what happened to him and why. Another worrying thing is that this murderer has never been brought to
justice and has been free this whole time in society. Bill's murder should be solved. If you know anything about Bill Simpson's murder in nineteen seventy eight, then please contact West Midland's Police one oh one. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want to support the podcast further than you can on Patreon and contribute to the exclusive polls to get extra bonus episodes every month. You can also get access to new episodes early and add free. You can
use the link in the show notes to visit Patreon. You can also support us by reviewing the podcast wherever you listen, including Spotify, and also just share the episodes. You can subscribe on YouTube and follow us on social media. You can also subscribe and listen to my other podcast, ten Minute True Crime, which tells infamous crimes in a short form, bite size ten minutes for people on the go or who just like the facts. Find that wherever
you listen and in the show notes. As always, I'm Caprice and this has been unseen