Edmund Simpson

years later, it's still unsolved. This episode contains descriptions that some listeners may find distressing. Sole listener discretion is advised. Burne's Bookshop was located on the corner of Victoria Street and Fennel Street and has been described as being in the shadow of Manchester Cathedral. It occupied a central location in the city and today that area is a hub of activity with many restaurants and bars, as well as

being next to the Anddale shopping Centre. The area has had a lot of development over the years, particularly after the nineteen ninety six Manchester bombing attack, which led to many new areas and buildings being built. Eric Burns and his brother Dennis had founded the shop. However, by nineteen eighty two, fifty eight year old Edmund Simpson had worked in the shop for thirty six years and had ran it for thirty of those years. He was a part of the furniture of the shop and became partners with

Eric Burns, who by then was seventy years old. Edmunds lived in the Greater Manchester area of Preswich, located around four and a half miles away from the city centre. He lived there with his wife, Norma, and they had a daughter together. Edmond has been described by those that knew him as the nicest man and one of nature's gentlemen. Eric Burns said about him, he was a good Samaritan, one of nature's gentlemen. He would do anything for anybody. If you were in trouble, he would be there in

a minute. This seemed to be echoed by everyone that knew him, and he clearly enjoyed what he did. Edmund had been in the rif and after he was demobbed he went to work at the book shop, and so by all intents and purposes, he had dedicated his life to it. In nineteen eighty two, however, the future of the shop looked a little uncertain. The lead of the premises was due to end and the building was under a council demolition order, and so it looked unlikely to

be able to continue. The previous year, Eric Burns had considered shutting down the business. He would later explain that this was something that worried Edmund, as he was concerned at his age, he would not be able to get another job and he'd be left with nothing. Eric Burns explained that this was one of the reasons why he had decided to keep the shop open, as Edmond was

so worried about his future. On Monday, the ninth of August nineteen eighty two, Eric Burns was concerned when he hadn't been able to reach Edmund on the phone at the shop. This was unusual because Edmund was working that day and so he couldn't figure out why he wouldn't be picking it up. He decided to go down to the shop to check that everything was okay. When he arrived, he found that the front door was locked. He opened

it using his key and stepped in. When he stepped in, he realized that something was wrong as he saw Edmund Simpson slumped on the floor of the shop. He was laying a pool of blood and Eric could see that he had severe head wad wounds. Being unable to believe what he saw, Eric quickly contacted the police and Edmund was rushed a Salford Royal Hospital. He was still alive, but he was seriously injured. It was clear from the outset that somebody had attacked Edmund and hit him around

the head. Unfortunately, despite intervention from the hospital's staff, Edmond passed away from his injuries two days after he'd been attacked. This was a brutal attack which had now turned into a brutal murder, and getting to the bottom of how and why this had happened was crucial. Greater Manchester Police began an investigation into Edmund's murder to try and figure out what had happened. The post martem established that Edmund had died from a brain hemorrhage caused by several blows

to the head with a blunt object. It's not been disclosed if this murder weapon was ever recovered. They also established that he must have attacks between around one forty pm and two forty pm. This appears to have been due to the fact that Edmund had wrung up two five pound transactions shortly before the attack. These were very

important in establishing a timeline for what happened. Chief Superintendent Jack Ridgeway was in charge of the investigation, and he explained that he was anxious to speak to anyone that had been in the shop between one thirty and three thirty pm that day to try and eliminate anyone and also establish when the last person had seen Edmund. A theory of the case began to form. Police discovered that sixty five pounds had been taken from the shop, as

well as Edmund's driving license. Nothing else appeared to be missing, and the crime scene showed no sign of a struggle. Chief Superintendent Ridgeway stated that he believed the motive behind the attack was robbery. An interesting piece of information was that this was not the first time that the shop had been robbed. It had been robbed two years previously, and that time Edmund had been held up by a

man with a razor. This robbery had also taken place at around three pm in the afternoon, at a similar time to the more recent attack. Police ruled out any connection between the two robberies. However, it did indicate that this was a shop where criminals with the intention of robbing someone may want to go. There was another reason why police believed the shop may have attracted some questionable customers.

While the bookshop had predominantly sold railway and military books, Edmund had discovered that selling what were described as girly magazines was more lucrative for business and made them more money. These magazines were placed on the top shelves and this increased the number of customers coming into the shop. It also increased the number of awkward interactions with customers. Eric Burns stated Edmund was a friendly man, but we did get some weird customers sometimes and we would have to

eject them. Some were drunk. Despite his five foot eight height and ten stone weight, Eric described Edmund as a pretty tough guy who knew how to deal with awkward customers. This information was certainly of interest a greater Manchester Police, and the relatively new sale of these magazines could have put Edmund more at risk than he had been previously. Despite this lead, the information about the sale of the

magazines could have put the investigation at a disadvantage. Any legitimate customers who had been in the shop may have been less likely to come forward through fear of embarrassment. This was a criticism that was later leveled at the customers of the shop by the police in the days following the murder. Detective Superintendent Jack Ridgway described the response from the public as appalling and said that these customers

were directly hindering the investigation. He stated that there were seven principal witnesses that they wanted to speak to who might have important information. He said, shortly after the murder of the seven principal witnesses, we particularly wanted to see not one has come forward. They seem more concerned about preserving their reputations because they think if they come forward, people will say they went into the shop to buy dirty books. I couldn't care less why they went into

the shop. Reporting from the time explains who some of these witnesses were. One witness was extremely important and was thought to be the last person to see Edmund alive. He was a man with a dark beard and sunglasses who was in the shop at around two pm. He was white, around five feet six inches tall, and was aged about thirty or forty. Another witness was seen at between two ten and two thirty pm and was described as a white man around forty years old and clean

shaven with glasses. He was wearing a blue jacket and gray trousers. Another witness was not seen to go into the shop, but just look through the window. He was in his mid thirties and had an unkempt appearance. He was wearing a gray top coat. A group of witnesses were also asked to come forward, a group of men in their late teens or early twenties and a girl

aged nineteen or twenty. The men were dressed in casual clothing and the girl was around five feet two or five feet four inches tall, wearing tight jeans, a white t shirt and a blue denim jacket. It's unclear if they were just spotted near the shop or had been inside the shop during the window of time that the police were interested in. More recent reporting from the Manchester Evening News describes a man that was seen fleeing the scene looking distressed. The man was described as five feet

nine to six feet tall with dark hair. He was believed to be in his late twenties to early thirties and was wearing jeans, Again, it's unclear if this man was the same as any of the other descriptions from contemporary reports, or this was another person of interest. Of course, someone fleeing the scene looking distressed is certainly someone that

the police wanted to find. The frustration that the police were feeling towards the public response was clear, and it's been described as though people did not care about what had happened to Edmund, and it had been hoped that as the attack had happened in the afternoon, when people were going about their business, that someone would have noticed something, especially, as Chief Superintendent Jack Ridgeway stated, traffic is often held

immediately outside the shop at the busy junction, and drivers too may have seen someone coming out of the entrance or standing nearby. Greater Manchester Police decided to put up posters inside the shop describing what had happened to Edmund and appealing for information from anyone passing by who was hoped that for people who might have passed the shop every day on their way to work, for instance, it might jog their memories. It might have also pricked the

conscience of someone who was holding back information. Unfortunately, however, this did not have the desired effect and information was not forthcoming. Eric Burns put up a five hundred pound reward for anyone with information. This would have been around two two hundred pounds in today's money. However, this did not also seem to tempt anyone to come forward. The investigation hit a brick wall very quickly, and without any

new information, it went cold. Edmund's wife and his grown up daughter had to try and get on with life without him, and it was clear that he was a very loved man by all that knew him. He was such an unnecessary attack and the lack of information from the community was certainly disappointing. Sadly, there was no further progress reported on Edmund's case for decades until twenty fifteen, when it was announced that Greater Manchester's Cold Case Unit

would be reopening the case. It was hoped that now that new forensic technology existed, they would be able to find out new evidence that they couldn't obtain previously. It was also hoped after all these years, someone would be more willing to come forward with information. Detective Sergeant Julie Adams from the unit said, thirty three years have now passed since Edmund Simpson was brutally killed in the bookshop

where he worked. This case will not be closed and detectives from the Cold Case Review Unit remain positive and will explore all lines of inquiry in the hunt for Edmund's killer. In twenty ten, we explored opportunities around the case and are doing so again now. We are considering any new forensic opportunities and other information we have received to ensure that we can pursue justice for Edmund's family.

Edmund's daughter is obviously still very distressed about his murder, and for the sake of her and for Edmund's grandchildren to find some answers and justice, I would ask that anyone who may have information on what happened, or who may know the identity of the killer to contact the police as soon as possible on oh one sixty one eight five six five nine sixty one, or crime Stoppers anonymously on eight hundred five five five one one one.

This seems to be the last update that has been made in this case, and ten years later, there has been no more progress reported. If forensic technology did help with progressing the case, there has been nothing published about it since. Like so many other cases, we cover. This case deserves more attention, and it seems like a case that could have been solved with just a small piece

of information. You never know what your seemingly tiny piece of information could do for a case, or what connection it could make. Edmund's murder deserves to be solved, and his daughter and his grandchildren deserve to know what happened. If you do know anything about this case, then please let someone know using the information that we have just discussed and that's linked in the show not thank you

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including Spotify, and also just share the episodes. I am back uploading on YouTube and we'll try and make sure more recent episodes are on there, so if you're not already subscribed, you can head over and do that, as well as following us on social media as our ways I'm Caprice and this has been unseen b