Ann Heron murder: "No one can imagine what I found that day" says husband Peter

He is now 85, and would like the 30th anniversary of the murder of his wife, Ann, to be the moment when he gets justice for her and so finally lifts the cloud from himself.

“There are two aspects to this, and Ann is the priority,” he said, in the conservatory of the home between Sedgefield and Stockton that he shares with his only surviving daughter, Debbie Simpson, and her husband.

Reliving the awful moment of 30 years ago, he said: “I came down the drive and saw the dog outside, which was unusual, and the door wide open, which was unusual. I walked into the house, into the lounge and I found what I found.”

Then he stopped, regained his composure, looked up and said: “Nobody can imagine what I found there.”

Ann, who had been planning to go to a party that evening, had been brutally attacked with a knife and her body lay on the lounge carpet in a pool of blood.

The last photograph ever taken of Ann Heron

“I get depressed when I think about Ann, particularly at this time of year when it clouts me,” he said. “It’s that that’s pushing me forward to get something sorted out. This could be the last time we are going to get any possibility of clearing it up, for local people to know that I didn’t do it, once and for all.”

• New suspect in Ann Heron murder case comes to light after 30 years

Mr Heron, who worked at Stiller Transport for more than 20 years helping build it from one lorry to nearly 300, accepts that he came under suspicion because he did not initially tell police about his affair with a golf club barmaid because, he said, he wished to protect her.

Fifteen years later, following advances in DNA techniques, he was arrested, charged with murder and spent six nights in prison. But then he was granted bail and all charges against him were dropped when the case was discontinued, which he feels has denied him his day in court.

“When I was finally arrested, Durham police completely destroyed my good name,” he said. “They have deliberately tried to put a round peg in a square hole because they had nowhere else to go.

Peter Heron talking at home this week

“You are innocent until proven guilty, but they never gave me the chance to prove I was innocent. I was guilty before I could be innocent.

“But I knew I didn’t do it.

“My attitude has been that if people want to believe something there’s no way I can convince them otherwise, so I have got on with my life.

“I’ll never be able to get rid of it. You either cope with that or you don’t cope with that.

“I have been strong because I didn’t do it.”

Mr Heron’s daughter, Debbie, said the family welcomed the identification of Michael Benson as a plausible suspect by investigator Jen Jarvie.

Mrs Simpson said: “Through sheer hard work and a rare passion to succeed, she has identified a credible suspect previously unknown to Durham Constabulary.

“If they apply the same passion and professionalism as Jenny to their investigation, I am confident that this case will finally be resolved, bringing long awaited justice for Ann, and Peter, and peace of mind and closure for both families.”

She added: “We are talking of this being 30 years ago, but to us it is like yesterday. If they had arrested someone in 1990, he would be out now. For us, it is a life sentence.”