{"id":4768,"date":"2024-07-23T02:54:45","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T02:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/why-did-it-take-so-long-to-look-for-her-killer\/"},"modified":"2024-07-23T02:54:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T02:54:45","slug":"why-did-it-take-so-long-to-look-for-her-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/why-did-it-take-so-long-to-look-for-her-killer\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did it take so long to look for her killer?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"FamilyFamily<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Katie Simpson died in August 2020<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

A senior police officer has been accused of being resistant to investigating the death of showjumper Katie Simpson as a murder.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old died in hospital six days after an incident in a house in County Londonderry, in August 2020.<\/p>\n

In the months after Katie’s death police treated her death as suicide before it was upgraded to a murder investigation.<\/p>\n

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said Katie Simpson\u2019s murder has left a family devastated and they continue to suffer unimaginably.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"PAPA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Det Ch Insp Jonathan Caldwell led a major investigation team based in Londonderry<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

At the time of Katie’s death, Det Ch Insp John Caldwell led a major investigation team based at Maydown PSNI Station in Derry.<\/p>\n

Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister, a member of the Policing Board, has told a BBC Spotlight investigation that a police officer from another team, who was trying to push for an investigation, was getting pushback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am aware that there was an individual officer who did a lot of work and actually brought it forward to his superior to say: \u2018This isn\u2019t right here.\u2019 <\/p>\n

“He met a lot of resistance, not from his superior but from within the team around the district in which Katie lived and where the death actually occurred,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a police team in the PSNI who just didn\u2019t want to know. I\u2019ve been informed that it was DCI John Caldwell who led that team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"FamilyFamily<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jonathan Creswell, who was charged with raping and murdering Katie Simpson, had known her since childhood<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Det Ch Insp Caldwell is one of the best-known detectives in the PSNI.<\/p>\n

In 2023 he survived a dissident republican gun attack and was awarded the King\u2019s Police Medal.<\/p>\n

Ms McAllister said: \u201cIt has been alleged to me that it was DCI John Caldwell himself who put up the most resistance and acted in the way, I have been told, that was not befitting of a senior ranking officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy fight it? Why argue against it? Where was the harm in investigating it?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"NoelNoel C Kelly<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Katie Simpson appeared to be living her dream working full time with horses<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

In January 2021 a police team in Armagh became the lead investigators of the case over the Maydown team.<\/p>\n

Ms McAllister said: \u201cWhy did it take a major investigation team in a different district in Northern Ireland to actually start the investigation into Katie’s murder?\u201d<\/p>\n

A separate police whistle-blower has told the BBC: “Something had gone very wrong for the major investigation team in Armagh to have to take the lead over Derry. That\u2019s a fact. I don\u2019t know what that was but it stinks.”<\/p>\n

In March 2021, Jonathan Creswell was charged with the rape and murder of Katie Simpson.<\/p>\n

Creswell was a showjumper turned horse trainer who was in a relationship with one of Katie\u2019s sisters.<\/p>\n

His trail began earlier this year, on 23 April.<\/p>\n

It heard that he had previous \u201cillicit\u201d sexual relations with Katie and attacked her after discovering that she was in a relationship with someone else.<\/p>\n

He had then tried to cover up what had happened in a \u201ccalculated and deceitful\u201c way by claiming her death was as a result of suicide.<\/p>\n

Creswell was found dead in his home on the second day of the trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"PAPA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said there had been challenges in identifying the circumstances of Katie’s death<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

In a statement, PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher acknowledged that there were shortcomings in the initial stages of the investigation and said he was sorry for this.<\/p>\n

He added that following an investigation by the Police Ombudsman, misconduct proceedings are under way against some officers but confirmed that Det Ch Insp Caldwell is not one of them.<\/p>\n

Det Ch Insp Caldwell, the chief constable said, almost gave his life in public service and he and his family have the PSNI\u2019s full support while his recovery continues.<\/p>\n

He added said that the challenge of immediately identifying the circumstances of a death where a perpetrator as devious and manipulative as Creswell is involved should not be underestimated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Covering up a crime<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jonathan Creswell was in a relationship with Katie Simpson’s sister<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Jonathan Creswell first met Katie and her family through working in horse stables near their home in Tynan, County Armagh.<\/p>\n

He went on to have two children with Katie\u2019s eldest sister, Christina.<\/p>\n

It was a controlling relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe isolated the family,” said Marie Brown, CEO of Foyle Women\u2019s Aid and the Family Justice Centre. <\/p>\n

“Coercive control, I believe, is one of the most insidious forms of abuse because it gradually is undermining somebody, instilling fear, paralysing them from telling anybody because they’re so fearful of that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time she turned 18, Katie mostly lived with her sister and Creswell, under his control.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"FamilyFamily<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Katie Simpson was 21 when she died<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

On August 4 2020, he claimed to be the good Samaritan who had found Katie injured after she had attempted suicide.<\/p>\n

The emergency services were alerted and Creswell put her into a car to bring her to hospital.<\/p>\n

BBC Spotlight has obtained extracts of the actual call between Creswell and the 999 call handler.<\/p>\n

They include Creswell pretending to undertake CPR while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne, two, three, four,\u201d he counted out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m hurting her. One, two\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

During that time he unlocked Katie\u2019s phone and turned on airplane mode, so it could not be tracked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Bruises on her body<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n

In hospital, the 21-year-old was put on life support.<\/p>\n

She never regained consciousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer eyes flickered a bit,\u201d her mother, Noeleen Simpson, recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a lot of frustration coming from her, an awful lot of anger coming from her. <\/p>\n

“There were a couple of marks. I remember saying to the nurse: ‘What’s this?<\/p>\n

“And the nurse said she didn’t know – but she did look concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katie’s bruises were of concern to nurses; she had also presented with vaginal bleeding.<\/p>\n

A post-mortem examination noted injuries to her limbs “consistent to being struck with a rod-type implement”.<\/p>\n

Creswell had a conviction for a catalogue of physical abuse against another woman within the showjumping world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ten years previously, in 2010, he had been sentenced to six months in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Getting away with murder<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Noeleen Simpson said Creswell was a “cunning man”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

The PSNI has been criticised for missing a number of red flags in the 24 hours after the incident alone, but Creswell misled them.<\/p>\n

However, many suspected he had harmed Katie.<\/p>\n

His arrest in March 2021 came months after several people, including family members, a nurse and others repeatedly contacted the police in order to try and get Creswell treated as a suspect in the death of the young showjumper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

What Katie\u2019s family and friends did not know up to that point was the extent to which Creswell controlled her young life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just can’t believe she smiled so much with all the abuse that she had to take,\u201d said Noeleen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t know what he was like. He was a very cunning man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creswell’s death meant he was not convicted of the rape and murder of Katie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that ultimately by him taking his own life, that Jonathan Creswell did get away with murder,\u201d said Ms McAllister.<\/p>\n