Member-only story
The Cold Case of Julie Pacey
On the 23rd of September 1994, Julie’s body was found on the bathroom floor of her home. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
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 approached Julie’s house on her way back from school. She often went to Julie’s house to wait for her parents to return home from work. On this particular day, the girl said that she noticed a strange man entering the driveway when she was approaching Julie’s house. As she got closer and walked onto the drive herself, the man exited 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 she shouted, “come in”.
The following Monday, the 26th of September, Julie went to work at the nursery, 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 also 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 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 who knew Julie also said 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 several times.
