The murder of a kind-hearted father-of-one, killed in his bookstore in 1982, continues to puzzle police 42 years later.
Edmund Simpson, from Manchester, was 58 when he was beaten to death with a blunt instrument in Burns' bookshop, where he worked for 36 years.
Edmund, locally known as “Mr. “Kindheart” was popular with locals and his murder, which occurred in daylight, shocked the community.
His bookshop business partner, Eric Burns, found Edmund on the floor in a pool of blood with severe head wounds and he was taken to Salford Royal Hospital.
Edmund clung to a life support machine for two days but died from his injuries, leaving behind his wife of 30 years, Norma, and his daughter.
Four decades later, Edmund's family is still fighting for justice, and police still have no clues as to who killed the father of the family.
While Edmund's passion was selling railroad and military books, he and his business partner announced that more profit could be made by selling top-shelf soft-porn “girlie magazines.”
The staff got used to “strange men” coming into the store to buy the magazines – and believed one of the customers had beaten Edmund to death for his wallet.
Despite a call for witnesses and tips from police, one investigator described the public's reaction as “appalling”.
Eric told the Manchester Evening News at the time: “He was a good Samaritan – one of nature's lords.”
“He never deserved an end like that.” He would do anything for anyone. If you were in trouble he would be there in a minute.
“If you had seen his wounds you would never forget it. 'It will haunt me forever.'
Police later discovered that Edmund died because of £65 (equivalent to £289 today) and a driving license in a folding wallet that had been stolen from him.
Amazingly, two years before his murder, he was robbed in the store by a man armed with a razor.
Chief Supt Jack Ridgway said at the time: “I am particularly keen to locate any person who may have been in the vicinity of the store between 1.30pm and 3.30pm yesterday afternoon.”
“I can assure you that if you have anything to say to us, you will remain completely anonymous.”
Edmund Simpson, from Prestwich, Manchester, was 58 when he was beaten to death with a blunt instrument in broad daylight on August 9, 1982, in Burns' bookshop, where he worked for 36 years
Despite a call for witnesses and tips from police, one investigator described the public's reaction as “appalling”.
Police suspected that Girlie Magazine customers knew far more about Edmund's death, but no one was willing to comment.
Edmund's business partner Eric, who was 70 at the time of the murder and founded the business with his then 67-year-old brother Dennis, said they had become accustomed to the odd “strange” customer looking for the magazines.
Eric had planned to close the bookstore years ago because the lease on the site was about to expire and the building was due for demolition due to a municipal order.
However, he refused to close it, partly because Edmund was afraid of becoming unemployed after being discharged from the RAF years earlier.
Such was his commitment to the business that Edmund became co-director of the bookstore.
Eric offered a reward of £500 – the equivalent of £2,200 today – to catch the killer, but he was never caught.
A witness described a man in his late 20s to early 30s fleeing the scene in a “distressed state” with dark hair, jeans and about 5'7″ to 6'2″ tall.
In 2015, detectives from Greater Manchester Police's cold case unit reopened their investigation into the brutal murder.
There is still hope that improvements in forensic technology, along with new information, could help police finally unmask the killer.
Det Chief Supt Jack Ridgway, who led the investigation, once criticized readers of girlie magazines for failing to help solve the murder.
Minutes before Edmund's attacker entered his shop, it was revealed he had made two £5 sales at the till, but that customer had never come forward.
In 2015, the police reopened the case.
Detective Sergeant Julie Adams of the unit said in a press statement in 2015 that the case was “not closed” and that was the case “Considering all new forensic possibilities”.
Edmund's daughter is clearly still very disturbed by his murder and in the interests of herself and Edmund's grandchildren getting answers and justice, I would ask anyone who has any information about what happened or knows the identity of the murderer to contact the police as soon as possible on 0161 856 to contact 5961 or
