Ski blonde’s home searched after businesswoman killing
DETECTIVES hunting the killer of stabbed businesswoman Sadie Hartley yesterday raided a house belonging to a glamorous 34-yearold ski worker.
Police believe Mrs Hartley, 60, may have been murdered by a jealous rival after being caught up in a bitter love triangle.
Her long-term partner Ian Johnston, 54, a retired firefighter and ski instructor, has been questioned by officers – though not as a suspect – amid claims he may have had an affair.
And yesterday, police searched a buy-tolet property belonging to Sarah Williams, 34, who works for a ski holiday firm. They ripped up floorboards, searched garden bins and removed computers and phones from the property in Leasowe, Wirral.
Lancashire police refused to comment on whether Miss Williams was the 34-year-old woman being questioned on suspicion of murder following the frenzied attack.
Mrs Hartley was found stabbed to death in the hallway of the £450,000 home she shared with Mr Johnston in the village of Helmshore, Lancashire, on Friday night.
She is thought to have been viciously
‘The raid went on for about 24 hours’
attacked after answering the door. She suffered a series of knife wounds to her arms and hands and was repeatedly stabbed in the body. Bleeding profusely, she collapsed and died.
Lancashire Police arrested a 34-year-old woman in Chester – about 60 miles away – over the weekend before seizing a second woman, 55, on Monday night.
Last night a police source said: ‘We are looking at the theory the victim was part of a love triangle and was targeted at her home because of this.
‘We do not believe Mrs Hartley was seeing anyone else but we are examining whether there was a love triangle which she may have been totally oblivious to.
‘It is one strong line of investigation but it is not the only line of enquiry we are pursuing. Mr Johnston has been questioned by officers but he is not a suspect.’
One neighbour at Miss Williams’s property in the Wirral, which was bought last year for £60,000, said last night: ‘I saw the police taking things out of the house and heard they ripped up the floorboards.
‘ The people who lived there hadn’t been there long – it was a young woman and a man who was quite a lot older.’
Another neighbour added: ‘It was a man and his younger girlfriend who were doing the place up.
‘They both seemed nice enough, they were pretty quiet but always said hello. The raid went on for about 24 hours and they were taking everything out.’
Mr Johnston is an outdoor pursuits fanatic and a keen telemark skier – a cross between Nordic and Alpine skiing. Miss Williams, who worked for a ski travel firm in Greater Manchester, is also a telemark skier.
Mrs Hartley has two grown-up children – Harry, 23, and Charlotte, 22 – from her marriage to Garry Hartley. They are said to be ‘totally bereft’. Mr Johnston, who worked as a fireman for 31 years before retiring in 2009, was married to a fellow worker at Lancashire Fire and Rescue, Jackie Johnston, 62, and they have a daughter, Hannah.
During his time with the Fire Service, grammar school-educated Mr Johnston was awarded a special commendation for his relief and rescue work during the Armenian earthquake in 1988 which claimed the lives of 45,000 people.
In the summer months, he works as a technical adviser at International Camp Suisse in Vionnaz, Switzerland – a summer school for teenagers from across the globe. Mrs Hartley met Mr Johnston almost a decade ago and they lived in Mrs Hartley’s home in the picture postcard village of Great Budworth, Cheshire.
But 18 months ago, she sold the property for £760,000 and the couple moved to a rented detached house in the village of Helmshore.
Detective Superintendent Paul Withers, of Lancashire Police, said: ‘The exact motive for this horrific murder remains unclear at this time, but we are continuing to make steady progress.’