Company boss knifed to death at home ‘as she fought attacker’
Woman, 34, held after ‘body lay in hall for day’
A COMPANY director found murdered in the hallway of her country home is thought to have tried to fend off her attacker – and lay dead for 24 hours before her body was discovered.
Sadie Hartley, 60, was ‘ferociously’ stabbed several times at the five-bedroomed house – but the motive remains a mystery.
Detective Superintendent Paul Withers, who is leading the investigation, said the attack was ‘one of the worst’ he had seen for 25 years.
Last night, a 34-year-old woman from Chester – around 60 miles away – was being quizzed on suspicion of murder. Her identity and relationship to Mrs Hartley had not been revealed.
Police said Mrs Hartley was found with ‘some defensive wounds’, meaning she may have tried to fight back. The mother of two, who ran a medical communications firm, was alone at the £450,000 house in Helmshore, near Blackburn, because her partner was on a skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps.
Investigators added that the murderer ‘had some issues with her’, as there was no sign of forced entry and nothing was stolen.
The ‘thoroughly decent’ businesswoman’ – who was a keen horse rider and drove an Audi TT – was last seen alive at a conference in Manchester on Thursday.
It is believed she was killed just hours later, possibly on her doorstep – though officers and paramedics only found her butchered body the next evening when a colleague raised the alarm.
Det Supt Withers said: ‘I feel it happened during the course of Thursday evening. There is no further communication from Mrs Hartley after 7.30pm. There are numerous unanswered emails and stuff like that. She was a very accomplished and organised business lady and people tell me that is unusual as she was very efficient.
‘It was about 24 hours later when we sadly discovered her body.’
Mrs Hartley was co-director of Hartley Taylor Medical Communications, a company founded in 2000 that organises conferences and events for medical professionals.
Police yesterday removed her red Audi TT from the snow-covered driveway, while sniffer dogs searched for the murder weapon around the large detached house.
Det Supt Withers said: ‘She was a thoroughly decent lady, clearly living in a lovely area.
‘It is imperative that we find the person responsible. I don’t think this is a random attack, I think this was targeted and I think the answers lie here on Sunny Bank Road. I believe the truth in this tale will come from the community.’
He added: ‘We don’t know if it is someone Mrs Hartley has invited here or if it is someone who has simply knocked on the door and attacked her there and then.
‘It is somebody who has got a personal issue with her.’
Mrs Hartley is understood to have two grown-up children – Harry, 23, and Charlotte, 22 – from a previous relationship with Garry Hartley, after marrying the advertising manager in 1981.
Her current partner, ex-firefighter Ian Johnston, 56, returned from his break in Switzerland yesterday after learning of her death. He is not being treated as a suspect.
The couple had only lived in the rented house for a year after selling Mrs Hartley’s previous home in picturesque Great Budworth, Cheshire. Former neighbours said she was a ‘crazy about horses’ and went ‘all over the world riding’.
Det Supt Withers said: ‘She’s a successful businesswoman who works very, very hard and she certainly didn’t deserve to end her life in this manner.’
Neighbours spoke of their disbelief that such a murder could happen among the close-knit community. The quiet Lancashire village has a population of just 5,800.
Martin Frost, 40, said: ‘The whole village is in shock. This isn’t the sort of thing that happens around here. There has been a spate of car crimes recently but we’ve never had anything like this. The house has been burgled in the past too.
‘They’ve had a team here with poles searching down drains. I’m not sure if they’re looking for a weapon but it’s bizarre to see so many police around here.’
Investigators also want to trace the owner of a Renault Clio, a man and another person captured on CCTV in the cul-de-sac shortly before they believe Mrs Hartley was murdered.
Mr Johnston, who lost his mother just two months ago, is a member of the Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team.
Team leader Peter Goble said: ‘Mrs Hartley was a lovely, gentle lady and very pleasant to be around. We are in absolute shock. Ian was in the Alps skiing with friends and the police phoned him to break the news.’
‘A thoroughly decent lady’