In the early hours of the Sunday morning, before committing his murder, Simon Hall and his work colleague Jamie Barker had carried out a burglary at a company called Zenith Windows.
Zenith Windows was located at 19 St Helen’s Street in Ipswich and was not far from where Simon Hall had parked his car on the previous night.
Zenith Windows was also Jamie Barker and Phoebe Grant’s previous place of employment.
Suffolk police were aware of the Zenith Windows burglary in Ipswich town centre, but seemingly it was not until after they learned Simon Hall and Jamie Barker had walked past Zenith Windows, on theirway back to collect Simon’s car, that police suspected Simon and Jamie could have been responsible for the burglary.
A note contained within an Operation Magdala forensic science service (FSS) report form stated;
The third item submitted are tapings from a burglary that occurred in Ipswich town centre, in the area walked by the defendant and an associate on the night of the offence
A further note, on the same FSS form stated;
The third item should again be screened for the same fibres, together with the green/grey fibres also of interest.
This is to establish the potential involvement of the defendant in this crime, and hence establish a possible motive for the offence at 15 Boydlands
A scenes of crime report linked to the fibre tapings of the Zenith Windows burglary, dated the 5th August 2002, can be viewed by tapping on the link below;
Jamie Barker and Simon Hall stole several items from Zenith Windows, including CD players and a “microwave oven” sized locker, which according to Lynne Hall apparently ended up in her garden at 8 Snowcroft, Capel St Mary.
And according to Simon Hall, Lynne Hall apparently told her adoptive son Simon to “get rid of it”.
The microwave size description were the words used by Lynne Hall when she finally disclosed to Simon Hall’s then wife Stephanie (Hall), on the 5th November 2012, what the stolen locker had looked like.
Simon Hall’s admission to the Zenith Windows burglary came about after news of the burglary was leaked by a previous girlfriend of Shaun Hall, Simon’s older brother.
Sarah, an ex girlfriend of Shaun Hall, had apparently bumped into a woman called Karen outside of the Co-op food store in Capel St Mary in November 2012.
Karen, who also lived in the village of Capel St Mary, and who had been following and supporting Simon Hall’s innocence fraud campaign (As it turned out to be) contacted Simon Hall’s then wife Stephanie (Hall) and asked her what she knew about a “safe”.
Stephanie (Hall) had no idea what Karen was referring to and when Karen told her about the Zenith Windows burglary she was shocked by this revelation.
After breaking into Zenith Windows, Simon Hall and Jamie Barker had apparently carried the stolen items back to Simon’s car, which was parked up in the car park of the nearby Woolpack public house run by Scott Doughty.
Simon Hall claimed the stolen goods were then put into the boot of his car before he dropped Jamie Barker home in Ipswich and drove back to Capel St Mary, where he went on to commit his murder of Joan Albert.
Karen went on to tell Stephanie (Hall) how Lynne Hall had apparently told Sarah (An ex girlfriend of Shaun Hall’s) words to the effect of;
“Simon could not have murdered Joan Albert because at the time he was committing a burglary in Ipswich”
Simon Hall claimed that he and Jamie Barker had gained access to the Zenith windows premises through a “sash window”.
After learning Simon Hall (and many others) had lied to her about the Zenith Windows burglary Stephanie (Hall) questioned what else Simon Hall (and all these other people) had lied about and also questioned could Simon Hall have been responsible for murdering Joan Albert.
Following the Zenith Windows burglary revelation in November 2012 more revelations would follow.
At the time of the Zenith Windows burglary revelation, Simon Hall had already sacked his solicitor Correna Platt and was instead being represented by Michael Naughton of Bristol University.
As soon as she learned about the Zenith Windows burglary, Stephanie (Hall) notified Michael Naughton and Gabe Tan.
Gabe Tan was then the executive director of the Innocence Network UK (INUK) and the University of Bristol Innocence Project, working alongside Michael Naughton.
Stephanie (Hall) telephoned and emailed Michael Naughton and Gabe Tan on the 5th November 2012.
Stephanie (Hall) had already telephoned Lynne Hall to ask her what she knew about the Zenith Windows burglary and asked her why she, and Simon Hall (And others) had not told the police about this during their investigation into the murder of Joan Albert.
Lynne Hall had initially said to Stephanie (Hall) if she told anyone about the burglary Lynne Hall would call Stephanie “a liar”.
It was during this initial telephone conversation when Lynne Hall also told Stephanie (Hall) that she had seen the microwave size locker in her garden on the morning of Sunday the 16th December 2001 and had apparently asked her adoptive son Simon what it was.
Lynne Hall also stated she had told Simon to “get rid” of the stolen locker as she had apparently said she “did not want it in her garden”, which Simon claimed he did on Monday the 17th December 2001.
It was at this time killer Simon Hall also disposed of the clothing, shoes and leather jacket he had been wearing when he committed his murder of Joan Albert.
Gabe Tan sent Stephanie (Hall) an email on the 16th November 2012, and copied in Michael Naughton.
Gabe Tan stated in response to the Zenith Windows burglary admission;
In light of this new revelation, we feel that it is all the more important to get a first hand account from Simon himself
Excerpt from Gabe Tan’s email dated 16th November 2012
Gabe Tan also stated in her email to Stephanie (Hall);
I’ve attached the letter that we have sent him today.
For the time being, we will continue with what we are doing in relation to the fibres and will re-consider our approach to his case when we obtain a full account from him
Please can you NOT notify the CCRC about this for the time being as we feel that it might have a negative impact on their review
Excerpt from Gabe Tan’s email dated 16th November 2012
Excerpts from Michael Naughton and Gabe Tan’s letter to Simon Hall read;
In addition, please provide us with the following information:
What was in the locker you and Jamie had stolen?
When did you dispose of it and how?
Did you speak to Jamie about this since the 16th December and since your arrest and conviction?
What did you and Jamie do after you had stolen the locker?
What time did you drop Jamie off on 16th December?
Have you told any one else about this break in? If so, please tell us who you have told and when you have told them
Why did you not disclose this at the time of your arrest and since your conviction?
We look forward to hearing from you in due course
Excerpts from Gabe Tan & Michael Naughton’s letter to Simon Hall dated November 2012
At the time of the November 2012 Zenith Windows burglary revelation, the criminal cases review commission (CCRC) were reviewing Simon Hall’s murder conviction for a second time.
In their 19th December 2012 letter addressed to Michael Naughton, a CCRC commissioner called Julie Goulding stated;
In general terms, we can inform you that one piece of further work will relate to the chemometric analysis of the fibres.
Although it appears this technique has not been used in relation to fibre evidence in British courts, some of the British experts we have consulted believe that it may be possible to take this forward.
In doing so, we will have to be mindful of the issue set out in our letter dated 23rd November 2012
We will continue to consider the input from the American experts that you have mentioned but if your own research on this (or any other) matter has yielded any further information you feel may be relevant, please do let John Curtis know so that we can take account of that
Excerpt from Julie Goulding’s letter to Michael Naughton dated 19th December 2012
INNOCENCE FRAUD WATCH 
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