Killer Simon Hall found dead in prison
The 36-year-old's body was discovered on Sunday morning
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Your support makes all the difference.Simon Hall, who spent a decade claiming he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice before admitting he murdered an elderly woman, has been found dead in prison.
The 36-year-old’s body was discovered by staff members at HMP Wayland in Norfolk on Sunday morning, the Prison Service confirmed.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “HMP Wayland prisoner Simon Hall was found unresponsive in his cell by prison staff at approximately 5.25am on Sunday February 23.
"Paramedics attended but he was pronounced dead at 5.49am.
“As with all deaths in custody, the Independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation," he added.
Hall, from Ipswich, was convicted and jailed for life in 2003 after he murdered 79-year-old Joan Albert in her home in Capel St Mary, Suffolk.
She was found in her hallway on 16 December, 2001, after being stabbed five times.
Hall maintained that he was innocent for a decade, and launched a series of appeals. He won backing from MPs and appeared in the BBC documentary Rough Justice.
However, Hall admitted his guilt to prison authorities last year and his campaign came to an abrupt end.
Hall submitted two applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to consider his case.
The CCRC was informed of his prison confession and contacted him asking him if he wanted to withdraw his claim, and his case was subsequently closed.
Suffolk Police said at the time of Hall's admission that the “uncertainty [had] undoubtedly exacerbated the suffering” Mrs Albert's family endured since she was murdered.
In a statement issued to the East Anglian Daily Times last year, Mrs Albert's relatives said: “During the last 10 years the publicity surrounding the appeals has been very distressing for our family, making moving on impossible, but we would like to thank Suffolk Police, including [retired detective superintendent] Roy Lambert and his team, who carried out the original investigation, to present-day officers who continue to support us.
"We are also grateful to those who have helped us throughout this difficult ordeal."
Additional reporting by PA