ANGELA Heyes' body was discovered during a Sunday morning bike ride through the picturesque moors north of Egerton.

Her semi-naked body, lying behind a stone wall next to a lay-by on quiet Stones Bank Road, Egerton, was found by cyclist, Paul Lindsay from Horwich.

The gruesome find sparked a nationwide hunt for a sex killer.

Angela of Park Road, Bolton, was murdered just days before her 34th birthday. A post mortem revealed she had been strangled and violently sexually assaulted. She was dressed in just bra and knickers.

Murder squad detectives said they believed the 33-year-old woman had been dead for some time before the killer hid her body in the lay-by. A full scale investigation was immediately launched. Officers from Lancashire Police Force helped to search the moorland for clues, while Greater Manchester CrimeStoppers posters bearing Angela's picture and description were circulated throughout the Bolton area in a bid to discover her movements leading up to her death.

The police team appealed to soccer fans for help at half time during Bolton Wanderers' FA Cup tie against Leeds United.

Angela was last seen alive by friends as she left the King William 1V pub in Manchester Road, Burnden, nine days before her body was found.

Detectives, led by Det Supt John Waterworth, followed up a series of local and national leads during their investigation and nine weeks after Angela's body was found, police arrested one of her neighbours Steven Penn. The 37-year-old warehouseman lived in a bedsit a few doors away from Angela in Park Road, off Chorley New Road, Bolton. He was a former lover and father of her daughter. Penn constantly denied murdering Angela and has remained in custody since his arrest.

During the trial at Manchester Crown Court it was claimed Penn had carried out an horrific sexual assault and hit Angela on the back of the head before strangling her.

The jury was told by pathologist Dr William Lawler that the victim would have suffered "excruciating" pain before she was finally strangled.

A police search in Penn's bedsit revealed Angela's blood on the underside of his mattress. In addition a length of bloodstained twine, similar to twine used at Penn's workplace, was found in a bin he used regularly. And after the murder, he gave his daughter a watch similar to one bought by the victim.

It was maintained by the prosecution that Penn killed Angela to silence her. He mistreated her and then killed her because he feared she would go to the police.

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