On January 10, 1986, David Howden woke around 8am and went downstairs to make some tea. 

Tessa was usually the first out of bed. She had started a job at the local 'Croydon Advertiser' in promotions, so when David noticed she wasn't up, he went upstairs to check on her. He saw she wasn't in bed, but it was dark. So he made his way downstairs, but at the bottom, David realised something wasn't right, before going back up again. Just inside her room, he saw her covers piled on the floor, and as he pulled them back, he found Tessa's body on the floor with something wrapped around her neck, covered in blood.

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Murdertown is a Crime+Investigation original podcast hosted by Benjamin Fitton, written and researched by Anna Priestland, with editing by Joel Porter, production by Kim Sergeant and is series produced by Sam Pearson.

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