Katie Simpson: A Murder Disguised as Suicide – The Lies That Unravelled a Killer’s Story
Katie Simpson’s tragic death shook the rural village of Tynan, County Armagh. To the locals, it appeared the 21-year-old had taken her own life. But behind the smiles and crocodile tears of her alleged rescuer, a chilling truth lay hidden.
Katie wasn’t just another young woman. She was a vibrant, ambitious force in the equestrian world. Always working – stables, odd jobs – saving every penny for a horse of her own. Determined. Cheerful. Well-loved.
So when Jonathan Cresswell, her sister’s partner, drove her to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry claiming she’d attempted suicide, confusion followed. Katie didn’t fit the profile.
Bruises told another story. Legs. Arms. Shoulders. Her phone? Gone. He claimed it was lost while administering CPR. The police, though suspicious on the ground, filed it as suicide.
Jonathan Cresswell – charming, sociable, respected in equestrian circles. But not to everyone. Journalist Tanya Fowles had her doubts instantly.
Speaking in the new Sky documentary Death of a Showjumper, she recalls: “That man, Jonathan Cresswell, his name jumped out. I had a memory of being arrested in 2009 for attacking his then-girlfriend.”
Her instincts screamed foul play. But police brushed her off. “You’re nothing but a curtain twitcher, go back to your life. Leave it alone,” an officer told her.
Then came the funeral. Tanya noticed something chilling – Cresswell smirking into Katie’s grave. That moment pushed her to contact Detective Sergeant James Brannigan, a seasoned investigator with a nose for injustice.
Brannigan’s gut agreed. “You have to ask questions,” he told Metro. Katie’s body, the bruises, the missing phone. And Cresswell’s violent history – it all added up.
He dug deep. Late nights. Autopsy photos. Conversations with friends and family. What he found was harrowing. Katie had a secret boyfriend. Their messages were full of life and love – until fear crept in.
“He asked Katie why she needed to lie to Jonathan… Little did he know, that was the fear Katie had,” Brannigan said.
It wasn’t until seven months later that irrefutable evidence surfaced. Initial swabs, long ignored, finally returned results. Semen. Internal injuries. Cresswell was arrested.
“You just knew this f*** was lying,”** James recalled of the March 2021 arrest.
Cresswell, ever manipulative, claimed he’d had an affair with Katie. He spun wild stories – sex in fields, on bonnets – trying to take control of the narrative. But the lies began to crumble.
He said he’d found Katie’s body at home. Untrue. He claimed her phone was lost on the roadside. But data showed otherwise – he’d put it in flight mode and tossed it into a field.
The game was up. In April 2023, Jonathan Cresswell appeared at Londonderry Crown Court. He denied everything – rape, murder. His legal team urged him to plead guilty. He refused. Wanted control. Always did.
Then, the day after his trial began, he was found dead. “He’d denied her that,” James said. “She wasn’t going to be heard and he’d escaped justice.”
It was a final act of cowardice. Last November, the Police Ombudsman confirmed what many feared – the original investigation was deeply flawed.
“We were not rigorous enough,” PSNI’s Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck admitted, “and we did not act quickly enough.”
James Brannigan couldn’t stomach it anymore. He resigned in April. Now, he’s building something new – a watchdog group of ex-detectives, aiming to investigate suspicious deaths and expose abusers before they’re able to hide behind lies.
“There is fertile ground for this to happen over and over again,” he warns. With rising domestic homicides and shrinking police budgets, the risk is real.
Katie Simpson’s story isn’t just about a life lost. It’s about the cracks in the system – and the people refusing to look away.
