Tiny bride who weighed just six stone killed by a 19-stone misfit outside Thorntons factory where she worked

The son of a company director yesterday admitted battering a young wife to death moments after she left work on a woodland path known as the ‘Yellow Brick Road’.

David Simmonds, the father of a two-year-old boy, pounced on Jia Ashton as she walked her regular 20-minute route home from the headquarters of chocolate-maker Thorntons.

At 19 stone and 6ft 2in, tattooed Simmonds weighed more than three times as much as his six stone, 4ft 11in victim.

Officers believe that after beating and attempting to strangle the 25-year-old graduate trainee, Simmonds either stamped or jumped on his victim, fatally rupturing her heart. 

No weapon was used in the attack, which police originally suspected had been committed by Mrs Ashton’s husband, Matthew.

Yesterday Simmonds, 21, whose father runs his own machinery and packaging firm, changed his plea ahead of trial to admit murdering the Warwick University economics graduate.

Mr Ashton stared intently at the killer throughout the five-minute session at Nottingham Crown Court. The case was adjourned  for sentence.

Simmonds has refused to offer any explanation for the March attack, although police say there may have been a ‘sexual element’.

While Mrs Ashton had not been sexually assaulted, her clothing had been pulled up, exposing her abdomen, where ‘contact’ DNA was recovered.
Matthew and Jia Ashton on their wedding day in China: He called her his 'Pocket Princess'

Matthew and Jia Ashton on their wedding day in China: He called her his 'Pocket Princess'

Her purse was also empty, suggesting robbery as a possible motive for the attack, which became known as the Yellow Brick Road murder after the local name for a path which cut through Sleetmoor Woods in Somercotes, Derbyshire, yards from where the victim’s body was found.

Following Simmonds’s guilty plea, it can be revealed that he had temporary jobs at Thorntons over the last two Christmas periods, though police do not believe he met Mrs Ashton or her husband.

Simmonds enjoyed a middle-class upbringing with his parents Michael and Lesley, both 48, and younger brother Paul, 19, in an executive home a short stroll from the woods.

But while Simmonds’s younger brother would go on to win a place at university, his own life was heading in a different direction. After dropping out of technology college at 17, he proved unable to hold down any job of substance.

In the run-up to the murder in March, his relationship with his parents had become fraught as they tired of his failure to settle down into a career to help support his young son.
Relief: Matthew Ashton, widower of Jia Ashton with his mother Sue Ashton and Detective Superintendent Terry Branson on the day David Simmonds pleaded guilty to murdering Mrs Ashton

Relief: Matthew Ashton, widower of Jia Ashton with his mother Sue Ashton and Detective Superintendent Terry Branson on the day David Simmonds pleaded guilty to murdering Mrs Ashton

Simmonds separated from the child’s 21-year-old mother, Laura Leonardi, around a year before the killing. By early 2011, he had left the family home and registered himself homeless to obtain temporary accommodation – a move that would prove to be his undoing.

Internet postings revealed that he was in turmoil over his looks and size, which he said were his ‘biggest fall down’ (sic).

 Man who murdered high-flying solicitor and claimed she choked to death while performing a sex act on him is jailed for life

He was nicknamed ‘Smithy’, after his resemblance to the tubby  character played by James Corden in the BBC comedy series Gavin and Stacey, and once wrote on Facebook: ‘Better to be a somebody today than a no one for the rest of your life.’

Mr Ashton, 27, a music teacher, was initially the prime suspect. He stayed in a Travelodge on the night of the killing after he and his Chinese-born wife rowed over when to start a family.

He was arrested on suspicion of murder when the body of his wife, whom he affectionately called his ‘Pocket Princess’, was discovered   hidden under logs and branches three days after she vanished. But footage of him checking into the motel seven minutes after his wife was seen on CCTV leaving work helped eliminate him.

Within 48 hours, a dog walker came forward to report seeing an unkempt man ‘darting’ around the woods less than an hour after Mrs Ashton left work.
Jia Ashton
David Simmonds, 21

Murder: Mrs Asthon (left) disappeared after leaving work on March 10. Simmonds (right) murdered her in what police described as a 'sustained and brutal attack'
This derbyshire police handout shows how Mrs Ashton's belongings, including an umbrella cover and coat buttons, were found scattered near her body

This Derbyshire police handout shows how Mrs Ashton's belongings, including an umbrella cover and coat buttons, were found scattered near her body
This map shows where objects were found in relation to Mrs Ashton's body (white dot)

This map shows where objects were found in relation to Mrs Ashton's body (white dot)

The walker suspected the man may have been sleeping rough. When police searched the area they discovered more of the victim’s belongings including her mobile phone, snapped into pieces, and her glasses. Both bore unidentified fingerprints.

The breakthrough came almost eight weeks later when officers  sifting homeless records turned up Simmonds.

He willingly gave fingerprint and DNA samples when officers called at the family home.

Realising the net was closing, he fled to an Indian restaurant in Heanor, Derbyshire, where he was a part-time delivery driver.

He was arrested loitering upstairs the next day, after the fingerprint matches were confirmed. Officers found a letter to his son, begging the boy not to hate him.

After the case, Mr Ashton said there ‘cannot be a sentence severe enough’ for killing his ‘irreplaceable’ wife.

Mr Ashton’s father, John, 61, is married to Jia’s mother, Penny, after they met at their children’s 2006 wedding.
wedding picture
Matthew Ashton leaves Nottingham Crown Court after David Simmonds, 21,pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife Jia

A detective who led the inquiry into the murder of Jia Ashton has described her killer as 'a habitual liar' who tried his best to cover up the brutal killing.

Detective Superintendent Terry Branson, of Derbyshire Police, said: 'Without a doubt Mr Simmonds went to great lengths to hide the body to make sure that we never found Jia. He made every attempt to frustrate the subsequent police inquiry.'

Simmonds received a number of injuries to his hands during the attack, Mr Branson said, and explained those away to friends by telling them he had been chased through woods by a group of people.

But he went on to give numerous varied accounts of how he obtained those injuries.

'What he said then to what he said in interview and what he's subsequently then said in his defence statement it becomes clear that David Simmonds is a habitual liar,' Mr Branson said.

It is not known if the injuries on Simmonds' hands happened as a result of Mrs Ashton trying to fight him off.

Mr Branson added: 'The only person who knows what happened in that wood at the moment is David Simmonds and to what extent Jia fought back, it's only him that knows.'

Simmonds left school at 17 and never really had a proper job, Mr Branson said.

In the Christmas period of 2009 and 2010 he was employed as a casual worker at Thorntons, at the same time as Mrs Ashton worked there, but there was no evidence to suggest they ever met or that she became a target of his during that time.

Simmonds had a good upbringing in Swanwick, Derbyshire. His parents were a professional couple and his brother was at university.

It was only following the break-up of his relationship with a local girl, with whom he had a young son, that his family relations became strained because of concerns over childcare and he found himself homeless.

He registered himself as homeless and it was this that led detectives to him when they searched the register after receiving a description of a man in the woods around the time of the murder who looked dishevelled and unkempt.

Almost immediately after Mrs Ashton's murder, Simmonds got a job as a waiter at the Spice Inn Indian restaurant in Heanor, Derbyshire, and was able to stay in the flat above the premises.

It was there that he was arrested for Mrs Ashton's murder and subsequently charged.

Michael Jackson trial: Dr Conrad Murray accused of an attempted cover-up

THE doctor accused of killing Michael Jackson desperately tried to get back into the star’s mansion after he died, a jury heard yesterday.
Jackson’s personal assistant Michael Amir Williams revealed that Dr Conrad Murray approached him in a hallway of UCLA hospital just moments after the singer had been pronounced dead.

He told the court: “We were making small talk about how horrible it was.

“He said that there was some cream in Michael’s room that he wouldn’t want the world to know about and he requested that I or someone else give him a ride back to the house to get it.”


The bed where Michael Jackson died (Pic: AP)


Another photo of Jackson's bedroom is presented as evidence on day two of the trial (Pic: Splashnews.com)

But Williams refused – and lied that the police had taken his car keys. He said he also privately warned Jackson’s bodyguard Faheem Muhammed, saying: “We can’t let him in the house.”

Earlier Williams described the scenes of chaos as he arrived at the hospital with Jackson’s distraught children Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket.

“I was worried about the kids,” he said. “I shielded them, one by one and took them inside. There were cameras everywhere.

“One of the hospital staff took us to a room and from there I went right to where Mr Jackson was, where he was being held with doctors working on him.”


Michael Amir Williams testifies during the second day of Conrad Murray's trial (Pic: AP)

On the second day of the trial at LA’s Supreme Court, Williams said he first became aware there was a problem when Dr Murray rang him, frantically asking him to come to Jackson’s home.

Murray told him the singer had suffered a “bad reaction” and that immediate help was needed. But Williams told the court the doctor did not ask him to call 911.

Williams said Murray had called him on his mobile at 12.13pm and left a voice message, which was played to the court. Murray was heard pleading: “Call me right away – please, call me right away, thank you.” Williams told the court: “I called back at 12.15pm. Murray told me to get to the house because Mr Jackson had suffered a bad reaction.”

Williams then called the star’s bodyguard Faheem, and told him to get over to the mansion.


Faheem Muhammad testifies during the second day of Conrad Murray's trial (Pic: AP)

Faheem told the court how when he arrived at the scene the star’s children were watching in horror as Murray tried vainly to revive him with chest compressions. He said Paris, then 12, was curled up in a ball crying and Prince Michael was in “shock”. He gently escorted them from the room.

He added: “When I came into the room I saw Mr Jackson’s feet near the side of the bed on the ground, as I continued to walk over I could see the rest of his body and I saw Dr Murray at his side.

“I asked him, ˙How’s it looking? How’s it going?’ and he said, ‘It’s not looking good.’ Then I proceeded to go and look at Mr Jackson. He (Murray) appeared to be administering CPR, he seemed very nervous, he was on his side sweating.” Faheem said Jacko’s eyes and mouth were open.


Asked if he appeared to be dead, Faheem replied: “Yes”. He went on to describe his horror at seeing Jacko’s terrified children. He said: “I realised they were standing outside of his room, of course in a panicked state, the older ones Paris and Prince.

“I got the nanny and got them to a secure location so they couldn’t see what was going on. Paris was on the ground balled up crying and Prince, he was just in a state of shock, standing there and slowly crying. I went and gathered them together, talked to them for a second, got the -attention of the nanny.

“She came up and I walked downstairs with them children.”

Dr Murray then asked Faheem and fellow bodyguard Alberto Alvarez: “Does anyone know CPR?” Alvarez stepped forward and went over to help.

Earlier the court heard how Jacko had been in “high spirits” on his way to a rehearsal at the Staples Center. Following a “great” performance the star returned home where he died just hours later.

Yesterday it also emerged that Murray had demanded life-saving equipment, including a CPR machine, to care for the singer during his concert tour.

Kathy Jorrie, a lawyer for tour promoters AEG, said Dr Murray had asked for the equipment as part of his ￡96,000-a-month contract with Jackson. Ms Jorrie said Murray had told her it was necessary due to the “strenuous” nature of Jackson’s performances.

She added that because of Jacko’s age and the demanding nature of his stage performances, Murray said he needed to be sure that if something went wrong he had a CPR machine on standby.

Murray also assured her that Jacko was “perfectly healthy” and in “excellent condition” on June 24, 2009 – the day before he died.

At one point in negotiations, Murray also requested that he be allowed to hire another physician to back him up in case he was tired or unavailable while Jackson was performing in London.

“He wanted to make sure that there was somebody else available to be of assistance,” said Ms Jorrie.

Murray, 58, denies involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors allege he caused Jackson’s death through negligence by providing him with a lethal dose of the anaesthetic propofol and other sedatives.

But Murray’s defence team claims that the star effectively killed himself by secretly taking a cocktail of drugs.

After loss, Orioles have one more shot to ruin Red Sox's season

he Orioles won't finish the season with a sweep of their perennial bullies, but they still have a chance to make October intolerable for Red Sox Nation.

Paced by four homers, including the first two of rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway's career, Boston beat the Orioles, 8-7, on Tuesday, remaining tied in the American League wild-card race with the Tampa Bay Rays, who beat the visiting New York Yankees, 5-3.

With one game left in the 2011 season, Boston needs a win Wednesday and a Rays loss to avoid a one-game playoff Thursday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla. The reverse would send the big-money Red Sox home without the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
"They're meaningful for them, not for us," said Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, who hit his 25th homer of the season but also grounded out to end the game. "It would be different if we were playing meaningful games. This place would be rocking; it would be a totally different atmosphere. But they need the games more than we do, so I think all the pressure's on them."

At least the Orioles made it incredibly interesting again for the announced crowd of 22,123, which traded "Let's go, O's" and "Let's go, Red Sox" chants and rose to its feet in the tense ninth.

"You already know we ain't going to quit," Jones said. "You've got the crowd behind you. We didn't quit."

Trailing 8-4 in the eighth, Chris Davis' RBI single and Nolan Reimold's run-scoring triple against reliever Daniel Bard cut the lead to two runs.

In the ninth, the Orioles mounted a brief rally against Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon. J.J. Hardy led off with a single and moved to second on a groundout by Nick Markakis on the 11th pitch of his at-bat. Vladimir Guerrero followed with a two-hopper into left field to bring the winning run to the plate in Matt Wieters, who already had two hits, including a homer.

Wieters hit a tapper in front of the plate that scored Hardy but was thrown out at first. Pinch-runner Matt Angle, the tying run, reached second base. But he was stranded there when Papelbon won an epic, 10-pitch at-bat with Jones, who hit a soft grounder for the third out.

"I think everybody felt like we'd make a run at them," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "And we did over the course of the game."

It was Papelbon's 31st save of the season and kept the postseason hopes alive for the Red Sox, who have lost a nine-game lead on the Rays since Aug. 31.

To help eliminate the Red Sox (90-71) on Wednesday, the Orioles will have to solve Boston left-hander Jon Lester, who is 14-0 in 17 starts all time against Baltimore.

But in a month of the unexpected -- one in which the Orioles have won four of six against the Red Sox and 12 of their past 18 against playoff-caliber clubs while Boston has dropped 19 of 26 in September -- the suddenly struggling Lester is no longer a stone-cold lock at Camden Yards.

"That's not really a topic of discussion that our guys will have," Showalter said. "He's had some no-decisions where he didn't pitch particularly good here either. So that's why it's the big leagues. It's good. They're good. We've got the chance to compete tomorrow."

The last-place Orioles (68-93) no longer have a chance to win 70 games for the first time since 2006, partially because rookie Zach Britton on Tuesday turned in his worst start since his one-out nightmare in New York on July 30.

Perhaps fittingly, the Orioles' promising lefty finished 11-11 in a roller-coaster season that both demonstrated the top pitching prospect's talent and exposed his lack of experience.

"If you asked Zach would he have taken that coming out of camp, he would have said, 'No,' but that's the drive he has. He'll go home and take it all in and learn from it, and he'll figure it out," Showalter said. "There's no set time frame. There's not some chapter in a book, 'A Young Pitcher Develops 101,' that says this happens and it leads to that. But all things being considered, it's a good start for him, and I hope it's the start of a long, good career for a young Oriole pitcher for us."

Britton retired seven of the first eight batters he faced but allowed a two-run homer to Jacoby Ellsbury in the third and a three-run home run in the fourth to Lavarnway, his first as a big leaguer. He lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and two walks and pushing his final ERA to 4.61.

"I think I still would have been disappointed at the beginning of the season," Britton said about his overall numbers. "Obviously, I didn't know what the AL East is like, or major league baseball is like, but I still feel like I'm capable of better. I'm not going to be satisfied with those numbers. I think I can do a lot better. "

His line could have been worse, but reliever Jason Berken entered in the fifth and struck out Jed Lowrie, and, with the bases loaded, Nick Markakis made a great running, diving, backhand stab of a dying fly ball for the third out.

Berken couldn't hold it together in the sixth, though, serving up a triple to Carl Crawford and Marco Scutaro's seventh homer of the season. Lavarnway hit Boston's fourth homer to lead off the eighth against Zach Phillips.

The Orioles scored first on a double by Vladimir Guerrero that scored Markakis from first base. Guerrero scored in the fourth when Wieters launched a two-run home run into the Orioles' bullpen. Measured at 411 feet, it was Wieters' 22nd homer of the season.

The runs came against former Oriole Erik Bedard, who for the second time in a week did not pitch well against his old team. Bedard was charged with three runs in just 3 1/3 innings Tuesday after giving up four runs in 2 2/3 at Fenway Park on Sept. 20.

Reliever Alfredo Aceves (10-2) allowed one run -- Jones' 25th homer of the season -- in 3 2/3 innings for the win.

And now the teams will battle one more time -- with the Red Sox hoping they can celebrate in Camden Yards and continue their season into October.

Wednesday's "game is very important," Jones said. "Both them and Tampa need the 'W.' So, we're standing in their way, and New York is standing in Tampa's way."