Exclusive:How killer was convicted of missing woman's murder without body as search resumes 31 YEARS later
The conviction of Teresa’s killer marked a defining moment in South Yorkshire criminal history, after he was found guilty of murder without a body
As a search to find a murdered Sheffield woman’s body resumes more than 31 years after she disappeared, this is how the man who killed her was convicted without a body.
26-year-old Teresa Shephard disappeared in June 1995.
Her ex-boyfriend Peter Turner was convicted of her murder at Sheffield Crown Court in July 1996 - just over a year after she was last seen.
Turner was handed an indefinite life sentence in 1996, and is understood to still be in prison.
The jury's guilty verdict over Teresa’s murder marked a defining moment in South Yorkshire's criminal history, after they convicted Turner in spite of the fact Teresa’s body had not been found.
Its whereabouts have remained unknown for the three decades that have followed.
But today (September 15, 2026) - more than 31 years later - South Yorkshire Police has confirmed officers are now excavating a site in Piper Lane, Aston, Rotherham as part of efforts to locate the remains of Teresa.
As the resumed search to finally find Teresa’s body continues, we take a look back at the evidence that helped to catch and convict her killer.
The investigation started out routinely enough after Teresa, a cutlery worker, disappeared in June 1995.
As the missing person inquiry progressed, police became increasingly concerned about the welfare of Teresa, who was a key witness in a forthcoming trial involving Turner.
But without a body, detectives faced the daunting prospect of having to prove both that she was dead and that Turner had killed her.
A combination of improving DNA technology and mistakes made by Turner gave detectives the tools they needed to bring him to justice.
Turner, who was 24 when he was jailed and is 54 now, insisted to police he had not seen her. But when he was searched they found a book of apparently innocuous Supertram tickets.
They bore serial numbers and further investigations revealed they had been purchased with Teresa's credit card on the last day she was seen alive.
Turner had no obvious use for Supertram tickets and could give no adequate explanation of how he had tickets bought on Teresa's credit card long after he claimed to have last seen her.
A forensic examination also revealed traces of smeared blood on Turner's leather jacket and spattered on the interior of a Metro car used by the former student.
The tangle facing police was complicated further still because Teresa's natural father had walked out on the family at the time of her birth and had no contact since.
He was needed to provide a sample to help prove the bloodstains were from Teresa.
Eventually, police managed to track him down and using blood samples from both parents and DNA from hairs found on a brush in her Basegreen flat, scientists were able to confirm the blood on the jacket and in the car was hers.
Turner suggested Teresa may have been depressed and left the area herself, but the jury dismissed his story and convicted him of murder.