A man has been formally charged by police in relation to the death of Rachel Simpson, a 43-year-old woman from Belfast. Miss Simpson was found dead in the garage of a Castlereagh Road property last Friday evening, leading to the initiation of an official inquiry by police.
The charge of murder has been laid against the 21-year-old male who is due to present himself at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on the following Monday.
Inspector Neil McGuinness, leading the investigation with the PSNI, has provided detail of the initial call out to the house in the Castlereagh Road vicinity, mentioning a “concern for safety” reported around 10.30pm on the Friday evening (13th September), when officers uncovered Miss Simpson’s body at the adjacent garage of the residence.
The accused was apprehended on-site. There was a scheduled post-mortem to follow. McGuinness urged the public for aid, “I request anyone who saw anything unusual in the area from 5pm to 10.30pm, or possesses CCTV or dashcam recordings, to come forward and help with the investigation. They can do this by phoning 101 and mentioning the code 1693 of 13/09/24.”
On Saturday evening, police officers were seen to still be at the site of the semi-detached property. One police car was seen parked at the bottom of the driveway, which had been cordoned off. A forensic officer in industry-standard white coveralls was seen by the residence’s side.
Councillor Séamas de Faoite of the SDLP expressed shock at the “disturbing news”, remarking that it was an unexpected incident in East Belfast’s settled region, a bustling part of the Castlereagh Road.