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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
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anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website in July of 1991 things looked promising
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for eighteen year old to Julie dart a bubbly spirited teenager with wavy brown hair and a white smile she had recently
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finished high school and was hoping to fulfill her lifelong dream of joining Britain's Armed Forces Julie had grown
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up in Leeds the largest city in the north and English county of West Yorkshire where she still lived with her
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mother on Tuesday July 9 1991 Julie spent the day with her boyfriend 20 year old Dominic Murray who lived in the
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nearby suburb of Gibson at six o'clock in the evening the couple went to Dominic's sister Rose's house where
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Julie helped prepare a meal of roast lamb and a Yorkshire pudding after they'd eaten Julie excused herself
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to start a night shift at the hospital where she'd recently started working as an orderly at 7:45 p.m. she kissed the
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Domonique goodbye and departed wearing a black skirt with a pink and black jacket
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at 9 p.m. Julie phoned Dominique to say she would be working until 11:30 p.m. and would
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then return to her own home Dominique noticed that there appeared to be music playing in the background as
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though Julie were calling from a pub two days passed and Dominica didn't hear from Julie then on the morning of Friday
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July 12 he received an unexpected visit from his sister Rose who had found a handwritten
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envelope addressed to him amongst her mail there was a letter inside written in Julie's handwriting which read
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Dominic help me please I've been kidnapped and are being held as a personal security until next Monday
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night please go and tell my mum straight away love you so much Dominic mum phoned
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the police straightaway and helped me have not eaten anything but I have been offered food feeling a bit sick but I'm
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drinking two cups of tea per day mum Dominic helped me love you all Julie [Music]
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[Music] [Music] [Music] upon reading the letter dominic called to Julie's mother Linda who rushed over
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to read it for herself she noticed that despite being penned in Julie's handwriting some of the words and
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phrasing didn't sound like her daughter at all moreover Lyn couldn't understand why
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Julie would be abducted and held for ransom as their family had a little money Lyn immediately called the police
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to report her daughter missing and it gave them the letter police began looking into Julie's life born on March
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1 1973 Julie and art was the first child of Lynn and Alek Hill who went on to have a son named Paul two years later
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when Julie was four years old Alek left his young family and in 1978 Lynn remarried an electrician named Ian
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dart both the Julie and Paul were close to their stepfather calling him dad and adopting his surname Lynn and daen
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separated when Julie was 16 years old but Ian maintained a relationship with his stepchildren
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although Julie was bright she wasn't a dedicated student and instead preferred to focus on her athletic abilities a
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talented runner she participated in school and County competitions accumulating a number of trophies which
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her mother proudly displayed in the family home in her spare time Julie liked socializing dancing and performing
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karaoke with her friends while she was still at school she got a part-time job at a cafe which was where she met
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Dominic a co-worker who was two years her senior they dated for three years and when Julie was just 17 they became
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engaged Julie moved out of her family home to live with Dominic in his flat which her mother Lynne didn't approve of
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Julie had confided in her younger brother Paul that she and Dominic often argued and to these altercations
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sometimes became violent by the end of 1990 the relationship ended and - Julie returned home she and her mother had
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always been particularly close but they both had strong personalities and living
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together sometimes resulted in clashes and disagreements Julie longed for the day when she could live independently
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and start a career her longtime dream was to become a physical training instructor for the army she had always
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been fit and healthy though she was claustrophobic and suffered from mild asthma as a child in December of 1990
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she visited the Army recruiting office in Leeds to apply for a role as a driver in the women's Royal Army Corps after
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several months her application was accepted under the condition that she said a final selection examination
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on Friday June 7 1991 one week before she was due to take the exam a 41 year old man named Michael Walter called the
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Army recruiting office he had befriended Julie several years earlier when she was
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employed at the cafe and had eventually offered her a part-time job as a cleaner
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Michael was calling to notify the office that Julie had recently stolen two of his bank cards and to used them to
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withdraw 660 pounds she had since signed a liability form agreeing to repay the money to the bank
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but Michael was worried that if she joined to the army before settling the debt the money might never be repaid the
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recruitment officer who took the call was concerned as it was essential that all new recruits were free from
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financial liability when questioned by the officer Julie denied owing any money and proceeded to excel at her final exam
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she was subsequently accepted for the Army's September intake michael Walter repeated his concerns that if Julie
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didn't settle her debt the bank would initiate criminal proceedings Julie continued to deny ever taking the money
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but agreed to pay the bank what was owed to enable her to join the Armed Forces by September however on Thursday July 4
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the recruitment officer went to Julie's high school to confirm her final grades and discovered that she had forged her
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academic records this resulted in Julie's application being rejected the recruitment officer sent her a
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letter explaining the situation that same day but it is unknown whether Julie ever received it
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Lynne told the police that there had been nothing happening in Julie's life that had given her any cause for concern
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she said that about a month prior Julie had started experimenting with her physical appearance by trying out
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different makeup styles and coloring her hair however she had dyed it back to its
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natural color when her grandmother didn't approve Julie had told her mother that she had recently started a night
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shift job sterilizing syringes at a laboratory and had been spending nights at the home of an old friend police
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questioned this friend who revealed she hadn't seen Julie in four months it soon
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became clear that Julie and Dominique had reconciled their relationship but had been keeping it a secret from
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Julie's family Dominique often divided his time between the homes of his two sisters and - Julie
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had occasionally been staying with him while telling her mother she was with her friend while Lynn believed - Julie
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had a job sterilizing syringes at a laboratory Dominic was under the impression she worked as an orderly at a
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hospital the police inquired with both workplaces but neither had ever heard of Julie Dodd after filing her report Lyn
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walked the streets of Leeds over and over showing people Julie's photograph at night she visited the city's pubs asking
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punters whether they had seen her daughter a number of people recognized the Julie's picture and said they knew
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her but none had cited her within the last week the police decided to speak with vice squad investigators from the
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Leeds suburb of chapel town which at the time was a red-light district popular with sex workers from 1975 until 1980
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the area was a hunting ground notorious serial killer the Yorkshire Ripper whose crimes were covered in
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episode 37 of case file although the vice squad had no record of Julie they soon established that
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multiple witnesses had seen her hanging around at the district in the three weeks leading up to her disappearance
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she had apparently told some sex workers that she was new to the industry and had
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asked to their advice on where to take clients and how much to charge a former classmate of Julie's also came forward
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claiming he'd seen her in Chapel town on Tuesday July 9 the night she went missing he had been driving through the
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area at 8:15 p.m. when he spotted Julie standing on a street corner with another
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girl they briefly made eye contact but Julie turned her head away as though she didn't want to be seen she had been
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dressed in light blue denim jeans and a white blouse which was different to the outfit she had been wearing when she
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left the Dominic half an hour earlier inquiries revealed that shortly after this Julie caught a taxi to a pub with
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two other young women and at 9:00 p.m. she phoned to Dominic from the pub's phone she then had a few drinks and
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played the jukebox before all three women caught a cab to the chapel town street of Spencer place to engage in sex
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work there Julie spent roughly 20 minutes with a client before buying a takeaway kebab by
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11 p.m. both of her friends had gone home leaving Julie standing alone on the corner of Spencer Place and a Leopold
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Street the discovery that Julie had been engaging in sex work troubled the vice squad on Friday July 12 the same day
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that Dominick received the kidnap letter from Julie the West Yorkshire police had
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received an envelope addressed to Leeds City police an outdated name that hadn't
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been used since 1974 inside was a letter typed in red ink informing officers that
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a young sex worker had been kidnapped from the chapel town area and would be killed unless the police paid 140,000
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pounds in cash the author also demanded that 5,000 pounds be loaded onto bank cards
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instructions for the handover read next Tuesday July 16 a woman police constable
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will drive to Birmingham New Street Station with the money and await a phone call at the phone terminal in the
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waiting room on platform 9 she must wear a lightish blue skirt with the money in
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a shoulder bag she must be there by 6:00 p.m. and await the call at 7 p.m. she will then be given the location of the
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next phone call the letter instructed the constable to drive from pay phone to pay phone where she would receive
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further directions along the way eventually at the last sight a dog leash would be hanging from a tree ready for
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her to clip the money to the cash was to be wrapped in polythene and debris on paper then tied with the nylon cord
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the author threatened that if these demands weren't met a fire bomb would go off at a major store in an English city
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at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday July 17 according to the postmarks on the envelope of this letter and to the one
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sent to Dominic both had been sent at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday July 11 from the town of Huntingdon located 135 miles
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south of Leeds realizing that they appeared to be dealing with a genuine kidnapping investigators decided to run
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an operation in accordance with the kidnappers instructions at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday July 16 Constable Annette Cygnus
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went to Birmingham New Street station as instructed carrying the money in a shoulder bag located 120 miles south of
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Leeds in England's West Midlands region the station is the busiest and largest of three railway stations the service
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Birmingham central business district undercover officers surveilled constables Ignis as she waited for the
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phone call at the phone terminal in the waiting room at platform 9 at six minutes past seven the pay phone rang
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constables Ignis answered it but the caller on the other end was silent and too disconnected the call after several
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seconds constables Ignis waited another 20 minutes but no other calls came through with no further instructions
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from the kidnapper investigators were left waiting to see whether the individual would make contact again
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despite the kidnappers threat to firebomb a city building if their demands weren't met the following day of
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Wednesday July 17 past with the art incident early on the morning of Friday July 1951 year-old farmer Bob Skelton
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was preparing for his day in the rural village of Easton 92 miles southeast of Leeds
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Bob's bomb spend 579 acres and included a disused to railway line his plan for the day was to relocate his cattle to
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fresh pastures with the help of his 18-year old son and another young employee at 7:45 a.m. the three men were
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in a field located alongside the abandoned railway line half a mile from the a1 motorway when they noticed the
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pink and white striped sheep lying on the grass assuming it was carelessly done to rubbish they moved closer and
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saw that the Sheep was bound with lengths of teal colored rope and something appeared to be wrapped up
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inside Bob's son used his penknife to slice the rope and cut a 6-inch hole in the sheet revealing another layer of
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sheet Bob thought he could see the outline of a human arm and all three men smelled a strong unpleasant odour Bob
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decided to drive back to the farm to call the police while the two younger men stood a guard over the grisly
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discovery officers arrived at the scene and unwrapped the sheep inside they found the naked and significantly
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decomposed body of a young woman the corpse was taken to be autopsy by Professor Stephen Jones who noted that
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the only item the victim was wearing was a gold wishbone ring on her right your finger her head was entirely bald
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and there were several injuries to her skull including one at the back of her scalp another above her left ear and a
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fracture below the year these injuries had to likely been caused by a hammer-like weapon but were not the
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cause of death around the victim's neck was a ligature mark indicating she had also been strangled her right ankle
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featured a chain like bruises suggesting she had been made to wear some sort of Allegra strain due to the state of
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decomposition professor Jones was unable to determine whether she had been sexually assaulted it was determined
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that the victim had likely been killed a week prior to being discovered but the grass beneath where the body had been
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found showed a no discoloration indicating it had only been dumped hours earlier using clear adhesive tape
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forensic scientists recovered a number of fibers from the sheet including yellow wool and brown nylon fibers which
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appeared to have originated from a mustard colored carpet these same yellow and brown fibers were
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also found in the rope that had been used to tie the xi an electronic message was sent out to police forces around the
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country to inform them that an unidentified body had been found the message caught the attention of
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Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Taylor of the West Yorkshire Police who had been investigating Julie darts
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disappearance Julie had a chipped tooth leading Superintendent Taylor to inquire
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whether the unidentified victim shared this characteristic when it was confirmed that she did
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Julie's dental records were summoned and on Saturday July 20 the victim was positively identified as 18 year old
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Julie Dodd that night superintendent Taylor went to Lynn darts home to inform her of the news bringing
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with him the gold wishbone ring recovered from Julie's body the devastated mother identified the ring as
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a gift she had given Julie for her 18th birthday four months prior witnesses who
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had seen anything suspicious in the area near Bob Skelton's farm were encouraged
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to come forward several individuals reported that two hours before Julie's body was found they had been traveling
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on a bus along high dark road in Easton when they noticed a red car up ahead and
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to the right the vehicle was approaching the road from a track next to the pasture where Julie's body was found and
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it was being driven by a white lone male police had initially considered whether
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Julie's boyfriend Dominic Marie could be responsible for her murder however he didn't own a car in two days
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before Julie's disappearance he had sustained an injury that would have made it impossible for him to dispose of her
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body alone at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday July 7 he and Julie had been walking home together after a night drinking at the
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pub an off-duty constable noticed that Julie could hardly stand and that her face was swollen and her lip was bloody
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Dominic who was propping her up and slapping her so the constable intervened and Dominic fell breaking his ankle he
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and Julie were taken to the hospital and kept there overnight with Dominic having
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a cast put on his left foot Julie's older friend Michael Walter who had alerted the army recruitment office
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to her theft of his bank cards was also considered a suspect believing he had a motive police arrested him for
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questioning a week after Julie's disappearance he was released on Thursday July 18 but police ordered that
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he be kept under constant surveillance as he was still being monitored when Julie's body was discovered the next day
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he was ruled out as a suspect three days after Julie's body was found the police received another letter
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claiming to be from the kidnapper this typed message had been sent from Leeds railway station and was postmarked
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Sunday July 22 at red words we'll never be able to express my regret that Julie dart had to be killed but I did warn
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what would happen if anything went wrong at the time of this letter there has been no publicity if you do
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not find the body within a few days I will contact you as to the location she was not raped or sexually abused or
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harmed in any way until she met her and she was tired up and hit a few blows to the back of their head to render her
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unconscious and to then strangled she never saw what was to happen never felt no pain or knew anything about it the
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firebomb was not left as promised as the sealant around the combustibles must have got knocked in transit and
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smelled badly so it was never placed owens furniture store in Coventry was to be the target I still require the same
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monies as before under the same conditions if you want to avoid a serious fire damage and any further
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prostitutes lives place an ad in the personal column of the Sun to read let's try again for Julie's sake convinced the
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letter was genuinely penned by Julie's killer on Saturday July 27 the police placed an ad in the Sun newspaper as
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instructed on Tuesday July 30 they received a handwritten letter from the kidnapper acknowledging the ad and
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warning that another hostage would soon be taken he instructed constable Lynette
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Cygnus to travel to a particular payphone alongside the m1 motorway in the County of Leicester that evening and
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await his call constables Ignis waited by the payphone as directed when the call came instead of speaking directly
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into the phone the kidnapper played an audio recording Constable's Ignis explained that she was
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unable to hear the message over the noise of the traffic but the line went dead two days later on Thursday August 1 the
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kidnapper sent another letter ordering constables Ignis to return to the same payphone in Leicester on Tuesday August
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6 she followed these instructions but no call came through three days after that
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police received a letter from the kidnapper explaining that he'd been unable to find a suitable hostage in
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time he told constables Ignis to return to the phone booth on Wednesday August 14
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at 8:15 p.m. threatening quote this will be the last time you will receive a call at the
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usual location should anything go wrong you will not then be given the location of the incendiary device or the
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prostitutes body on August 14 the call came through as promised and the kidnapper spoke two constables Ignis
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directly claiming to have abducted a sex worker named Sarah Davies from the town
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of Ipswich he provided directions to another phone box near the m1 motorway and told constables Ignis to be there by
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9:45 p.m. she arrived in time but when she answered the call the kidnapper said he'd encountered some problems and would
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call back in half an hour the phone rang again 30 minutes later but the phone's cradle had jammed and constable Zeke
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nurse struggled to answer it by the time she was able to pick up the receiver the
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caller had hung up constables Ignis waited for another half hour but the phone didn't ring again the West
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Yorkshire police checked whether anyone named Sarah Davies had gone missing from
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hip switch but no reports of this nature had been made they concluded that the caller had a lied about the kidnapping
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in order to increase pressure on police the following day some men were walking underneath the disused railway bridge on
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the m1 motorway near the phone box that had jammed when they found what appeared
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to be a small bomb the device was shaped like a tin can and attached to one end was a wire and a small red plastic cube
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responding officers from the South Yorkshire Police were unaware that their colleagues in West Yorkshire had been
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interacting with a possible extortionist and suspected the device was a fake this
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was confirmed by a bomb disposal officer who arrived on the scene to investigate
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nearby police found a brick that had been painted white and had an envelope attached that was marked with the number
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3 inside a hand stencil denote red message next bridge 400 meters detector on panel carry money when the news
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spread to the West Yorkshire Police they were certain the items had been left by
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their suspect and that the disused bridge was his intended location for the money drop to test to their theory they
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carried out a reconstruction at the site had constable Zeke nurse being able to receive the second phone call the police
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deduced that she would have been directed to the bridge and to the fake incendiary device from there she would
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have placed the device which the suspect had referred to as a detector on her Kart dashboard and driven to the next
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bridge 400 metres away there as per the kidnappers original letter he would have
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intended to stand on the bridge and to lower a dog leash for constables Ignis to clip the bundle of money to the
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kidnapper would have been intended to haul up the money and attempt an escape ten days later a discovery in the South
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Yorkshire town of Barnsley revealed that the kidnapper had planned yet another step which police had missed an envelope
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labelled with the number two was found taped underneath a shelf in one of the town's phone booths inside was a note
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providing directions to the fake incendiary device and a white brick investigators determined that the
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kidnapper had actually planned to direct the constables Ignis to this payphone first to receive the instructions but
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his plan had been thwarted when the phone receiver jammed at the previous phone booth on Monday August to 1911
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that read games now abandoned crime watch UK will tell me most of what I wanted to know you'll have to file your
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papers until I try again as you know I never picked anyone up in Ipswich or planted a device I didn't need to
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following Julie's unfortunate death you'd cooperate with anything I wanted for your records Julie was picked up on
00:32:12
Tuesday July 9 11:30 p.m. the reason the body deteriorated so quick was that it was kept in a wheelie bin in a
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greenhouse for two very hot days her head was wrapped in a towel but when this was removed to clean her up before
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dropping her her hair came away stuck to the blood on the tower as none of these
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details about Julie's body had been released to the media the police forwarded the letter to a
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pathologist to verify the kidnappers claims professor Steven Jones confirmed that the state Julie's body was in was
00:32:54
consistent with having been stored in a plastic bin inside a greenhouse as the killer described
00:33:01
[Music] in order to gain further insight as to the type of individual that were dealing
00:33:09
with police retained criminal psychologist Paul Brittain to create a profile of the suspect Brittain
00:33:17
concluded that the suspect was likely aged in his late 40s or early 50s and it was a careful planner as his letters
00:33:26
were riddled with grammatical and spelling errors he likely had a secondary level education but no
00:33:32
university degree in terms of occupation he likely worked in a field that required a high level of technical
00:33:40
knowledge but not a high level of technical skills he wanted to be taken seriously by police and have them engage
00:33:50
him as a high level adversary although murder wasn't the primary aim of the crime and the suspect probably
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hadn't killed before Britain concluded that he would kill again unless he was caught as the suspects letters had been
00:34:10
posted from various locations it was clear that whoever had sent them had the time and freedom to travel they were
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sent to a forensic document examiner in Birmingham who determined that the typed
00:34:24
letters were written using an Olivetti manual type bar typewriter that had damaged - its typefaces several keys
00:34:33
were missing particular elements including the lower left portion of the number zero and part of the lowercase F
00:34:42
consequently it was estimated that the machine was between 20 to 30 years old the handwritten letters were mostly
00:34:51
panned using messy capital letters possibly by the kidnapper using his non-dominant hand despite his obvious
00:35:01
attempts to disguise his handwriting consistent features were noted in how he drew particular letters of the alphabet
00:35:10
furthermore given that he referred to the West Yorkshire police by their old name of a leeds city police it was
00:35:17
suggested that the kidnapper could be an older individual with a grudge against the force an examination of the fake
00:35:26
bomb revealed it had been crafted from a container of fish food that had been painted silver the white painted brick
00:35:35
was harder to identify it wasn't of a standard brick size and was originally blue instead of a typical red color
00:35:45
chemical and mineral analysis revealed that the brick had been made from a particular clay found at a quarry in the
00:35:52
county of Staffordshire only one company in the country manufactured this sort of
00:35:59
brick which was used to construct the road cutters on Wednesday August 21 the police held a
00:36:10
press conference to share some of the details about Julie's murder that they had intentionally been withholding they
00:36:17
revealed that one of the kidnappers letters contained indentations from another message that had been written on
00:36:24
a sheet of paper placed on top it read Mavis will not be in on Tuesday Phil on Thursday September 12 Julie's case was
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covered by crime watch a monthly BBC program that shared information about unsolved crimes and requested viewers
00:36:46
assistance in solving them reconstructions depicting Julie's last-known movements were aired along
00:36:54
with the red car that was spotted by the field where her body was found the coverage prompted 400 viewers to phone
00:37:03
in with information including one man who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with the Julie one week before
00:37:10
her disappearance he said the two had met in a Leeds pub and he later gave Julie a lift in his car they chatted for
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an hour during which Julie revealed she had taken up sex work to repay a debt so
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that she could join the army another man called asking to speak to superintendent Bob Taylor directly
00:37:34
before abruptly hanging up the phone this led police to consider whether the caller had been the kidnapper himself on
00:37:45
October 16 1991 after two months of silence the police received another handwritten letter from the kidnapper it
00:37:56
read as you are nowhere near on my tail the time has come to collect my 140,000 pounds from you I do not get any bigger
00:38:07
sentence for two murders and prostitutes are easy to pick up he ordered constable
00:38:16
Zeke nurse to go to a payphone at the Carlisle train station in northwest England at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday
00:38:23
October 21 and wait for his call investigators were confused as October 21 was actually a Monday not a Wednesday
00:38:35
moreover the phone box the kidnapper described had been relocated years earlier nevertheless they sent their
00:38:45
crime squad to the location on both Monday and Wednesday but received no further contact from their suspect on
00:38:56
October 15 a menacing letter had also been sent to the London headquarters of British Rail the state-owned company
00:39:04
that operated most of Great Britain's over ground to rail transport it had been sent five days prior from the city
00:39:12
of stoke-on-trent in Staffordshire over two typed pages the author threatened to derail a high-speed train
00:39:21
unless 200 thousand pounds in cash was delivered by two female employees on Wednesday October 23 the employees were
00:39:33
directed to go to a payphone at Crewe Station in Cheshire to receive further instructions with a stenciled message
00:39:41
warning your females will be in danger if money not real throughout the letter the pronoun we was used repeatedly
00:39:53
giving the impression that more than one person was behind the extortion scheme Detective Chief Superintendent Pat
00:40:02
Fleming from the London Metropolitan Police was assigned to coordinate the railway thread inquiry and began looking
00:40:09
into possible links with other blackmail schemes including the Julie dark case on
00:40:16
Monday October 21 senior officers from both investigations compared to their respective letters and discovered there
00:40:25
were a number of similarities both included stenciled writing the use of technical language and diagrams and
00:40:34
instructed women to act as couriers to deliver money in a similar fashion as the British Rail extortionist was
00:40:43
requesting that money be delivered on the same day that officers from the Julie Dart inquiry would be carrying out
00:40:50
their own operation police suspected the perpetrator was attempting to tie up their resources at 7 p.m. on Wednesday
00:41:01
October 23 a female police officer went to crew station to await the extortionists phone call eight minutes
00:41:10
later a call came through during which the caller repeatedly asked hello before hanging up
00:41:19
the phone rang again shortly afterwards but stopped before it could be answered and - the operation was subsequently are
00:41:27
bordered on Monday October 28th another letter arrived at British Rail stating congratulations you have now qualified
00:41:39
for retribution the extortionist threatened to take down a section of a train line and remove an
00:41:47
electric local pantograph which is an apparatus that connects a train to a line overhead a week later on Monday
00:41:57
November 4 British Rail track charged Minh Dennis Parton was conducting a routine inspection of the west coast
00:42:05
line which runs from London to Glasgow he was focusing on an 8 mile stretch that ran south between crew station and
00:42:14
Stafford station when he came to a bridge near the stuff at show village of mill Meese under the bridge
00:42:22
Denis noticed that a broken concrete block some sandstone and a piece of rope were lying between the rails he notified
00:42:32
the British Transport Police who determined that the extortionist had likely tied at the concrete to one end
00:42:38
of the rope and to the sandstone to the other using the concrete and as an anchor
00:42:45
he then threw the sandstone end over the train line with the intention of damaging a passing trains pantograph if
00:42:53
this plan had succeeded the train would have lost power and potentially caused significant damage to both the Train and
00:43:01
to those on board on Thursday November 7 the Julie Dodd inquiry was formally linked with the
00:43:11
British Rail case and to West Yorkshire police were awarded responsibility for both investigations that same day
00:43:22
Julie's funeral was held in Leeds almost four months had passed since her body was discovered and three hundred
00:43:31
mourners gathered to pay their respects including a number of police officers who had been working tirelessly on
00:43:37
solving her case Julie's family were devastated by the revelation that she had been struggling with finances an
00:43:47
abusive relationship and her army application and had chosen to keep these troubles to herself her maternal
00:43:56
grandparents Margaret and Harvey Aiken had always told their grandchildren to come to them anytime they needed help
00:44:04
Margaret later stated I think of Julie every day it still breaks my heart that she
00:44:11
couldn't come to us and tell us what was wrong police continued to work the case
00:44:18
but no substantial leads emerged On January 16 1992 an inquest into Julie's death was held with the coroner ruling
00:44:31
her death had been an unlawful killing by person or persons unknown six days later on the morning of
00:44:44
Wednesday January 22 1992 real-estate agent Stephanie Slater was preparing for work
00:44:52
the 25 year old lived with her parents in Birmingham and had recently started a new job at ship ways estate agents an
00:45:00
offshoot of one of England's largest insurance groups things were going well for Stephanie she liked her new job she
00:45:09
had a boyfriend and an active social life and had just booked a two-week summer holiday with a friend the pair
00:45:16
were planning to visit the Isle of what a picturesque island south of England that Stephanie had often visited as a
00:45:24
child by the time Stephanie was ready for work her parents had already left for the day she gave her two pet cats a
00:45:34
quick pat before heading out the door her first appointment was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. where she would be showing a
00:45:43
client name - Bob Southall a rundown 2-story semi-detached house located at 153 turn Bri Road in Birmingham Bob had
00:45:56
called ship ways two weeks earlier seeking a list of houses for sale in the 60,000 pound price range he had visited
00:46:05
the office in person to collect the list before sending a letter confirming which
00:46:11
house he wanted to visit this was unusual as most prospective buyers typically book to their viewings via
00:46:19
telephone Stephanie arrived at the office at 9:00 a.m. and spent the first part of her
00:46:26
morning checking her mail and following up on client inquiries before driving to
00:46:31
meet Bob at the Turnberry Road property shortly before noon Stephanie's manager Kevin watts and
00:46:40
another colleague were on their way to a meeting when they drove past 153 Turnberry Road and to notice that
00:46:47
Stephanie's car was still parked out the front they remarked that she'd been at her appointment for an unusually long
00:46:56
time 20 minutes later the phone rang at the ship ways office receptionist Sylvia
00:47:05
Baker answered and a man on the other end stated listen Syl Stephanie Slater she's been kidnapped there will be a
00:47:16
ransom note in the post tomorrow contact the police or anybody and she'll die he then hung up stunned
00:47:29
Sylvia immediately called Kevin watts at his meeting and he quickly returned to the office Stephanie's co-workers called
00:47:38
the number Bob Southall had provided but it turned out to be connected to a phone
00:47:43
booth at a petrol station Kevin and a colleague then hurried to 153 Turnberry Road Stephanie's car was still parked
00:47:53
out the front but the house was empty in the hallway they found Stephanie's car keys as well as the keys for the
00:48:03
property on one of the key rings there were several spots of blood and a single long hair
00:48:12
Kevin phoned to the police and uniformed officers were immediately dispatched to
00:48:18
the house on Turnberry Road to conduct a search in the upstairs bathroom and at the top of the stairs
00:48:25
they found drops of blood as well as a larger blood stain on a wall near the kitchen
00:48:32
officers interviewed ship ways employees and installed a phone at the office that
00:48:38
could record and trace incoming calls when Stephanie's parents Warren and Betty Slater were notified
00:48:47
they both collapsed in shock and required sedation they couldn't think of any reason why Stephanie would be
00:48:55
targeted nor did they believe she had any reason to war castrate her own disappearance detectives from the West
00:49:06
Midlands Police were assigned to the case and immediately realized it had been a mistake
00:49:12
to send a uniformed officers in response to the report as the kidnapper had warned Sylvia not to call the police the
00:49:21
uniformed officers were quickly withdrawn and replaced with undercover investigators shortly after 3:00 p.m.
00:49:30
another call came through at the ship Way's office a man with the northern accent stated just listen Stephanie's
00:49:40
dropped her keys to their house in the hall so going to lock it up the call was over so fast that it was unable to be
00:49:49
recorded an incident room was set up and a media embargo was enforced to prevent
00:49:57
the story from going public ship ways agreed to pay whatever the kidnapper demanded and police were granted
00:50:05
permission to sort through the post that Birmingham's Royal Mail sorting office in an attempt to find the ransom letter
00:50:12
as soon as possible at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday January 23 they found an envelope addressed to ship ways that
00:50:22
contained a letter into micro cassette tape the letter explained that Stephanie would only be released if ship ways
00:50:31
agreed to pay 175,000 pounds in unmarked bills that were free from tracking devices
00:50:39
the microcassette featured a female voice saying this is Stephanie Slater the time is 11:45 I can assure you I am
00:50:51
okay and unharmed providing these instructions are carried out I will be released on Friday the 31st of January
00:51:01
she explained that her manager Kevin Watts was to deliver the money on Wednesday January 29 he had to use his
00:51:10
own car and would be given instructions at various points along the way West Midlands Police were aware of Julie
00:51:20
darts murder and the extortion attempt against British Rail and wondered whether Stephanie's disappearance could
00:51:28
be connected the similarities between the three crimes appeared to be mounting both Julie and Stephanie's kidnapper had
00:51:36
used recorded messages and misspelled the word ransom by adding an e on the end moreover in all three crimes the
00:51:46
perpetrator provided very specific instructions about how the money was to be bundled investigators began carrying
00:51:55
out covert operations in the neighborhood where Stephanie had been abducted they door knocked houses on
00:52:02
Turnberry Road explaining that there had been a break-in nearby and asked whether
00:52:07
neighbors had seen anything unusual on Wednesday January 22 one mentioned seeing a red van revving its engine and
00:52:17
turning into a laneway to the rear of the houses another had noticed a man standing outside of 153 Turnberry Road
00:52:27
who appeared to be in his early 50s he was short and wore a coat with a badge on the left breast pocket with
00:52:37
little in the way of leads investigators were forced to wait and see whether the
00:52:42
kidnapper would make contact again at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday January 26 four days after Stephanie had
00:52:53
vanished the phone rang at her parents home recording equipment had been set up in anticipation of this moment and
00:53:02
Stephanie's father Warren immediately started taping the call a male voice on the other end told Warren to listen and
00:53:12
then played a pre-recorded message featuring Stephanie's voice she said hello it's Stephanie here they've allowed me
00:53:23
to make a message to you just to let you know that I'm all right and unharmed I hear that Westar Bromwich Albion lost
00:53:31
yesterday to Swansea three two I want you to know that I love you I'm not to say too much and whatever the outcome
00:53:40
I'll always love you look after the cats for me the results from the recent football match indicated that stephanie
00:53:50
was still alive her parents were both relieved and distraught while investigators believed
00:53:58
that if they followed the kidnappers demands they might have a chance of bringing Stephanie home safely
00:54:09
Stephanie's manager Kevin Watts agreed to help and investigators provided him with
00:54:15
strategies to speak with the kidnapper to minimize threats to his own safety as the kidnapper had already
00:54:23
demonstrated that he was capable of traveling throughout the country 1,000 detectives from the Midlands police
00:54:30
forces Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police were enlisted to be positioned throughout various motorways
00:54:38
during the operation investigators would follow Kevin from all directions with a backup ready just
00:54:47
in case for female detectives who would be on standby to care for Stephanie if she was returned safely while another 30
00:54:56
officers were prepared to spring into action if she was found to be deceased shortly before 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday
00:55:06
January 28 the day before the ransom drop the phone rang at ship ways a state agency it was the kidnapper demanding to
00:55:16
speak to Kevin he asked if Kevin had the money and in response Kevin inquired who was calling the
00:55:26
kidnapper responded impatiently never mind have you got the money for tomorrow Kevin confirmed that he was getting it
00:55:37
and if the kidnapper told him to expect a message at three o'clock the following
00:55:42
day the next morning Kevin said goodbye to his wife and daughters using his finger to write I love you in the air
00:55:53
before getting into his car at the office he put a bulletproof vest on beneath his
00:56:00
work suit a two-way radio was installed in his vehicle and to the ransom money was delivered to the office in a sports
00:56:09
bag that had a tracking device sewn into the lining it was to keep the bag with him at all times so that the police
00:56:17
could constantly track his whereabouts at 3:25 p.m. the kidnapper called and instructed Kevin to go to the railway
00:56:27
station in Glossop a town almost 298 miles north of Birmingham there he was to head to the payphone in the station's
00:56:38
entrance hall where the kidnapper would call to provide further instructions at 7 o'clock
00:56:46
Kevin departed for Glossop with undercover officers trailing behind as he drove he used the two-way radio to
00:56:56
keep the police informed about the route he was taking he arrived at Glossop railway station shortly before 7 p.m.
00:57:04
and waited nervously by the phone booth the kidnapper had described eventually the kidnapper called and told Kevin to
00:57:14
leave the station turned right and to go to another phone box about 200 yards away there he would find written
00:57:25
instructions taped beneath a shelf Kevin followed these orders and found an envelope in the phone booth marked with
00:57:35
the letter A inside was a type 2 note directing him to drive 22 miles east towards the town of Dodd Worth where
00:57:45
another letter was waiting in a phone booth Kevin got back in his car and started driving but within a minute
00:57:53
heavy fog fell all around him making it difficult to see the limited visibility hindered his progress but he made it to
00:58:04
the isolated phone booth by 8:15 a node inside pointed him towards an off-road alain 150 yards away and to warned this
00:58:16
route will show if you are being followed once there kevin was to look for a red
00:58:24
and white traffic cone near a small building there would be a bag next to the cone
00:58:31
which he was to place the money into Kevin returned to his car again and to turn to left onto the lane passing a
00:58:41
small wooden sign that red ship weighs the track was rough and framed by hedges and a low stone walls but he soon
00:58:51
spotted a shared with a cone and a large black bag in front of it Kevin pulled over grabbed the bag and stuffed the
00:59:01
cash inside he found a note directing him to continue to the end of the lane and then on to another pay phone several
00:59:11
miles away where another note was waiting kevin kept driving forward noticing that the stone walls on either
00:59:21
side suddenly loomed too much higher within 300 yards he unexpectedly encountered another cone with a
00:59:29
stenciled message attached it explained that a wooden tray with the sensor inside was perched on one of the walls
00:59:39
kevin was instructed to place the bag with the money in the tray and if the sensor didn't buzz he could leave the
00:59:47
money and ago Kevin walked over to the tray noticing a silver rectangular device in one of its corners he jammed
00:59:59
the bag inside and was relieved when the sensor didn't make a sound nervously he
01:00:07
then headed back to his car meanwhile the investigators who were monitoring Kevin's movements had
01:00:17
struggled to find a parallel route along the narrow lane and had lost contact with the tracking signal that had been
01:00:25
fitted into his bag by the time Kevin delivered the money they had lost sight of him altogether
01:00:34
Kevin had used the two-way radio to let the police know that he was about to hand over the cash but a technical
01:00:43
problem had prevented them from receiving the message as Kevin drove away from the drop-off site
01:00:50
he used the two-way radio again to inform police that he'd successfully dropped off the money this time his
01:00:59
message went through investigators were horrified to learn that they'd lost contact with their courier at the most
01:01:08
crucial moment as it meant the kidnapper had likely managed to escape with the money worse still they had no idea where
01:01:18
stephanie was or if they just lost their only chance to save her life when West Yorkshire detectives heard
01:01:27
that their prime suspect for Julie darts mother had slipped through West Midlands
01:01:33
police's comprehensive and elaborate sting they were furious investigators said about detaining and interrogating
01:01:43
everyone they encountered in proximity of the drop-off zone but there was no sign of the kidnapper or of Stephanie
01:01:51
Slater eventually at 11:30 p.m. police reluctantly held a press conference to announce that their operation had failed
01:02:04
although the media embargo on the story was still being enforced investigators admitted the money had
01:02:11
been handed over but they had not managed to recover Stephanie detective Inspector Adrian Bowers had been tasked
01:02:21
with looking after Stephanie's parents while the operation was carried out and was waiting with them in their family
01:02:28
home the past eight days had been incredibly distressing for Warren and Betty Slater and to the news that
01:02:37
Stephanie had not been saved during the operation further added to their grief at 12:50 a.m. there was a loud banging
01:02:49
at the Slater's front door accompanied by the doorbell ringing detective Bowers raced to answer it and found a
01:02:59
disheveled looking young woman whom he didn't recognize standing on the doorstep warrants later rushed up from
01:03:08
behind pushed the detective out of the way and pulled the woman into the house shouting to his wife
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the detective bow has held them back explaining them might be crucial evidence on her body
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he asked Stephanie where her kidnapper was to which she responded oh he's long gone it turned out that the kidnapper
01:09:55
had driven Stephanie home himself dropping her roughly 200 feet from her house there had been no security detail
01:10:04
outside meaning the kidnapper had managed to elude police twice that night investigators and doctors arrived at the
01:10:13
Slater's home and Stephanie underwent a physical examination though confused and
01:10:19
disoriented she didn't have any serious injuries she revealed she had been blunt
01:10:26
faltered for a long period of time and the doctors confirmed that her eyesight was temporarily damaged as a result
01:10:34
blood and hair samples were taken and physical evidence was collected from underneath her fingernails her clothing
01:10:42
was also taken into evidence Stephanie denied that any sexual assault had taken place meaning that it wasn't
01:10:51
necessary for doctors to conduct a rape kit after being allowed to shower she was
01:10:57
transported to a private hospital for monitoring where her parents were allowed to stay in an adjoining room
01:11:05
when she learned that her kidnapper was also suspected of having murdered Julie Dart
01:11:11
she was overcome with grief at the thought of what Julie had endured the eight-day media embargo was finally
01:11:20
lifted and - the next morning Stephanie's story featured on breakfast news and radio programs throughout the
01:11:26
country West Midlands Police Assistant Chief Constable Phil Thomas thanked the press
01:11:33
for their cooperation throughout the operation and said that while the kidnapper had escaped with 175,000
01:11:42
pounds police had achieved their primary objective of bringing Stephanie home he
01:11:48
stated quote we can now openly get on with the investigation to catch this man our inquiries are now well in hand and
01:11:57
we have gained a lot of information which we didn't have before the media interest in this story
01:12:06
was intense and - later that afternoon Stephanie appeared at a press conference to answer questions about her ordeal
01:12:13
when asked how she felt upon realizing she had been abducted she stated I'd call it sheer terror you can't put that
01:12:23
sort of feeling into words unless you've actually been through it Stephanie said
01:12:30
she was eager to thank her manager Kevin Watts in person and hoped that she could
01:12:35
return to her normal life as soon as possible following the press conference Stephanie returned to the hospital where
01:12:46
she spent the next 10 days providing evidence about her ordeal to three female officers who were specially
01:12:53
trained in debriefing victims her recall was excellent and she managed to provide
01:13:00
a detailed account of the events that unfolded after she met the man claiming to be named Bob Southall at 153
01:13:08
Turnberry Road when Stephanie arrived at the address Bob was already standing by
01:13:16
the front door she described him as aged between 40 and 55 with an average - stocky build and attained complexion he
01:13:26
had been wearing thick black framed glasses and a jacket that had a badge picturing a train on its left pocket he
01:13:34
spoke with a northern accent indicating he wasn't local to Birmingham when they entered the property Bob asked
01:13:43
a few questions about the house but didn't appear particularly interested as they headed upstairs to see the second
01:13:51
story Bob pointed to a window and inquired whether it was double glazed Stephane replied that it was Stephanie
01:14:02
waited nearby while Bob explored to the upstairs rooms as he entered the bathroom Stefanie began to walk back
01:14:10
downstairs but Bob suddenly pointed at the wall opposite him and asked what's that up there Stephanie went into the
01:14:20
bathroom and realized he was pointing at a hawk which she explained was to hang a
01:14:25
towel on she turned around to leave but Bob suddenly flew towards her he was holding a 10 to 12 inch knife in one
01:14:35
hand and a long flat chisel with a hook in the other a struggle ensued and Stephanie received small next to her
01:14:44
face from the knife she grabbed both weapons and managed to bend the chisel rendering at useless
01:14:52
Stephanie screamed and Bob attempted to cover her mouth with his hands he then jumped on her and two grabbed her long
01:15:01
hair from behind wrenching her head back and pushing her over the side of the bathtub
01:15:08
Stephanie caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and saw that Bob was holding
01:15:13
a knife to her throat he threatened to cut her throat if she started screaming - which Stephanie
01:15:20
responded all right calm down you've got me don't kill me please don't kill me please remember I'm human barb and
01:15:33
Stephanie's wrists together with what appeared to be rope from a washing line and placed the noose around her neck
01:15:39
made from the same material he forced her downstairs yelling angrily whenever she looked directly at him at the bottom
01:15:50
of the stairs he blindfolded and gagged Stephanie using her own scarf then tied her legs with a rope just below the
01:15:58
knees he then stood her through the back of the house and into the garage where he forced her into a vehicle at
01:16:06
knifepoint stephanie was made to lie down on the passenger seat which had been moved into a reclining position her
01:16:16
face was then covered with a blanket and a line of rope was tied across her neck
01:16:21
to restrict her from sitting up Bob held a knife to her stomach and started driving in order to determine
01:16:30
where they were going Stephanie focused on noises the quality of the roads and the turns Bob was
01:16:37
taking he eventually pulled over in a quiet isolated area and forced the Stephanie to record the ransom message
01:16:45
that he later sent to her employers he also explained that his name wasn't really Bob but instructed Stephanie to
01:16:54
continue calling him that to make things easier by evening they reached a rough dirt track
01:17:03
Bob parked the car and to guided Stephanie along a gravel path he pushed what sounded like a metallic sliding
01:17:11
door and to lead Stephanie into a room with a stone floor where he tied her to a wooden chair he left the room and
01:17:20
returned shortly after with some chips for her to eat he then forced her to change into men's clothing and remarked
01:17:28
I hope you're not claustrophobic Bob explained he was going to play Stephanie inside a box that was placed inside
01:17:38
another box she was forced to lie down and shuffle feet first into a long narrow container which required her to
01:17:48
twist her body into an uncomfortable corkscrew position once she was in Bob tied Stephanie's
01:17:56
handcuff to wrists to a metal bar above her head and warned that if she pulled on the bar boulders placed above would
01:18:04
fall down and crush her he also placed a wire inside the box which he explained was
01:18:11
attached to electrodes that would shock Stephanie if she moved Bob told Stephanie he couldn't understand why she
01:18:20
was so calm to which she responded on not calm I'm frightened to death Bob closed the lid over the top of her
01:18:31
head and said see you in the morning then Stephanie spent the night in physical agony that was freezing cold and her
01:18:42
body was in pain from the awkward restricted position she'd been forced into terrified she lay awake throughout
01:18:50
the night convinced she would die from suffocation or hypothermia at her most distraught point she noticed the speck
01:19:00
of a light that appeared to grow and move towards her as it came closer stephanie realized that resembled the
01:19:08
face of jesus christ as she was not a religious person the vision took her by surprise and she wondered whether she
01:19:17
had died the following morning music started playing from a nearby radio by this stage Stephanie's entire body was
01:19:32
wracked with excruciating pain and her extremities were numb Bob open to the box and seemed surprised to find her in
01:19:41
such agony he removed Stephanie from the box and set her onto a chair rubbing her
01:19:48
arms in an attempt to lessen the pain after giving her a cup of tea and some porridge he explained that his plan was
01:19:57
to keep her hostage until the following Wednesday January 29 when he would collect his ransom money
01:20:05
if she behaved Bob told Stephanie she would be home within a week instead of returning her to the box Bob then
01:20:15
allowed Stephanie to stay on a mattress on the floor while he went to work provided she didn't make any noise or
01:20:22
attempt an escape after he had left Stephanie began reflecting on Bob's behavior although he had been
01:20:33
threatening and violent he had also shown a more humane side and Stephanie wondered if she could appeal to this
01:20:40
part of his personality deciding her best chance of survival was to be compliant and polite she resolved to put
01:20:49
her strong people skills to use over the following week Bob returned every morning and evening to give Stephanie
01:20:59
food and to let her use the toilet at night he would also back into the box during his visits
01:21:08
Stephanie attempted to humanize herself by chatting with Bob about the TV programs she liked to watch she told him
01:21:17
about her boyfriend whom her mother hoped she would marry one day on one occasion Bob a broader German
01:21:25
Shepherd puppy with him and Stephanie revealed her love of animals she also confided that she had been adopted at 6
01:21:34
months old because her parents were unable to conceive children and barb appeared moved by this revelation
01:21:42
although stephanie was kept the blindfolded and bound a majority of the time she managed to pay close attention
01:21:50
to her surroundings during her first the day in captivity she heard muffled voices nearby followed by a short
01:21:59
ringing sound and to then silence this pattern repeated several times and Stephanie realized she was likely being
01:22:09
held out the back of a store the sound of an electric saw and banging led her to believe it could be an engineering
01:22:17
workshop in addition she knew there was a microwave nearby as it made a dinging sound every time Bob made her porridge a
01:22:28
radio was also close by which played all day and was permanently tuned to BBC's radio to channel Stephanie also heard a
01:22:40
bell on what sounded like an old-fashioned cash register and the ringing of a rotary style phone the
01:22:49
sound of trucks lorries and trains could also be heard regularly passing through
01:22:54
the neighborhood during one conversation Bob told Stephanie that he was carrying
01:23:02
out the Ransom scheme with a male accomplice whom he referred to as his mate he described the man as a nasty
01:23:11
piece of work and told Stephanie she was lucky not to be stuck with him Bob appeared to grow somewhat fond of
01:23:20
Stephanie and repeatedly promised that she would be going home yet he also appeared to take pleasure in scaring her
01:23:29
on one occasion Stephanie told a joke that made Bob laugh after which he remarked I'll have to get rid of that
01:23:39
bin now when Stephanie asked which bin he was referring to Bob explained there was a plastic really been in the corner
01:23:49
that he had planned to dispose of her body in on Sunday January 26 barber made Stephanie record a message that he could
01:24:02
play for her parents he had her mentioned the result of the recent West Bromwich Albion versus swansea football
01:24:10
match to verify that she was still alive the next day he confirmed that she would
01:24:16
be going home on Wednesday January 29 on Stephanie's final night in captivity Bob
01:24:24
but let her sleep on the mattress instead of inside the box on the morning of Wednesday January 29 Bob told
01:24:33
Stephanie he would be collecting the ransom money from her manager Kevin watts that night and would be back to
01:24:40
release her between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. he then remarked I was thinking that it would be nice to have a photograph of
01:24:49
you you know something to remember you by he told Stephanie to remove her blindfold but keep her eyes closed while
01:25:00
he snapped a picture of her Stephanie was then secured back into the box where she remained for the rest of the
01:25:09
day the radio was kept on allowing her to keep track of the time via the hourly news bulletins 9:00 p.m.
01:25:19
eventually came and went with no sign of Bob and Stephanie began to worry that he
01:25:26
wasn't coming back after all she became increasingly panicked that she would be left to die a slow painful death
01:25:34
alone in captivity to escape such a fate she contemplated taking her own life by
01:25:42
smothering her face with the duvet that had been left inside the box with her at
01:25:49
10:45 p.m. Bob finally returns he released Stephanie had her change into new clothes and reassured her that he
01:25:59
was taking her home his initial plan was to leave her at a police station or a phone box but he drove her back to
01:26:08
Birmingham instead and had dropped her off near her home before he left he asked for a kiss goodbye
01:26:19
after being blindfolded and restricted forever awake Stephanie found it difficult to see and walk but she
01:26:26
managed to stumble home where she was finally reunited with her parents the police were impressed by the level
01:26:37
of detail in Stephanie's recollections and said about having a sketch artist to create an impression of the perpetrator
01:26:46
meanwhile an investigation of the money drop site revealed that the narrow lane with large stone walls that Kevin had
01:26:54
been sent to was actually a bridge above an abandoned railway line underneath the
01:27:01
bridge officers recovered a rectangular device that had been painted silver as well as the trade that Kevin had placed
01:27:08
the money in which was a wooden drawer with a length of washing line attached it appeared that the kidnapper had
01:27:17
waited under the bridge then dragged the draw with the money in it down after Kevin had left investigators theorized
01:27:27
that he may have escaped on a motorbike to avoid police roadblocks the site of the abandoned railway line was part of a
01:27:36
country walking trail known as the DA Valley Trail it was just three miles down the track from the bridge where the
01:27:45
painted brick and false incendiary device were found in relation to Julie darts case the two cases were formerly
01:27:54
linked into West Yorkshire Assistant Chief Constable Tom cork was appointed as the head of the investigation
01:28:03
stephanie's neighbors were questioned to save day to noticed anything unusual on
01:28:08
the night of her return a spray painter named les Barnaby recalled that he'd been watching a film in bed around 1:00
01:28:17
a.m. when he heard the sound of a car engine revving outside he looked out the window and saw a red Austin Metro in the
01:28:26
street below it was old and muddy and to the passenger door was slightly open after a
01:28:34
minute a young disheveled looking woman stumbled backwards out of the car and staggered down the street in an awkward
01:28:41
run on the evening of Tuesday February 4 six days after Stephanie's return police
01:28:51
released the first sketch of the suspect it depicted a middle-aged white male with short dark hair wearing square
01:28:59
black framed glasses his face was broad with a square forehead and a straight nose within an hour of going public more
01:29:11
than 500 people found tips in to the police but none generated any promising leads Assistant Chief Constable Tom cook
01:29:21
told the media he was almost expecting to hear from the kidnapper directly quote perhaps he might like to boast
01:29:30
about it if he feels he has been successful on Thursday February 6 a letter arrived that the officers of the
01:29:42
BBC Yorkshire television the son and the news of the world and newspapers the West Midlands and West Yorkshire police
01:29:50
and at the workplace of Julie darts mother it claimed to be from the kidnapper who admitted to abducting
01:30:00
Stephanie but denied murdering Julie or blackmailing British Rail he wanted to clarify this out of concern for
01:30:09
Stephanie's well-being as he had previously told her that he'd never killed anyone and was worried about how
01:30:16
she might feel if she thought he had the letter read the fact that I could and did carry out the crime extremely
01:30:28
successfully is my only satisfaction I am ashamed upset and thoroughly disgusted at my treatment of Stephanie
01:30:36
and the suffering I must have caused to her parents even now my eyes are filled with tears I
01:30:44
wake up but during the night actually crying with a little luck Stephanie will get over it shortly
01:30:52
myself I do not think I ever will the letter contained spelling and punctuation errors that matched previous
01:31:04
correspondence from the kidnapper the phrase with a little luck had also been used in one of the letters sent to
01:31:12
British Rail this indicated that the same person was indeed responsible for all three crimes and on Friday February
01:31:21
7 snippets of the letter were published in the country's newspapers two days later
01:31:29
Stephanie finally left the hospital and was able to return home a number of reporters had set up camp in the fields
01:31:38
opposite her house to cover her homecoming she agreed to pose for the cameras with her parents and to pet cats
01:31:46
and was met at the front door by a police officer carrying a bouquet of flowers and detectives took shifts
01:31:55
guarding the family and escorting them everywhere they went while police dogs and their handlers patrolled the land
01:32:03
between the house and the nearby motorway media interest in the case was unrelenting and stephanie was inundated
01:32:14
with large financial offers in exchange for an exclusive interview police advised her to negotiate a deal with one
01:32:23
newspaper as this would prompt all other outlets to back off she decided to sign
01:32:30
a contract with the Sun newspaper as it was the paper her father read and also had the highest number of readers
01:32:38
Stephanie wanted to use her experience to alert women to the possible dangers they face and suggest the ways they
01:32:45
could protect themselves from the outset of the investigation police had intentionally withheld
01:32:53
significant details from the media and they eventually chose to release this information on an episode of BBC's crime
01:33:01
watch the show aired on the evening of Thursday February 20 with 15 million viewers tuning in to watch for the first
01:33:13
time that was publicly revealed that the kidnapper drove a red Austin Metro that
01:33:19
he appeared to have a connection with British Railways and that Stephanie had been held hostage in a workshop
01:33:25
environment the recorded phone call between the kidnapper and Kevin Watts was also played prompting 1,000 phone
01:33:34
calls to police and to the crime watch headquarters 48 year-old Susan Oak had been out when the show aired but she had
01:33:44
taped it so she could watch it later on the case had caught Susan's attention as
01:33:51
the sketch of the suspect resembled her ex-husband Michael Sams who also drove a
01:33:57
red car similar to the one witness too near the location where Julie darts body was found
01:34:04
furthermore the suspect had reportedly worn a railway badge on his coat and Michael loved trains however Michael had
01:34:15
one leg amputated a 13 years earlier and the suspect that wasn't said to have a limp so Susan deemed it unlikely that
01:34:24
her ex could be responsible she primarily wanted to see the crime watch episode to lay her suspicions to rest
01:34:34
at 11:00 p.m. on the night the episode aired Susan played the tape upon hearing the
01:34:42
voice of the kidnapper she left out of her chair and shouted it's him that's Mike Michael Bannerman Sam's was born on
01:34:57
August 11 1941 in the West Yorkshire town of Keithley he had a conventional middle-class upbringing and was a bright
01:35:06
child who did well at school although struggled with spelling and grammar at the age of 20
01:35:14
Sam's joined the Merchant Navy but returned to his hometown a year later and trained to work as a lift engineer
01:35:22
he met his first wife Susan when he was installing lifts at her workplace the young couple married on July 18 1964 and
01:35:33
went on to have two sons by 1970 Sam's had started his own business servicing central heating boilers and was often so
01:35:44
busy that he rarely saw his wife and children he dedicated any spare time he had to Trainspotting a term used to
01:35:53
describe the hobby of watching trains samms was fascinated by rail transport he collected train memorabilia and
01:36:03
displayed a model railway in a spare room in 1973 Sam's suddenly became ill and was rushed to hospital doctors suspected
01:36:16
he had meningitis an inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord but tests were inconclusive
01:36:24
Sam's managed to make a recovery but thereafter he was prone to mood swings and violent outbursts he and Susan
01:36:34
argued frequently with Sam's often becoming physically and sexually aggressive he started raping his wife and subjected
01:36:44
her to humiliating sexual abuse in 1976 Susan left Sam's taking the couple's two
01:36:53
sons with her Sam's begged her to take him back while also threatening if I can't have you
01:37:02
nobody else will on one occasion one of Sam's employees told Susan that seems that offered him
01:37:12
money to kill her Sam's had also bragged to the employee that he knew how to carry out the perfect kidnapping Sam's
01:37:23
and Susan divorced in 1977 and - that same year Sam stole a car resulting in his first recorded criminal offense and
01:37:33
to nine months in prison while serving his sentence Sam's began experiencing significant
01:37:41
pain in his right knee he was diagnosed with cancer and to prevent the disease from spreading his leg was amputated
01:37:50
above the knee Sam's was released after serving six months three weeks later he married a
01:37:59
woman named - Jane whom he demit through a lonely hearts personal xored however Jane soon became unhappy in the
01:38:08
relationship and ended the marriage in 1981 the next year Sam's began work as a power tool
01:38:17
repairmen for Black and Decker in Birmingham he met his third wife Tina after she placed a personal ad in a
01:38:26
local newspaper and he soon opened his own tool repair shop in the town of Peterborough Cambridgeshire
01:38:34
Sam's often criticized to Tina and pestered her for sex which caused their marriage to deteriorate within a few
01:38:42
years he once threatened to go to Leeds to find a sex worker saying he knew which areas they frequented despite
01:38:54
being unhappy the couple stayed together and eventually moved to the village of Sutton on Trent which was approximately
01:39:01
halfway between Leeds and Birmingham Sims started his own business repairing power tools and had a shop in the nearby
01:39:11
town of nuoc Susan oak had little to do with her ex-husband and though her sons still saw him occasionally
01:39:21
in mid February 1992 Sam's father died and Susan attended his funeral where she saw Sam's for the first time in four
01:39:32
years he appeared strange and evasive refusing to make eye contact or give Susan a lift to the cemetery in his red
01:39:43
Austin Metro his voice sent peculiar behavior was still clear in Susan's mind several
01:39:51
days later when she watched the Crimewatch episode and she had no doubt that he was responsible for the crimes
01:39:59
she immediately called the crime watch hotline but it was busy so she reported her suspicions to the Julie dart
01:40:08
incident room in Leeds instead one of her son's also called crime watch to back his mother's report
01:40:18
among the hundreds of calls that were coming through the West Yorkshire police quickly prioritized Susan's information
01:40:26
and two officers would dispatch to her home by 2:00 a.m. Michael Sams had officially been placed on the suspect
01:40:36
list along with four other individuals at 10:40 a.m. on Friday February 21 for high-ranking officers were dispatched to
01:40:51
Sam's residence in Sutton on Trent his wife Tina he answered the door and explained that her husband was at work
01:41:00
one of the detectives noticed an abundance of a railway paraphernalia hanging on the walls of the house
01:41:07
including photographs of trains and salvaged engine nameplates there was also a moped
01:41:15
a German Shepherd and a fish tank these details were significant as a fish food container had been used to construct the
01:41:24
fake incendiary device found in the Julie dark case Stephanie had also been shown a German Shepherd puppy while in
01:41:33
captivity and police believed the kidnapper may have driven a motorbike of some kind when picking up the ransom
01:41:40
money the officers told Tina they would return at 5:00 p.m. but then rushed to Sam's shop 8 miles away in nuoc hoping
01:41:52
that tina wouldn't alert him to their visit they pulled up at the address where a hand stenciled sign read T and M
01:42:02
tools Sam's red Austin Metro was parked outside and a railway line ran nearby which could account for the trains that
01:42:13
Stephanie heard during her time in captivity inside tools were hanging on the wall and a cash register sat on the
01:42:23
counter but nobody was there a number of other features aligned with Stephanie's recollections there was an
01:42:33
old rotary style telephone a microwave a bell above the door and a radio playing
01:42:40
that was tuned to BBC Radio 2 one of the officers called out and Sam's emerged from behind a curtain stating I've been
01:42:55
expecting you what is it you want the officers explained that he was under arrest for suspicion of abduction and
01:43:05
murder relating to Julie dart and Stephanie Slater Samms retorted you've got the wrong man you were making a big
01:43:16
mistake he was taken to the nearest police station and held for questioning a young constable tasked with guarding
01:43:27
Sam's asked what he was in for Sam's replied suspicion of murder and abduction didn't you watch crime watch
01:43:38
last night the constable said that he hadn't and asked whether Sam's was referring to the Stephanie Slater case
01:43:47
Sam's responded yes the evidence is in the workshop I didn't do the murder I don't know how they've linked the two
01:44:00
startled the constable last Sam's if he was responsible for Stephanie's abduction he replied yeah but I didn't
01:44:12
do the other one Sam's was taken to the station sergeant to repeat his admission
01:44:19
he stated I've done the kidnapping I've not done the murder I promised Stephanie that she'd go home
01:44:29
and she did following this confession Sam's was stripped searched and given new clothes with his own scent off the
01:44:41
forensic testing as he was moved throughout the station he continued to provide further details to the young
01:44:49
constable whenever the two were left alone Sam's explained that he was annoyed when the real-estate agency sent
01:44:57
a woman to the property at 153 Turnberry Road as he would have become less emotionally attached to a male hostage
01:45:05
he also boasted about successfully hiding the fact that he had a prosthetic leg from Stephanie and added that he
01:45:13
only carried out the kidnapping because he was bored and too lonely Sam's first formal interview commenced
01:45:21
later that afternoon he repeated his confession and explained that he'd buried most of the ransom money after
01:45:29
dropping Stephanie home he said that he only asked for 175,000 pounds because it
01:45:36
seemed like a realistic amount that would be manageable to carry by the time the interview ended news had broken
01:45:45
about the arrest Sam's was transferred to a police station in Birmingham where angry crowds
01:45:52
were waiting out the front to hurl abuse as he was rushed inside meanwhile forensic investigators had been
01:46:02
inspecting Sam's workshop for evidence and found 19 thousand pounds in cash they discovered that the chamber he had
01:46:11
kept Stephanie in was a custom-built timber box that had been placed inside a sideways plastic Willie been a number of
01:46:20
human hairs matching Stephanie's were found while other dyed strands of hair looked like they could belong to Julie
01:46:27
dark a diluted blood stain was found on an old curtain which someone appeared to
01:46:34
have attempt to wash away with water there wasn't enough blood to obtain a DNA profile but
01:46:42
the blood type was identified as the same as Julie's brown nylon fibers on the workshop floor also matched to those
01:46:51
found on the sheets used to wrap Julie's body an inspection of Sam's computer revealed a disturbing Word document
01:47:01
written in the style of a police statement it explained that he had picked up a young sex worker named -
01:47:08
Julie from Leeds who said she worked at the Leeds General Infirmary she mentioned having a boyfriend whose name
01:47:15
began with do but she stopped herself before revealing his whole name the two had sex during which Sam's noticed that
01:47:26
Julie had a number of bruises on her body afterwards she wrote the name Julie D on a business card and told him I will
01:47:36
be around here some evenings I get dropped off about 10:45 and collected around 11:30
01:47:44
Sam's claimed he'd returned to the area a few days later but didn't see Julie again investigators also searched the
01:47:56
tool repair shop in Cambridgeshire that seems had runs several years earlier there they found a number of unusual
01:48:03
bricks that matched the one found during the Julie Dodd investigation that brick
01:48:11
had been painted white and had an envelope attached with instructions and a forensic examination revealed that it
01:48:18
had been made from blue colour to clay the bricks found at sam's former shop were of the same size and color Sam's
01:48:28
wife Tina told investigators that she and her husband had watched the latest episode of crime watch together and
01:48:35
their Sam's had commented that the suspect sketch looked like him 10 years prior Tina had agreed and joked you've
01:48:45
got a metro and you live near a railway line it's a good job you've got a tin leg when Sam's mother was questioned she
01:48:55
said that he and Tina had visited her on July 21 1991 this matched the date that
01:49:03
Julie darts killer had posted a letter to the police from Leeds railway station Tina confirmed that she and her husband
01:49:11
had stopped at the station during their trip while other journeys Sam's had made
01:49:16
also aligned with dates that other ransom letters had been sent sam's ex-wife Susan oak was shown some of
01:49:25
these letters and confirmed that the spelling and grammatical errors matched those she'd seen before in Sam's writing
01:49:34
on Saturday February 22 the police continued to formally interview Sam's about Stephanie's kidnapping when
01:49:44
talking about Stephanie he often started crying saying that he couldn't bring himself to hurt her
01:49:51
Sam's adamantly denied having anything to do with the Julie darts murder or being familiar with the chapel town's
01:49:59
read a light district insisting he was incapable of hurting a woman when the police pointed out that Julie's body was
01:50:08
disposed of in a wheelie bin and that he had made a similar threat to Stephanie Sam's dismissed this as a coincidence
01:50:17
the days interrogation concluded and police applied for a 36-hour extension on Sam's detention so they could
01:50:25
continue questioning him about Julie the following morning Sam's provided investigators with a
01:50:33
lengthy written statement in which he claimed to have an accomplice in Stephanie's kidnapping he said he paid
01:50:40
the accomplice 20 thousand pounds to drive him to the Glossop railway station which was the first sight that
01:50:47
Stephanie's manager Kevin Watts was directed to leaving Sam's with a moped and other equipment after Sam's had
01:50:56
successfully obtained the ransom money the accomplice picked him up and insisted that Stephanie be killed
01:51:03
Sam's refused and a violent argument broke out between the two men the accomplice only relented when Sam's
01:51:12
offered to give him a majority of the money Sam's claimed that it was his accomplice
01:51:19
who was responsible for blackmailing British Rail and for murdering Julie Dodd the accomplice had allegedly kept
01:51:27
Julie tied to a bed in a chalet on the east coast of England and to beat her with a hammer when she tried to escape
01:51:34
from his sexual abuse Sam's also claimed that his accomplice had a key to Sam's workshop and had used his computer on
01:51:43
multiple occasions Sam's refused to name this individual out of fear he might harm Stephanie in
01:51:51
retaliation investigators didn't believe that another individual was involved instead they were convinced this was
01:52:02
Sam's way of explaining the evidence that linked him to the other two cases they obtained a writing sample from
01:52:10
Sam's and had an expert compared it to the handwritten letters from Julie darts case the sample featured a number of
01:52:18
notable similarities to the letters including 14 identical spelling errors the expert concluded that Sam's was the
01:52:28
author of the letters on Monday February 24 Michael Sams was formally charged with the kidnapping of
01:52:41
Stephanie Slater as well as unlawfully holding her prisoner and demanding 175,000 pounds from her employer with
01:52:50
menaces two days later he was also charged with the murder of Julie Dodd and with demanding 140 thousand pounds
01:53:00
with menaces from West Yorkshire Police Sam's was remanded in custody pending trial during which she continued to
01:53:10
undergo interviews with the police during one interview he suddenly confessed to another failed kidnapping
01:53:18
attempt Samms admitted that one week before Julie's disappearance he made an appointment to view a house with
01:53:26
Nottingham real estate agent 42 year-old Carol Jones he went armed with a knife and drove intending to abduct her but
01:53:37
his plans were foiled when a build up working on the house next door started chatting to him while he waited for
01:53:44
Carol to arrive Sam's ended up leaving before Carol got there investigators spoke with Carol
01:53:54
Jones who remembered that her client was a no-show that day one of her colleagues
01:54:00
Karen Langdon recalled going to meet a client at that same Nottingham property upon her arrival she had been approached
01:54:09
by a man carrying a clipboard who was wearing glasses similar to Michael Sams he walked away at the last moment and
01:54:18
Karen noticed he walked with a slight limp both Carol and Karen was shocked to learn they had escaped a brush with a
01:54:28
kidnapper karen was particularly shaken as she had resigned from her job after stephanie slayed his abduction out of
01:54:37
fear of the risks involved michael sams eventually admitted to writing the ransom letters but claimed
01:54:46
his accomplice had forced him to do so as he maintained that this individual had the majority of the ransom money
01:54:54
finding the cash became a priority for investigators as it would disprove Sam's claims about a second perpetrator once
01:55:03
and for all two witnesses had reported that in July of 1991 they saw a man with a walking
01:55:13
stick on a disused railway track less than one mile from where Julie's body was found Samms denied ever visiting the
01:55:23
area except for one occasion when he visited a popular Trainspotting destination named Stoke Summit police
01:55:32
then spoke with a retired colonel from the Special Air Service who had specialized in finding arms caches he
01:55:40
advised that the money would likely be buried in a remote location that was close to public access based on this
01:55:49
advice and the witness sighting police honed in on the stoke summit railway embankment located 1.7 miles from where
01:55:59
Julie's body had been dumped on December 2 1992 just over ten months after Stephanie's kidnapping
01:56:09
they used ground probing radar to dig in the area eight inches below the surface
01:56:15
they found a black tray wrapped in polythene topped with a newspaper dated february 6 1992 inside there were stacks
01:56:27
of banknotes when Samms heard about the discovery he told police the parcel was one of two he'd prepared but claimed
01:56:37
that it must have been buried by his accomplice two days later buried 16 feet away from
01:56:45
the first police recovered the second parcel of money all up they recovered all of the ransom
01:56:53
money less 12 and a half thousand pounds which was never found Michael Sams trial
01:57:02
commenced at the Nottingham Crown Court on June 9 1993 he pleaded guilty to the charges relating to Stephanie Slater but
01:57:13
not guilty - Julie's abduction and murder and not guilty to the attempted extortion of British Rail over two and a
01:57:22
half days the prosecutor delivered a dramatic opening speech detailing what he dubbed Michael Sam's campaign of
01:57:31
crime Julie dark was known to be terrified of confined spaces and was described as someone who would have
01:57:39
bought back against an attacker the prosecution's theory was that Julie had likely attempted to escape from the box
01:57:48
Sam's hold her in and Sims had then killed her how to fear that she had seen too much
01:57:55
the prosecution believed that Stephanie had survived because she had played along with Sam's demands
01:58:02
when Stephanie took the stand to deliver her testimony she kept her eyes to the ground while Sam's sobbed in the
01:58:10
background the defense called Michael Sams as their first witness he maintained that his accomplice had a
01:58:20
murder - Julie dart and had forced Sam's to write the ransom letters as for Stephanie's kidnapping he claimed he was
01:58:29
financially motivated to commit the crime because he wanted to buy a nice house for his wife in an attempt to mend
01:58:37
their relationship during cross-examination Sam's refused to name Julie's killer
01:58:44
saying he would only do so at the conclusion of the trial after proving himself innocent the prosecutor accused
01:58:54
Sam's of lying stating quote you cannot bring yourself to admit that you killed Julie dart and are like a little child
01:59:03
you have invented this friend the trial ran for four ways and on July 8th the jury retired to consider their
01:59:15
verdict they deliberated for three and a half hours before declaring Michael Sam's guilty of all charges including
01:59:24
Julie's murder and to the British Rail extortion attempt those seated in the public gallery
01:59:31
applauded and cheered while Stephanie Slater cried and mouthed thank you to the jury Julie's mother
01:59:40
Linda cried out you bastard before bursting into tears Sam's showed a no emotion as the judge
01:59:50
addressed him directly saying quote you are an extremely dangerous and evil man the jury has convicted you of the murder
02:00:01
of Julie Dodd that was murder in cold blood a kidnap gone wrong because she saw more than she should
02:00:09
undeterred by the horror of what you had done you tried to turn her death to your
02:00:15
advantage when Stephanie Slater was kidnapped I have not the slightest doubt that she was in desperate and mortal
02:00:24
danger the ordeal that you inflicted on her is something that the rest of us can
02:00:30
only imagine her survival in my judgment is entirely due to her own remarkable moral courage
02:00:41
he's crimes against Julie and Stephanie the judge sentenced Sam's to four lifetimes
02:00:49
he also received concurrent 10-year sentences for each of the blackmail attempts and the attempted extortion of
02:00:57
British Rail when Stephanie was later asked how she felt she remarked well he shouldn't have done it should he if he
02:01:08
was going to cry like that after what he has done I can show him tears I can show
02:01:14
him lots of tears stronger upsetting natural tears outside court Linda told reporters quote I know we will never
02:01:27
have Julie back I also know that justice has been done at last and to that beast
02:01:33
Sam's and to that's what he is has got what he justly deserves Sam's were sent to serve his sentence
02:01:47
that full Sutton prison in Yorkshire four days after his conviction he requested to speak with West Yorkshire
02:01:55
detective Superintendent Bob Taylor who had been in charge of the Julie Dodd inquiry Sam's told the detective that he
02:02:04
had seen a photo of Julie darts headstone on television and to notice that it didn't have an exact date for
02:02:11
her death consequently he had decided to come clean as he wanted Julie's mother to
02:02:18
know when her daughter had died Sam's confessed that he had lured to Julie into his car at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday
02:02:28
July 9 1991 under the guise of hiring her for sex work when she leaned forward in the passenger seat to remove her
02:02:38
shoes he placed the noose around her neck and drove her to his workshop there he stripped her clothes tied her to a
02:02:48
chair and forced her to write a ransom letter to her boyfriend Sam's then confined to Julie in the box
02:02:56
inside the Willie Ben like he did with Stephanie the next day Julie managed to smash her way out but
02:03:06
Sam's had set up a trigger mechanism that sent him a phone call to alert him to any escape attempts shortly before
02:03:14
6:00 p.m. the trigger went off and Sam's raced over to the workshop using a hammer he not - Julie unconscious before
02:03:25
strangling her to death although she was no longer alive Sam's proceeded with his
02:03:32
extortion attempts but continuing to send a ransom letters to the police after Sam's confession detective
02:03:42
Superintendent Taylor met with the Julie darts family to share this new information Linda was finally able to
02:03:52
update her daughter's headstone with Julie's exact date of death she told Yorkshire television quote Sam's has
02:04:02
known for two years that he did it he knew all through the trial that he was guilty so why does he now decide to come
02:04:10
out and say it he's just warped and twisted he is twisting the knife and rubbing salt in
02:04:18
the wound as well it is just another game in his book one month later portions of a letter that Sam's had
02:04:28
written to his now estranged wife Tina were published in newspapers throughout Britain in it Sam's revealed that he had
02:04:38
always intended to release Stephanie and had always planned on killing Julie based on this information investigators
02:04:47
theorized that Sam's have likely abducted and killed Julie as a trial run for his subsequent abduction scheme from
02:04:58
the moment Stephanie Slater was abducted comparisons were made to the 1986 disappearance of Suzy lamb blue which
02:05:06
was covered in episode 48 of case file Suzy was a 25 year old British estate agent who vanished after going to show a
02:05:16
house to a client named mr. kipper and her case has never been solved Stephanie had been well aware of Suzy's
02:05:25
disappearance and as a real estate agent herself she had initially started carrying a personal alarm when she was
02:05:32
out showing houses however by the time of her own abduction in 1992 the memory of Suzy's tragedy had faded and
02:05:42
Stephanie no longer carried the alarm during her time being held hostage Sam's had assured Stephanie that he had
02:05:52
nothing to do with Suzy's disappearance but after his arrest the media speculated that he may be responsible
02:06:02
police dismissed this theory stating that Samms wasn't a likely culprit but had likely been inspired by the case in
02:06:13
1994 Samms allegedly sent a letter from prison confessing to Suzie's abduction but it was dismissed by police as a sick
02:06:22
hoax the following year crime writer Christopher Barry D published a book titled unmasking mr. Cooper who really
02:06:33
killed Susie lamp Liu which argued that Sam's was responsible for the crime the lamp Lu family were never consulted
02:06:43
about the book and were unhappy about its publication Susie's mother Diana publicly stated her belief that Barry
02:06:51
Dee was using her daughter's disappearance to sell his book which was far more focused on Michael Sams then on Suze
02:07:03
Stephanie Slater found it difficult to return to normal life after her abduction she was unable to return to
02:07:11
her job struggled to socialize with friends and to ended her relationship with her boyfriend as a result of being
02:07:20
kept in the wooden box she suffered from chronic back pain as well as anxiety nightmares and panic attacks people
02:07:29
recognized her everywhere she went so she altered her appearance and temporarily changed her name in an
02:07:36
attempt to create a new identity Stephanie also struggled with the fact that she had survived while Julie dart
02:07:45
hadn't been so lucky she met Julie's mother and grandparents and went with Linda to place flowers on Julie's grave
02:07:55
in an attempt to find closure Stephanie decided to go back to the workshop where
02:08:01
she'd been held hostage and agreed that television network Central Television could film the visit
02:08:09
seeing the workshop unblind folded for the first time she was surprised by how small it was and how close it was to a
02:08:18
main road though she found the experience unnerving it didn't provide the resolution stephanie was looking for
02:08:27
in need of a fresh start in October 1993 she decided to relocate to the Isle of Wight with her best friend Stacy Kettner
02:08:39
Stephanie had spent many happy summers there as a child and described it as her own personal heaven on earth the
02:08:49
following year she began working as a part-time tour guide at a historic castle this helped to give her life
02:08:57
focus and encouraged her to speak to strangers again Stephanie developed a close-knit circle of friends and
02:09:05
attributed her recovery to the support of her loved ones Stephanie decided to write a book about her ordeal in the
02:09:15
hopes her story might help others titled beyond be my will to survive the book revealed that Stephanie had in fact been
02:09:25
raped by Michael Sams during her first night as a hostage she had originally withheld this information as she was
02:09:34
terrified that the truth would devastate her mother who had health problems and had suffered a heart attack
02:09:41
following Stephanie's kidnapping on the night Stephanie had been released from captivity
02:09:48
her mother had begged her to say that the kidnapper hadn't touched her and Stephanie decided not to raise the issue
02:09:57
in the months and years that followed the only person she told about the rape was her friend Stacey while stephanie
02:10:09
was in the process of writing her book it was reported that Michael Sams also intended to write a book claiming that
02:10:16
he and Stephanie were in love and had a consensual affair stephanie was incensed by the claims
02:10:24
later stating quote it felt as if I was being raped all over again I was taking antidepressants and drinking heavily to
02:10:35
try to stop the flashbacks and nightmares I was drinking two bottles of wine and
02:10:40
night in the hope of sinking into some kind of oblivion Stephanie's co-writer eventually
02:10:49
convinced her not to let Sam's bully her and she persevered with telling the truth in her book she later said that
02:10:57
this decision was quote the best thing I ever did I just the wished I'd have done
02:11:04
it earlier when the rape became public knowledge following the book's publication in 1995
02:11:12
Michael Sams threatened to sue Stephanie for libel but was prevented from doing so by the Prison Service on October 24
02:11:28
1995 probation officer julia flack was in her office when Michael seemed centered with the out warning armed with
02:11:36
a sharpened metal rod he'd stolen from a prison workshop Julia screamed for help and depressed an
02:11:44
alarm button but since through a lunch tray at her and proceeded to headbutt her another prisoner heard the attack
02:11:52
and came to Julia's rescue he managed to overpower Samms before prison officers arrived
02:12:00
seconds later due to this quick intervention Julia only required minor medical treatment Samms was transferred
02:12:10
to the prison's segregation unit and charged with false imprisonment and attempted murder in February 1997 he
02:12:20
opted to defend himself at trial Sam said he had committed the attack because he was angry that the Prison Service had
02:12:29
prevented him from suing Stephanie he had also wanted to sell some paintings for charity but these had been
02:12:36
confiscated he claimed to have entered a julia flaks office to stage a peaceful demonstration and had planned to hold
02:12:45
her hostage until police were called at which point he intended to take his own life
02:12:54
jurors banned Sam's guilty of false imprisonment but not guilty of attempted murder and he was sentenced to a further
02:13:02
eight years he is now among the oldest tend to longest-serving life sentence prisoners
02:13:10
in England and Wales over the years Stephanie Slater continued to use her traumatic ordeal to
02:13:21
help others she helped to various Police Department's improve their interactions
02:13:26
with kidnapped victims and provided support to other survivors of crime in 2011 she said quote before this happened
02:13:39
I had a boyfriend a job and a company car I had a loads of friends and a great social life but Sam's took everything
02:13:48
and destroyed the next 20 years of my life but now I am ready to begin again most people begin their lives in their
02:13:58
20s and 30s but those years of my life were destroyed in a 2012 interview with the journalist - Keith the wilkinson
02:14:09
Stephanie said I ran away from my name Steph for a long time because of everything that was attached to but the
02:14:20
thing was I didn't realize when I was running so fast that I've actually come back into contact with her again
02:14:29
this time around I'm proud of what she's done and I'm proud of what she survived
02:14:35
and I've embraced it again I'm not going to run away from Stephanie Slater anymore because I found her again and
02:14:44
it's me so now I take on board what happened to me I use it and hopefully help others through it
02:14:53
[Music] Stephanie continued living on the Isle of Wight where she and her best friend
02:15:00
Stacy made plans to start a ghost tour business using a restored 1966 camper van
02:15:10
however in August 2017 stephanie was diagnosed with liver cancer at the age of 50 and died just 11 days later her
02:15:23
funeral was held at the Isle of Wight crematorium on September 14 mourners traveled in her vintage camper van while
02:15:33
her coffin was carried in a second silver camper Stephanie's friend Stacy caetna said
02:15:43
we have had a unique into epic friendship for over 25 years and shared so much together good and bad times I
02:15:53
know that she truly never got over the events that shaped her life so dramatically in January 1992
02:16:02
it's been an honor and a privilege to be Stephanie's best friend the West Midlands Police also paid tribute to
02:16:12
Stephanie in a statement that read to Stephanie's courage and bravery over the years and for the work she did in
02:16:22
helping police officers and victims by sharing her experience journalist Katie Wilkinson who worked with Stephanie on a
02:16:33
documentary in the 1990s said there's no doubt her efforts helped pave the way for better support for victims
02:16:43
she also helped to raise awareness of the possible dangers faced by estate agents meeting clients alone for her
02:16:51
bravery and campaigning work many people lo Stephanie a great debt of gratitude [Music]
02:17:18
you [Music]