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[Music]
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our episodes deal with serious and often
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distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact
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your local crisis center
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for suggested phone numbers for
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confidential support please see the show
00:02:09
notes for this episode on your app or on
00:02:11
our website
00:02:20
it was only 7 30 in the morning but 35
00:02:23
year old eileen field was already hard
00:02:26
at work
00:02:27
as a stewardess on an ocean liner her
00:02:30
days were kept busy looking after first
00:02:32
class passengers
00:02:34
more specifically eileen's job was to
00:02:37
see to the needs of women staying on the
00:02:39
b deck of the durban castle
00:02:42
owned by the union castle line the ship
00:02:45
was built in belfast in 1938
00:02:49
when world war ii broke out it was
00:02:51
repurposed to carry troops but after the
00:02:54
allies won it became a commercial ocean
00:02:57
liner again
00:02:59
by 1947 the durban castle was sailing
00:03:03
regularly from cape town in south africa
00:03:06
to the english port of southampton
00:03:08
ferrying travellers between the two
00:03:10
countries
00:03:12
to keep passengers occupied and
00:03:14
entertained there were amenities such as
00:03:17
a salon a shop and swimming pools on
00:03:20
board as well as specially organised
00:03:22
games movie nights and dinner dances
00:03:26
as eileen field started work on the
00:03:28
morning of saturday october 18 the ship
00:03:32
was on the eighth day of its two-week
00:03:34
voyage and about 90 miles off the west
00:03:37
african coast
00:03:39
eileen hurried along a corridor on
00:03:42
durban castle's b-deck towards cabin
00:03:44
126. which was occupied by a 21 year old
00:03:48
english actress named eileen gibson
00:03:52
better known by her stage name of gay
00:03:54
gibson
00:03:56
it was eileen's job to wake a gay and
00:03:59
bring her some orange juice
00:04:02
eileen knocked it gently on gay's door
00:04:06
when there was no answer she knocked
00:04:08
again and called out softly
00:04:11
miss gibson
00:04:13
there was no reply
00:04:16
eileen decided to try the door handle
00:04:19
even though she knew gay locked it every
00:04:21
night when she went to bed
00:04:24
to her surprise
00:04:26
the door opened
00:04:29
gay's cabin was small with a metal
00:04:32
framed single bed pushed against a wall
00:04:35
and a porthole window four and a half
00:04:37
feet above the cabin's floor
00:04:40
there was also a built-in wardrobe a
00:04:43
chest of drawers a bedside light and two
00:04:46
buttons gay could use to call for a
00:04:48
steward or a stewardess
00:04:52
the first thing that caught eileen's eye
00:04:55
was the bed
00:04:56
it was disheveled and unmade
00:04:59
the second was the porthole which was
00:05:02
wide open
00:05:04
neither of these things were unusual in
00:05:06
and of themselves however
00:05:09
there was no sign of gay
00:05:12
her suitcase was open at the foot of the
00:05:14
bed
00:05:16
the black silk dress she had worn to
00:05:18
dinner the previous evening was hanging
00:05:20
from a hook at the end of the
00:05:22
bed but eileen couldn't see gay's black
00:05:26
silk pajamas or the yellow quilted
00:05:29
dressing gown with a zip down the front
00:05:31
that she wore over the top of them
00:05:35
eileen assumed the young woman must have
00:05:37
ducked out to the bathroom still dressed
00:05:40
in her night clothes
00:05:42
strangely though
00:05:43
gay slippers sat by the chest of drawers
00:05:47
along with the rest of her shoes
00:05:50
eileen left the glass of orange juice on
00:05:53
the top of the chest and left to attend
00:05:56
to other duties
00:05:58
when she returned in 20 minutes to
00:06:00
collect the empty glass she was
00:06:03
surprised to find it full and exactly
00:06:06
where she had left it
00:06:08
there was still no sign of gay
00:06:11
and there was something else too
00:06:15
looking over at the bed's rumpled sheets
00:06:18
eileen noticed several small stains that
00:06:22
were the color of rust
00:06:34
[Music]
00:06:53
the stains on gay gibson's bedding
00:06:55
struck eileen field as very strange
00:06:59
in all the times she'd spent tidying the
00:07:01
young woman's room
00:07:03
she'd never known her to have soiled
00:07:05
sheets
00:07:07
after she left at gay's cabin for a
00:07:09
second time eileen found a colleague who
00:07:12
was responsible for the ship's bathrooms
00:07:14
and asked if they'd seen gay that
00:07:16
morning
00:07:18
they hadn't
00:07:20
eileen was growing increasingly worried
00:07:24
she had gotten to know the young actress
00:07:26
relatively well during the first week of
00:07:28
the voyage
00:07:30
gay was travelling alone to england in
00:07:32
the hopes of furthering her stage career
00:07:36
she hadn't seemed nervous or uneasy
00:07:38
about making such a big journey by
00:07:40
herself
00:07:41
instead she struck eileen as happy
00:07:44
upbeat and healthy
00:07:46
someone who was always pleasant to
00:07:48
others and never caused any trouble
00:07:51
early on during the trip gay had
00:07:54
confided to eileen that she was in love
00:07:56
with a married man who was back in south
00:07:59
africa
00:08:00
but it was her acting career that she
00:08:02
seemed most enthusiastic about
00:08:06
eileen decided to wait a little longer
00:08:09
before raising the alarm
00:08:12
when gay failed to show in the dining
00:08:14
saloon for breakfast eileen reported her
00:08:17
missing
00:08:19
a search of the ship was undertaken but
00:08:22
gabe wasn't found anywhere
00:08:25
fearing that she may have fallen
00:08:27
overboard the ship's captain ordered
00:08:29
that the vessel be turned around so the
00:08:31
waters could be searched
00:08:34
a message was also broadcast over the
00:08:36
ship's loudspeakers asking anyone who
00:08:39
knew where gay might be to immediately
00:08:42
report to the purser
00:08:45
two passengers were particularly alarmed
00:08:47
to hear gabe was missing
00:08:50
frank hopwood who worked as a
00:08:52
procurement manager for the union castle
00:08:54
line
00:08:55
and an raf squadron leader named william
00:08:58
bray were both in their mid-40s and
00:09:01
traveling solo
00:09:04
the two men shared the same dining table
00:09:07
that gay was assigned to and had
00:09:09
befriended her over the past week
00:09:12
because gay was a young woman traveling
00:09:15
alone they saw it as their
00:09:17
responsibility to look out for her
00:09:21
gay had mentioned how she had heart
00:09:23
trouble that prevented her from playing
00:09:25
the deck games other passengers took
00:09:27
part in
00:09:29
frank also thought she seemed sad and
00:09:32
tired at times
00:09:35
the previous night frank and william had
00:09:38
escorted gay to one of the ship's dinner
00:09:40
dancers
00:09:42
with just 250 passengers the ship was
00:09:46
less than a third full and gay was the
00:09:49
youngest on board
00:09:51
most of the others in first class were
00:09:53
aged in their 40s or above
00:09:57
the 21 year old gay attracted a lot of
00:10:00
attention in her black evening gown
00:10:02
silver shoes and auburn hair worn in a
00:10:05
stylish bob
00:10:07
lots of men asked to dance with her
00:10:10
throughout the evening
00:10:12
after leaving the dance gay sat with
00:10:15
frank and william in the first class
00:10:17
smoke room until it closed
00:10:20
it was a warm night as the ship sailed
00:10:22
along the west african coast so gay
00:10:25
decided to have a swim in one of the
00:10:27
pools
00:10:29
she went to her cabin to fetch her
00:10:31
bathing suit
00:10:32
but couldn't find it
00:10:34
disappointed she rejoined frank and
00:10:37
william on the deck and the trio chatted
00:10:39
until 12 40 am
00:10:42
then frank escorted gay to her cabin
00:10:45
wishing her a good night and sweet
00:10:47
dreams before departing
00:10:51
her failure to appear at breakfast that
00:10:53
morning worried both men
00:10:56
when they heard the loudspeaker
00:10:58
announcement
00:10:59
their concern only grew
00:11:07
the captain also radioed other ships in
00:11:09
the vicinity
00:11:11
notifying them that a woman was believed
00:11:13
to have gone overboard on the durban
00:11:15
castle and asking that they keep a
00:11:17
lookout for her
00:11:20
the ship was steered back and crew
00:11:22
members spent about an hour searching
00:11:24
the waters for any sign of gay
00:11:28
they found nothing
00:11:32
captain arthur padie knew that even if
00:11:35
gay had still been alive when she went
00:11:37
overboard she couldn't survive in the
00:11:40
north atlantic ocean for that long
00:11:43
the water was freezing and home to
00:11:45
enormous sharks
00:11:48
the elderly woman who occupied the cabin
00:11:51
next door to gays was asked if she had
00:11:53
heard anything suspicious the night
00:11:55
before
00:11:56
she said she'd been woken in the middle
00:11:58
of the night by a crashing sound right
00:12:01
outside her door as though a metal tray
00:12:04
had fallen to the ground
00:12:06
but she never heard any voices
00:12:10
it occurred to captain petey that
00:12:11
perhaps gay hadn't fallen overboard at
00:12:14
all
00:12:15
maybe she had been the victim of a crime
00:12:19
he ordered her cabin locked and set the
00:12:22
ship back on course before beginning a
00:12:24
rudimentary investigation
00:12:28
one by one passengers and crew members
00:12:30
were summoned to his office to share
00:12:33
what they knew about the situation
00:12:37
frank hopwood and william bray explained
00:12:39
how gay had retired to her cabin at
00:12:42
around 12 40 am
00:12:44
but a boson's mate reported seeing her
00:12:47
about 20 minutes later
00:12:49
he had been supervising the swabbing of
00:12:51
the decks and noticed the gay standing
00:12:54
by a rail smoking a cigarette and still
00:12:57
wearing her evening gown
00:13:00
he warned her that her feet could get
00:13:02
wet if she stayed where she was so she
00:13:04
moved along
00:13:07
that hadn't been the last time gay was
00:13:09
sighted
00:13:11
a 39 year old night watchman named fred
00:13:14
steer had been on duty the previous
00:13:16
night
00:13:18
at around 3am he was busy in the first
00:13:21
class pantry when he heard bells ringing
00:13:24
for assistance
00:13:25
upon investigating he saw that both the
00:13:28
red and green lights were flashing
00:13:31
this indicated that a passenger had
00:13:33
pressed two buttons in their cabin
00:13:36
one to summon a steward and another
00:13:39
first stewardess
00:13:41
fred was baffled
00:13:43
usually a passenger called for just one
00:13:46
crew member requesting two was highly
00:13:49
unusual
00:13:53
fred walked along the port side corridor
00:13:56
looking to see which cabin the lights
00:13:58
were coming from
00:14:00
he followed them to cabin 126
00:14:03
gay gibson's cabin
00:14:06
it was located at the end of a small
00:14:08
alleyway
00:14:10
this section of the ship was sparsely
00:14:13
occupied
00:14:15
a woman in her 70s was staying in the
00:14:17
cabin next to gays but the other
00:14:20
neighboring rooms were empty
00:14:23
fred knocked on the door of gay's cabin
00:14:27
there was no response so he carefully
00:14:31
tried opening it
00:14:34
the door swung inwards which was strange
00:14:38
gay always made a point of locking it
00:14:40
when she went to bed
00:14:43
it had opened about two inches wide when
00:14:45
fred heard a man's voice say
00:14:48
it's all right
00:14:50
then the door slammed close
00:14:53
but
00:14:54
not before fred caught a glimpse of
00:14:56
someone inside
00:14:59
a black-haired man had been standing in
00:15:01
the darkness facing the door
00:15:05
fred recognized him right away
00:15:12
thirty-year-old death steward james cam
00:15:15
had a reputation as a ladies man
00:15:18
some of the other crew members nicknamed
00:15:20
him don jimmy has a play on the name of
00:15:23
the infamous womanizer don juan
00:15:26
although cam had a wife and young
00:15:28
daughter back in england that didn't
00:15:31
prevent him from taking a keen interest
00:15:33
in the women he served as passengers
00:15:37
described as handsome and charming cam
00:15:39
had served in the merchant navy reserve
00:15:42
during world war ii then joined the
00:15:45
union castle fleet in 1946
00:15:48
he liked the easy tasks of being a deck
00:15:51
steward
00:15:52
his roles included organizing games for
00:15:55
passengers and serving them food and
00:15:57
drinks
00:15:58
tips were easy to come by and the manual
00:16:01
labor was minimal
00:16:04
multiple crew members had reported
00:16:06
seeing cam take an interest in gay
00:16:09
gibson
00:16:10
now fred steer was reporting that he'd
00:16:13
seen cam in gay's cabin at 3 am the
00:16:16
night she vanished
00:16:18
dexterites were not permitted to enter
00:16:21
passengers rooms at any time let alone
00:16:24
in the middle of the night
00:16:27
after seeing cam slam gay's door shut
00:16:30
fred hurried back to the pantry and told
00:16:33
his superior what had happened
00:16:36
the two men walked over to gay's cabin
00:16:38
together and stood outside for about
00:16:41
five minutes listening quietly
00:16:44
they heard nothing and there was no sign
00:16:47
of cam
00:16:49
ultimately it was decided that it wasn't
00:16:51
their place to interfere with the
00:16:53
passengers private life and the matter
00:16:56
was left alone
00:16:58
upon learning this information captain
00:17:01
padi knew that he had to speak with the
00:17:03
james cam immediately
00:17:11
when cam arrived at the captain's office
00:17:13
petey wasted no time in asking him
00:17:17
do you know why this first class
00:17:19
passenger is missing cam
00:17:22
no sir cam replied
00:17:25
captain petey kept fred steers siding to
00:17:28
himself but informed cam that he was
00:17:31
suspected of being near gay gibson's
00:17:34
cabin
00:17:36
cam adamantly denied this stating
00:17:39
i know the rules and i obey them
00:17:43
he had gone to bed at 12 45
00:17:46
and didn't leave his room until it was
00:17:48
time to get up for work in the morning
00:17:51
[Music]
00:17:53
cam did acknowledge that he'd gotten to
00:17:55
know gay quite well over the first week
00:17:58
of the voyage
00:18:00
the pair had chatted from time to time
00:18:02
and cam said that gay seemed to show
00:18:05
quote a preference for my services
00:18:08
by asking him to deliver drinks to her
00:18:11
cabin on several occasions
00:18:14
two nights earlier he'd sent a tray with
00:18:17
a large glass of rum to her room but he
00:18:20
later noticed that she hadn't touched it
00:18:23
the next day he ran into her and teased
00:18:25
her about not drinking the rum saying
00:18:28
i have a bone to pick with you
00:18:30
and a big one at that
00:18:35
somewhat reassured that cam might be
00:18:38
telling the truth captain petey asked if
00:18:41
he had any reason to believe that gay
00:18:43
might be depressed beneath her outwardly
00:18:46
upbeat exterior
00:18:49
cam paused before telling the captain
00:18:52
how gay had mentioned she was in love
00:18:54
with a married man back in johannesburg
00:18:57
quote
00:18:59
she said she was crazy about him and
00:19:01
complications had set in
00:19:04
i asked her real free like i told you
00:19:07
she was friendly towards me
00:19:09
what she meant
00:19:11
she said she suspected she might be
00:19:13
going to have a baby
00:19:16
[Music]
00:19:18
this was not the first time cam had
00:19:20
spoken to a colleague about gay gibson
00:19:22
being pregnant
00:19:24
stewardess eileen field had encountered
00:19:27
him in the pantry several days before
00:19:29
the young actress disappeared
00:19:32
as eileen handed over a tea tray that
00:19:34
she had just collected from gay's cabin
00:19:37
cam said
00:19:39
miss gibson is three months pregnant by
00:19:41
a married man
00:19:43
eileen who didn't believe this for a
00:19:46
second told cam off for spreading rumors
00:19:49
about a female passenger
00:19:51
he replied that gay had told him that
00:19:54
herself
00:19:55
[Music]
00:19:58
eileen had strong suspicions that cam
00:20:00
had taken an interest in gay
00:20:03
on one occasion eileen found cam on b
00:20:06
deck the area where gay's cabin was and
00:20:10
where dexterids were not permitted to be
00:20:14
when he commented that gay hadn't had
00:20:16
her tea that day
00:20:17
eileen
00:20:18
responded if i find you in the vicinity
00:20:21
of miss gibson's cabin i will report you
00:20:24
to the chief steward
00:20:27
one morning eileen collected a tray from
00:20:30
gay's room and saw there were two used
00:20:33
teacups
00:20:34
she had no idea who the second cup
00:20:37
belonged to
00:20:42
based on witness accounts it was clear
00:20:45
something had happened to gay in the
00:20:46
very early morning between the time her
00:20:49
cabin's call buttons were pressed at 3
00:20:51
am to when eileen field attended her
00:20:54
cabin at 7 30 am
00:20:58
when captain padi spoke to james cam's
00:21:01
cabin mate
00:21:02
he disagreed with a crucial detail in
00:21:05
cam's version of events
00:21:08
cam had claimed he was in bed by 12 45
00:21:12
but his fellow crew member had retired
00:21:14
at 1am and cam was nowhere to be seen
00:21:19
when he was told about this discrepancy
00:21:22
cam changed his story
00:21:25
he'd been working until one o'clock and
00:21:27
then he went out to a deck where he sat
00:21:30
and smoked for a while
00:21:32
he dozed off and when he woke he went to
00:21:35
bed properly
00:21:37
by that time it was about 2 a.m
00:21:42
despite cam's firm denials captain pedy
00:21:45
informed him that he was a suspect in
00:21:47
gay's disappearance and would have to be
00:21:50
examined by the ship's doctor as a
00:21:52
matter of protocol
00:21:54
cam agreed
00:21:58
the doctor had cam remove his clothes
00:22:01
he didn't have any bruises or strange
00:22:04
marks but the doctor did notice some
00:22:07
light scratches on his left shoulder and
00:22:09
wrist
00:22:11
these looked old as though they'd been
00:22:13
there for a few days
00:22:15
cam explained that he'd scratched
00:22:18
himself due to the humid tropical
00:22:20
weather
00:22:21
however on the back of cam's neck and on
00:22:25
his right forearm were more scratches
00:22:29
the ones on his neck were very thin
00:22:33
they didn't look like the work of human
00:22:35
fingernails they looked more like
00:22:37
scratches made by a cat
00:22:40
cam said they had been left by a
00:22:42
particularly rough towel he'd used to
00:22:45
dry himself
00:22:48
the wounds on cam's arm looked the most
00:22:51
suspicious
00:22:52
there were about 12 of them all about
00:22:55
half an inch long and very fresh looking
00:22:59
cam claimed that these two were caused
00:23:02
by him scratching himself
00:23:05
but to the doctor they looked quote
00:23:08
suggestive of violence
00:23:12
police in england were notified of gay's
00:23:15
disappearance and detectives from
00:23:17
scotland yard made preparations to board
00:23:20
the ship as it approached the uk
00:23:23
in the meantime
00:23:25
james cam resumed his duties
00:23:29
gay gibson's cabin was deemed a crime
00:23:32
scene its porthole was closed and the
00:23:35
door padlocked to preserve any evidence
00:23:37
inside
00:23:44
exactly one week after gay went missing
00:23:47
the durban castle anchored off the isle
00:23:50
of wight and two detectives from
00:23:52
scotland yard boarded
00:23:55
they made their way to cabin 126 to
00:23:58
inspect gay's last known location
00:24:02
her belongings lay scattered throughout
00:24:04
including her hairbrush and a book she
00:24:07
had been reading
00:24:09
five letters of introduction to british
00:24:11
theaters and acting agents were
00:24:13
discovered stashed in a small leather
00:24:15
bag
00:24:17
gay suitcase detectives found a tube of
00:24:21
spermicidal jelly and a diaphragm which
00:24:23
was unused
00:24:25
these two items are used by women as a
00:24:28
means to prevent pregnancy
00:24:31
once the ship arrived at southampton the
00:24:34
cabin was dusted for prince
00:24:36
a palm print was discovered on the back
00:24:39
of the door
00:24:41
an examination of the porthole revealed
00:24:44
tiny wisps of fabric around its edges
00:24:48
gaze bedding was removed so the stains
00:24:51
could be forensically tested
00:24:53
investigators found urine on the sheets
00:24:56
as well as type o
00:24:58
blood
00:25:00
james cam was immediately escorted to
00:25:03
southampton police headquarters for a
00:25:05
formal interview
00:25:07
for the past week he'd been maintaining
00:25:10
the same story
00:25:12
he'd become friendly with gay while
00:25:14
serving her on board but he hadn't been
00:25:17
to her cabin since the beginning of the
00:25:19
trip after his crewmates reminded him he
00:25:22
wasn't permitted to attend to passengers
00:25:24
in their rooms
00:25:28
cam was left to wade in an interrogation
00:25:30
room for almost 12 hours
00:25:34
detectives hoped that the time alone
00:25:36
would make him anxious and more inclined
00:25:39
to
00:25:40
confess when they finally went in to
00:25:44
speak with him he continued to deny
00:25:46
knowing anything about what happened to
00:25:48
gay
00:25:50
finally after more than an hour of back
00:25:53
and forth a detective remarked
00:25:57
i don't want to go through all your
00:25:58
movements again
00:26:01
based on our inquiries i have now
00:26:04
established you were in miss gibson's
00:26:06
cabin that night
00:26:09
at that moment
00:26:10
cam realized that fred steer must have
00:26:13
recognized him when he opened the cabin
00:26:15
door and identified him to investigators
00:26:21
then he asked a strange question
00:26:25
does this mean i murdered her
00:26:28
will i be charged with murder
00:26:30
[Music]
00:26:32
cam was informed that it would entirely
00:26:35
depend on the circumstances involved
00:26:37
with his interviewing detective stating
00:26:42
you may be able to give a reasonable
00:26:44
explanation of the cause of her death
00:26:46
and we will give great consideration to
00:26:49
what you say
00:26:52
there was a long silence
00:26:53
[Music]
00:26:55
then cam looked directly at the
00:26:58
detective and said
00:27:01
i want to tell you something
00:27:10
at 11 on the night of friday october 17
00:27:14
cam decided to ask a gay if she wanted
00:27:16
some lemonade with her glass of rum that
00:27:19
evening
00:27:20
he found her in her cabin searching for
00:27:23
her bathing suit
00:27:25
he knew he shouldn't be there but he
00:27:27
approached her anyway
00:27:30
he asked gay if she'd like some lemonade
00:27:32
that night but she declined
00:27:35
then cam asked
00:27:38
do you know what i've got a good mind to
00:27:40
get a drink and join you later
00:27:44
please yourself said gay
00:27:47
then she went back upstairs to rejoin
00:27:49
her friends
00:27:51
as cam described it the two had
00:27:54
essentially organized the date
00:27:58
cam left the rum outside a gay's cabin
00:28:02
he returned at around 1am and knocked on
00:28:04
the door
00:28:06
there was no answer
00:28:09
he left and went back again an hour
00:28:11
later
00:28:13
this time gay answered his knock by
00:28:16
inviting him to come in
00:28:19
cam stepped into the cabin closing the
00:28:22
door behind him but leaving it unlocked
00:28:26
gay was lying in bed wearing her yellow
00:28:29
quilted dressing gown
00:28:32
the two began to chat
00:28:35
then cam climbed into the single bed
00:28:37
alongside gay
00:28:41
cam told the investigators that the two
00:28:44
started having sex with gay's consent
00:28:48
suddenly
00:28:50
gay clutched at cam and froze
00:28:53
seconds later her body fell entirely
00:28:56
limp her eyes glazed over and there was
00:29:00
froth dotted with specks of blood in the
00:29:03
corners of her mouth
00:29:06
terrified cam leapt out of bed
00:29:10
it looked to him as though gay had
00:29:12
fainted
00:29:14
he began trying to resuscitate her to no
00:29:17
avail
00:29:18
gay remained lifeless
00:29:22
then there was a knock at the door
00:29:25
it was fred steer responding to the call
00:29:27
for a steward and stewardess
00:29:31
cam had no idea how the call buttons
00:29:34
came to be switched on
00:29:36
he had impressed them and he didn't
00:29:38
think a gay had either accidentally or
00:29:41
otherwise
00:29:43
cam slammed the door in fred's face
00:29:46
then bolted it
00:29:49
now he was panicking
00:29:52
somehow gay had accidentally died during
00:29:55
intercourse and he would be in trouble
00:29:57
when she was found
00:30:00
his only thought was that he had to get
00:30:02
rid of her body
00:30:05
cam yanked open the porthole and lifted
00:30:08
the gay who was still wearing her
00:30:10
dressing gown
00:30:12
then pushed her out of the 42 centimeter
00:30:14
diameter opening
00:30:17
she fell 25 feet into the atlantic ocean
00:30:21
below
00:30:23
then cam quietly let himself out of the
00:30:25
cabin and crept off to his own bed
00:30:34
detectives didn't believe james cam's
00:30:37
story for a second
00:30:40
they were certain he had assaulted and
00:30:42
strangled gay gibson then callously
00:30:44
disposed of her to cover up his crimes
00:30:48
despite having no body they made the
00:30:51
decision to charge cam with murder
00:30:55
when informed of the charges against him
00:30:57
he exclaimed
00:30:59
my god i didn't think it would be as
00:31:02
serious as this
00:31:05
detective constable mindan plumley was
00:31:08
later asked to have cam signed the
00:31:10
official type-written version of his
00:31:12
statement
00:31:14
he paid a visit to cam in the cell where
00:31:16
he was being held and came back with a
00:31:19
shocking story
00:31:21
apparently cam had made a second more
00:31:24
deeming confession following some slight
00:31:27
prompting
00:31:29
according to plumlee cam told him he
00:31:32
often visited the cabins of female
00:31:34
passengers and said they welcomed to the
00:31:36
attention
00:31:38
he also admitted to strangling gay
00:31:41
then added that when he pushed her
00:31:43
through the porthole
00:31:45
she made a hell of a splash
00:31:47
[Music]
00:31:49
detectives began building their case for
00:31:52
trial
00:31:54
the palm print recovered from gay's
00:31:56
cabin door was confirmed to belong to
00:31:59
james cam
00:32:00
but this meant little in the way of
00:32:02
forensic evidence as he had admitted to
00:32:04
entering her room on multiple occasions
00:32:08
the blood found on gay's sheets was
00:32:11
presumed to be hers as it was a
00:32:14
different type to cams
00:32:17
the best evidence they had was the
00:32:19
statement from cam himself
00:32:22
although he was denying murder he was a
00:32:25
proven liar who only admitted to being
00:32:28
in gay's room on the night in question
00:32:30
when he realised a witness had
00:32:32
identified him
00:32:35
detectives were confident that a jury
00:32:37
would agree with them and convict cam
00:32:42
the courts moved quickly
00:32:45
within a month cam's committal hearing
00:32:47
had already taken place and he was
00:32:50
ordered to stand trial for the murder of
00:32:53
gay gibson
00:32:55
[Music]
00:32:57
cam's defense attorney was joshua
00:32:59
caswell a renowned legal mind who had
00:33:02
successfully defended dozens of clients
00:33:06
caswell was horrified by camm's decision
00:33:09
to throw a young woman's body out into
00:33:11
the open sea
00:33:13
but was inclined to believe his client
00:33:16
was innocent of murder
00:33:19
if cam had intended to assault and kill
00:33:22
gay then why hadn't he locked the cabin
00:33:25
door behind him
00:33:27
when the night watchman was summoned he
00:33:29
was able to push the door open
00:33:32
cam had slammed it shut in response and
00:33:36
only then did he lock it
00:33:39
there were also significant doubts that
00:33:42
cam's second confession to detective
00:33:44
constable minden plumley had ever been
00:33:47
made
00:33:48
it turned out that the detective had a
00:33:51
history of using dubious methods to
00:33:53
obtain confessions from suspects
00:33:57
plumley was also suspected of leaking
00:33:59
information about the case to the media
00:34:03
he quit the police force in january 1948
00:34:07
just a couple of months after working
00:34:09
the gay gibson case
00:34:11
though he denied his resignation was in
00:34:14
any way related to that investigation
00:34:19
in order to defend his client joshua
00:34:22
caswell decided he would need to look at
00:34:24
gay gibson's life more closely
00:34:36
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00:34:38
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[Music]
00:41:15
during world war ii gay gibson enlisted
00:41:18
in the female section of the british
00:41:20
army and performed with an acting troop
00:41:22
that staged shows for soldiers
00:41:25
she continued to pursue her acting
00:41:27
ambitions after the war receiving both
00:41:30
major and minor roles in various plays
00:41:34
when her father relocated to cape town
00:41:36
for work gay and her mother decided to
00:41:39
join him
00:41:41
gay arrived in south africa in march
00:41:43
1947
00:41:45
but soon left cape town for johannesburg
00:41:48
as there were more acting opportunities
00:41:50
there
00:41:52
by july she had been given the lead
00:41:54
female role in a play called golden boy
00:41:58
during the weeks and months she spent
00:42:00
rehearsing and performing she came to
00:42:02
know some of her fellow cast members
00:42:04
very well
00:42:06
james camm's defense team were eager to
00:42:08
find out more about gay's life in
00:42:10
johannesburg so they traveled to south
00:42:13
africa to interview people who had known
00:42:15
her
00:42:18
doreen mantle was a young actress who
00:42:20
shared a dressing room with gay during
00:42:22
golden boy's run
00:42:25
she told cam's attorneys that gay had
00:42:27
been friendly and kind but somewhat
00:42:30
sickly
00:42:32
she'd seen gay faint during rehearsals
00:42:35
the skin around her mouth had turned
00:42:37
blue and saliva had collected in the
00:42:40
corners of her lips
00:42:42
other witnesses said they had seen
00:42:44
similar things
00:42:46
gay had fainted at a party in a car and
00:42:49
while out in public
00:42:52
she was perceived as physically weak and
00:42:55
at times those involved in the
00:42:57
production had been worried that she
00:42:59
wouldn't be able to perform
00:43:03
one actor and the place producer said
00:43:05
she'd told them that she had a chest
00:43:08
complaint and suffered from asthma
00:43:11
cold weather was particularly
00:43:13
problematic for her
00:43:15
some also described gay as neurotic
00:43:19
highly strong and prone to emotional
00:43:21
outbursts
00:43:27
sometime in august gay spoke with a
00:43:30
doctor who was the wife of the play's
00:43:32
producer telling her that her period was
00:43:36
two weeks late
00:43:38
the doctor reassured her that this
00:43:40
didn't mean she was pregnant and
00:43:42
suggested she started using a diaphragm
00:43:44
if she was sexually active
00:43:47
doreen mantle claimed that gay had been
00:43:50
romantically involved with a fellow
00:43:52
actor named mike abell who was married
00:43:56
she'd seen the two arguing at a cast
00:43:59
party and said gay had accused mike of
00:44:02
getting her pregnant
00:44:05
mike told a different story he said that
00:44:09
he and gay were just friends
00:44:12
she had confided in him that she was
00:44:15
pregnant and asked for money so she
00:44:17
could travel to england for an abortion
00:44:20
but he couldn't afford to help her
00:44:23
when he asked who the father was
00:44:26
gay just laughed
00:44:28
the truth of their relationship is
00:44:31
unknown
00:44:35
by the end of the month
00:44:36
gay had fallen in love with a 33 year
00:44:39
old man named charles schwentofsky whose
00:44:42
wife was back in england
00:44:45
he doted on gay sending her flowers and
00:44:48
buying her clothes
00:44:50
after the season of golden boy concluded
00:44:53
in september
00:44:54
the cast and crew were preparing to take
00:44:56
the show to another city when something
00:44:59
unexpected happened
00:45:02
gay wanted to cancel her contract so she
00:45:04
could travel back to england and chase
00:45:07
her acting dreams on a bigger stage
00:45:11
charles paid for gay's ticket home on
00:45:13
the durbin castle and she left for
00:45:16
southampton within a matter of weeks
00:45:22
some have speculated that gay's abrupt
00:45:25
departure wasn't motivated by a career
00:45:27
move but an unplanned pregnancy
00:45:31
it's been suggested that she needed to
00:45:33
get back to england to have an abortion
00:45:37
but the letters of introduction found
00:45:39
amongst her belongings do point to gay
00:45:42
looking to further her acting dreams
00:45:44
upon arriving in the uk
00:45:48
in addition to the south african
00:45:49
witnesses the defense found people who
00:45:52
said gay had been unwell during her time
00:45:55
in the armed forces
00:45:57
on one occasion she was found lying in
00:46:00
bed her back arched as she clutched her
00:46:03
chest and gasped for air
00:46:06
her tongue was caught at the back of her
00:46:08
throat
00:46:10
a junior officer assisted gay by tilting
00:46:13
her head forward and an ambulance was
00:46:15
called
00:46:17
gay later explained to the officer that
00:46:20
she'd had another turn
00:46:24
joshua caswell was building a theory
00:46:28
gay gibson had suffered from some sort
00:46:30
of heart condition that had caused her
00:46:32
to suddenly die during consensual
00:46:34
intercourse with cam
00:46:38
doreen mantle was asked to travel to
00:46:40
england so she could be a witness at
00:46:42
cam's trial
00:46:44
although she was eager to help her
00:46:46
father talked her out of doing so
00:46:50
but mike able agreed to testify
00:46:53
as did a number of others who had seen
00:46:56
gay's bouts of illness
00:47:00
the trial began at the great hall of
00:47:03
winchester castle on march 18 1948
00:47:07
exactly five months after gay gibson had
00:47:10
disappeared
00:47:11
by now the case was a media sensation
00:47:15
and had been dubbed the porthole murder
00:47:18
a murder trial without a body was a
00:47:20
highly unusual turn of events and the
00:47:24
case was made even more notorious by the
00:47:26
glamorous status of the victim and the
00:47:29
scandalous claims being made by the
00:47:31
defendant
00:47:33
hundreds of spectators queued for hours
00:47:36
for seats in the gallery
00:47:38
a model of the cabin was constructed to
00:47:41
stand in the castle's great hall as a
00:47:43
prop complete with a bed and the
00:47:46
porthole
00:47:48
the defense presented their argument
00:47:51
that gay gibson had died accidentally
00:47:53
during a consensual sexual encounter
00:47:57
they portrayed gay as a promiscuous
00:48:00
young woman who had possibly been
00:48:02
pregnant to a married man
00:48:06
their expert witnesses included a doctor
00:48:08
who told the court that cam's story was
00:48:11
entirely plausible from a medical point
00:48:14
of view
00:48:16
the urine and blood on her sheep could
00:48:18
have resulted from a natural death and
00:48:21
the defendant's description of the way
00:48:23
gay's body stiffened then fell limp
00:48:26
sounded like heart failure precipitated
00:48:29
by lung congestion
00:48:31
a forensic pathologist also agreed with
00:48:34
this assessment
00:48:36
he suggested that gay might have died
00:48:38
from an asthma attack a brain aneurysm
00:48:41
or some kind of heart disease
00:48:45
the fact that people who knew gay had
00:48:47
testified to seeing her faint and turned
00:48:50
blue around the mouth suggested she
00:48:52
might have had a heart problem
00:48:54
additionally the pathologist didn't
00:48:57
think the scratches on cam's body looked
00:49:00
like defensive wounds
00:49:03
cam had no injuries to his hands or
00:49:06
thumbs
00:49:06
the locations where a victim would be
00:49:09
most likely to scratch someone who was
00:49:11
strangling them
00:49:13
the scratches to his forearm looked too
00:49:16
high up
00:49:20
james cam took the stand to share his
00:49:22
version of events yet again
00:49:25
however
00:49:26
this time he added another detail that
00:49:29
he hadn't mentioned before
00:49:32
gay had been naked beneath her dressing
00:49:34
gown
00:49:36
while steadfastly insisting that he had
00:49:39
never knowingly harmed gay he
00:49:42
acknowledged that his snap decision to
00:49:44
dispose of her body through the porthole
00:49:47
had been beastly conduct
00:49:54
the prosecution presented the court with
00:49:57
an entirely different theory
00:50:00
james cam had killed gay gibson after
00:50:02
she rejected his advances
00:50:05
during the struggle she scratched her
00:50:07
attacker and pressed the call buttons in
00:50:10
her cabin summoning the night watchman
00:50:14
terrified his crime would be uncovered
00:50:17
cam then pushed her either dead or
00:50:19
unconscious body through the porthole
00:50:24
the prosecution pointed to the
00:50:25
contraceptive devices that had been
00:50:28
recovered from gay's luggage
00:50:30
if she had agreed to have sex with cam
00:50:34
then why hadn't she made use of these
00:50:37
the fact that gay's elderly neighbour in
00:50:40
the next cabin had heard a crash in the
00:50:42
middle of the night suggested there
00:50:44
might have been a struggle
00:50:47
and if gay had died of natural causes
00:50:50
then why hadn't cam just left her in bed
00:50:53
before sneaking out of her room
00:50:55
there would have been no evidence that
00:50:57
pointed to him having harmed her
00:51:00
unless her neck was bruised from where
00:51:03
cam had choked her
00:51:07
gay's mother ellen gibson was called to
00:51:09
give evidence
00:51:11
she denied that her daughter had
00:51:13
relationships with married men
00:51:16
saying that her only love was her career
00:51:20
ellen described gay as one of the finest
00:51:23
types of english womanhood
00:51:26
she insisted that charles schwanntowski
00:51:29
was never gay's lover he was just a
00:51:32
business acquaintance who was happy to
00:51:34
lend a gay some money to finance her
00:51:36
acting ambitions
00:51:39
when cam's attorney asked
00:51:42
do you know she was telling everybody
00:51:44
she was pregnant
00:51:46
ellen replied
00:51:48
no
00:51:49
my daughter and i were very close
00:51:51
friends
00:51:53
we never had any secrets from each other
00:51:58
although numerous other individuals had
00:52:00
claimed they'd seen gay faint and
00:52:02
struggled to breathe on occasion
00:52:05
ellen said the only health complaint gay
00:52:08
ever had was an ear infection
00:52:12
a renowned pathologist presented a
00:52:14
different opinion to the defense experts
00:52:18
he believed the urine on gay's sheets
00:52:21
indicated she had involuntarily wet the
00:52:23
bed as she was being choked
00:52:27
in his professional experience loss of
00:52:30
bladder control was a symptom typically
00:52:32
exhibited by victims of strangulation
00:52:34
just before they died
00:52:37
it wasn't seen as often in those who
00:52:40
suffered heart failure
00:52:44
when their chance came to cross-examine
00:52:46
james cam the prosecution wasted no time
00:52:50
in challenging each and every one of his
00:52:52
claims
00:52:54
they pointed out that he had lied to his
00:52:56
fellow crew members and to police for
00:52:59
eight days before sharing the story he
00:53:01
was now standing by
00:53:03
steadfastly denying he had been with gay
00:53:06
on the night in question
00:53:09
cam couldn't explain why he'd decided to
00:53:12
dispose of gay's body other than to say
00:53:15
he had panicked in the moment
00:53:18
he also couldn't answer how the call
00:53:20
buttons came to be pushed
00:53:23
then the prosecution honed in on one key
00:53:26
factor in particular
00:53:28
gay gibson's missing belongings
00:53:32
only two items had vanished from gay's
00:53:34
cabin along with her
00:53:36
a pair of black silk pajamas and the
00:53:39
yellow quilted dressing gown she wore
00:53:41
over the top of them
00:53:44
cam had made reference to the gown but
00:53:47
never mentioned the pajamas
00:53:50
if gay had been naked under her gown as
00:53:53
cam had only just revealed during his
00:53:56
testimony
00:53:57
then where were her pyjamas
00:53:59
[Music]
00:54:01
the prosecution theorised that gay had
00:54:04
been wearing them as per usual but cam
00:54:07
was unaware of this because she fought
00:54:09
him off while wearing her gown fully
00:54:12
zipped up
00:54:14
he never removed her gown before pushing
00:54:16
her through the porthole so he hadn't
00:54:18
realised she was wearing anything
00:54:20
underneath
00:54:22
[Music]
00:54:23
perhaps he'd made the split-second
00:54:25
decision to tell the court she was naked
00:54:28
because it made his story of a planned
00:54:30
romantic rendezvous sound more
00:54:33
believable
00:54:38
the trial wrapped up within four days
00:54:41
and the jury retired to deliberate
00:54:45
within 45 minutes they had reached a
00:54:47
verdict
00:54:49
james cam was found guilty of murder
00:54:54
shocked gasps were heard from the
00:54:57
gallery
00:54:58
when cam was asked if he had anything to
00:55:01
say
00:55:02
he replied
00:55:04
i was asked at the start of my trial if
00:55:06
i were guilty and i pleaded not guilty
00:55:10
i plead not guilty now
00:55:15
the judge then sentenced him to death by
00:55:18
hanging britain's compulsory punishment
00:55:21
for murder at the time
00:55:24
but within several weeks of his
00:55:26
conviction kim's fate was thrown into
00:55:29
question when the house of commons
00:55:31
passed a motion suspending the death
00:55:33
penalty
00:55:34
a new criminal justice bill had been
00:55:37
tabled which would see capital
00:55:39
punishment abolished if passed into law
00:55:43
in the meantime all death row prisoners
00:55:46
would receive a reprieve
00:55:49
camp's sentence was commuted to life in
00:55:52
prison
00:55:54
[Music]
00:55:56
although cam had been convicted people
00:55:58
continued to speculate as to whether he
00:56:01
was guilty or innocent
00:56:03
the case was hotly debated in the media
00:56:05
and the gay gibson's pajamas were
00:56:08
regarded as the vital clue that could
00:56:10
solve it once and for all
00:56:14
in may 1948
00:56:16
three months after the trial concluded a
00:56:19
34 year old man entered a police station
00:56:22
in the town of cheltenham and announced
00:56:24
that he had crucial information to share
00:56:29
a week earlier the man had been sitting
00:56:31
in a pub when he struck up a
00:56:33
conversation with a young researcher for
00:56:35
the bbc named john langham
00:56:39
the two chatted about the government's
00:56:41
recent moratorium on the death penalty
00:56:43
and soon the subject of gay gibson and
00:56:46
the james cam arose
00:56:49
john langham informed the man that he
00:56:52
knew gay hadn't been wearing the pajamas
00:56:54
when she died
00:56:56
because they were currently in the
00:56:57
possession of his dentist
00:57:01
during a dental appointment the dentist
00:57:04
told langham how he had been on the same
00:57:06
voyage as gay and occupied the cabin
00:57:09
next door to her
00:57:11
the two had become friendly and gay paid
00:57:14
him a visit the night before her death
00:57:17
they had sex and she left her black
00:57:19
pajamas behind by accident
00:57:23
to prove his story the dentist showed
00:57:26
langem the pajamas but refused to go
00:57:29
public saying that he feared what that
00:57:32
would do to his business and personal
00:57:34
life
00:57:36
the man told the police he didn't know
00:57:39
the dentist's name or address but
00:57:41
suggested they obtained them from
00:57:43
langham
00:57:45
a detective took down his statement but
00:57:47
thought little of it
00:57:50
this individual was already known to
00:57:52
them and although he could carry on a
00:57:54
decent conversation he was believed to
00:57:57
have quote
00:57:59
some slight mental disorder
00:58:02
his story wasn't taken too seriously
00:58:05
although john langham was indeed a
00:58:07
researcher at the bbc
00:58:10
in the years that followed he became a
00:58:12
well-known presenter for the broadcaster
00:58:15
in 1965 he took his own life at the age
00:58:19
of 40.
00:58:22
more recently crime writer anthony brown
00:58:26
began digging into the gay gibson case
00:58:28
and decided to investigate the man's
00:58:30
story
00:58:32
through examining passenger records he
00:58:34
discovered that there was in fact a 43
00:58:38
year old dental surgeon traveling alone
00:58:40
on the durban castle at the same time as
00:58:43
gay gibson
00:58:45
the man's cabin number wasn't available
00:58:48
but brown concluded it was unlikely he
00:58:50
occupied the one next daughter gay as
00:58:53
her only known neighbor was an elderly
00:58:56
woman
00:58:57
moreover if gay had left her pajamas in
00:59:01
another passenger's cabin then
00:59:03
stewardess eileen field would have
00:59:05
noticed them missing a day earlier
00:59:08
if a dentist that did indeed claim to
00:59:10
have slept with gay and kept her pajamas
00:59:14
then it seems probable that he made this
00:59:16
story up
00:59:20
not long after his conviction
00:59:23
james cam filed an appeal and a lost
00:59:26
it was only then that some new
00:59:28
information came to light
00:59:32
cam had always been viewed by his fellow
00:59:35
crewmates as a ladies man who saw no
00:59:37
problem with cheating on his wife
00:59:40
in reality he was a sexual
00:59:44
predator in september 1947
00:59:48
alice not her real name set sail on the
00:59:51
durban castle
00:59:53
alice was a young nanny who was
00:59:55
traveling to south africa with her
00:59:57
employer
00:59:59
during the voyage she became friendly
01:00:01
with dexter james cam
01:00:04
one day the two arranged to meet on the
01:00:07
ship's promenade deck
01:00:09
when alice arrived cam directed her
01:00:12
towards a storage cabin as he followed
01:00:15
behind carrying two drinks
01:00:19
they stepped inside the cabin and cam
01:00:21
locked the door behind them
01:00:24
the pair sat side by side on deck chairs
01:00:27
and chatted for a little while
01:00:30
suddenly
01:00:31
cam was looming over alice
01:00:33
he said that he wanted to kiss her
01:00:36
alice refused then told kim she had to
01:00:39
go
01:00:41
he demanded a kiss before she left but
01:00:44
alice declined again
01:00:48
the next thing she knew she was kneeling
01:00:50
on the floor
01:00:52
the back of her neck was pressed against
01:00:54
the deck chair she'd been sitting in
01:00:56
moments earlier and her head was being
01:00:58
pushed down on its seat
01:01:01
cam was kneeling next to her
01:01:03
one hand clasping the back of her neck
01:01:06
the other gripping her throat
01:01:09
he was strangling her
01:01:12
time seemed to rush by as alice
01:01:15
struggled to comprehend what was
01:01:17
happening
01:01:18
eventually kim stopped and let her go
01:01:23
alice was distraught
01:01:25
her mouth was bleeding and she could see
01:01:27
her own blood smeared on the white
01:01:29
collar of cam's uniform
01:01:32
his face was drenched in sweat
01:01:36
he apologized and said he couldn't
01:01:38
understand what came over him but he
01:01:40
hoped she would stay quiet
01:01:43
for her sake as well as his own
01:01:47
alice raced back to her cabin
01:01:50
when she looked in the mirror she saw
01:01:52
that her eyes were bloodshot and her
01:01:54
face had turned purple
01:01:57
she confided in a friend about the
01:01:59
attack before going to see the ship's
01:02:01
doctor several days later
01:02:04
her eyes remained red and bruised for
01:02:07
some time
01:02:09
when she later showed cam what he had
01:02:11
done to her he remarked
01:02:15
good god i did not think your eyes would
01:02:17
come up like that
01:02:24
four days after this attack briana not
01:02:27
her real name decided to have a nap one
01:02:29
afternoon
01:02:31
like alice brianna was a passenger on
01:02:34
the durban castle and aged in her late
01:02:36
teens
01:02:38
she was traveling with her aunt but
01:02:40
staying in her own private cabin
01:02:43
at about 2 30 pm she went to her room
01:02:46
and shut the door without locking it
01:02:49
then fell asleep on her bed
01:02:52
it wasn't long before something suddenly
01:02:54
woke her
01:02:57
james cam was kneeling beside her
01:03:01
brianna recognized him
01:03:03
despite being a crew member he had
01:03:05
always been very forward and overly
01:03:08
familiar referring to her by her first
01:03:10
name
01:03:12
frightened brianna quickly moved to get
01:03:15
up
01:03:16
cam pushed her back down onto the bed
01:03:19
then he laid down on top of her pressing
01:03:22
his weight against her
01:03:24
brianna struggled but he was too heavy
01:03:28
cam grabbed her shoulders and began to
01:03:31
kiss her
01:03:32
he grabbed her chest and tried to remove
01:03:34
some straps that were keeping her shorts
01:03:36
on
01:03:38
eventually brianna succeeded in pushing
01:03:41
him off her
01:03:42
she told him her aunt was in the very
01:03:44
next cabin then knocked on the wall
01:03:48
this appeared to unsettle cam
01:03:51
he stood and said he would fetch her
01:03:53
some tea
01:03:54
then
01:03:56
left brianna was humiliated by the
01:03:59
attack
01:04:00
she told a male friend and the assistant
01:04:03
purser but decided not to take it
01:04:06
further
01:04:08
approximately two weeks later another
01:04:11
adolescent was assaulted by cam on board
01:04:14
the durbin castle
01:04:16
on the evening of october 6 christine
01:04:19
not her real name attended a dinner
01:04:21
dance
01:04:23
as she was dancing with an officer cam
01:04:26
approached and told the officer that the
01:04:28
band wanted to pack up for the night
01:04:31
christine and the officer parted ways
01:04:34
with christine going to her cabin
01:04:37
she fell asleep only to wake up about an
01:04:40
hour later at 12 30 am
01:04:43
cam was standing by her bed
01:04:47
he apologized for stopping the dance
01:04:50
explaining that officers were not
01:04:52
permitted to dance with passengers
01:04:55
christine retorted that he wasn't
01:04:57
allowed in her cabin either
01:05:00
cam just laughed and sat on her bed
01:05:04
then he put his arms around christine
01:05:06
and kissed her ignoring her protests
01:05:11
she managed to pull away and turned from
01:05:13
him burying her face in a pillow
01:05:17
she was too scared to scream
01:05:20
cam sat in silence for several minutes
01:05:23
before he got up and left
01:05:27
twelve days later
01:05:29
gay gibson went missing
01:05:36
after cam's arrest all three women filed
01:05:39
affidavits with south african police who
01:05:42
passed them on to their counterparts in
01:05:44
southampton
01:05:46
however
01:05:47
these incidents were not raised during
01:05:49
cam's trial as they were considered
01:05:52
prejudicial
01:05:54
they only became public knowledge when a
01:05:56
newspaper published a story about them
01:05:58
after kim's appeal was quashed
01:06:03
during his time behind bars cam was
01:06:06
considered a model prisoner
01:06:08
he never caused any problems for the
01:06:10
prison staff and after serving just 11
01:06:13
years of his sentence it was decided he
01:06:16
should be released on licence
01:06:20
cam left wakefield prison in september
01:06:23
1959
01:06:25
by this time he was 42 years old and his
01:06:28
wife had divorced him
01:06:31
a few weeks later he shared his story
01:06:34
with the sunday pictorial newspaper
01:06:37
an article written in the first person
01:06:39
told his version of events on the night
01:06:42
that gay died
01:06:44
just as he had for years
01:06:46
cam described a consensual sexual
01:06:49
encounter followed by gay's sudden and
01:06:52
unexpected death
01:06:54
but this time he added a few details
01:06:57
he'd never mentioned before
01:07:00
he claimed that gay had scratched his
01:07:02
arms during sex and said he had
01:07:05
accidentally knocked the cabin's call
01:07:07
buttons when turning on the overhead
01:07:09
light
01:07:12
author anthony brown has noted that the
01:07:15
switch for this light was not located
01:07:18
anywhere near the call buttons
01:07:22
cam also claimed that gay had arched her
01:07:25
back during her apparent heart failure a
01:07:28
detail he never mentioned before
01:07:31
but which echoed testimony provided by
01:07:34
an officer who had witnessed the spasm
01:07:36
gay experienced while in the armed
01:07:38
forces
01:07:41
the article concluded with cam's graphic
01:07:44
description of how he had squeezed gay's
01:07:46
body through the cabin's small porthole
01:07:51
the sunday pictorial paid cam two and a
01:07:54
half thousand pounds for his story
01:07:57
the equivalent of fifty thousand pounds
01:07:59
or ninety one thousand australian
01:08:01
dollars in today's money
01:08:06
cam changed his name to james clark and
01:08:09
got work as a head waiter
01:08:12
some time later he sexually assaulted a
01:08:15
13 year old girl
01:08:18
despite being convicted of this crime he
01:08:21
was only given two years probation
01:08:25
after this period was up he relocated to
01:08:28
scotland and began working at a hotel
01:08:32
one night in 1971 he broke into a room
01:08:36
where three 11 year old girls were
01:08:38
staying
01:08:40
the trio were travelling as part of a
01:08:42
school trip
01:08:44
the incident led to cam being charged
01:08:47
with sexual misbehavior and he was sent
01:08:50
back to prison
01:08:52
he was released yet again in 1978
01:08:56
only to die one year later at the age of
01:08:59
62.
01:09:05
gay gibson's death at sea has inspired
01:09:08
novels and even a radio series
01:09:11
over the years numerous authors and
01:09:14
legal experts have debated cam's guilt
01:09:17
or innocence
01:09:19
in 2018 crime writer anthony brown
01:09:22
examined the story as part of a cold
01:09:25
case series he has published
01:09:27
he gained access to the case's full and
01:09:30
original police files through the
01:09:32
hampshire constabulary history society
01:09:35
which allowed him to write the most
01:09:37
detailed account of gay's death to date
01:09:41
his book titled death of an actress
01:09:44
reproduced official documents verbatim
01:09:47
and shared new details that had been
01:09:49
missed in earlier investigations
01:09:54
brown doesn't believe that gay was
01:09:56
murdered
01:09:57
nor does he believe she consented to sex
01:10:00
with cam and died of natural causes
01:10:04
his theory is that cam assaulted gay and
01:10:07
accidentally killed her
01:10:10
cam had been attacking teenage girls
01:10:13
regularly in the lead-up to gay's death
01:10:16
and choked at least one other victim
01:10:19
cam always attacked his other victims
01:10:22
when they were fully clothed making it
01:10:24
entirely plausible that he didn't remove
01:10:27
gay's dressing gown and never realized
01:10:29
she was wearing pajamas underneath
01:10:33
during the attack gay pressed the call
01:10:36
buttons which went unnoticed by cam
01:10:40
[Music]
01:10:41
brown has speculated that the small
01:10:44
cat-like scratches on cam's neck may
01:10:46
have been caused by gay defending
01:10:48
herself with her hairbrush and scraping
01:10:51
him with the bristles
01:10:54
the lack of defensive wounds on cam's
01:10:56
hands indicates to brown that he may
01:10:59
have inadvertently killed gay during an
01:11:01
assault rather than strangled her
01:11:04
his heavy weight bearing down on gay
01:11:07
exacerbated her breathing problems in a
01:11:09
cabin that was already humid due to the
01:11:12
tropical climate
01:11:15
brown believes gay was suffering from
01:11:18
some kind of heart disease as suggested
01:11:20
by those who had seen her fall ill on
01:11:23
multiple
01:11:24
occasions he hoped the question of her
01:11:27
health would be answered once and for
01:11:29
all by dna evidence as some strands of
01:11:32
gay's hair remained intact on her
01:11:35
hairbrush even decades later
01:11:38
but experts have advised that due to the
01:11:41
age and scarcity of the hair samples
01:11:44
such testing shouldn't be undertaken
01:11:46
until there are further advancements in
01:11:48
dna technology
01:11:52
when cam was arrested he asked police
01:11:55
officers
01:11:56
does this mean i murdered her
01:11:58
and later remarked
01:12:00
my god i didn't think it would be as
01:12:02
serious as this
01:12:06
brown points to these odd remarks as
01:12:08
further evidence that cam may have
01:12:11
unintentionally killed gay
01:12:17
five days before she died eileen gay
01:12:20
gibson penned a letter to her parents
01:12:23
back in south africa
01:12:25
in it she detailed her plans for when
01:12:27
the ship docked in southampton
01:12:30
she had already investigated which train
01:12:32
to catch in order to reach london and
01:12:35
contacted a hotel to request
01:12:37
accommodation
01:12:39
once settled she would begin the next
01:12:41
exciting chapter of her life by
01:12:44
connecting with various theatres and
01:12:46
acting agents
01:12:49
gay noted how few passengers there were
01:12:52
on the voyage describing the durban
01:12:54
castle as a ghost ship
01:12:58
but overall she was having a pleasant
01:13:00
time
01:13:02
she spent her days dozing either in a
01:13:05
deck chair in the sun or in her private
01:13:08
cabin
01:13:09
the fellow passengers she was dining
01:13:11
with were kind to her and she was very
01:13:14
well looked after by the cabin crew
01:13:18
overall it was a lovely journey
01:13:21
the only thing she was missing were her
01:13:24
parents
01:13:26
signing off eileen gay gibson wrote the
01:13:30
words
01:13:32
wish you could share this comfort with
01:13:34
me
01:13:36
you're loving eileen
01:13:42
[Music]
01:13:49
[Music]
01:14:07
you