00:00:04
[dramatic music]
00:00:06
[gunshot bangs]
00:00:07
- When a murder's committed,
00:00:08
it's always a race against time
00:00:10
to find the truth,
00:00:12
to separate fact from fiction,
00:00:14
to catch the killer,
00:00:15
and to make sure that
justice is served.
00:00:20
But what happens when the
truth vanishes with the victim?
00:00:24
I'm Dr. Richard Shepherd
00:00:26
and I've spent my entire career
00:00:27
as a forensic pathologist
00:00:29
performing nearly
23,000 autopsies.
00:00:35
I've learned that the
dead don't hide the truth
00:00:38
and they never lie.
00:00:41
Through me, you'll be hearing
directly from the victim.
00:00:45
With the aid of a
state-of-the-art laboratory
00:00:47
using groundbreaking technology,
00:00:50
I'll be investigating a
series of intriguing crimes
00:00:54
where, from the victim's bodies,
00:00:56
I'll reveal to you the
truth behind these murders.
00:01:00
[camera clicking]
00:01:04
[dramatic music]
00:01:06
On the day before
Valentine's Day 2011,
00:01:07
West Yorkshire police
searched a house
00:01:09
in the village of Holmfirth.
00:01:11
It was the home of missing
mother of two, Marie Stewart,
00:01:15
and what they found
was truly shocking.
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The sleepy Yorkshire
town of Holmfirth
00:01:28
was home to 30-year-old Marie,
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who lived in a quiet cul-de-sac.
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But police had been tipped off,
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that she hadn't been
seen for some time.
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[intense music]
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- To start with, this
is a welfare check.
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She's been missing
nearly two months.
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No one seems to
know where she is.
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Last seen early December
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and we're now in
February the 13th.
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- [Richard] In December,
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Marie had unexpectedly told
people she needed time alone
00:02:00
and was going to the
Canaries for a break.
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- Marie has had two babies in
a very short period of time.
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One's 1-year-old and
one's 3-year-old,
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and she's keeping home.
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She's very, very busy.
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Her work life balance
was difficult.
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Marie was possibly suffering
from postnatal depression.
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[dramatic music]
00:02:26
- [David] The family had started
00:02:27
to receive text
messages on Facebook,
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telling the family that
she'd gone off abroad
00:02:31
and was very happy
having fun in the sun.
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- [Richard] But
something seemed amiss.
00:02:38
- Marie's sister had found
her passport in the address.
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So if she'd gone abroad,
00:02:44
how could she do that
without her passport?
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- Some of the
messages, you know,
00:02:49
"Go away, I'm enjoying herself."
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That was a catalyst for people
00:02:54
to start thinking
this is not right.
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[intense music]
00:02:58
Where is this lady?
00:03:01
- [Richard] When Marie failed
to make contact at Christmas
00:03:04
or on her son's first
birthday in January,
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the family raised their
concerns with the police.
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- Marie loved her children,
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so it would've been
very out of character
00:03:16
for her to have missed her
child's first birthday.
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Such a family loving mother,
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why would she not be
around at Christmas
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to be with her children?
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Why had she not been in
contact with them at all?
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[intense music]
00:03:28
- There's something
really not right here.
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That was what prompted
the welfare check.
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The police were generally going
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because they had a real
concern about her welfare,
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not just that,
how are you doing?
00:03:41
You know, it was a real
concern about her welfare.
00:03:44
- I think they
probably had suspicions
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that maybe this wasn't
your usual kind of,
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maybe missing person case.
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- The neighbors
had been reporting
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some smells coming
from the address
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and this would
probably have led them
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straight to the garage area.
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- When the police
went round there
00:04:08
and they went into the garage,
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they found a body in a bag.
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- A body was found.
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It was in a Virgin
Atlantic flight bag
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with a carpet tucked
over the top of it.
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And now we have a
murder investigation.
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[intense music]
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Police would've then withdrawn,
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cordons would be put into place,
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front and rear of the house.
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This is now a major crime scene.
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- [Richard] Forensic
teams rushed to the home.
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- All we know at this
point is we've got a body.
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We don't know whose body it is,
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but obviously the family
needs to be outta the house
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and an examination
can then begin.
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So we do an initial crime
scene assessment of the house,
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just, but bearing in mind,
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this is seven, eight
weeks down the line
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just to see what
looks out of place.
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Are there any signs of
any cleanup of blood?
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Anything along those lines?
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- It's the pain
staking examination
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to say what happened here.
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You would be looking
at the scene, you know,
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what is the evidence in the
top floor, the middle floor,
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the bottom floor, the garage.
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It's the bit which
is the hardest part,
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which is the really methodical
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going through every
part of that house.
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What's it telling you?
00:05:20
What is this scene telling me?
00:05:24
- [Richard] Both
house and garage
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appeared clean,
tidy, and normal,
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but experts were looking
for potential clues
00:05:32
invisible to the naked eye.
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- People think that they
can cover up a crime scene,
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but it's very, very difficult.
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- The next stage to deal
with the garage area
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and removal of the body
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is a record photography
of the garage area.
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[camera clicking]
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We don't know if this
is the attack site,
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deposition site,
or what's gone on.
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The carpet over the
bag would be exhibited
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and then we'd have
to deal with the bag
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before moving it
to the mortuary.
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So probably do
some contact swabs
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around the handles for DNA.
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We need to identify
as soon as we can
00:06:06
who that person is,
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and obviously what
the cause of death is.
00:06:10
- Though the body
was badly decomposed,
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dental records
confirmed it was that
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of missing mom of
two, Marie Stewart.
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[intense music]
00:06:24
One of the main tasks
of the pathologist
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is to determine
the time of death,
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and that gets
increasingly difficult
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the longer a body
lies undiscovered.
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Marie's body showed
advanced decomposition
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and the rate a body decomposes
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is influenced by many factors
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including temperature,
humidity, insects.
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When someone dies,
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each of our cells goes
into self-destruct mode.
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They're full of enzymes
that destroy proteins
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and break down the
structures of the body
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from the inside out.
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Determining the exact time of
death is almost impossible,
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but it is always
possible to give a window
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for the likely time of death.
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And in Marie's case,
it was possible to say
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that she had been dead
for about two months.
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Crucially, for
the investigation,
00:07:17
this matched the timeframe
for Marie going missing
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and her body being
found in the garage.
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The race was now on
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to work out Marie's movements
leading up to her death.
00:07:30
So her life was put
under the microscope.
00:07:32
[gently eerie music]
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- Marie was an
incredibly kind woman,
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loved her children,
lots of friends,
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very popular, very
friendly lady,
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great mother, just generally
a very nice person.
00:07:47
- She'd worked with
children with special needs,
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worked in a care
home with children,
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and then became a
teaching assistant
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where she was very
valued, very good,
00:07:57
and the children
really loved her.
00:07:59
- [Clive] Now her life seemed
to be a giving, a giving back.
00:08:05
- She was a lovely girl.
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She had all her
future ahead of her
00:08:08
and things were
looking very good.
00:08:11
- [Richard] Marie lived with
her 28-year-old fiancee,
00:08:14
Andrew Lindo, and
their two kids.
00:08:18
- Andrew Lindo was
born in Newcastle.
00:08:20
He had a musical background,
came from a good background.
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Father was a property developer.
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- He was a music teacher.
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He appeared to be a family man.
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He was in a band.
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- He was a very bright fella,
very popular with friends.
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[dramatic music]
00:08:42
[gentle music]
00:08:43
- [Richard] Andrew and Marie
00:08:44
met at Huddersfield University
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where they became friends.
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- He was studying music,
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she was doing
healthcare, childcare,
00:08:52
but it appears that she already
00:08:54
was in a fairly
steady relationship
00:08:57
and went on to
marry the gentleman.
00:09:00
- [Richard] Marie's husband
00:09:01
and Andrew Lindo
were close friends.
00:09:04
Despite this Lindo
pursued Marie romantically
00:09:08
after graduating.
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She turned him down,
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but Lindo remained close
mates with the married couple.
00:09:17
[dramatic music]
00:09:22
- They referred to him as
a womanizer in university.
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- Lindo was very friendly
with Marie's husband.
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There was jealousy
involved there.
00:09:30
He would perhaps have been
jealous of the husband
00:09:34
and wanted what he had,
and he set out to get it.
00:09:38
- [Richard] As their
friendship deepened,
00:09:40
Marie opened up to Andrew
00:09:42
about her marriage frustrations
and unspoken desires.
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He offered a shoulder to cry on.
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- She said, oh, he
made me feel wonderful
00:09:51
and he made me feel like I was
the only person in the world.
00:09:55
- [Richard] It led to a
passionate moment between them,
00:09:57
which left her marriage
hanging by a thread
00:10:01
and Andrew's pursuit
of Marie intensified.
00:10:06
- Very soon the two
became involved.
00:10:10
He'd kind of worked
his charm on Marie
00:10:14
and she was very taken with him,
00:10:16
completely falling
in love with him.
00:10:18
And when he suggested
them moving in together,
00:10:22
she left her husband to the
shock of all family and friends
00:10:25
because she was a very reliable,
00:10:28
very honest, very
kind young person.
00:10:35
She set up home with
Lindo and moved away.
00:10:42
- [Richard] In 2007,
00:10:43
after moving in with Lindo,
00:10:45
Marie divorced her husband.
00:10:48
- It seemed to be very
quick and very intense
00:10:51
and very passionate,
00:10:52
and she appeared to make
almost an instant decision
00:10:57
to end the one relationship
00:10:59
and move everything
in with Lindo.
00:11:01
[dramatic music]
00:11:03
- Together they began a family,
00:11:05
and within a few years
they had two babies.
00:11:13
- In 2010, they
moved into an address
00:11:15
in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.
00:11:17
They seemed to live
a perfect life.
00:11:19
Marie and Lindo seemed
totally happy and in love.
00:11:22
She wore his engagement ring
00:11:24
and Lindo even went as
far as asking her father
00:11:26
for permission to marry her.
00:11:28
And why wouldn't he give it?
00:11:30
- [Richard] But by the
time they moved house,
00:11:33
another side to the seemingly
happy couple was emerging.
00:11:39
- Marie started
becoming suspicious
00:11:41
of some of the things
that Lindo was saying.
00:11:45
He'd been caught out cheating.
00:11:47
Quite correctly,
00:11:48
Marie was actually asking
difficult questions.
00:11:51
Marie suddenly realized
that all was not right.
00:12:01
[intense music]
00:12:06
[dramatic music]
00:12:07
- [Richard] In
Holmfirth, West Yorkshire
00:12:09
police had uncovered the
badly decomposed body
00:12:13
of missing 30-year-old
Marie Stewart
00:12:15
at the home she shared
with her fiance,
00:12:17
Andrew Lindo, and
their two children.
00:12:25
Police forensics
confirmed Marie's body
00:12:29
had been kept in a
flight bag under a carpet
00:12:32
in her garage before
she was found.
00:12:36
- This will now lead to
house to house inquiries
00:12:39
being made by the neighbors.
00:12:40
See when they'd last saw Marie,
00:12:42
had they seen anything
else going on,
00:12:44
CCTV inquiries.
00:12:47
Ring doorbells,
they'd be looking at
00:12:49
just to see other comings and
goings there might have been.
00:12:52
- The first suspect
when a woman is killed,
00:12:56
especially in her own home,
00:12:58
is going to be the
partner or the ex-partner
00:13:02
because statistically
they are more likely
00:13:06
to have done it
than anybody else,
00:13:08
probably in 80% of cases.
00:13:11
- This will now lead to Lindo
00:13:12
being arrested and questioned
00:13:15
as to his possible
involvement in this murder.
00:13:19
- But police in
that kind of inquiry
00:13:22
will look at all reasonable
lines of inquiry.
00:13:25
They will look at other
potential suspects as well.
00:13:29
So it's not just
about, was it him,
00:13:33
but he would have been
the number one suspect
00:13:36
until they could eliminate him.
00:13:41
- [Richard] The race was
on to find Marie's killer.
00:13:43
[intense music]
00:13:44
So police first
needed to establish
00:13:46
what exactly had
happened to her.
00:13:49
And in the pathology lab,
00:13:50
her body started
to provide answers.
00:13:54
- There was extensive
bruising around Marie's head,
00:13:57
evidence of some
blunt force trauma.
00:14:00
But had she fallen
and hit her head
00:14:03
or was she hit with something?
00:14:06
Now the bruising extended
to the deep tissues
00:14:09
and revealed a number
of separate heavy blows.
00:14:13
You wouldn't get injuries
like this from a simple fall,
00:14:16
and this proves
she was attacked.
00:14:18
The pattern of injuries
on Marie's body
00:14:21
revealed that she'd
been struck repeatedly
00:14:23
by a complex object.
00:14:26
Injuries caused by a stick
00:14:28
will produce parallel
linear bruises.
00:14:32
Objects like the
head of a hammer
00:14:34
produce a circular bruise,
00:14:36
but patterned bruises
shaped like a T
00:14:39
or a right angle indicate
a more complex object
00:14:43
that has different parts that
have been joined together.
00:14:46
A fingertip and forensic
search of the family home
00:14:49
was already underway.
00:14:52
- At the back of the
premises there's a chair,
00:14:53
child's chair, Winnie
the poo chair, found.
00:14:56
They'd all be
submit fingerprints,
00:14:58
DNA, blood, hairs, fibers.
00:15:02
- [Richard] The chair looked
clean to the naked eye,
00:15:04
but forensic analysis
found otherwise.
00:15:07
- On the leg of the chair
there had been blood.
00:15:12
- The pattern of
bruising on Marie's body
00:15:14
showed that she'd been
repeatedly hit by a small chair,
00:15:18
one that had belonged
to her daughter.
00:15:20
[dramatic music]
00:15:22
But the attack with the
chair hadn't killed her.
00:15:25
It was one part of
a sustained attack.
00:15:29
- She'd had her throat cut.
00:15:31
She had blunt false
trauma injuries
00:15:32
and she'd been stabbed.
00:15:34
She must have been so
frightened, it's unbelievable.
00:15:42
[dramatic music]
00:15:44
- [Richard] One by one
suspects were eliminated.
00:15:46
Marie's ex-husband had an alibi.
00:15:49
Inquiries with friends,
family, and neighbors,
00:15:52
along with CCTV analysis ruled
out an intruder or stalker.
00:15:59
The only consistent person
00:16:01
going in and out
of the family home
00:16:03
around the time of the murder
00:16:05
was Andrew Lindo and
an unknown woman.
00:16:10
- Obviously Lindo is
a person of interest,
00:16:12
lives at the address.
00:16:13
Their phones
would've been seized
00:16:15
and downloaded and
searched, along with laptops
00:16:18
and any other electronic
devices they owned.
00:16:22
- [Richard] And police
made a shocking discovery
00:16:24
on Lindo's devices.
00:16:27
- It was found out Lindo was
having a number of affairs
00:16:29
with a number of
different women.
00:16:31
[intense music]
00:16:34
- He had two going
on at the same time
00:16:36
at the school that
he was teaching at.
00:16:39
- Multiple relationships,
multiple women.
00:16:42
And he managed to keep,
for the best part,
00:16:45
these women from knowing
about each other.
00:16:49
- [Richard] These
affairs had started
00:16:51
when Marie was pregnant with
her second child in 2009,
00:16:55
and at the time she
was blissfully unaware.
00:16:59
- Lindo is very much
a high risk taker,
00:17:03
and he's gambling
with these women.
00:17:06
[upbeat music]
00:17:08
He's still able to
continue living this lie
00:17:11
and doing exactly
what he wants to do,
00:17:15
which is to have all these women
00:17:17
pandering to this massive ego.
00:17:20
[gentle music]
00:17:21
While Marie was away,
00:17:22
going to visit her
parent and her friends,
00:17:25
he would bring some
of these women back
00:17:28
that he was having
relationships with.
00:17:31
But he would obliterate
every sight or sound
00:17:35
of Marie from that house so
that when they came round
00:17:38
they would think it
was the bachelor pad.
00:17:42
- He was clearing
out the premises
00:17:44
as though no one
else lived there
00:17:45
and he was on his own,
00:17:48
giving a sob story about
being single parent.
00:17:50
His wife had gone off
with somebody else.
00:17:54
- So having picked
up different lovers,
00:17:56
he didn't ever give
them his address,
00:17:58
but he would take
them to the house
00:18:01
and simply drive
around very long routes
00:18:05
to completely disorientate them
00:18:07
so that they wouldn't
know where he lived.
00:18:10
They would arrive there,
presumably not knowing
00:18:12
where they were and not
find their way back,
00:18:15
which gave him sort
of carte blanche
00:18:17
to do what he wanted
while Marie was away,
00:18:20
knowing that they wouldn't
come round when she was back.
00:18:24
He was a fantasist and a liar.
00:18:28
- He was actually, he was
living, I'd say a double life.
00:18:31
He's probably leading a treble
00:18:32
and a, you know, quatro life.
00:18:34
[dramatic music]
00:18:37
- [Richard] Months
before Marie's murder,
00:18:39
Lindo, the seemingly
respectable school teacher,
00:18:43
even had an illegal relationship
with a 15-year-old pupil.
00:18:48
- That's reckless.
00:18:49
That's reckless and
it's ego driven.
00:18:52
He was, you know, probably
trying to make her think
00:18:56
that he was some kind
of rock star musician
00:18:58
and she was just a young girl.
00:19:03
- This is very much
indicative of a narcissist.
00:19:09
Everything is about him.
00:19:10
Me, me, me, see me, attention,
00:19:15
wanting to be the
center of attention.
00:19:17
- [Richard] But it was one other
00:19:18
illicit romance in particular
00:19:20
that caught the
police's attention.
00:19:23
[intense music]
00:19:27
- Lindo had met his
next lover in a shop
00:19:32
when he'd gone to
cash a works check
00:19:35
and soon they were chatting.
00:19:37
He said he was a single father.
00:19:40
He was giving her such a
story about the children
00:19:44
and how awful his previous
girlfriend had been.
00:19:49
- [Clive] He was a bachelor
00:19:50
doing his best
with two children.
00:19:51
And it's a hook line
almost, isn't it,
00:19:54
to get people to
feel sorry for you.
00:19:58
- [Richard] Under
police questioning,
00:19:59
the woman revealed
she was suspicious
00:20:01
that Lindo hadn't
actually left Marie
00:20:04
and wouldn't be convinced
00:20:06
until she spent a
night in the house.
00:20:15
- Lindo took the children
00:20:18
and went to pick up a woman
00:20:21
that he was having an
affair, a relationship with,
00:20:26
and brought her
back to the house.
00:20:30
- He was reinventing life.
00:20:33
He was started up
with this new female,
00:20:35
he was almost
grooming his children
00:20:37
to have this new
female in their life.
00:20:40
[dramatic music]
00:20:49
- When his new girlfriend
was there at Christmas day,
00:20:52
firstly, he said, "This is
the best Christmas ever."
00:20:56
And then, when she commented
on the nice Christmas tree
00:20:59
with the decorations and
the little girl said,
00:21:03
"Oh, mommy helped me with that",
00:21:05
Lindo jumped in and said,
00:21:08
"Don't be silly, I
helped you do that."
00:21:13
What must have that felt
like for that little girl?
00:21:15
But clearly he has no care
for anybody else's feelings,
00:21:21
even his own children.
00:21:22
It shows the kind of
mindset of this man
00:21:25
that he's prepared to lie
in front of his children
00:21:29
and play with
their mind, really.
00:21:32
[intense music]
00:21:35
- Lindo carried on inviting
00:21:37
Marie's father and sister
over for Christmas dinner,
00:21:41
acting as if nothing
untoward had occurred.
00:21:47
- [Richard] Lindo
had told the family
00:21:49
Marie had left him
for another man,
00:21:51
but when they phoned
her over Christmas,
00:21:54
she never answered.
00:21:55
She only ever sent texts
00:21:58
and did so for the
next two months.
00:22:08
- Why had she not been in
contact with them at all?
00:22:10
The family were becoming
more and more suspicious
00:22:12
about what had gone on.
00:22:14
Also, Lindo claimed
to be the only person
00:22:16
who was still speaking to her.
00:22:18
And if she'd gone off,
00:22:20
why would she not
speak to her family?
00:22:21
Why speak to him?
00:22:23
So things weren't
adding up whatsoever.
00:22:26
- [Richard] Police
analyzed local phone masts
00:22:28
and mobile phone activity
00:22:30
around the time of
Marie's disappearance.
00:22:34
- We learnt through phone
work that both phones
00:22:37
had actually been more or less
00:22:38
at the same address
at the same time,
00:22:40
rather than her
phone being abroad.
00:22:43
It was determined, obviously,
00:22:44
that Lindo was
sending these messages
00:22:46
on Marie's phone
from the home address
00:22:48
and not coming from
abroad whatsoever.
00:22:52
- He was making
a trail of deceit
00:22:54
with text messages
and a Facebook page.
00:22:57
He fundamentally made
some errors there
00:23:00
because people know
people, don't they?
00:23:02
Parents know their daughters,
00:23:04
friends know their friends.
00:23:06
- He was posting messages
on Facebook acting as Marie
00:23:09
and sending texts to the family
00:23:11
saying that she was having fun,
00:23:13
but it was using a language
that Marie wouldn't use.
00:23:20
- He's supremely confident
00:23:23
that he's not going
to get caught.
00:23:27
- [Richard] The only
people at the house
00:23:28
on the suspected
night of the murder
00:23:30
were Lindo and his
new girlfriend.
00:23:33
But forensic evidence eliminated
her from the investigation.
00:23:38
And during questioning,
00:23:39
she revealed why she hadn't
suspected anything sinister
00:23:43
in the weeks that followed.
00:23:46
- He'd actually placed candles,
00:23:49
aromatic kind of candles,
00:23:51
to kill the smells
in strategic places
00:23:54
and one over the garage,
00:23:56
which presumably he
would've been lighting
00:23:59
quite often when
he had women round
00:24:02
because the body remained
in the flight bag
00:24:05
zipped up for the
next seven weeks.
00:24:07
[dramatic music]
00:24:10
- [Richard] Under arrest
00:24:12
and confronted
with the evidence,
00:24:13
Lindo confessed
to killing Marie.
00:24:17
- When the police
found Marie's body,
00:24:21
there is no way
00:24:23
that Lindo would've been
able to explain that.
00:24:25
- He came clean to the police
00:24:27
in admitting what had
gone on to a point,
00:24:31
admitted to manslaughter
and not murder.
00:24:34
- [Richard] But
would Marie's body
00:24:35
reveal a different story?
00:24:45
[intense music]
00:24:49
The sleepy village of Holmfirth,
00:24:52
scene of a brutal crime
in December, 2011.
00:24:58
Police in Yorkshire
suspected Andrew Lindo
00:25:01
of murdering his
fiancee, Marie Stewart.
00:25:04
He had already
confessed to hitting her
00:25:06
over the head with
a child's chair.
00:25:10
But Lindo claimed it
was spur of the moment,
00:25:14
manslaughter, not murder.
00:25:17
[dramatic music]
00:25:23
- They'd had an
argument one night
00:25:24
and he just lost
control, were his words.
00:25:28
Basically it just
went from there.
00:25:31
[chair banging]
00:25:33
- It was a sustained attack
00:25:35
over three floors of a house,
00:25:37
which certainly started
on the top floor,
00:25:39
the bedroom area.
00:25:40
- And all this is going on
00:25:42
while their own
children are asleep.
00:25:45
- [Richard] The
postmortem revealed
00:25:46
Marie had been repeatedly beaten
00:25:48
with a child's chair.
00:25:50
And despite efforts
to clean the scene,
00:25:53
forensics proved this
happened upstairs.
00:25:56
Lindo's girlfriend
corroborated this.
00:25:59
- She noticed like
stains and like Vanish
00:26:02
or some product had been used
to sort of clear these stains.
00:26:08
- [Richard] But
this violent beating
00:26:09
didn't account for
all the injuries
00:26:11
on Marie's broken body.
00:26:14
The postmortem revealed more
of the horror of that night.
00:26:18
As well as the blunt force
injuries to her head,
00:26:21
there was also evidence that
Marie had been strangled.
00:26:24
Evidence of strangulation
00:26:26
is found in the
larynx in the neck.
00:26:29
The larynx is a group
of three cartilages
00:26:31
that form the Adam's apple,
00:26:33
and they provide the structure
00:26:34
for the muscles of
speech and swallowing.
00:26:37
When force is
applied to the neck,
00:26:39
the delicate spikes get broken
00:26:42
and evidence of strangulation
can be identified.
00:26:45
Below the larynx
is the windpipe,
00:26:48
and this is kept open
by hoops of cartilage
00:26:51
so it's very strong and
very difficult to compress,
00:26:54
to stop air passing through it.
00:26:57
More usually,
00:26:59
strangling compresses the
vagus nerve in the neck
00:27:02
and the vagus nerve passes
from the brain to the heart
00:27:06
and helps control the heartbeat.
00:27:08
So compression of the neck
compromises that nerve,
00:27:12
making the heart slow
down and beat irregularly
00:27:15
and can cause people
to lose consciousness.
00:27:18
So he may have thought he
killed her, but he hadn't.
00:27:26
Under police interview, Lindo
gave his version of events.
00:27:32
- He was sitting on top of
her, she spat in his face.
00:27:35
He got incredibly angry
00:27:37
and just started to
manually strangle her.
00:27:40
- Strangulation is very, very
common in controlling people.
00:27:45
It's very personal.
00:27:47
It's very stare into your eyes.
00:27:50
I'm doing this to you
00:27:52
and I want you to know
I'm doing this to you.
00:27:54
It's an incredibly
personal violence,
00:27:59
but it does take a
little bit of time.
00:28:01
It's not quick, and
Marie would've fought.
00:28:04
[dramatic music]
00:28:09
- He had rendered
her unconscious,
00:28:11
wrapped her into a rug,
put her into a suitcase,
00:28:14
started to take her downstairs,
00:28:16
but she started making
the noise in the suitcase.
00:28:19
Got her out again,
00:28:21
attacked her with a
Winnie the Pooh chair,
00:28:22
causing injuries to the head
00:28:25
and used his belt to try
and strangle her again.
00:28:29
Again, rendered her unconscious.
00:28:32
- [Richard] Police recovered
the suitcase and rug
00:28:35
and forensics found Marie's
blood and DNA on them.
00:28:39
But it took further
analysis of Marie's body
00:28:42
to lead them to the belt.
00:28:44
- At the post-mortem,
00:28:47
Marie's neck was clearly had
bruising on it from fingers,
00:28:50
and then we know
that a belt was used.
00:28:55
The markings may not have been
totally clear at the time,
00:28:58
but you can use something
called light source,
00:29:00
which is a spectrum of light,
00:29:02
which enhances what the
naked eye can't see.
00:29:06
This can then be
photographed, measured,
00:29:09
and then you've got an idea
of the width for the belt
00:29:11
that you'd be looking
for in the address.
00:29:15
They found his DNA,
her blood on it.
00:29:20
- [Richard] The
evidence against Lindo
00:29:21
was strong and building.
00:29:24
- The attack came as a
total shock to Marie.
00:29:26
She was not expecting
this level of violence.
00:29:30
Cannot imagine what she
must have feeling like
00:29:33
at this time to be
attacked in the bedroom.
00:29:37
She's put up an incredible fight
to be attacked twice there.
00:29:40
She must have been
so frightened,
00:29:41
but she was still
alive at this point.
00:29:44
Took her down three
flights of stairs.
00:29:48
Next thing she finds
herself in the garage,
00:29:50
fighting for her life,
fighting for her children.
00:29:53
It's unbelievable.
00:29:56
In the garage, he wrapped
her head in bubble wrap,
00:29:58
stabbed, slit her throat
and stabbed her 12 times.
00:30:02
- The most ferocious
attack, you could argue,
00:30:05
with the bubble wrap and then
the knife was downstairs.
00:30:09
So you know, this was like
the end of a sustained attack.
00:30:19
- [Richard] After the attack,
00:30:20
evidence from Lindo's
phone and new girlfriend
00:30:24
revealed his next
calculating steps.
00:30:29
- After the attack,
00:30:31
Lindo has text his
current girlfriend
00:30:33
that he may be a little
bit late picking her up,
00:30:36
which is absolutely
so cold and calm
00:30:39
in his manner about this.
00:30:41
He then wakes up his two
children who are fast asleep,
00:30:44
puts them in the car to
go and get his girlfriend
00:30:47
who stays the night
00:30:48
three floors up from
where the body is.
00:30:55
- This is some person
00:30:57
that could actually kill
the mother of his children
00:31:00
while the children
are asleep in bed,
00:31:03
go and pick up his latest lover,
00:31:06
take her to his house,
and have sex with her.
00:31:12
- His behavior tells us
quite a lot about him.
00:31:15
He's somebody who doesn't suffer
00:31:20
with shame or remorse or guilt.
00:31:22
He doesn't question
his own behaviors.
00:31:25
[dramatic music]
00:31:29
- [Clive] It's macabre.
00:31:31
[intense music]
00:31:34
- [Richard] The two month gap
00:31:36
between the murder and
the discovery of the body
00:31:39
gave Lindo plenty of time
to try and cover his tracks.
00:31:47
- He's had seven
weeks now to clean up
00:31:49
nothing obvious in blood maybe,
00:31:51
but so hard to clean
every piece of blood.
00:31:54
With the action of a
knife constantly stabbing,
00:31:57
you're gonna have blood
flicking off the knife
00:31:59
landing on items,
whether it be the wall,
00:32:01
the ceiling of the garage,
00:32:03
other items that are in there.
00:32:05
May have been quite
a bit on the floor
00:32:06
that he has tried to clean.
00:32:10
- [Richard] What's known
as luminol examination
00:32:12
took place in the garage.
00:32:16
- Luminol is a chemical
that reacts with blood
00:32:18
spray it along all
items and walls
00:32:21
and in a dark area
it fluoresces blue.
00:32:24
This can then be photographed
00:32:26
and tested to see
if it is blood.
00:32:29
- [Richard] This
confirmed the garage
00:32:31
as the final murder
and deposition scene.
00:32:35
[intense music]
00:32:37
But despite having
admitted to manslaughter,
00:32:40
Lindo kept lying to the police,
00:32:43
trying to justify
the murder of Marie.
00:32:46
- He's got to do
anything, say anything,
00:32:48
that's going to
mitigate him being found
00:32:52
with the body in the house.
00:32:54
He's really in a
difficult place.
00:32:57
So he starts to denigrate Marie.
00:33:04
All he can say really is,
00:33:05
I was annoyed with her
00:33:07
about the way she
treated the children.
00:33:09
Let's try and blacken
her character in
any way that we can.
00:33:15
- The fact that
he could kill her,
00:33:18
deprive the children
of their mother,
00:33:20
shows the kind of person
we're dealing with,
00:33:21
as well as the
method that he used.
00:33:24
And then the victim
blaming and shaming,
00:33:27
which he did all the way along.
00:33:28
Oh, she belittled me, you know.
00:33:32
And that in itself, you know,
00:33:34
picking on flaws in her,
00:33:36
is kind of like dehumanizing her
00:33:38
before he actually murders her.
00:33:41
So he doesn't see her
as this person anymore.
00:33:48
- It could be he
enjoyed violence,
00:33:50
he actually enjoyed
meting out the violence.
00:33:53
You know, a lot of
these type of people
00:33:55
will strangle and then
let you breathe again
00:33:58
so they can do it all again.
00:34:04
- So this was like the work
of a psychopath, basically.
00:34:10
How could he do this?
00:34:13
Well, that's exactly
why I've said,
00:34:15
he could only do that because
he was able to do that,
00:34:19
and that says a lot about
his psychopathology.
00:34:23
Clearly he has no care for
anybody's else's feelings,
00:34:27
even his own children.
00:34:37
[intense music]
00:34:39
- [Richard] Andrew
Lindo was charged
00:34:40
with killing his fiancee, Marie.
00:34:43
But was this really manslaughter
00:34:45
or could Marie's body prove
00:34:47
it was cold blooded,
calculated murder?
00:34:52
- He was absolutely determined
that Marie was going to die.
00:35:02
[dramatic music]
00:35:08
- [Richard] In 2011,
Yorkshire police had arrested
00:35:11
and charged 28-year-old
Andrew Lindo
00:35:14
with the brutal
murder of his fiancee
00:35:17
and mother of their two young
children, Marie Stewart.
00:35:23
Her body revealed
she'd been beaten,
00:35:25
then strangled and more.
00:35:30
Her body showed
multiple stab wounds
00:35:32
suggesting a sustained attack.
00:35:43
- He wanted her dead and he
was going to achieve that.
00:35:49
- [Richard] Marie's
decomposing body
00:35:50
was found in a flight
bag in the garage
00:35:53
seven weeks after the murder.
00:35:56
Evidence proved that Lindo
00:35:58
had created a
false digital trail
00:36:01
to throw people off the scent.
00:36:03
- I can't imagine how
cruel and how awful
00:36:06
this must have
been for the family
00:36:08
sending text messages
and Facebook messages
00:36:11
to try and back up
his tissue of lies.
00:36:15
- [Richard] The truth was
that Lindo was a serial cheat
00:36:18
who'd had a string
of illicit affairs.
00:36:21
- He's somebody
who doesn't suffer
00:36:25
with shame or remorse or guilt.
00:36:27
He doesn't question
his own behaviors.
00:36:31
- [Richard] Police
believed he'd killed Marie
00:36:34
to carry on a new life
with a new partner.
00:36:37
- He probably would've
presented to other people
00:36:40
during that time as
perfectly normal.
00:36:43
- But Marie's post-mortem
00:36:45
showed his actions had
been anything but normal.
00:36:48
In the garage, Lindo
stabbed Marie 12 times.
00:36:54
But the blow that killed her
00:36:56
was this stab wound to the neck.
00:37:00
The neck is a very
complex area of the body,
00:37:03
full of major blood vessels
00:37:04
and nerves and other structures.
00:37:06
The carotid arteries pass up
00:37:08
carrying blood to the brain
00:37:10
and the jugular
veins pass back down,
00:37:12
returning that
blood to the heart.
00:37:15
Severing any one of these
major blood vessels,
00:37:18
causes immediate
severe blood loss.
00:37:20
And within minutes, the
heart will be unable
00:37:23
to pump enough blood around
the body to sustain life.
00:37:27
After everything her body had
been put through and survived,
00:37:30
it was this stab
wound to the neck
00:37:33
that finally sealed
Marie's fate.
00:37:39
Lindo had confessed
to the killing,
00:37:42
but claimed it was spur of
the moment manslaughter,
00:37:45
not murder, which carried
a much higher sentence.
00:37:51
- If you look at the
way that she died,
00:37:53
it seems completely
disorganized.
00:37:56
That doesn't mean it
wasn't planned in some way.
00:38:00
- [Richard] It would now
be for a court to decide.
00:38:10
Seven months after his arrest,
00:38:12
Lindo finally faced justice
in Bradford Crown Court.
00:38:16
He pleaded not guilty
to Marie's murder.
00:38:20
- He showed absolutely no
remorse at all in court
00:38:25
and the family had to sit
00:38:27
and listen to everything
that had gone on in that case
00:38:31
because he didn't plead guilty.
00:38:34
So they were forced
to sit through it
00:38:37
and then he would come on
00:38:39
with these mock crocodile tears
00:38:44
as if he was really upset.
00:38:47
Sympathy, sympathy, look at me,
00:38:49
while all the time
putting her family
00:38:52
through the awful detail
of what had happened
00:38:56
of her murder, was
utterly sickening.
00:38:59
- [Richard] The prosecution team
00:39:01
put forward their theory
that Lindo had killed Marie
00:39:04
after she uncovered
his infidelity.
00:39:08
- She was thinking
about leaving him
00:39:10
and she probably told him that.
00:39:12
And we know that in most
intimate partner homicides,
00:39:16
that is the trigger.
00:39:17
You know, over 90% of
cases, that is the trigger.
00:39:22
Unlike the other
women in Lindo's life,
00:39:26
Marie was living with him.
00:39:29
She was the mother
of his children.
00:39:31
And that puts her
00:39:32
in a much more dangerous
position than them
00:39:34
because he thinks he
actually owns her.
00:39:41
At the point that Marie says,
00:39:44
"You don't own me, I'm leaving',
00:39:47
that's when she is in
00:39:51
the most danger she's
ever been in her life,
00:39:54
but she probably
didn't know that.
00:40:02
[intense music]
00:40:04
And when he realized
she was not budging,
00:40:08
that's when he
would've killed her.
00:40:12
- [Richard] In court, Lindo
didn't take the stand,
00:40:15
but his defense argued
he'd lost control
00:40:18
after being provoked by Marie.
00:40:21
- This chap's saying that this
was just a one-off really.
00:40:25
Don't know, lost me temper
for about 10 seconds
00:40:27
and well now, hold up.
00:40:29
That evidence shows a
sustained, a very planned,
00:40:32
a very cold, a very
methodical attack.
00:40:37
- At the trial Lindo's
fighting for his life.
00:40:39
He's trying, at the very least,
00:40:41
to get a manslaughter charge
rather than a murder charge.
00:40:45
So he's just throwing everything
at this now, everything.
00:40:48
It's really, really common.
00:40:49
How do I get out of this?
00:40:51
This is survival now.
00:40:53
- [Richard] Lindo claimed
00:40:54
he was acting to
protect his daughter.
00:40:58
- Lindo basically tried
to put up a defense
00:41:01
that he was worried about
Marie attacking his daughter.
00:41:05
- So he starts denigrating Marie
00:41:08
and saying she's a bad mother
00:41:10
and that, you know,
she's this flaky person
00:41:12
and she couldn't be trusted.
00:41:14
- Lindo's basically blamed
Marie for her own death
00:41:18
because he said she was being
very cruel to their daughter,
00:41:22
which was completely untrue.
00:41:24
She was a very,
very good mother.
00:41:26
- [Richard] There was
no physical evidence
of child cruelty,
00:41:29
no reports to social services.
00:41:32
And everyone who knew
Marie could testify
00:41:34
that this was a wicked lie.
00:41:38
- Everyone who knew her knew
that she would never do that.
00:41:42
If he was cleverer, if
he was more intuitive,
00:41:45
he would've chosen
an explanation
00:41:47
that actually fitted
with Marie's personality.
00:41:52
He couldn't do that,
00:41:53
and he dug his own
grave, as it were.
00:41:55
[dramatic music]
00:41:57
- [Richard] Marie's
battered body
00:41:58
proved this was
no flash of anger.
00:42:01
He'd planned to kill her,
00:42:03
strangling, beating,
suffocating, stabbing.
00:42:07
At each stage he
could have stopped
00:42:09
and saved her life,
but he didn't.
00:42:13
- That's where the
pathology report
00:42:15
basically becomes
very important,
00:42:18
It's the powerful evidence
00:42:19
that this wasn't just
a one-off attack.
00:42:26
[intense music]
00:42:31
- [Richard] After
a two week trial,
00:42:33
the jury took just 55 minutes
to return their verdict.
00:42:39
Lindo was found guilty of
Marie Stewart's murder.
00:42:43
[gavel thumps]
00:42:47
- Lindo was sentenced
to 22 years in prison
00:42:50
before parole could
be considered.
00:42:53
It was a sustained,
brutal, terrible attack
00:42:57
on a kind, loving woman.
00:43:04
- I really hope that Marie
00:43:06
will be remembered
for what she was,
00:43:08
which was a very
kind, loving person
00:43:13
who was a credit to our society.
00:43:16
And I hope that Lindo
will be condemned forever
00:43:19
as the wicked
manipulator that he is.
00:43:27
- There are eight
stages in this journey
00:43:30
towards an intimate
partner homicide.
00:43:32
So the first stage is about
the controlling person,
00:43:38
'cause this is
all about control.
00:43:40
Second stage is when this person
00:43:42
meets somebody they want to
be in a relationship with.
00:43:47
Generally that relationship
will start very, very quickly
00:43:52
and it will be
very, very intense.
00:43:55
Third stage is when
these two people
00:43:57
are in a committed relationship
00:44:00
and that will be dominated
by controlling patterns.
00:44:03
Now the next stage
is where things
00:44:05
start to get more dangerous.
00:44:08
We call the fourth
stage the trigger stage.
00:44:10
Something happens to make
the risk suddenly shoot up.
00:44:14
Well, this person imagines
this person might leave them.
00:44:17
Stage five is when they
escalate all of their behaviors
00:44:22
to try and claw the control back
00:44:24
so that this person doesn't
leave or cannot leave.
00:44:29
Stage six, this is where
they start to think,
00:44:31
right, I can't get
the control back,
00:44:34
so I'm gonna punish this
person for daring to leave me.
00:44:39
Stage seven is the
planning stage.
00:44:42
How am I gonna do this?
00:44:43
And stage eight is the homicide.
00:44:48
When I think about Marie
and what happened to her,
00:44:53
I can see those stages
playing out in her life
00:44:57
and her relationship in,
00:45:00
well, in almost the classic way.
00:45:04
- This is clearly a
very dangerous man.
00:45:08
If he hadn't been
caught at this point,
00:45:10
I have absolutely no doubt
00:45:12
that he'd have been able
to continue murdering.
00:45:19
- Lindo killed his fiancee Marie
00:45:21
in a series of brutal assaults
00:45:24
that began in their bedroom
00:45:25
not far from where their
young children slept
00:45:28
and continued down
to the garage.
00:45:30
Not only had he tried
to strangle Marie
00:45:33
and hit her over the
head with a blunt object,
00:45:35
he'd also stabbed
her multiple times
00:45:38
with a wound to the neck
finally proving fatal.
00:45:41
While Andrew Lindo tried to
cover up this terrible crime
00:45:46
by hiding Marie's
body in the garage,
00:45:48
in the end, he
couldn't escape justice
00:45:51
because her body revealed
the truth about her murder.
00:45:56
[dramatic music]
