00:00:05
- MALE NARRATOR: Over the
August bank holiday weekend
00:00:08
in 1988 the mining village
of Wath upon Dearne
00:00:12
in South Yorkshire, England
was rocked to its core.
00:00:16
The body of 25 year old
Marcus Law was discovered
00:00:20
in his home, he'd been
tortured and mutilated.
00:00:24
- There were blood all over
the place and then he got
00:00:26
cigarettes stuck in every
orifice in his face,
00:00:29
he got 'em in his nostrils,
even in his eyes,
00:00:31
his ears, mouth.
00:00:33
And he just looked like
a birthday cake with candles in.
00:00:36
- NARRATOR: In a final act
of callousness, the killer
00:00:38
had inserted one of
Marcus' own crutches
00:00:41
into his abdomen.
00:00:43
- The sheer enormity of
the violence used in this case
00:00:48
is extreme.
00:00:50
It is, to use that word,
truly evil.
00:00:54
- NARRATOR: The killer
was 21-year-old
00:00:55
Anthony Arkwright.
00:00:58
Over the coming days more
bodies would be discovered
00:01:01
in similarly horrific
circumstances.
00:01:04
- He didn't just kill
his victims,
00:01:06
he completely obliterated them,
00:01:08
he humiliated them, and he
didn't feel bad about doing it.
00:01:11
If anything,
he quite enjoyed it.
00:01:13
- NARRATOR: Even the police
were wary of what they might
00:01:16
discover next.
00:01:17
- I was frightened, no two
words about it, and I said
00:01:21
to my colleague, "You know
what we're gonna find."
00:01:25
And he said, "Yes, Sarge."
00:01:26
And I said, "You have to
brace yourself for this."
00:01:29
- NARRATOR: In less than
a week, four victims
00:01:31
were discovered.
00:01:33
Anthony Arkwright had been
revealed as one of the
00:01:36
world's most evil killers.
00:01:38
- ♪
00:01:59
- NARRATOR: August, 1988,
Wath upon Dearne,
00:02:03
South Yorkshire, England.
00:02:06
Late in the afternoon
on the same day
00:02:09
as disabled resident Marcus
Law's badly mutilated body
00:02:13
was discovered, a neighbor,
Anthony Arkwright,
00:02:16
was arrested for his killing.
00:02:19
Just two days later,
45-year-old retired teacher
00:02:24
Raymond Ford was found
brutally murdered.
00:02:27
He'd been stabbed 250 times
before his organs
00:02:32
and intestines were removed
and trailed around his flat.
00:02:36
- Marcus is bad enough,
you know with cigarettes
00:02:39
poking out of his
gouged-out eyes and his crutch
00:02:43
stuck into his stomach,
but this is worse, if possible.
00:02:47
There's virtually no organ left
inside his body.
00:02:50
Raymond's entrails are all
around him,
00:02:53
they're in the bathroom,
they're in the bedroom,
00:02:55
and they were in the hallway.
00:02:57
- NARRATOR: As Arkwright's
lawyer proclaimed his client's
00:02:59
innocence to the press,
news of a second neighbor
00:03:03
found slaughtered after his
arrest began to spread.
00:03:07
A wave of fear descended
on the community.
00:03:10
Retired Detective Constable
David Winter discovered
00:03:13
the second victim.
00:03:14
- It did spread a lot of unrest
because of the fact that
00:03:18
the second body were found
while he was in custody.
00:03:22
That gave credence to,
"We've got a madman
00:03:24
running loose at Wath."
00:03:27
So everybody's thinking that
it's not him that, you know,
00:03:29
it's got to be somebody else.
00:03:32
- NARRATOR: There was more
to come, within days
00:03:35
two further victims were
discovered, including
00:03:38
Arkwright's own grandfather
Stanislav Puidokas.
00:03:42
Former Detective Sergeant
Richard Venables grew up
00:03:45
in the village and remembers
how inconceivable it was
00:03:48
that these horrific crimes
had happened there.
00:03:51
- RICHARD: Wath on Dearne,
a little sleepy mining village,
00:03:54
which it would be, we were
on the verge of pit closures
00:03:57
at that time, it was just,
it's the last place on Earth
00:04:00
you would have thought
that this thing could happen.
00:04:04
And I even think about it now
and say that Wath on Dearne
00:04:07
had a serial killer, as long
a shot as a lottery win really.
00:04:12
- The impact of crimes like
this on any local community
00:04:17
are going to be devastating
because here's somebody
00:04:20
who has been in this area
for a while, people know
00:04:23
who he is, he's a familiar face,
this isn't some monster
00:04:26
that's come in from the
outside, it's the evil within.
00:04:30
- NARRATOR: This killer's
story begins on
00:04:31
the 24th of March, 1967.
00:04:35
Anthony Richard Arkwright
was born in a row house
00:04:39
in Wath upon Dearne
in South Yorkshire.
00:04:42
The son a milkman,
00:04:43
he was the middle child
of five siblings
00:04:46
and his family life
was dysfunctional
00:04:49
from a very early age.
00:04:52
- DR. YARDLEY: Arkwright spent
a lot of his early years
00:04:54
in and out of children's homes
00:04:56
and this for
me means that he has
00:04:58
a very insecure attachment
with his caregivers.
00:05:02
So this is a child who doesn't
feel security, he doesn't
00:05:05
feel warmth, and what that
can sometimes translate into
00:05:08
is this kind of defensiveness,
this sense in which,
00:05:10
"I can't depend on other
people, it's just me
00:05:13
and I've got to look
after myself."
00:05:16
- NARRATOR: Arkwright
struggled in school and was
00:05:18
teased by his peers as people
began to speculate
00:05:22
about the true nature of
relationships within his family.
00:05:26
- Arkwright was bullied at
school because there were
00:05:28
rumors that were completely
untrue that he was the result
00:05:32
of an incestuous relationship
between his mother
00:05:35
and his grandfather.
00:05:37
- LOUIS: The reality is not what
counts, it's what he thought
00:05:40
and what he experienced
that was out there,
00:05:43
and the kids thought
it was true.
00:05:44
And so he was teased a great
deal and when an individual
00:05:49
is teased repetitively
in childhood it affects them
00:05:53
emotionally in very,
very significant ways.
00:05:56
- DR. YARDLEY: Off the back
of the bullying, Arkwright
00:05:58
kind of retreats into himself,
he spends a lot of time
00:06:01
on his own, he's a loner.
00:06:03
And when people don't have
those social connections
00:06:06
with others, they ruminate,
they spend a lot of time
00:06:10
thinking about things,
especially ways in which
00:06:13
they've been wronged
by other people.
00:06:15
So, you've got this kind of
undercurrents of rage,
00:06:18
I think,
that's developing in him.
00:06:21
- NARRATOR: The resentment
that young Anthony Arkwright
00:06:24
harbored for his family
smouldered inside him
00:06:27
and he became a troubled
teenager.
00:06:29
He often found himself
on the wrong side of the law
00:06:33
and he was a well-known face
in the local police stations.
00:06:37
David Winter remembers him
as one of their regulars.
00:06:41
- I've known Arkwright since
he was about 14 years old.
00:06:44
He were a petty thief and we
were forever locking him up
00:06:47
when he were a juvenile.
00:06:50
- NARRATOR: Over the
coming years he became
00:06:52
obsessed with weapons
and had a reputation
00:06:55
for being a habitual
troublemaker.
00:06:58
- MICHAEL: He got quite a few
convictions for petty crime,
00:07:02
you would call it,
not petty to the victims,
00:07:04
but burglaries,
damage, small assaults
00:07:08
and things like that.
00:07:09
He was forever getting into
trouble and he'd been sent
00:07:13
to youth custody and various
other penalties that
00:07:16
had been imposed on him
over the years.
00:07:19
But he was a troublesome
lad altogether.
00:07:22
- GEOFFREY: And while
he was in prison,
00:07:24
perhaps he saw a way of...
00:07:27
making himself glamorous.
00:07:30
He took a great interest
in Jack The Ripper
00:07:32
and The Yorkshire Ripper,
Peter Sutcliffe,
00:07:34
reading books about them.
00:07:36
Perhaps for the first time in
his life a subject engaged him.
00:07:42
He developed this fascination
with mass murder and I think
00:07:48
perhaps he saw it as a way
of making his mark
00:07:51
in the world.
00:07:52
- NARRATOR: By the Summer
of 1988, the 21-year-old
00:07:55
was working at a scrap metal
merchants in Mexborough
00:07:59
and living in nearby
Wath upon Dearne
00:08:01
in public housing
on the Denman Road estate.
00:08:05
Neil Hurst was one of his
neighbors.
00:08:08
- NEIL: Anthony Arkwright seemed
very weird to me.
00:08:11
He looked like a young
Clint Eastwood and he were very,
00:08:15
very frightening,
kept his self to his self.
00:08:18
He used to wear long coats
and cowboy hats and he also
00:08:22
had rollup coming out of
the side of his mouth.
00:08:26
- DAVID: He were one of them
people that he wanted to draw
00:08:28
attention to himself,
he really loved himself.
00:08:31
Tall, a lot taller than me.
00:08:34
But he'd spike his hair
and he'd bleached the points
00:08:38
of it and things like that
to get a distinctive look.
00:08:42
- NARRATOR: Another of
Arkwright's neighbors
00:08:44
was 45-year-old Raymond Ford.
00:08:47
- He was a gentleman who
lived opposite Arkwright
00:08:51
in a block of flats.
00:08:52
He was a retired school
teacher suffering from
00:08:55
ill health and kept himself
very much to himself.
00:09:00
- Raymond and Arkwright
had history,
00:09:03
Arkwright liked to bully him.
00:09:05
At one point he shoved excrement
through his letter box.
00:09:08
- NARRATOR: In August 1988,
Raymond was burglarized.
00:09:12
Several items had been stolen
including a microwave oven
00:09:16
and a mantle clock.
00:09:18
He reported it to the local
police.
00:09:21
- DAVID: One of the secondhand
dealers came up
00:09:23
to the police station and
mentioned that he'd bought,
00:09:25
um, a microwave oven from
Tony Arkwright,
00:09:29
given his name,
and he paid £20.
00:09:32
So then it were decided that
Arkwright were gonna
00:09:34
be arrested.
00:09:36
- NARRATOR: On the 26th
of August, the Friday
00:09:38
before the bank holiday
weekend, Arkwright was fired
00:09:42
from his job at the scrapyard
for poor attendance.
00:09:45
He was extremely aggrieved.
00:09:48
To add insult to injury,
early the next morning
00:09:51
the police were knocking on
his door and he was arrested
00:09:54
for the burglary of Raymond's
flat.
00:09:57
The officers were surprised
to find a whole arsenal
00:10:00
of knives in his home,
but there was something else
00:10:04
that sparked their interest.
00:10:06
- They found in his flat
a pocket watch and it was
00:10:10
the pocket watch that was
unique, that they'd not seen
00:10:13
before, and decided that
that, it wasn't right that
00:10:17
he would have such a pocket
watch, it was an old person's
00:10:20
pocket watch.
00:10:22
And so they decided to bail
Arkwright on the Saturday
00:10:25
evening in order that they
could make further inquiries.
00:10:28
- NARRATOR: Having just
started his evening shift,
00:10:31
Detective Constable David
Winter was tasked with
00:10:34
getting a statement from
Raymond Ford
00:10:36
about the burglary.
00:10:37
He offered Arkwright a lift.
00:10:40
- I took him back home
and as he's going into his flat,
00:10:43
which is on the right hand side,
I went to the left hand side
00:10:47
to Raymond Ford's.
00:10:50
Knocking on the door and he
hadn't gone in at that time.
00:10:53
And he said, "Oh, he'll be out
now, he'll be around pubs,
00:10:56
he's a drunk."
00:10:57
So, you know, I said,
"Well, I'll come back."
00:11:01
And I left it at that.
00:11:04
- NARRATOR: At the time it
seemed like an innocent remark,
00:11:07
but Arkwright would
do everything he could
00:11:10
to stop the police from getting
a statement from Raymond.
00:11:14
In less than 24 hours,
Arkwright had lost his job
00:11:18
and been arrested.
00:11:20
He needed an outlet for
the pent up energy simmering
00:11:23
inside him.
00:11:27
- I were coming down the
steps and Tony approached me
00:11:30
and he said, "Are you going
out tonight?"
00:11:33
And I just said, "Yeah."
00:11:34
He said, "Do you mind if I
come wi' ya?"
00:11:36
Well, I thought, "He's never
done naught wrong to me."
00:11:41
You know what I mean?
00:11:43
It might be a chance to get
know him a bit better.
00:11:45
- NARRATOR: Later that
evening Arkwright met up
00:11:47
with Neil and his cousin.
00:11:49
As the three men got into
the car, a neighbor,
00:11:53
25-year-old Marcus Law,
blocked their way.
00:11:57
- I started the engine and
then Marcus came in front of me
00:12:01
in his wheelchair.
00:12:04
Shouting, "Where you going?"
00:12:05
And I says, "Get out of the
road, Marcus, we're going out."
00:12:10
And then all I heard next
from the back of the car were
00:12:12
Tony Arkwright said,
"I'm gonna kill that bastard."
00:12:16
And then that's when
I thought, "Wowee."
00:12:18
I says, "No, he's only
having a laugh."
00:12:20
He says, "I'm gonna kill that
bastard."
00:12:22
And I looked at his face
and I could see from his eyes
00:12:26
that he meant what he said.
00:12:29
Yeah, and I believed it.
00:12:30
- NARRATOR: Once at the
nightclub, Arkwright's behavior
00:12:33
didn't improve.
00:12:35
He was so aggressive that
they were eventually
00:12:37
thrown out by bouncers.
00:12:39
Arkwright's whole demeanor
that night made Neil
00:12:42
incredibly nervous.
00:12:45
- To be honest, I didn't feel
safe meself at that time.
00:12:47
And I'm just lucky that we
managed to get home
00:12:49
and he got out of me car.
00:12:50
Then what happened next
were unbelievable.
00:12:53
In them days you used to have
a bin, like a metal bin,
00:12:56
and I saw him, he just picked
it up and threw it
00:12:58
straight through Raymond's
flat's window.
00:13:00
I'm thinking,
"What's he gonna do?
00:13:03
"Is this ticking bomb now
going off?
00:13:05
Is--what's he doing that for?"
00:13:08
All I needed to know were
I didn't need to be there
00:13:11
and I said to me cousin,
"Let's go."
00:13:13
- NARRATOR: Whilst Neil
and his cousin called it a night
00:13:15
and made a hasty retreat,
Anthony Arkwright was only
00:13:19
just getting started.
00:13:21
He had a score to settle with
his neighbor.
00:13:24
The bin was merely the
beginning of what he had
00:13:27
in store for Raymond Ford.
00:13:29
- Raymond, according to
Arkwright, had told the police
00:13:33
about the burglary, had
suggested Arkwright was
00:13:35
responsible, and in doing so,
he'd taken the power away
00:13:39
from Arkwright,
00:13:40
and Arkwright wanted that
power back.
00:13:42
- NARRATOR: In the early hours
of Sunday the 28th of August,
00:13:46
Arkwright entered
Raymond's flat using a key
00:13:49
that he'd stolen during
the burglary.
00:13:51
Bizarrely, he was dressed
in just a pair of underpants
00:13:55
and a devil's mask.
00:13:57
- But he didn't want to leave
any forensic traces
00:14:00
on clothing, that was why
he was wearing the devil mask
00:14:05
and also a pair of underpants.
00:14:07
- DR. YARDLEY: Not only did
Arkwright kill aymond Ford,
00:14:11
he stabbed him 250 times,
that's 250 decisions
00:14:16
to cause harm to this
individual,
00:14:19
and then he draped
his entrails around the home.
00:14:23
- NARRATOR: The force that
Arkwright used to stab Raymond
00:14:27
was so great that
several of the knives actually
00:14:29
broke in two.
00:14:31
- He must have been stabbing
and stabbing
00:14:35
for a very long time.
00:14:37
There are broken knives,
he would have had to go
00:14:39
and get another knife.
00:14:41
You would suspect that he'd
probably have to have a rest
00:14:43
during that because simply
the repetitive action 250 times
00:14:48
would be incredibly physically
difficult.
00:14:52
- Worse still,
he takes out
00:14:55
just about every single entrail
00:14:59
from Raymond's body and
drapes them not only
00:15:02
in the bedroom
but all around the flat.
00:15:05
Imagine the scene.
00:15:08
- Arkwright is somebody who
has always felt a sense
00:15:11
of humiliation, a sense of shame
and now he's projecting that
00:15:15
onto his victim.
00:15:16
He's saying,
"I'm the powerful one now,
00:15:18
I can do what I want to you."
00:15:20
- NARRATOR: Shortly
afterwords, Neil Hurst
00:15:22
was woken by loud banging.
00:15:25
Arkwright, having washed off
Raymond's blood,
00:15:27
was pounding on his door.
00:15:30
- NEIL: I heard some banging at
the door and when I looked
00:15:32
through the peephole
there were Tony
00:15:34
and I just didn't answer
the door.
00:15:35
And I went into me cousin's
bedroom and opened the door.
00:15:38
'Cause he went,
"Who's fucking banging?"
00:15:40
I just said, "It's Tony from
downstairs, just leave it,
00:15:44
he can't get in."
00:15:45
And that were last we heard.
00:15:47
- NARRATOR: Later that day,
David Winter was back on shift,
00:15:52
he was conscious
that he needed to get
00:15:54
a statement from Raymond
about the burglary.
00:15:58
- Went straight to Raymond
Ford's see if I could catch him
00:16:00
before the pubs were open
and still no reply.
00:16:04
And still Arkwright comes out
and he says, "Well, he'll be
00:16:07
"out now, he's been drinking
all day and he'll be out,
00:16:10
you'll not get in."
00:16:12
And I'll keep coming back,
I did that all evening.
00:16:17
Knowing that the file's got
to be in the Monday morning
00:16:20
I were desperate to try to get
this statement.
00:16:23
And each time I knocked on
Ford's door Arkwright came out
00:16:27
and it was strange, you know,
00:16:29
it were like
he were waiting for me.
00:16:31
- NARRATOR: Arkwright
spent much of that
00:16:33
Sunday afternoon with Marcus
Law, the same neighbor
00:16:37
that he'd recently threatened
to kill.
00:16:40
25-year-old Marcus had been
injured in a motorbike accident
00:16:44
as a teenager and lived in
a bungalow
00:16:46
on the Denman Road estate.
00:16:48
- Arkwright had shared his
cigarettes with Marcus Law
00:16:53
and he didn't have any money
with which to buy
00:16:55
any more cigarettes.
00:16:57
And so he was quite sure
that Marcus Law would have
00:17:00
cigarettes in his bungalow
but he'd not shown him
00:17:03
where the cigarettes were.
00:17:05
So that was what caused
the argument later on
00:17:08
in the night.
00:17:10
- NARRATOR: On the Sunday
evening Arkwright paid
00:17:12
Marcus another visit to try
to persuade him to give up
00:17:16
some cigarettes.
00:17:17
Still, Marcus insisted he had
none and so Arkwright
00:17:21
proceeded to search
the bungalow.
00:17:24
- And then Arkwright discovers
that there are some cigarettes
00:17:26
in a drawer and he feels,
you know, that,
00:17:29
"I've been lied to."
00:17:31
So it's this sense of real
disproportionate reaction
00:17:34
to a kind of everyday situation.
00:17:37
- GEOFFREY: We're now dealing
with someone who's...
00:17:40
disintegrating into a desperate,
horrific, sadistic fantasy.
00:17:45
All we know is that, in what
can only be described as
00:17:49
utterly-depraved manner,
Arkwright attacks Marcus
00:17:54
relentlessly.
00:17:56
- DR. YARDLEY: Marcus is not
just killed, he's brutalized.
00:17:59
Arkwright stabs him over
70 times and when he's there
00:18:03
with his body in the flat
afterwards he takes cigarettes
00:18:07
and puts them into his ears,
his nose, his eyes.
00:18:12
- LOUIS: You look at that and
say, "Well, how could he
00:18:13
"possibly be so angry
at this neighbor?
00:18:16
What did the neighbor do
to deserve that?"
00:18:18
And the answer is nothing.
00:18:20
But it was a displacement
from all of the anger
00:18:23
than Arkwright felt over the
years onto other people,
00:18:26
the neighbor being one.
00:18:28
- NARRATOR: The following day
was the bank holiday Monday.
00:18:31
Marcus's mother was moving
away for a new job
00:18:35
and at 11:30 in the morning
she called round to say
00:18:38
goodbye to her son.
00:18:41
- And was unable to get in
originally, which was unusual,
00:18:44
and she managed to slip the
chain on the front door
00:18:47
and get access to the place.
00:18:49
And she found that he'd been
very brutally murdered.
00:18:52
- NARRATOR: Marcus's
distraught mother ran
00:18:54
to the police station.
00:18:56
David Winter was one of
the first officers on the scene.
00:19:00
- DAVID: He were laid out
on the floor and all his
00:19:02
chest cavity were open.
00:19:04
There were a crutch through
his body, sticking--
00:19:06
it was actually sticking up.
00:19:08
There were blood all over
the place and then he got
00:19:11
cigarettes stuck in every
orifice in his face, I mean,
00:19:14
his nostrils, even in his eyes,
his ears, mouth.
00:19:18
And he just, it just looked like
a birthday cake with candles in.
00:19:23
- NARRATOR: The quiet
mining village
00:19:25
of Wath upon Dearne now had
a major murder investigation
00:19:29
on its hands.
00:19:30
Detective Superintendent
Michael Burdis was called in.
00:19:34
- MICHAEL: It was bank holiday
Monday and I was at home
00:19:37
gardening and got a call to
attend at the scene
00:19:40
of a murder at Wath.
00:19:43
- NARRATOR: As Michael
made his way
00:19:45
to Wath Police Station, an
officer leaving Marcus' bungalow
00:19:49
saw Arkwright in the street.
00:19:51
- MICHAEL: And they expected
Arkwright to speak to him
00:19:53
because they were on good terms
and spoke to each other
00:19:56
whenever they met,
Arkwright crossed the road
00:19:59
away from him and Humphreys
was very suspicious of that
00:20:03
because it was very unusual.
00:20:05
And so called him across
and decided that he would
00:20:07
invite him back
to the police station
00:20:09
so they could have a chat.
00:20:11
- NARRATOR: When Michael
arrived, Arkwright was already
00:20:14
in the interview room.
00:20:17
- MICHAEL: So far as we knew,
Arkwright was a friend
00:20:19
of Marcus Law's
00:20:20
and we were following that
line of inquiry.
00:20:23
What did he know about the
movements of this friend?
00:20:27
So we, we had no reason
to really suspect Arkwright
00:20:31
of any particular crime
except that he'd ignored
00:20:34
this particular detective,
which was unusual.
00:20:37
- NARRATOR: Investigations
into Marcus' killing continued
00:20:40
with officers making
door-to-door inquiries
00:20:43
in the hope of finding witnesses
who may have seen his killer.
00:20:48
On the Monday evening
they spoke with a lady
00:20:50
who recounted how Arkwright
had visited her that morning
00:20:54
and he'd broken the news
that Marcus was dead.
00:20:57
- He said to her,
words to the effect,
00:20:59
"It's a pity about Marcus."
00:21:01
And then explained that
Marcus had died
00:21:04
and she thought that Marcus Law
had probably committed suicide,
00:21:08
but that was an hour
before Marcus Law's mother
00:21:11
had found the body.
00:21:13
So it was quite clear that
Arkwright must be a prime
00:21:15
suspect for that crime.
00:21:18
- NARRATOR: Clearly, Arkwright
had inside information,
00:21:22
and he was arrested on
suspicion of Marcus's murder.
00:21:26
- Arkwright wasn't admitting
that offense Arkwright was
00:21:30
merely grumbling on all sorts
of subjects and talking anything
00:21:34
but the actual response
to the questions
00:21:36
about the crime itself.
00:21:39
At the same time,
we had a major investigation
00:21:43
to undertake with house-to-house
inquiries,
00:21:45
with searches of the scene,
00:21:47
the searches of the area,
the postmortem,
00:21:50
and the rest of the material
that goes on with a major
00:21:53
crime investigation.
00:21:55
- NARRATOR: On Wednesday
the 31st of August, as officers
00:21:58
continued to speak to residents,
David Winter's thoughts
00:22:02
return to Raymond Ford.
00:22:04
He'd been so involved with
the murder investigation
00:22:07
that he still hadn't managed
to get a statement
00:22:09
from Raymond about the burglary.
00:22:12
Coincidentally,
he was the only resident that
00:22:15
the house-to-house team hadn't
managed to get in contact with.
00:22:20
- So I went down with a
uniform lad and at that time
00:22:23
his front window was
smashed, so looking in,
00:22:27
we could see this sea
of bottles that went
00:22:29
from the window right
to the back of the room like a--
00:22:33
like a slope,
00:22:34
and his chair was in front
of the TV,
00:22:38
big piles of newspapers
all over the place.
00:22:41
He wasn't sat in his chair
but the television were on.
00:22:44
So they said, "Well, you better
go in and have a look."
00:22:48
- NARRATOR: David made his way
in through the broken window,
00:22:51
it was immediately obvious
that something was amiss.
00:22:55
- DAVID: I could just see blood
all over the wall and all over
00:22:58
the floor, you know, big piles
of it so I'm stepping over it.
00:23:03
Detective Inspector came down,
he's in the door.
00:23:05
I says, "I can't let you in,
there's no keys."
00:23:08
But I'm talking to him.
00:23:09
He said, "Well,
what's it look like?"
00:23:11
I said, "Well, it's carnage in
here, there's blood everywhere.
00:23:15
Blood's--
it's dried on the floor."
00:23:17
So, "Is he in there?"
"I'll have a look."
00:23:20
So then I looked through
into the bedroom and behind
00:23:25
the door was his body,
but it were all covered up
00:23:30
with cloths and that,
but I could see a hand.
00:23:33
So I said, immediately,
"Yeah, he's here."
00:23:36
- You couldn't call it anything
other than a tip but it was
00:23:40
literally three feet deep in
clothing and underneath that
00:23:44
was the body of Raymond Ford,
00:23:47
having suffered
grotesque injuries.
00:23:51
- NARRATOR: Whilst the
police were making their
00:23:53
grizzly discovery,
Arkwright was appearing at
00:23:55
Rotherham Magistrate's Court,
charged with the murder
00:23:59
of Marcus Law and the burglary
at Raymond Ford's flat.
00:24:03
Detective Superintendent
Michael Burdis now had
00:24:06
a second horrific crime
to investigate.
00:24:09
But he already had a good
idea who was going to be
00:24:13
their prime suspect:
Anthony Arkwright.
00:24:17
- MICHAEL: Two of the detectives
that had been talking to him
00:24:20
were sitting in the canteen
area and waiting for his
00:24:26
solicitor to attend so they
were merely sitting waiting.
00:24:31
And during that time on the
table was a pack of cards
00:24:34
and Arkwright was flicking
through these cards
00:24:38
and eventually he said to
the detectives, "I can read
00:24:42
the cards," and he turned
over the four of hearts.
00:24:46
And he said, "One you've got,
two, three, four to come."
00:24:52
That prompted alarms in
the officers because they,
00:24:56
as far as they knew there was
just the one body.
00:24:59
And so they rang that
information through to me
00:25:01
at the incident room.
00:25:03
But of course by that time,
we'd found Raymond Ford's body,
00:25:07
which meant then that there
were two more.
00:25:11
- LOUIS: He didn't wanna act
like the ordinary criminal,
00:25:13
the ordinary murderer who
goes there an confesses
00:25:16
or start crying,
"You got me, oh my God."
00:25:19
He didn't want to do that
at all, he wanted to do
00:25:21
the opposite of that,
he wanted to be newsworthy,
00:25:23
to be notorious,
to be infamous in some way.
00:25:28
- NARRATOR: The case had
just been blown wide open.
00:25:30
The police now believed
there were more victims,
00:25:33
but they had no leads as to
who these unfortunate souls
00:25:36
may be.
00:25:38
Both known victims had been
from the Denman Road estate
00:25:42
and all available police
resources were sent to the area
00:25:45
to knock on doors and make
sure that every resident
00:25:49
was safe and well.
00:25:51
- MICHAEL: And we used the local
authority who provided us
00:25:54
with a joiner to help us to
break into properties
00:25:57
if we couldn't get in,
00:25:58
in the fear that
there might be a body there.
00:26:01
But at the same time we had
another team of officers
00:26:04
trying to trace his family
background
00:26:06
and his family relations
00:26:08
and other people that he may
well have been in contact.
00:26:12
- NARRATOR: Detective
Sergeant Richard Venables
00:26:14
was part of the team
investigating Arkwright's
00:26:17
background.
00:26:18
- So, I was actually tasked,
with my local knowledge in mind,
00:26:22
to look at Arkwright's
family, to try and build up
00:26:25
a picture of the guy in
custody, who had allegedly
00:26:28
committed these horrific
murders.
00:26:31
- NARRATOR: Through his
inquiries Richard learned
00:26:33
that Arkwright's grandfather,
a 68-year-old Lithuanian
00:26:37
gentleman named Stanislav
Puidokas, lived with his partner
00:26:41
Elsa Konradaite
in nearby Mexborough.
00:26:45
- We made several visits
to that house from about
00:26:48
Tuesday the 30th of August,
went once, twice a day.
00:26:53
We didn't get any
[unintelligible].
00:26:55
- NARRATOR: By Friday,
September the 2nd, the police
00:26:58
still hadn't managed to speak
to the couple, but neighbors
00:27:01
had noticed normal activity
at the house.
00:27:04
The bottles of milk left on
the doorstep had been taken in
00:27:07
each day.
00:27:09
- DR. YARDLEY: They assumed that
either the grandfather or Elsa
00:27:11
were collecting it and taking
it into the house, but actually
00:27:14
the milkman was going by
later on in the day, noticing
00:27:17
that it hadn't been taken in
and he was taking it away.
00:27:21
- MICHAEL: So that meant that we
knew there had been no activity
00:27:24
in that house and so we
feared for the safety
00:27:27
of his grandfather.
00:27:30
- NARRATOR: On the Friday
afternoon Richard paid
00:27:32
a final visit to the house
in Mexborough.
00:27:35
When yet again there was no
response he had no option
00:27:38
but to break in.
00:27:40
- I noticed that the upstairs
window of the front bedroom
00:27:43
was open.
00:27:44
I needed to source
something to get up there
00:27:47
so the next-door neighbor,
he loaned me his ladder.
00:27:50
When I looked through the
window and I saw the untidy
00:27:53
ransacking of the bedroom,
I knew there was a problem.
00:27:56
- NARRATOR: The scene was
reminiscent of many burglaries
00:27:58
they'd seen before.
00:28:00
And so Richard and his
colleague made their way
00:28:03
through the window
and into the bedroom.
00:28:05
- And when I got into that room,
00:28:07
I've smelled death before,
many times,
00:28:10
and I knew the house had got
the smell of death.
00:28:13
What I was gonna be
confronted by I didn't know.
00:28:16
And that's when the heart
started to quicken.
00:28:21
- NARRATOR: After a search
of the upstairs room revealed
00:28:24
nothing but ransacked
belongings
00:28:26
Richard prepared himself
to go down the stairs.
00:28:30
- RICHARD: If I just asked you
to transport yourself into
00:28:33
this position: you're an
investigator, you've been
00:28:36
briefed as to what this guy's
allegedly done,
00:28:40
he's disemboweled a guy,
he's stabbed him 250 times,
00:28:45
he's stabbed another disabled
guy 70 times,
00:28:48
he sliced his body open,
he rammed a crutch up that body,
00:28:52
and then all of a sudden you
know you're gonna discover
00:28:55
this guy's work.
00:28:56
I was frightened,
no two words about it.
00:28:59
And I said to my colleague,
00:29:02
"You know
what we're gonna find."
00:29:04
And he said, "Yes, Sarge."
He says, "I know."
00:29:06
And I said,
"Remember the pictures,
00:29:08
you have to brace
yourself for this."
00:29:12
We walked down the stairs
together and as we got
00:29:14
to the spot where the
landing and the bannister
00:29:17
opened up sufficiently,
I leaned forward
00:29:20
and I looked back
towards the kitchen.
00:29:22
The old lady was laid in the
kitchen door and I saw
00:29:26
the axe protruding from her
head; clearly she was dead.
00:29:31
- NARRATOR: The body was
that of 72-year-old
00:29:34
Elsa Konradaite,
Arkwright's step-grandmother.
00:29:37
She'd been ironing
on the kitchen table
00:29:40
when she was attacked.
00:29:42
- She's struck in the head
with an axe but there's none
00:29:45
of the excess that's shown
with the other victims,
00:29:49
it's not the sort of clear
message that he's trying
00:29:55
to send with the others,
it's simply getting rid
00:29:57
of a problem.
00:29:59
- RICHARD: My next consideration
was, "Where is Grandad?"
00:30:03
And Grandad wasn't there
but I had an idea where he was,
00:30:08
because as part of
our investigation that week,
00:30:11
I'd been told by locals that
Grandad had an allotment.
00:30:15
- MICHAEL: The allotment
was locked,
00:30:16
the allotment shed was locked,
00:30:18
it was quite
a substantial home-build.
00:30:20
His grandfather had been
a miner and it was a really
00:30:24
well-made piece
of equipment.
00:30:25
And we had to open that
first.
00:30:28
- NARRATOR: Once they'd
broken through the door,
00:30:30
Michael and his team made
yet another gruesome discovery.
00:30:34
- MICHAEL: Inside the she itself
was--was a workshop, really.
00:30:37
And Arkwright's grandfather
was jammed against
00:30:41
the legs of this workbench
and again,
00:30:44
he'd been
very savagely attacked.
00:30:47
- DR. HAMILTON: Arkwright
stabbed him, first of all,
00:30:50
he stabbed him with such force
he severed the spinal cord,
00:30:54
that in itself is an incredible
level of violence.
00:30:57
That wasn't enough for him,
he then strikes him with an axe,
00:31:01
almost certainly when
he's paralyzed and unable
00:31:04
to respond, and with
a large heavy hammer.
00:31:08
So this is not just killing,
00:31:10
this is sheer
needless brutality.
00:31:14
- NARRATOR: Later Arkwright
would tell investigators
00:31:17
that he'd killed his grandfather
partly because of the rumors
00:31:21
that he may actually be
his father.
00:31:23
Rumors that had tainted
his whole life.
00:31:26
And it perhaps gives a clue
as to why he would exercise
00:31:30
such extreme brutality
on the old man.
00:31:33
- This was much more
violence than was needed
00:31:36
to end his grandfather's life,
so these are these feelings
00:31:41
of shame, of humiliation,
of rage
00:31:43
really coming to the surface.
00:31:45
And I think it's, it's a way
of kind of retaliating,
00:31:48
it's a way of taking back
power.
00:31:51
- Although Arkwright was
obviously the prime suspect,
00:31:54
you take all the right steps
to make sure that you
00:31:57
gather all the scientific
material that you can gather.
00:32:02
- NARRATOR: As crime
scene investigators
00:32:04
meticulously gathered
evidence,
00:32:06
21-year-old Anthony Arkwright
00:32:09
remained
in police custody
00:32:11
at Rawmarsh Police Station
charged with murdering
00:32:14
four people, including
his own grandparents.
00:32:18
Although he was confident
they had identified
00:32:20
the serial killer, Detective
Superintendent Michael Burdis
00:32:24
knew that proving the case
might not be that simple.
00:32:30
- One of the problems that
we had was that Arkwright
00:32:33
had a right to be in some
of the premises,
00:32:36
the grandfather's house, the
grandfather's allotment shed,
00:32:40
so any traces of
fingerprints or DNA
00:32:44
could have been legitimately
there and so it didn't really
00:32:47
provide us with,
with tangible evidence.
00:32:50
So it was a matter of proving
that Arkwright had actually
00:32:53
committed the murder
rather than merely being
00:32:56
present at the scene.
00:32:57
What did give us evidence
was the fact that there were
00:33:01
items that were stolen
from those premises.
00:33:04
- NARRATOR: In particular,
one item seized when
00:33:07
Arkwright was first arrested
for the burglary
00:33:09
at Raymond Ford's flat
now became very significant.
00:33:13
- The pocket watch that
was found in his flat,
00:33:16
that we believed originally
had come from Raymond Ford,
00:33:20
was actually his grandfather's.
00:33:23
- NARRATOR: With
difficulties gathering evidence
00:33:25
conclusively linking Arkwright
to some of the murders,
00:33:29
Michael knew that
what they really needed
00:33:31
was a confession.
00:33:33
However, despite already
having spent several days
00:33:36
in the interview room
being questioned about
00:33:39
Marcus and Raymond,
Arkwright had refused
00:33:41
to give up any information.
00:33:44
- MICHAEL: He refused to answer
questions; he did talk,
00:33:48
but he wasn't answering
questions that were rational
00:33:51
and wasn't giving responsible
answers to anything
00:33:54
that we were asking him.
00:33:56
- NARRATOR: When he
learned that the bodies
00:33:58
of his grandparents,
Stanislav and Elsa,
00:34:01
had been found, and another
two murder charges
00:34:04
were to be brought against
him, Arkwright made
00:34:06
an unusual request.
00:34:08
- He asked if he could be
interviewed on tape.
00:34:11
Now, we weren't using
tape recordered interviews
00:34:14
in those days but we were
about to start the process,
00:34:18
so we decided to go ahead
and hope that Arkwright
00:34:22
would then find the facility
useful for him
00:34:25
and would be able to talk to us.
00:34:27
Didn't work quite like that,
because he merely enjoyed
00:34:31
the experience and rambling
on tape about horror films
00:34:35
that he'd watched and
experiences that he'd tried
00:34:38
to relive himself but none
of it was a response
00:34:42
to the questions
about the murders.
00:34:45
So I put a stop to that.
00:34:47
- NARRATOR: Michael Burdis
was getting tired of Arkwright
00:34:50
stringing his officers along.
00:34:52
Later that evening, Arkwright
was fetched from the cells
00:34:56
and the Detective
Superintendent himself
00:34:58
started the tape
in the interview room.
00:35:01
- I asked him questions,
he didn't respond at all,
00:35:05
I continually asked him
if he would identify his name
00:35:08
for the purposes of the tape
00:35:10
and he didn't respond to that.
00:35:12
I asked him questions
about his family,
00:35:14
he didn't respond,
he never spoke at all.
00:35:17
So then I sweeped the tape
off and I came out
00:35:20
of the interview room
quite frustrated, and about
00:35:23
five minutes later the solicitor
came down the corridor
00:35:26
and said that,
"He wants to speak to you."
00:35:28
So I refused to go through
the scenario again.
00:35:32
But the solicitor really
was very persuasive
00:35:35
and said, "I think he does
want to talk to you."
00:35:38
So I went back into
the interview room.
00:35:40
As I was setting the machine
up again he sang a little song,
00:35:44
something like,
"Da-dee-da dee-da."
00:35:48
And I said,
"Strangers in the night."
00:35:51
And he said, "You've named
that tune, you won,
00:35:53
I'll speak to you."
00:35:56
- GEOFFREY: And then of cours,e
the reality begins to pour out
00:36:00
of Arkwright.
00:36:02
Because in a period of just
56 hours he's brutally killed,
00:36:06
and you cannot say more
strongly, brutally,
00:36:10
savagely dispatched four people.
00:36:14
- MICHAEL: And he then went on
to make a full confession
00:36:16
of the murder of Raymond Ford
and Marcus Law.
00:36:20
And then started to speak
about his grandfather
00:36:23
and the tape ran out.
00:36:26
- NARRATOR: He'd had to endure
more of Arkwright's games,
00:36:29
but Michael had
managed to get confessions
00:36:31
for two of the murders.
00:36:33
The following morning the
interview resumed,
00:36:36
and Michael hoped Arkwright
would also confess to killing
00:36:39
his grandfather and Elsa.
00:36:42
- MICHAEL: He didn't have
a problem reacting
00:36:44
to the grandfather's murder,
00:36:46
they'd argued over the fact
that they did not rebuild
00:36:49
this motorcycle he was supposed
to be working on.
00:36:52
And he felt justified
in committing
00:36:56
that particular crime.
00:36:58
- NARRATOR: He also began
to speak about something
00:37:01
that had haunted him since
he was a child.
00:37:03
The local folklore
that his grandfather
00:37:06
was in fact his father.
00:37:08
- Whether Arkwright ever
believed that to be the case,
00:37:12
it wasn't true, it's certain
that he wasn't the father
00:37:14
of Arkwright.
00:37:16
But Arkwright did, did give
that information and imply
00:37:21
that that was maybe why
he murdered his grandfather.
00:37:25
- NARRATOR: When it came
to talking about Elsa's murder,
00:37:28
however, Arkwright's whole
demeanor changed.
00:37:32
- His voice went particularly
quiet, he was talking about
00:37:36
darkness and light,
black and white,
00:37:39
he was black and Elsa was white.
00:37:42
And the fact that Elsa was
Lithuanian like his grandfather
00:37:48
and didn't speak any English,
he was concerned that
00:37:51
she didn't understand
the language and he felt
00:37:54
that he was doing the right
thing by taking her life.
00:37:57
- Her killing, it wasn't as
violent as the other murders
00:38:02
in this killing spree,
which suggests to me that
00:38:05
she wasn't part of this kind
of project of vengeance,
00:38:10
she hadn't done anything
to, in his mind,
00:38:14
justify or deserved the kind of
violence that he enacted
00:38:17
on other people.
00:38:19
So she was literally a barrier
that had to be removed.
00:38:22
- NARRATOR: Arkwright
revealed that his killing spree
00:38:25
had started on Friday
the 26th of August,
00:38:28
the day he was fired from
his job at the scrapyard.
00:38:32
- GEOFFREY: And in the wake
of that firing, he set off
00:38:36
on a 56-hour killing spree
which would leave
00:38:39
four people dead.
00:38:40
- NARRATOR: The victims
were found in the opposite
00:38:42
order to that in which
they'd been killed.
00:38:45
His grandfather might have
been the last to be discovered
00:38:48
but he was Arkwright's first
murder.
00:38:51
For his neighbor Neil Hurst,
this was a shocking revelation.
00:38:55
It meant that Arkwright had
already killed at least
00:38:58
two people by the time he
was trying to get into
00:39:00
Neil's flat in the early hours
of Sunday, the 28th of August.
00:39:05
It put a different perspective
on Arkwright's motive
00:39:08
for the visit.
00:39:09
- I reckon if I'd have
answered that door,
00:39:12
I would have been killed
that night me self.
00:39:14
Definitely, if I'd have
answered the door to him.
00:39:16
I think he would have to do
what he could and
00:39:19
[unintelligible] all in one
night, so yeah, I think
00:39:23
he'd have took my life if
I'd have answered that door.
00:39:26
- NARRATOR: In July 1989,
Anthony Arkwright appeared
00:39:30
at Sheffield Crown Court,
he was charged with
00:39:33
four counts of murder.
00:39:35
- At the trial, Arkwright
really is the director and star
00:39:38
of his own movie.
00:39:40
- MICHAEL: He was most
flamboyant, he appeared wearing
00:39:43
a jacket and a bowtie
in court and he waved
00:39:48
at the journalists
and waved at people.
00:39:51
- GEOFFREY: If you look at
pictures of him at the time,
00:39:54
you see the face of a man who's
almost sneering at the camera.
00:39:58
As if, "Look what I've done,
look at me, I'm so clever."
00:40:03
He wasn't at all clever.
00:40:05
- Our understanding, and the
understanding of the judge,
00:40:07
was he was pleading guilty
to all four murders.
00:40:10
It was quite the bizarre
event because
00:40:13
when he was arraigned before
the judge and the clerk
00:40:16
of the court put the charges
to him he pleaded not guilty
00:40:19
to everything.
00:40:21
Which took everybody
by surprise,
00:40:22
including his own barristers.
00:40:24
- NARRATOR: The hearing
was adjourned whilst
00:40:26
his defense team attempted
to find out the reasoning
00:40:29
behind the last-minute change
in plea.
00:40:33
Eventually, Arkwright
returned to the court
00:40:36
on the understanding that he was
permitted to read a poem
00:40:39
that he'd written.
00:40:40
- DR. YARDLEY: There's a very
clear reason why he does this,
00:40:42
'cause he's enjoying the
attention, he's enjoying
00:40:44
the notoriety, and a poem
is something that's
00:40:47
quite unique, it's something
that is quite unusual.
00:40:50
He knows that this is
something that the media
00:40:52
will pick up on, something
that he will be remembered by.
00:40:55
- MICHAEL: Wasn't really a poem,
it was just a rambling
00:40:58
of words and after a few
minutes the judge said,
00:41:01
"No, I think we've had enough,
and we'll stop the trial there.
00:41:06
How do you plead to
these charges?"
00:41:08
And he pleaded to the three
charges murder against
00:41:12
Raymond Ford, Marcus Law,
and Stanislav Puidokis,
00:41:17
and not guilty to the murder
of Elsa Konradaite.
00:41:22
- NARRATOR: The judge
ordered Elsa's killing
00:41:25
to remain on file and on
the 12th of July, 1989,
00:41:29
Arkwright was sentenced
for the other three murders.
00:41:32
- GEOFFREY: The judge describes
him as an evil fantasist
00:41:37
and calls the crimes
grotesque sadism.
00:41:41
It's impossible not to agree
with him.
00:41:45
He sentences Arkwright to
life with a minimum term
00:41:49
of 25 years.
00:41:52
- NARRATOR: In 1990,
his case was reviewed
00:41:54
by the Home Secretary, who
imposed a whole life tariff.
00:41:58
Arkwright is the youngest
person ever to have received
00:42:02
this term in the UK and has
been condemned to die
00:42:05
in prison.
00:42:07
- Life would mean life
as far as he was concerned,
00:42:10
and I think that that's
a proper sentence.
00:42:12
I don't think this is
a safe man to ever allow
00:42:14
out on the street again.
00:42:17
- His goal was not just
to kill and to destroy
00:42:20
and to release all of the
anger and rage he carried
00:42:23
with him his whole life,
but he wanted to be infamous.
00:42:27
- RICHARD: I have to say that
the discovery of both bodies,
00:42:30
really, was probably
the most horrific sight
00:42:33
I've ever seen.
00:42:34
And remains the worst
injuries I've ever seen that
00:42:37
a human can deliberately
inflict upon another human.
00:42:42
- GEOFFREY: Arkwright took
exceptional pride in killing
00:42:46
in the most grotesque way.
00:42:48
To take someone's life
is bad enough but to then
00:42:52
to destroy what remains
of their body either by...
00:42:56
eviscerating it or by
gouging the eyes out
00:42:58
or by stabbing it several
hundred times,
00:43:02
these are the acts of a man
who clearly deserves
00:43:05
to be called evil.
00:43:08
- NARRATOR: Arkwright
grew up harboring
00:43:10
a vendetta against his own
family, he cared only
00:43:13
for himself and would do
whatever he wanted
00:43:16
to those he deemed less
worthy.
00:43:18
He was a habitual criminal
who craved recognition.
00:43:21
And by engaging in a
killing spree fueled by rage
00:43:25
and revenge, was determined
to emerge infamous.
00:43:28
He slaughtered his
grandparents before torturing
00:43:31
and mutilating
two vulnerable neighbors,
00:43:34
making Anthony Arkwright one of
the world's most evil killers.
00:43:39
- ♪
00:43:54
♪♪
00:44:06
- [swishing sound]
