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NARRATOR: On the 4th of January 2012 in the English market
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town of Bewdley, Worcestershire, the body
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of 77-year-old grandmother Betty Yates
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was discovered in her isolated cottage along the banks
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of the River Seven.
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Her killer had vanished without a trace.
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JENNIFER MEIERHANS: The community
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felt extremely distraught, devastated,
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but also very much in fear.
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You know, the killer was on the loose.
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So it was something that people were really frightened about.
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NARRATOR: Betty's murderer was 47-year-old Stephen Farrow,
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a homeless drifter with a penchant for petty crime
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and a violent disposition.
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This was not the first time he'd targeted a trusting victim,
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nor would it be the last.
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I don't think it's any coincidence that Farrow
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targeted elderly people.
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Elderly people are one of the most targeted groups
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by British serial killers.
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This was a very deliberate choice of victim.
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NARRATOR: Fear spread through Bewdley,
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but the case remained a mystery.
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And soon after, Farrow struck again.
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This time, his victim was a parish vicar.
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GEOFFREY WANSELL: The most striking moment of the case
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is the posing of John Suddards' body.
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It's an act of gross depravity.
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NARRATOR: Driven by selfish greed,
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he showed no remorse for the crimes he committed.
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He ruthlessly beat, stabbed, and killed two elderly victims
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and left another scarred for life.
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This makes Stephen Farrow one of the world's most evil killers.
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
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In January 2012, the unprovoked murder
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of a beloved retired school teacher Betty Yates
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shocked the small English town of Bewdley to its very core.
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Local journalist, Jennifer Meierhans
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followed the shocking case from the very beginning.
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I vividly remember the-- the phone
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call coming into the newsroom.
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My chief reporter putting the phone down and saying to me,
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there's been a murder in Bewdley.
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Police are calling a press conference.
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Can you get over there?
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NARRATOR: Residents from the small town
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couldn't believe such a violent attack
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had happened on their doorstep.
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RICHARD PERRIN: She was loved, yes.
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And that's why the people of Bewdley were-- were so shocked.
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I mean, there have been occasional murders in Bewdley,
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but none as violent as this.
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You know, we are only a small community.
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You can imagine the effect it had on everybody.
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NARRATOR: Six weeks later and over 60 miles south
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in the peaceful market town of Thornbury,
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another brutal murder with chilling similarities
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shocked the entire nation.
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59-year-old Reverend John Suddards had been stabbed
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to death in his vicarage.
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The following day we had a vigil where people
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came all through the evening to light a candle
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and to remember John.
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So the whole town was shocked and disbelieving that this
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had happened in this place.
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Betty Yates and John Suddards were exemplary members
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of our community.
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They were decent, honest people, the kind
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of people that go out of their way to help people in need.
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Is it that fact alone that makes this the most awful of cases.
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NARRATOR: The prime suspect was a tall imposing outsider,
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a 47-year-old drifter carrying a large backpack,
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a man called Stephen Farrow.
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The killer's story begins in 1964 on the outskirts
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of Shropshire in the Midlands.
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Stephen Farrow was one of six children born
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to parents Doreen and Reginald.
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The family were deeply religious, and life at home
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was strict.
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The relationship that he had with his parents
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was quite a contrasting one.
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So he didn't get along with his father.
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He was quite a disciplinarian.
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He was very strict.
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His mother, on the other hand, idolized him.
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So he's got this real inconsistency
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in terms of the messages he's been given by his parents.
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JENNIFER MEIERHANS: Even from a young boy,
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he was quite a hyperactive unpredictable child.
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I think I heard that he was sent home on his first day
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at school for disruptive behavior.
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NARRATOR: During his early school years,
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Farrow's behavior became more alarming.
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JENNIFER MEIERHANS: It became quite apparent that he had
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a real loathing for the church.
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There was an example given that when he was 10,
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he set fire to a church altar and just sat and watched
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it burn to the ground.
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ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Farrow claimed
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to have this hatred of the church from a very early age.
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And he suggests that that is because he
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was sexually abused by somebody who was in the church.
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So there just seem to be quite a lot of aggression
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directed at religious institutions.
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NARRATOR: During adolescence, Farrow's unruly behavior
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started coming to the attention of the law.
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JENNIFER MEIERHANS: So Farrow's offending
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started in his teenage years.
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He was convicted for a burglary.
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He was convicted of arson.
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And later on, he had a jail term for theft and deception.
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GEOFFREY WANSELL: Certainly, by the time
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he got the first proper conviction,
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that sense of not being like other men or other young men
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was firmly established.
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He couldn't hold down a job really.
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He lived on the edge of society.
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He was always bumping along the bottom.
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NARRATOR: By the time Farrow reached adulthood,
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he was firmly established as a petty thief
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and a detached loner.
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In and out of prison, his offending
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was beginning to escalate.
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But it wasn't until 1994 that his criminal pursuits
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would become violent.
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Farrow was doing a four-year stretch in prison for burglary,
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deception, and theft when he was allowed out on day release.
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And he'd previously known a woman called
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Stella Crowe, who operated kind of informal premises
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in Stourbridge.
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So on his day out of jail, Farrow sought out Stella
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and turned up to stay with her.
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NARRATOR: 78-year-old Stella was not
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expecting what happened next.
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GEOFFREY WANSELL: He knocks on her door and forces his way in.
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And he produces a knife.
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And a really nasty--
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a scuffle breaks out.
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And then, in an absolute explosion of violence,
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he starts punching her.
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And he punches her brutally in the face
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repeatedly, not only blackening both her eyes,
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but also knocking some of her teeth out.
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It's a brutal, brutal attack, leaving the poor lady
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absolutely traumatized.
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NARRATOR: After the ferocious assault,
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Farrow headed into the kitchen, leaving
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Stella beaten, bloodied, and unconscious on the floor.
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I think he did deliberately choose this place.
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It was somewhere he knew.
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It was somewhere he was familiar with.
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He knew exactly where the jar of money
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was that she kept downstairs.
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And I think he fully intended to steal from Stella on the day
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that he went there.
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NARRATOR: Farrow searched the cupboards,
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and made off with just 24 pounds.
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It didn't take long for police to track Farrow down.
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But the challenge would be arresting him.
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Like a cornered animal, he bit one of the officers.
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Farrow's attack on Stella Crowe
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was really the first long jail term he got.
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He got eight years for aggravated burglary.
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And until then, his crimes had been more lower level,
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certainly not as violent.
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So this was the first time in his conviction history
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that he's gone down for a violent attack.
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NARRATOR: Having convinced the authorities that he was
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a reformed character, Farrow was released
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from prison early in 2000.
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He then disappeared without a trace.
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GEOFFREY WANSELL: He became, I suppose
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you'd call it, now a vagrant, really,
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certainly a rough sleeper.
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He was quite fond of building camps in the countryside,
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sustaining himself by thieving, you
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know, bits and pieces from shops,
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little bits of money here and there, little bits of burglary.
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Then he would fish.
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He was a keen fisherman, which had
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developed throughout his life.
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He would cook the fish he caught to sustain himself.
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It wasn't a life that many people would recognize.
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It was completely dissociated from society as a whole.
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ELIZABETH YARDLEY: I think the choice
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to live his life in this quite transient way
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is a very conscious one for Farrow.
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I don't think he relates very well to other people at all.
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So I think during the time that he's on the road,
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he's ruminating, he's-- he's fantasizing, he's--
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he's starting to have these thoughts that would
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eventually become actions.
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NARRATOR: During this time, Farrow
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surfaced in the small town of Bridport, Dorset.
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One man who saw the violent nature of this insular drifter
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firsthand was local vicar, Andrew Evans.
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ANDREW EVANS: The first time that I--
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I met Stephen Farrow was on the door with--
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with another one of the homeless people, whom I knew well.
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And he introduced himself as a project worker.
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And what that meant for me was that he
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was somebody who was employed.
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He was somebody with a degree of authority.
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He was somebody who was already working with this other person.
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So I accepted him on those terms as somebody
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who perhaps worked for social services
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or for another charity, and so on.
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Of course, it actually turned out to be
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that none of that was true.
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NARRATOR: During his time on the road,
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Farrow often used a local church communities across the country
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to gain access to food, shelter, and money.
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GEOFFREY WANSELL: He would beg, for example, the hard up--
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he might turn up at a vicarage door asking for money.
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He might go to a church coffee morning
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for the coffee and a sandwich.
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There was a time when he was looking
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perhaps, to settle in the area.
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He'd been around for several months, which
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is quite a long time for him.
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And he was looking for a flat, or he-- at least
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he said he was looking for a flat
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and he needed a deposit or money towards the deposit.
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And that was one time when he-- he really did
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put quite a lot of pressure on me to give him money.
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And I could sense that he was becoming more and more angry,
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more and more frustrated.
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And I said, well, no, no.
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The answer's no.
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That's not what-- we don't do it.
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That's it.
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But that was one time when I could really
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say that I'd felt concerned for my own safety,
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because he had become very frustrated.
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NARRATOR: After his tense encounter
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with Reverend Andrew Evans, Farrow
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disappeared without a trace.
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However, it would not be long until his violent temper
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and selfish desires surfaced once more.
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On the 22nd of December 2011, the 47-year-old drifter
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arrived in Thornbury.
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Here, he broke into a small cottage
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on the outskirts of the town.
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Vine cottage was empty because the owners were away.
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Now, Farrow broke in.
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And he absolutely ransacked the place.
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He-- he turned out the draws.
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And whilst he was at the house, he
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helped himself to food and drink,
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which he left partially consumed in the kitchen.
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GEOFFREY WANSELL: He's like a man possessed.
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He steals a watch.
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He steals a radio, [INAUDIBLE] rather
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a nice radio, which he puts in his backpack and keeps there.
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But more worryingly, more frighteningly,
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he doesn't stop there.
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This time, he leaves the occupants a message.
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NARRATOR: Pinned to the kitchen table with two carving knives
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was a chilling message for the owners of Vine cottage.
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In terms of Farrow's intentions
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when it came to Vine cottage, I think
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this is a man who literally follows his own wants and needs
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at any given point in time.
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So I think at this time, he probably needed money.
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He was probably hungry.
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He was probably thirsty.
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And those immediate needs that he was fulfilling.
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But then, I think when he's there,
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he realizes he's got this chance to frighten
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people at the same time.
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And this is why he leaves this really menacing note.
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NARRATOR: Little did the residents of Thornbury know,
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this sinister message would be an omen of things to come.
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Farrow's hatred for the church would lead him onto even more
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despicable deeds.
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Stephen Farrow's attitude to the church in--
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in my experience-- it was slightly-- he--
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he spoke about the Church and Christian folk
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that he didn't particularly like it.
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He didn't like it as an institution.
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He saw Christians as hypocrites, I think.
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And that made him angry.
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ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Farrow is somebody who
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claims to hate Christianity.
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But spent an awful lot of time around the church.
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And I think because some of those Christian values,
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the kindness, the openness to strangers
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are things that Farrow knew that he could prey on,
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they provided access and opportunity for him
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to get to these victims.
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So he completely exploited this.
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NARRATOR: Approximately 10 days after the burglary at Vine
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cottage, 47-year-old Farrow arrived
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in Bewdley on the banks of the River Seven, 60 miles north
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of Thornbury.
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JENNIFER MEIERHANS: Bewdley was a really lovely quiet patch.
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And I'd mostly be reporting there on Bewdley Festival.
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They've got a huge arts and culture scene there,
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or you know, Bewdley duck race or something--
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mostly positive news was-- was coming from there.
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NARRATOR: One of the town's most affable residents
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was Betty Yates, a sprightly 77-year-old widow
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with an active social life.
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Betty's friend from the town, Richard Perrin
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remembered her outgoing personality.
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RICHARD PERRIN: I knew Betty really quite well for something
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like over 20 years.
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And the reason for that was that she was a member
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of Bewdley Civic Society.
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She was very gregarious.
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She talks a lot, but she talks a lot of sense.
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And she was generous.
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And therefore, people liked her.
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And she was very popular in the community.
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JENNIFER MEIERHANS: She was so involved
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in so many different aspects of the local community.
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She used to go to a walking group.
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She hosted a book club in her cottage once a month.
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People told me that they would be there,
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all around her table with cups of tea and coffee
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and huge piles of biscuits.
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She was a retired schoolteacher, so generations of people
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knew her and loved her.
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NARRATOR: At 2:30 PM on the 2nd of January 2012,
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Stephen Farrow spotted Betty's secluded cottage
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nestled in the trees along the riverbank,
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far from prying eyes.
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The 47-year-old drifter scooped out his target,
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and then forced his way into Betty's home.
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No sooner is he inside the house than he
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grabs a walking stick and assaults
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Betty Yates brutally with it.
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In an act of the most barbaric savagery, he poses her almost.
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He puts her head on a cushion and then proceeds with a knife
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to stab her in the neck.
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It's a horrifying thought that he was determined,
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unlike Stella Crowe all those years
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before, that he wasn't going to leave someone
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alive who can identify him.
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NARRATOR: As Betty lay lifeless on the hall floor,
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Farrow was in no rush to leave the scene of the crime.
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ELIZABETH YARDLEY: After the murder,
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Farrow spends some time tidying up.
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And he puts the blinds down.
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And he locks the house.
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And so I think he's trying to postpone the time
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that Betty will be discovered.
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He just disappears like a ghost.
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This is not a man who is in a panic of any kind at all.
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He's a man who is remorseless, calculated, and sadistic.
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NARRATOR: Two days later on the 4th of January 2012,
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a worried friend called in at the cottage when Betty didn't
00:17:38
arrive at her walking group.
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The devastating truth behind Betty's absence
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was about to be revealed.
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Betty was found at the bottom of the stairs.
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She'd been beaten with our own walking stick
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so hard that the stick had actually splintered.
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Her head had been arranged on a pillow.
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And she'd been stabbed in the neck.
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When police found her, the knife was
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still sticking out of her neck.
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NARRATOR: The sleepy town of Bewdley
00:18:06
suddenly found itself at the center
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of a murder investigation.
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RICHARD PERRIN: Well, it was exceptional to us
00:18:14
around here, because it was not something we come across very
00:18:18
often in-- in Bewdley.
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We're a pretty close community, a friendly community.
00:18:25
And this thing doesn't happen.
00:18:28
So we were shocked.
00:18:30
Why on Earth would anyone want to murder Betty Yates?
00:18:35
OK, she lived in an isolated spot.
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But that was no reason for-- for this to happen.
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It was-- it was shocking.
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NARRATOR: The forensics team underwent
00:18:49
a lengthy investigation of the crime scene.
00:18:52
Betty had been stabbed four times, one of which
00:18:55
severed her jugular vein.
00:18:58
Investigators also made a surprising discovery
00:19:01
when they examined the cushion underneath Betty's head.
00:19:05
The fact there's no blood beneath the cushion
00:19:07
is a very unusual finding.
00:19:11
If you're putting a cushion under somebody's head
00:19:14
to look after them or comfort them,
00:19:18
you'd expect blood on the floor.
00:19:20
It implies that her head is on the cushion
00:19:23
when the stab wounds are inflicted to her neck.
00:19:26
It's a very bizarre sequence of events.
00:19:31
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: This isn't some act of empathy or anything
00:19:34
like that.
00:19:35
It is something that is serving his immediate needs.
00:19:38
So it could be that he gets irritated by the sound
00:19:41
of her head hitting the floor.
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It might be that this absorbs some of the sounds.
00:19:47
So this is all about him.
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This is not about his victim.
00:19:51
NARRATOR: Jennifer Meierhans was one
00:19:52
of the first local journalists to hear about the murder.
00:19:57
It was quite dark.
00:19:58
And we just gathered outside a police station.
00:20:01
And the policeman told us the very little
00:20:03
information that they had.
00:20:05
That there'd been a murder.
00:20:06
An older woman had been killed in a remote Riverside cottage.
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And that was really all we had to go on at the time.
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NARRATOR: Dozens of police and forensics investigators
00:20:17
descended upon the small community
00:20:20
looking for potential leads.
00:20:22
JENNIFER MEIERHANS: Betty Yates' murder
00:20:23
was a huge case for the area.
00:20:25
So there were 50 officers working on it.
00:20:29
So you'd see search teams in the areas around the house
00:20:33
and also in the town, speaking to people.
00:20:36
And Crime Stoppers actually offered a very rare reward
00:20:40
of 10,000 pounds for anyone that had any information that helped
00:20:44
them catch Betty's killer.
00:20:46
NARRATOR: But the killer had disappeared without a trace.
00:20:49
Local police launched a community appeal to help
00:20:53
identify this violent murderer.
00:20:56
The police had invited press to come as part of their appeal
00:21:00
and to see the location, so it might
00:21:03
help people jog their memory.
00:21:05
And I remember walking around the house and it feeling--
00:21:11
really not feeling right to be able to see into this--
00:21:15
this lovely home.
00:21:16
You could see through the conservatory there
00:21:19
was still fruit in the bowl.
00:21:20
And this was someone's idyllic--
00:21:24
their solace, their home.
00:21:26
And-- and it didn't feel right that that happened there.
00:21:31
NARRATOR: As details of the murders
00:21:32
started to filter through the town,
00:21:35
fear that the killer could strike again
00:21:37
caused dread amongst the locals.
00:21:40
RICHARD PERRIN: This murderer could still be amongst us all.
00:21:44
The police didn't seem to have any-- any leads.
00:21:49
There was a very big concerted effort by the police.
00:21:53
You could see that by the number of police officers
00:21:56
around the place.
00:21:57
And you know, naturally, people were
00:22:01
worried that-- that might be somebody still around Bewdley.
00:22:07
JENNIFER MEIERHANS: I think because Betty was so well known
00:22:09
in the community, her death and the horrific manner of it
00:22:13
touched a lot of lives.
00:22:16
As the local paper, each week we were
00:22:18
following the latest leads.
00:22:21
And there were things like the idea
00:22:23
that it could have been a burglary gone wrong,
00:22:25
the idea that it could have been someone Betty knew.
00:22:28
There was an appeal for a gray Audi,
00:22:30
a man wearing a red hoodie.
00:22:32
And there were all these different lines
00:22:35
that never really got anywhere.
00:22:38
NARRATOR: Tensions mounted in Bewdley as the weeks led by
00:22:41
and the police came no closer to catching Betty's killer.
00:22:45
47-year-old Stephen Farrow was hiding
00:22:48
in the British countryside avoiding the authorities.
00:22:53
Here is a man who's existing beyond society, beyond the law,
00:22:58
under the law, under the radar.
00:23:01
It's as if he just disappears into the undergrowth.
00:23:05
Commits a crime, disappears.
00:23:07
It's that extraordinary ability to hide that makes
00:23:11
it so remarkable for me.
00:23:14
NARRATOR: But as the English weather continued
00:23:16
to deteriorate, Farrow made the decision to visit
00:23:19
one of his regular haunts.
00:23:21
Once again, he arrived at the door
00:23:23
of Reverend Andrew Evans in Bridport
00:23:26
on the South Coast of England.
00:23:28
ANDREW EVANS: It was a surprise.
00:23:30
It was dark.
00:23:31
It was pouring with rain.
00:23:33
He was all covered up.
00:23:35
With him, I was always--
00:23:37
always very friendly, always very respectful,
00:23:41
as I try to be with all of them.
00:23:43
But also, very-- always very cautious.
00:23:45
And I felt cautious that night.
00:23:47
Steve Farrow had said that he-- he had actually
00:23:49
been in Gloucestershire.
00:23:51
Then I think he said that he was heading towards Kent, where I'm
00:23:55
not sure if he had a family member or sister or friend
00:23:58
or something.
00:23:58
Which, again, is an unusual detail for him.
00:24:01
It was quite evident that he wasn't right, even for him.
00:24:06
I suspect he had probably spiraled out of control.
00:24:10
One of the reflections for me was that you know, he--
00:24:15
I'm glad he walked away that night.
00:24:17
Because he said to me, you don't know me.
00:24:19
You don't really know me.
00:24:21
You don't know what I'm capable of.
00:24:24
NARRATOR: As Reverend Evans reflected on his narrow escape,
00:24:28
Farrow traveled north.
00:24:30
And on the 13th of February 2012,
00:24:33
he arrived in Thornbury, the location of his burglary
00:24:37
at Vine cottage six weeks before.
00:24:41
Bruce Goodwin was the curate at Thornbury
00:24:43
parish church, alongside the vicar
00:24:46
there, 59-year-old Reverend John Suddards.
00:24:51
BRUCE GOODWIN: John was a really nice man.
00:24:53
He's in the model of an old fashioned priest.
00:24:58
He took Jesus's word to love your neighbor
00:25:00
as yourself to heart.
00:25:03
And he had a real heart for the poor and needy,
00:25:06
those on the margins.
00:25:07
And perhaps as a single man, he was
00:25:09
able to give more time and energy to those things
00:25:12
within the church.
00:25:13
NARRATOR: Charitable and gentle, Reverend Suddards
00:25:16
had arrived six months earlier to bring
00:25:19
his community-focused ministry to the local area.
00:25:23
Back in November 2011, he appeared on the local radio.
00:25:32
DANIEL WAY (ON RADIO): This is Gloss FM,
00:25:34
and you're listening to Daniel Way with Nick
00:25:37
Thornley and Daphne Ashton.
00:25:40
DAPHNE ASHTON (ON RADIO): How do you feel about the Church
00:25:42
staying open, John?
00:25:43
JOHN SUDDARDS (ON RADIO): I think it's very important.
00:25:46
We want the church to be there for anyone who needs.
00:25:49
And we try to make sure that it's
00:25:51
open during daylight hours.
00:25:53
But the church has been there for the people of Thornbury
00:25:56
for hundreds of years.
00:25:57
BRUCE GOODWIN: One of the things that he
00:25:59
chose to do as a single man in a fairly sizable vicarage
00:26:03
was to allow those who were perhaps passing through,
00:26:07
or needed a place to sleep to lodge on his porch.
00:26:11
JOHN SUDDARDS (ON RADIO): And we do have to take risks.
00:26:13
But we believe that they're the risks
00:26:15
that we're called upon to take.
00:26:17
BRUCE GOODWIN: He had that kind of open-door policy.
00:26:20
And he often left his light on so that those passing
00:26:24
could see that he was there.
00:26:27
NARRATOR: At approximately 5:00 PM,
00:26:30
Farrow appeared on the reverend's doorstep.
00:26:33
The unsuspecting vicar opened the door as he always did.
00:26:38
GEOFFREY WANSELL: Suddards is attacked almost
00:26:40
immediately he opens the door.
00:26:43
He's stabbed repeatedly, at least three
00:26:45
in the neck and the abdomen and one specifically,
00:26:50
in the chest, which actually punctures his heart.
00:26:54
NARRATOR: The 59-year-old vicar was taken completely
00:26:58
unawares by the violent Farrow.
00:27:01
GEOFFREY WANSELL: He's talked in the past about sometimes
00:27:03
the dangers of being in a vicarage
00:27:06
and having to answer the door to strangers.
00:27:10
I doubt he could ever have thought that he
00:27:13
would actually lose his life to someone
00:27:17
who knocked on his door.
00:27:19
NARRATOR: During the attack, the vicar tried to defend himself,
00:27:23
sustaining cuts to his hands and arms.
00:27:27
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Whilst Farrow was killing John,
00:27:29
he told him to hurry up and die.
00:27:31
And this is incredibly revealing about Farrow.
00:27:35
He's irritated by him.
00:27:36
This is taking longer than he expected.
00:27:38
He's probably quite tired at this point in time.
00:27:41
So this shows us how selfish this individual is.
00:27:46
NARRATOR: As the reverend lay lifeless
00:27:48
in the vicarage hallway, the remorseless Farrow
00:27:51
made himself at home and settled down for the night.
00:27:56
JENNIFER MEIERHANS: When this picture of how the reverend had
00:27:59
died and-- and what had happened afterwards with Farrow staying
00:28:02
at his house the whole evening with his body
00:28:05
and drinking his beer and watching his DVDs,
00:28:09
it really feels very chilling that someone could do that.
00:28:13
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: This would appear
00:28:15
to be quite high-risk behavior for somebody who's
00:28:18
just carried out a murder.
00:28:19
But the thing you need to remember about Farrow
00:28:21
is he only cares about himself.
00:28:23
NARRATOR: By 6:00 AM the next morning, Farrow had locked up
00:28:27
and left the vicarage.
00:28:28
He boarded a local bus and disappeared once again.
00:28:33
Farrow's in the wind.
00:28:34
He's absolutely under the radar again.
00:28:38
He's hiding, as he's always hidden, beneath the radar
00:28:41
in the undergrowth.
00:28:43
NARRATOR: Later that morning, two workmen
00:28:45
arrive to do some renovation work on the vicarage.
00:28:49
When they entered the property, they were confronted
00:28:52
with a horrifying sight.
00:28:54
JENNIFER MEIERHANS: The way that John Suddards was-- was found,
00:28:57
there were various items scattered
00:28:59
around his body, things like a Bible,
00:29:02
picture of Jesus, a calendar.
00:29:05
And there had been party poppers let off over his body.
00:29:10
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Farrow created
00:29:12
an incredibly dramatic scene, which
00:29:14
was designed for an audience.
00:29:16
He had a mirror.
00:29:18
He put condoms around the body, erotic DVDs, men's magazines.
00:29:23
And he's creating this scene to kind
00:29:26
of display his own handiwork and also humiliate his victim.
00:29:30
It's not enough that he's killed John.
00:29:33
He wants to demean him.
00:29:34
He wants other people to think badly of him.
00:29:39
NARRATOR: Shortly after the discovery,
00:29:41
Bruce Goodwin received a distressing telephone call.
00:29:46
BRUCE GOODWIN: The church secretary who'd started work
00:29:48
called me and said, you need to come to the vicarage now.
00:29:52
And I said, why?
00:29:53
She said, John's dead.
00:29:55
And I was completely shocked.
00:29:59
And jumped in the car, drove quickly down to the church.
00:30:03
I couldn't believe that he died.
00:30:05
I never expected to hear the news that I heard.
00:30:08
NARRATOR: Police immediately got to work sealing off the area.
00:30:13
BRUCE GOODWIN: So at the time, the police
00:30:16
designated both the vicarage and the church a crime scene.
00:30:19
So the workmen, the secretary, the chap who'd
00:30:23
let the workmen in, and myself were all taken to the church
00:30:27
and kept there.
00:30:28
And we were then told this was a investigation.
00:30:32
It was very important we didn't leave the area.
00:30:36
NARRATOR: Farrow's depraved acts also
00:30:38
extended beyond humiliating the innocent vicar's body.
00:30:43
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Police found "help"
00:30:44
written in blue ink behind a painting at the crime scene.
00:30:48
And Farrow wrote this, because I think,
00:30:50
he's essentially trying to create
00:30:52
a bit of a mental instability narrative around this murder.
00:30:56
He's perhaps trying to appear to be unstable and insane.
00:31:02
NARRATOR: As Farrow traveled south back to Thornbury,
00:31:04
local police were hot on his trail.
00:31:07
Unlike Betty's isolated cottage, John's vicarage
00:31:11
was just outside the hustle and bustle of Thornbury town.
00:31:15
Using CCTV, police tracked Farrow's movements
00:31:19
as he walked up Castle Street towards the vicarage
00:31:22
on the evening of the murder.
00:31:24
They then located him on Castle Street
00:31:27
once again on the morning after the murder.
00:31:30
So police managed to pick up Farrow on CCTV
00:31:33
after he'd left the vicar's home.
00:31:36
And he then was on a journey to Kent.
00:31:40
GEOFFREY WANSELL: But now, you've
00:31:41
got the Crime Watch appeal for Betty Yeats's killer.
00:31:45
And you've got a sustained appeal
00:31:47
from the police in Thornbury for the killing of John Suddards.
00:31:53
And this time, they've got some advantages,
00:31:57
in particular, CCTV.
00:32:00
They now have screengrab of the man they're looking for.
00:32:05
NARRATOR: The image was quickly circulated
00:32:07
amongst national news outlets, with an appeal for information
00:32:11
from the public.
00:32:13
GEOFFREY WANSELL: A number of people
00:32:15
describe, in the Betty Yates case,
00:32:18
seeing this tall man with a backpack passing.
00:32:23
And we now have of course, in Suddards' case,
00:32:26
a tall man with a backpack getting
00:32:27
onto a bus in the CCTV images.
00:32:32
NARRATOR: Farrow was a wanted man.
00:32:34
On the run from the police, he started making
00:32:37
his way across the country.
00:32:40
GEOFFREY WANSELL: He hasn't realized that his face
00:32:43
is now appeared on television.
00:32:46
A lot of people are beginning to recognize.
00:32:49
And now, two police forces are collaborating.
00:32:55
NARRATOR: On the 19th of February 2012,
00:32:58
Farrow knocked on the door of an old friend's house.
00:33:02
GEOFFREY WANSELL: When he gets to Folkestone,
00:33:05
the friend, who's just seen the television appeal,
00:33:09
apparently welcomes him.
00:33:11
But at the same time, disappears and calls the police.
00:33:15
REPORTER: This is the house in Folkestone where Kent police
00:33:18
arrested Stephen Farrow early this morning, following
00:33:21
a tip off from the public.
00:33:24
GEOFFREY WANSELL: At first, Farrow denies everything.
00:33:27
But gradually, as it becomes clear
00:33:31
that there is an overwhelming amount of evidence against him,
00:33:37
he begins to accept that he's not going
00:33:40
to be able to simply deny it.
00:33:43
NARRATOR: Shortly after his arrest,
00:33:45
Avon and Somerset police announced
00:33:48
47-year-old Stephen Farrow was the prime suspect
00:33:51
in both murders.
00:33:53
We got that news I think, on the Sunday morning.
00:33:57
And we were I think, quite relieved.
00:34:00
And it was interesting, because I was half term.
00:34:03
So I actually went into the school, which
00:34:05
is very near to the church and vicarage, and did an assembly
00:34:09
and talked to many of the parents afterwards.
00:34:11
And there was a relief that they'd-- they'd apprehended
00:34:14
the person who was responsible.
00:34:16
NARRATOR: The vicious killer had been caught at last.
00:34:20
However, Farrow wasn't going to go down without a fight.
00:34:23
And his controlling behavior was going to extend
00:34:27
into the trial itself.
00:34:29
Oliver Saxby QC was the barrister
00:34:32
tasked with defending him.
00:34:34
Stephen Farrow didn't run consistent defenses.
00:34:37
He said as far as Betty Yates was concerned, it wasn't me.
00:34:42
Somebody else did it.
00:34:42
There is a killer out there.
00:34:45
As far as the Reverend Suddards is concerned,
00:34:47
he said, well, that was me.
00:34:49
But it was diminished responsibility.
00:34:53
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: I think that Farrow
00:34:54
confessed to John's murder because the evidence was
00:34:57
so overwhelming.
00:34:58
And when it was presented to him,
00:35:00
he realized that the game was up.
00:35:02
But I think he still felt quite confident
00:35:05
that his cover story for Betty's murder would still stack up.
00:35:09
He-- he really did think that he'd gotten away with that one.
00:35:12
NARRATOR: Farrow's defense team were
00:35:14
attempting to secure a reduced sentence for their client.
00:35:18
OLIVER SAXBY: Diminished responsibility
00:35:20
reduces what would otherwise be murder to manslaughter.
00:35:25
It is what it says on the tin.
00:35:27
It's the law recognizing that people can do terrible things,
00:35:30
but their responsibility for what they've done
00:35:32
can be the less, because of their mental disorder
00:35:36
or mental illness.
00:35:38
NARRATOR: But the evidence against Farrow was undeniable.
00:35:43
JENNIFER MEIERHANS: When police had arrested Farrow for the two
00:35:45
murders, they then had to get the evidence
00:35:48
together to prove it.
00:35:50
So I understand they found a footprint on an exercise mat
00:35:54
at Betty's house, which they were able to match
00:35:56
to a pair of boots that Farrow was
00:35:58
wearing when he was arrested.
00:36:00
They later were able to get a full DNA
00:36:04
profile of Betty and Farrow from the back of her hand.
00:36:08
There was something like a billion
00:36:10
in one chance of it being from someone
00:36:12
else other than physical contact between Farrow and Betty Yates.
00:36:18
One of the key principles of forensic science
00:36:21
is that every contact leaves a trace.
00:36:23
So offenders always take something
00:36:25
to the scene of the crime with them that they leave there.
00:36:28
And they always take something away.
00:36:29
And that was very much the case here.
00:36:32
So Betty's body was--
00:36:34
was covered in his DNA, her hands,
00:36:38
her ear, some of the items relating to her murder.
00:36:42
And it was a similar case with John's killing as well.
00:36:45
So even though Farrow had made attempts
00:36:48
to-- to clean up, particularly at Betty's murder,
00:36:51
there was no way that that evidence
00:36:53
was going to be erased.
00:36:54
STUART HAMILTON: In this case, Farrow has
00:36:58
picked on two older victims.
00:37:02
He has stabbed them and stabbed them
00:37:07
in slightly unusual places.
00:37:10
So the head and neck are not as common a target
00:37:14
as the chest and abdomen.
00:37:16
So we're starting to build a picture of similar events,
00:37:22
similar mechanisms of assault. And that
00:37:27
will start to produce links between those two crimes,
00:37:32
simply from the way that somebody committed them.
00:37:35
GEOFFREY WANSELL: In the end, it is the DNA
00:37:37
evidence that is conclusive.
00:37:40
And Farrow can wriggle as much as he wants.
00:37:46
But the DNA doesn't lie.
00:37:49
NARRATOR: The trial began on the 4th of October 2012
00:37:54
at Bristol Crown Court.
00:37:56
OLIVER SAXBY: In order for diminished responsibility
00:37:58
to become a defense, the jury has to be satisfied, not only
00:38:02
that there was some problem with mental functioning,
00:38:04
some mental disorder or mental illness,
00:38:08
but also that it played a part in what happened.
00:38:11
JENNIFER MEIERHANS: Various psychiatric reports
00:38:13
were run on Farrow.
00:38:15
And they were read out to the jury.
00:38:17
And psychiatrists found that, yes, he-- he was a psychopath.
00:38:21
But he did know the difference between right and wrong
00:38:25
and that he knew what he was doing.
00:38:27
GEOFFREY WANSELL: The personality disorder
00:38:29
that's associated with Farrow is psychopathic personality
00:38:33
disorder.
00:38:34
So this is about having a lack of empathy, a lack of guilt,
00:38:37
a lack of remorse, essentially not feeling
00:38:39
bad when you hurt other people.
00:38:42
He knew that he was harming these people.
00:38:43
He knew that it was wrong.
00:38:45
And as a result, he was culpable for these crimes.
00:38:50
NARRATOR: After his initial hearing,
00:38:52
Farrow refused to attend the trial.
00:38:55
Instead, his interactions with the court
00:38:58
were conducted by video link.
00:39:01
OLIVER SAXBY: At one point, the jury
00:39:02
passed a note asking whether they
00:39:04
were going to hear from him-- hear his account of things.
00:39:08
They used his first name.
00:39:09
They said something like, are we going to hear from Steve,
00:39:12
I think.
00:39:13
But he didn't give evidence.
00:39:14
He didn't want to give evidence.
00:39:16
He was quite happy for the case to carry on in his absence.
00:39:18
We explained to him that it may count against him
00:39:21
in the minds of the jury.
00:39:23
Although, having said that the judge was good enough,
00:39:26
I think quite right too, to warn the jury
00:39:30
against jumping to any conclusions
00:39:32
about his non-attendance.
00:39:33
I mean, goodness, they heard an awful lot
00:39:35
about him and his background.
00:39:37
And I suppose the fact he didn't turn up to court
00:39:40
was the very least of his problems.
00:39:41
I think he just was quite happy where he was, frankly.
00:39:44
JENNIFER MEIERHANS: For me, I was reporting almost
00:39:47
in isolation, Betty's case.
00:39:50
So during the court case for all the other violent episodes
00:39:56
of his past to come forward and to hear about what happened
00:39:59
to John Suddards, it really you know,
00:40:02
paints a picture of a very violent and dangerous
00:40:05
psychopath.
00:40:07
NARRATOR: On the 2nd of November 2012,
00:40:10
all 12 jury members found Stephen Farrow guilty
00:40:14
of the murder of John Suddards.
00:40:17
He was also convicted of the murder of Betty Yates
00:40:20
by a majority of 11.
00:40:23
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: This was not a fit of rage.
00:40:25
He didn't just kind of kill these people
00:40:27
in some delusional episode and then come to afterwards.
00:40:30
Because he was so methodical, he was so strategic in cleaning
00:40:34
up and getting away afterwards.
00:40:36
GEOFFREY WANSELL: It is truly dreadful.
00:40:39
And Farrow's lack of remorse, underlining, as if we needed
00:40:43
to be underlined, his callousness, his brutality,
00:40:48
his lack of empathy--
00:40:49
there could be no clearer indication
00:40:52
that the jury did not believe a word
00:40:56
of this diminished responsibility defense.
00:41:01
NARRATOR: On the same day, Judge Mr. Justice
00:41:04
Field passed a whole life sentence
00:41:07
for these ferocious crimes.
00:41:09
Farrow would remain behind bars for the rest of his life.
00:41:15
There are some people who have committed crimes that
00:41:17
are so heinous that we can never justify
00:41:20
releasing them into society.
00:41:22
I think it's wholly appropriate sentence.
00:41:25
GEOFFREY WANSELL: These were, in the words of the judge
00:41:27
who sentenced him to a whole life term of imprisonment,
00:41:31
one of broadly only 60 or so prisoners in the British system
00:41:36
given whole like terms--
00:41:38
called him a sadist.
00:41:40
Called it an absolutely sadistic killing.
00:41:45
That's precisely what they both were, utterly sadistic.
00:41:49
The crimes of a man who wanted no more than the pleasure
00:41:52
of taking another life.
00:41:55
NARRATOR: Throughout the trial, Betty Yates's family remained
00:41:58
dignified in their grief.
00:42:00
Her daughter gave a brief statement when Farrow
00:42:03
was finally put behind bars.
00:42:06
It is important that our mom does not become defined
00:42:09
by the brutality of her death, but is celebrated
00:42:12
for the 77 years of her life.
00:42:15
She will be remembered by her family, friends, colleagues,
00:42:19
and pupils as a woman who was kind, determined,
00:42:22
and above all, good fun.
00:42:26
JENNIFER MEIERHANS: The murders had a tremendous effect
00:42:28
on the community.
00:42:29
Certainly in Bewdley where I was, the loss of Betty
00:42:33
was really keenly felt. So the communities
00:42:37
were both absolutely devastated, really shocked, and very
00:42:41
frightened by what happened.
00:42:43
BRUCE GOODWIN: It's very sad.
00:42:45
But it's one of those things that you know,
00:42:48
has affected many people's lives in-- in Thornbury.
00:42:51
Fortunately, the Christian hope is that beyond the grave,
00:42:56
you know, John is safe in the arms of God.
00:42:58
And so we have that reassurance.
00:43:01
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: I think what's
00:43:02
exceptional about this case is nothing
00:43:05
to do with Farrow at all.
00:43:06
It's actually his victims.
00:43:08
They were vibrant.
00:43:09
They were very community spirited.
00:43:11
They were good people.
00:43:12
And I think they're the ones that we need to remember.
00:43:16
NARRATOR: He was a remorseless and selfish drifter,
00:43:20
whose sense of entitlement drove him to brutal acts of violence.
00:43:24
Two of his victims were subjected
00:43:26
to cruel and ferocious attacks that
00:43:29
ultimately claimed their lives.
00:43:32
That labels Stephen Farrow forever as one of the world's
00:43:36
most evil killers.
00:43:37
[MUSIC PLAYING]
