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The Broken Trust | A Deadly Family Betrayal | Fatal Fraud

March 06, 2026 / 47:07

This episode discusses the case of Elizabeth Vamplew, who died in a house fire on December 15, 2021. Key topics include economic abuse, the role of family members in elder care, and the investigation into the fire's cause. Guests include forensic psychologist Dr. Vicky Thakordas-Desai, fire scientist Emma Wilson, and prosecutor Peter Joyce.

Elizabeth Vamplew, a 77-year-old mother and grandmother, was known for her caring nature and financial support for her family. However, her daughter-in-law, Karen Vamplew, was later implicated in her murder. Karen had been financially struggling and was a caregiver for Elizabeth.

On the night of the fire, Karen reported the incident, claiming she was checking on Elizabeth. However, evidence suggested that she had planned the fire, as she contacted insurance on the same day Elizabeth died. Fire expert Emma Wilson conducted tests that disproved the idea that the fire was caused by Elizabeth smoking in bed.

The investigation revealed that Karen had been withdrawing money from Elizabeth's accounts, indicating economic abuse. The prosecution argued that financial gain was Karen's motive for the murder, leading to her arrest and trial.

Ultimately, Karen was convicted of murder and sentenced to 32 years in prison. The episode highlights the complexities of familial relationships, trust, and the tragic consequences of financial exploitation.

TL;DR

Elizabeth Vamplew was murdered by her daughter-in-law Karen, driven by financial exploitation and economic abuse, leading to a conviction for murder.

Episode

47:07
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[audio logo]
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NARRATOR:<i> Every fraud</i> <i> begins with a promise.</i>
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VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: She paid for their weddings.
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She paid for various trips.
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She wanted to look after them as best as she could.
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NARRATOR:<i> A quick</i> <i> fortune, easy money, or</i>
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<i> a life transformed overnight.</i>
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PETER JOYCE: She would have left
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a reasonable estate behind.
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It had been a sizeable sum of money.
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NARRATOR:<i> But behind</i> <i> these illusions</i>
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<i> lie calculated</i> <i> deceptions, carefully</i>
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<i> hidden in plain sight.</i>
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POPPY EVERTON: It's not uncommon
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for us to see economic abuse mixed with psychological abuse
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or coercive control.
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FIONA HOTSTON MOORE: It's relatively
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easy with online banking for someone
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to help or coerce someone into transferring
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money out of their investments into another bank account.
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NARRATOR:<i> Sometimes</i> <i> these criminals</i>
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<i> are backed into a corner</i> <i> and feel their only way out</i>
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<i> is to kill.</i>
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SHEILA ANDERSON: It just feel very, very sad
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that somebody would want money so desperately that you'd
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have to end somebody's life.
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[exhilarating music]
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- My name is Emma Wilson, and I'm a fire scientist.
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I investigate fires, usually on behalf of the police.
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Usually the primary investigator.
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So I attend a fire scene when I'm
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invited to, to work out where it started, how it started,
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and, if possible, to help with who might have
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started it, if there is a who.
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NARRATOR:<i> In the early</i> <i> hours of December 15, 2021,</i>
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<i> a fire was reported</i> <i> in the suburbs</i>
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<i> of Newark, Nottinghamshire.</i>
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EMMA WILSON: I first got involved
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in this case when I was contacted
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by Nottinghamshire police.
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I was told that it was a domestic fire, that there
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had been a fatality.
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The victim's name was Elizabeth Vamplew.
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I was told that it had been investigated by a team
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initially, but their findings were inconclusive
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and that they needed a second opinion in order
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to be able to confirm the route that the investigation
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should go.
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NARRATOR:<i> Elizabeth Vamplew</i> <i> was a 77-year-old mother and</i>
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<i> grandmother,</i> <i> and a familiar face</i>
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<i> amongst the tight</i> <i> knit community</i>
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<i> of her quiet cul-de-sac.</i>
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- I'm Sheila Anderson.
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I was born and bred in Newark, and
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I came down here to live in a bungalow
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because of my disability.
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Elizabeth was a very, very lovely woman.
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When I opened the paper and I saw that, I was really shocked.
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I couldn't believe it.
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It was just something that you don't hear of all the time
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and knew it like that.
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- My name is Poppy Everton.
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I work for Hourglass Safe Aging.
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Elizabeth was a really warm and caring person,
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somebody that was always going out of her way
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to support and help the people around her and her loved ones.
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She was a devoted mother and grandmother,
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really enjoyed spending time with her grandkids.
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That was when she was at her happiest.
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She ultimately loved Christmas, and
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her family often talk about how that time of year
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brought her such joy.
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Very, very well liked amongst family, friends,
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and the community as a whole.
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NARRATOR:<i> Elizabeth was most</i> <i> happy tending her small but</i>
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<i> well-kept garden</i> <i> and spoiling her three</i>
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<i> beloved grandchildren.</i>
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- We also know that Elizabeth would help with money or gifts
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for her family, whether that be at birthdays, Christmases.
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And just making sure that they felt supported by her.
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- My name is Dr. Vicky Thakordas-Desai,
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and I am a consultant forensic psychologist.
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Elizabeth seemed to be a doting and caring mother.
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She clearly loved her children.
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She wanted the best for them.
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She had supported them financially.
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She paid for their weddings, she paid for various trips
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for them, and it just seemed that she
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wanted to look after them as best as she could.
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NARRATOR:<i> Elizabeth</i> <i> suffered from limited</i>
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<i> mobility and required visits</i> <i> from nurses twice a day.</i>
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- My name is Peter Joyce, King's Counsel,
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and I was the lead prosecutor in the case.
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Elizabeth was very disabled, her breathing was poor,
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her mobility was very poor.
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She had to go around in a wheelchair.
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She was put to bed.
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She was got up.
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She was basically looked after.
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She was all but bedbound, but not quite.
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NARRATOR:<i> One</i> <i> of Elizabeth's nurses</i>
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<i> was her daughter-in-law,</i> <i> Karen Vamplew.</i>
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SHEILA ANDERSON: Well, actually, I bumped into Karen
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a time or two, and I've spoken to her
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and we've just said hello, and she just
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seemed an ordinary person like myself.
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POPPY EVERTON: Karen was an informal carer for Elizabeth,
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so although Elizabeth had paid carers coming in,
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Karen was helping her with particular things
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that she may have needed support with.
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VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: By Karen regularly
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checking in on Elizabeth and being present for her,
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it seems that Elizabeth would have felt a sense of trust
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and safety around Karen.
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Here was somebody who was looking after her, who wanted
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to ensure her well-being.
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NARRATOR:<i> Karen Vamplew</i> <i> was a 41-year-old</i>
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<i> mother of four who was known</i> <i> to have financial difficulties.</i>
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PETER JOYCE: Karen Vamplew was married
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to Elizabeth Vamplew son.
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Karen had trouble making ends meet.
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There's no question about that.
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VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: Chronic financial stress
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can be very debilitating for an individual.
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So the level of pressure that she
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would have been under to pay off
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her debts, to support her family would have been immense.
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NARRATOR:<i> At 1:25 AM</i> <i> on December 15, 2021,</i>
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<i> Karen Vamplew called</i> <i> emergency services to report</i>
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<i> a fire at Elizabeth's home.</i>
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- The version of events given by Karen
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was that she had woken up in the early hours of the morning.
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Had become nervous around her mother-in-law
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and wanted to check on her.
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She drove to the property, said that when she got there,
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she had realized she'd forgotten her keys
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and couldn't remember the number for the key safe.
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- She said she'd gone there to look because she had
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not had a call from Elizabeth.
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EMMA WILSON: So she tried to raise her mother-in-law
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by knocking on the door and the windows
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and could not get any attention.
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But she also doesn't describe seeing, hearing, or smelling
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anything else at that time.
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My understanding is that she was initially
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present for a significant period of time
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when she couldn't find her keys and couldn't access
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the key lock according to her.
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She then says that she goes back home to retrieve her key,
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but that she'd only left the area for around 10 minutes
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and then returned.
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And when she returns, she opens the front door
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to Elizabeth's bungalow and immediately sees smoke.
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PETER JOYCE: She said that she'd found the fire light.
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She said that she'd gone in and pressed an alarm button.
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EMMA WILSON: Then Karen immediately
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contacts the fire service.
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NARRATOR:<i> Fire</i> <i> services took just</i>
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<i> five minutes to respond,</i> <i> arriving at Elizabeth's home</i>
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<i> at 1:30 AM.</i>
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EMMA WILSON: When the fire service arrived,
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Karen has then explained to the fire crews
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and to the fire investigator that her mother-in-law
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was a heavy smoker and had a habit of smoking in bed.
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NARRATOR:<i> When firemen</i> <i> entered the blazing property,</i>
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<i> they encountered</i> <i> intense heat and</i>
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<i> smoke 2 feet from the floor.</i>
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<i> They found Elizabeth crouched</i> <i> at the foot of her bed.</i>
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PETER JOYCE: Elizabeth had to be rescued
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by two very brave firemen who got
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her out alive, despite the fact she was grievously injured.
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She was saying something about cigarettes
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to the nurse at the hospital.
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NARRATOR:<i> Elizabeth</i> <i> was suffering</i>
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<i> from burns to 80% of her</i> <i> body and from the effects</i>
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<i> of smoke inhalation.</i>
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- Elizabeth was recovered outside by the firefighters
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and that she was later taken to hospital and died there.
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- All over the television, Facebook, social media
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and in the Newark advertiser.
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And it was in the Newark advertiser
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that I read all about it properly.
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I feel very, very sad that the lady had to die.
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NARRATOR:<i> On December 15, 2021,</i> <i> 77-year-old Elizabeth Vamplew</i>
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<i> died after being rescued</i> <i> from her burning home,</i>
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<i> and police immediately</i> <i> launched an investigation.</i>
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EMMA WILSON: When I was first told
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that there had been a fatality, I
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was told that she was an elderly lady who
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lived in an address on her own, that she had carers
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come to help her on a daily basis in the morning
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and in the evening.
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And that she was largely bedbound and needed
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help to move around.
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I was also told that she had a son and a daughter-in-law who
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were part of her family group, and
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that her daughter-in-law was part of her care group at times
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as well.
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NARRATOR:<i> In the initial</i> <i> stages of the investigation,</i>
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<i> police had little evidence</i> <i> to suggest the fire</i>
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<i> was not caused</i> <i> by Elizabeth dropping</i>
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<i> a cigarette in her bedroom.</i>
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EMMA WILSON: The information that Karen Vamplew
00:10:19
gave to the fire investigation team at that initial stage was
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that Elizabeth was a very heavy smoker
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and tended to smoke in bed.
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However, information from the carers
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was that she did not smoke in her bed.
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She smoked once in the morning and once in the evening.
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PETER JOYCE: Elizabeth was quite canny in some ways
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because she pretended she didn't smoke, but did
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and hid the cigarette end in the kitchen
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or smoked outside the door.
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But she was also very careful about smoking
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because whenever she finished her cigarette,
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she would put it out under a tap
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and hide it away to get rid of it.
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EMMA WILSON: The information about smoking in her bed
00:11:04
was only ever received from Karen.
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So that was the route that the initial investigation
00:11:09
team followed, that she was a heavy smoker.
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Their conclusion was that the fire
00:11:14
was most likely the cause of a dropped
00:11:16
lit cigarette in the bed.
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NARRATOR:<i> As part</i> <i> of the initial investigation,</i>
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<i> both Elizabeth's son</i> <i> and daughter-in-law, Karen,</i>
00:11:24
<i> were questioned by police.</i>
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- He was very angry that--
00:11:30
that had happened to him.
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Quite clearly been at home on the night
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of his mother's death.
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There was nothing to do with him.
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NARRATOR:<i> Police</i> <i> were particularly</i>
00:11:39
<i> interested in questioning</i> <i> Karen about her movements</i>
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<i> on the night Elizabeth died.</i>
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PETER JOYCE: She said she'd gone
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there to look because she had not had a call from Elizabeth.
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Her account was she found the fire
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and had gone round by chance that night.
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That was the basic story.
00:11:56
There was CCTV evidence of her leaving her home.
00:12:00
There was evidence of her car arriving and being parked quite
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near to Elizabeth's home.
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There was CCTV evidence of her running
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away from the first visit back to her car,
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not walking-- running.
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There was CCTV evidence of her getting home, carrying
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what looked like a towel.
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There was more CCTV evidence of her coming out
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of her house, again, about two minutes later, having changed,
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and going back, purporting then to find the house on fire.
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NARRATOR:<i> Police</i> <i> also discovered</i>
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<i> Karen contacted</i> <i> the home insurance</i>
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<i> company the very day that</i> <i> Elizabeth had died in the fire.</i>
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VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: Karen contacted
00:12:45
the insurers on the same day her mother-in-law dies.
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And it really just shows how insensitive
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she was to the situation.
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But equally, it raised suspicions.
00:13:01
NARRATOR:<i> In early</i> <i> 2022, police decided</i>
00:13:04
<i> to take a more</i> <i> detailed look into</i>
00:13:06
<i> Karen Vamplew's background.</i>
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EMMA WILSON: I was given very little detail
00:13:11
about the background of the case.
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It helps me to remain unbiased since my initial examination
00:13:18
of the information.
00:13:20
My understanding is that there was some fraud aspect to it
00:13:24
involving financial gain of Karen
00:13:28
taking money from Elizabeth.
00:13:31
- Karen was hard up, no question.
00:13:34
Karen Vamplew's main interest in life, it seemed to me,
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was actually money for Karen.
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Karen needed Elizabeth's money to make
00:13:47
ends meet to maintain her lifestyle
00:13:49
with her husband and kids.
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NARRATOR:<i> Despite having no</i> <i> previous criminal record,</i>
00:13:54
<i> police discovered</i> <i> that Karen had</i>
00:13:56
<i> been accused of financial</i> <i> misdealings in the past.</i>
00:14:00
PETER JOYCE: She had a previous relationship, which
00:14:02
had ended when it was suggested that she'd taken money,
00:14:06
and she then dumped that particular friend or male
00:14:09
friend when that came out.
00:14:12
She wasn't charged with anything about that,
00:14:14
but she was investigated about it.
00:14:17
NARRATOR:<i> Police</i> <i> also discovered</i>
00:14:19
<i> that in the weeks</i> <i> leading up to her death,</i>
00:14:21
<i> Karen made a number</i> <i> of cash withdrawals</i>
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<i> from Elizabeth's account.</i>
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- I looked at all the banking evidence.
00:14:28
I looked at the evidence of Elizabeth's expenses,
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which we saw down the years, some of the material
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that she'd given to Karen or money she'd given to Karen
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were legitimate, but very few.
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- My name is Fiona Hotston Moore,
00:14:46
and I'm a forensic accountant and expert witness.
00:14:50
Typically when we're looking at someone like Elizabeth
00:14:54
and they're a bit older and perhaps spending a lot of time
00:14:57
at home, we expect to see fairly modest expenditure.
00:15:01
We would see small amounts for looking after themselves,
00:15:06
maybe the odd gift to the family members
00:15:08
and then regular payments to their carers.
00:15:11
So it's a very consistent pattern.
00:15:14
POPPY EVERTON: When Karen was interviewed by police
00:15:16
several times, at a certain point,
00:15:18
it was disclosed that some of the bills
00:15:21
for Karen and her husband were actually in Elizabeth's name.
00:15:25
And the reason that was given for this
00:15:27
was that ultimately, the company was potentially
00:15:30
going to cut Karen and her partner off due to the debts
00:15:33
potentially that had accrued already.
00:15:36
And so they had put this in Elizabeth's name.
00:15:39
Karen did mention that Elizabeth was aware of this.
00:15:42
- If I was looking at the records
00:15:44
and I noticed that someone was paying someone else's bills,
00:15:49
then that could potentially be a red flag.
00:15:51
Why would they be paying them?
00:15:53
It could be out of the kindness of their heart,
00:15:55
but it could suggest that actually, they
00:15:56
weren't aware they were paying someone else's bills
00:15:59
or there was a level of coercion going on.
00:16:03
NARRATOR:<i> When police examined</i> <i> Elizabeth's bank statements,</i>
00:16:06
<i> the number of unusual</i> <i> cash withdrawals</i>
00:16:09
<i> led investigators to suspect</i> <i> that Elizabeth had been</i>
00:16:12
<i> the victim of economic abuse.</i>
00:16:15
- I think older people, the most common form of abuse
00:16:18
is economic abuse.
00:16:20
It's often for some form of financial gain,
00:16:22
so it's not uncommon for us to see
00:16:24
economic abuse mixed with psychological abuse
00:16:26
or coercive control.
00:16:30
PETER JOYCE: Karen was one of Elizabeth's carers.
00:16:34
Karen played on that to have access to Elizabeth's finances.
00:16:41
POPPY EVERTON: Often, the power dynamic,
00:16:43
when there are care and support needs for the victims,
00:16:46
can be worrying when that person who's
00:16:49
delivering that care and support is ultimately somebody
00:16:52
who has their own gain in mind, and
00:16:55
somebody who needs that level of care and support,
00:16:58
is going to be very dependent on that person
00:17:01
to provide that for them.
00:17:02
And unfortunately, that puts them in the perfect position
00:17:06
to exploit that power.
00:17:08
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: Karen was in a trusted position.
00:17:10
She was supporting Elizabeth, and
00:17:13
it is possible that because she was helping her in her day
00:17:17
to day activities, that she felt
00:17:19
entitled to something from Elizabeth
00:17:22
and entitled to that money.
00:17:25
POPPY EVERTON: Karen admitted in a police interview
00:17:27
that she felt that Elizabeth was quite well off,
00:17:30
money wise in her opinion.
00:17:32
And ultimately, Elizabeth was in a position
00:17:35
where she owned the bungalow that she lived in.
00:17:38
She was able to pay independently
00:17:41
for carers, for a cleaner, for a gardener
00:17:44
and to Karen, who was in significant financial
00:17:48
dire straits.
00:17:49
Ultimately, this would have potentially been
00:17:52
an area of real resentment.
00:17:58
NARRATOR:<i> Police discovered</i> <i> around April 2021,</i>
00:18:01
<i> Elizabeth had approximately</i> <i> 27,000 pounds in her bank</i>
00:18:05
<i> account, but the balance began</i> <i> to dwindle soon after Karen</i>
00:18:10
<i> became Elizabeth's nurse.</i>
00:18:13
- It's relatively easy with online banking for someone
00:18:17
to help or coerce someone into transferring money out
00:18:21
of their investments into another bank account,
00:18:25
and it's potentially difficult to trace that
00:18:29
happening until it's happened.
00:18:32
PETER JOYCE: It shows a gradual denuding
00:18:35
of the account of Elizabeth's money and going down
00:18:37
and down and down.
00:18:39
And you could see transactions happening, which were
00:18:41
clearly for Karen's benefit.
00:18:44
Karen was doing much of her shopping and things
00:18:46
on Elizabeth's account.
00:18:48
She had access to the card.
00:18:50
We could see where the money had been spent,
00:18:52
and then you could see how the account had been basically
00:18:57
reduced over the months from the moment Karen
00:19:01
became a carer with the card.
00:19:05
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: It is possible
00:19:06
that Karen started to rationalize in own mind
00:19:10
that she was entitled to some of this money.
00:19:12
She was caring for Elizabeth.
00:19:14
She was checking in on her.
00:19:16
She was doing her day-to-day errands.
00:19:19
So Karen may have felt a sense of entitlement to those funds.
00:19:28
POPPY EVERTON: Hourglass did a piece of research
00:19:30
a few years ago, and one in four people that were spoken to
00:19:35
did not think that taking money from an older relatives
00:19:38
bank account or precious items from their home
00:19:41
counted as abuse.
00:19:43
And this is unfortunately a--
00:19:46
a societal issue as a whole.
00:19:48
This notion of entitlement that if you
00:19:51
provide care and support for somebody,
00:19:54
you are entitled to money.
00:19:55
You're entitled to belongings.
00:19:57
It's just not true.
00:19:59
You provide care and support for somebody in your family
00:20:01
because you want to provide care and support for them that
00:20:05
doesn't come with strings attached,
00:20:07
or it shouldn't come with strings attached.
00:20:09
But ultimately, people do feel entitled to some form
00:20:13
of gain from that.
00:20:14
And that's where these situations in domestic abuse
00:20:16
can really escalate and the risk can really escalate.
00:20:21
FIONA HOTSTON MOORE: In cases such as Elizabeth,
00:20:23
we would also look at their wider financial investments.
00:20:27
So we'd be looking at any ISAs and savings
00:20:29
and so on that they've got and seeing whether those ISAs and
00:20:33
savings were still there, or was
00:20:35
there evidence that actually those
00:20:36
had been drawn from as well.
00:20:39
NARRATOR:<i> Police also</i> <i> discovered that in the days</i>
00:20:41
<i> leading up to her death,</i> <i> 10,000 pounds was withdrawn</i>
00:20:46
<i> from Elizabeth's</i> <i> individual savings account,</i>
00:20:49
<i> known as an ISA.</i>
00:20:52
POPPY EVERTON: This essentially goes
00:20:53
to show the access that Karen does have, not
00:20:56
only to Elizabeth's account, but
00:20:58
we have to think about how she may have coerced that
00:21:03
from Elizabeth and what the conversations may have been
00:21:07
to lead to that, whether it's emotional manipulation,
00:21:10
whether it's coercive control and the level of threat there.
00:21:13
There are lots and lots of ways that people
00:21:15
can use to essentially manipulate and exploit older
00:21:19
people for financial gain.
00:21:23
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: Karen was in a position of trust.
00:21:25
Elizabeth had trusted her with access to her accounts.
00:21:29
And over time, Karen took advantage of that trust
00:21:33
and drained Elizabeth's account of her savings.
00:21:38
This tells me that Karen had really started to see Elizabeth
00:21:44
as a means to an end.
00:21:46
Elizabeth was a financial source for her.
00:21:50
It seems that Karen had stopped seeing Elizabeth as a--
00:21:55
as a human being, and she was reduced
00:21:57
to an object that could satisfy her own needs and desires.
00:22:11
NARRATOR:<i> During</i> <i> their investigation</i>
00:22:13
<i> into Elizabeth</i> <i> Vamplew's death, police</i>
00:22:16
<i> discovered that the day before</i> <i> Elizabeth died in the house</i>
00:22:19
<i> fire, Karen Vamplew accompanied</i> <i> her mother-in-law to the bank.</i>
00:22:25
PETER JOYCE: The bank was saying, before we authorize
00:22:28
funds, any more payments on the card,
00:22:31
we want to see the older Mrs. Vamplew.
00:22:35
In other words, Elizabeth to see whether or not she
00:22:38
was being taken advantage of by the user of the card.
00:22:43
Elizabeth was bedbound, and Karen did something with regard
00:22:47
to the phone that stopped the bank getting in touch directly
00:22:53
with Elizabeth, like turning off the answering
00:22:55
machine, something like that.
00:22:57
But she prevented the bank getting
00:22:58
directly to Elizabeth while she Karen, was milking the account.
00:23:03
NARRATOR:<i> When the bank were</i> <i> unable to speak with Elizabeth</i>
00:23:06
<i> on the phone, the bank limited</i> <i> Elizabeth's spending to just</i>
00:23:10
<i> 5 pounds per transaction.</i>
00:23:13
- And that's when the bank put a stop on the card.
00:23:17
And effectively, that's when the goose
00:23:18
stopped laid the golden egg.
00:23:20
It's also the time, I think, when Elizabeth first
00:23:23
became really aware as to just how extensive Karen's raiding
00:23:27
of her account had been.
00:23:30
POPPY EVERTON: On the 14th of December 2021,
00:23:34
Karen accompanied Elizabeth to the bank.
00:23:36
And this is something that we may see in situations where
00:23:40
that perpetrator will attend appointments,
00:23:43
whether at a bank, a GP surgery with social care
00:23:47
with that victim, because ultimately, what this does
00:23:50
is if that victim is concerned that something's going on
00:23:54
or something untoward maybe happening,
00:23:56
particularly with their finances,
00:23:58
because Karen went with Elizabeth.
00:24:00
It leaves very little room for any disclosures
00:24:03
to be made to bank staff or to any other professionals
00:24:06
that we see in these situations as well.
00:24:10
PETER JOYCE: And it's almost certain
00:24:11
that that was the first time that Elizabeth really
00:24:13
understood just how Karen had been milking
00:24:17
Elizabeth's account, because there was
00:24:20
virtually nothing left in it.
00:24:23
It was very, very depleted by her daughter-in-law.
00:24:26
For the first time, Elizabeth knew just what had
00:24:30
been happening to her money.
00:24:34
NARRATOR:<i> After</i> <i> examining bank records,</i>
00:24:36
<i> police discovered that</i> <i> in just eight months,</i>
00:24:39
<i> Elizabeth's account</i> <i> balance dropped</i>
00:24:41
<i> from 27,000 to 105 pounds.</i>
00:24:46
POPPY EVERTON: It's very likely that during that trip
00:24:49
to the bank, Elizabeth realized how much money had
00:24:52
been taken out of her account.
00:24:54
The vast differences with what should
00:24:56
be in there to her knowledge and
00:24:58
what was actually in the account,
00:25:00
and it may be at that point, she
00:25:01
has become aware that she has been exploited
00:25:04
by her daughter-in-law, Karen.
00:25:06
And ultimately, in that moment, you
00:25:08
have to consider the horror, the betrayal, the concerns
00:25:13
about money worries, because not only has this
00:25:16
been done by somebody in a position of trust and somebody
00:25:19
within the family, so that betrayal is going
00:25:21
to be very much overwhelming.
00:25:24
NARRATOR:<i> The trip</i> <i> to the bank was</i>
00:25:25
<i> less than 24 hours</i> <i> before the fire that</i>
00:25:28
<i> would take Elizabeth's life.</i>
00:25:31
- There was not really much time for Elizabeth to react.
00:25:35
And if she was made aware during that trip to the bank
00:25:38
the financial economic abuse that
00:25:40
was happening from her daughter-in-law,
00:25:43
it is quite suspicious that the incident
00:25:45
happened the following day.
00:25:48
And similarly, something that we see as a charity
00:25:51
when there are grandchildren in a situation, an older person
00:25:56
may not choose to report to the police
00:25:59
because ultimately, they do not want to criminalize the parents
00:26:02
of their grandchildren.
00:26:04
PETER JOYCE: The day after the visit to the bank, two things
00:26:07
happened, I think.
00:26:08
Elizabeth found out what had been happening.
00:26:12
And the day after, the money had ceased for Karen.
00:26:17
Elizabeth had ceased to be of use to Karen.
00:26:20
She was only a burden now in terms
00:26:22
of having to care for her.
00:26:24
And so she killed her.
00:26:32
NARRATOR:<i> With police now</i> <i> believing that Elizabeth</i>
00:26:35
<i> was the victim of economic</i> <i> abuse before she died,</i>
00:26:38
<i> fire expert Emma</i> <i> Wilson was brought</i>
00:26:41
<i> in to determine exactly where</i> <i> and how the fire was started.</i>
00:26:46
- The damage at the bungalow was relatively limited.
00:26:49
It was primarily restricted to the bedroom
00:26:53
that Elizabeth used.
00:26:55
There was some damage that had come out
00:26:57
into the hallway of the bungalow,
00:26:59
and some smoke damage had spread to some of the rooms
00:27:01
where doors had been opened.
00:27:03
However, information from the carers
00:27:06
was that she did not smoke in her bed.
00:27:10
PETER JOYCE: Elizabeth didn't take
00:27:11
cigarettes into her bedroom.
00:27:13
She normally smoked at the kitchen door
00:27:15
so the smell would not invade the house.
00:27:18
She didn't want the smell in the house, which
00:27:20
was another feature why you wouldn't have
00:27:22
her smoking in her bedroom.
00:27:24
And she always took great care to get rid of the evidence
00:27:27
of having smoked.
00:27:29
NARRATOR:<i> Emma was also</i> <i> skeptical of Karen Vamplew's</i>
00:27:32
<i> account that she hadn't noticed</i> <i> the fire when she first arrived</i>
00:27:35
<i> at her mother-in-law's home.</i>
00:27:38
- So Karen's story didn't make sense,
00:27:40
because if she had been outside that front door of the bungalow
00:27:45
10 minutes prior to her entering it and alerting
00:27:48
the fire service to a large flaming fire,
00:27:50
I would have expected her to have heard the smoke detector,
00:27:54
smelled smoke, or seen smoke as she looked
00:27:56
through the letter slot.
00:27:58
And therefore to have alerted the fire service at that point
00:28:03
of a fire within the property.
00:28:06
As a fire scientist, my issue with that
00:28:08
is there is a difference in the way
00:28:10
that flaming fires and smoldering fires burn.
00:28:14
Smoldering fires develop with large amounts
00:28:17
of smoke but no flames.
00:28:19
They can take a minimum of 10 minutes on the right materials,
00:28:23
but more likely 20, 30 minutes or several hours
00:28:26
to develop into a flaming fire.
00:28:28
Whereas a flaming fire or a fire
00:28:30
started by a lighter, or a match,
00:28:33
that continues as a flaming fire
00:28:35
for its entire duration and only
00:28:37
takes minutes to really take hold.
00:28:40
So there is a big difference in the timing
00:28:42
factors of those different types of fires.
00:28:46
NARRATOR:<i> Emma Wilson</i> <i> and the forensic team</i>
00:28:48
<i> examined photographic</i> <i> evidence from the fire</i>
00:28:51
<i> to determine if she believed</i> <i> the fire had been started</i>
00:28:54
<i> by Elizabeth smoking in bed.</i>
00:28:58
EMMA WILSON: The only evidence of smoking materials
00:29:00
that I saw in the images was in the kitchen.
00:29:03
PETER JOYCE: They went into great detail
00:29:05
as to where the fire had started.
00:29:07
I mean, they looked in the kitchen for things
00:29:08
like cigarettes and the ashtray.
00:29:13
- I did ask the initial investigation
00:29:15
team if they found anything amongst the debris.
00:29:18
The reason I asked that is because when
00:29:21
something like a lighter is burnt in a fire,
00:29:23
it doesn't look like a lighter anymore.
00:29:25
All you have are the metallic parts.
00:29:27
So you have the lighter shroud, you have the flint wheel,
00:29:30
but you don't have the plastic bodies.
00:29:33
I asked the initial investigation team
00:29:35
if they'd found anything like that,
00:29:37
and they said they had not.
00:29:40
NARRATOR:<i> The forensic</i> <i> team decided</i>
00:29:42
<i> to carry out a series</i> <i> of tests to replicate</i>
00:29:44
<i> the start of the fire using</i> <i> samples of Elizabeth's bedding.</i>
00:29:49
EMMA WILSON: As part of their investigation,
00:29:51
they did carry out some laboratory-based burning tests.
00:29:55
These were small scale tests based
00:29:57
on fragments of the bedding and the mattress
00:30:00
recovered from the scene.
00:30:03
The tests that were done, however, were inconclusive.
00:30:06
This is likely because there'd been a fire-- firefighters
00:30:10
had extinguished the fire with quite a lot of water,
00:30:13
so the materials that they used were no
00:30:16
longer in their primary state.
00:30:18
So they were wet, and they'd probably
00:30:20
suffered from being packaged in plastic packaging for a while
00:30:23
afterwards as well.
00:30:26
The conclusion that they reached
00:30:28
was that with those materials, it did not cause a fire.
00:30:31
But given that they had been altered
00:30:33
by the addition of firefighting water
00:30:35
that they couldn't be sure that under other conditions,
00:30:39
such as the materials being dry,
00:30:41
that it could not have caused a fire.
00:30:46
NARRATOR:<i> Emma Wilson</i> <i> decided to carry</i>
00:30:48
<i> out more elaborate</i> <i> tests to determine</i>
00:30:51
<i> the cause of the fire.</i>
00:30:53
EMMA WILSON: I made two recommendations.
00:30:56
One, recommendation was to carry out
00:30:59
a new series of burning tests to use dry materials that
00:31:04
were the same or as similar as possible to those
00:31:07
that Elizabeth had in her property.
00:31:10
And that meant getting the same type of mattress,
00:31:13
getting bedding of the same type,
00:31:15
and also washing it and making sure
00:31:17
that it had some wear to it so that it wasn't brand new.
00:31:20
And then setting up a burning test
00:31:22
so that we could see whether or not
00:31:24
on these dry materials that were as close as
00:31:27
possible to the ones Elizabeth had,
00:31:29
whether or not we could start a fire using a cigarette.
00:31:33
PETER JOYCE: They did all sorts of tests.
00:31:35
They did do tests with a fire expert.
00:31:37
They did it in a shipping container
00:31:39
with identical mattress, identical things.
00:31:42
They needed to prove that Elizabeth hadn't
00:31:45
set fire to the bed herself.
00:31:49
EMMA WILSON: We set up a mattress with the bedding.
00:31:53
We carried out several tests using
00:31:54
cigarettes, all of the same brand that Elizabeth smoked.
00:31:58
We would light them and we would
00:32:00
put them in different positions within the bedding.
00:32:02
That included partial covering with the duvet,
00:32:05
that included putting it on the pillow
00:32:07
and on the mattress with the sheet on it itself.
00:32:09
So we did several tests and none of them
00:32:12
initiated even a smoldering fire.
00:32:15
The final test that we carried out
00:32:18
involved applying a flame to the corner of the bed,
00:32:21
and that initiated a fire immediately.
00:32:27
The fire that we lit caused fire damage
00:32:30
in a very similar pattern to what could be
00:32:32
seen in Elizabeth's bedroom.
00:32:37
It was my opinion in my review process
00:32:39
that this was not an accidental death at that stage.
00:32:44
So it means that somebody set the fire rather than it
00:32:49
being a dropped lit cigarette.
00:32:53
I think it was at this point that the investigation
00:32:56
team were confident that they could
00:32:59
say that this fire was caused by a person applying
00:33:03
a flame to the bedding.
00:33:08
PETER JOYCE: They completely disproved any idea
00:33:10
that a cigarette, a lit cigarette
00:33:12
could have caused the fire to Elizabeth's bed.
00:33:16
And they proved that the only way
00:33:17
the fire could have been started
00:33:18
was by a live flame ignition.
00:33:28
NARRATOR: <i> On September 27, 2023,</i>
00:33:31
<i> Karen Vamplew is</i> <i> rearrested and charged</i>
00:33:34
<i> with the murder of her</i> <i> mother-in-law, Elizabeth.</i>
00:33:38
PETER JOYCE: Having spoken to two CPS lawyers, I think,
00:33:42
it was quite apparent, having spoken to them
00:33:44
that they'd come to the conclusion she
00:33:45
should-- she should be prosecuted.
00:33:48
I'm bound to say, my reaction was exactly the same.
00:33:51
She must be.
00:33:52
And the fact that Elizabeth was bedbound at the top of the bed
00:33:57
and the fire started at the foot of the bed, clearly
00:34:01
meant that someone else had lit it.
00:34:03
The case was with a lighter.
00:34:07
The report proved that it was caused by naked flame.
00:34:11
Now, that would not have been, and
00:34:13
could not have been at the foot of the bed done by Elizabeth.
00:34:18
So there's one obvious person--
00:34:23
Karen.
00:34:33
NARRATOR:<i> In April</i> <i> 2024, Karen Vamplew</i>
00:34:36
<i> stood trial</i> <i> at Leicester Crown Court</i>
00:34:38
<i> for the murder</i> <i> of her mother-in-law,</i>
00:34:40
<i> Elizabeth Vamplew.</i>
00:34:42
PETER JOYCE: It was emotion.
00:34:44
The emotion in the dock was the defendant
00:34:46
looking at photographs of her children throughout.
00:34:48
The emotion in the public gallery was her husband.
00:34:53
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: Karen would have known that
00:34:54
by killing Elizabeth, that was going
00:34:56
to bring a tremendous amount of grief and loss
00:34:59
to her husband and the family.
00:35:02
Yet, it seems that she justified her actions
00:35:05
by convincing herself that the ends justified the means
00:35:11
that her husband was going to inherit the money,
00:35:14
that Elizabeth was old and frail
00:35:18
and that removing that pain for her.
00:35:22
It is possible that she justified all of those things.
00:35:27
NARRATOR:<i> Despite</i> <i> pleading not guilty,</i>
00:35:29
<i> Karen Vamplew did not</i> <i> give evidence in court.</i>
00:35:33
PETER JOYCE: But she didn't come out of the dark.
00:35:35
She didn't give evidence.
00:35:37
She didn't risk giving evidence and risk being cross-examined
00:35:41
about the overwhelming case that in the end,
00:35:44
we had against her because there
00:35:46
was no satisfactory answer she could give.
00:35:49
She couldn't possibly have answered
00:35:52
the questions I was going to have for her,
00:35:55
so she didn't come out.
00:35:59
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: Despite the evidence against her,
00:36:01
Karen protested her innocence.
00:36:05
And that can be for a number of reasons.
00:36:08
It's a method of self-protection
00:36:10
and self-survival.
00:36:12
Again, Karen may also have had the dawning of realization
00:36:17
that she's killed a family member,
00:36:19
she's killed a mother-in-law.
00:36:20
And the significant impact that that's
00:36:23
going to have on her family.
00:36:27
NARRATOR:<i> After</i> <i> a 21-month investigation,</i>
00:36:29
<i> the prosecution argued</i> <i> money was Karen's motive</i>
00:36:32
<i> for killing Elizabeth.</i>
00:36:36
PETER JOYCE: We could prove that Karen had been
00:36:39
taking money from Elizabeth.
00:36:42
What I was really interested in proving
00:36:43
was that she'd killed her.
00:36:45
If you're prosecuting a case, you
00:36:47
don't actually need a motive, so long
00:36:49
as you can prove the killing.
00:36:50
I was proving the killing because that's
00:36:53
what she was charged with.
00:36:54
She wasn't charged with fraud.
00:36:57
That was the motive for the killing.
00:37:03
NARRATOR:<i> During the trial,</i> <i> Elizabeth's financial records</i>
00:37:05
<i> were shown to the jury</i> <i> to illustrate</i>
00:37:08
<i> the depth of the financial</i> <i> abuse she suffered in the weeks</i>
00:37:11
<i> before her death.</i>
00:37:13
FIONA HOTSTON MOORE: In cases like Elizabeth's case,
00:37:15
we would be attaining the banking records of the victim
00:37:20
over a number of years.
00:37:22
And we would be analyzing them to see
00:37:24
what was their typical areas that they spent money
00:37:27
on to try and get a feel for how
00:37:29
much they typically spent in a year and in which areas
00:37:33
they spent it.
00:37:34
And then we would be looking for changes in those trends
00:37:37
of expenditure.
00:37:38
So are there now larger amounts, perhaps being
00:37:41
withdrawn from the bank or cash transactions,
00:37:45
and who is making those withdrawals,
00:37:47
if we can actually tell, and what
00:37:49
might be the reason for those?
00:37:50
So those would be the telltale red flags.
00:37:54
NARRATOR:<i> During</i> <i> the trial, the prosecution</i>
00:37:56
<i> also highlighted the number</i> <i> of inconsistencies</i>
00:37:59
<i> in Karen's version</i> <i> of what happened</i>
00:38:01
<i> the night Elizabeth died.</i>
00:38:04
PETER JOYCE: She told friends different things.
00:38:07
She told husband different things.
00:38:09
She told family different things.
00:38:11
She had been lying to all these people about what had happened.
00:38:14
The order of events had gone where when she'd
00:38:18
found the fire, and so on.
00:38:21
She'd just been lying to her friends and family throughout,
00:38:25
and they basically felt betrayed.
00:38:33
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: Karen had spun a web of lies.
00:38:36
Her stories were inconsistent, her accounts were discrepant,
00:38:40
and investigators would have picked up on that
00:38:43
and used that to their advantage.
00:38:47
NARRATOR:<i> The prosecution</i> <i> argued that once she had</i>
00:38:50
<i> drained Elizabeth's</i> <i> account of all her funds,</i>
00:38:53
<i> Karen set fire to Elizabeth's</i> <i> home because she believed her</i>
00:38:57
<i> husband would</i> <i> inherit half of her</i>
00:38:59
<i> mother in law's</i> <i> estate, thought to be</i>
00:39:01
<i> worth around 150,000 pounds.</i>
00:39:04
PETER JOYCE: I think she probably
00:39:06
hoped that her husband would get a part of his mother's
00:39:09
will, and she Karen would benefit from it
00:39:11
because she would have left a reasonable estate
00:39:13
behind as well.
00:39:15
Well, it would mean a sizeable sum of money
00:39:17
for Karen's husband and Karen's sister-in-law,
00:39:21
which no doubt Karen would have hoped to have benefited from.
00:39:28
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: Karen had rationalized in her mind
00:39:30
that she needed the money, and that someday her husband was
00:39:36
going to inherit that money.
00:39:37
She needed the money there and then,
00:39:39
so she-- there is evidence of her using identity fraud
00:39:43
and taking money from Elizabeth's account
00:39:46
to fund her own lifestyle.
00:39:50
Her actions became desensitized,
00:39:52
and she started to morally justify in her own mind
00:39:56
why taking money from Elizabeth at this stage in her life
00:40:01
was appropriate and valid.
00:40:04
So she justified it, she rationalized it in her own mind
00:40:08
and therefore, very quickly had accepted
00:40:13
a conclusion that ending Elizabeth's life
00:40:18
was one of the options.
00:40:22
PETER JOYCE: I think the real motive was, in fact,
00:40:24
getting rid of the burden of having to care for someone when
00:40:26
you really didn't want to.
00:40:31
NARRATOR:<i> A key piece</i> <i> of evidence for the prosecution</i>
00:40:33
<i> was the testimony of fire</i> <i> expert, Emma Wilson.</i>
00:40:38
EMMA WILSON: As an expert witness arriving at court,
00:40:41
knowing that your testimony is going
00:40:44
to be a large part of the case, it's
00:40:47
going to be a big part of the jury's considerations,
00:40:50
and it's going to help them make their decision
00:40:52
on innocence and guilt. For me, knowing that that's the reason
00:40:58
I'm appearing in court, there's a nervousness to it.
00:41:04
NARRATOR:<i> Emma's testimony</i> <i> was vital to prove</i>
00:41:06
<i> that the fire could</i> <i> not have been started</i>
00:41:09
<i> by Elizabeth smoking in bed.</i>
00:41:12
PETER JOYCE: Elizabeth never, on the evidence,
00:41:13
smoked in her room.
00:41:15
Secondly, she always smoked in the kitchen or by the door--
00:41:18
the open door.
00:41:20
She didn't like people to smell the fact she'd been smoking.
00:41:23
She didn't like people to see that she'd been smoking, which
00:41:26
was why she'd put the cigarette out under the tap
00:41:29
rather than leaving a sort of smelly ember.
00:41:31
Basically, she hid the fact that she'd
00:41:33
been smoking from the carers coming from her sister.
00:41:36
They all knew she smoked, but she was
00:41:39
the pretense that she didn't.
00:41:40
But she didn't take cigarettes into her bedroom.
00:41:46
EMMA WILSON: Considering the physical evidence that we have,
00:41:49
it's my view that it's more likely that Karen
00:41:54
entered Elizabeth's bungalow, went to her bedroom,
00:41:58
ignited a fire on the bed whilst Elizabeth was in it,
00:42:05
and then left the property and closed the door after her.
00:42:09
She then went home, got changed,
00:42:12
and it is likely that she had some sort of injury or wound
00:42:16
or burn on her arm, and that's why she had a tail
00:42:18
covering it when she returned.
00:42:21
That when she returned, she did enter a property
00:42:24
that was filled with smoke and had
00:42:25
a fairly sizable fire within it and pressed the care line.
00:42:31
It is likely that Elizabeth became aware of the fire
00:42:35
because she wasn't found in her bed.
00:42:37
She was found by the firefighters
00:42:38
at the base of the bed on the floor.
00:42:40
So she had made some attempt to escape.
00:42:49
NARRATOR: <i> The prosecution argued</i>
00:42:51
<i> that Karen's movement</i> <i> on the night of the fire</i>
00:42:54
<i> clearly showed this was a crime</i> <i> of planning and premeditation.</i>
00:43:00
- She went around to Elizabeth's house
00:43:03
when Elizabeth was in bed, having
00:43:07
been tucked up for the night by the carers at about 6 o'clock.
00:43:11
And she went round and set fire to the bed
00:43:14
whilst Elizabeth was in it.
00:43:16
Eventually, when she went back for the second time,
00:43:21
pretending to find the fire that she'd lit,
00:43:24
poor Elizabeth had managed, however,
00:43:27
disabled to get out of bed and was lying on the floor
00:43:31
at the foot of the bed.
00:43:33
And that's where she was rescued by the firemen.
00:43:37
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: The event
00:43:39
shows a level of planning and premeditation,
00:43:41
although there's clearly evidence of a lack
00:43:44
of sophistication within that.
00:43:46
Karen had access to the home and
00:43:50
started the fire in the home.
00:43:53
So for Karen, she was intent upon doing this.
00:43:57
She planned it.
00:43:59
It was now or never.
00:44:00
She had to take the opportunity and that's what she did--
00:44:04
starting the fire, burning the house
00:44:07
down with Elizabeth in it.
00:44:10
NARRATOR:<i> On May 17, 2024, the</i> <i> jury delivered their verdict.</i>
00:44:17
PETER JOYCE: She was convicted of murder
00:44:18
unanimously by the jury.
00:44:20
No question of a majority verdict.
00:44:24
EMMA WILSON: Hearing the verdict,
00:44:26
it is almost like a sense of completion
00:44:29
because to me and the evidence that I had,
00:44:34
that is what I would have expected
00:44:35
the jury to get from that.
00:44:38
PETER JOYCE: She had to be given
00:44:40
life in prison, because that's the only sentence for murder.
00:44:43
And in this case, it was 32 years.
00:44:47
NARRATOR:<i> Despite</i> <i> the successful conviction,</i>
00:44:50
<i> the verdict provided</i> <i> mixed emotions</i>
00:44:52
<i> for Elizabeth's family.</i>
00:44:54
PETER JOYCE: I went to see the family and friends.
00:44:56
It was then that it became--
00:44:58
I became aware just how crossed the husband was.
00:45:01
Her husband was very angry, not at the verdict.
00:45:06
He was very angry that the initial police investigation
00:45:10
had wrongly arrested him, because he
00:45:13
was nothing to do with the killing of his mother.
00:45:15
He was livid that he had been arrested
00:45:18
in the first investigation and understandably.
00:45:24
VICKY THAKORDAS-DESAI: There are no winners in this--
00:45:27
the tragedy of losing a mother in the way that she was lost,
00:45:31
a grandmother in the way that she was lost,
00:45:33
but equally a wife and a mother who would have been detained
00:45:38
and is detained for a very long time.
00:45:41
The psychological shadow and effects of that would--
00:45:47
would be immense.
00:45:51
POPPY EVERTON: It's very hard to imagine
00:45:52
how Elizabeth's family would have been
00:45:55
affected by this situation.
00:45:57
I think it's very difficult to think about them having
00:46:01
to pick up the pieces of not only losing someone
00:46:06
that was very dear to them and a huge part of their family,
00:46:09
but also who the perpetrator was
00:46:11
and what the motivations were is going
00:46:14
to be really, really hard to come to terms
00:46:16
with as a family member.
00:46:19
It is almost a double betrayal.
00:46:22
You've lost somebody, and the person
00:46:24
that has taken them from you is also within your family.
00:46:26
[somber music]
00:46:35
[exhilarating music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most shocking
  • 85
    Biggest twist
  • 80
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Best overall

Episode Highlights

  • The Illusion of Care
    Elizabeth Vamplew, a loving mother and grandmother, fell victim to economic abuse.
    “She wanted to look after them as best as she could.”
    @ 00m 12s
    March 06, 2026
  • A Tragic Fire
    On December 15, 2021, Elizabeth died after being rescued from her burning home.
    “77-year-old Elizabeth Vamplew died after being rescued from her burning home.”
    @ 09m 18s
    March 06, 2026
  • Suspicious Withdrawals
    Police discovered unusual cash withdrawals from Elizabeth's account leading up to her death.
    “10,000 pounds was withdrawn from Elizabeth's individual savings account.”
    @ 20m 41s
    March 06, 2026
  • Financial Manipulation Uncovered
    Elizabeth's account was drained by her daughter-in-law, revealing a betrayal of trust.
    “Karen took advantage of that trust and drained Elizabeth's account.”
    @ 21m 29s
    March 06, 2026
  • The Day Before the Fire
    Elizabeth visited the bank, realizing the extent of her financial exploitation.
    “For the first time, Elizabeth knew just what had been happening to her money.”
    @ 24m 23s
    March 06, 2026
  • Suspicious Timing
    The fire occurred less than 24 hours after Elizabeth learned of her financial abuse.
    “It is quite suspicious that the incident happened the following day.”
    @ 25m 45s
    March 06, 2026
  • Prosecution's Case
    Karen Vamplew was charged with the murder of her mother-in-law, Elizabeth.
    “She must be prosecuted.”
    @ 33m 42s
    March 06, 2026
  • Web of Lies
    Karen's inconsistent stories raised doubts about her innocence during the trial.
    “Karen had spun a web of lies.”
    @ 38m 36s
    March 06, 2026
  • Motive for Murder
    The prosecution argued that financial gain was Karen's motive for killing Elizabeth.
    “I think the real motive was getting rid of the burden of having to care for someone.”
    @ 40m 24s
    March 06, 2026
  • Verdict Delivered
    On May 17, 2024, the jury delivered their verdict, convicting Karen of murder unanimously.
    “She was convicted of murder unanimously by the jury.”
    @ 44m 17s
    March 06, 2026
  • Family's Mixed Emotions
    Despite the conviction, Elizabeth's family felt mixed emotions about the verdict.
    “The verdict provided mixed emotions for Elizabeth's family.”
    @ 44m 50s
    March 06, 2026
  • The Weight of Betrayal
    Poppy Everton discusses the profound impact on Elizabeth's family after the tragedy.
    “It is almost a double betrayal.”
    @ 46m 19s
    March 06, 2026

Episode Quotes

  • Elizabeth was a really warm and caring person.
    The Broken Trust | A Deadly Family Betrayal | Fatal Fraud
  • She clearly loved her children. She wanted the best for them.
    The Broken Trust | A Deadly Family Betrayal | Fatal Fraud
  • She was reduced to an object that could satisfy her own needs.
    The Broken Trust | A Deadly Family Betrayal | Fatal Fraud
  • It is quite suspicious that the incident happened the following day.
    The Broken Trust | A Deadly Family Betrayal | Fatal Fraud
  • She must be prosecuted.
    The Broken Trust | A Deadly Family Betrayal | Fatal Fraud
  • Hearing the verdict, it is almost like a sense of completion.
    The Broken Trust | A Deadly Family Betrayal | Fatal Fraud

Key Moments

  • Realization24:23
  • Murder Charges33:34
  • Trial Begins34:36
  • Web of Lies38:36
  • Motive Revealed40:24
  • Fire Incident43:31
  • Murder Conviction44:18
  • Family Betrayal46:19

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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