00:00:00
[audio logo] [ominous music] narrator: In August 1994,
in the town of Castlederg,
00:00:11
Northern Ireland,
15-year-old Arlene Arkinson went out to a disco
and never came home.
00:00:26
narrator: The last
person to see Arlene was 50-year-old Robert Howard. He was in a relationship
with Arlene's friend's mother
00:00:33
and a convicted sex offender. Claire McGowan: This
is part of his pattern of going to a place,
kind of infiltrating
00:00:39
himself with
people, often people that had young daughters. Geoffrey Wansell: He would
attract children to his flat.
00:00:46
One neighbor called
him the Pied Piper. narrator: Arlene's
disappearance went unsolved.
00:00:52
Seven years later,
another teenager went missing in Southeast London. Bernadett Williams:
It's still in my mind,
00:01:00
the last word she said to me. Mum, I love you and I'll
never leave you. Narrator: When Hannah
Williams's body
00:01:07
was found a year later, all
roads led to Robert Howard. Colin Murray: We put
his name into the police
00:01:14
national computer
and was staggered to find what we would describe
as a career sexual offender.
00:01:23
narrator: Though
it took decades to bring him to justice,
Robert Howard was finally proven to be one of
the world's most evil killers.
00:01:33
[theme music] ♪ ♪ Robert Howard was
a serial sex offender who preyed on vulnerable women
and girls for over 35 years.
00:02:06
Jane Monckton-Smith: Howard
was a prolific predatory sex offender and had
been a sex offender
00:02:13
from a very, very young age. - He was someone who,
everywhere he went, would have an interest
in young girls.
00:02:22
And then eventually that would
become difficult for him. So he would move
on and he would
00:02:25
just do it somewhere else. narrator: Though
there was plenty of suspicion along
the way, it would
00:02:31
take years for the true
horror of Howard's crimes to be uncovered. narrator: This killer's story
begins on the 20th of April,
00:03:02
1944. Robert Howard was born
into a large family in the tiny rural
community of Wolfhill
00:03:10
in the Republic of Ireland. Howard would come
to be known as Wolfman and later gave himself
a middle name, Lesarian.
00:03:22
- So his name was
Robert Lesarian Howard. And Lesarian is the name
of a mythical child killer.
00:03:28
narrator: From early childhood,
Howard rarely attended school and soon turned his attention
to making money any way
00:03:36
he could. - His first acknowledged
burglary came when he was 13 and he was sent away.
00:03:42
Remember, we're talking
about Ireland in the 1950s. And he was put
into Catholic institutions.
00:03:49
And in recent years,
we've come to know that those were
sometimes difficult and dangerous places to be.
00:03:56
Robert Howard came out of the
institution at the age of 16, but wasn't welcomed back
into the bosom of his family.
00:04:03
narrator: Howard was forced
to live as a vagrant, staying in local
barns, sheds, and
00:04:08
other derelict buildings in the
countryside around Wolfhill. - That is an incredibly
young and vulnerable age
00:04:17
to suddenly find
yourself having to look after yourself completely. Desmond Doherty: He had a
nomadic, difficult background,
00:04:28
no question of that. And I think he was someone
who was continually in difficulties with the law.
00:04:41
- At one point, he was actually
effectively forced to leave Ireland and go to the UK.
00:04:52
[frantic music] narrator: By the age
of 21, Howard was living in London,
where in 1965 he
00:05:03
committed his first
known sexual offense. Colin Murray: He
broke into a house and tried to rape
a six-year-old girl.
00:05:12
He got away at that
point, but returned a week later and was caught. He got nine days
borstal for that.
00:05:21
narrator: This
slap on the wrist did nothing to deter Howard. He was deported back
to the Republic of Ireland
00:05:27
but quickly returned. Geoffrey Wansell: He
returns to the UK. And in 1969,
at the age of 24, he
00:05:34
breaks into the home
of a young married woman in Durham, in the North of
England, and tries to rape her.
00:05:44
- She clearly fought with
him, ran into the street seeking help. He attacks her and grabs
her around the throat
00:05:54
in the street,
in front of people who were coming to her aid. Now, that's a really
serious escalation.
00:06:03
narrator: Howard was sentenced
to six years in HMP Frankland but served only three.
00:06:11
On his release, he moved
to the Republic of Ireland and began re-offending. Colin Murray: From
that point on,
00:06:19
Howard went on a litany
of sexual offending. Desmond Doherty:
He was someone who
00:06:25
was continually
prosecuted for quite a number of serious offenses. The point here being
that he's not somebody
00:06:34
who was below the radar. Geoffrey Wansell:
In May 1973, Howard attacks a 58-year-old woman.
00:06:40
He breaks into her
house, rapes her, sodomizes her, and leaves
her tied to the bed,
00:06:46
and drives off in her car. Jane Monckton-Smith: He is
arrested for that offense and he's arrested
in an airport.
00:06:54
So he's probably
trying to leave the country again to escape. Geoffrey Wansell: This
time he's actually
00:07:00
exposed to a psychiatrist. And the psychiatrist says he's
softly spoken, he's courteous.
00:07:08
You could never imagine that
he would do anything violent. Desmond Doherty: But the
psychiatrist knew full well
00:07:16
that Howard had an interest
in teenage girls, and described Howard
as an explosive psychopath.
00:07:26
narrator: Howard was
sentenced to 10 years in jail. Upon his release
eight years later,
00:07:32
the 38-year-old showed
himself once again to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Desmond Doherty: He had
a propensity to befriend people
00:07:42
and to befriend
vulnerable people to find his way into their home. Geoffrey Wansell: Not
long after his release,
00:07:48
Howard marries
a young woman and they have a relationship
for three years. Jane Monckton-Smith: That
marriage was never going
00:07:56
to be anything but abusive. Probably that was
simply to trap her as this ever-present victim.
00:08:06
narrator: After
the marriage broke down, Howard settled
in Castlederg, a small town
00:08:12
in County Tyrone near
the Irish border. Geoffrey Wansell: He did
have a period of time
00:08:18
where he was living
in a caravan. There was an allegation
of a case whereby he kept a lady captive.
00:08:27
Narrator: She was a vulnerable
woman he'd befriended in Dublin and invited to stay with him.
00:08:33
He was 47 years old. She was 22. Geoffrey Wansell: He keeps a
prisoner there for three weeks,
00:08:40
raping her repeatedly. She was actually rescued by her
family, not by the police.
00:08:46
Claire McGowan: There's
a huge reluctance in Northern Ireland for people
to go to the police.
00:08:50
You didn't think
you'd be believed. Thought that you might end
up under suspicion yourself.
00:08:54
Geoffrey Wansell:
Eventually, the police were told many years
after this event, but they didn't press charges.
00:09:00
They believed she was too
vulnerable to give evidence. narrator: Howard
moved to a flat
00:09:09
in the center
of Castlederg and started a friendship with a woman
who had a teenage daughter.
00:09:17
Claire McGowan: It's
very common in cases like this, where a man has
an interest in younger people,
00:09:22
that he will often
become a very trusted friend of the family,
which gives them access to abuse young girls.
00:09:30
narrator: And this
girlfriend seemed to suspect his true intentions. Claire McGowan: She
actually commented
00:09:36
that she was aware he was more
interested in younger girls than in women. narrator: Howard
began to befriend his
00:09:43
girlfriend's daughter
and her friends, one of whom was a 16-year-old girl. Colin Murray: Robert Howard
had lured this young girl
00:09:52
to his flat in Main
Street, Castlederg, on the pretense
of meeting a taxi driver who the young
girl wanted to meet
00:10:00
and perhaps go out with. When she got into his flat,
she complained of a headache
00:10:07
and he gave her tablets. The next thing she knew,
she woke up naked in his bed with a ligature
around her neck.
00:10:17
- He effectively drugged
her and kept her captive. Geoffrey Wansell: And he
rapes her repeatedly,
00:10:24
very much as he had done
the vulnerable young woman from Dublin. narrator: On the third day
of this nightmare, when Howard
00:10:32
had fallen asleep,
the girl jumped out of a second floor window. She reported everything
to the police.
00:10:42
- They did arrest Howard. And what did Howard say? Yeah, all of that happened,
but it was with consent.
00:10:51
narrator: Howard was
charged but let out on bail. He was free to continue
preying on teenage girls,
00:10:58
and his next attack would
leave no victim to testify. In 1994, Robert Howard was
on bail, accused of rape and
00:11:13
unlawful imprisonment,
and living in Castlederg, a small Northern Irish
town close to the border
00:11:20
with the Republic of Ireland. Claire McGowan:
At this point there was still a militarized
border in parts
00:11:29
so you'd see a lot
of soldiers around. These are interesting places. They can be quite
lawless, particularly
00:11:34
in the '90s when the Troubles
were still going on. But it was
surprisingly easy still
00:11:38
to just get across the border. narrator: A short drive
from where Howard lived, 15-year-old Arlene Arkinson was
staying with her brother near
00:11:47
her older sister, Kathleen. - Her mother had died
a few years before and she had been living with
her father for a little while.
00:12:14
But he was a bit
unstable so hadn't been able to take care of her. And she'd kind
of moved around living
00:12:19
with her different siblings
and their families. So she was a somewhat
vulnerable girl
00:12:23
but very loved and cared for. narrator: On Saturday the 13th
of August 1994, Arlene
00:12:31
was helping out her sister. narrator: When Kathleen
got home around 10:30 PM, she found out one of Arlene's
friends had invited her out.
00:12:52
narrator: But then Kathleen
heard a knock at the door. It was Arlene's friend narrator: Kathleen was led
to believe Arlene's friend's
00:13:11
mother was going to be
looking after them, but it was the mother's
boyfriend who
00:13:17
chaperoned them that night. Geoffrey Wansell: Arlene
goes out with her friend to a local disco.
00:13:22
They're being driven
there by Robert Howard. - When Arlene didn't arrive
back home at Kathleen's house,
00:13:29
I think Kathleen
at that time reasonably assumed that Arlene
had been left off at her brother's house.
00:13:34
But of course, when they
realize the next day that Arlene wasn't with
either of them, then
00:13:39
the alarm bells
started to ring. narrator: Kathleen's
first port of call was to visit the mother
of Arlene's friend,
00:13:50
who she believed was taking
care of the girls the night before. Desmond Doherty: Kathleen,
of her own volition,
00:13:56
went to the family
to try to find out exactly what had happened. They all denied any
knowledge of anything
00:14:04
of any harm coming to Arlene. And there was even
allegations that Arlene wasn't even present, that
she didn't go to Bundoran.
00:14:14
Narrator: The following
day, Mary, Kathleen, and Arlene's sister knocked at the
door of Arlene's friend and
00:14:20
her mother. Robert Howard answered. Desmond Doherty:
And of course, during that time
00:14:40
they went to the authorities,
including the social services and to the police. But the family just
lied to Kathleen's face,
00:14:49
and so did Howard. narrator: The last time Arlene
was seen was in Howard's car.
00:14:55
When questioned,
Howard, who at the time was on bail for the rape
and imprisonment
00:15:00
of another teenager, denied all
knowledge of her whereabouts. Desmond Doherty:
The one stage, he
00:15:06
was saying that he had left
her off at a local pub, but that doesn't
make any sense,
00:15:11
leaving a young girl
in Castlederg at that time. The thing to do
for a man of that age
00:15:16
with a child in the car,
is to make sure that she was left at the door
of an appropriate adult.
00:15:23
And he didn't do that
because what he said, of course, was
a complete pack of lies.
00:15:28
What is difficult to come
to terms with is that in view of his background
and the charges
00:15:33
that he was actually
out on bail upon, he had to be
suspect number one. narrator: 46 days after
Arlene's disappearance,
00:15:46
Robert Howard was arrested. Colin Murray: We know that when
the police did arrest Howard,
00:15:54
that the boot lining from
his vehicle was missing and that the clothing that
he'd worn on the night he went
00:15:59
to Bundoran had disappeared. Jane Monckton-Smith:
So anything that might have indicated
some harm had come to Arlene
00:16:06
was now gone. narrator: Howard's alibi
that he returned home to his girlfriend's house
at around 2:30 AM,
00:16:15
was corroborated by his
girlfriend and her daughter. - They sort of went
along with what
00:16:21
Howard was telling
them to say, and it got really, really
complicated to work out what the truth was.
00:16:27
Claire McGowan: So, I think,
men like Robert Howard, they know how to target
vulnerable girls as well.
00:16:35
narrator: Robert Howard was
released without charge. The case went cold. Arlene did not
return to Castlederg.
00:16:44
In 1995, Howard agreed
a plea bargain in the case of the 16-year-old girl
he'd been accused of holding
00:16:51
captive two years earlier. In return for pleading guilty
to unlawful carnal knowledge,
00:16:57
the rape and unlawful
imprisonment charges were dropped. - Now, unlawful carnal
knowledge at that point
00:17:05
was having sex with consent
of a girl under the age of 17 while the victim was 16.
00:17:13
She attended court
ready to give evidence, but her evidence
was never given because the prosecuting
authorities
00:17:21
made that deal and Howard was
given a suspended sentence. narrator: Despite
his victim's bravery,
00:17:30
Robert Howard escapes
proper punishment for a heinous sexual crime. Colin Murray: Local feeling
turned against Howard,
00:17:39
and he received a visit
from certain individuals who threatened his life and gave
him a period of time
00:17:46
to leave the province,
and Howard did. narrator: In 1995,
Howard fled to Glasgow.
00:17:55
Desmond Doherty: With Howard
moving away and with the police not actively pursuing him, they
pursue another line of inquiry.
00:18:01
Claire McGowan:
Their suspicions seemed to fall on Arlene's family. And they actually went
round to her sister's house
00:18:06
who she was living with. Desmond Doherty:
The police claimed that they had information
from a reliable source,
00:18:15
that Arlene had been murdered
at her sister's home, and that Arlene was
pushed down the stairs,
00:18:21
and then that she was
buried at the home. narrator: In April
1996, police and soldiers turned up
to Kathleen's home,
00:18:30
accompanied by the press. - They brought in diggers
even to dig up the garden. They said they battered
the door down as well.
00:18:39
narrator: The search continued
for a number of days. Desmond Doherty:
And of course, that resulted
00:19:01
in nothing being found at all. But that event
in 1996 completely soured the relationship
between the Arkinson family
00:19:13
and the police investigation. And the only person who
benefited from that, of course,
00:19:17
was Howard. narrator: Undeterred,
Kathleen found out, through a friend who
lived in Scotland, exactly
00:19:25
where Howard had moved to. Geoffrey Wansell: He's
outed by the Sunday Mail, called the face of evil,
and pointing to his crimes
00:19:45
in the past. Howard is literally
hounded out of Glasgow. He travels south
to the outskirts of London.
00:19:55
narrator: Howard moved
to London in 1998. In 2001, Hannah Williams was
a 14-year-old girl living
00:20:11
in Deptford, Southeast London. Bernadett Williams:
Hannah was my daughter, my youngest daughter.
00:20:16
My relationship with
Hannah was just fantastic. She was very happy. She enjoyed being
at home, loved
00:20:28
going out to the high
street, loved going to the adventure playground. She was a bit like a tom girl.
00:20:34
She loved climbing
things and jumping and that, very energetic. I brought all three
of them up myself.
00:20:44
And I've done
everything for them. It's hard bringing up
three children by yourself.
00:20:49
But yeah, I done
it and I loved it. narrator: But Bernadett's world
was about to be torn apart.
00:21:00
- On April the 21st,
2001, Hannah goes shopping in Deptford market. Bernadett Williams: It
was about 11 o'clock.
00:21:08
So she got up and she said,
Mum, I'm going to the market. So I said, well, if you
hang on, I'll come with you.
00:21:17
She said, Mum, I'm only going
around the corner just to look at the stores and whatever.
00:21:24
narrator: It was a decision
that would change both of their lives forever. An innocent shopping trip
that would take a disastrous
00:21:31
turn for the 14-year-old. As darkness approached
in Deptford, Southeast London,
00:21:47
Hannah Williams still
hadn't returned. Jane Monckton-Smith:
She didn't come home.
00:21:55
Her mum is absolutely frantic. Bernadett Williams: I
just walked and cried and walked to try and see
if I could find her or
00:22:06
see her anywhere in Deptford. I just didn't
understand why she didn't answer her phone
because she always
00:22:15
answered her phone to me. Jane Monckton-Smith: But when
she goes to the police, the police do not
suspect that anything
00:22:23
has happened to Hannah. They're convinced
that she's run away or she's gone off with friends.
00:22:29
And of course, this was
a catastrophic decision by the police. Bernadett Williams:
The Metropolitan Police
00:22:37
told me to wait for 24 hours
before they could do anything. And I didn't hear nothing.
00:22:44
I didn't hear
nothing from them. narrator: Peter
Harrison was a reporter working at a local newspaper.
00:22:53
- I was sitting
in the offices of the Mercury in Deptford high street. The doorbell went and there's
this woman standing
00:23:01
in front of me, Bernadett. And she said to me,
can you help me? My daughter's been missing
for the last two weeks
00:23:10
and no one seems to care. [melancholic music] ♪ ♪ - I didn't think
she was dead, but
00:23:22
something was really bad
that's happened to her and she can't get home. - I remember contacting
the missing people's
00:23:35
section of Lewisham Police. The officer, in question, was
absolutely convinced that this
00:23:41
was a down-and-out family. You know, runaway daughter,
troublesome child. Jane Monckton-Smith:
Getting police attention,
00:23:50
especially in a missing person
case, comes back to this thing, are you the ideal victim?
00:23:57
The less ideal you are,
the less attention and sympathy you're going to get. [siren blares]
00:24:07
narrator:
The Metropolitan Police have since improved missing
persons investigations.
00:24:13
"How we investigate
missing people has evolved in the 23 years
since Hannah went missing.
00:24:21
We take the investigation
of missing people incredibly seriously and have teams
in every local policing
00:24:29
area dedicated to this work." In 2001, a number of
high-profile missing children's
00:24:39
cases meant that Hannah's
story also struggled to capture the attention of the media.
00:24:45
- It seemed
at the time there was quite a few missing children. Hannah was one
of many, but you had
00:24:51
Danielle Jones, Milly Dowler. - I feel like
because they were living in more suitable
places and me, I
00:25:04
was in Deptford
and single mom, so I felt that they got more coverage. Peter Harrison: But Bernadett
made sure that her daughter
00:25:16
had a good, warm, clean home. So it seemed preposterous that
Hannah was written off just
00:25:25
because of her background. Bernadett Williams:
I just didn't hear anything for a whole
year, not knowing or hoping
00:25:33
that she would walk
through the door and say, hi, Mum, I'm home. Peter Harrison: Not
once was Bernadett told,
00:25:39
look, there's a very good
chance that your daughter is not going to be found alive.
00:25:44
And so she was constantly
filled with this hope. Bernadett Williams: Still
in my mind the last word
00:25:50
she said to me. Mum, I love you and I'll
never leave you. narrator: In March
2002, nearly 11 months
00:26:04
after Hannah's disappearance,
Bernadett's worst fears came true. - At the time that Hannah
Williams went missing,
00:26:12
I was a senior
investigating officer in major crime at Kent Police. On Friday, the 15th
of March 2002,
00:26:20
a digger driver was carrying
out excavation work in a very woody area in preparation
for the international rail link
00:26:29
at Ebbsfleet rail terminal. He saw a blue tarpaulin
wrapped in rope. And he looked
inside and could see
00:26:37
what was clearly the skeletal
remains of a body. narrator: The call came
straight into DCI Murray
00:26:44
and he attended
the scene immediately. Colin Murray: It was
torrential rain at the time.
00:26:50
The excavation work meant
it was thick with mud. So straight away, I'm beginning
to doubt whether we could
00:26:56
get much forensic evidence. narrator: The body was
found with a ligature around the neck.
00:27:02
It was clear this was
no accidental death. Kent Police
immediately launched a murder investigation.
00:27:11
Colin Murray: We went public
with details of her clothing. And immediately,
I had a phone call
00:27:16
from a local reporter to say,
I know who this girl is. And he said, it's
Hannah Williams.
00:27:23
- Kent Police took DNA,
and she was my daughter. And the guy, I sent him a thank
you letter for finding it out.
00:27:32
He must have been so shocked
to come across a body. And I was so happy
that he found her.
00:27:42
Because if he didn't,
then I still wouldn't know what's happened to her. And I went actually
up to that site,
00:27:51
and I can't even tell
you how I felt be honest. I mean, to see where
your daughter's
00:28:00
been lying for a year. narrator: DCI Murray's
first line of inquiry was to look into every detail
of Hannah's final movements.
00:28:13
Colin Murray: On the day
she went missing, just after 11:00 AM, she had
a 14-second phone call from
00:28:19
a mobile phone that
was listed as belonging to a woman who lived very
close to the deposition site.
00:28:31
narrator: Detectives
went to her home. She told them she hadn't
made the phone call,
00:28:36
and it must have been her
partner, Robert Howard. Colin Murray: When Robert
Howard's name was given to us
00:28:44
and we looked at his
record and his photographs, it was just mind blowing. Because this man
became our instant
00:28:56
suspect for that murder. narrator: Police quickly
discovered the link between Howard and Hannah.
00:29:03
Howard's girlfriend was
previously in a relationship with Hannah's father. DCI Murray also found out that
Howard had previously been
00:29:14
arrested in relation to Arlene
Arkinson's disappearance and about the 16-year-old he'd
held captive in Castlederg.
00:29:22
- We had Robert Howard
as our number one suspect. But we had no evidence at all,
apart from a possible 14-second
00:29:30
phone call that he made, which
in reality proved little, if anything. And the biggest fear
that I had at that time
00:29:39
was this man may go
on a spree of killing. narrator: Kent Police knew they
didn't have enough evidence
00:29:47
to charge Howard, but they
wanted him off the streets immediately. - So we took the decision
to arrest him.
00:29:55
Because in my view, to do
nothing was not an option. narrator: DCI
Murray and his team
00:30:02
searched Howard's
girlfriend's home and also his allotment, which
housed a derelict caravan,
00:30:09
but they found no
forensic evidence. In the meantime, Howard was
taken in for questioning
00:30:16
but only responded no comment. - We certainly never
had any evidence to charge Howard
with Hannah's murder,
00:30:25
and he was released
from custody. narrator: Detectives
needed to find out more about Robert
Howard's pattern of offending.
00:30:34
Colin Murray: We've
got a man, ostensibly, who's moved from
Scotland down to London,
00:30:40
and during that period
of time has not come to the notice of the police. Had Howard been
targeting other children?
00:30:49
And the answer was
almost undoubtedly yes. narrator: Kent Police
worked with social services
00:30:54
to identify and interview
any at-risk children living close to Howard's home. - And we identified one
particular young girl
00:31:04
who would absolutely prove to
be vital to our investigation. narrator: She was
just six years old.
00:31:12
Colin Murray: Robert Howard
had invited her into his flat. He indecently assaulted her
and she called him a pervert
00:31:20
and ran out of the flat. narrator: DCI Murray liaised
with the Metropolitan Police,
00:31:27
who agreed to arrest Howard on
suspicion of indecent assault. The six-year-old girl
then told the police
00:31:34
that Howard had also taken her
on a swimming trip to the lake, right next to where
Hannah's body was found.
00:31:42
Colin Murray: Now we've got
obviously the background of Arlene, the young
girl who'd had
00:31:48
a ligature tied around her
neck whilst Howard raped her. And now we had this young
girl, similar profile,
00:31:57
taken down to very close
to where Hannah lay. narrator: With strong
circumstantial evidence showing
00:32:03
a clear pattern of behavior,
Kent Police were able to arrest Robert Howard. But did they have enough
to convict him for murder?
00:32:20
In May 2002, Kent Police
charged 57-year-old Robert Howard with the murder
of 14-year-old Hannah Williams.
00:32:30
While in custody,
Northern Irish police arrested him for the 1994
murder of 15-year-old
00:32:37
Arlene Arkinson. But then an anonymous
tip-off accusing Arlene's sister Kathleen
put both investigations
00:32:46
into jeopardy. Colin Murray: We're going
ahead with the trial of Robert Howard. The week before,
I get a phone call
00:32:57
from an SIO in Northern
Ireland to say that they've had recent
intelligence to say
00:33:05
that Arlene's body was
buried under a floor in Kathleen's house. narrator: DCI Murray was told
if the case against Howard
00:33:16
in Northern Ireland
collapsed, it could throw serious
doubts on the prosecution
00:33:21
case against him for Hannah
Williams's murder. But no body was found
at Kathleen's home,
00:33:30
and she willingly
came forward to help Kent Police prove their case. - In our dealings
with the Arkinsons,
00:33:38
they wanted to do everything
they could to help us in the prosecution
of Robert Howard,
00:33:44
and were happy
to come to England and give evidence at his trial. Bernadett Williams: I'd
done everything by myself.
00:33:54
And to have the Arkinsons
actually come over and come to the courtroom
to support me,
00:34:01
even though they're
going through the grief of their sister,
I mean, I thought that was so nice of them.
00:34:09
narrator: Kent
Police successfully persuaded the judge to allow
Howard's previous arrests
00:34:14
and convictions to be
presented to the jury. Desmond Doherty:
The court in England
00:34:20
were able to introduce
similar fact evidence of what happened in Arlene's case. narrator: Robert Howard's
trial for the murder
00:34:28
of Hannah Williams began
at Maidstone Crown Court in October 2003. The prosecution called
upon evidence from Kathleen
00:34:36
Arkinson, the 16-year-old
Howard abducted in 1993, and also the six-year-old
girl from South London.
00:34:46
Details of how
Hannah's body was found were also presented
to the jury. - Bernadett sat through
the entire trial.
00:34:55
She felt it was the least she
could do to honor her daughter. Bernadett Williams:
To hear how he
00:35:02
put blue rope round
her neck, she must have struggled to try and get away. But she wasn't
obviously strong enough.
00:35:11
And probably the more
she struggled, the rope was tightening. So he strangled her.
00:35:18
Then I think he
raped her as well. Peter Harrison: She sat
through the court hearing
00:35:24
about how the gusset of her
teenage daughter's underwear had been cut out, probably
to hide DNA evidence.
00:35:33
narrator: Howard continued
to proclaim his innocence. Bernadett Williams:
He stood on the stand
00:35:39
and was telling
lies after lies. He never looked up at me. Colin Murray: I think Robert
Howard phoned Hannah Williams
00:35:48
on the day she went missing. Used some pretext to meet her. And the cause of death was
the ligature around her neck.
00:36:00
And I think at that point, he
then took Hannah by vehicle over to the blue lake.
00:36:09
And but for the construction
of the Ebbsfleet rail terminal, she would have laid
there for years.
00:36:16
Bless her. Bernadett Williams:
The only time he looked up is when the jury
left the courtroom
00:36:23
to make their decision. - It took the jury just
three hours to convict him. narrator: In October
2003, Howard
00:36:34
was found guilty of murder
and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Kathleen approached
the police van
00:36:42
as he was being driven away. Bernadett Williams:
I felt big relief. Such as I'd done the best
I could and I did
00:37:17
get justice, that's
why I'm happy. - In 2005, Robert Howard,
now incarcerated for life,
00:37:34
is brought to trial
for Arlene Arkinson. Claire McGowan:
The jury weren't allowed to be told that he had
murdered another teenage girl,
00:37:43
and that, in fact, he was
in prison for that murder and had been brought from
prison to be on trial.
00:37:49
- And they don't convict
him of Arlene's killing. narrator: Despite
Howard's acquittal,
00:38:07
Kathleen continued
her tireless fight to find justice for Arlene. Desmond Doherty: So the next
legal possibility,
00:38:18
now that the trial has
collapsed, is an inquest. narrator: Howard
was going to be
00:38:23
called once again
to give evidence in the inquest hearing. - But then in October
2015, Howard dies.
00:38:32
Geoffrey Wansell: Howard never
once admitted killing Arlene. Like many murderers,
he wanted to keep
00:38:39
those secrets to himself. His last bit of control over
the family and over the world.
00:38:47
Colin Murray: He took Arlene's
location to his grave. And it's so, so sad that
Arlene's never been recovered.
00:39:06
narrator: After a number
of legal challenges, the inquest was due
to start in 2016.
00:39:13
Desmond Doherty:
And then, on the eve of the inquest starting,
the Secretary of State
00:39:17
issues what is known as a PII
certificate, a Public Interest Immunity certificate.
00:39:23
So it's effectively
the government saying on the grounds of the national
security of our country,
00:39:29
we cannot reveal
this information. What on earth are
they trying to keep from the inquest involving the
death of a 15-year-old child?
00:39:40
Claire McGowan: There
had been a lot of rumors that Robert Howard had
been a police informer.
00:39:47
narrator: When asked
if Howard was an informer, the police have said they
will neither confirm nor deny
00:39:53
and that no inference
should be drawn from this. The PII certificate limited
what evidence could be shared,
00:40:01
but the inquest went
ahead as planned at Belfast coroner's court. Arlene's friend and her
mother, Howard's girlfriend
00:40:10
at the time of Arlene's
disappearance, were called to give evidence. Their stories kept changing.
00:40:19
Desmond Doherty: His
partner initially was saying that he did come
back in the early hours
00:40:23
of the morning. But then that changed
to him coming back later in the morning
and that he was still
00:40:29
wearing the same clothes that
he wore the evening before. So there was no
doubt he had more
00:40:35
than adequate time to murder
Arlene and dispose of her body. narrator: Detectives
dropped a bombshell
00:40:42
that they had some
inside information, a confession Robert Howard
had made to a cellmate.
00:40:49
Desmond Doherty:
The chief investigating officer was able to relay to
the court what Howard had said
00:40:54
about how Howard had held
Arlene over a sink, how there was a lot
of blood, and how
00:41:00
she had put up a good fight. And so that was very upsetting
for Kathleen to hear.
00:41:10
narrator: Due to huge
delays in the court system, it wasn't until July 2021 that
the conclusions of the inquest
00:41:18
were shared
at Omagh Courthouse, 27 years after
Arlene disappeared. Claire McGowan: Now
the inquest into Arlene's death
00:41:26
did conclude that Robert
Howard had killed her. They ruled that they were
confident her remains
00:41:32
were still near the town
where she disappeared. I think this case is
just so shocking really.
00:41:38
You have this man with a long
history of violence and convictions, who's
literally on bail
00:41:43
for assaulting
another teenage girl, and he's the last person
to see a teenage girl alive.
00:41:47
And yet he still completely
gets away with it and is able, a few years
later, to kill another girl.
00:41:54
- I've always maintained that
if Howard had been properly sentenced for rape,
unlawful imprisonment,
00:42:01
Arlene Arkinson and Hannah
Williams would be alive today. narrator: Arlene's body
has never been found.
00:42:23
What exactly happened on the
night of her disappearance remains a mystery. Bernadett Williams: I hate him.
00:43:07
Just taking my 14-year-old
daughter and killing her and raping her, I hate it. I always think about what
she would be doing now.
00:43:17
And I just wish
Hannah was still here. But that evil person
just killed her. She's always in my heart.
00:43:28
I know she's saying,
Mum, be strong. She's looking down
on me right this minute.
00:43:33
Bless her. narrator: Robert Howard
was a violent sex offender known to the authorities.
00:43:42
He managed to brutally
attack women and children for over 30 years. We may never truly know
the extent of this master
00:43:50
manipulator's crimes. But after the deaths of Arlene
and Hannah were finally proven,
00:43:56
there is no doubt that
he is one of the world's most evil killers. [surging music]
00:44:03
♪ ♪ [audio logo]