00:00:07
Julia: This time on Killers
Caught on Camera. In Illinois, a father
discovers his daughter dead.
00:00:20
Woman: I can still feel in
my chest how brutal and cruel her murder was. Julia: As cameras catch
a stalker in the night.
00:00:33
- Was this the act
of a prowler? There was nothing
taken from the house. Julia: And in the UK,
a night out with friends
00:00:45
ends in murder. Man: An off-duty
officer heard what he described as the most
horrendous screaming he'd
00:00:51
ever heard in his life. [tense music] Man: It just sounds
like something bad is happening to her.
00:01:00
Woman: We know what
happened because the video tells us what happened. Man: I heard some gunshots.
00:01:05
- I need to get rid of the gun. - Man, that's good. Man: The camera doesn't lie.
00:01:17
Julia: In the United States,
Illinois, the city of Quincy. Bryan: Quincy, it's
on the Mississippi River.
00:01:27
We're about two hours or so
north of St. Louis, Missouri. - I always describe it as kind
of an island, definitely
00:01:36
has a small-town vibe. That's why it draws, I think,
families in to-- to this area.
00:01:45
Julia: One of those
families was the Bliefnicks, Becky
and her husband, Tim, and their three
young boys.
00:01:53
- Becky was really
almost an ideal mom. And it really just
brought her joy. She had the most
memorable laugh.
00:02:05
[laughter] She really loved life
and loved her family. - Hi. Shannon: Becky and I
met in first grade.
00:02:25
She's what I feel like
most of us aspire to be or aspire
for our daughters to be,
00:02:33
that kindness,
but then also just fiercely strong, competitive,
and extremely intelligent.
00:02:52
Julia: But Becky's
father's faith in humanity was severely tested
in February 2023.
00:03:00
[phone ringing] Sarah: My mom was calling,
and she was hysterical. And all she could
say was Becky's dead.
00:03:32
Becky's dead. We don't know anything. It was like everything else
in the world had stopped.
00:03:39
[tense music] ♪ ♪ Bryan: When I arrived at the
scene, I saw Becky's body. You could see that she had
been shot multiple times.
00:04:16
The total number
of wounds was 14. There were more than
one to a hand to suggest
00:04:26
a defensive posture. Many of those shots were
when Becky was laying on her back on the ground.
00:04:42
I could see that
her-- her phone was on the floor
behind the door. Julia: Becky's phone revealed
she knew she was in danger.
00:04:55
Nick: Moments before
the murder happened, Becky tried to dial 91126
as if her fingers just
00:05:03
got pushed across
the phone right at the end. Julia: The last activity
on Becky's phone
00:05:09
gave detectives an exact
time of death at 1:11 AM. Josh: Our suspect pool
was as wide as the world.
00:05:17
We had absolutely no idea
who had been involved, and we started looking at that
point for whatever evidence
00:05:24
we could gather. - There were multiple
shell casings that were found around
the body of Becky Bliefnick.
00:05:37
Bryan: Interspersed
with were all the shell casings were, we
noticed fragments and shreds of a plastic bag.
00:05:45
So those stuck out
right away as something that was important. Julia: While crime
scene investigators
00:05:53
worked on Becky's home,
detectives broadened the search for clues. - I directed multiple
officers to start
00:06:02
scouring the area
close to Becky's house looking for video surveillance. Nick: A neighbor had
video surveillance
00:06:11
from their security
camera system. They did not have any footage
of the night of the murder.
00:06:17
However, they did have
footage of a person walking down their driveway
the night before.
00:06:30
Time stamp on here is
1:20 in the morning. We see this individual,
and you can't
00:06:36
see if it's a male
or female, but this person appears to be looking around. They're walking
somewhat methodically.
00:06:43
♪ ♪ So this is that same camera
view in the daylight. And then obviously, you can
see those windows in the back.
00:06:57
Julia: In the top right
corner of the security video, investigators spotted a crucial
detail, a broken window.
00:07:07
Bryan: It was obvious that
the perpetrator had climbed onto the roof and had
forced entry to the house
00:07:12
by this back window. The window broke
during the entry. It perhaps made
enough noise to alert
00:07:25
Becky, who had been able
to shut her bedroom door, but it was obvious from
the damage to the door
00:07:32
that we observed
that the perpetrator had forced that door in. - I don't think
there's any words
00:07:42
to describe how that feels
to know that your sister was shot 14 times in her
own home, running
00:07:57
away and trying to hide. Josh: It was
clearly a break-in. Was this the act of a prowler?
00:08:07
It didn't seem like
it was a random event. There was nothing
taken from the house.
00:08:14
Julia: The scene left clues
about a potential relationship between Becky and the person
who murdered her.
00:08:20
This crime scene
does not indicate someone who is committing
a burglary and it's gone wrong.
00:08:26
The perpetrator doesn't
choose the easiest window to break into. The perpetrator has
actually gone up a floor.
00:08:34
It feels like there's
something going on here that is about Becky and
that this person is targeting
00:08:42
Becky specifically, which
also suggests that it would be someone she has met before.
00:08:48
She was shot 14 times, which
is way more than you need. And that, to me, speaks
of someone who is either
00:08:55
out to kill
or at the very least, once they've made
up their mind, they are going to make
sure she's dead.
00:09:05
Detectives had another
look at the timeline on the security footage and
made an unsettling discovery.
00:09:13
♪ ♪ - We went back
a couple of weeks, and we found again a random
prowler on that video.
00:09:24
Julia: The prowler had
spied on Becky's house on Valentine's Day. - Are they going
on a practice run?
00:09:32
Are they starting
to plan to do it and then something stops
them from doing it? There's a lot of questions
when you look at the video.
00:09:43
Julia: Detectives went back
through Becky's personal life to try and find some answers.
00:09:50
Bryan: In cases like this,
the current domestic partner or the former domestic partner are
obviously people of interest.
00:10:01
Nick: We start
to dissect Becky's life, and then we soon
discovered she was getting divorced
from her husband,
00:10:07
and it was a difficult divorce. Julia: Becky met Tim
at Quincy University. Becky studied
biological sciences,
00:10:16
and Tim was doing
business studies. Sarah: He was able to have
a conversation with anybody.
00:10:24
They were both
college athletes. They both were very
into fitness and well-being.
00:10:31
They had been dating
for a little while, and their relationship was
relatively quick moving.
00:10:40
Julia: Becky and Tim
got married in 2009 and had three boys. Sarah: Becky was thinking
about being a doctor,
00:10:48
but her number-one passion in
her life was to have a family. So she initially put
that dream on hold.
00:10:59
- Cheese. - He was the primary
breadwinner of the family, and he did very well. He was a six-figure income.
00:11:08
Julia: But being parents
created challenges for the couple, especially when
Becky went back to her career
00:11:13
in nursing against
Tim's wishes. Shannon: Things had changed
between Becky and Tim.
00:11:20
Most of the burden of child
rearing was falling to her. Sarah: We kind of laughed
in a not funny way about Becky
00:11:29
being a single, married
mother because Tim spent so much time away from the house.
00:11:36
And even when they
had three kids and she was trying
to balance a career, he did not help in any way.
00:11:47
Julia: Becky and Tim
announced their separation in February 2021. Sarah: Tim had made her
feel worthless for so long.
00:11:57
He criticized her parenting
abilities, her cleaning of the house, and he was
especially critical of her body
00:12:07
and frequently called
her fat and worthless. Becky was relieved when
he finally did move out.
00:12:17
- What we have here is
a pretty classic case of coercive control,
of psychological manipulation.
00:12:24
With the control that Tim was
already exerting over Becky, the question, of course,
is how does a person
00:12:30
like this, who's already
psychologically controlling the other person,
who's already made
00:12:35
the other person
financially dependent and is really
curating their life and controlling their life,
how is Tim going
00:12:41
to behave during a divorce? And unfortunately,
what we often see with perpetrators of this
kind of intimate partner
00:12:47
violence is that you
see either the behavior continue or it escalates. - Tim was making
her life miserable
00:13:00
in every possible way. You know, the divorce process
dragged on and on and on. His stipulations were that
he would not have to pay
00:13:11
child support or alimony. He would file continuances
to bleed her of money. Their divorce process
was nearly $40,000 that
00:13:26
she had to go into debt for in
order to just end her marriage. I think he was just
trying to get her
00:13:35
to a point where she couldn't
take it anymore and-- and would-- and would give him
what he wanted.
00:13:43
And she was not
that type of person. Julia: No DNA,
fingerprints, or witnesses placed Tim at the scene
of Becky's murder.
00:13:54
So investigators turned
to a camera near Tim's home. Bryan: We obtained video
from Quincy Public School
00:14:03
System's bus storage lot. Laura: So we can see it's about
12:55 in the morning the night
00:14:10
of the murder, February 23. And all of a sudden,
we see motion coming. And then there's
a person on a bike
00:14:16
heading towards Becky's house. You can tell the person
is on a bike, but you certainly
can't tell who it is.
00:14:27
Julia: Moments later,
the mysterious cyclist was caught on camera biking
in the opposite direction
00:14:32
from Becky's house. The footage was
recorded just minutes after she attempted to call
911 to report the break-in.
00:14:44
Bryan: We saw what appeared
to be the same individual on the same bike. One thing that we noticed
while reviewing the video
00:14:52
is that there
were no reflectors in the wheels of the bicycle. - As we continued
the investigation,
00:15:01
though, it became
clear that there was only one person that
Becky was really scared of.
00:15:09
Sarah: Becky had said
something along the lines of if anything were
to happen to me,
00:15:15
the first person
of interest should be Tim. Julia: Becky's
messages to friends revealed her increasing
concerns about Tim's behavior.
00:15:25
[tense music] ♪ ♪ Sarah: I had asked her to go
to our local domestic violence shelter, but there's
very little
00:15:45
that a woman can do if there's
no physical evidence of abuse. Julia: After a year and a half
of divorce proceedings,
00:15:53
Becky then began to experience
unexplained events around her home. Sarah: When Becky's
first cat disappeared,
00:16:01
it was obviously
traumatic, but there were plausible explanations. She had called me the day
after her second cat had died.
00:16:16
She broke down in tears. The cat had come in from
outside, then all of a sudden started seizing.
00:16:25
There was no reason to suspect
that there was any health issues with the cat. I think, in that moment,
she was very fearful.
00:16:36
She thought that Tim was
probably stalking her. Whenever she would
file something,
00:16:42
he would do a tit for tat. So she asked for a restraining
order against him, and he filed a countersuit
to get a restraining
00:16:53
order against her. In the court's
eyes, it just seemed like two very
disgruntled individuals
00:17:00
fighting with each other. Julia: Even just thinking
that your partner or your ex-partner is capable
of killing your pets is--
00:17:11
that-- you have to get
to a really dark place in order to think that that's
something that they would do.
00:17:16
It's hard to communicate
that effectively, though, because you feel like
you're overreacting and saying
00:17:20
things like, well, I
think he killed the cats, I mean, that sounds
straight out of a movie,
00:17:25
and you might not
even believe it yourself as you're saying it. But that's exactly what's
so horrible about psychological
00:17:30
abuse is that it instills
these constant questions that chip away at what
you know to be real.
00:17:37
♪ ♪ Bryan: Once the video from
the yard was examined, the person's size,
the person's gait when
00:17:53
walking was similar to Tim. At that point, he was
considered a suspect. Julia: A week after
Becky's murder,
00:18:06
the police had enough
evidence to confront Tim. Julia: They seized his
cell phone from his car.
00:18:32
Julia: And a WHOOP
fitness tracker. Nick: I researched
this WHOOP device. There's a good chance that
we could obtain that evidence
00:18:41
from that company. Julia: Later the same day,
police searched Tim's house. Bryan: We found
a multitude of items
00:18:56
that we took into evidence. We found shopping
bags that matched the fragments
of the shopping bag
00:19:04
found at the scene of Becky's
murder at her house, and most importantly,
in particular,
00:19:11
a box of spent shell casings. Julia: The shells were sent
for analysis at the crime lab
00:19:19
while the search
of his home continued. - We located a pry
tool on a shelf in the basement that was
similar to the pry tool
00:19:31
marks in the window
at Becky's house. - Every time we got
a piece of evidence, it pointed to Tim Bliefnick.
00:19:39
It didn't point
to anybody else. Julia: The evidence
was adding up. But it was still
all circumstantial.
00:19:47
Under state law,
prosecutors only had 90 days until Becky's
murder case had to go to trial.
00:19:57
- We have this
timeline that we know from the video footage
from the bus barn we got from
the neighbor's houses.
00:20:06
We needed other
pieces of evidence. Josh: Laura was going
through the defendant's
00:20:14
browser history. She looked at me,
and she said, you're not going to believe this.
00:20:20
He searched "can you
match a shotgun shell to the weapon that was used?" "How can you open
a door with a crowbar?"
00:20:28
Julia: Tim also
searched how to make a homemade pistol silencer. Detectives believed
Tim tried to use
00:20:36
the plastic bags to muffle
the sound of gunshots because shreds of plastic
were found at the scene.
00:20:43
Josh: Each and every one
of these search histories was just another aha moment. Like, oh my gosh, why
would Tim Bliefnick
00:20:52
be searching for these things
unless he was involved? Bryan: Based
on the video evidence
00:20:59
from Quincy Public
School's bus storage lot, we knew we were
looking for a bicycle.
00:21:05
Julia: Officers searched every
corner of the neighborhood's backyards. Laura: They found
a bike in the brush
00:21:13
within a couple of blocks
of Tim Bliefnick's house. Julia: The bike didn't
yield any forensic evidence,
00:21:20
but detectives
were convinced it was related to Becky's death. - The odd height
of the bicycle seat
00:21:27
was compared to a bicycle that
was located during our search of Tim Bliefnick's house.
00:21:33
And they were within a half
an inch of each other. There were no reflectors
in the wheels.
00:21:40
We felt very strongly
that we had located the bicycle in the video. Julia: Despite
mounting evidence
00:21:49
against their main suspect,
Tim insisted he had nothing to do with Becky's death.
00:21:55
- Tim Bliefnick wasn't going
to take any type of negotiation in this case. It was clear to us
from the very beginning
00:22:01
that he was going
to want his day in court, and he was gonna
make us prove it. Sarah: He could never admit
he was failing in some way.
00:22:09
He always had to win. In his mind, he succeeded at
exactly what he wanted to do.
00:22:18
Julia: Just weeks
before the trial, detectives received a potential
forensic breakthrough.
00:22:25
- The shell casing
matched the shell casings around Becky's body. It was at that moment that
we really felt like, OK,
00:22:35
now we're starting
to have a case. Julia: And with only days
to go until opening statements,
00:22:42
prosecutors finally
received the data from Tim's WHOOP
fitness tracker. Laura: It actually was
an amazing piece of evidence
00:22:52
because at exactly the time
period when the person would have been on the bike traveling
from Tim Bliefnick's house
00:22:57
to Becky Bliefnick's house
committing the murder and then riding the bike back
to Tim Bliefnick's house,
00:23:04
the WHOOP is disconnecting
from Tim Bliefnick's phone. So Tim Bliefnick
probably thought
00:23:10
they can track
the location of my phone, so I will leave
my phone home when I leave to go on these
midnight bike rides
00:23:17
to Becky Bliefnick's house, and
they won't be able to track me. But really, it actually
hurt him because in the end,
00:23:22
we were able to show that the
WHOOP was disconnected from his phone during those
exact same times at 1:00
00:23:28
or 2:00 in the morning. Julia: On May 23, 2023,
Tim Bliefnick stood trial. Prosecutors were certain
the timing of Becky's murder
00:23:41
was no coincidence. She was killed just one week
before the final divorce hearing.
00:23:48
- There's no winning
in a divorce, but it started
to look like Becky was going to have
a custody arrangement
00:23:55
and child support and alimony. And that would have been
a huge loss for Tim. So Tim killed her.
00:24:05
Julia: 10 hours
after Becky's death, Tim was caught on camera
picking up their boys
00:24:10
from school an hour
early, his car just visible in the footage. Sarah: He needed somebody
to find her body.
00:24:26
My dad had received a call from
Tim that afternoon saying he was worried about Becky
because she didn't go
00:24:33
pick up the kids from school. He wanted my dad to call her
to see what was going on.
00:24:41
Julia: At Tim's request,
Becky's father went to check on her at the house. - He found her lying
on the bathroom floor.
00:24:53
My dad was Becky's person. They were very, very close. Tim orchestrated him
finding her purposefully.
00:25:07
Julia: You have this
prolonged aggression towards the family
as a whole and this hell
00:25:13
that they've had
to endure because of Tim. Despite all the planning,
despite orchestrating
00:25:18
the circumstances
around the crime scene, despite making sure the kids
are out of the house,
00:25:22
despite having
a silencer for his gun and making it look
like a break-in, even he didn't account
for everything,
00:25:29
and he was still
caught on camera. After a nine-day
trial, the jury read their verdict, guilty.
00:25:41
Josh: I won't forget the look
on Becky's father's face after the verdict was read.
00:25:47
It really was one
of those moments that I think neither one
of us will ever forget.
00:25:55
Julia: The judge imposed
the maximum sentence, life without parole. Nick: I don't think
we would have solved
00:26:04
this case without
the security footage, because it provided
us the timeline that led to everything.
00:26:15
- I think that the tragedy in
this case, more than anything else, is the effect that
Tim Bliefnick's selfish acts
00:26:25
have had on those
three innocent boys. Shannon: I think it's
really important, especially
00:26:34
for people who are supporting
someone in a domestic violence situation, to know
someone doesn't
00:26:42
have to physically put their
hands on you to abuse you. Becky was being
abused emotionally.
00:26:49
And I think it's important
that we use that word "abuse," not dance around it. Sarah: Becky did so much
good in the world.
00:27:00
- You are doing great. Sarah: You could tell
walking around the corner that she was in the room
just by hearing her laugh.
00:27:09
Thinking about her laugh
is really priceless. [somber music] ♪ ♪ And that's what I'll remember.
00:27:42
Julia: Becky Bliefnick's death
at the hands of her husband was a call to action
for her friends
00:27:47
and family, the issue,
the danger of emotional abuse by an intimate partner. Only about 12% of women
are killed by a stranger.
00:27:59
The rest are killed by what's
known as a known person. And so that's either
a family member
00:28:04
or somebody else
that they know, an acquaintance, a friend. And this leads to something
called the proximity paradox,
00:28:11
which is that you'd think the
people who are closest to you emotionally are
the safest to be around,
00:28:16
but actually, those
are also the most likely people to harm you. And in the UK,
a trio of friends
00:28:24
embarked on a night out. But only two would return home. Julia: In the UK,
Staffordshire, 15 miles north
00:28:43
of Birmingham is Tamworth. Carl: Tamworth is a small town. It's a very pleasant,
quiet place.
00:28:53
There's a lot
of community spirit there. It's not the sort
of place you would usually
00:28:57
associate with serious crime. Julia: On September 19, 2019,
a worried family reported
00:29:06
their daughter missing. Carl: Keeley Bunker
was 20 years old. She'd recently
celebrated her birthday.
00:29:15
She'd grown up
in Tamworth all her life. Very popular, very loved by all
of her friends and family.
00:29:24
Keeley was due for an interview
at a school at 2:00 PM on September
the 19th for what
00:29:28
would have been a dream job. She always wanted to work with
children, but she never showed.
00:29:35
Julia: Keeley had gone out for
a late birthday celebration. - Keeley's friend that had
been out with her the night
00:29:41
before messaged her,
but she became concerned when she didn't reply. Concerns grew for her among
her friends and family,
00:29:48
and she was reported missing to
the police at 5:30 PM that day. Julia: Family,
friends, and volunteers
00:29:56
searched the local area
for any signs of Keeley. Carl: When Keeley
was reported missing,
00:30:03
it immediately gained
a lot of interest. Young girl, been out
for a night out, disappeared.
00:30:09
Everyone's worried for her. Julia: Meanwhile,
police officers spoke to two
of Keeley's friends
00:30:16
who were with her
the night before. - On the 18th of September,
2019, Keeley Bunker had gone
00:30:22
into Birmingham with a friend. It was a bit of a belated
birthday celebration that night.
00:30:29
Birmingham is
a very vibrant place full of bars and nightlife. Julia: Police searched
security cameras
00:30:37
to track Keeley's
movements on the night out. [tense music] ♪ ♪ - They went
to a nightclub called
00:30:49
Snobs in the city center. Julia: Nothing struck
police as unusual, and friends said Keeley
was in good spirits.
00:31:02
As police began
to build a picture, more footage emerged from
Birmingham's public transport
00:31:07
system. It showed another friend
who'd joined the group. Wesley Streete. - Keeley had known Wesley
since infant school.
00:31:24
They had been friends
for many years. Wesley Streete was known as
the life and soul of the party
00:31:30
among his friends. He was very popular. The camera from Snobs
nightclub in Birmingham
00:31:40
showed Keeley and Wesley
and their other friend having a good time that night. They'd all been drinking.
00:31:46
But Keeley hadn't
had many to drink. After about three hours,
Keeley, Wesley, and
00:31:56
their friend caught a taxi
back from Birmingham to Tamworth Town Center. Julia: Keeley's friends'
accounts of the night out
00:32:03
were backed up by security
footage from a bank. Just before 3:00
AM, Keeley withdrew
00:32:09
money to pay for a taxi. Again, nothing
seemed to be amiss. - After returning
from Birmingham
00:32:19
and going back to Tamworth,
Keeley's friend said she could spend the night at her home.
00:32:22
Keeley declined. She said she was
tired and she wanted to spend the night
in her own bed
00:32:26
and that she also had
an interview at school the next day. She said she would be safe
walking home with Wesley.
00:32:37
Roberta: We can see
that it's actually quite an ordinary night. Keeley wasn't going to access.
00:32:41
She didn't drink too much. She took a taxi
home with friends, and she also chose to sleep
in her own bed, which
00:32:48
says to me that she was
really focused on the next day and wanting to wake up
and be able to present
00:32:54
herself in the best possible
way for her interview. It tells us something about
Keeley's internal world.
00:33:01
This was someone who had
something to look forward to the next day, so there's
no reason why she wouldn't
00:33:06
have gone home that night. It really does
raise the question about what happened to her.
00:33:15
Julia: 22 hours after
she was last seen on security footage
at 5:30 PM, Keeley's family
00:33:21
reported her missing. Carl: As the last person
to see Keeley alive, police naturally wanted
to speak to Wesley.
00:33:44
- When police spoke
to Wesley, they asked him to take them
on the route he supposedly
00:33:48
walked Keeley home that night. [tense music] - He said he'd walk to home
from Tamworth Town Center
00:34:03
close to his house. He said he hugged her
and left her near a phone box. Julia: But when officers
asked for Wesley's phone--
00:34:28
Julia: --his demeanor changed. - This point is
incredibly interesting. Wesley seems more concerned
about what his phone may reveal
00:35:11
about him, rather than
what his phone may actually offer the search for Keeley. Roberta: This could be because
he's panicking, he's nervous,
00:35:38
or he's genuinely confused. Or it could be because he
has something to hide. Julia: Wesley's phone was
sent off for analysis.
00:35:53
- When police
questioned Wesley, they noticed he had
scratches on his face. And naturally, they asked
him how they'd been caused.
00:36:01
Wesley said they had been
caused by his dog that morning. Julia: Volunteers looking
for Keeley concentrated
00:36:08
their efforts
on the local park, close to where Wesley said
he and Keeley parted ways.
00:36:17
- Keeley's uncle went
into Wigginton Park to search for his niece. He went to look through
a railway tunnel
00:36:23
when he turned and saw
something red, which caught his eye underneath the brook.
00:36:30
He went over, and he
could then see matted hair and the bracelet
on someone's wrist.
00:36:37
He immediately knew it
was his niece, Keeley. ♪ ♪ An off-duty officer
heard what he
00:36:49
described as the most
horrendous screaming he'd ever heard in his life. Keeley's body was discovered
covered in branches in a brook
00:36:58
at the edge of the park. The off-duty officer
went over to the scene and checked for a pulse,
but he found none.
00:37:05
He noticed that Keeley's
top was blood stained. Police immediately launched
a murder investigation.
00:37:17
Brett: I was contacted
by Staffordshire Police for a forensic post-mortem. The fact that the body
is found in a face
00:37:23
down position with
branches covering the body would necessitate
the need for a post-mortem
00:37:29
to try and build up
some sort of picture as to what may have happened. The first thing that I
saw was that the clothing
00:37:36
had been moved, and she
was in a state of undress. Now that in itself would
highly support the possibility
00:37:44
that there has been
a sexual assault. The DNA results
from any swabs which I took at the post-mortem
would be absolutely
00:37:52
important in this case. Julia: Investigators notified
friends that Keeley was dead.
00:38:03
Carl: Keeley's
body was discovered around 9:00 PM that night. By that time, the police were
already speaking to Wesley.
00:38:11
Julia: Then the results
of Wesley's phone analysis came in. - He stuck to his account
that he'd last seen Keeley
00:38:19
near a phone box by his home. But GPS data from his mobile
phone contradicts his account.
00:38:27
The data showed that at 4:23,
he was in Wigginton Park, which is where her body was found.
00:38:34
The GPS data from
Wesley's phone also showed that he
returned to the site five times in 12 hours.
00:38:41
They realized he was lying
about where he'd last seen her. Wesley started out as a key
witness, the last person that
00:38:51
saw Keeley alive,
but he quickly went to being the prime suspect. Carl: Wesley was
arrested less than 90
00:39:05
minutes after Keeley's
body was discovered. Julia: Wesley was taken
to the police station
00:39:19
to be interviewed. - Once the GPS data
from his mobile phone proved that Wesley and Keeley
were together in the park,
00:39:41
he changed his story. Julia: Wesley admitted he
hadn't left Keeley by the phone
00:39:49
box outside the park. Instead, they had gone
into the park together. Carl: His next account was
yes, they were together.
00:39:59
He jumped on her
back for a piggyback. She fell, hit her head, and
died in his arms accidentally.
00:40:09
Brett: One of the things
about forensic pathology is you're presented with a
story, and you have to test it.
00:40:13
You have to see
whether or not that fits with what you're seeing
in the post-mortem room.
00:40:18
A dead body doesn't lie. There was no evidence
of traumatic brain injury, but there were some
more telling injuries.
00:40:29
She had multiple bruises
within the muscles at the front of the neck. There's only one way
that Keeley died,
00:40:35
and that was that
she was strangled. Julia: Wesley was
presented with the results
00:40:42
of the post-mortem. He asked for a lawyer
and stopped cooperating. But the police now had
enough to charge him.
00:40:52
- Wesley Streete
was denying that he had sexually assaulted Keeley. However, the samples did come
back positive for male DNA.
00:41:03
That male DNA was
Wesley Streete. Wesley Streete changed
his story a third time and was indicating that
both him and Keeley had
00:41:13
consensual sex,
and during that, he placed his arm around her neck. She had become floppy, and then
he was trying to assist her.
00:41:22
That does not fit with
the post-mortem findings. The findings
at post-mortem would
00:41:27
indicate that Wesley Streete
has maintained that pressure around Keeley
Bunker's neck in order
00:41:33
for her to go into cardiac
arrest and die. That doesn't just occur. You need to maintain that
pressure for several minutes.
00:41:43
Julia: On July 13,
2020, prosecutors presented to a jury what they
believed really happened.
00:41:51
- Wesley convinced Keeley
to go into Wigginton Park. In the park, Wesley raped
and murdered Keeley.
00:42:00
He then dragged
her body to a brook and concealed her
body with branches. After that, he went
home and went to bed.
00:42:10
Over the course
of the next 12 hours, Wesley returned
to the scene five times to put more branches
on Keeley's body
00:42:16
and conceal it further. [tense music] ♪ ♪ Wesley gave evidence
during the trial.
00:42:27
He claimed he'd killed
Keeley accidentally. Throughout the proceedings,
he just seemed very cold
00:42:32
and emotionless. Julia: But what Wesley
hadn't accounted for was additional witnesses.
00:42:46
Carl: Three further
victims came forward that had claimed
similar sexual predatory
00:42:49
behavior against them. Wesley was ultimately
charged with five further sexual offenses, including
rape and sexual assault.
00:42:56
After that, the evidence
stacked up against him and fell like dominoes. Roberta: In total, there
were eight charges brought
00:43:03
against Wesley,
and they included the sexual assault of several
women, some of which
00:43:07
were under the age of 16. This has been going
on for a number of years. There's a sustained pattern.
00:43:14
There's so many
reasons why young women will not come forward
and report sexual crimes.
00:43:20
There's a fear
of potential retaliation from the perpetrator,
but also, there's a real sense
00:43:26
that they're holding
the shame for the crime, not the perpetrator. And they're having to think
about their reputation,
00:43:33
their place
in their social group, the impact this may have on it. And often when people
report these instances,
00:43:39
they're not always believed. So what we're seeing
in combination is essentially an environment
that's offense permissive.
00:43:46
And that really goes a long
way to creating and sustaining a culture of silence.
00:43:54
Carl: In August
2020, Wesley was found guilty of raping
and murdering Keeley Bunker, as well
as historic sex offenses
00:44:01
against three other victims. He was sentenced
to life in prison with a minimum
term of 30 years.
00:44:08
Roberta: It's almost
like a double life. What happened in terms
of his behavior happened behind closed doors.
00:44:17
We can really connect with
Keeley's sense of surprise, her shock, feelings of
betrayal, sadness, anger, and
00:44:24
confusion because someone
who she trusted to keep her safe
from men like this was actually
standing by her side.
00:44:32
[tense music] ♪ ♪ What makes this
so devastating is that she did everything that
women are encouraged to do.
00:44:43
She didn't drink excessively. She stayed with people
she knew, her friends. She got a taxi out,
even funding it herself.
00:44:51
And she even accepted a walk
home from someone she trusted. So it really
highlights that women
00:44:57
can put all these
precautions in place, but what it doesn't do
is take into account
00:45:03
the internal
motivations of someone else when they decide to act
in harmful, violent ways.
00:45:17
Carl: Friends and family
have left tributes to Keeley at Wigginton Park. It's now a location where
they can go to remember her.
00:45:24
♪ ♪ Roberta: Keeley was well-loved. She was a good
friend, but something that really comes
through about Keeley,
00:45:38
in addition to her
kindness and compassion, was her sense of responsibility
and wanting to help others.
00:45:45
Carl: She aspired
to work in a school, and she always wanted
to work with children.
00:45:49
Her whole life
was ahead of her. ♪ ♪ [theme music] ♪ ♪