00:00:03
[ominous music] NARRATOR: In the South
of France lies Lake Bancalié. [ominous music]
00:00:45
A picturesque reservoir some
60 miles Northeast of Toulouse. [ominous music] MIKE KELLETT: It's
a very, very large expanse
00:01:06
of water in quite a remote
location, up in the hills, miles from any habitation.
00:01:14
It's a very beautiful location. [ominous music] JOSEPH DE CONTI: It's very
in the middle of nowhere.
00:01:29
It was nobody go--
in fact, only fishermen. [tense music] NARRATOR: But in 2001,
this tranquil beauty spot
00:01:41
revealed a terrible secret. [tense music] IAN KENNEDY: There had been
a notable drought for a very
00:01:51
long period that summer. The levels of the water
in the lake had dropped by about 30 feet.
00:01:58
[tense music] - There is something
working along here who sees the top of the car.
00:02:12
Somebody sees the top from
this way, working on this way. And he calls the police.
00:02:17
NARRATOR: The discovery
of a sunken car brought French military police,
the gendarmes, to the lake.
00:02:24
They were immediately
suspicious. JOSEPH DE CONTI:
The only a reason to go with the car this way
is to put the car in the lake.
00:02:31
[tense music] I don't see why you have
to go this way if you don't want to hide a car.
00:02:41
There is no house around. Nobody can see the car
when you come here. We send local police team,
local gendarmerie team
00:02:49
to look which car is it. And we have the description
of the red car. [tense music]
00:02:56
NARRATOR: The car was a rusted
4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser. It had clearly been
in the lake for some time.
00:03:04
But what had happened
to the driver? [tense music] - We called
the forensic to make
00:03:15
an investigation underwater,
take the car off the water. NARRATOR: A specialist
forensic dive team was brought
00:03:23
in to help with the recovery. This was now
a potential crime scene. [water splashing]
00:03:36
GILL WILLIAMS: When
the vehicle would have first gone into the water,
it was quite deep.
00:03:41
And so you wouldn't have
been able to see the vehicle. If the wind would
have been blowing,
00:03:45
that would have carried the
vehicle out a little bit more. It would have drifted,
which would have entailed
00:03:49
a proper underwater search. In this case, however,
the water levels had dropped, which it made the
job of recovery a lot easier.
00:04:01
NARRATOR: But it
wasn't without risk. [ominous music] GILL WILLIAMS:
The diver would have
00:04:07
checked all around
the vehicle, making sure not to go underneath
it, not to get snagged.
00:04:13
You don't want
the lifeline to get snagged underneath the wheel
arches or anything like that.
00:04:18
And also, you don't want
to be either downstream or downhill of the vehicle
in case it moves.
00:04:26
JOSEPH DE CONTI: You have to
make a forensic investigation underwater. Not very easy.
00:04:32
They do a good job, I think,
because they make pictures. Everything we do normally
out of the water,
00:04:39
they have to do
this underwater. It's very hard. GILL WILLIAMS: They would have
done a very slow, steady search
00:04:46
looking for any
evidence that might have fallen out from the vehicle. They would then start
checking the vehicle itself.
00:04:54
While searching
the vehicle, you would check the doors and windows. [ominous music]
00:05:04
The driver's side
window was open. And the driver,
at the time, was able to lean in very carefully
and check to see if there
00:05:15
was anything on the seats. And at this particular
time, they discovered that there was a body.
00:05:20
[ominous music] IAN KENNEDY: She was laid
across the back seat. [ominous music] A very good indication that she
was either unconscious or dead,
00:05:36
and had been placed
in the back seat before it was put into the water. [ominous music]
00:05:46
NARRATOR: License plate checks
revealed the car's owner was 52-year-old
mother of three,
00:05:51
Evelyn Lund, a British expat. She'd been living
in France but was reported missing two years earlier.
00:05:59
[ominous music] - It was really traumatic in
the time that she was missing. It was agonizing.
00:06:11
I can't even really put
into words how it felt for us. So many different emotions,
the constant anxiety.
00:06:22
Questioning, would she have
gone away but then always coming back round
to this, knowing
00:06:26
that she wouldn't have
ever just gone off and left her family. I was very, very worried
something terrible
00:06:33
would have happened to her. You just have
to sit and wait and hope that the police will do a
good job, and they'll find her
00:06:39
or she'll come home. [ominous music] NARRATOR: Detectives from
her home County of Lancashire
00:06:45
got involved. - The gendarmes
contacted us because they thought we'd be able to help.
00:06:51
They thought their enquiries
to be made in Lancashire. And it was a lot easier
for us to do those for them
00:06:57
and to see what we
could do to assist. The gendarmes were keeping
us updated as the car
00:07:04
was being recovered. [grim music] GILL WILLIAMS: They would
be treating the search and
00:07:14
recovery of this as if it was
a crime scene, just as it would have been on the surface.
00:07:19
So you're trying
to log everything you can underwater, first
of all, before the recovery
00:07:24
of the vehicle takes place. You don't want
to move anything and lose what could potentially
be an important piece
00:07:31
of information. NARRATOR: But no
telltale markings could be seen on the body. IAN KENNEDY: It wasn't
possible to draw perhaps
00:07:41
some of the forensic
opportunities that would normally be available. Her body had become damaged
from being in the water
00:07:48
for so long. [grim music] RICHARD SHEPHERD:
There's usually quite extensive decomposition.
00:07:59
The skin will be peeling off. The underlying muscles
will be beginning to decay significantly.
00:08:07
Superficial marks
are likely to be lost because of the loss of skin. And so the whole
process of decomposition
00:08:14
will be working externally
by the effects of water and internally by the normal
processes of decomposition.
00:08:22
NARRATOR:
So a decision was made to keep the body
in position as the car was carefully winched to safety.
00:08:29
- It took them a couple
of days to organize how they were going to get
the car out of the lake.
00:08:33
The French mounted a very
detailed operation with divers to secure the vehicle
pulled out the water
00:08:43
and then to see
what was inside. But when it came out, the local
paper had been tipped off.
00:08:50
They had a reporter on the
other side with a cameraman. They didn't want
the cameraman to see
00:08:55
it so they put a big tarpaulin
over it and dragged it out. And having the press
there didn't
00:09:00
help because it
really encumbered them doing what they were doing. [ominous music]
00:09:08
NARRATOR: Despite
the challenges, the body was sent
for, a post-mortem. DNA testing revealed
it was indeed
00:09:15
[ominous music] - For this family,
they now have to go through a new
transition, and
00:09:29
that is replacing that
hope, that last bit of hope, with the reality
of what has happened.
00:09:35
So now, I think they're
in a new phase of dealing with the loss of someone
they love very, very much
00:09:42
and was a very excellent mom. [ominous music] - I think my sister got
a telephone call, probably
00:09:48
from the English police. And she called me and she
said they found my mom. It was such a shock.
00:09:58
This unbelievable
wave of emotion, of all the colors
of the rainbow of emotion rushed through
me in an instant.
00:10:08
The relief, the sadness,
breaking down because you know that it's true. She is dead.
00:10:16
It was just traumatic
because then you start to paint a picture
of what has she gone through.
00:10:20
What has she gone through
in her last moments of life or the last hours of her life?
00:10:26
But there was a huge relief
in a very bizarre way, even though it was devastating.
00:10:35
They were only confirming
what we'd already known deep down for a long time.
00:10:40
NARRATOR: Police
had to investigate all possible scenarios. - Had it been a case
where Evelyn had driven
00:10:48
into the water deliberately? Accidentally rolled in,
and not been able to escape?
00:10:53
Or had some misadventure
come to her, and had she been placed in the
car and then the car pushed in?
00:11:02
- We could hopefully start
to get some real answers on what had happened. [tense music]
00:11:18
NARRATOR: In the South
of France, detectives are investigating
after Evelyn Lund's body and
00:11:22
car were found sunk
in a French lake. [tense music] Their search
for answers takes them
00:11:31
900 miles from where Evelyn was
found to Darwen, Lancashire, in the UK, Evelyn's
former family home.
00:11:39
They started by speaking
to her daughter, Vicky. [tense music] - I would say we were just
a normal regular family.
00:11:50
We were very outdoorsy. I think, at one
point, we had five dogs, six cats, two
goats, three ponies,
00:11:59
chickens, ducks, geese. My mom was-- she really,
really liked animals. Lots of happy memories, yeah.
00:12:07
She devoted her life to her
children, her grandchildren, and animals. NARRATOR: But unexpectedly,
tragedy hit the family.
00:12:15
[tense music] - My dad was
diagnosed with cancer. And sadly, he passed
away when I was 13.
00:12:29
It was a big shock. My mom didn't
cope with it well. He was the love of her life,
and it hit her really hard.
00:12:39
NARRATOR: Evelyn inherited her
husband's estate worth more than 1 million pounds.
00:12:44
VICKY TAYLOR: She was
settled in that respect. And that's the only
respect that she
00:12:49
was settled in, really. And I think that
she was lonely. [tense music] - She was left looking
after a farm, some animals,
00:12:59
and obviously really
missed her husband. She was a very vulnerable woman
and was missing the companion.
00:13:07
[tense music] NARRATOR: Within months,
Evelyn met 39-year-old divorcee and tree surgeon, Robert Lund.
00:13:18
[tense music] VICKY TAYLOR:
The neighbors knew Robert. Robert was, at the time, living
in a caravan on their land.
00:13:32
And my mom decided to have
a gathering at the house. And I just remember from
the moment he stepped foot
00:13:42
through our door, he
just made this beeline straight for my mother
and didn't
00:13:50
leave her alone all evening. It was weird. And then from that day on,
we couldn't get rid of him.
00:13:57
NARRATOR: They started
a relationship, and Robert moved in. VICKY TAYLOR:
Whatever he wanted,
00:14:05
my mom would buy for him. He decided he wanted to get
into shooting, clay pigeon shooting.
00:14:12
And my mom bought him a huge,
great Clydesdale horse. I guess Robert thought
that that would
00:14:19
come with some kind of status. He was very good
at spending my mom's money. - He was very
interested, I think,
00:14:26
in playing the lord
of the manor. She was a wealthy widow. He was somebody who
really saw somebody who
00:14:34
could financially help him. And that is a huge red flag,
what we call love bombing.
00:14:40
And they shower
you with attention. It's almost like, I think,
the romantic equivalent
00:14:45
of a salesperson. I've got to put
the pressure on you because if I give you
too much time to think,
00:14:50
you're going to realize this
isn't really a good deal. NARRATOR: Soon, Robert
showed another side.
00:14:56
VICKY TAYLOR: The way
he spoke to my mom, condescending, putting her
down, bashing her confidence,
00:15:02
even saying nasty things
about her appearance. For other people
to hear, I heard him
00:15:08
on many occasions just trying
to beat her down a bit really. He also could be
super nice one minute
00:15:15
and then he would just flip. He had a very,
very bad temper-- shouting and screaming.
00:15:24
It wasn't nice. [tense music] NARRATOR: The insults
turned violent. [tense music]
00:15:38
IAN KENNEDY: There was
a history of domestic violence in the relationship. Robert would
portray that Evelyn
00:15:44
had been violent towards
him when she was in drink. I'm not sure it was correct.
00:15:50
But certainly, there
was a history of Robert having assaulted Evelyn. [tense music]
00:16:01
NARRATOR: Despite
their difficulties, the couple announced
they were tying the knot.
00:16:05
[tense music] - The night before
the wedding, my mom was upset. And she said to me in private,
I don't know if I'm
00:16:14
making the right decision. And I begged and pleaded
her not to do it. She said she wasn't sure.
00:16:21
I told her I wasn't
going to the wedding. I refused to go. I couldn't stand there
and watch her marry him.
00:16:26
I was completely against
it, but she still went through with it the next day. [ominous music]
00:16:38
All of a sudden,
out of the blue, this idea comes to move
to the South of France.
00:16:43
[ominous music] NARRATOR: The married couple
bought a converted barn in the French hamlet of Rayssac
in the remote region of Tarn.
00:16:54
- We believe it was him that
put the idea in my mom's head. KEVIN BROWNE: To move
to a very rural area of France,
00:17:01
he isolated Evelyn from
her friends and family. Evelyn couldn't
speak French so she
00:17:09
was immensely isolated, both
geographically and socially. And that really begins
to raise concern.
00:17:18
- The domestic
violence literature tells us over and over
again that isolation is one of the primary
tactics of controlling
00:17:27
a victim in a domestic
violence situation. Evelyn is going into the worst
possible scenario.
00:17:35
NARRATOR: Evelyn did make some
friends, though, including fellow expat, Marianne.
00:17:40
- There was always this
feeling of tension with Robert between the two of them. She was very open
and bright and jolly.
00:17:49
And he was very uptight
and stern faced and miserable. He was always criticizing
her about her looks.
00:18:00
I always remember one
horrendous occasion when she wanted to go swimming. And he would only let her
get in our swimming pool
00:18:12
if she was in the nude. And I just thought,
how controlling of him. It was just so sad.
00:18:24
It was just a nasty
piece of work. KEVIN BROWNE: Evelyn
may have become blind to some of the coercive,
controlling behavior
00:18:31
that he was exhibiting. Given how vulnerable
she was, she'll probably be balancing the good
times with the bad times.
00:18:40
I think she was an optimist. And so by moving to France,
she hoped it would improve.
00:18:47
But at some times, there
was domestic violence. MARIANNE RAMSEY:
There were many times
00:18:53
when I said you've got
to get out of this, have the guts to move away. - She'd be on the phone
and you upset, crying.
00:19:01
My sisters and all
of her friends would openly say you
have to leave him. He's violent.
00:19:07
- But the trouble was she
just felt controlled by him. And of course, when you're
in that kind of relationship,
00:19:13
it's very difficult
to up sticks and go. - So he'd play
mind games with her
00:19:17
and tell her that she'd have
to give up all of her animals, that she would have
to pay him half or more
00:19:24
of her widow's pensions
because they were married He would just twist
her brain with all
00:19:29
this false information. It's emotional
and mental abuse. Everybody had
concerns at that point
00:19:36
for her safety, her mental
well-being, emotional, and her physical safety. [grim music]
00:19:47
NARRATOR: Soon after
Christmas, Marianne heard a knock at her door. MARIANNE RAMSEY: They
had had a terrible row.
00:19:54
And she just ran out
of the house, got in the car, and came to me to escape. She was crying.
00:20:04
She was just
in a deep depression. Somehow, she just
found it very, very difficult to get out of it
and to cope at that stage.
00:20:15
NARRATOR: After lunch,
they decided to rest. Marianne woke to find
a note from Evelyn.
00:20:22
- I always remember
it to this day. Gone to feed the dogs and cats. And so she had gone during
some time during the afternoon.
00:20:31
- And that was the last
time that Evelyn was seen by anybody. VICKY TAYLOR: A couple of days
goes by and she hasn't phoned.
00:20:39
Then everyone's
getting concerned. We haven't heard off my mom. That's just completely
out of character.
00:20:44
It was unusual
for my mom not to ring. MARIANNE RAMSEY:
Robert phoned me. And said, "Oh, God, is
she still with you?"
00:20:53
And then I thought, oh, my God. I knew something was wrong. It was his choice of words.
00:21:00
Oh, I suppose she's
still with you. And the flat voice. If she had gone missing, I
mean, surely, as a husband,
00:21:09
there would be emotion. But nothing. NARRATOR: Robert
hadn't reported his wife missing either.
00:21:17
- We were all threatening
him that you need to report her missing, Robert. This is insane.
00:21:23
Why are you not doing it? And all of the family
members started saying they were going to report her.
00:21:28
So then he said, all
right, OK, I'll report it. NARRATOR: Three days after
his wife failed to come home,
00:21:36
Robert finally
called the police. [tense music] - His story had the argument
in the morning she had left.
00:21:49
He didn't know where,
and she hadn't returned. [tense music] NARRATOR: The national
gendarmerie launched a search
00:22:00
for Evelyn and her car. - So we make
an investigation in all the country around the Robert
from 10 or 20 kilometers.
00:22:08
[tense music] NARRATOR: But the region is
dotted with lakes and rivers, so expert underwater search
teams were also brought in.
00:22:22
GILL WILLIAMS: Forensic
divers in France dived 20 lakes in an attempt
to find the vehicle.
00:22:29
And at the time,
it was deep winter. And so you've got huge, huge
logistical problems here.
00:22:37
They are restricted
for how long they can be in there
by the amount of air that they're carrying.
00:22:42
And because it's
the winter, divers get cold very, very quickly. [tense music]
00:22:51
Once you start getting
cold, it becomes a danger. - In terms of an area to
search, it was not an easy one.
00:22:57
GILL WILLIAMS: You'll
never really understand just how long it takes
to physically search
00:23:02
even a small area
for something. And I know you're looking for
something as big as a vehicle.
00:23:07
But they can drift
an awful long way out or roll an awful long way. NARRATOR:
Investigators used heat
00:23:14
seeking cameras from the air to
hunt for any signs of Evelyn. - We make all that we can do
to find Evelyn or the car.
00:23:25
- Despite the French having
done quite a thorough job-- and certainly, I
was quite impressed
00:23:32
with the investigation
they had done-- they couldn't find her nor the car. - I said to both
of my sisters, I think
00:23:40
he's done something to her. He's killed her,
and they agreed. They told Robert we
were going to the house.
00:23:45
I was going down to try and do
a little bit of Ms. Marple myself, and do a little
bit of investigating
00:23:51
and see if I could
find anything unusual. [tense music] NARRATOR: In the South
of France.
00:24:08
French and English
investigators are hunting for missing
mother of three, Evelyn Lund.
00:24:15
- Even though her body
hadn't been found, we were very much treating
it as a murder inquiry
00:24:20
and helping the French
on those grounds. NARRATOR: Their suspicions
were raised by learning about
Evelyn's violent and
00:24:28
controlling marriage
to Robert Lund. [tense music] IAN KENNEDY:
The family were saying
00:24:34
he would take money
from her account and then convince
her she'd spent it. They described
him, at the time,
00:24:40
as a bit of a gold digger. - Certainly, there
were grounds to suspect that her husband may have
been somehow involved
00:24:49
in what had happened to her. But at that stage, there
was not sufficient evidence
00:24:56
to charge anybody. NARRATOR: Evelyn's
daughter, Vicky, made the 900-mile journey to
Tarn to help with the search.
00:25:05
- We spent some time driving
around the country roads, just looking, looking down
ravines, driving around.
00:25:12
And nothing. [tense music] NARRATOR: Vicky
confronted her stepfather. [tense music]
00:25:28
VICKY TAYLOR:
Of course, I questioned him a lot of questions. Well, what time should she go?
00:25:31
All the usual questions that
any normal person would ask. He seemed odd. He was acting really bizarre.
00:25:42
I was going through
the house, looking for things. And he would be following
me around asking me
00:25:47
what I'm doing. Acting like a guilty
man, acting like a person that's got something to hide.
00:25:55
Now, I also found that strange
because if you're a loving husband, you would be
glad of the support
00:26:01
of family coming
together to try and work out what's happened. He was not happy at all
that I was there.
00:26:09
NARRATOR: Police secured
a warrant to search the couple's smallholding. - And when we got
there, Robert was there.
00:26:17
And I remember thinking
he was incredibly cool, almost to the point
of arrogance with us.
00:26:25
He did not seem
to be a worried man. He seemed to be somebody who
was very confident that he
00:26:29
was getting away with it. NARRATOR: But during
the search, investigators found
Evelyn's handbag.
00:26:36
[tense music] They carefully opened it up. - We found a lot
of things of Evelyn.
00:26:45
When you want to leave your
home, you take a lot of things. You take all your ID,
your credit card.
00:26:52
And all these things
was found in the home. NARRATOR: Inside the bag was
something else of interest.
00:26:59
- Marianne, her
friend, said she was wearing a pair of glasses. And her friend distinctly
remembered her taking them off,
00:27:06
said they got all
misted up, her being upset and, and her
friend of giving her a tissue to clean them with.
00:27:10
And her friend
distinctly remembered this particular pair of glasses
that Evelyn wore all the time.
00:27:15
When we searched the house
with the gendarmes, that pair of glasses
were at the farmhouse.
00:27:19
[tense music] It was incredibly
significant, the finding of the glasses Evelyn
needed her glasses to drive.
00:27:29
So that, in itself, was
a really good indication that, despite Robert
insisting that she had never
00:27:35
gone back there, she had. NARRATOR: At her
home, police uncovered more concerning evidence.
00:27:41
[tense music] - Methods used by crime
scene investigators using ultraviolet
light, sometimes
00:27:49
with enhancing chemicals,
make blood shine brighter. The presence of blood is
really very significant here.
00:27:57
There was blood splattering at
the house in the kitchen area, consistent with an assault.
00:28:06
[tense music] NARRATOR: Robert Lund was
brought in for questioning. He claimed his wife
had driven off drunk
00:28:21
following an argument. - Robert said that he
thought that she would just have gone to a hotel
somewhere nearby town just
00:28:29
to cool off or cool
down a little bit. That didn't make
sense because we knew that she had
told her friends
00:28:34
and going back
to see the animals. The animals were very,
very important to her.
00:28:39
So for those reasons, we
were convinced that she would have returned back there.
00:28:45
NARRATOR:
And as an English national, Robert used his interview
rights under French law
00:28:50
to his advantage. - Robert, at this time, speak
French, understand French. But the French
law have to impose
00:29:01
us to ask the question
in English, to have an interpreter. It makes a lot
of time for Robert
00:29:08
to prepare what
you have to say. He's very clever. Robert was something
very clever.
00:29:15
NARRATOR: As the interviews
came to a dead end, Evelyn's husband was released.
00:29:21
Not finding her body also
created a major legal obstacle. [grim music] - It was part of French law at
the time that without a body,
00:29:31
nobody could be
charged with murder. And so the investigation
really hit a stumbling
00:29:37
block at that point. VICKY TAYLOR: All
the while, he's swanning around, thinking
he's got away with it.
00:29:44
I think his confidence grew. From what we'd heard, he was
back out in the community
00:29:48
and going around
the markets and thinking he was
clever because he'd got away with it Scot free.
00:29:56
IAN KENNEDY: It
got to the point where we, together
with the gendarmes, basically came
into a cul-de-sac.
00:30:02
We couldn't take
it any further. [grim music] NARRATOR: But when Evelyn's
body and car were discovered
00:30:22
22 months after
her disappearance, 15 miles from her
home, investigators hoped the evidence
they found would
00:30:30
finally move the case forward. Evelyn's car was sent to the
lab for forensic testing.
00:30:39
IAN KENNEDY: They got
in the forensic experts. When it was found,
the driver's window was down.
00:30:44
It was a significant
and significant in that the day that Evelyn went missing,
there was a storm
00:30:52
raging through the area. So if you're driving
in the storm, the last thing you'd want to do
would be to open your window.
00:30:59
NARRATOR: The gearbox was
inspected to reveal more. - The car was in neutral, so it
was unlikely it was driven in,
00:31:08
or it could have rolled
in or been pushed in. And the seat was too
far back for Evelyn
00:31:14
to have been driving it. She wouldn't have been
able to reach the pedals. NARRATOR: This could
explain why the driver's
00:31:20
side window was found open. [tense music] - If you think
about it logically, if you wanted to push
a car into a lake,
00:31:30
you'd wind down the driver's
window so you could reach in and control the steering.
00:31:34
And then you would push
it, standing beside it. [tense music] NARRATOR: The forensic findings
revealed the likely scenario
00:31:47
once the car hit the water. [tense music] - Initially, it would have
taken 2 and 1/2 minutes roughly
00:31:58
for the vehicle to sink. [tense music] The offender would
have probably have left the window
open also to make
00:32:07
sure it filled with water more
quickly so that the vehicle sank more quickly. If Evelyn was
conscious, I would
00:32:17
say that as soon
as that vehicle started going underwater,
she would have desperately tried to get out.
00:32:24
But the back doors
weren't open. The back windows weren't open. It would have been
difficult, seeing
00:32:29
as she was found
in the back seat, for her to get
through to the front, to get out through
the driver's window,
00:32:36
there's no evidence
of any sort of attempt to get out of the vehicle. [tense music]
00:32:47
NARRATOR: The results
of Evelyn's post-mortem explained why she didn't
try to make an escape.
00:32:51
[tense music] IAN KENNEDY: From what we
find out from Evelyn and from her body, from
the post-mortem,
00:33:02
was that there was dried
blood on her clothing. [tense music] NARRATOR: Forensic
tests also found
00:33:10
Evelyn's blood on the back
seat of her vehicle. - The finding of blood staining
of her clothing and in the car
00:33:18
is a massively important
piece of evidence. It depends a little
on the actual distribution
00:33:24
of that blood rather
than anything else. But it does suggest
that she may have been resting, conscious or
unconscious, on the back seat
00:33:34
at some point. It shows that it's
highly unlikely this was a car accident that ended
up with a vehicle in the water.
00:33:43
It points very, very
strongly to Evelyn being injured and bleeding
prior to the vehicle
00:33:50
entering the water. - There was blood inside
the boot she was wearing, which was an indication
that she had bled
00:34:01
before her boots were put on. Her boots were
the boots that she wore to see the animals,
which is what
00:34:06
she said she was going to do. NARRATOR: But something
didn't seem right. - Her boots were
on the wrong feet.
00:34:16
NARRATOR: It seemed to support
Robert's claim Evelyn was drunk the day she went missing.
00:34:20
[tense music] - Boots on the wrong feet
is very, very important-- suggests that maybe she was
so drunk or under the influence
00:34:32
of drugs that she
couldn't manage to dress herself correctly. Even in a body that is
very severely decomposed
00:34:41
as Evelyn's body would have
been after immersion for 18 months or so in the water,
it's still possible to perform
00:34:47
toxicological examinations. Particularly with
the organs, it is possible to test
for drugs and alcohol
00:34:55
to see whether or not she was
drunk at the time of her death. NARRATOR: But toxicology
tests revealed
00:35:03
no trace of drugs or alcohol in
her body at the time she died. So why were her boots
on the wrong feet?
00:35:13
RICHARD SHEPHERD: It
strongly suggests, added to other features here
like the blood staining,
00:35:18
that someone else dressed her
but dressed her incorrectly. - During the postmortem,
there was very little water
00:35:27
in her lungs, which was
an indication that she was either unconscious
or dead at the point
00:35:33
where she entered the water. Adding all that together, there
was a very good indication
00:35:39
that she had been killed
deliberately or inadvertently placed into the car. And then the car
had been pushed
00:35:47
into the water
in order for everything to be hidden from
the rest of the world. [tense music]
00:36:05
NARRATOR: After three
years building their case, the gendarmes arrested
and charged Robert Lund
00:36:11
with Evelyn's murder. [tense music] - Robert was remanded
in custody where the investigations continue.
00:36:22
NARRATOR: Prosecutors
prepared for a trial. Robert Lund would
finally face justice.
00:36:29
- It was, to me,
a moment of great relief that at last, we were
going to get him.
00:36:38
And I would do
everything in my power to make sure he was suffering
like he had made Evelyn suffer.
00:36:46
[grim music] NARRATOR: In France,
Robert Lund is awaiting trial, charged
with murdering his wife,
00:36:54
Evelyn, whose body was found in
her car deep in a French lake six years earlier.
00:37:02
Prosecutors believe Robert
killed her and disposed of her body in the icy water.
00:37:09
VICKY TAYLOR: It was
very scary because I knew that I was
going to be called as a very important witness.
00:37:15
It was awful, really awful. You know, you spend
hours and lay there night after night thinking about
what you would say to him
00:37:26
or how you would
feel when you see that man again in the flesh. [somber music] NARRATOR: Evelyn's
family made the journey
00:37:43
from Lancashire to see their
mother's killer face to face. VICKY TAYLOR: It
was very disturbing
00:37:49
when they brought him out
and he stood in front of you, which was very daunting.
00:37:54
NARRATOR: In court,
those closest to Evelyn revealed Robert's violent
and controlling nature.
00:38:00
- He always used to stare
at me with his horrible eyes, as though trying
to intimidate me.
00:38:05
But obviously, I
wouldn't let him. - We'd sit there all day long. It was difficult because most
of what was being said,
00:38:12
we didn't understand. NARRATOR:
And the prosecution outlined Robert Lund's motive, money.
00:38:19
- Robert was a dependent
from Evelyn because Evelyn-- in fact, Evelyn
has all the money.
00:38:25
Robert had nothing. VICKY TAYLOR: He was very
good at taking her cash card and going to the cash
machine on the day
00:38:31
that the widow's pension
would go into the account and emptying the account.
00:38:37
And then he continued to do
that after she went missing. [tense music] NARRATOR: It was
revealed Lund would
00:38:45
be the sole benefactor
of Evelyn's life insurance and inherit her
estate when she died.
00:38:52
But days before his
wife's disappearance, she planned to break free. - She contacted divorced line
in France to ask about advice
00:39:03
about getting a divorce. [tense music] - When somebody is
in an abusive relationship
00:39:11
and they're getting
ready to leave, that is the most
dangerous time. I can't undersscore
the fact that we
00:39:19
find over and over again,
and research supports this. - I think he realized that
his meal tickets had gone
00:39:30
and perhaps, either
decided that he could get her money by killing her. Or maybe in a row, having
killed her inadvertently,
00:39:42
he thought, well,
I'll stick with this and I'll be able
to get my inheritance.
00:39:46
[tense music] NARRATOR: The prosecution
took the court through the day Evelyn disappeared.
00:39:54
[tense music] - Nobody was able to say
definitively what had happened. But from the circumstances
of the car, the fact that she
00:40:09
had blood on her clothing, from
the circumstances of finding property belonging to Evelyn
at the house that had been
00:40:18
with her when she had lunch
with Marianne during the day, adding all that together, the
only logical explanation was
00:40:26
that Evelyn had returned home. There had been a continuation
of the row from that morning.
00:40:33
During that, she
had been killed or knocked
unconscious by Robert, and then taken in the car
to the lake and dumped.
00:40:43
- And after, back home
maybe on a bike or walking. Probably on bike, I think,
because there is a long way
00:40:49
from here to his home. NARRATOR: Lund's defense
said Evelyn met her death following a car accident.
00:40:55
Robert's claims that she
was drunk at the time were also repeated in court. VICKY TAYLOR: Sometimes,
he came across as arrogant.
00:41:04
Other times, he was erratic. He's telling lies. And I'm frustrated. And it's unpleasant
when there's
00:41:12
witnesses up there speaking
about my mom in a bad way. That was really hard as well.
00:41:19
NARRATOR: Not only did
the postmortem prove no alcohol was present
in Evelyn's blood,
00:41:23
experts also questioned
the car crash theory. [water splashing] - I would find it very
difficult to believe that she
00:41:33
was in the front seat at all. If Evelyn was in the front
seat conscious, when the vehicle
went into the water,
00:41:41
she would have tried to get it
out through the driver's window seeing as the window was open.
00:41:46
[tense music] And most vehicles obviously
have got headrests. There's very little room over
the tops of seats in the front.
00:41:59
So even though there would have
been a flow of water through, I would have found
it very difficult
00:42:05
to believe that
Evelyn would have been swept through from the
front seat to the back seat.
00:42:11
I still believe that she
was placed in the back seat by the offender. NARRATOR: It was
also shown to be
00:42:18
unlikely Evelyn
would have crashed into that part of the lake. IAN KENNEDY: It was a really
awkward lake to get to
00:42:24
and that there was a very
narrow path with a very sharp turn on,
so you would have
00:42:28
had to have known it,
known location, and maneuvered around to do that. - It was difficult for the big
car to go in this way.
00:42:37
And there's not
a direct way to home. NARRATOR: The final piece
of the evidential jigsaw,
00:42:45
the glasses her friend
saw her wearing later found at the couple's home. - I had the joy of having
loads of pairs of glasses
00:42:56
produced in front of me,
and I had to pick out the ones that she'd worn. And I thought, oh, my God.
00:43:02
This is going
to be complicated. But luckily, I did remember. And so that proved
she had gone home.
00:43:10
- She could not have
driven that car to the lake without her glasses,
particularly
00:43:14
late in the day,
middle of winter, dark, middle of a storm. It was incredibly significant.
00:43:23
VICKY TAYLOR:
For it to be murder, the jury have to be
satisfied without any shadow
00:43:28
of a doubt in their mind. He's actually planned
what he's going to do. They couldn't come to that
decision with enough majority.
00:43:38
NARRATOR: Robert
Lund was, however, found guilty
of involuntary homicide and jailed for 12 years.
00:43:46
MARIANNE RAMSEY: It was
a time of celebration that he can suffer
for what tragedy
00:43:50
he'd done on the whole of her
family and her poor kids. - There was a slight
bit of relief
00:43:58
that thank goodness he
didn't walk out of there, but just anger and frustration
that it wasn't murder.
00:44:07
NARRATOR: In 2009,
Lund launched an appeal, which he lost. But a mistrial meant
Robert Lund's case
00:44:15
had to be tried for a third
time two years later. - It was horrendous. Horrendous.
00:44:25
Twice, twice we have
to go through that. And now, to be
told we have to go through it again a third time.
00:44:31
[tense music] It was just unbelievable. It was just so overwhelming. We were gutted,
absolutely gutted.
00:44:42
NARRATOR: If he
was cleared, Lund would finally get Evelyn's life
insurance and the inheritance.
00:44:49
But it was not to be. - When they came with
the guilty, he collapsed. He had a little
bit of a meltdown.
00:44:59
He's completely white. And he sat with his head
in his hands, in shock. I think he thought he was
going to get away with it.
00:45:09
IAN KENNEDY: Robert
always seemed to deny it, even
to himself, that he had done anything wrong.
00:45:15
We never saw any remorse. We never saw any grief. We never saw any guilt. NARRATOR: Lund was released
from prison in 2013.
00:45:25
- He's evil. He's calculated. He is damaged in his head. A man that was just always
out for his own gain.
00:45:35
- The sad part was that she
died making moves to leave. I think it's important for
anybody in an abusive situation
00:45:42
to absolutely have
a team in place that can help you navigate
that, to find ways to be
00:45:48
safe and create safety plans. - I wish maybe I
could find some words to try to make him
realize how evil it was
00:45:58
and what it did to her. It's not going
to bring her back. Nothing anybody says is ever
going to bring her back.
00:46:06
There are no words that
will ever fix what he did. [music playing]