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OK, this interview is being tape
-recorded. The interview is being
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an interview room at Hampton Police
Station.
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Robert, could you give me your full
name, please? Robert Black.
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OK, and your date of birth, please?
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21 -4 -4 -7.
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The reason that Robert Black, I think,
is one of the most dangerous people I've
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ever met is because you would not look
twice at him if you walked down the
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street. He just looks ordinary, but his
crimes were so horrific.
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If you saw a young girl, tell me what
would happen then.
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He was admitting nothing.
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So how to prove all those years later
that he was the man who had killed these
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girls?
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What happened after the arrest of Robert
Black was even more remarkable than
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what happened before.
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There are a number of issues, Robert,
that we would like to talk to you about.
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Are you happy enough with that?
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Carry on.
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A massive hunt for the missing girl was
called off this afternoon after her body
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was found in the lake.
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Mrs. Maxwell said that that day had been
the first time Susan had been allowed
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to walk home alone.
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Fifty officers are scouring the area
looking for clues.
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Caroline was allowed out to play for
just five minutes. She was last seen in
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company of a 30 to 40 year old man.
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started near the spot where Sarah was
found and worked their way upstream
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the banks of the River Trent.
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He's not going to stop us there, is he?
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Black drove his transit van through a
village on the Scottish borders.
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Here he abducted a schoolgirl that was
spotted and stopped by the local police.
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Maybe it was the beginning of the road
to some sort of justice.
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Would you like to look at the person who
murdered your daughter?
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We didn't find any forensic evidence
that connected Robert Black with any of
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these children.
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A predatory paedophile who targeted
young girls.
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How could it not be him?
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You really have to go into every dark
corner of the case and try and get the
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next piece of evidence.
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Robert Black was the red flag killer.
This had to work. There was no other way
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out. He's a vile, evil man.
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The man of the most...
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Evil current.
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14th of July, 1990.
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Seven years after Caroline.
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Eight years after Susie.
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Four years after Sarah Harper.
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The police officers stop the van and the
driver of the van is Robert Black.
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underneath all the clutter, there is
like a purpose -built sleeping bag.
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And in that sleeping bag, they found a
wee girl.
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Pulled the girl out, and Robert Black's
arrested.
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It was immediately apparent that the
circumstances of that abduction were
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special, to say the least.
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The way in which she had been very
forcibly bound, gagged, This is out of
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ordinary. This is just not right.
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This is not a first time.
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He's done this before, without doubt.
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There was more to this guy than we
thought.
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Immediately you have a localised crime
to investigate.
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While you're doing that, you're
discovering things at that crime scene
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that vehicle that set alarm bells
ringing big style.
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He was a driver. He delivered posters
throughout the UK. He had a van, which
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used basically as a mobile home.
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He had sleeping bags, he had a foam
mattress, he had foodstuffs, bindings,
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implements which would suggest some form
of...
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sexual activity taking place.
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Everything pointing to travelling the
length and breadth of the country and
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prepared to forcibly abduct children.
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And it was really quite menacing.
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He's a loner. He has failed to have
relationships with adults.
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He was obsessed by pornography.
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He's obsessed by children.
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He is the classic offender.
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Robert Black appeared at the High Court
in Edinburgh in August of 1990.
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Within less than a month of his arrest,
he was tried and convicted.
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He pled guilty for the offence in Stow.
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He was sentenced to a mandatory life
sentence for abduction and assault to
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danger of life.
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Robert Black left Edinburgh High Court
to start a life sentence for what the
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judge described as a horrific, appalling
case. The court was told that if she
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hadn't been discovered, she could have
died within the hour.
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We have Robert Black in prison and we
still have three unsolved significant
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major child murder inquiries on our
hands.
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It was quite clear at that stage that
given the circumstances that we already
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knew about the deaths before, previously
of Susan Maxwell in 1982, Caroline Hogg
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in 1983, and Sarah Harper, and the
abduction in Stow, that this could very
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be the most viable suspect that we'd yet
seen to date after all these years of
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investigation.
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They had him in prison.
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Now, could they prove?
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that he had committed other murders.
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Maybe it was the beginning of the road
to some sort of justice for the families
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of those whose daughters didn't survive.
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When it's a child, it affects everyone.
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Everybody wanted some answers and wanted
someone being convicted for what
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happened.
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And I saw a photograph of him and the
description that we'd been given at the
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time. I just knew it had to be him.
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That was the man who'd committed the
murder of Sarah Harper and the others.
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There was no question that this inquiry
had to work. There was no other way out.
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We had three cases which were definitely
linked together. They were massive in
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terms of documentation, records,
forensics.
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To my knowledge, there's never been a
linked serial murder investigation
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involving children to anything like the
extent that this was.
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There was an inherent negativity, a fear
that this was all too big,
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all too complex, all too challenging.
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We had no idea whether there was any
head of steam to take this to trial at
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We had huge responsibility and we just
had to find a way through.
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Detectives from Lothian and Borders have
been questioning a 43 -year -old man.
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Inquiries into his background led them
to visit a rented bedsit in the Stamford
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Hill area of North London, where it's
understood a number of items were
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for forensic examination.
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There were a huge number of challenges
from a forensic perspective.
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The first one was just the sheer volume
of work.
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In terms of Robert's accommodation in
London, when we searched that flat, we
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discovered swimwear belonging to
children,
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skirts, clothing, objects, which were
used as part of his own self -abuse.
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There were something like 4 ,000
individual items ranging from tubes of
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toothpaste through to pornographic
cinefilms. Child sex magazines,
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videotapes which he spliced together,
photographs, scrapbooks, but all
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very, very worryingly centred around the
direct abuse of young female children.
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His entire material world was in the
hall and loading on the board of the
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police. Everything he possessed, apart
from whatever he wore in prison.
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It must have been an absolute nightmare
to our forensic people to stand there
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and think, well, where do we start with
this lot?
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It was probably the biggest case in the
country since the Yorkshire Ripper
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investigation.
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We went through pretty much all 4 ,000
items and we reduced them to
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a few hundred.
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The focus on these items was to look for
hairs, fibres, blood,
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saliva that was being transferred to
black from the victims or from the
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back to black.
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Quite a tiring process, sparing down a
microscope for hours on end. And, of
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course, if you get tired, you could miss
something.
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But despite the time spent on the case
and the extent of the examinations, we
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didn't find any forensic evidence that
connected Robert Black with any of these
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children. They went through every single
item.
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Every single item. And at the end of the
day, there was not one single item of
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evidence in there that forensically...
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linked Robert Black to these
investigations.
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He wasn't talking. He was admitting
nothing.
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So how to prove all those years later,
without forensic evidence, that he was
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the man who had killed these three
girls?
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In the absence of forensic evidence, I
think it's realistic to say that
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the average member of the public...
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understands police work or detective
work to be cctv cameras and forensic
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science nothing could be further from
the truth certainly in 1990 nothing
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be further from the truth or in 1982 83
or 86 it was just slogging common
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down -to -earth detective work get out
there do the work don't expect it to
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in fall into your lap you've got to go
and find it And we began to dig in for a
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long haul, principally to try to
eliminate Robert Black from his
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in these murders. And that's an
important point.
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Sounds counterintuitive to the public,
but it is in fact perfectly rational
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you think about it.
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Eliminate this person, and if you can't
eliminate him, he's your man.
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You start to retrospectively...
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looked back and put a magnifying glass
over what was by then eight years of
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investigation. We decided a three
-pronged approach would be the best way
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strategically, and that consisted of
looking at his employment records in
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of the wages that he earned and in terms
of the deliveries that he made.
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He was given what we called petrol
cards. These were small, almost like a
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card, which could be used at petrol
stations to refill the vehicles.
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We could build up a picture of not only
the driver's use of the car, but Robert
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Black's personal use of the car.
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He was a prolific hoarder of receipts.
He would stop and buy a bottle of
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lemonade. He would subsequently find a
receipt in his flat in London for a
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particular place at a particular time on
a particular date, on days which are of
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significance to our inquiries.
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You have a picture of us superimposing
one element over another element.
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Deliveries, petrol.
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The hunt for a possible triple child
killer was stepped up at Easter when a
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police computer called Holmes came
online after months of being fed with
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hundreds of thousands of separate pieces
of information.
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The advantage of the Holmes computerised
system was that it enabled research to
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be done retrospectively. The Holmes
computer system was aptly named after
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Sherlock Holmes and it stands for...
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home office, large, major inquiry
systems. So it was a database of
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on all major inquiries.
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There was dedicated officers working on
the computers, and that was their role,
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sifting through the information that
they had and putting it onto the
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The wife and where the bodies were found
was very important.
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We've traced all the vehicles that he
used over a period of years. We've
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physically recovered and forensically
examined them.
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They used vans all the time. Once we
discovered Robert Black was using white
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vans, we then looked back and we put in
white van Coldstream, where Susan
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Maxwell was last seen.
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Boom. Up comes the unidentified sighting
by witness A of a white van on the
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offside of the road south of the Tweed
Bridge at Coldstream.
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And at that time it was driven and used
by Robert Black, who had shortly before
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picked up petrol at Stannington Petrol
Station.
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And was en route to Edinburgh to deliver
a poster.
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The home computer was absolutely
revolutionary.
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It just saved months and months of work.
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We plot him on these different days. We
plot him on the 30th of July for Susan
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Maxwell. We plot him for the 26th of
March for Sarah Harper. And we plot him
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the 8th of July for Caroline Hobb.
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Likewise, we plot him again.
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on the days around the deposition dates.
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And we gradually see a very strong, very
potent picture linking him entirely
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across these three incidents.
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That's always a realistic possibility
that somebody else might come out from
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mass of evidence as being a more
preferred suspect.
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Didn't happen in this case. From day
one, Robert Black was the red flag
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He was implicated at every turn.
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Putting together the huge circumstantial
case that Hector Clark and Roger Orr
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did was astonishing.
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They wove an incredibly complex fine
mesh net to show that Robert Black
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had the motive, he had the opportunity,
he was there at the time.
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They simply put together a case which is
so compelling, which showed Robert
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Black. in all the right places at the
right times.
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It was immensely challenging on multiple
fronts.
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What began to emerge was an idea seeking
to use a very unique legal process
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known as similar fact evidence.
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Evidence of similar fact means you could
use the example of the abduction in
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Stowe to say, look, this is what he did.
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And here is Susie Maxwell.
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identical circumstances.
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And here is Caroline Hogg, identical
circumstances.
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And here is Sarah Harper, identical
circumstances.
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So you're saying to the jury, how could
it not be him?
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How could it not be him?
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The deputy chief of Lothian and Borders
Police has headed a nine -year inquiry
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into the deaths of the three girls. Six
police forces were involved.
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I can confirm that late today,
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Criminal proceedings have been issued on
the authority of the Crown Prosecution
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Service against Robert Black, aged 44
years, a driver
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from London.
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Robert Black was driven to Newcastle's
Moot Hall for his Crown Court trial this
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morning for the alleged abduction and
murder of three schoolgirls in the
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The defendant himself was covered by a
blanket as he emerged from a police van.
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Fixed police forces have been involved
in the inquiry and have accumulated 20
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00:17:45,780 --> 00:17:47,640
tonnes of paperwork and evidence.
231
00:17:50,580 --> 00:17:53,620
The mood in the courtroom was electric.
232
00:17:58,510 --> 00:18:02,970
that really contributed to the drama
that was maintained throughout.
233
00:18:04,450 --> 00:18:09,130
I think I would be wrong if I said that
there wasn't any tension in that
234
00:18:09,130 --> 00:18:10,130
building.
235
00:18:10,870 --> 00:18:15,150
I've never gone through anything like
that in my life. I don't think I will
236
00:18:15,150 --> 00:18:18,870
again, and I think that applied equally
to all the officers there, let alone
237
00:18:18,870 --> 00:18:21,650
Jackie Harper, Annette Hogg, the
Maxwells.
238
00:18:22,170 --> 00:18:26,450
Jackie, Sarah's mum, how many years had
passed and how old Sarah would have been
239
00:18:26,450 --> 00:18:27,450
at that point.
240
00:18:27,930 --> 00:18:30,630
I cannot imagine how that must have felt
for her.
241
00:18:31,070 --> 00:18:35,910
You can never bring Susie back or
Caroline back or Sarah.
242
00:18:36,130 --> 00:18:38,270
It destroys the families of these girls.
243
00:18:38,470 --> 00:18:39,470
You never bring them back.
244
00:18:40,670 --> 00:18:43,170
But it's important that justice be done.
245
00:18:43,970 --> 00:18:46,330
You can be confident, but you've got to
be careful.
246
00:18:46,830 --> 00:18:51,430
Anything can happen, because the job's
not over until that foreman stands up.
247
00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:02,520
Robert Black may be a convicted child
molester, but that does not make him a
248
00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:04,680
murderer, his defense counsel said
today.
249
00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:09,580
And Ronald Thwaites QC took the highly
unusual step of revealing Black's
250
00:19:09,580 --> 00:19:11,100
criminal record to the court.
251
00:19:12,140 --> 00:19:16,140
For the first time, the jury has been
told that Black is already serving life
252
00:19:16,140 --> 00:19:18,920
imprisonment for the abduction of a girl
in 1990.
253
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:24,360
But his criminal record goes back three
decades, with sexual offenses against
254
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,580
schoolgirls in 1963 and 1967.
255
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,040
The trial was just over five weeks.
256
00:19:33,610 --> 00:19:37,450
Robert was his normal self, or what we'd
come to understand as his normal self,
257
00:19:37,510 --> 00:19:41,450
pretty detached, pretty much
disinterested, very little interaction
258
00:19:41,450 --> 00:19:45,670
counsel, if any, no handing down of
notes or contesting evidence.
259
00:19:48,270 --> 00:19:54,230
The most dramatic moment was when the
jury, after weeks of listening to the
260
00:19:54,230 --> 00:19:57,750
increasingly compelling evidence, came
back.
261
00:20:02,220 --> 00:20:05,940
The thing that I always remember was
that because of the fact that we were
262
00:20:05,940 --> 00:20:11,420
linking these cases using similar fact,
we understood that if the very first
263
00:20:11,420 --> 00:20:15,380
charge was found not guilty, the rest
fell.
264
00:20:16,060 --> 00:20:21,620
Conversely, if the very first charge was
found as a guilty, the rest were going
265
00:20:21,620 --> 00:20:22,620
to be guilty.
266
00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:29,100
I looked up at Jackie Harper, I think,
at the time, and she was kind of wide
267
00:20:29,100 --> 00:20:31,260
-eyed and semi -shocked looking.
268
00:20:31,950 --> 00:20:34,510
There's not a lot you could have said.
There was nothing anybody could say.
269
00:20:34,830 --> 00:20:36,110
It was palpable.
270
00:20:41,090 --> 00:20:42,850
First charge in the Maxwell case.
271
00:20:45,390 --> 00:20:46,390
Guilty.
272
00:20:49,670 --> 00:20:53,330
It was just one massive sigh of relief.
273
00:21:00,010 --> 00:21:03,850
And then the doorman just proceeded to
read out the ten verdicts of guilty.
274
00:21:06,570 --> 00:21:11,250
The families of his three victims
listened and with considerable dignity
275
00:21:11,250 --> 00:21:15,910
the judge call Robert Black a very
dangerous man and sentenced him to life
276
00:21:15,910 --> 00:21:17,510
imprisonment ten times over.
277
00:21:20,590 --> 00:21:24,230
When he was convicted for all three of
the murders, I can't tell you, it was
278
00:21:24,230 --> 00:21:27,350
just a fantastic day in my life. I was
so pleased.
279
00:21:27,670 --> 00:21:32,850
Anybody that can pick up a young child
from a roadside and do the things he did
280
00:21:32,850 --> 00:21:36,410
to them just cannot be anything other
than evil.
281
00:21:38,310 --> 00:21:44,430
I remember afterwards Susan's mother
telling me she was very grateful to the
282
00:21:44,430 --> 00:21:48,070
jury for returning a unanimous verdict.
283
00:21:48,620 --> 00:21:54,180
It seemed very important to her that
they all agreed that he'd done it. Very,
284
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,520
very relieved at the verdict.
285
00:21:56,900 --> 00:22:01,100
We'd like to thank the jury for coming
to the right and just decision, although
286
00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:02,940
we've had a long wait for it.
287
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:08,280
There was enormous relief for the
parents and the police who'd grown close
288
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:09,880
during this exhaustive investigation.
289
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:15,720
He's a vile, evil man, a man of the most
evil kind.
290
00:22:18,250 --> 00:22:24,850
Robert Black was evil, sadistic, had no
compassion
291
00:22:24,850 --> 00:22:29,830
for his victims, for his children that
he abducted and murdered, or for the
292
00:22:29,830 --> 00:22:30,990
families that were left behind.
293
00:22:32,550 --> 00:22:36,170
A strange thing happened just
immediately after the verdicts were
294
00:22:36,330 --> 00:22:40,630
Black was being taken down the steps and
into the cell holding area below where
295
00:22:40,630 --> 00:22:45,870
we were. And unbelievably, and still
unexplained to this day, he hesitated
296
00:22:45,870 --> 00:22:46,870
he looked up.
297
00:22:47,530 --> 00:22:49,170
He was looking directly at me.
298
00:22:49,610 --> 00:22:52,750
And all he said was, well done, boys.
299
00:22:53,910 --> 00:22:56,350
And immediately put his head down and
went down the steps.
300
00:22:59,890 --> 00:23:00,990
Never forget that.
301
00:23:03,410 --> 00:23:04,410
Yeah.
302
00:23:05,850 --> 00:23:06,850
Not easy.
303
00:23:08,690 --> 00:23:12,910
Today, one of Britain's most far
-reaching murder investigations finally
304
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,500
But the questions about what other
terrible crimes Black may be responsible
305
00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:18,820
are only just beginning.
306
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,940
Detectives working on unsolved cases
want to visit Black in jail to find out
307
00:23:24,940 --> 00:23:28,560
he killed even more children to satisfy
his perverted mind.
308
00:23:29,540 --> 00:23:34,600
We were given probably, I think, in
excess of 40 cases to look at. And in
309
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,700
of those cases, we were able to
eliminate him positively because we had
310
00:23:38,700 --> 00:23:41,160
receipt placing him in a certain place
on a certain date.
311
00:23:43,210 --> 00:23:44,870
One or two other cases, perhaps.
312
00:23:47,190 --> 00:23:48,750
There's a good chance this is him.
313
00:23:50,150 --> 00:23:55,810
Two of them were Jeanette Tate in Devon
in 1978 and Jennifer Cardy in Northern
314
00:23:55,810 --> 00:23:57,030
Ireland in 1981.
315
00:24:08,870 --> 00:24:11,190
There was an opening of the case again
in 1996.
316
00:24:12,290 --> 00:24:16,690
Detectives from Northern Ireland went
across to England and spent time going
317
00:24:16,690 --> 00:24:17,690
through this.
318
00:24:18,410 --> 00:24:24,490
We met the police in secret because we
didn't want the press to get hold of it.
319
00:24:24,890 --> 00:24:31,050
We knew that there was a lot of work to
be done, tons of paperwork to go
320
00:24:31,050 --> 00:24:33,970
through, fan loads of it. We knew all of
that.
321
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:39,100
Detectives from Devon and Cornwall
Police and their colleagues from the RUC
322
00:24:39,100 --> 00:24:42,960
come here to Wakefield, where they
interviewed Robert Black until late last
323
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,900
night. They want him to give them
information about the disappearance of
324
00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:49,780
Jeanette Tate and the murder of Jennifer
Cardy.
325
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:56,200
Robert Black was interviewed, but there
were no firm conclusions drawn from that
326
00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,860
interview. He never admitted that he was
in Northern Ireland, and it was decided
327
00:25:00,860 --> 00:25:03,260
at that point that there wasn't enough.
328
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,860
to go forward with the prosecution and
the case went cold again.
329
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:14,480
Jennifer was always missed, always
talked about and always missed.
330
00:25:15,140 --> 00:25:18,720
But as a family, we had to live as a
family.
331
00:25:19,220 --> 00:25:24,960
Now, that doesn't mean to say that we
didn't suffer and miss
332
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:30,700
Jennifer and think about it in our quiet
times, but we didn't live it in front
333
00:25:30,700 --> 00:25:31,700
of other people.
334
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:33,240
We didn't live in fear.
335
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,840
2002, I'm promoted as Detective Chief
Inspector.
336
00:25:47,060 --> 00:25:53,260
The outgoing CID officer did a handover
in their office and said, have you heard
337
00:25:53,260 --> 00:25:56,800
of the Jennifer Cardy case? And
literally handed me a green folder.
338
00:25:57,780 --> 00:25:59,640
I actually read it that night.
339
00:26:00,190 --> 00:26:04,990
There were three people that were
possibly connected to having carried out
340
00:26:04,990 --> 00:26:10,310
offence. Only one of them was a fixated,
paedophile, child molester of the
341
00:26:10,310 --> 00:26:11,530
nature of Robert Black.
342
00:26:12,870 --> 00:26:18,030
When Jennifer went missing, my father,
he was a station sergeant, there was
343
00:26:18,030 --> 00:26:20,830
actually a required drink with my
father, just talking, and he brought up
344
00:26:20,830 --> 00:26:23,770
Cardiff case, turned around and said to
me, if there's one thing you do before
345
00:26:23,770 --> 00:26:25,710
you retire, solve the Cardiff case.
346
00:26:27,210 --> 00:26:29,150
The one thing that struck me...
347
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:34,120
that he was convinced that he would put
an end to this.
348
00:26:34,820 --> 00:26:40,880
Raymond was on mission, and his mission
was that someday he would finish this
349
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:41,880
case.
350
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:54,160
We went up to Myer Police Station, the
whole family, and they talked about how
351
00:26:54,160 --> 00:27:00,470
they're going to reopen the case and try
and get... Robert Black, I didn't think
352
00:27:00,470 --> 00:27:04,730
they were going to get a conviction
because there was very little forensic
353
00:27:04,730 --> 00:27:08,610
evidence and it might be going on more
circumstantial evidence.
354
00:27:09,630 --> 00:27:12,670
When you begin to look at the material
that has been gathered diligently over
355
00:27:12,670 --> 00:27:15,790
the years, you suddenly begin to realise
that this is actually a massive task.
356
00:27:17,430 --> 00:27:20,450
We knew it was going to be a long haul.
We knew this was not going to be a case
357
00:27:20,450 --> 00:27:23,350
that was going to be resolved in weeks
or months and actually it was going to
358
00:27:23,350 --> 00:27:25,160
be. probably measured in years.
359
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,300
To be honest, you're supposed to get
operational names out of a government
360
00:27:29,300 --> 00:27:34,720
database so that nobody duplicates it,
but we did go slightly off -piste and we
361
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:39,140
felt that Operation Perseverance was
probably the best name for it because
362
00:27:39,140 --> 00:27:41,420
is what it was going to take.
363
00:27:43,140 --> 00:27:45,140
We thought it would take years.
364
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:49,680
We knew it would take years. I think
they told us that at the time.
365
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,380
So we were content to sit back.
366
00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,980
What we did was re -interview every
major member of the poster industry that
367
00:28:00,980 --> 00:28:04,620
could find. And during those
investigations, we found a new witness.
368
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:11,100
A man who owned multiple poster display
sites in a town called Newry in Northern
369
00:28:11,100 --> 00:28:17,000
Ireland. And the town of Newry is
located at the bottom of the A1. And
370
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:21,080
Dam, where Jennifer's body was located,
is halfway along the A1.
371
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:29,680
We knew that he came in on the ferry and
the ferry was docked at 7am. We could
372
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:31,580
prove that then from the harbour
records.
373
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:37,300
We knew that his deliveries would have
been completed by 11am, which put him
374
00:28:37,300 --> 00:28:42,400
right in the absolute time frame for
having abducted Jennifer somewhere in
375
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,580
around 1 .40pm to 2pm when she was on
her bicycle travel.
376
00:28:50,670 --> 00:28:54,290
Jennifer's watch so that Jennifer would
have the right time to know when to come
377
00:28:54,290 --> 00:29:00,690
back. The watch had stopped at 5 .40,
which again gave Black plenty of time to
378
00:29:00,690 --> 00:29:04,110
get to Belfast, to be at the dock, to
get on the ferry.
379
00:29:05,030 --> 00:29:10,610
It was all these granular examinations
that really began to harden up the time
380
00:29:10,610 --> 00:29:14,350
frame and that circumstantial case began
to get tighter and tighter and tighter.
381
00:29:17,990 --> 00:29:23,580
We felt that actually the case, putting
Robert Black in Northern Ireland had got
382
00:29:23,580 --> 00:29:25,460
really, really strong.
383
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:31,220
We thought we had a body of evidence,
but we were never going to be satisfied
384
00:29:31,220 --> 00:29:37,080
with that. You really have to go into
every single dark corner of the case and
385
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,540
try and get the next piece of evidence.
A decision was made at that time that we
386
00:29:40,540 --> 00:29:42,120
would move towards interviewing Black
himself.
387
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:51,900
The PSNI review approached me and asked
me for any advice or assistance that I
388
00:29:51,900 --> 00:29:56,180
could give them in relation to the
particular aspect of interviews with
389
00:29:56,180 --> 00:30:00,220
Black. And I think that was valuable
that we were able to give that to
390
00:30:00,220 --> 00:30:06,220
investigators who themselves would be
faced with a limited time to cover a lot
391
00:30:06,220 --> 00:30:07,820
of material and a lot of points.
392
00:30:09,340 --> 00:30:11,500
The planning for the interview took a
year.
393
00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,760
The interviewers were very carefully
picked, all highly, highly experienced.
394
00:30:17,610 --> 00:30:22,030
And we decided to use a male and a
female interviewer.
395
00:30:22,970 --> 00:30:27,210
We talked to Roger about how that might
create an interesting dynamic.
396
00:30:28,830 --> 00:30:34,070
The first key objective was, can we get
him to admit that he is in Northern
397
00:30:34,070 --> 00:30:35,110
Ireland on the 12th of August?
398
00:30:38,870 --> 00:30:41,990
Okay, this interview has been tape
recorded. The interview is being
399
00:30:41,990 --> 00:30:43,410
an interview room at Anthon Police
Station.
400
00:30:45,530 --> 00:30:47,010
Robert, could you give me your phone
name, please?
401
00:30:47,390 --> 00:30:48,109
Robert White.
402
00:30:48,110 --> 00:30:49,470
Okay, and your date of birth, please?
403
00:30:49,850 --> 00:30:51,150
21 -4 -4 -7.
404
00:30:51,970 --> 00:30:55,510
There are a number of issues, Robert,
that we would like to talk to you about.
405
00:30:55,810 --> 00:30:57,170
Are you happy enough with that?
406
00:30:57,790 --> 00:30:59,270
Carry on and see how it goes.
407
00:30:59,550 --> 00:31:00,550
Okay.
408
00:31:01,410 --> 00:31:03,330
I've got one question, though. Yeah.
409
00:31:05,370 --> 00:31:10,250
Why, in this situation, is it always a
female officer that talks about these
410
00:31:10,250 --> 00:31:11,250
things?
411
00:31:12,390 --> 00:31:13,390
In what respect?
412
00:31:14,090 --> 00:31:16,290
When I'm being interviewed by a male and
a female.
413
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:20,860
It seems when I'm questioned about these
murders, it's always the female ones
414
00:31:20,860 --> 00:31:21,860
that does the questioning.
415
00:31:25,100 --> 00:31:26,520
The interviews took three days.
416
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:31,860
They were covered across 21 separate
audio tapes. And after each interview,
417
00:31:31,860 --> 00:31:34,740
would then discuss that interview. What
had it told us evidentially?
418
00:31:35,260 --> 00:31:38,440
How it was impacting on him? Was he
opening up? Was he closing down?
419
00:31:38,860 --> 00:31:40,700
What if he didn't speak? What if he did
speak?
420
00:31:40,900 --> 00:31:42,160
What if he actually made a confession?
421
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:43,880
So it was really, really agile.
422
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,040
They immediately connected with the
female interviewer, Pamela Simpson,
423
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:55,000
fantastic. And Pamela's big skill was
she could talk about the most horrendous
424
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:59,760
things without any trace of judgment on
either her face or her voice.
425
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:04,800
I'd be driving along and see a young
girl.
426
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:10,380
I'd get out and talk to her and try to
persuade her of getting into the van.
427
00:32:13,230 --> 00:32:16,950
One of the things we did in order just
to build that rapport and the connection
428
00:32:16,950 --> 00:32:23,770
was we had an original Collins 1981 road
atlas and we put that in front of him
429
00:32:23,770 --> 00:32:28,350
and he's just fascinated by it. He's
tracing it with his finger, he's
430
00:32:28,350 --> 00:32:34,410
engrossed in this and we were fascinated
watching him being fascinated and you
431
00:32:34,410 --> 00:32:37,150
can almost see that rapport growing.
432
00:32:38,470 --> 00:32:41,970
I'm not exactly proud of the way I feel
towards young girls.
433
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:49,960
Like, there's the part of me that knows
I'm wrong, that knows that it's wrong,
434
00:32:50,140 --> 00:32:56,140
that I shouldn't be doing things like
that, I shouldn't even be thinking
435
00:32:56,140 --> 00:32:57,140
like that.
436
00:32:58,260 --> 00:33:03,720
But there's the other part that says,
you like it, go on.
437
00:33:07,900 --> 00:33:11,140
She then moves from that to get into the
more evidential stuff.
438
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:17,260
We have the receipt of you getting
petrol in the Ireland vehicle.
439
00:33:17,780 --> 00:33:24,580
We also have the receipt of you getting
diesel at sale, royal
440
00:33:24,580 --> 00:33:27,920
sale, in your mainland vehicle, again
the same day.
441
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:33,580
Now, it's not aggressive, but it's much
more robust. You can see just this
442
00:33:33,580 --> 00:33:35,180
gentle change in his expression.
443
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:37,440
Because he's a fairly impassive
character.
444
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:41,860
And I thought, yeah, you know now that
danger is all around and actually that
445
00:33:41,860 --> 00:33:43,360
the door's closing here on you.
446
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:50,900
We looked at the wages book as well. Do
you accept that you did the Ireland run
447
00:33:50,900 --> 00:33:53,180
that week?
448
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:55,640
Yeah. You did.
449
00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:02,220
So in effect that you would have been in
Ireland from the morning of Wednesday
450
00:34:02,220 --> 00:34:04,880
the 12th of August until that evening.
451
00:34:05,340 --> 00:34:10,980
He admitted he was in Northern Ireland
and that was a big moment for us.
452
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:21,639
We knew the police were doing their
utmost to bring this to a conclusion.
453
00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:27,980
There was obviously things they could
tell us and there was things that we
454
00:34:27,980 --> 00:34:29,980
understood they couldn't tell us.
455
00:34:30,980 --> 00:34:34,340
We knew that it would come to...
456
00:34:35,020 --> 00:34:38,699
maturity in the end, and we left it with
them to do that.
457
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:45,820
If you saw a young girl, tell me what
would happen then.
458
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:51,540
In the course of those interviews, it
became clear for the first time he was
459
00:34:51,540 --> 00:34:58,160
willing, or it appeared to be willing,
to explore his culpability by way of a
460
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:02,880
fantasy. We'll look at her, try to guess
what age she was, maybe.
461
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:09,220
I might park up for a couple of minutes
and watch him.
462
00:35:09,540 --> 00:35:14,820
And how long would you sit and watch the
young girl?
463
00:35:16,940 --> 00:35:18,340
More than five minutes.
464
00:35:19,780 --> 00:35:26,340
But effectively what he was doing was
using the fantasy to admit his guilt
465
00:35:26,340 --> 00:35:28,160
to a particular extent.
466
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:32,660
In your fantasy, what the country
situation would be like?
467
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,560
Well, it was just a narrow road.
468
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:40,320
It was going downhill.
469
00:35:41,860 --> 00:35:46,920
And way at the bottom of the hill where
the road turned away, there was a house
470
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:48,640
set back from the road a bit.
471
00:35:50,140 --> 00:35:51,980
And it was the only house in sight.
472
00:35:53,860 --> 00:35:56,120
And as he was doing it, these
officers...
473
00:35:56,350 --> 00:36:00,090
knew instinctively, having been at the
location, that he was exactly describing
474
00:36:00,090 --> 00:36:03,510
the road in which Jennifer Cardy was
abducted and the hedge in which Jennifer
475
00:36:03,510 --> 00:36:05,010
Cardy's bike was thrown behind.
476
00:36:06,130 --> 00:36:11,070
Spookily and chillingly, he was going as
far as he was prepared to go in
477
00:36:11,070 --> 00:36:12,410
reliving those events.
478
00:36:13,270 --> 00:36:18,150
And he almost admitted that he had
killed Jennifer.
479
00:36:18,970 --> 00:36:24,510
He described exactly the spot where he
had lifted her.
480
00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:27,760
We described it perfectly, so we did.
481
00:36:29,220 --> 00:36:32,640
It's a tribute to those officers who
interviewed him that they managed to get
482
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:33,640
him there.
483
00:36:33,700 --> 00:36:38,060
We felt in ourselves that we'd met the
threshold, and then we began to
484
00:36:38,060 --> 00:36:40,900
the main file to go forward to the court
process.
485
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:56,660
I was... nearly sick in the stomach,
going to court.
486
00:36:57,060 --> 00:37:03,740
In truth, would you like to look at the
person who murdered your daughter?
487
00:37:04,980 --> 00:37:07,200
That's a big thing for Pat and I.
488
00:37:07,700 --> 00:37:11,920
We often talked about it. Wish we never
knew who had been caught.
489
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:15,520
Wish we never had to look at the man who
had been caught.
490
00:37:16,780 --> 00:37:18,940
I was concerned about the impact on the
family.
491
00:37:19,310 --> 00:37:24,410
Although I knew they were very, very
resilient, but even so, having
492
00:37:24,530 --> 00:37:26,750
put by that stage, was a 30 -year
journey.
493
00:37:28,170 --> 00:37:34,810
I had to sit watching this man, and he
described why he liked little
494
00:37:34,810 --> 00:37:36,590
girls rather than mature women.
495
00:37:37,350 --> 00:37:44,010
And, you know, all I could do was sit
and weep at the thoughts of what our
496
00:37:44,010 --> 00:37:45,430
child had went through.
497
00:37:45,650 --> 00:37:47,250
It would have broke your heart.
498
00:37:48,910 --> 00:37:52,930
His expression never changed, he never
changed, even though there was things
499
00:37:52,930 --> 00:37:58,030
said against him, accusations,
information, his face never changed.
500
00:38:02,130 --> 00:38:07,750
I remember waiting, and I can remember
the jury coming back, and I can remember
501
00:38:07,750 --> 00:38:14,750
the judge warning that there should be
no celebrations or any noise when
502
00:38:14,750 --> 00:38:15,970
the verdict was announced.
503
00:38:19,530 --> 00:38:24,410
And the poor man announced that he was
guilty.
504
00:38:24,830 --> 00:38:29,670
The verdict came back unanimous from the
jury.
505
00:38:29,950 --> 00:38:31,710
It was just such a release.
506
00:38:32,070 --> 00:38:36,470
Since 1981, we've been waiting for so
long for this.
507
00:38:37,190 --> 00:38:43,550
We knew that this murder of Jennifer
will not finish without
508
00:38:43,550 --> 00:38:44,890
an end result.
509
00:38:45,150 --> 00:38:46,690
We always had that.
510
00:38:47,150 --> 00:38:52,050
faith to know that the Lord would
eventually reveal who killed Jennifer.
511
00:38:53,250 --> 00:39:00,050
We as a family really have never tried
to understand or tried to think of
512
00:39:00,050 --> 00:39:05,170
what in the last hours of her life that
she went through and all of a sudden
513
00:39:05,170 --> 00:39:11,930
were confronted with the awfulness of
them last few hours and what she would
514
00:39:11,930 --> 00:39:15,070
have had to suffer and that has been
truly awful.
515
00:39:15,850 --> 00:39:21,090
Whatever I said was from my heart, but
in truth I can't remember.
516
00:39:21,570 --> 00:39:28,490
Black stole the life of our daughter
Jennifer, but Robert Black didn't steal
517
00:39:28,490 --> 00:39:30,350
lives of me and my family.
518
00:39:31,490 --> 00:39:34,650
Police say the investigation into Robert
Black continues.
519
00:39:35,350 --> 00:39:38,530
The story of Robert Black doesn't end
with this verdict here today.
520
00:39:38,930 --> 00:39:44,290
There are lines of inquiry which we
still have and that we are still looking
521
00:39:45,770 --> 00:39:49,710
I had written to him when he was in
prison and I asked for a visit.
522
00:39:50,630 --> 00:39:53,230
I only sent the one letter and I got no
reply.
523
00:39:56,610 --> 00:40:00,830
I would have liked to have met him,
talked to him and understood what's
524
00:40:00,830 --> 00:40:05,290
happened. I knew there was other
families, other girls around the country
525
00:40:05,290 --> 00:40:09,370
never had closure and I would have
really liked for them to have closure
526
00:40:11,750 --> 00:40:14,750
Black was convicted. He was given a
tariff of 25.
527
00:40:15,610 --> 00:40:18,750
which in effect meant he would
eventually die in prison.
528
00:40:19,710 --> 00:40:23,610
He did die in prison, but a lot sooner
than we would have wanted.
529
00:40:24,330 --> 00:40:28,690
He died in 2016. The news came through
that he'd passed away, natural causes,
530
00:40:28,810 --> 00:40:29,930
and had failed.
531
00:40:32,350 --> 00:40:39,190
I felt nothing when Robert Black died,
except that perhaps he had died before
532
00:40:39,190 --> 00:40:43,030
could have been held to account for
other murders.
533
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:50,780
including one very long -standing cold
case in the West Country of Jeanette
534
00:40:50,780 --> 00:40:57,340
Tate, whose bicycle was found abandoned
with the wheel still
535
00:40:57,340 --> 00:41:02,600
spinning in a road. And it's certain
enough for Devon and Cornwall Police to
536
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:04,700
have been ready to charge him before he
died.
537
00:41:06,020 --> 00:41:08,760
Her body has never to this day been
found.
538
00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:13,920
The inquiry was able to furnish Debenham
Cornwall with a good deal of evidence.
539
00:41:14,180 --> 00:41:18,200
They themselves then developed that as
best they could and were about to submit
540
00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:22,580
full case files and paper to the Crown
Prosecution Service literally within
541
00:41:22,580 --> 00:41:25,580
weeks of the death in prison of Robert
Black.
542
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:36,140
It's taken a big chunk out of my life
for many, many years.
543
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:44,760
It was a continuation of what I
personally had always set out to do,
544
00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:49,460
professionally to finish the case, to
reach the finishing line.
545
00:41:50,860 --> 00:41:53,940
These cases happened at a time of
seismic change.
546
00:41:54,300 --> 00:42:01,040
I think 100 years from now, if they're
writing the history of the
547
00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:03,300
turning points in criminal
investigation...
548
00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:08,780
then I think that this case will merit a
chapter in that history because of all
549
00:42:08,780 --> 00:42:10,380
the unique circumstances that came
together.
550
00:42:22,740 --> 00:42:26,760
This photograph here is of Jennifer.
551
00:42:27,500 --> 00:42:32,780
And one day she brought this photograph
to me, framed.
552
00:42:33,870 --> 00:42:39,430
and she said, you don't have a
photograph of me in your office, so
553
00:42:39,550 --> 00:42:40,550
put that in your office.
554
00:42:41,270 --> 00:42:46,090
These photographs are in the dressing
table right beside my bed, so they are.
555
00:42:46,090 --> 00:42:51,950
reminds me what she looked like when she
left home on her bike.
556
00:42:53,430 --> 00:42:55,510
I certainly miss Jennifer.
557
00:42:56,570 --> 00:42:58,710
You couldn't not miss Jennifer.
558
00:43:00,630 --> 00:43:02,470
Pat's passing has...
559
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:05,500
left a massive void.
560
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:13,040
We were married for 54 years and we
lived here together 45 years
561
00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:14,040
almost.
562
00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:21,460
The fact that Pat was alive when Robert
Black was convicted was
563
00:43:21,460 --> 00:43:23,620
a fantastic relief.
564
00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:29,500
Pat started to write a memoir about
Jennifer.
565
00:43:30,670 --> 00:43:33,010
It brings back so many emotions.
566
00:43:35,190 --> 00:43:37,370
I live a life of faith.
567
00:43:38,610 --> 00:43:40,610
Pat was now with Jennifer.
568
00:43:41,250 --> 00:43:46,030
Jennifer could never come back to us,
but we can go to Jennifer.
51411
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