Original subtitles

[daunting music]

[beeping]

[DI Pedder] When we talked before,

I only showed you one photograph, didn't I?

This photograph.

No comment.

You can't see Rachel's injuries...

can you?

No comment.

[Pedder over video link] So how did you get knowledge of Rachel's injuries?

No comment.

How did you know that her hands were in that...

particular position?

No comment.

How could you know that unless you'd been there and seen Rachel?

No comment.

You couldn't possibly know these details could you, Colin?

No comment.

Do you know a woman called Lizzie James?

No comment.

You do know Lizzie James, don't you, Colin?

[tape recorder clicks off]

[daunting music]

Do you remember the first time we met...

and you handed me an envelope?

And in that letter you enclosed a fantasy

where you talked about knives. Do you remember that?

No comment.

[woman sings softly] ♪ As she stepped away from me

♪ And she moved through the fair

♪ And fondly I watched her

♪ Move here and move there

♪ And she went her way homeward

♪ With one star awake

♪ As the swans in the evening

♪ Move off over the lake

"The man goes over to you and produces some string and a knife."

You wrote that, didn't you?

Cos up until this point I have never mentioned a fantasy with a knife.

♪ The people were saying

♪ And she moved through the fair

♪ And fondly I watched her

♪ Move here and move there

There are similarities between what you wrote in that fantasy

and what happened to Rachel, aren't there?

No comment.

Did you stab her?

Did you kill Rachel?

[she gasps]

You told me that the police had shown you a photograph

of Rachel Nickell's body at the time when she was murdered.

Do you remember that?

And you in fact lay in the position.

You, you lay down like a baby, like this, wasn't it?

You were, erm...

curled and you had your hands like this.

And you told me that she had her head tilted slightly back, like this.

Do you remember that?

No comment.

Is there anything that you wanna say to me, Colin, anything at all?

[daunting music]

[door creaks]

Leave it.

Leave it!

No, you...

don't...

don't frighten me.

Do it!

Okay.

Okay.

Fuck!

[daunting music]

[Pedder] Colin Francis Stagg,

you are charged that on July 15th 1992, on Wimbledon Common,

you murdered Rachel Nickell.

[softly] Yes, yes, yes.

[camera clicks]

[clamour of voices]

[prisoners shouting]

[shouting intensifies]

[prisoners shouting, whistling and banging tin cups on cell bars]

[Sadie's voice whispers] He was smiling at me, willing me to do it.

And I got a cup and I filled it with her blood and we all drank it.

I took the knife in my hand.

-[Professor Britton] There she is. -[Sadie] And I slit her throat.

-Lizzie James. -I can still hear the sound.

I'm not asking you to tell me all your secrets.

I am placing all my trust in you.

Go away.

[man speaks indistinctly on the phone]

Cheers for getting him here in one piece, Keith.

Er, Micky Banks.

-It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Banks. -Likewise.

We really need your expertise.

I'll stick around, if there's no objections.

It'd be fascinating to watch him process the case.

Professor.

She looks very similar to Rachel Nickell, doesn't she, sir?

But we're not getting the press that you got.

Only the negative sort.

Single mum, council flat, wrong side of the tracks.

But that doesn't sell papers, does it?

No.

I guess not.

[eerie music]

It's weird.

I, er...

I keep seeing him.

Stagg. I don't know, it's like I can't...

close the door on him.

Look...

Look, they've asked a lot of you, you know.

Yeah.

And they'll want more.

This...

This trial's gonna be huge.

You're gonna need to face Stagg again.

Maybe that's why you can't get him out of your head.

It's perfectly normal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hmm.

[she sighs]

[Pedder] So, what was it like?

Have you ever seen the photo of the Jack the Ripper victim Mary Jane Kelly?

Yeah.

There's nothing that links the, erm...

the killer with Rachel's murder?

Nothing.

Are you certain?

Entirely different locations.

One outdoors, one inside.

Entirely different injuries.

Rachel was stabbed whereas Samantha was...

Samantha was eviscerated.

Mutilated.

What about the children?

I mean, that is...

That's fairly unusual.

Rachel Nickell's killer chose to spare her child...

whereas Samantha Bissett's killer did not.

Jazmine was sexually assaulted.

In my mind, that's the single biggest difference between the two crimes.

The demons driving Rachel Nickell's killer and Samantha Bissett's...

are entirely different.

[Nick Ross on TV] The first case this month is shocking and distressing.

It's a double murder.

Samantha Bissett and her daughter Jazmine lived in Plumstead, in south London.

Samantha probably died from a single knife wound.

After death, her body was then moved and systematically cut.

There was no evidence of robbery or rape.

Jazmine had been suffocated in her bed.

The police working with a clinical psychologist

fear that the man who did it might have killed before and might do it again.

To give you some idea we're also able to tell you for the first time tonight,

something of the background, the profile of this man.

He's thought to be over 25.

He's likely to have used contact ads. Maybe you've met him through one?

He would have been unlikely to sustain stable relationships

and indeed probably has been violent to women.

But on the surface, he'll probably appear quite normal.

He's likely to have a normal job.

He is though likely to re-offend.

Paul Britton is a clinical psychologist.

How much... You've studied this man in some detail, as much as you can.

How much do you think we know him?

[Britton] I think we know quite well what was going through his mind

at the time of the offence,

but I would like him to tell me how he got started on the pathway--

[muttering indistinctly]

[Sadie] Is that story awful?

[Colin] About slitting the woman's throat?

Yeah.

I hope you're not offended by these.

The thing is, I mean...

you don't want that now, do you?

[Sadie reading indistinctly]

I have my own beliefs. It doesn't involve human sacrifices.

"...that I feel you were into or a weirdo as people believe I am."

"I've felt that I'm a very..."

"Have I got this right now, Lizzie?"

I love you. It's not me, is it? It's not me.

-Well then, I've gotten it wrong. -It's not me.

-That's for Rachel. -[Colin groans]

-You fucking scumbag! -[Colin screams]

[groaning]

[Sadie sighs]

"I tender in evidence and I shall..."

[door opens]

[Pedder] Few more things to sign.

Fun and games.

Did you see Crimewatch last night?

Terrible.

The Professor's profile of the Bisset killer is very similar to Rachel's killer.

Well... seeing as Stagg was locked up in Wanno at the time,

I think we can safely say he wasn't responsible.

That's not what I meant.

It's quite unusual, isn't it?

A man that targets women when they're with their kids?

I asked the same question. The Professor was very clear.

The demons driving the killers of Samantha and Rachel

-are entirely different. -But the kids?

Alex was spared, Jazmine wasn't.

Britton called that the single biggest difference.

No, no, he spared the boy and he killed the girl.

Don't you think the FBI profilers might have something to say about that?

They didn't see the knives in Stagg's flat.

They didn't speak to the witnesses who put him on the Common

at the time of the murder.

How did Stagg know the position of Rachel's hands?

Or that her head was back?

We have the right man, Sadie.

And when the jury hear your evidence in a few weeks' time...

they'll be convinced of it too.

Micky?

Those prints you had re-checked at Samantha's flat, there is a match.

Plumstead have him on record.

His name came up in connection with a series of rapes.

Really nasty.

Robert Clive Napper.

[children laughing]

[loud bang]

Police, stay where you are!

[daunting music]

Colin.

You understand that it's my job to prepare a report

for the court on your mental state?

Yeah.

I may need to ask you very personal questions.

Well, I've got nothing to hide.

Have you ever had any treatment

or therapy of any kind for depression,

-or any other mental health issue? -No.

The therapy referred to other areas.

We used to have a father.

Now we're finding ourselves in another area with problems.

The government repeated certain years, which...

held him back at school.

And how would you say you've been coping,

these past months?

I've been a bit down.

Lonely and that.

But I'm not mental.

Good.

The spirits...

are attracted to the steroids they put in solutions like Optrex.

It is possible...

the haunted potentials have controlled him in the past,

but the Official Secrets Act means he can't talk about that.

I miss my dog.

He's getting on and he's not well, you know.

What if I never see him again?

[Baz] Fucking did it, girl, proud of you.

Stagg in the docks!

You know what? Stagg in jail.

No, fuck it. Stagg getting life.

Once the trial's over, it'll be easier to move on.

You can put Lizzie James behind you for good.

Listen, for just one night, can you,

just talk about anything else...

please?

[laughs]

Relax. Breathe.

Yeah?

-It's okay. -No, it's not okay.

It's fucking not okay.

It's not okay.

You know, he used to look at me like I was his whole world

and I used to think he was this fucking monster.

But what if he wasn't?

[press clamouring]

[cameras clicking, horn blares]

[horn blares]

My Lord,

it is the defence's case that the police operation was a sophisticated sting

with the sole purpose of tricking a confession out of Colin Stagg,

to take advantage of a lonely and vulnerable

young man's desperate desire to form a relationship with a woman.

"Lizzie James" called the shots,

effectively telling Colin what she wanted him to write in his fantasy letters.

She portrayed herself as sexually experienced,

ready and willing, knowing full well

that Mr Stagg was desperate to lose his virginity.

He was encouraged, blackmailed and bribed

into incriminating himself to fit Professor Britton's profile

of Rachel Nickell's killer.

[press clamouring]

[cameras clicking]

Of course there is Mr Stagg's detailed description

of how Rachel's body was lying.

It could not possibly have been derived

from the only photograph shown to him by the police.

In particular, he illustrated how her hands were positioned,

palm to palm.

Such a detail could only have been known

by the assailant and this pointed to a confession.

[QC] My Lord,

Lizzie James sent Colin a letter containing

the most hard-core pornography imaginable.

It is frankly a disgrace.

It's the most extraordinary document

for a serving police officer to be sending a suspect.

She subjected Stagg to quite deliberate manipulation

designed to get him to incriminate himself

and this material amounts to trickery.

And in the interests of fair play, should never be put before a jury.

Months of work and they take a snippet from here,

an inference from there and they quote it out of fucking context.

There's been a development.

What?

Justice Ognall isn't swearing in the jury

until he makes a judgment on whether or not your evidence is admissible.

My evidence?

So this is all on me now?

[Pedder laughs]

You're our star witness, Sadie.

Go home.

The ruling won't be till Wednesday.

[door opens and closes]

Hi, Mum.

Yeah, I know, I'm sorry I didn't get home for your birthday.

You had a good day? Good. Good.

You got my card?

Good.

Yeah. No, work's going good.

Yeah, they're, erm...

They're all really pleased with me here.

No, I can't, er, I can't talk about it. You know I can't.

I wish I could.

Yeah, course I'm happy.

Why wouldn't I be? Yeah.

Well, I wouldn't do the job if I wasn't.

Mum, I'm fine.

I'm always fine.

It's just, er...

It's been a really long year.

Mum, actually there's someone at the door here, so can I, erm...

can I, er, call you another time?

Yes, I know. I promise I will this time.

Okay.

Yeah.

Do, please do, er, tell Dad, erm... I miss him.

Okay.

Mum...

I love you.

[Colin] It's just nothing like this has really happened to me....

before, you know.

No one's ever really shown interest.

I have these fantasies that you're the man who did it.

I love you.

The things in my letters, that's me.

Look, I could've said I done it just to please you.

I'm not gonna lose you, am I, Lizzie?

Yeah, but I'm wanting more than just fucking fantasies, Colin.

I want to go there.

It's not me, is it?

It's not me.

[she shouts and sobs] No! What did you do?!

[court clerk] All rise.

Before I embark on this ruling,

I wish it to be clearly understood that, until its conclusion,

nobody is to leave the court.

A careful appraisal of the material,

demonstrates a skilful and sustained enterprise

to manipulate the accused,

sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly.

And designed by deception to manoeuvre and seduce him,

to reveal fantasies of an incriminating nature,

and to, wholly unsuccessfully, admit the offence.

I would be the first to acknowledge the great pressure on officers

in pursuit of this grave enquiry.

But I'm afraid that this behaviour betrays not merely an excess of zeal,

but a substantial attempt to incriminate a suspect

by positive and deceptive conduct of the grossest kind.

During the second police interview with Mr Stagg,

Lizzie James re-enacted a demonstration

given by the accused indicating that the victim's hands were...

as if in prayer, palm to palm.

But as soon as one examines photograph KP15 a discrepancy emerges.

The hands of the victim are not palm to palm at all.

The arms are in fact crossed at the wrist so that the hands barely touch.

This is not a minor difference,

but a discrepancy which completely undermines the whole thesis.

Now I am not satisfied that this one very small piece of evidence

amounts to incriminating material of the character of a confession.

I believe the police entrapped Colin Stagg in a "honeytrap",

using deceptive conduct of the grossest kind.

Therefore, I uphold the defence submissions

that the Lizzie James material will not go before a jury.

As the Crown offers no more evidence against the defendant

and the defendant has pleaded not guilty,

a verdict of not guilty will be entered,

under Section 17 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967.

Colin Stagg, you are free to go.

[indistinct chatter]

[TV news] Yesterday's hearing was widely anticipated

to lead to the trial of the decade.

But after his sensational aquittal,

Colin Stagg made a defiant statement to the waiting press.

My life has been ruined by a mixture of half-baked psychological theories

and some stories written to satisfy

the strange sexual requests of an undercover police officer.

The judge recognised that there was never any evidence against me.

I now intend to take proceedings against the police

and the psychologist Mr Paul Britton

for the anguish and indescribable distress

that I have suffered during the last 13 months in prison.

No, please don't turn it off on my account, De Costa.

You know you've never done anything nice for me before,

so if you start now, I know I'm totally fucked.

Is it true?

What the judge said?

Sade?

Sadie!

DCI's waiting for you.

Then I'll keep him waiting.

Sadie?

You know what? I followed orders. I did what I was asked to do

and every one of them up at the Yard signed off on it.

What aren't you telling me, mate?

You know, whatever mistake that I've made...

I'm not afraid to face it.

But I'm not the only one who has to answer for this.

[Wickerson] They want to see me at the Yard first thing.

Hey.

Are you all right?

Palm to palm, wrist to wrist.

What's the difference?

And he's out there free to kill again.

[knocking on door]

Wicko, top brass are here.

What?

[Wickerson] They'll be after our case files.

They get hold of this,

they'll erase the name of every senior officer who signed off on the Lizzie Op.

We go down, they go down with us.

Case files are on the desk.

[phone rings]

[phone rings]

[phone continues to ring]

[phone continues to ring]

[phone continues to ring]

[gulls crying]

[weather reporter speaking]

[weather report continues]

[female reporter] A man with a history of violent attacks on women

has today pleaded guilty to killing Rachel Nickell

on Wimbledon Common 16 years ago.

The murder of a young mother in broad daylight caused public outrage.

Schizophrenic Robert Napper was convicted of manslaughter

on the grounds of diminished responsibility,

bringing to a close the inquiry

into one of the most notorious killings in modern British criminal history.

Forty-two-year-old Napper is already detained at Broadmoor Special Hospital,

after his conviction for the murders of Samantha Bisset

and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine.

[dogs bark in the distance]

We likes our walk, don't we, eh?

[poignant music]

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