Original subtitles

There was extensive blood inside the vehicle.

This is where his body was found three days later.

These are the cold case detectives,

pursuing justice in crimes often decades old.

A team of seasoned investigators and forensic experts

at South Wales Police.

Whatever's left in that profile could be the killer.

They're committed to solving

some of the most baffling murders and sex crimes

which have gone undetected for years.

I wish Dad was still here.

He was taken away from me too soon.

Using the latest developments in forensic science

to uncover new evidence, they're determined

to put some of the most dangerous criminals behind bars.

The time will come where we will be knocking on their door...

and their world is gonna cave in.

You're under arrest on suspicion of rape.

You do not have to say anything,

but anything you do say may be given in evidence.

This interview is being visually recorded,

and I am DC 5501 Hargraves.

Detective Jenna Hargraves

is interrogating 66-year-old Roland Long,

accused of raping a woman more than 40 years ago,

after advances in forensic science linked him to the attack.

Did you have sexual intercourse with this victim?

Which, again, I'll put that photo in front of you.

-Did you have sex with that woman? -No comment.

There's loads of things to consider.

How is he gonna react to this, after all this time?

This is something he may think he's got away with after all these years.

The victim in this case has waited four decades for justice.

If he can do it to one person, he can do it again.

He just needs to be locked up. Throw away the key.

She's described herself as being quite a small, short lady,

slim, and she's been overpowered by a bigger man.

And he has held her to that floor where he's raped her.

-Was that you? -No comment.

When you've turned her around and she's been lying on her back...

you said, "No-one says no to me."

Are you a man that likes to be in control?

Long's DNA was found in a semen stain

left on the victim's skirt.

His DNA profile was already on the national database

because he had previously been convicted

of a string of sexual assaults.

Long gives no answers, but the questions keep coming.

The victim said the male said to her,

"Do as I say, and you won't get hurt."

-Did you say that to the victim? -No comment.

How has your semen stained her skirt?

No comment.

What does a shrug mean?

Once the police were called that night,

the victim was taken back to the scene

to identify it to officers.

Her tights and knickers were not there.

-Did you take them at the time? -No comment.

-Did you collect women's clothing? -No comment.

How old are you now, Roland?

-Sixty-six? -Sixty-six.

So in August 1980, 26-year-old man.

Young man with everything in front of you.

Is now the case that your crime has caught up with you?

-Have you been waiting for this day? -No comment.

She's had to live with this for the last 40 years.

It was a traumatic event.

And there's nothing you want to say at this point?

I was absolutely shocked...

when they told me that they'd found...

the man.

I felt relieved, actually.

It is something I never thought would happen.

You know, that he would be caught and...

or they'd find him.

I was just completely shocked. Yeah.

And I...

I don't know, I was just shaken a little bit cos I suppose...

all these different emotions, it all comes back to you as well.

And... you know what happened.

Everything comes back, but...

But now... But you're glad... that they've got him.

So, fingers crossed and...

he gets, you know, what he deserves.

Yeah.

OK, the time is 16.20.

The date is still the 15th of September 2020,

and I'm stopping the recorder.

He's been quite quiet, not very talkative.

I think he knows he's been caught.

Especially with the "no comment." There's no explanation of it.

Yeah. He knows he's been caught.

Long will have to spend more time in the cells

while a decision is made

on whether there's enough evidence to charge him.

Unsolved cases are never officially closed,

and the cold case team are focusing their efforts

on a baffling murder which took place in 1979.

The case files are held deep in the police archive.

Taxi driver Jack Armstrong was bludgeoned to death,

but his killer has never been caught.

It's vital that today's investigators

understand what was done by their predecessors

on the original investigation

before they can get started looking for new evidence.

Here we have in storage the boxes

containing the original documents from the enquiry in 1979.

There's approximately...

fifty-plus boxes full of the old documents.

This reflects, really, the amount of work

that went into the original investigation in 1979.

Now, I know...

in total, there's over 1,000 statements were taken,

and in the region of 3,000 actions that were raised for officers,

investigating officers who were out on the ground,

to conduct enquiries.

Remarkably,

one of those officers from 40 years ago

is now seasoned detective

and cold case investigator Gerry Blake.

Back in '79, I hadn't long joined the police force.

And in particular, with Jack Armstrong,

I remember that it was a very difficult enquiry.

I recognise some of the faces. They're all a lot older now.

And on the left is Billy Bryant, wearing his Welsh Guardsman's tie.

Smudger Smith, Gordon "Smudger" Smith,

and Mr Viv Brooks.

All looking very, very young in the day.

To have somebody like Gerry who has...

who was part of the initial search,

and then to be looking at a forensic review

some 40-odd years later is invaluable.

As a young police constable in 1979,

Gerry searched for the missing taxi driver.

Jack Armstrong's car had been found abandoned

on a dead-end lane with its interior covered in blood.

But there was no sign of the missing 58-year-old family man.

Fifty detectives are still working,

and the thing is still very much ongoing.

When Mr Armstrong was reported missing,

quite clearly, everyone who had any contact with him

had to be seen, so that was a big exercise.

And officers were pulled in from everywhere to go and follow up

and contact these potential witnesses.

And that's what we did.

And, of course, being a taxi driver and quite a sociable man as well,

lots of people were seen.

Enquiries did produce a local witness.

In 1979, Garth Crandon lived in the village

near where Jack's taxi had been found.

I'd been for a walk with children, pushing the two of them in the pram.

The car came by me very, very close.

Very carefully. And just went slowly by.

But I thought to myself, "Why is he coming here?

Because there's only two families on the moors, and it's a block end."

Cars didn't come along here,

so there was something odd about it without me knowing what it was.

The police asked me

if I'd noticed anything about the driver, did I see the driver?

I can't honestly say I saw the driver.

I was concerned with the safety of the children.

And as the car came close by me,

all I saw was his arm and his shoulder,

and, of course, he was sitting back in the seat.

Really speaking, I couldn't see his face at all.

Of course, standing here now,

we're about half a mile from the... where the taxi was found.

You know, it's quite disturbing, really.

It's early days for the Armstrong case.

But back at the police station in Cardiff,

the 40-year-old rape investigation is at a critical stage.

Prime suspect, Roland Long, is in custody

and has been confronted with the new forensic evidence against him.

But he's refusing to answer any questions.

OK, Mr Long, we're now going to give you some bail.

The decision to release Long on bail

is a bitter blow for the investigating team.

Despite what seemed like overwhelming forensic evidence,

and his refusal to provide any explanation,

the Crown Prosecution Service

decides there's not enough evidence to charge Long.

OK, so between now and the bail date,

of the 13th of October, I need you to adhere to two conditions.

The pressure is on now to gather as much evidence as possible

in order to get this charge

and then a conviction.

It wasn't just about the DNA. We need to have that wider picture.

Like I said, it's finding out was he in Cardiff at that time?

What was his connections to Cardiff?

Was there any connections to the victim?

Although he's gone "no comment" in interview,

we still have to explore those avenues,

and we still need to conduct the rest of that investigation.

So the pressure is on to get this right.

As Jenna digs deeper, the team are also carrying on their investigation

into the murder of taxi driver Jack Armstrong.

Gerry Blake is a detective with a wealth of experience.

In 1979, he was a 26-year-old constable.

He's using his first-hand memory of the case

to help his colleagues identify

where to look for possible new leads.

It was a very big search, it was a huge area.

The searches at the time amassed a mountain of evidence

which may yet hold the answer to Jack's murder.

We were assisted by lots of volunteers.

People came out with metal detectors,

groups of friends came out to assist

with the hope of locating Jack.

The search for the missing 58-year-old father

continued for three days along the 25-mile route,

from where Jack Armstrong picked up his fare in Cardiff

to where his taxi was found abandoned.

But, unfortunately,

he was found,

and as we suspected, he'd been murdered.

Jack Armstrong's body was found five miles from his taxi

and it was suspected he had been killed with a hammer.

The motive: robbery.

I just went into shock, really.

I had to have an injection, sedative,

because I was... I was just traumatised

cos I did blame myself for a long, long time.

If I hadn't had split up, if I hadn't gone to live with him,

if I hadn't had said, "Would you do days",

he might've still been here.

And I've lived with that for 42 years...

still.

Yep.

That's what I mean.

I need closure to get these thoughts out of my head.

Getting justice after all this time

is what motivates the cold case detectives.

Here we are, Pat, this is the scene of the deposition of the body.

In 1979, it looked like that.

Not a lot of difference,

other than this is October, the ferns are dying back,

so from an undergrowth point of view,

there's more growth and there's more material now

than there would be in October.

The car, we believe, was parked here on the left-hand side,

and like our car is parked just there now.

After the attack, Jack is pulled from the car

and dragged in about five to seven metres into the undergrowth

where his body is found three days later.

And this track, then, is probably where the assault took place.

That's the opinion in terms of the forensic evidence.

The blood inside the car suggests that the blows happened in the car,

and once Jack was subdued, so to speak, he was then dragged out

to the nearside which would present, then,

the killer dragging Jack into the ferns five or seven metres.

I believe Jack has been hit by a blunt object

from a person who was sitting in the back of the vehicle.

I then believe that the suspect then dragged his body into the bracken,

and then got back into the vehicle and driven it down to Treoes.

The thoughts I have in my head of how...

it happened, I can't get out of my head.

If they can find out exactly what happened,

my father can be put to rest properly.

The investigation at the time was a thorough investigation.

So, for me, what's going to detect this is DNA, is the forensic route.

The focus for the team will now be on determining

which of the many 40-year-old exhibits,

held in the police archives,

might best yield traces of the killer's DNA.

And they have reason for optimism, as the same forensic techniques

have already identified a suspect in the rape case from 1980.

Roland Long's semen was found on the skirt of his victim.

He's refusing to answer questions,

but the cold case detectives still need more evidence

if they're going to be able to charge him with the crime.

Detective Jenna Hargraves is under pressure

to find more evidence that supports the DNA result

and further incriminates Long.

We managed to locate an old custody photo.

It's important that we paint this picture

of what Roland Long looked like then.

A jury is gonna see this older man standing in front of them,

not the young, sort of, fit lad that he was then.

I've taken a statement from a witness

who has detailed that in the '80s,

when she was in a relationship with Roland Long,

that he used to go out late at night

and actually come back stating that he'd been with other women,

and women's items were regularly found in his vehicle.

In this case, what happened in Elm Street Lane,

the victim's tights and knickers were never recovered.

So it just... it builds that picture, really.

There is also significant new information about

where Long lived and worked at the time of the rape attack.

It's such a short walking distance to the scene.

When it comes to his address, it was minutes from the scene,

workplace, minutes from the scene.

After the offence was committed, the suspect jumps over the wall.

He knew where he was going. He knew that area.

He could jump over the wall knowing that could take him to another route

to flee the scene then.

Bear in mind, this offence has occurred at 11.00 p.m.

We have located a... petrol station

that he was working in in the 1980s.

And we know that he used to work a lot of evening shifts.

Having all this information together

just shows that knowledge that Roland had of the area

and that he was regularly out at that time of night.

With this extra evidence,

Jenna has done everything she can for now.

Ultimately, the decision on whether to charge Long

rests in the hands of the Crown Prosecution Service,

who will consider the case.

Deep inside the police archive at a secret location in South Wales,

are boxes of evidence from the taxi driver murder case.

They've been meticulously stored in the hope that one day

forensic science would allow their secrets to be unlocked.

In every murder investigation, especially undetected murders,

we don't get rid of... any exhibits whatsoever.

Science always develops

and new investigative techniques generally develop

because the reality is nobody can anticipate the future and...

A good example, in 1979,

there was effectively no mention of DNA.

Now it is one of the main investigative tools that we rely on.

This is the room where the exhibits of Jack Armstrong are held.

In the original list, there were 326 exhibits.

they're all on shown on the register here.

And we see, all these are the contents

from the boot of the car itself.

We've got jump leads, air freshener...

And you can see there's a tin of Primrose chopped ham here.

Some tools, some old tools, who are now rusty.

And then, equally...

we've got, not surprising, we've got...

two wheel braces here.

The initial submissions will be exhibits from the most likely area

which we believe, as a team,

are gonna yield the best possibility for DNA.

In this box, we have the clothing of Jack Armstrong, the shoe,

the trousers, the shirt, jacket, the right shoe, and so forth,

and the cardigan of Jack Armstrong.

Jack's clothing, initially, for me, is really important.

The hopes are to recover DNA from the person responsible.

The hope is that person is on the police system already,

and then we can do a direct match on that person

and find out who's responsible for this.

DNA techniques now have enhanced, they're far more sensitive.

So possibly we're hoping that

something in this box, for example...

will give us that breakthrough we really need.

New forensic testing is about to begin

on the clothes of Jack Armstrong.

Detectives believe that the killer

may have dragged him by the legs before dumping his body.

We're sampling the socks that Jack Armstrong was wearing when he died.

He had to be moved from the car, out to where he was found.

The perpetrator would've had to handle him somehow

to get him out the car, so we're targeting the areas

we think may have been touched by the perpetrator.

The person responsible for this is a danger to the public.

And there is a possibility

this person responsible is still alive.

We're also looking at the trousers for any damage.

Damage, really, has that been caused

by somebody grabbing at the clothing and pulling him out.

If it has, can we sample around those areas

and submit that for DNA profiling in case there's any DNA

from anybody that's touched around and caused that damage?

When you're so involved in a case,

whether it's cold case or a current case,

and you send off samples, just waiting for that DNA profiling

to know whether you've got a match,

and so much depends on those results...

the waiting can be horrible.

The processes cannot be rushed.

But in the 40-year-old rape investigation,

detective Jenna Hargraves urgently needs to speak to the victim.

-Hello. -How you doing?

-I'm good. Come in. -Good.

-It is all right to come in? -Yes.

So, how have you been?

Good. Yeah.

With such important news,

Jenna wanted to give it face to face.

So... since we last spoke,

I've got a bit of news for you.

CPS came back yesterday with a decision to charge...

-Roland Long. OK. -Oh, amazing.

So, we'll... So, yeah, he's gonna be charged with rape.

I know it's... You know, it seems like such a long process.

-Yes. Yeah. -And it's such a journey.

Yeah, but it's amazing.

To get this result now, I'm just...

Honestly, I'm so pleased to sit here and tell you this is the outcome.

I was proud that I was able to deliver that message to her

and to help her try and get some closure after all these years.

So, the plan now is for me to go to his home address this week,

and hand-deliver that charge to him.

The victim has waited 40 years for this news.

But there's still a long road ahead.

After decades of getting away with his crime,

Roland Long will now face justice.

-Morning, Roland. -Hi, Roland.

What now?

Roland, obviously, back last year,

you were arrested and brought into Cardiff custody.

On relation to the rape going back in 1980.

-The case was taken to CPS, Roland. -Go away!

He was not delighted to see us.

I think he knew it was coming. He's been waiting for us to come.

And he knew his day of reckoning in court would ultimately...

be where we're heading.

He's been arrogant throughout, had dealings with him previously.

He was the type, really.

While Roland Long waits for his case to be heard before the courts...

...in headquarters, Jenna debriefs her cold case colleagues

on the operation to charge him.

How's the victim?

-I was about to say. -I know you've been in touch.

There was an outpouring of emotion when she was first told

which makes it worthwhile, what we're doing.

Definitely. Can you imagine having that knock on the door,

like 40 years down the line, saying "Oh, we've got him"?

Like, what message does that send out to our victims?

"We're still working on this, trying to get that result for you."

-And potential perpetrators as well. -And perpetrators, yeah.

"Keep looking behind your shoulders. We're not far behind."

So, yeah. It sends that message out, doesn't it?

With the victim in this case, she's just pleased

that we're on top of this and we've got someone for it.

Because at the end of the day, we got a semen stain,

his DNA on her skirt.

And he hasn't given an account for it.

And it's on the back, on the inside of her skirt.

-Yeah. -Like you said, no account. Yeah.

I just hope that he sees sense and pleads guilty

so that she doesn't have to go through the ordeal

of giving evidence and reliving it all again.

Exactly, yeah.

-Fingers crossed. -It's just fingers crossed.

It's an anxious day for detective Jenna Hargraves and the team...

as Roland Long arrives in court.

Despite the powerful evidence against him,

the team's worst fears are realised,

as Long pleads not guilty to the charge.

I wasn't surprised,

but I was annoyed...

that, you know, he's entered that plea.

And the thought now that not only has the victim

had to go through what he put her through

and have had to live with it for 40 years,

the thought now he's gonna put her through a court process as well.

But there is a little bit of welcome news for the team and the victim.

Despite him entering that plea,

the judge was not happy that he was released on bail,

so she decided to remand him,

which I don't think he was expecting.

It was a big shock, but fantastic.

She clearly sees that concern...

and worried possibly about any reoffending.

So, you know, I feel far more comfortable

knowing that he is remanded at the moment,

and he's not out there on the streets.

For the cold case team, there's growing confidence

the same forensic techniques that yielded the evidence against Long

will provide a breakthrough in the taxi driver murder case.

Jack Armstrong's clothes have slowly been giving up their secrets

about who might have attacked him so brutally.

-All right? -I got results from Jack's clothing.

Oh, right. OK. Any good?

Some of them are OK. They're mainly incomplete DNA profiles, though.

An incomplete profile means the team

only have part of what could be the killer's DNA.

Maybe for the first time,

they have a glimpse of the murderer.

But it's not quite enough.

We're not gonna search them on the database.

Right. OK.

What we always hope for with regards to DNA profile

is a full, complete DNA profile,

which will then allow us to compare that fully with somebody else.

So, they haven't been as successful as we'd hoped they would be.

So it's... we're at a difficult stage with it.

-OK. Disappointing though, isn't it? -Yeah. It is disappointing.

Cos we know... he must have been dragged.

We know the possibility is only one person.

But, as I say, it's the passage of time.

Yeah.

-I suppose we'll have to see... -See what more can be done.

-What more can be done. -Yeah.

Back at the scene of the murder, for the man leading the hunt,

it feels like they are so close and yet so far.

In cases like this, you need a little luck,

and right now, it's not coming.

This is a disappointment, but it is the reality.

This case is over 40 years old, and it's expected in this,

but we will keep going.

There are ups and downs in a reinvestigation and reviews.

You get your highs and lows.

But it's the motivation to continue.

OK, there may be setbacks,

but look for the next... possibility

and remain optimistic.

The team has to rethink where they might find new traces of the killer.

They go back to the very beginning to re-examine the attack on Jack.

I've gone back through the list of exhibits

that were taken at the time, and there's lots of them,

but came across DJR-19,

which is the tapings of Jack's face.

Back in 1979, the pathologist who examined Jack's body

noticed that he had been punched in the face,

and so he took tape samples from Jack's bruised skin.

If the killer made contact with him, he may have left a trace.

What do you think the potential is?

I doesn't appear to... It hasn't been examined.

If he has been punched several times by the offender,

then there's a chance the offender's left some DNA on Jack's face.

And those tapings have then

potentially picked that DNA up from Jack's face.

So that would be the suspect's sweat.

-Sweat, skin flakes, possibly hair. -Saliva, the hair.

Yeah, if he's been shouting at Jack,

saliva may have been deposited and picked up in the same way.

-There is a potential there. -Yes.

We need a breakthrough. And a bit of luck as well, and...

I'm always hopeful, but you're more hopeful

when certain exhibits haven't been looked at previously.

It's that sort of, "Oh, my God, there could be something here."

The testing is complex and painstaking,

but with the technology advancing almost on a daily basis,

even the tiniest beads of sweat or saliva

could be enough to unmask the killer.

We've had the results from the tapings of Jack's face.

Unfortunately, there's no profiles obtained at the moment

that could potentially identify an offender.

It is disappointing, but there is further work

that could be done possibly in the future.

With this case, it's quite unique

in that we still have all the exhibits.

We still have all the documentary, the 50 boxes mentioned.

So it's a good case, I believe, to keep looking at.

There's work to be done.

We owe this to the public,

we owe this to the victims of these horrific crimes to keep going.

Science will move on in five years, ten years.

Patience, determination, motivation.

South Wales Police will never give up.

We will find somebody responsible for this.

While investigators remain positive,

the fact that tests have failed to produce any new clues

is difficult news for Jack's family, who've longed for a breakthrough.

Whoever it was, he had no right to do that.

No right whatsoever.

Nobody's got the right to take another life.

Oh, I hate him. Hate him with a vengeance.

He's a monster.

Absolute monster.

I wish dad was still here.

He was taken away from me too soon.

I just hate to think that he suffered like he did,

cos he must have done.

And he is missed by a lot of people, even now.

Hey, dad.

I'm always thinking about you, always will do.

Love you to bits. I've got some nice flowers for you, look.

As the cold case team

deal with the disappointment of the Jack Armstrong murder,

there's unexpected news in the 40-year-old rape case.

The trial was due to start in four months' time,

but the accused, Roland Long, has suddenly been brought to court.

After a brief hearing,

Jenna needs to call the headquarters.

Hi, Jen.

-Hiya, chief, how are you doing? -Good, thanks. How are you?

Not too bad. Just ringing you with some good news.

Roland has changed his plea to guilty.

That's fantastic. I'm over the moon about that.

Due to our work,

you know, obtaining the DNA and exploring every single avenue

to make this investigation as watertight as possible,

we've given him nowhere to go.

It's amazing, isn't it?

Well, I'm proud of you. That's fantastic news.

How do you feel about it?

Yeah, I'm obviously really excited about it.

I just can't wait to tell the victim now.

He has obviously seen sense now, and it's a good feeling.

And the fact now that changing his plea to guilty

prevents that victim from having to go through that process at court.

Two months later, the team are all in court

to see Long sentenced for his crime.

It's the culmination of months of hard work.

I feel sick to my stomach, if I'm honest.

The fact now that we're bringing the victim into the courtroom

to be able to hear that sentencing,

I feel nervous for her.

For the first time, it's revealed to the public

that Roland Long is a serial offender,

with previous convictions for a string of sexual assaults,

violence and making indecent images of children.

The judge is in no doubt that he's a dangerous man.

Long is sentenced to 12 years in prison,

and given his age, may never be freed.

Thanks to the application of advanced DNA technology,

Roland Long was identified as the person responsible,

and has now been brought to justice.

His previous offences, I was so shocked,

and what a horrible, horrible man.

He deserves to be locked up.

And people are safer.

It's almost 42 years, and now I can just forget about it.

Really pleased with the sentence. Very pleased.

It just shows that we never give up.

The police never give up. And it's given me that satisfaction.

It's something I'm really passionate about.

It's something that I feel is never forgotten.

We're constantly looking to bring people to justice,

no matter how long has passed,

and I find it really satisfying when we get a result like this.

It's quite difficult, I'm finding, putting my emotions into words.

I feel quite proud.

Proud to be part of this organisation.

Proud to be a part of the team that I've been working with

to get such an outstanding result, really, for the victim.

And just really happy about it, really happy.

When we started this off,

I didn't know if we were gonna be successful.

I really didn't.

I was optimistic that I thought we had the passion and the ability

and, you know, the availability of forensic science

to make a difference, but I didn't know,

but now all I can say is I am immensely proud of the team.

And I remain really hopeful

we're gonna bring further people to justice.

So we're gonna carry on.

The offence is one of rape of a female over 16 years old.

An authority has been given

to carry out the taking of an intimate sample.

You do not have to allow this sample to be taken

but I must warn you that if you refuse without good cause,

your refusal may harm your case if it comes to trial.

Subtitles: Krzysiek Igielski plint.com