0:01

Rex Howarman is a demon that

0:04

walks among us. A

0:06

predator that ruined families.

0:10

The LISC podcast team was shocked by

0:12

the recent news of Rex Howarman's arrest in

0:14

connection with the Gilgolf War murders. After

0:16

more than a decade of searching, law

0:18

enforcement officials finally pieced together

0:20

enough evidence to bring formal charges against

0:23

him. I'm your

0:25

host Chris Moss and the LISC podcast will be

0:27

releasing new episodes every week to unpack

0:29

how Howarman was caught. We'll track developments

0:32

in the case as well as conduct interviews with officials

0:34

and witnesses familiar to all the troubling details.

0:37

We are relieved by the arrest, but with new

0:39

information coming to light every day, there's still

0:41

so much to learn. Look for new episodes

0:43

every week, and if you haven't already, please

0:46

listen to seasons 1 and 2 of LISC Long Island

0:48

Serial Killer wherever you listen to

0:50

podcasts.

0:55

Hi park enthusiasts, I'm your host

0:57

Delia DeAmbra. And the story

0:59

I have for you today may be infamous

1:01

to you, or it might not. It all depends

1:04

on which side of the Atlantic Ocean you live

1:06

on.

1:06

It takes place

1:08

in Wild Park local nature reserve in

1:10

Brighton, England, about two hours south of

1:12

London on the coast.

1:15

According to the city council website, Wild

1:17

Park is several hundred acres of dense

1:19

woods and grasslands that are all interconnected

1:22

by small footpaths.

1:24

Locals and tourists are drawn to its beauty

1:26

because it's a great place to take a nature walk

1:28

or catch a stunning view of the city.

1:31

Since the year 2000, the town itself

1:33

has been called Brighton and Hove, but back

1:36

when this crime happened, it was just Brighton. There

1:39

are sheep and other livestock that graze

1:41

on the reserve, which I think really adds to its

1:43

English charm vibe.

1:45

The park is often dubbed an oasis in

1:47

suburbia, but back in the fall of 1986, that

1:51

image was shattered forever. Two

1:54

young girls got a snack from a fish and

1:56

chip shop near the park, and then

1:58

they went to play in the grass. Everything

2:01

was idyllic until it

2:03

wasn't. Both girls vanished

2:05

without a trace. The

2:08

gruesome scene and boggling mystery

2:10

that unfolded after they disappeared haunted

2:13

police and the public for decades, until

2:16

one day, the truth of what really

2:18

happened in the woods finally surfaced.

2:22

This is Park Predators. On

2:30

Friday, October

2:33

10th, 1986, shortly before 5

2:35

o'clock

2:38

in the evening, two

2:50

local teenagers named Matthew Marchant

2:53

and Kevin Rowland were trudging through the outskirts

2:55

of Wild Park Local Nature Reserve in

2:57

their hometown of Brighton, England.

3:00

A few hours earlier, the boys had decided

3:02

to join a search party of nearly 50 police

3:04

officers who were out scouring for

3:07

9-year-old Nicola Fellows and

3:09

9-year-old Karen Hadaway.

3:12

Nicola and Karen hadn't been seen for

3:14

almost 24 hours. The last time

3:16

anyone had noticed them was around 6.30 p.m.

3:19

on Thursday night, October 9th. They'd

3:21

been spotted at a fish and chips store across

3:24

the street from an entrance to the park.

3:26

The girls lived in a tight-knit community, which

3:28

was less than a mile from the park, so

3:31

in a small way, the boys felt that they owed

3:33

it to these girls to at least join in the efforts

3:35

to help find them. Matthew

3:38

and Kevin, like everyone else in Brighton, had

3:40

figured Nicola and Karen were just lost in

3:42

the park somewhere, but now that

3:44

a night and a full day had passed

3:46

with no sign of them, finding the pair

3:48

seemed even more urgent.

3:51

And Kevin and Matthew weren't the only locals

3:53

to volunteer in the search. The girls'

3:55

whole neighborhood showed up to look for them.

3:58

As the boys walked out of the park,

3:59

Lewis Road and entered the park on the north

4:02

end, they walked along several paths and

4:04

into the dense undergrowth searching for any

4:06

sign of the girls, but nothing stood

4:08

out.

4:10

For a brief few minutes while they were walking, Matthew

4:12

and Kevin ran into another searcher named Russell.

4:16

According to an article published in the Argus,

4:18

as the boys and Russell passed by one another,

4:21

Russell asked, quote, any luck yet?

4:23

End quote. To which Kevin and Matthew

4:26

replied, no.

4:28

The boys didn't think anything of this interaction with

4:30

Russell. They'd bumped into a lot of people during

4:32

the search and everyone had been asking

4:34

one another if anyone had found anything.

4:37

After talking with Russell, the teens decided

4:40

to go look at an area that was uphill from

4:42

the trail they were on. It was a few

4:44

meters of incline that was covered with dense

4:46

bramble. Kevin had noticed a few broken

4:49

tree branches that just looked out of place to him,

4:52

almost like someone had recently walked through there

4:54

or purposely broken them. He didn't

4:56

know. He figured the branches might be a clue,

4:59

so to play it safe, he wanted to make sure he

5:01

and Matthew checked it out. He

5:04

crept up the hill, but then suddenly stopped

5:06

cold. At the top of the

5:08

incline, sticking out from underneath a cave-like

5:11

dome of sticks and leaves was what looked

5:13

like the

5:13

body of a young girl. He

5:16

stopped himself from going any further and

5:18

called Matthew over, who saw a small hand

5:20

sticking out from underneath the stack.

5:23

Their hearts sank because in that moment

5:25

they knew in their guts they'd found the missing

5:27

girls or at least one of them. Kevin

5:30

told Matthew to run and get some help because he felt

5:33

sure that both Nicola and Karen

5:35

were probably underneath the pile.

5:37

The site was reportedly so disturbing that

5:40

Kevin had to turn away and take a seat while

5:42

he waited for Matthew to come back because

5:44

he couldn't bear to look at the lifeless arm anymore.

5:47

When police arrived a few minutes later, Sussex

5:50

Police Chief Superintendent John McConnell

5:52

hurried up the hill to meet the others and

5:55

almost immediately started pulling back the dense

5:57

undergrowth.

5:58

He crawled through the brush and within seconds

6:01

found the lifeless bodies of two young girls.

6:04

It didn't take long for police to identify the

6:06

victims as Nicola and Karen.

6:09

The source material isn't super clear on

6:11

how exactly investigators made such

6:14

quick work of the IDs, but my best

6:16

guess is that, based on their clothing and

6:18

the fact that Nicola and Karen were the only

6:20

missing girls reported in Brighton at the time,

6:23

this was probably how the police

6:25

made the ID. The

6:27

two pressing things Chief Superintendent McConnell

6:29

and his department needed to find out fast

6:32

were how the girls had died and who

6:34

would have done this to them.

6:36

It was clear from just looking at their bodies stuffed

6:38

under the brush pile that someone had killed

6:41

them and then tried to hide the evidence.

6:45

According to an article by The Daily Telegraph,

6:47

Nicola's 14-year-old brother Jonathan

6:49

had heard the news from search teams that the girls'

6:52

bodies were found and he'd run home to

6:54

inform the rest of his family. Local

6:56

news sources reported that the girls' mothers,

6:59

Susan Fellows and Michelle Hadaway, were

7:01

so traumatized when they found out that they

7:03

had to be heavily sedated.

7:06

And as a mother myself, I can completely

7:08

understand this. I would probably have

7:10

to be sedated too. I

7:12

can't imagine getting this kind of news, especially

7:15

if I'd been the one to report my child missing

7:17

in the first place. You see, after

7:19

Nicola and Karen failed to return home on

7:21

Thursday night, their moms went to the shops

7:23

on Lewis Road near the park.

7:26

They searched for them and asked all the shop

7:28

owners if they'd seen the girls, but no one

7:30

reported spotting them after 6.30pm.

7:34

News reports state that Susan and Michelle

7:36

hadn't wasted any time in filing missing persons

7:38

reports with the local police.

7:41

The women told the officers that by all

7:43

accounts, the girls' day on Thursday had

7:45

been completely normal leading up to their disappearance.

7:49

They'd gotten home from school around 3.30pm

7:51

and played outside for a couple of hours.

7:54

Their parents fully expected them to return

7:56

by sundown for a bite to eat and a

7:58

bath before it was lights out.

8:01

Shortly after receiving that information on

8:03

Thursday night, local police went out with

8:05

search dogs on foot in the woods. But

8:08

in the darkness and with all the thick brush, it

8:10

was nearly impossible to make any headway.

8:12

It wasn't until Friday morning that efforts

8:15

really ramped up. On

8:18

Saturday, October 11, so one

8:20

day after the girls were found, the local

8:22

pathologist examined their bodies and determined

8:25

what authorities pretty much already knew. They'd

8:27

been victims of murder, and both of their

8:29

manner of death were strangulation.

8:32

The pathologist also noted that Nicola

8:34

and Karen had been sexually assaulted,

8:37

despite still having their clothes on. But

8:39

I also read one article by The Sunday Telegraph

8:42

that stated neither of the girls had been sexually

8:45

assaulted.

8:46

So I'm not really sure why some source

8:48

material has this discrepancy about whether

8:50

they were sexually assaulted or not, but

8:52

for the most part, the resource articles all

8:54

state sexual assault was a factor.

8:58

The doctor also wrote in his report that

9:00

neither of the girls had defensive wounds or

9:02

any kind of marks that indicated they'd fought

9:04

for their lives. So whoever

9:06

had attacked them had taken them most

9:08

likely by surprise.

9:11

One thing I want to note here is that there isn't

9:13

clarity on Nicola and Karen's estimated

9:15

time of death.

9:17

Some news reports say they died shortly

9:19

after 6.30pm on Thursday, which

9:21

would have been right after they were last seen, but

9:24

some source material that specifically cites

9:26

the pathologist's findings doesn't say exactly

9:29

what time the doctor noted they died.

9:32

In my mind though, I think it's probably safe

9:34

to assume that the girls' time of death was

9:36

after 6.30pm on Thursday, but

9:38

before police search parties started up that same

9:41

night, so maybe like a window of four

9:43

hours, give or take. All

9:45

I know for sure is that they were dead by the time

9:47

Matthew and Kevin found them around 5 o'clock

9:49

on Friday, and it wasn't like Karen and

9:52

Nicola were seen alive by anyone searching

9:54

all day on Friday. So to me it seems

9:56

obvious they died not long after going

9:58

to that fish and chips store.

9:59

near the park. Anyway,

10:03

after the pathologist's findings were released,

10:05

police went back into the woods to search for more

10:07

clues. They needed to find

10:09

something that could point them in the direction of the

10:11

girl's killer or killers, because here's

10:14

the thing, police told news outlets they

10:16

felt confident the murders were the work of at

10:18

least one man, but they weren't ruling

10:20

out the possibility that two people could

10:22

have committed the crime. The

10:25

reason they said that was because in their minds,

10:27

it didn't seem likely that one man

10:29

who was a complete stranger to the victims could

10:32

overpower two girls without causing a

10:34

scene.

10:35

However, authorities realized it might be

10:37

possible, for example, if Karen

10:39

and Nicola knew their killer and he

10:41

was someone they trusted or would have willingly

10:44

gone into the woods with.

10:45

According to the Evening Sentinel,

10:48

one of the police detectives working the case told

10:50

the paper, quote, there is no suggestion

10:52

that these girls put up a fight. They may

10:55

have known their attacker or attackers

10:57

and they may have been easily overpowered, end

11:00

quote.

11:01

So basically from the start, police

11:03

were dealing with two possibilities. The

11:05

girls knew their attacker

11:07

or there was more than one attacker, which

11:10

both make sense to me because it's

11:12

hard to imagine a scenario in which a total

11:14

stranger approached these girls and managed

11:16

to abduct them and then kill them both without

11:19

anyone hearing a scream.

11:22

A couple of days after that announcement, shop

11:24

owners near Wild Park came together and offered

11:27

up a reward hoping that someone would come

11:29

forward with useful information.

11:31

And thankfully that tactic worked because

11:34

almost immediately a fellow store owner

11:36

did come forward. According

11:39

to reporting by the Evening Sentinel on the Daily Telegraph,

11:42

this person told investigators that on several

11:44

occasions leading up to the murders, they'd

11:46

seen a dark car that was bluish in color

11:49

with a man inside of it parked outside the fish

11:51

and chip shop on Lewis Road.

11:54

The witness said the man appeared to only speak

11:56

to young girls while he sat in the parking lot.

12:00

The store owner said they'd seen this man outside

12:02

of their shop on Thursday, October 9th

12:04

around 6pm, which was right

12:07

in the window of time that Karen and Nicola

12:09

would have been there.

12:11

Now, this report obviously struck a nerve

12:13

with Sussex Police investigators because

12:15

it was the biggest and best clue they'd gotten so

12:17

far, and it just so happened that a

12:19

similar sighting of a man luring a

12:22

young girl had been reported in the town

12:24

of Bristol.

12:26

According to Paul Edwards reporting for the Coventry

12:28

Evening Telegraph, the Bristol incident

12:30

happened a few days before Karen and Nicola's

12:33

murders, and even though Bristol was about

12:35

three hours away from Brighton, the disturbingly

12:37

similar details were hard to ignore.

12:40

The suspicious man in Bristol had reportedly

12:43

tried to lure an eight-year-old girl into

12:45

his car. The girl escaped and

12:47

reported him.

12:49

James Dalrymple reported for the Independent

12:51

that authorities looking into Nicola and Karen's

12:54

case weren't super confident the cases

12:56

in Bristol and Brighton were in fact connected.

12:59

A detective stated, quote, "...we

13:02

have so little to go on that it is quite

13:04

frightening. We are ruling out no possibility,

13:07

and there is a serious school of thinking that says

13:09

two men could have been involved. The

13:12

girls were of an age where they could have actively

13:14

struggled in defending themselves, and it is

13:16

conceivable that it would take two men to

13:18

do that kind of work and keep the girls

13:20

quiet," end quote.

13:23

So in essence, because the victim in

13:25

the Bristol case had only reported

13:27

one man, police in Brighton felt like

13:29

it wasn't possible he was their killer.

13:32

The police chief in Karen and Nicola's case

13:35

had said multiple times that he was convinced

13:37

they were dealing with two perpetrators.

13:40

The department's rationale kind of struck me as

13:42

odd and maybe a bit short-sighted here, but

13:45

either way, that's what happened.

13:47

Investigators in Nicola and Karen's case

13:49

moved on from the Bristol incident. Detectives

13:53

continued to scour the park for any forensic

13:56

evidence and canvassed the neighborhood that the girls

13:58

lived in. Investigators were

13:59

covered a blue crew neck sweatshirt turned

14:02

inside out on a trail near where their bodies

14:04

had been found. Officers

14:06

took that as evidence and according to several

14:09

newspapers at the time it was something police

14:11

believed the killer wore.

14:13

It had small traces of paint and the word

14:16

pinto written on it.

14:18

Paul Edwards reported for the Coventry Evening

14:20

Telegraph that five days into the investigation

14:23

police had interviewed over 2,000 residents either in

14:26

person or over the phone.

14:28

Their canvassing was tedious and time

14:31

consuming but it was necessary in order

14:33

to be able to account for the movements of anyone

14:35

in that area on the night the girls were murdered.

14:39

And thankfully their efforts paid off. The

14:41

Independent reported that a woman from the girls

14:43

neighborhood came forward and told police

14:46

that after dark on Thursday October 9th

14:48

she'd taken her dog for a walk in Wild Park

14:51

and she'd seen two young men run from the

14:53

woods near the exact spot where the girls

14:55

had been found.

14:57

She said she saw them run from the park

15:00

and into the neighborhood that Nicola and Karen were

15:02

from. Then

15:03

the men parted ways.

15:05

She described them as being in their early 20s

15:08

roughly 5 feet 2 inches tall and

15:10

one of them was slightly shorter than the other. This

15:13

information definitely supported police's

15:16

current theory that they were possibly looking

15:18

for two suspects not one.

15:21

The Evening Standard and the Independent reported

15:24

that this tip prompted investigators to

15:26

focus in on questioning all young men

15:28

in the area who were between the ages of 15 and 25.

15:32

The article states that the police chief superintendent

15:35

John McConnell felt confident the girls

15:37

killer or killers were local to Brighton.

15:40

He told the newspaper that because the bodies

15:43

had been found in such a secluded location

15:45

that clearly indicated whoever put the

15:47

girls there knew the layout of the park

15:49

and how to conceal them so that they wouldn't be found

15:52

for nearly a day.

15:54

He also said it was highly unlikely the killer

15:56

abducted the girls from the fish and chips parking

15:59

lot. McConnell felt sure

16:01

that the perpetrator was already in the

16:03

park when he came across Nicola and Karen.

16:07

About a week after the girls were found, the

16:09

community came together and did something I

16:11

found pretty strange. According

16:14

to James Dalrymple's reporting, two

16:16

local girls who knew Nicola and Karen reenacted

16:19

their last known movements.

16:21

In front of dozens of mourning townspeople,

16:24

they went to the fish and chip shop, then walked

16:26

hand in hand along Lewis Road,

16:28

played on the grass in Wild Park, then

16:30

finally disappeared into the woods. Regardless

16:34

of how strange this reenactment may seem,

16:36

it did actually yield some results. Police

16:40

got several calls after the reenactment was

16:42

broadcast on BBC News. Many

16:44

of those calls came from witnesses who said they'd

16:47

seen two young men running from the park,

16:49

just like the woman who'd been walking her dog.

16:53

Police were hopeful they could track down these

16:55

mysterious male figures, but within

16:57

a matter of days that lead dried up and

16:59

they suspected the sightings might have just been

17:01

local teens who weren't involved in the crime

17:03

at all.

17:05

After BBC News aired its segment, the

17:07

story caught international attention overnight

17:10

and that influx of interest was kind

17:12

of a double-edged sword. So

17:14

much attention meant Nicola and Karen's story

17:16

was reaching people far and wide, but

17:19

it also opened the door for wild tips

17:21

and false information to leach into the investigation.

17:25

Throughout the next month or so, police got

17:27

all kinds of reports and even some

17:30

bogus confessions. The

17:32

Huddersfield Daily Examiner reported that

17:34

a man using the CB radio name, Whispering

17:37

Willie, bragged about killing the girls.

17:40

According to the Evening Post, people called

17:42

in saying they'd seen the girls with two But

17:45

when police would arrange an interview, these so-called

17:47

witnesses wouldn't show up.

17:50

Time after time, police kept receiving

17:52

these hoax calls and it became glaringly

17:54

obvious that everyone and their mother just wanted

17:57

to be involved in this case.

17:59

Despite all this interference, Sussex

18:02

investigators did their best to track down every

18:04

single lead no matter how exhausting.

18:07

But it always seemed to end with the same outcome,

18:10

a dead end. November

18:12

passed with little to no updates and

18:14

the case seemed like it was going to go cold.

18:17

That is, until two months after the

18:19

murders, in December. Detectives

18:23

issued a surprising announcement. They

18:25

made an arrest.

18:33

On the podcast, Infamous. A

18:35

movie star and a retired optometrist

18:38

collide. And he has

18:40

deterred you from enjoying the rest of

18:42

what was a very expensive vacation.

18:45

Well I lost half

18:47

a day of skiing. That's right. This

18:50

story is about the bone broth sipping, conscious

18:52

uncoupler, Gwyneth Paltrow, and

18:55

the trial that gripped the nation.

18:58

Listen to Infamous wherever you get your podcasts.

19:09

On December 4th, 1986, almost

19:12

two months to the day that Nicola and Karen

19:14

had been murdered, police arrested

19:17

20-year-old Russell Bishop and

19:19

charged him with murder.

19:21

That name sound familiar? He's the

19:23

same Russell that passed by Kevin and

19:25

Matthew on the Friday the girls bodies were

19:27

found.

19:28

You know, the guy that asked any luck and

19:30

the boys said no?

19:32

Well on the surface, Russell's arrest

19:34

seemed to come out of nowhere. But

19:37

when police revealed that he was someone who'd

19:39

been on their radar for a long time,

19:41

a clearer picture of how he was involved

19:44

started to come into focus.

19:46

According to an article published by the Guardian,

19:49

police began to suspect Russell during his initial

19:51

interview with authorities.

19:53

You see just like every other young man who

19:55

lived in or near the girls' neighborhood, Russell

19:58

had been questioned extensively.

20:00

According to news reports, during his first

20:03

sit down with investigators, Russell told

20:05

police that he'd gone right up to the bodies

20:07

after Kevin and Matthew found the girls and

20:09

saw Nicola, quote, lying

20:12

on her back on the ground. Huddled next

20:14

to her was Karen Hadaway. I cannot

20:16

recall what position she was lying in, but

20:18

her head was resting on Nicola's stomach. I

20:21

felt for a pulse in the neck of both girls,

20:23

but there was none. They were both very cold

20:26

and stiff to the touch, and it was quite obvious

20:28

to me they were dead, end quote.

20:31

He even added a detail about seeing

20:34

bloody foam formed around Nicola's mouth

20:36

and nose.

20:38

All of Russell's comments stood out as extremely

20:40

suspicious to police, for the very

20:43

reason I just mentioned, his level

20:45

of detail regarding how the victims

20:47

looked and how they were positioned post-mortem.

20:50

Not to mention, he'd volunteered to be right

20:52

in the middle of the search effort to find Nicola and

20:55

Karen. He'd even gone

20:57

as far as offering up his dog to try

20:59

and track the girls' sense during the first few

21:01

hours of the search.

21:03

The fact that he arrived on scene so

21:05

quickly after the bodies were found also

21:07

didn't sit right with detectives.

21:10

And look, Russell being at the scene and making

21:12

some weird statements afterwards is far

21:15

from a murder confession.

21:16

But just the nature of his statements

21:18

is what prompted police to talk with him a second

21:21

time. When they re-interviewed

21:23

him a few days after the crime, he

21:25

reportedly changed his story completely.

21:28

He said he'd never touched the girls' bodies

21:31

or gotten close to them at all.

21:33

He said the reason he'd arrived on scene so

21:35

soon after they were found was because police

21:38

officers had directed him to do so.

21:41

When investigators confronted him about his changing

21:43

story and why at first he provided so

21:45

much detail, he told authorities, quote,

21:48

I said this to make myself look big and

21:50

feel important, end quote. According

21:54

to an article published by The Guardian, Russell's

21:56

friends and family said he had a bit of a habit

21:58

for telling tall tales. and making up stories

22:01

that he felt would make him the center of attention.

22:04

His mother Sylvia told the newspaper, quote,

22:07

he does tell porkies, he does it for attention,

22:10

but he has never hurt anybody by his porkies,

22:13

not in his life, end quote.

22:16

And for those of you who are like me and weren't familiar

22:18

with British slang for the term porkies, basically

22:21

it's another term for a fib or embellishment

22:23

or an outright lie.

22:25

Basically, Russell's changing story wasn't

22:28

a good look for him. Something else that was

22:30

a bad look was the fact that he knew the

22:32

girls, or at least was acquainted with

22:34

them.

22:35

According to reporting by the Evening Standard,

22:38

Russell frequently visited the fellow's home

22:40

because he was friends with someone who stayed with them temporarily.

22:44

He played football with their siblings and parents

22:46

at a local park on occasion and spent

22:48

time with both girls prior to their

22:50

murders.

22:52

He would have fallen into the category as someone

22:54

Nicola and Karen trusted and felt

22:56

comfortable with. All of

22:58

the pieces of the puzzle felt like they were fitting

23:00

into place. The only thing left for

23:03

police and prosecutors to do was figure

23:05

out where Russell had been on the night of the crime.

23:08

They needed to know if he had a solid alibi

23:10

for the timeframe the girls vanished. Prosecutors

23:14

began creating a timeline of his movements

23:16

for the night of Thursday, October 9, which

23:18

they hoped would prove he had the ability

23:20

to commit the crime.

23:23

According to The Guardian, a park keeper

23:25

who'd been working on Thursday night placed

23:27

Russell near where the girls had been playing just

23:30

before they vanished.

23:31

The same worker testified that he'd seen

23:33

Russell again about an hour and a half later,

23:36

leaving the park, which meant a little

23:38

over an hour of his time was unaccounted for.

23:42

That testimony was good, but it wasn't enough

23:44

to tip the scales all the way against Russell.

23:47

The police needed physical evidence tying

23:49

him to the crime. To help build

23:51

that part of their case, Sussex investigators

23:54

examined that blue crew neck sweatshirt they'd

23:56

found in the woods near the crime scene.

23:58

The police realized that it had been located

24:01

on a trail that led in the direction of Russell's

24:03

home. Now,

24:05

the police knew Russell himself wasn't going

24:07

to come right out and confirm if the sweatshirt

24:09

was his, so they devised a pretty

24:12

simple plan to determine if it was his.

24:15

They talked to his common-law wife and mother

24:17

of his two children, a woman named Jennifer

24:19

Johnson. The

24:21

Guardian and the Argus reported that when authorities

24:24

showed her the blue crew neck sweatshirt that

24:26

was flecked with paint and had the word pinto

24:28

written across it, she confirmed that

24:30

it belonged to Russell. By

24:33

the time Russell was charged and had his initial

24:35

appearance in court, everything the police

24:37

had so far was pretty damning. But remember,

24:40

we're talking about the late 80s here. DNA

24:42

evidence was in its infancy, and they didn't

24:45

have the technology we have now to test

24:47

the blue sweatshirt for Russell's DNA or

24:49

either of the girls' DNA. But

24:51

according to the Daily Telegraph, the testing

24:54

they were able to run on the sweatshirt revealed

24:56

there were fibers from the girls' clothing found

24:59

on it,

24:59

which meant whoever had worn it definitely

25:02

came in contact with the girls. According

25:05

to the source material, this blue sweatshirt

25:07

was the only piece of physical evidence

25:09

in the case. By

25:12

March of 1987, prosecutors

25:14

felt confident enough to take the case to trial.

25:18

During

25:18

preliminary court proceedings, there were some

25:20

back and forth about whether Russell would be released

25:22

on bond because at the time it was reported

25:25

by the Evening Post that he had two prior

25:27

burglary convictions.

25:29

Eventually though, it was decided he'd stay in jail

25:31

for a short while before being released on bond.

25:35

The Guardian reported that while he was out, Russell

25:38

visited Nicola's dad, Barry, and

25:40

told him straight up that he did not murder

25:42

the girls, but Barry wasn't sure how

25:44

to feel.

25:45

Eight months later, in November 1987,

25:48

when Russell's trial finally began, news

25:51

about the case had blown up across Europe

25:53

and honestly the world.

25:55

The press dubbed it the Bades in the Wood

25:57

Murder Trial, a name that referred to an old Asian woman who had been

25:59

in jail for a long time.

25:59

English children's tale about two kids

26:02

who were orphaned when their parents died and

26:04

their uncle decided to have them murdered to obtain

26:06

their inheritance.

26:08

The hired hand who was supposed to execute

26:10

the kids decided not to kill them and

26:12

instead left them to wander the woods alone.

26:15

The story goes that the orphans ultimately

26:18

died from starvation and their bodies were covered

26:20

with leaves by birds.

26:22

The media giving the case that name though I

26:25

think just speaks to the level of interest the public

26:27

had surrounding this crime and the sensational

26:30

nature it took on in the world press.

26:32

It was infamous in the UK and it

26:34

still is today. When

26:37

it came time for opening arguments the

26:39

prosecution had abandoned the two

26:41

attacker or two perpetrator theory

26:43

and instead presented its evidence

26:45

based solely on one perpetrator

26:48

– Russell Bishop. First,

26:50

prosecutors argued that Russell knew

26:53

both girls.

26:54

It had plenty of interaction with them prior

26:56

to their deaths and they would have felt comfortable around

26:58

him.

26:59

Both girls' lack of defense wounds proved

27:01

their attacker had easily subdued them most

27:04

likely because the girls trusted him.

27:07

Second, prosecutors brought up the importance

27:09

of the blue sweatshirt found at the crime scene

27:11

and the fact that Russell's common law wife said

27:14

it had belonged to him.

27:16

The government emphasized the importance of

27:18

fibers from the victim's clothing being found

27:20

on it.

27:21

And third, the prosecution brought up

27:23

the parkkeeper's testimony about seeing

27:25

Russell in the park when the murders were suspected

27:28

of happening and the fact that over

27:30

an hour of his time was unaccounted for.

27:34

The Guardian in the evening Sentinel reported

27:36

that during trial it was revealed that Nicola

27:38

had been sexually assaulted before and

27:41

after her death.

27:42

The government's case wasn't a home run by

27:45

any means mostly because it was almost entirely

27:47

circumstantial, but still, it

27:49

was the best they could argue.

27:52

Unfortunately, things took a wild turn

27:54

during trial. The Daily Telegraph

27:56

reported that while testifying on the witness

27:58

stand, Jennifer John

27:59

Johnson recanted what she'd previously said

28:02

about the blue sweatshirt belonging to Russell.

28:05

She indicated that police investigators had pressured

28:07

her during her initial questioning. She

28:10

said, quote, they were treating me as if

28:12

I were a criminal and I wanted to get shot

28:15

of them, end quote.

28:17

The real reason why Jennifer recanted her

28:19

previous testimony about the sweatshirt is

28:22

unclear, but it might have something to do with

28:24

the fact that Russell was her common law husband,

28:26

the father of her children, and she was reliant

28:29

on him in life.

28:30

If he went to prison, her circumstances

28:32

would change drastically. Again,

28:35

no one really knows for sure why she went back

28:37

and forth or if the claims she made about investigators

28:40

pressuring her were truthful.

28:42

But the end result was that the sweatshirt evidence

28:44

against Russell became completely useless

28:47

to the prosecution after she testified

28:49

and then recanted.

28:51

And this was really the defense's strategy

28:53

during trial. Coke holes in the government's

28:56

case until reasonable doubt surfaced.

28:59

Russell's attorney, a man named Charles Conway,

29:01

never provided concrete evidence

29:03

of his own that Russell was not guilty of the

29:05

crime. He just argued that what prosecutors

29:08

presented wasn't good enough.

29:11

According to the Evening Standards reporting,

29:13

the only alibi the defense presented

29:15

regarding where Russell was in the window

29:18

of time the girls were killed was that

29:20

he was buying cannabis from someone

29:22

at that time. However, that

29:24

story was never corroborated by another

29:26

witness since the act itself

29:28

was illegal.

29:30

According to the Guardian, before jurors made

29:33

their decision, the judge asked them to find

29:35

the defendant not guilty if

29:37

they weren't sure the girls had died by 6.30pm

29:40

on the evening of October 9th, if

29:43

they weren't sure the sweatshirt that the prosecution

29:45

said belonged to the murderer was worn by

29:47

Russell Bishop that night, or if they

29:49

weren't sure the sweatshirt was worn by the murderer

29:52

at all.

29:53

Two hours later, the jury returned

29:56

and found Russell not guilty and

29:58

acquitted him of all charges.

30:02

Authorities didn't mince words after

30:04

the verdict. They felt like they had their

30:06

man. They'd just been unable to convince

30:08

a jury.

30:10

According to reporting by the Guardian, a

30:12

spokesperson for the police department stated,

30:15

quote, We are not looking for anybody

30:17

else in connection with this inquiry at this time.

30:20

This case was thoroughly investigated by us

30:23

at the time. No new information emerged

30:25

during the trial, and we have no plans to

30:27

reopen the inquiry. But obviously

30:29

any fresh information which was put to us

30:32

would be carefully looked at, end quote.

30:35

The statement about not planning to reopen

30:37

the inquiry didn't sit well with Nicholas'

30:40

father, Barry. He felt that

30:42

police should have reopened the case right

30:45

after the trial ended. And if not that,

30:47

at least let another police force come in

30:49

and conduct a new investigation.

30:52

But that didn't happen, and Russell

30:54

walked free. Authorities'

30:56

hands were tied due to double jeopardy

30:58

laws.

31:00

But that wasn't the last time anyone

31:02

would hear about Russell.

31:04

In February of 1990, another

31:07

brutal attack on a young girl turned everyone's

31:09

attention back to the babes in the wood

31:11

murders.

31:13

This incident bore striking similarities

31:15

to what happened to Nicola and Karen,

31:18

with one exception. The victim

31:21

survived.

31:28

On the podcast, Infamous,

31:31

a movie star and a retired optometrist

31:34

collide.

31:35

And he has deterred you from enjoying

31:37

the rest of what was a very expensive

31:40

vacation.

31:41

Well, I lost half

31:43

a day of skiing. That's right. This

31:45

story is about the bone broth sipping conscious

31:48

uncoupler, Gwyneth Paltrow, and

31:50

the trial that gripped the nation.

31:53

Listen to Infamous wherever you get your podcasts.

32:05

On February 4th, 1990, a

32:08

couple parked near a valley overlook outside

32:10

of Brighton called Devil's Dyke noticed

32:13

something small coming out of the woods.

32:16

The man and woman were just sitting in their car

32:18

when suddenly a young girl crawled into

32:20

view from some bushes. It

32:22

was clear she needed help. She was naked,

32:25

dirty, and appeared to be completely disoriented.

32:29

She was lucid enough, though, to tell the bystanders

32:31

she was seven years old, had been abducted

32:33

from her home, and that she needed to call the police

32:36

as soon as possible.

32:38

Soon, authorities became aware of the

32:40

situation, and when they brought the girl in

32:42

for an interview, she told them a terrifying

32:45

story.

32:46

She said she'd been roller skating near her home

32:48

in White Hawk Estate in Brighton, which

32:51

for reference is about three miles southeast

32:53

from the neighborhood Nicole and Karen were from.

32:56

While she was playing, a man suddenly grabbed

32:58

her and threw her in the trunk of his car.

33:02

According to reporting by Paul Chestin for

33:04

the Evening Standard, the girl kicked and

33:06

punched while inside the trunk but was unable

33:08

to escape.

33:10

She said the man who took her drove to the

33:12

Devil's Dyke area where he took off her clothes

33:14

and then strangled her until she was unconscious.

33:18

Based on the girl's injuries and statement, it

33:20

was clear that her attacker had also

33:22

sexually assaulted her,

33:23

then left her for dead in some bushes.

33:27

Miraculously though, she'd come to

33:29

after the attack and scrambled her way

33:31

up to the overlook where she got help from the couple

33:33

in the car.

33:35

Right away, this incident made authorities

33:37

and Sussex shudder. All the

33:40

suspicions they'd had about Russell Bishop being

33:42

a sexual predator and murderer came

33:44

flooding back. The Daily

33:46

Telegraph reported that within just a few

33:48

hours, authorities were at Russell's house

33:50

questioning him about the Devil's Dyke incident

33:53

since he was one of a handful of suspected sex

33:55

offenders they'd been keeping an eye on.

33:58

The Evening Standard reported that three

33:59

Three days after the assault and attempted murder

34:02

of the seven-year-old girl, detectives had

34:04

the victim come in and view a lineup of men,

34:06

and she picked Russell out of the mix.

34:09

Within a matter of weeks, investigators obtained

34:11

a sample of what they referred to as DNA

34:14

genetic fingerprinting and determined

34:16

that Russell was the only one in 80

34:19

million white men who could have committed the crime.

34:22

Immediately authorities arrested him for

34:24

attempted murder, kidnapping, and indecent

34:27

assault. In early December of 1990,

34:29

he was convicted of the crime and sentenced

34:31

to life in prison,

34:33

but he had the possibility of being paroled

34:36

after only serving 14 months of that

34:38

sentence.

34:39

He protested his verdict from the get-go

34:41

because he said that the Sussex police had

34:44

it out for him and were fabricating information

34:46

and science in the Devil's Dyke attack to

34:49

pin that crime on him because they were mad

34:51

he'd been acquitted of Nicola and Karen's murders.

34:54

In February 1994, he sued

34:56

the police department claiming malicious prosecution,

34:59

unlawful arrest, and false imprisonment.

35:02

That case didn't go anywhere, and Russell

35:04

remained behind bars.

35:07

As far as what his conviction for the Devil's Dyke

35:09

incident meant for Nicola and Karen's case,

35:12

it seemed to renew a lot of interest and the original

35:14

acquittal verdict came under scrutiny.

35:17

Since a few years had passed and the use

35:19

of DNA testing on evidence had improved

35:22

and was successful in the Devil's Dyke case,

35:24

authorities felt it might be possible to find traces

35:26

of DNA on the blue sweatshirt from Nicola

35:28

and Karen's case after all.

35:31

So in 2002, police reopened

35:33

the investigation. But

35:36

remember, double jeopardy was still attached,

35:38

so even if they did find something

35:40

forensically linking Russell to Nicola and Karen's

35:43

murders, he couldn't be tried for them again.

35:46

However, in 2004, that changed. According

35:50

to Patrick McGowan's reporting for the Evening Standard,

35:53

UK criminal law was amended and

35:55

allowed for people previously acquitted on

35:57

serious charges like murder to be

35:59

retried.

36:01

It was going to be an uphill battle though. For

36:04

one, the prosecution was going to need to have new

36:06

and substantial evidence to try Russell

36:08

again in Nicola and Karen's case.

36:11

At that point in time, they didn't have anything new

36:13

and to make matters worse, they couldn't retest

36:16

all the evidence they had originally had because,

36:18

according to reporting by the Independent, authorities

36:21

lost the clothing that Karen was wearing when

36:23

she was found.

36:25

You heard me right. Just one

36:27

of the victims' clothing. Just

36:29

gone. Poof. That same article

36:32

for the Independent stated that at some point

36:34

in 1991, the Sussex Police and

36:37

Karen's family gave Karen's clothing

36:39

to crews with BBC News for a program

36:41

they were running called Public Eye. That

36:44

crime show was supposed to pay to send off

36:46

the clothing for additional DNA testing.

36:49

Well, the testing never happened and

36:52

somehow the items of clothing were lost.

36:55

Because of this, police investigators'

36:57

efforts in 2004 to retry

37:00

Russell were delayed and then ultimately

37:02

abandoned by 2006.

37:06

Three years later, in 2009,

37:08

a disturbing rumor surfaced that landed

37:10

Nicola's own father Barry in hot

37:12

water.

37:14

According to Adam Luscher's reporting for the Independent,

37:17

back in 1987, a 16-year-old girl

37:19

who Russell had been having an inappropriate sexual

37:22

relationship with, which I'm not even going

37:24

to consider it a relationship since she's 16.

37:27

But anyway, this teenager told police that

37:29

Barry and a man he'd been renting to had home

37:32

videos of child sexual abuse material

37:34

that featured Nicola.

37:37

When authorities initially looked into the allegations,

37:39

they detained Barry and his friend,

37:42

but then eventually dropped the inquiry because

37:44

no evidence ever materialized and

37:46

Barry denied all of the allegations

37:49

that he abused his own daughter in any

37:51

way.

37:52

Adam Luscher wrote that the pathologist who

37:54

examined both girls' bodies after their

37:57

murders supported Barry's claims,

37:59

stating that

37:59

there was zero evidence Nicola had suffered

38:02

any repeated sexual abuse in the months

38:04

leading up to her death. After 2009,

38:07

the case went cold. Russell

38:10

continued to serve his time in prison for

38:12

the Devil's Dyke assault, and Nicola and

38:14

Karen's families lived without justice.

38:18

Fast forward to 2018, 32 years after the crime, and

38:22

the Sussex court decided to retry

38:24

Russell for Nicola and Karen's murders.

38:27

According to an article by the Argus, prosecutors

38:30

revealed that the case was never technically

38:32

closed, and modern advances in DNA

38:35

testing had allowed them to find new forensic

38:37

evidence that was substantial enough to

38:39

allow for a new trial.

38:42

During the second murder trial, the prosecution

38:44

meticulously detailed all of the circumstantial

38:47

evidence against Russell, and showed

38:49

jurors that more precise DNA analysis

38:52

of the blue sweatshirt found near the crime

38:54

scene proved with, quote, one

38:56

in a billion chance of error, end

38:58

quote, that it belonged to Russell.

39:01

That information sealed Russell's fate,

39:04

and on December 10th, 2018, the

39:07

jury unanimously found him guilty of

39:09

the murders and sentenced him to a minimum

39:11

of 36 years in prison on top

39:13

of the time he was already serving.

39:16

Family members of both girls were present

39:18

at the courthouse when the sentencing happened,

39:21

and expressed that Russell's conviction felt

39:23

like a decades-old weight had been lifted

39:25

off their shoulders.

39:27

Karen's mother, Michelle, wrote a statement

39:29

to the court that said, quote,

39:31

this is the result we should have had 31 years

39:34

ago.

39:35

Finally, justice has been done, and

39:37

Bishop has been seen as the evil monster

39:39

he really is.

39:41

If Bishop had pleaded guilty 31 years ago, my

39:44

healing could have started then. I was 29

39:47

when Karen was killed, and I am now 61 years

39:49

old.

39:51

Karen's death destroyed my husband, Lee,

39:54

and I had to raise my young family on my

39:56

own, end quote. Nicholas

39:59

Van Voorhees, suffered too in the wake of her

40:01

murder. Not only did they lose a child

40:04

but the rumor mill never stopped whispering

40:06

that perhaps Barry, her father,

40:08

sexually assaulted and killed his own daughter.

40:11

He called those 32 years quote, an everlasting

40:15

nightmare end quote. Something

40:18

I can't stop thinking about is that it's possible

40:20

Russell could have been convicted all those

40:23

years ago if Jennifer Johnson,

40:25

his common-law wife, had not recanted

40:27

her statement about the blue sweatshirt during

40:29

his first trial.

40:31

Authorities told BBC News that her

40:33

dishonesty was a factor in Russell walking

40:36

free the first time around. In May

40:39

of 2021, Jennifer Johnson

40:41

was eventually charged with perjury for lying

40:43

about the sweatshirt. That trial

40:45

lasted a month and she was found guilty of

40:47

perjury and sentenced to six years in

40:50

prison.

40:51

On January 20th, 2022, Russell Bishop

40:54

died from cancer while still incarcerated.

40:56

He was 55 years old.

40:59

Following

40:59

the news of his death, Nicola and Karen's

41:01

family said they were glad to know that he could never

41:04

apply for parole or hurt anyone else

41:06

ever again.

41:08

But most of all, they said they felt

41:10

relief that the truth behind what

41:12

really happened to Karen and Nicola all

41:15

those years ago in the woods finally

41:17

found its way

41:18

out. These suspect

41:20

who'd been in authority sites all along

41:23

had finally answered for

41:25

his crimes.

41:43

Park Predators is an audio chuck

41:45

original show. So what

41:47

do you think Chuck? Do you approve?