1 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,320 Speaker 1: In October nineteen eighty six, nine year old friends Nicola 2 00:00:11,359 --> 00:00:15,039 Fellows and Karen had Away disappeared while playing near their 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:16,839 homes in Brighton, England. 4 00:00:18,039 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 2: They were just seen being little girls around the estate, 5 00:00:21,199 --> 00:00:24,760 nothing extraordinary at all until that point when they disappeared 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:25,760 off the face of the earth. 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: The following day, the bodies of the two young girls 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,920 were discovered. The police had a prime suspect, twenty year 9 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,600 old Russell Bishop, but at his trial a year later, 10 00:00:38,079 --> 00:00:40,799 the killer walked away scot free. 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 3: Anyone with half a brain would have been careful never 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,479 to do it again, and yet he does it again. 13 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 1: After attempting to kill a third young girl in nineteen ninety. 14 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,640 Bishop would eventually face justice in twenty eighteen, thirty two 15 00:00:56,759 --> 00:01:00,399 years after the murder of Nicola and Karen the abes 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:01,359 in the Wood. 17 00:01:02,439 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 4: Evil, insignificant, arrogant, is a creature. He's horrible, absolutely horrible. 18 00:01:11,079 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: Russell Bishop had finally been unmasked as one of the 19 00:01:14,599 --> 00:01:42,719 world's most evil killers. In December twenty eighteen, Russell Bishop 20 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,920 was serving time in Franklin Maximum Security prison for the abduction, 21 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,760 sexual assault, and attempted murder of a seven year old 22 00:01:50,799 --> 00:01:55,079 girl in nineteen ninety, investigators were certain the fifty two 23 00:01:55,159 --> 00:01:58,719 year old was also responsible for the nineteen eighty six 24 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,640 murders of nine year old friends Nicola Fellows and Karen 25 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,359 had Away, but in nineteen eighty seven Bishop had been 26 00:02:06,359 --> 00:02:08,800 found not guilty of their murders. 27 00:02:09,319 --> 00:02:13,039 Speaker 2: There was a huge shock within the police when Bishop 28 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,639 was acquitted of killing Nicola and Karen. The investigation had 29 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:22,560 been carried out so professionally and so assiduously, so when 30 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,120 the jury returned with not guilty verdicts, everyone was just stunned. 31 00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:30,120 It just really rocked the whole police to the corps. 32 00:02:30,599 --> 00:02:32,759 We just thought, what could possibly have gone wrong? 33 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 5: We knew that it was Bishop. Everybody knew that it 34 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:36,840 was Bishop, yet he'd walked. 35 00:02:36,599 --> 00:02:41,599 Speaker 1: Free since then. Graham Bartlett had studied Russell Bishop's career 36 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:42,360 of crime. 37 00:02:43,159 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 2: When I was a very young detective Brighton, I became 38 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,639 involved in the second investigation into Russell Bishop. As a 39 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,199 result of that, I became very aware of the case 40 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,639 that had gone on before, in the injustice that had 41 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,879 been served through the acquittals. So I became fascinated with 42 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,960 the case, and as my career took off, I became 43 00:03:05,319 --> 00:03:08,840 constantly involved in terms of just being aware and also 44 00:03:08,879 --> 00:03:10,800 when I was the divisional commander of Brighton and how 45 00:03:10,879 --> 00:03:13,080 this cloud over the whole policing of the city that 46 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,240 we hadn't delivered justice for those two girls. 47 00:03:23,319 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: This killer's story begins in Brighton, on the south coast 48 00:03:27,039 --> 00:03:31,800 of England. Russell Bishop was born in February nineteen sixty six. 49 00:03:32,599 --> 00:03:37,360 One of five brothers. Bishop had a troublesome time growing up. 50 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,879 Speaker 6: Bishop had difficulties at school in terms of his learning. 51 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,560 He was dyslexic, so he was sent through a series 52 00:03:44,599 --> 00:03:47,280 of different special schools and he ran away a lot. 53 00:03:47,719 --> 00:03:50,520 So this says to me that from quite a young age, 54 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:52,759 this is somebody who thinks that the rules don't apply 55 00:03:52,879 --> 00:03:55,319 to them. They simply don't want to follow them. 56 00:03:55,599 --> 00:03:59,319 Speaker 1: As a teenager, Bishop struggled to stay on the straight 57 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:00,240 and narrow. 58 00:04:00,479 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 3: The first brushes he has with the law offer mundane offenses, 59 00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:07,439 a driving offense in nineteen eighty three when he's seventeen, 60 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,039 a burglary offense in nineteen eighty four when he's eighteen, 61 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,319 and then in nineteen eighty five he's convicted of more 62 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,639 burglaries and is given one hundred and fifty hours of 63 00:04:19,639 --> 00:04:22,959 community service. He's bumping along at the bottom of the 64 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,639 law in a very minor way. 65 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 2: He would smoke drugs, he would carry out theft, burglaries, 66 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:33,519 low level burglaries, steal from cars, just. 67 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 5: Really the run of the mill, irritant on the estate. 68 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: To try and fit in with his friends. Bishop would 69 00:04:41,319 --> 00:04:43,839 embellish his criminal accomplishments. 70 00:04:44,199 --> 00:04:46,879 Speaker 3: He has a bit of a ponchamp for bigging himself up. 71 00:04:47,519 --> 00:04:50,240 I mean he likes to say, oh, oh, I'm a 72 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:56,319 master criminal. Absolute nonsense. I mean he might have tried 73 00:04:56,319 --> 00:04:58,920 to steal the odd car, but on a scale of 74 00:04:58,959 --> 00:05:03,240 one to ten, he's a zero. He's no master criminal 75 00:05:03,319 --> 00:05:03,680 at all. 76 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,439 Speaker 6: Bishop was a compulsive liar. He would lie about sexual conquests, 77 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,879 how many women he'd slept with, the kind of criminal 78 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,360 activity that he'd been involved in. So he's somebody who's 79 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:18,839 very concerned with what other people think of him and 80 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:24,000 essentially giving a performance. So he will embellish, he will exaggerate, 81 00:05:24,199 --> 00:05:27,040 he will report what he wants to have happened rather 82 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:28,399 than what's actually happened. 83 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:33,399 Speaker 1: By nineteen eighty six, twenty year old Bishop was living 84 00:05:33,439 --> 00:05:35,720 in Mullscombe, a suburb of Brighton. 85 00:05:36,319 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 2: At the time he was living with his common law wife. 86 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:42,920 His girlfriend had a child by her, but also was 87 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,160 seeing a sixteen year old girl and having a sexual 88 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:49,000 relationship with her. In some ways he did show that 89 00:05:49,079 --> 00:05:53,439 he preferred younger girls, but nothing at all has come 90 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,199 out then or now that would suggest that he was 91 00:05:56,199 --> 00:05:56,800 a pedophile. 92 00:06:02,399 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: On the afternoon of the ninth of October nineteen eighty six, 93 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,600 nine year olds Nicola Fellows and Karen had Away had 94 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,439 come home from school and were playing on the green 95 00:06:12,519 --> 00:06:14,079 outside their homes in. 96 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 3: Bullscom Everybody can pretty much see them through the window. 97 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,519 It's late afternoon and there are a group of girls, 98 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:27,920 not just two. After an hour, maybe forty five minutes, 99 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,240 Nikola and Karen split off from the rest of the 100 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:34,600 group and go in search of something else to do. 101 00:06:36,439 --> 00:06:41,199 At about six point fifteen, the girls are seen outside 102 00:06:41,319 --> 00:06:43,759 the fish and chip shop with a bag of chips 103 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,519 each and walking. Nothing all that unusual in that except 104 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:53,920 that by then both Nicholas and Karen's mother are becoming 105 00:06:54,079 --> 00:06:59,240 rather concerned. When Karen didn't come home for tea, which 106 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:01,279 is something that she always do when had my master. 107 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,519 Both parents started to get worried, started to have a 108 00:07:04,519 --> 00:07:07,480 look round, phone around friends and try and find where 109 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:07,879 they are. 110 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 2: And they were drawing a blank in this sort of 111 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:14,959 a state, in any sort of a state in you know, 112 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,120 certainly in my childhood too, it wasn't unusual for kids 113 00:07:18,199 --> 00:07:20,519 to go missing for you know, a couple of hours 114 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,360 or so. The evenings were still light. But something about 115 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,720 them go missing and not being seen nobody knew where 116 00:07:27,759 --> 00:07:31,680 they were. That really people's worries about what was it? 117 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:33,519 What had happened to these two little girls. 118 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: Throughout the evening. There had been various sightings of the 119 00:07:37,519 --> 00:07:41,040 girls around the estate and in nearby Wild Park. 120 00:07:41,759 --> 00:07:44,399 Speaker 3: The last time the two girls are seen is heading 121 00:07:44,439 --> 00:07:47,839 towards Wild Park with their bags of chips and in 122 00:07:47,879 --> 00:07:52,120 the same vicinity had around the same time. There's also 123 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,439 a sighting there of Russell Bishop. 124 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,639 Speaker 1: Bishop knew both girls through his friends and neighbors in 125 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:00,000 the world. 126 00:08:00,839 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 5: It's a very close knit community. 127 00:08:03,079 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 2: Bishop used to play for Barry Fellows football team. He 128 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,279 was a goalkeeper in Barry Fellows football team, so knew 129 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:11,519 the Fellows through. 130 00:08:11,399 --> 00:08:12,319 Speaker 5: That that way. 131 00:08:12,639 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 2: Also his girlfriend at the time that knew the hadaways, 132 00:08:15,519 --> 00:08:18,480 so he got to know them through that means. Really, 133 00:08:18,839 --> 00:08:22,800 but Moulscome is one of these places where people literally 134 00:08:22,839 --> 00:08:23,480 know everybody. 135 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: By eight point thirty pm, night had fallen and the 136 00:08:31,199 --> 00:08:35,720 girls still hadn't returned home. Their worried parents decided to 137 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:36,840 call the police. 138 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 2: When the officers drove into Newitt Road to go and 139 00:08:41,279 --> 00:08:45,240 see the parents, immediately they sent something was different. They 140 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,240 both policed Mulscoom for a while, they'd been to these 141 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,240 kind of calls before, but the number of people out 142 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:55,399 on the street, the little huddles of concerned faces trying 143 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,639 to work out what was going on. Immediately they picked 144 00:08:57,720 --> 00:08:58,919 up on that a. 145 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: Police search begin and for the two nine year old friends. 146 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,840 Speaker 2: It's difficult when you're either commanding or taking part in 147 00:09:06,879 --> 00:09:10,480 the search such as this, because your overriding emotion must 148 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,519 be hope. You must hope that you're going to find 149 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:16,840 these girls alive, find Nichola and Karen, bring them back 150 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,399 to their mum and dads. But in fact, the longer 151 00:09:19,399 --> 00:09:22,320 it went on, the less likely that was becoming. 152 00:09:23,799 --> 00:09:27,399 Speaker 1: The girl's parents. The police and the whole community were 153 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:31,360 desperate to find Nicola and Karen alive. It was cold 154 00:09:31,399 --> 00:09:36,480 and dark, but the search continued until two am, when 155 00:09:36,519 --> 00:09:41,039 it resumed later that morning. Detective Constable John Morton was 156 00:09:41,039 --> 00:09:43,679 one of the huge number of police that had been 157 00:09:43,759 --> 00:09:45,159 drafted in to help. 158 00:09:48,759 --> 00:09:52,039 Speaker 7: The briefing started at nine o'clock and at that stage 159 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,840 we had all available uniform personnel at Brighton engaged and 160 00:09:57,159 --> 00:10:00,840 the search had been ramped up considerably in an effort 161 00:10:01,159 --> 00:10:02,039 to find the girls. 162 00:10:02,879 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: Police Constable Paul Smith had also reported for duty. He 163 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,320 was tasked with searching homes in the area near Wild Park. 164 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,639 Speaker 8: We were doing every single house parallel to the park 165 00:10:14,759 --> 00:10:18,480 and beyond. This is a massive estate and I think 166 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,960 there was sort of thirty forty guys involved. You knock 167 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,279 on the door, we say, look, we've got two little 168 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:29,320 girls gone missing. Can I search your house? And every 169 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,759 single person they said, every one of them said you know, 170 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:34,320 please come in. 171 00:10:34,799 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 2: Hope was always there, but actually this dread that something 172 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:41,440 awful had happened to them was starting to grow in 173 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:42,679 people's minds. 174 00:10:43,399 --> 00:10:46,279 Speaker 1: Members of the public also joined in the search for 175 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:50,000 Nicola and Karen. One of the Mulescomb residents was twenty 176 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:51,600 year old Russell Bishop. 177 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 5: He was searching around with everybody else. 178 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 2: He got in a car at one point and went 179 00:10:56,039 --> 00:10:59,759 to the back of the park, but was constantly putting 180 00:10:59,799 --> 00:11:03,080 him in or about the center of the search. Just 181 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,000 wanted to be kept coming back to our park, kept 182 00:11:06,279 --> 00:11:07,639 wanting to talk to officers. 183 00:11:08,039 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 6: Bishop literally can't help himself, and as with many narcissists, 184 00:11:12,279 --> 00:11:14,720 he wants to be right in the middle of everything. 185 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,960 He can't step back from something, he can't be quiet, 186 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,279 and any kind of attention, whether that's positive or whether 187 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:24,600 that's negative, is something that he will value. So he 188 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:27,519 places himself right in the middle of this drama that 189 00:11:27,519 --> 00:11:28,200 he's created. 190 00:11:29,159 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: When Paul Smith continued with his search for the nine 191 00:11:32,159 --> 00:11:36,000 year old girls in Wild Park, Russell Bishop was already 192 00:11:36,039 --> 00:11:37,600 on the scene with his dog. 193 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 8: We were sort of talking about searching, you know, looking 194 00:11:41,039 --> 00:11:44,000 for the girls, and he was quite negative about that. 195 00:11:44,039 --> 00:11:47,240 He said, I've been searching all day. My dog knows him, 196 00:11:47,639 --> 00:11:50,879 he's a good tracker, and I've decided to give up. 197 00:11:50,919 --> 00:11:52,960 I've been doing it all day. And I said, well, 198 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:54,840 we've got to keep looking, got to find him. You know, 199 00:11:54,919 --> 00:11:58,720 if we find him, rush him to hospital and have 200 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:00,840 him checked over, and then they'll be back with the 201 00:12:00,919 --> 00:12:03,679 mums and dads sort of thing. And he said, oh, well, 202 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,279 I'm not doing that. He said, because if I found 203 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:09,559 them and they're dead. I get arrested one out for 204 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,559 killing them. With my background and the fact I'm being 205 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:14,960 in trouble with the police, I'll get nicked. And I said, no, 206 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,519 you won't. You've just got to give a statement, you know. 207 00:12:19,159 --> 00:12:22,919 Speaker 1: At around four pm, police officer Paul and local resident 208 00:12:23,039 --> 00:12:26,399 Bishop were still searching for the girls, who'd now been 209 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,799 missing for almost twenty four hours. 210 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 8: We were sort of walking towards Wild Park by this 211 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,120 time into our part and there was a shout from 212 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,399 a boy and he said, we found them. We found them. 213 00:12:39,159 --> 00:12:42,360 We went rushing off towards them, and I had wet 214 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,679 weather trousers, ons had been raining, I had a long raincoat, 215 00:12:45,799 --> 00:12:47,759 I had boots, so I was a bit slower than 216 00:12:47,759 --> 00:12:50,120 he was. And I said to Bishop, look, you run 217 00:12:50,159 --> 00:12:53,080 on ahead, and if they're there, you keep them away 218 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,240 from the girls. And you keep away from the girls. 219 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,519 Speaker 1: Paul Smith arrived just after Bishop. Nightmare that everyone was 220 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:03,919 dreading had become a reality. 221 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 8: I kept them away. It was about twelve thirteen feet 222 00:13:08,879 --> 00:13:11,360 away from where the girls were, and I could see 223 00:13:11,399 --> 00:13:14,559 that they were They looked dead. I went across to 224 00:13:14,639 --> 00:13:21,159 them and I took the pulse and sorry I still 225 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:25,200 get to me, I took the pulse and there were 226 00:13:25,279 --> 00:13:28,000 stone cold, dead like pieces of marble. 227 00:13:31,919 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: The two teens who'd found the girls told Detective Constable 228 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,960 John Morton that no one apart from Paul Smith had 229 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,799 gone anywhere near the bodies. But Russell Bishop had a 230 00:13:42,879 --> 00:13:45,120 totally different story. 231 00:13:45,279 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 7: He said to me that he had been searching with 232 00:13:47,159 --> 00:13:49,639 the other two along this path and they'd come to 233 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:53,919 a fallen tree which they had to cross, and that 234 00:13:54,039 --> 00:13:57,320 he had crossed the tree, gone to the girls and 235 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,519 sinned that they were both dead. And to verify that, 236 00:14:01,799 --> 00:14:04,360 he said he took a pulse from both girls at 237 00:14:04,399 --> 00:14:07,960 the neck. Frankly, I was so staggered by what he 238 00:14:08,039 --> 00:14:11,080 said that I sat down immediately and wrote down what. 239 00:14:11,039 --> 00:14:12,519 Speaker 5: He told me in my notebook. 240 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 8: You know, it was nothing to him, you know, like 241 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:17,879 you swat a fly and then you get rid of it. 242 00:14:17,879 --> 00:14:20,360 It was like that he was just not bothered. There 243 00:14:20,399 --> 00:14:23,120 was no emotion. You know, I would have expected him, 244 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,120 because he knew him to be like, oh my god, 245 00:14:25,159 --> 00:14:29,080 you know, even if you're in shock. But nothing there 246 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,039 at all, just not you know, it was if it 247 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:33,080 could have been a dead dog. 248 00:14:34,799 --> 00:14:37,879 Speaker 6: The police were suspicious of bishop from the beginning, because 249 00:14:37,879 --> 00:14:41,799 he was overly enthusiastic and some of the information that 250 00:14:41,879 --> 00:14:45,360 he was sharing really didn't stack up. So he claimed 251 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,080 to have checked the girl's pulses. He claimed to have 252 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,519 seen blood coming from the mouth of one of the girls, 253 00:14:50,559 --> 00:14:52,480 and he couldn't have been close enough to see that. 254 00:14:53,039 --> 00:14:56,279 So the police were quite concerned at this behavior. There 255 00:14:56,279 --> 00:14:58,399 were a lot of red flags here, so he was 256 00:14:58,399 --> 00:14:59,360 the prime suspect. 257 00:14:59,440 --> 00:14:59,759 Speaker 7: Really. 258 00:15:04,399 --> 00:15:08,759 Speaker 1: Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway had been sexually assaulted and 259 00:15:08,919 --> 00:15:13,519 strangled to death. The news of the discovery quickly spread 260 00:15:13,559 --> 00:15:18,360 amongst the residents of Bullscombe. The entire community was in shock. 261 00:15:19,279 --> 00:15:24,519 Speaker 2: Any murder is big, Any murder is a tragedy, but 262 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,960 the loss of two little girls in such brutal circumstances 263 00:15:29,879 --> 00:15:32,919 is probably the biggest thing that can happen in terms 264 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:33,600 of policing. 265 00:15:34,399 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 3: It's a dreadful scene and it's a dreadful crime. It 266 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:42,159 has a monstrous effect on the community in Brighton. Originally 267 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:46,519 the killings were known as the Wild Park murders, but 268 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,639 they later became known as the Babes in the Wood 269 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,879 killings because the girls were so innocent and young. 270 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,559 Speaker 7: I've gone to school in Moscow for part my childhood, 271 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:02,440 so it was a personal blow to me that somebody 272 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,279 would take two young girls from that estate and decided 273 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,519 he was going to murder them. To me, you don't 274 00:16:10,519 --> 00:16:12,159 do that, not on my beat. 275 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: The search for two missing girls had now become a 276 00:16:16,039 --> 00:16:21,519 double murder case. Evidence from the surrounding area were scrutinized. 277 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,399 Speaker 7: That a brief England next morning, her attention was drawn 278 00:16:24,639 --> 00:16:28,799 to a blue sweatshirt which had a logo across the 279 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:33,399 front Pinto in white lettering. It had been handed into 280 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:37,360 the police box by a railway engineer who was at 281 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,600 Muscoam station and found it hanging over the wire that 282 00:16:40,799 --> 00:16:42,799 separated the station from the footpath. 283 00:16:43,879 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty six. DNA was still in its infancy, 284 00:16:47,919 --> 00:16:50,399 but that didn't mean the words any clues to be 285 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,360 found on the sweatshirt. 286 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:56,399 Speaker 2: As time went on, the various forensic items were recovered 287 00:16:56,399 --> 00:17:00,720 from it, fibers from the girls, jumpers, ivy spores that 288 00:17:00,879 --> 00:17:03,240 were peculiar to the area where. 289 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,400 Speaker 5: The girls were killed and not where the sweatshirt was found. 290 00:17:06,039 --> 00:17:10,839 Speaker 2: So it became very clear that whoever had murdered Nicola 291 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,079 and Karen had been wearing this sweatshirt at the time. 292 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,400 They did that because otherwise those fibers would not have 293 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,039 retained on there. So it was really really significant this sweatshirt. 294 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:27,160 Speaker 1: Russell Bishop had been acting suspiciously and he had been 295 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,160 spotted in the area at around the same time as 296 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,200 the girls were last seen alive. Investigators were convinced that 297 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:38,720 the Pinto sweatshirt belonged to Bishop. The evidence appeared to 298 00:17:38,759 --> 00:17:43,480 be pointing in one direction. In December nineteen eighty six, 299 00:17:43,759 --> 00:17:47,160 Bishop was charged with the murders of Nicola and Karen. 300 00:17:47,799 --> 00:17:51,440 Almost a year later, in November nineteen eighty seven, his 301 00:17:51,559 --> 00:17:53,920 trial began at Lewis Crown Court. 302 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 2: They never quite got to the point where they could 303 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,279 say through science that that sweatshirt was worn by Bishop 304 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,640 on that night. They knew that it had been worn 305 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:06,519 by the killer, but they couldn't put it on Bishop's back. 306 00:18:06,839 --> 00:18:10,079 Speaker 1: At that point, the prosecution put forward the case that 307 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:14,279 Bishop had murdered Nicola and Karen had around six thirty pm, 308 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,400 but one witness testified she'd waved hello to the two 309 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,759 girls at a court of the seventh fifteen minutes after 310 00:18:20,839 --> 00:18:23,240 the killings had supposedly taken place. 311 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,160 Speaker 6: The judge asked the jury to go away and consider 312 00:18:27,319 --> 00:18:30,640 three propositions, and if one or more of them they 313 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,480 didn't agree with, then they had to acquit. So the 314 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:35,559 first one was that the girls were dead by six 315 00:18:35,599 --> 00:18:39,039 point thirty, The second was that Bishop had worn the 316 00:18:39,079 --> 00:18:42,480 Pinto sweatshirt, and the third was that the Pinto sweatshirt 317 00:18:42,559 --> 00:18:44,079 had been worn by the murderer. 318 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 7: Absolutely stunned. The most stunning thing of all was that 319 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:55,200 the jury came back within two hours were not guilty verdict. 320 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,400 Speaker 1: The case put forward was just not strong enough to 321 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,599 convince the jury of Bishop guilt. It was a gut 322 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:05,680 wrenching blow to the families of the two girls, the investigators, 323 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:07,759 and the community as a whole. 324 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:12,079 Speaker 2: Bishop knew when he heard those words not guilty, that 325 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:13,319 he got away scot free. 326 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,039 Speaker 5: In his mind and in everybody else's mind. 327 00:19:16,079 --> 00:19:19,039 Speaker 2: There was no possibility of him being prosecuted again for that. 328 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:21,759 Speaker 6: The way that the law stirred at this time we 329 00:19:21,799 --> 00:19:25,079 had a principle called double jeopardy, which meant that somebody 330 00:19:25,079 --> 00:19:27,960 couldn't be tried for the same crime twice. Once they've 331 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,759 been acquitted, that was it. Prosecution couldn't just keep trying. 332 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:36,480 So Bishop is acquitted and he feels absolutely invincible. At 333 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:37,039 this point in. 334 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 3: Time, Bishop leaves Lewis Crown Call with his arms in 335 00:19:42,279 --> 00:19:45,880 the air, shouting I am innocent, and rushes across the 336 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:50,119 road to celebrate in the pub opposite. Now some brass neck, 337 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,519 wouldn't you think? Some ego there? After all, he knows 338 00:19:53,599 --> 00:19:56,720 perfectly well, these killed those two innocent young girls. 339 00:19:58,319 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: In the minds of the people who worked on the case, 340 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,359 Russell Bishop had just got away with murder. 341 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 8: Ordinary blogs like me p season that was summed because 342 00:20:08,839 --> 00:20:11,839 you know, after we'd heard about the case and we 343 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:13,799 knew what had got on, we were sure that he 344 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:14,480 was the killer. 345 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,799 Speaker 2: It was absolutely devastating for everybody that they had a 346 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,079 child killer, a double child killer, in their hands, and 347 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:22,680 he got away. 348 00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:30,799 Speaker 1: Investigators were certain Bishop was the perpetrator, but they couldn't 349 00:20:30,839 --> 00:20:33,720 prove it in a court of law, so he walked 350 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:38,440 away a free man. By nineteen eighty nine, Bishop himself 351 00:20:38,759 --> 00:20:39,759 was seeking. 352 00:20:39,559 --> 00:20:42,799 Speaker 9: Justice and as we've still got to get this cause open, 353 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:44,839 and that's all what's been on my mind is to 354 00:20:44,839 --> 00:20:45,960 get this causero opened. 355 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,759 Speaker 6: After he's acquitted, Bishop doesn't just go away and live 356 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,640 a quiet life as a narcissist, He feels entitled to attention, 357 00:20:54,759 --> 00:20:57,200 and he quite likes the infamy that comes with being 358 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,880 involved in this case. So in nine eighty nine, he 359 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,799 goes on a march with the family and the local 360 00:21:03,839 --> 00:21:07,920 community to a local police station to basically raise awareness 361 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,440 about this case, which is apparently still unsolved. 362 00:21:12,279 --> 00:21:15,759 Speaker 5: Some people might be surprised that you're now linking up 363 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:17,720 with the parents. 364 00:21:17,319 --> 00:21:20,839 Speaker 10: Of the two murdered schoolgirls, having been accused yourself of 365 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:21,480 their murder. 366 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,079 Speaker 9: People are very surprised that the kid master me. Why 367 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,039 do I keep on and on and on. The fact 368 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:30,759 is I want to say this case with open my 369 00:21:30,839 --> 00:21:33,200 name isn't cleared until someone else has brought the justice 370 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:33,960 to real person. 371 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,400 Speaker 6: He really enjoys being at the center of that because 372 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,559 it enables him to claim the victim status for himself. 373 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,440 He's saying, everybody, look at me, I am the victim 374 00:21:43,559 --> 00:21:46,119 of a miscarriage of justice. Feel sorry for me. 375 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:53,119 Speaker 1: By February nineteen ninety, Sussex police were still trying to 376 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,599 move on from what they believed to be a grave 377 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,440 miscarriage of justice when a similar attack took place in 378 00:21:59,480 --> 00:21:59,920 the county. 379 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,039 Speaker 2: I remember, in my first month as a detective at 380 00:22:04,039 --> 00:22:06,599 Brighton's the idea as a very junior DC bottom of 381 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,240 the pile. Working one Sunday evening it happened to be 382 00:22:10,519 --> 00:22:15,039 the third anniversary of the girl's funerals, and then suddenly 383 00:22:15,559 --> 00:22:20,920 everything changed. The sergeant came in and told us that 384 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,680 a little girl had gone missing from Whitehawk, which is 385 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,279 a similar estate to Mulscom, a different part of Brighton, 386 00:22:27,839 --> 00:22:31,759 and shortly after she'd been reported missing, a little girl 387 00:22:31,759 --> 00:22:37,000 had been found naked, scratched, crying on Devil's Dike, which 388 00:22:37,039 --> 00:22:40,240 is a big wind swept part of what's now the 389 00:22:40,319 --> 00:22:41,680 Southdowns National Park. 390 00:22:42,319 --> 00:22:46,599 Speaker 1: Detective Inspector Malcolm Bacon was in charge of the investigation. 391 00:22:47,319 --> 00:22:51,559 Speaker 4: She comes to she's in the middle of nowhere, so 392 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,160 she stumbles out and she's been seen by a couple 393 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,079 who were on the main road deck. So she goes 394 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:00,519 to the mess and the first thing she said, you're 395 00:23:00,559 --> 00:23:05,359 not kidnappers, are you? Bless her? But of course they weren't, 396 00:23:05,519 --> 00:23:08,680 wrapped her up in a pullover and a coat and 397 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,359 took her to the Dyke Golf Club. 398 00:23:11,559 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 1: The seven year old girl that survived a terrifying ordeal, 399 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,160 which she bravely shared with Malcolm and his team. After 400 00:23:19,279 --> 00:23:22,279 roller skating to the local shop to buy some sweets, 401 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,359 her young life would change forever. 402 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 4: She was on her way back when she said she 403 00:23:27,279 --> 00:23:31,880 saw this red car and she was scooting past it. 404 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,839 Suddenly she was grabbed, literally grabbed, snatched off the street 405 00:23:37,079 --> 00:23:40,519 and dumped into the boot of this red car, this 406 00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:46,359 red Corteina. She was scared, absolutely scared, witness and she 407 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,880 realized she saw can of WD forty. She described it 408 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:52,119 as the stuff that her dad uses to get the 409 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,759 car started. And she also found in there like a 410 00:23:54,759 --> 00:23:57,799 hammer type thing, and she started bashing on the lid 411 00:23:58,279 --> 00:24:02,720 of the boot with this hammer. Suddenly the driver shouted 412 00:24:02,799 --> 00:24:05,279 down and told her to shut up, stop doing her 413 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:05,920 or killer. 414 00:24:07,319 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: The girl kept quiet, hoping that she'd be set free, 415 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:12,759 but her ordeal continued. 416 00:24:13,319 --> 00:24:16,640 Speaker 4: She was bundled straight into the back seat of the car, 417 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,039 and from there she realized and she saw the person 418 00:24:20,039 --> 00:24:25,240 who was responsible, and she strangled. She was strangled certainly 419 00:24:25,319 --> 00:24:28,319 to the point of view that she passed out. And 420 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:33,480 I am sure, I am sure that Bishop was convinced 421 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:34,200 that he killed her. 422 00:24:37,039 --> 00:24:40,599 Speaker 1: Three years after the murders of Nicola Fellows and Karen 423 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:46,839 had Away, Russell Bishop was hoping to claim a third victim. 424 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 4: At that point, unconscious, hardly any life signs at all. 425 00:24:49,279 --> 00:24:52,720 She was sexually assorted. Bishop then just takes what he 426 00:24:52,759 --> 00:24:57,200 considers to be the dead, naked body of a seven 427 00:24:57,279 --> 00:25:00,720 year old child that he is just assorted and abused 428 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,400 and just discance her. There's no other word for it. 429 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,279 He discards her. He just throws her in the middle 430 00:25:09,279 --> 00:25:14,480 of these gorse bushes. On a freezing cold Sunday night in. 431 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: February, Bishop sped off in his car, but the monster 432 00:25:22,519 --> 00:25:25,960 had made a mistake. The girl was not dead. 433 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 6: I think he did seriously believe that she was dead 434 00:25:29,319 --> 00:25:32,559 because strangulation was a method that he'd used before on 435 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,720 Karen and Nikola, and it had been successful in relation 436 00:25:35,839 --> 00:25:39,160 to that case, so he assumes that it's worked again 437 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:41,240 and that he's gotten away with it again because there 438 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:42,160 are no witnesses. 439 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 4: We don't normally use forensic pathologists to do examinations of children, 440 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,319 but on this particular case, it was because he noticed 441 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,119 not only the pinching on the round the throat, but 442 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:58,839 also particular hemorrhages, which is indicative of a suffocating injury. 443 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,240 That's the sort of thing that you look at when 444 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,759 a person has been strangled and they're killed. That's how 445 00:26:04,759 --> 00:26:08,599 close she was seconds, I would suggest, seconds away from death. 446 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: The seven year old girl's incredible testimony immediately helped Malcolm 447 00:26:14,039 --> 00:26:16,519 and his team come up with a prime suspect. 448 00:26:17,039 --> 00:26:19,359 Speaker 4: So I gave a briefing to the troops and I 449 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,359 mentioned about the red cardiff that and the other and 450 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,200 the uniform chief inspector said, are you aware that Russell 451 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,160 Bishop was seen in a red car this week? 452 00:26:29,599 --> 00:26:32,400 Speaker 1: Less than two and a half years after his acquittal 453 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,440 for murder. The police were paying twenty three year old 454 00:26:35,519 --> 00:26:37,440 Russell Bishop another visit. 455 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:42,599 Speaker 2: They drove up to his house and saw him scrubbing 456 00:26:42,839 --> 00:26:44,519 as if his life depended on it. 457 00:26:45,319 --> 00:26:49,440 Speaker 4: Washing his red courtena on a Sunday night in February. 458 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,880 That didn't sit night. 459 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,400 Speaker 5: So Bishop was arrested and taken to the police station. 460 00:26:57,319 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 1: Bishop was back in custody. It was a moment of 461 00:27:00,759 --> 00:27:03,519 bittersweet redemption for Sussex Police. 462 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,799 Speaker 4: People were volunteering to come in as soon as somebody 463 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,000 heard it was Russell Bishop that had been nicked as well. 464 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:10,519 You've got to be honest that that was like a 465 00:27:10,559 --> 00:27:13,119 magnet as well. That was like a magnet and I 466 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,519 went down with the sergeant from the seen as a 467 00:27:15,519 --> 00:27:18,599 crime officer to look at this car. And when we 468 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:22,319 opened up the bootlead, we saw the WD forty, We 469 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,079 saw the hammer, we saw the chip marks to the 470 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,680 boot and we thought we're going in the right direction. 471 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,279 Speaker 1: Evidence collected at the scene near Devil's Dyke didn't help 472 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:37,400 Bishop's cause. 473 00:27:38,079 --> 00:27:42,880 Speaker 4: We find tire marks at the area where we've the 474 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,160 assault took place. The tire marks later found to be 475 00:27:46,319 --> 00:27:49,480 exactly identical to the ones that are on Bishop's car. 476 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: Soon news reached the station of even more evidence that 477 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,039 pointed towards Bishop's involvement. 478 00:27:56,599 --> 00:27:58,799 Speaker 2: There was a taxi driver that found a bundle of 479 00:27:58,799 --> 00:28:02,240 clothing on a road. It was fairly busy, but was 480 00:28:02,519 --> 00:28:06,839 the natural route away from the Dike to where Bishop lived. 481 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:11,559 This bundle of clothing would ultimately be a parcel of 482 00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:14,720 evidence that had both the girls and Bishop's DNA in 483 00:28:14,799 --> 00:28:15,680 it together. 484 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,920 Speaker 4: Shippings from the bootleg that were on there. There was 485 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,400 clothing fibers which later matched up to the ones that 486 00:28:22,519 --> 00:28:25,440 little girl was wearing. There was blood and they were 487 00:28:25,519 --> 00:28:31,640 seamen on those trousers, immediately linking the little girl to 488 00:28:31,759 --> 00:28:35,119 those trousers to Bishop and then the car as well. 489 00:28:36,279 --> 00:28:39,799 Speaker 1: In a bid to make sure Bishop didn't escape justice. 490 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,960 The brave seven year old girl was willing to face 491 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,519 her attacker once more. 492 00:28:45,039 --> 00:28:47,079 Speaker 2: Almost at the time a decision had to be made 493 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,160 was whether Bishop was going to be freed or not. 494 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,440 His solicitor asked for an identification parade. This was a 495 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:55,359 bit of a last desperate throw over dice. 496 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 5: In my view. 497 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,839 Speaker 2: It was a chance for Bishop's solicitors to see how 498 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,799 well this little girl would stand up to the account 499 00:29:03,799 --> 00:29:04,400 that she'd given. 500 00:29:05,559 --> 00:29:07,559 Speaker 4: They set it up in a room with a one 501 00:29:07,559 --> 00:29:10,880 way mirror, and so she could stand back and she 502 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,000 can observe. He sat down, he was given his. 503 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,599 Speaker 9: Number, and I'm going to ask you in a moment 504 00:29:18,279 --> 00:29:22,240 to look through the window at the line. 505 00:29:22,119 --> 00:29:24,039 Speaker 5: Of men who are sitting there. 506 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,759 Speaker 8: I should then ask you whether the person who you 507 00:29:28,039 --> 00:29:31,319 saw on that day is fear. 508 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,079 Speaker 2: The girl looked up and down the line, stopped at 509 00:29:35,079 --> 00:29:37,200 the Bishop, looked at Bishop. 510 00:29:37,799 --> 00:29:44,319 Speaker 5: He couldn't see her. You think it's number line, thank you. 511 00:29:45,119 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 4: So it was really quite a tear jerking moment in 512 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,039 a sense. It was so emotional that that little bit, 513 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:55,039 I mean, it was just wonderful for her and for us, 514 00:29:55,119 --> 00:29:55,960 definitely for us. 515 00:29:58,079 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: Bishop was charged with kidnap, in decent assault and attempted murder. 516 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,440 At his trial in November nineteen ninety, he took to 517 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:10,480 the stand in a bid to discredit the police investigation. 518 00:30:11,279 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 3: The ever slippery Bishop attempts to convince the world that 519 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,799 he has been fitted up for the crime because of 520 00:30:16,839 --> 00:30:20,000 his fame. Oh, I'm the man that got away with 521 00:30:20,119 --> 00:30:24,400 the babes in the woodkillings. I was acquitted, but now 522 00:30:24,599 --> 00:30:26,359 they're trying to make up for lost time. 523 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:30,079 Speaker 4: He got in a box and he started to give evidence, 524 00:30:31,039 --> 00:30:33,640 and his arrogance just shone through. He didn't have to 525 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,079 do anything. Just let him talk, Just let him talk me, 526 00:30:37,279 --> 00:30:43,240 and it just showed this psychopathic behavior throughout. He couldn't 527 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:48,319 stop himself from being the victim to this arrogance that 528 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:49,359 he showed throughout. 529 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 1: With incredible bravery, the young girl, who had since turned eight, 530 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,039 agreed to take to the stand in order to help 531 00:30:58,079 --> 00:30:58,839 get a conviction. 532 00:31:00,559 --> 00:31:04,319 Speaker 3: It must have been the most extraordinary moment. You've got 533 00:31:04,359 --> 00:31:07,920 this man full of all kinds of slippery stories, and 534 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,319 you've got this little girl sitting on a high stool 535 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:16,400 with pillows, saying I know who attacked me. He did. 536 00:31:16,759 --> 00:31:19,039 Speaker 5: It was a moment of the highest drama. 537 00:31:20,799 --> 00:31:23,559 Speaker 6: I think this kind of courage and resilience is something 538 00:31:23,599 --> 00:31:27,559 that Bishop will never have because he's such coward. Very 539 00:31:27,599 --> 00:31:30,440 often in these cases, the victims embody everything that the 540 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,759 perpetrators aren't, and that is very much the case here. 541 00:31:37,519 --> 00:31:41,519 Speaker 1: There is no escaping justice this time. On the thirteenth 542 00:31:41,559 --> 00:31:45,759 of December nineteen ninety, Russell Bishop was sentenced to life 543 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:46,519 in prison. 544 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 2: Sometimes when murderers are convicted and good sentences are passed down, 545 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,640 the police have a bit of a celebration, might go 546 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,200 out for a drink or you know, just a very 547 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,680 satisfied with the outcome. There were no celebrations this time. 548 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:05,240 You know, we locked up a very very evil man. 549 00:32:05,759 --> 00:32:08,640 But there was no cause for celebration because the families 550 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:10,920 of those two little girls were still waiting for their 551 00:32:11,359 --> 00:32:14,920 day in courts, still waiting for justice. 552 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,799 Speaker 1: The guilty verdict to reaffirm the communities believed that Bishop 553 00:32:18,039 --> 00:32:23,440 was behind the nineteen eighty six murders of Nicola and Karen, even. 554 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 2: Though Bishop had been convicted of a very similar offense 555 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:31,880 against very similar girl in very similar circumstances. Nothing would 556 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,279 have allowed the police to recharge Bishop with those earlier 557 00:32:36,319 --> 00:32:39,440 murders and put in before the court. The law simply 558 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:44,759 didn't allow it. So we were stuck. We knew that 559 00:32:44,839 --> 00:32:48,240 Bishop had killed Nicola and Karen. Everybody knew that. Within 560 00:32:48,279 --> 00:32:51,279 the police, the families knew that nothing we could do 561 00:32:51,319 --> 00:32:51,880 about it. 562 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,200 Speaker 1: By two thousand and four, thirty eight year old Russell 563 00:32:57,279 --> 00:33:01,000 Bishop had been in prison for fourteen years. The convicted 564 00:33:01,079 --> 00:33:05,359 pedophile was due to be released at any moment. Detective 565 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,480 Jeff Riley had been recruited in the same year that 566 00:33:08,559 --> 00:33:11,559 Bishop was sent to prison, but he was still aware 567 00:33:11,599 --> 00:33:15,200 of the miscarriage of justice surrounding the babes in the 568 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:16,039 Wood murders. 569 00:33:20,079 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 10: Well I joined the police in nineteen ninety, so of 570 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:24,440 course that was only a few years after he had 571 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,119 been acquitted at trial. Now I was aware of the investigation, 572 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,519 and I was aware had a massive impact clearly on 573 00:33:30,559 --> 00:33:33,279 the families, a massive impact on the community in Wull's Comb. 574 00:33:33,839 --> 00:33:35,359 And I think it always hung as a bit of 575 00:33:35,359 --> 00:33:38,839 a dark crowd over Brighton and over Sussex place because 576 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:41,880 you never want to see the murder of two little girls, 577 00:33:42,039 --> 00:33:43,720 you know, with the guy not brought. 578 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: To justice, but all that was about to change. 579 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,319 Speaker 10: The big change came in in two thousand and three 580 00:33:50,359 --> 00:33:52,720 when the Criminal Justice Act was brought in. It was 581 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,799 actually became law in two thousand and five, and that 582 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:59,400 was a real milestone in the UK justice system because 583 00:33:59,599 --> 00:34:02,799 it meant that someone who's found not guilty i acquitted 584 00:34:02,839 --> 00:34:06,440 at trial could now potentially be taken back to trial 585 00:34:06,519 --> 00:34:08,280 and be retried for the original offense. 586 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 1: The new legislation that removed the so called double jeopardy 587 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,880 law meant Bishop could be retried for the murders of 588 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,599 Nicola and Karen, but only if there was some new 589 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:20,360 evidence against him. 590 00:34:20,559 --> 00:34:22,639 Speaker 2: When we talk about new evidence, we weren't talking about 591 00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:25,440 evidence that had been sat there and the police hadn't 592 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,079 bothered to look at, or the prosecution had decided not 593 00:34:29,159 --> 00:34:32,199 to use. It could had to be new evidence, and 594 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:33,199 it had to be compelling. 595 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:39,159 Speaker 1: Gathering the new evidence would take years, but fortunately, as 596 00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:42,559 Bishop was still considered a danger to young girls, his 597 00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:48,280 parole was continually denied. By twenty thirteen, Jeff and his 598 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,760 team believed they had made a breakthrough. Although DNA testing 599 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:57,119 wasn't readily available to detectives in nineteen eighty six, forensic 600 00:34:57,199 --> 00:35:00,360 science had come on in leaps and bounds. The blue 601 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:04,239 Pinto sweatshirt once again became pebotal in the case. 602 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,159 Speaker 10: Normally they would always test around the neck, they would 603 00:35:07,159 --> 00:35:09,840 test under the armpits. But they took the view that 604 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:12,800 actually had like a double cuff on the sweatshirt. So 605 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,199 if we unpicked the cuff and pulled it apart, we 606 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,719 may find some evidence of the wearer within that cuff. 607 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:20,119 And that's exactly what they did, and that's exactly what 608 00:35:20,159 --> 00:35:24,719 they found. They actually recovered a full DNA profile from 609 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,679 Russell Bishop from within that cuffed area that had been 610 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:30,920 there since he bore the jumper in nineteen eighty six. 611 00:35:31,639 --> 00:35:34,719 Speaker 1: Back in nineteen eighty six, the sweatshirt had merely been 612 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:38,519 regarded as lost property and had been handled so many 613 00:35:38,599 --> 00:35:42,280 times contamination of the evidence couldn't be ruled out in 614 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,840 a court of law. Incredibly, it was back to square 615 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,159 one for Jeff Well. 616 00:35:48,159 --> 00:35:50,199 Speaker 10: That was a massive blow for the investigation. We'd been 617 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:53,000 running two years. You know, I'd been discussing with the family. 618 00:35:53,039 --> 00:35:55,960 We'd built their hopes up, we'd invested a lot of money. 619 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:58,119 From Sussex Police's point of view, we'd invested a lot 620 00:35:58,119 --> 00:36:01,199 of time, but of course the impact of the family 621 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,679 could have been significant. But the scientists were quite upbeat 622 00:36:04,679 --> 00:36:07,239 and they said, look, we've got lots of other options 623 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:10,239 to test evidence. So you know, just because we've lost 624 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:12,079 this DNA and the calf which was our original bit, 625 00:36:12,199 --> 00:36:14,559 doesn't mean to say there's not other avenues. 626 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:20,239 Speaker 1: Some evidence from the original investigation was still securely sealed away, 627 00:36:20,599 --> 00:36:24,119 forensic examples taken from the bodies of Nicola and Karen 628 00:36:24,519 --> 00:36:26,159 using an adhesive tape. 629 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,119 Speaker 2: They decided that they would go back to these tapings, 630 00:36:29,159 --> 00:36:31,679 the tapings that have been taken back in the eighties 631 00:36:32,039 --> 00:36:35,320 by the scientists who was looking for fibers, hair foliage, 632 00:36:35,599 --> 00:36:40,280 those sorts of things. Because these tapings were sealed parcels 633 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,239 in time, really there were time capsules of evidence. 634 00:36:43,559 --> 00:36:45,480 Speaker 5: There was no break in seals. 635 00:36:46,119 --> 00:36:50,159 Speaker 2: So they examined the tapings and this was a Eureka 636 00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:53,840 moment because within those tapings was Bishop's DNA. 637 00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:58,000 Speaker 1: Modern science had proved what detectives back in nineteen eighty 638 00:36:58,039 --> 00:37:02,960 six couldn't. The new DNA evidence firmly placed Russell Bishop 639 00:37:03,199 --> 00:37:06,079 at the scene of the crime and proved he had 640 00:37:06,119 --> 00:37:09,599 been in physical contact with the two nine year old girls. 641 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:14,039 It also meant, without a doubt, Bishop had been wearing 642 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,000 the now infamous Pinto sweatshirt. 643 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:19,239 Speaker 10: So even though we'd lost the calf, we had DNA 644 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,519 on the sweatshirt. We had DNA victim and made all 645 00:37:22,519 --> 00:37:25,480 the other evidence that actually stood the test of time. 646 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,159 Speaker 2: Bishop's assertion, and it was probably his only consistent assertion 647 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:31,239 other than the fact he hadn't killed the girls, was 648 00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:33,280 that he knew nothing about that sweatshirt and it wasn't 649 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,840 his here it was sprinkled in his DNA. 650 00:37:45,599 --> 00:37:49,679 Speaker 1: Based on this new evidence, investigators knew that the Court 651 00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:53,039 of Appeal would agree to a retrial. The only thing 652 00:37:53,159 --> 00:37:56,320 left to do was break the news to Russell Bishop. 653 00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,920 Speaker 10: He was a Category A prisoner because of his security risk, 654 00:38:00,519 --> 00:38:02,159 so we had to take him to a Category A 655 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:05,599 holding police station. And that's the first thing he would 656 00:38:05,599 --> 00:38:08,679 have known about our investigation was when he drove into 657 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:13,039 the rear yard of Durham Central Police Station and he 658 00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:14,880 just kept saying that I want to go back to prison. 659 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:16,719 You know, this has been dealt with, This has gone away. 660 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:17,000 Speaker 4: You know. 661 00:38:17,039 --> 00:38:18,840 Speaker 10: I think he was hoping it had gone away, and 662 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:21,559 I think he convinced himself it had. But of course 663 00:38:21,559 --> 00:38:23,840 he hadn't thought about double jeopardy. He hadn't thought about 664 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,159 the Criminal Justice Act, and he hadn't thought about the 665 00:38:26,159 --> 00:38:29,360 fact that we'd never forgotten about this case. And there 666 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,079 he was in custody, being arrested again for the murders 667 00:38:33,119 --> 00:38:35,880 of Karena Nicola. It was a massive moment for us. 668 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,400 Speaker 1: The retrial began that the Old Bailey in October twenty eighteen. 669 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:50,360 Further evidence was presented against Bishop, including explicit letters he'd 670 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:52,920 written to a thirteen year old girl from his prison 671 00:38:53,079 --> 00:38:56,559 cell while on remand for the original trial in nineteen 672 00:38:56,599 --> 00:38:57,199 eighty seven. 673 00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:00,000 Speaker 10: He started shouting that it wasn't right that he was 674 00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:03,039 questioned in this way. He appealed to his council, He 675 00:39:03,079 --> 00:39:06,360 appealed to the judge. The judge very clearly told him 676 00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:09,239 that these questions were appropriate and if any stage they weren't, 677 00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:12,000 he would step in, but he didn't need to. As 678 00:39:12,039 --> 00:39:14,639 this went on and went forward, Bishop became more and 679 00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:18,360 more angry. He then asked for break. He then left 680 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:21,400 the witness box. He then refused to return, and the 681 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:25,760 following day refused to return to trial. So actually he 682 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:28,159 never came back to court after his initial evidence. 683 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:33,039 Speaker 3: I think he realized at that moment that he'd blown it, 684 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:37,559 because the jurors could see for themselves exactly what he 685 00:39:37,639 --> 00:39:38,320 was capable of. 686 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:43,280 Speaker 1: After just three hours of deliberations on the tenth of 687 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:47,599 December twenty eighteen, the jury had reached a decision. 688 00:39:48,599 --> 00:39:51,880 Speaker 2: When they filed back into the court, the families were 689 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,320 all there, the barristers were all there, the police officers 690 00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:55,719 were there. 691 00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,519 Speaker 10: Everyone was in court apart from Bishop. The family was 692 00:39:59,559 --> 00:40:02,880 sitting just behind me. The courtroom was packed, but the 693 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:07,320 atmosphere was electric, I mean absolutely electric. The jury came 694 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:09,119 back in. You know when you all look at the 695 00:40:09,199 --> 00:40:11,360 jury trying to get an indication of what you think. 696 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:12,840 You know, we've all done it over the years, but 697 00:40:13,039 --> 00:40:13,920 we just couldn't tell. 698 00:40:14,559 --> 00:40:15,519 Speaker 5: The foreman stood up. 699 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:18,800 Speaker 2: The clerk asked whether they'd made a decision on which 700 00:40:19,079 --> 00:40:22,880 they were all agreed. The foreman confirmed they had, and 701 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:26,360 then when asked whether or not they found Bishop guilty 702 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:31,320 or not guilty of murdering Nicola, he replied guilty, And 703 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:34,519 when asked whether they'd found the defendant guilty or not 704 00:40:34,599 --> 00:40:37,719 guilty of murdering Karen, he replied guilty. 705 00:40:40,519 --> 00:40:42,719 Speaker 10: The fitting in the court was just astounding. Like you know, 706 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:44,360 I looked at the family and just to look on 707 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,440 their face and they let out a gasp. I think 708 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:48,320 there was a gasp, but just went around the court. 709 00:40:49,039 --> 00:40:51,280 Speaker 2: It was a huge moment for the whole city, for 710 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:56,000 the police, for the retired officers, that this was a 711 00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,039 cloud that had now lifted from the city. 712 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:07,599 Speaker 1: Unlike his acquittal exactly thirty one years earlier to the day, 713 00:41:08,119 --> 00:41:11,440 Russell Bishop would not be celebrating in the pub. The 714 00:41:11,519 --> 00:41:14,679 following day, the fifty two year old refused to appear 715 00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:16,960 in front of the judge to hear his fate. 716 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:21,719 Speaker 2: His sentenced Bishop with a withering attack to two life 717 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:26,239 sentences and a minimum term of thirty six years. Bishop 718 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:29,440 will be at the very least eighty eight when he 719 00:41:29,679 --> 00:41:33,599 is eligible for parole. I would be astonished if that 720 00:41:33,639 --> 00:41:35,039 man ever walked the streets again. 721 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:38,159 Speaker 10: Detectives don't like to get too emotional with these things, 722 00:41:38,199 --> 00:41:41,000 but this was just such a massive moment for the team. 723 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:43,760 And I remember sitting next to one of my guys 724 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:45,480 and I was just shaking hands and you know, and 725 00:41:45,559 --> 00:41:48,440 just look looking at the family and smiling at Barry 726 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:51,559 and Michelle and Susan and just thinking, I'm so pleased 727 00:41:51,559 --> 00:41:54,599 for you, you know, I'm so pleased that finally you've 728 00:41:54,639 --> 00:41:57,840 got justice for your daughters. It was an amazing moment, 729 00:41:57,880 --> 00:41:59,639 you know, one that I've never had before, and I 730 00:41:59,679 --> 00:42:01,079 don't think whatever have again. 731 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:06,119 Speaker 1: A weight had been lifted from Wolscombe and the city 732 00:42:06,159 --> 00:42:07,519 of Brighton as a whole. 733 00:42:08,679 --> 00:42:11,880 Speaker 6: I think the feeling in the community amongst the family 734 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:15,400 and the officers involved was that they had finally achieved 735 00:42:15,679 --> 00:42:18,960 justice for Karen and Nicola. But I don't think it 736 00:42:19,079 --> 00:42:21,880 was very much as celebratory moment. It was more the 737 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,960 closing of a chapter because Karen and Niccola would now 738 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:28,199 be women with years of life behind them and in 739 00:42:28,199 --> 00:42:30,960 front of them, and this is something that Bishop has 740 00:42:31,079 --> 00:42:36,159 denied to them. So I think there is a sense 741 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:39,400 of justice here, but we'll never be able to get 742 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:40,800 back what he's taken away. 743 00:42:43,199 --> 00:42:46,840 Speaker 1: For thirty two years, Bishop thought he'd got away with murder, 744 00:42:47,079 --> 00:42:51,039 but justice eventually caught up with the Keller's killer. 745 00:42:51,559 --> 00:42:57,800 Speaker 2: Russell Bishop is an evil, pedophile psychopath. His crimes speak 746 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:01,719 for themselves. The way he conduct himself, the way he's 747 00:43:01,719 --> 00:43:06,199 conducted himself throughout just underline the evil that that man is. 748 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:07,960 Speaker 5: I used to say. 749 00:43:08,039 --> 00:43:11,039 Speaker 2: That there were people that did evil things, but very 750 00:43:11,039 --> 00:43:15,159 few evil people. Well, Bishop is one of those evil people. 751 00:43:18,039 --> 00:43:21,639 Speaker 1: Bishop was a pedophile who couldn't resist his selfish and 752 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:26,280 impure instincts. He squeezed the life from two innocent young girls, 753 00:43:26,519 --> 00:43:29,559 and it was only his own ineptitude that saved the 754 00:43:29,639 --> 00:43:33,119 life of a third. Justice was thirty two years in 755 00:43:33,159 --> 00:43:36,119 the making, but the scars he's left on the community 756 00:43:36,159 --> 00:43:40,360 he ripped apart will take even longer to heal, making 757 00:43:40,440 --> 00:44:23,239 Russell Bishop one of the world's most evil killers.