- 8 months ago
The effects of hallucinogenic drugs provide a theme in this case. Peta Best, a leading sixties fashion photographer, has been found dead in her studio with a cloth pushed down her throat. Natasha Marlow, a young model who was with Peta Best at the time of her death, is charged with murder but claims that herself and the photographer were 'freaking out' after an L.S.D. session and she would therefore have been incapable of committing murder.
Bernard Gallagher, known for his role in Casualty, appears as the prosecuting counsel. David Ashford plays the counsel for the defence. John Bennett, known for appearances in Miss Marple and Doctor Who, is Dr Stanislaus.
Bernard Gallagher, known for his role in Casualty, appears as the prosecuting counsel. David Ashford plays the counsel for the defence. John Bennett, known for appearances in Miss Marple and Doctor Who, is Dr Stanislaus.
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TVTranscript
00:00:00The death last year of Peter Best, photographer and fashion world personality, made headlines,
00:00:17one of the few women to succeed in a predominantly male field.
00:00:21On July the 7th, in the company of Natasha Marlowe, a model she often employed and who
00:00:26was a friend, Peter Best attended a party at publisher Alain Griffin's flat.
00:00:31Miss Marlowe had a good deal to drink, and at about 11pm, she was seriously under the
00:00:35influence of alcohol.
00:00:37Peter Best therefore said she would take her home with her, and the two women left.
00:00:41The following morning, reporting for work at Peter Best's studio, Fred Maple discovered
00:00:46Natasha Marlowe pressed against the wall.
00:00:48Her eyes were blank and staring.
00:00:51When he approached her, she screamed and kept on screaming.
00:00:53Natasha Marlowe seemed unaware of where she was, or of what was going on about her.
00:00:59She even seemed unaware of the fact that Peter Best was dead.
00:01:03Today in Fulchester Crown Court, Natasha Marlowe stands accused of the murder of Peter Best.
00:01:23So Miss Marlowe simply stood there against the wall, you say, staring?
00:01:31Yes.
00:01:31When you approached her, she began to scream.
00:01:34Yes.
00:01:34And went on screaming over and over again.
00:01:37Like a crazy woman.
00:01:38It was, well, hairy, I don't mind telling you.
00:01:41Still gives me the shivers every time I think of it.
00:01:43No doubt, Mr. Maple.
00:01:44What did you do?
00:01:46Well, I phoned for the police.
00:01:47What else?
00:01:48There'd been murder done.
00:01:49My lord, plainly, it could only have appeared to the witness that there'd been murder done.
00:01:53Yes, quite correct, Mr. Lotterby.
00:01:55You telephoned the police because you wished to report a fatality.
00:01:58Isn't that what you wanted to say, Mr. Maple?
00:02:00Yes.
00:02:00Yes, that's right, my lord.
00:02:01Yes, well, then why not say it?
00:02:02We've got a lot to get through here, you know, so we mustn't waste time.
00:02:05Lack of precision only makes for longer hours in court.
00:02:07Continue, Mr. Fry.
00:02:09My lord.
00:02:10Now, the studio, what sort of condition was it in when you entered it that morning?
00:02:14The studio?
00:02:15Yes.
00:02:16Oh, well, it looked like a tornado had hit it.
00:02:19Honest.
00:02:20Furniture overturned, stuff broken, half the lights had been knocked over and smashed.
00:02:24There was glass everywhere.
00:02:25Had any photographic equipment been damaged?
00:02:28Yes.
00:02:28Yes, there was a camera on the floor, a Polar Flex 202.
00:02:32The case was cracked and the lens smashed.
00:02:34It looked as though it had been heaved round the room, a trample done.
00:02:36You simply want to tell us that the camera was broken, Mr. Maple, quite.
00:02:41Did you inspect this camera?
00:02:42I did.
00:02:43Why?
00:02:44Well, cameras are my business-like.
00:02:47Even with everything that seemed to have happened, I couldn't have wondered how it had got like it was.
00:02:50Did the camera contain any film?
00:02:52No.
00:02:53Was any film of the type that could have been used in the camera anywhere in the studio?
00:02:57Oh.
00:02:58Well, there was a spool all scrumpled up in one of the waste paper baskets, if that's what you mean, yes.
00:03:03It was ruined, though, nothing on it.
00:03:04Had it been used?
00:03:05Sorry?
00:03:07Had any photographs been taken on the spool before it was exposed, Mr. Maple?
00:03:12Five or six exposures had been made, but then the whole reel had been ripped out and scrumpled.
00:03:16It was a proper mess.
00:03:18Now, you say that when you first caught sight of Miss Marlowe standing wide-eyed and staring against the wall,
00:03:23she was wearing a loose-fitting robe?
00:03:26Yes.
00:03:26Something casual, informal?
00:03:28Sure.
00:03:29Was she wearing anything else?
00:03:30Come again.
00:03:32Was the robe all she had on, Mr. Maple? Do you know?
00:03:35No, no, I don't know anything about that.
00:03:37She was wearing the kind of robe that models do wear in a studio, that's all.
00:03:41Thank you, Mr. Maple. Those are all the questions I have for you.
00:03:44However, milord, before I hand over this witness to my learned friend, there is a procedural matter that I think ought to be gone into.
00:03:49I shall wish to introduce some photographs in evidence at a later stage, and these will require identification by Mr. Maple.
00:03:56I take it, then, that you would like to have the identification at once, Mr. Fry?
00:03:59Well, it would certainly save time, milord.
00:04:02Have you seen these photographs, Mr. Loddy?
00:04:04Yes, milord, we've been permitted to see them.
00:04:07Proceed, Mr. Fry.
00:04:08I have here a wallet containing six photographs.
00:04:11Would you be kind enough to look at them and see if you can identify them for me, please?
00:04:14Yes.
00:04:23These are some shots that Miss Best took of Miss Marlowe one time.
00:04:29They were supposed to be for some sort of an art calendar, she reckoned.
00:04:33Well, only I figured they'd be a bit hot for that.
00:04:36You developed and printed them, did you?
00:04:37Yes.
00:04:38How long ago did Miss Best take these photos?
00:04:41About a year back now.
00:04:43That would be some three months before she died.
00:04:45Yeah, about that.
00:04:46Thank you, Mr. Maple.
00:04:47I entered these photographs in evidence.
00:04:49They should be marked Exhibit 3.
00:04:51Look, I didn't want any part of that.
00:04:53I just work for Miss Best.
00:04:54Thank you, Mr. Maple, that is all.
00:04:55But I didn't have any choice, I'm telling you.
00:04:57Mr. Maple, all we are interested in is your evidence.
00:05:00It's true, milord.
00:05:01I hated all that, especially when it was Miss Marlowe.
00:05:04You know Miss Marlowe pretty well, do you, Mr. Maple?
00:05:11Sorry?
00:05:12Well, you seem to have a high regard for her.
00:05:14I just know her, that's all.
00:05:17There was lots of models in and out in the studio.
00:05:20Miss Marlowe was...
00:05:20Well, she was different.
00:05:22By that spool of film you found in the waste paper basket, Mr. Maple,
00:05:27you couldn't, of course, tell how long it had been there, could you?
00:05:29What?
00:05:30Well, since there was nothing on the film by which you could identify it,
00:05:32you had no way of knowing that it hadn't been there for, say, a week?
00:05:35Well, not a week.
00:05:36No, because the char's come in every second morning.
00:05:39The char's come in the morning of Peter Best's death?
00:05:41Yes.
00:05:42So the crumpled up film could have been there for at least 24 hours, couldn't it?
00:05:46Yes.
00:05:47Except that old film is usually dumped in the bins out the back for the dustman.
00:05:50Hmm.
00:05:51You described the studio as being in chaos when you entered it on the morning of July the 8th,
00:05:56as though a tornado had hit it?
00:05:57Yes.
00:05:58So somebody of a slightly tidier frame of mind must have disposed of that film
00:06:02into the waste paper basket, mustn't they?
00:06:03Everything else thrown about, smashed, but that film plays neatly aside.
00:06:08Yes.
00:06:10You say you found a camera broken, a Poloflex 202, I think you said it was.
00:06:15Was that the only camera in the studio that morning?
00:06:17Oh, no, not all the others Miss Best used were there, six of them,
00:06:20but in their proper places, up on a shelf.
00:06:23Well, the Poloflex might simply become dislodged
00:06:25in the melee or whatever it was that occurred during that night
00:06:31and fallen subsequently getting smashed, mightn't it?
00:06:35Well, I don't...
00:06:36Mightn't it, Mr. Maple?
00:06:38I suppose it might have.
00:06:40So, in fact, all you can tell us about the studio that night
00:06:42was that it was in a terrible mess, isn't that right?
00:06:46There was nothing to indicate to you that anything,
00:06:48any kind of photographic session might have occurred during the small hours,
00:06:52as my loaded friend is trying to suggest.
00:06:54No, no, I never said nothing like that.
00:06:57Now, when you saw Miss Marlow against the wall,
00:06:58you say she was wild-eyed and staring.
00:07:01Yes.
00:07:01She didn't recognise you then, you mean?
00:07:04Well, she never spoke or anything.
00:07:05I tried to ask her was she all right, but she didn't answer.
00:07:09Just screamed and went on screaming?
00:07:11Yes.
00:07:12Would you say Miss Marlow would have recognised anybody that morning?
00:07:17Lord, I object to that question.
00:07:19Yes, indeed, Mr. Lottwee.
00:07:20The witness has a tendency to express conclusions as things stand,
00:07:23and I certainly don't expect you to foster it.
00:07:25I apologise, my lord.
00:07:26Mr. Maple, you were Miss Best's photographic assistant
00:07:32for how long was it up to the time of her death?
00:07:34Three years.
00:07:34Three years.
00:07:35Now, my loaded friend has introduced into evidence
00:07:37some nude photographs of Miss Marlow.
00:07:40Were any other nude photographs taken of her by Miss Best on other occasions?
00:07:44No, no other sessions featuring Miss Marlow.
00:07:47Did Miss Best, in fact, do a lot of nude photography?
00:07:51Well, only as much as she had to.
00:07:53Everybody's got to do some these days to pay the rent, my lord.
00:07:56It's dirty old men that keep freelance photographers in business, they say.
00:08:00Old goats, you know, past it, but...
00:08:02No further questions, Mr. Maple.
00:08:04You may stand down, Mr. Maple.
00:08:12I call Alan Martin Stanislaus.
00:08:17Dr. Martin Stanislaus, please.
00:08:19Yes.
00:08:26I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth,
00:08:44the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:08:45You are Martin Stanislaus, M.D., of High Coombe, Chiverton Bridge, Chiverton.
00:08:50That is so, yes.
00:08:51Are you employed by the Home Office, Dr. Stanislaus?
00:08:53Yes, I am the deputy head of the Fulchester County Forensic Department.
00:08:57In the course of your duties, did you on the morning of the 8th of July last go to the studio of Peter Best, a fashion photographer?
00:09:02Yes, I did.
00:09:03Miss Best had died under suspicious circumstances and I was required to establish the cause of death.
00:09:09Also, another young woman was discovered near the body in what was represented to me as a state of shock
00:09:14and it was necessary for me to make some judgment as her condition.
00:09:18And then I had to consider the physical evidence, such aspects of it as might be relevant to an inquiry.
00:09:25Did you, in fact, establish the cause of death?
00:09:27Yes, I did, after a post-mortem.
00:09:30Miss Best had died of suffocation.
00:09:32Suffocation.
00:09:33Yes, she was heavily bruised about the face and body.
00:09:37But these injuries proved only superficial.
00:09:40However, there was also a sheet thrust or rammed into her mouth.
00:09:46This extended some 8 inches down the throat, distending the trachea, and was unquestionably the cause of death.
00:09:54And the young woman, the young woman who was represented to you as being in a state of shock,
00:09:58do you see her in the court today?
00:09:59I do. It is the accused, Natasha Marlowe.
00:10:03Did you examine Natasha Marlowe, Doctor, when you arrived at the studio?
00:10:06Yes, I did.
00:10:07And what conclusion did you come to about her condition?
00:10:10Well, it wasn't easy to begin with.
00:10:11Miss Marlowe was in a most curious...
00:10:13removed state, almost trance-like.
00:10:20She could understand questions when I put them to her, but she had difficulty in formulating the answers.
00:10:25It really took me some little while to discover that the young lady was heavily under the influence of lesergic acid diethylamide.
00:10:31I wonder if you'd repeat that, Doctor, for the benefit of the jury.
00:10:34Yes.
00:10:35Miss Natasha Marlowe was under the influence of lesergic acid diethylamide, or what's sometimes known simply as acid, LSD.
00:10:43LSD.
00:11:10Natasha Marlowe was under the influence of LSD, you say?
00:11:14Yes, markedly so.
00:11:16How was this apparent to you?
00:11:18Well, I had noticed certain physical peculiarities.
00:11:21For instance, under examination, Miss Marlowe displayed a much stronger knee-jerk than is normal.
00:11:26Well, that's a characteristic of LSD sufferers, my lord.
00:11:30Also, there were the dilated pupils of the eyes, grossly so.
00:11:34This is another unmistakable sign.
00:11:36Did you decide that Miss Marlowe was under the influence of LSD purely on the basis of these physical indications, Doctor?
00:11:40No.
00:11:41Well, I'd found the shelves of certain capsules in the bedroom of the studio, which first created a suspicion in my mind.
00:11:50Now, later, when I analysed these, I discovered that they did indeed contain LSD.
00:11:54And then, when I asked Miss Marlowe had she taken anything, she admitted, yes, she had been using LSD.
00:12:00How long after you examined Miss Marlowe was she able to speak cogently, Doctor?
00:12:04Oh, about 20 minutes.
00:12:07The drast state usually indicates that the drug is wearing off.
00:12:11However, there's no real reason why a person under the influence of LSD shouldn't speak to one, communicate.
00:12:16LSD doesn't dull awareness of the world around, rather it increases it.
00:12:20It's what's sometimes known as a mind-expanding drug.
00:12:23But earlier, when Mr Maple, Miss Best's assistant, had approached her, she apparently resisted all his attempts at communication.
00:12:29Yes, well, she may just at that juncture have been experiencing freak-out, particularly nasty side effect of LSD.
00:12:39You see, LSD trips, as they're known, aren't always pleasant experiences.
00:12:46And nor can the subject ever predict whether he's going to move into a golden dream or a terrifying nightmare.
00:12:55When one freaks out, it's a journey into hell.
00:12:58Into hell?
00:12:59Yes.
00:13:01Well, perhaps before we go any further, Doctor, you'd better outline for us the effects of LSD in general.
00:13:07One moment, please.
00:13:08Dr Stonislaus, am I to understand that you are an expert in the field of drug addiction?
00:13:12Not in the field as a whole, my lord, but it just so happens that my police work over the past few years has required me to make a full study of the hallucinogenic drugs.
00:13:23Hallucinogenic, yes.
00:13:24Perhaps you'd better explain that for the benefit of the jury.
00:13:27Yes.
00:13:28Quite simply, the hallucinogenic drugs are those which bring about hallucinations.
00:13:33It's different states of mind.
00:13:37Now, apart from LSD, the group also includes drugs like psilocybin, mescaline, peyote, and one or two other less common types.
00:13:46Now, these drugs produce states ranging from mild euphoria to panic fantasy.
00:13:52Please continue, Mr. Frank.
00:13:55What is the main general effect of LSD on the person who takes it, Doctor?
00:14:01Well, in the most general sense, LSD may be said to inhibit or disinhibit, rather, or release control over acquired patterns of thought or behaviour.
00:14:14It's an anti-intellectual drug in that it releases feeling processes rather than rational ones.
00:14:22Reason gives way to dream, if you understand me.
00:14:26Knowledge to sensory appreciation.
00:14:29And what about behaviour?
00:14:31I'm sorry, but...
00:14:32Does taking LSD affect acquired behaviour patterns in the same way, Doctor?
00:14:36You mean, would a person commit acts under the influence of LSD that he wouldn't commit in his everyday state?
00:14:43Yes.
00:14:48Well, not enough is known about this.
00:14:51In one sense, the answer to your question is no.
00:14:54There is no evidence that LSD in itself alters behaviour patterns.
00:14:59It's a drug that's much more concerned with being than with doing.
00:15:03But on the other hand, insofar as it is a disinhibiting drug, it does have a liberating effect, you would say, at a subconscious level.
00:15:15For example, a person that was going to rob a bank anyway might be more likely to actually do so under the influence of LSD.
00:15:23Now, there are some very stupid young people in the United States who, faced with ordeals such as end-of-term exams,
00:15:29have been known to experiment with LSD as a source of Dutch courage.
00:15:34You regard people who take LSD as foolish then, Doctor?
00:15:37Unless it's done under the strictest of medical supervision, yes.
00:15:40I mean, the results are simply unpredictable.
00:15:44For instance, there was another young man in California who went for a drive in his sports car to taking LSD.
00:15:49Now, he very quickly formed the impression that he could control the traffic lights.
00:15:54He could actually make them turn green when he wanted to.
00:15:58Well, of course, it wasn't long before he caused an accident, seriously injuring himself and two other people.
00:16:03I want to be quite clear about this, Doctor.
00:16:04You say that LSD increases awareness of the world about.
00:16:09That is so, yes, ma'am.
00:16:10You now seem to be saying that the hallucinations produced are at variance with the observed facts.
00:16:16Well, it can be like that on occasions, yes, my lord.
00:16:19In certain persons, the drug seems to impose new forms on reality.
00:16:26Now, in such cases, they simply must find a response to new, completely illusory perceptions.
00:16:36It's an imperative.
00:16:37Well, then, LSD does alter established behaviour patterns.
00:16:40That's the only practical way of putting it.
00:16:43Well, I still prefer to say it merely removes the senses the normal mind imposes on behaviour, my lord.
00:16:51Desired but previously sublimated action suddenly becomes possible.
00:16:57You mean like throwing bricks through the window of the university administration block to show one's contempt for authority, for instance?
00:17:03Yes, if you like.
00:17:05Murdering a person one secretly hates.
00:17:08Oh, not enough is known about that.
00:17:10Now, what sort of LSD dose is required to produce the effects you've required, doctor?
00:17:16Oh, well, remarkably small amounts, as little as 50 micrograms.
00:17:20And what dosage had Miss Marlowe taken at the time you examined her?
00:17:23Could you tell?
00:17:24No.
00:17:24Now, unfortunately, it's impossible to tell exactly how much LSD a person under the influence might have suffered.
00:17:30The drug is remarkably quickly absorbed into the system, and the effects remain long after all traces have disappeared.
00:17:39However, I should have said Miss Marlowe had taken considerably more than 50 micrograms.
00:17:44Why?
00:17:44Well, a small dose will produce an effect lasting up to four hours.
00:17:51Quite a large dose, up to eight hours or even beyond.
00:17:55Now, on her own admission, Miss Marlowe had been in an LSD-induced state for at least ten hours.
00:18:01She could be precise about that.
00:18:03Oh, yes.
00:18:04Memory isn't impaired by LSD.
00:18:06She confessed to me that she remembered first having taken a dose at about ten o'clock at a party she'd been attending the night before.
00:18:13First having taken a dose?
00:18:15Yes, later she took another.
00:18:18Or rather, she told me that she had taken a large red pill, described to her as super-new acid from the States.
00:18:26This would be more LSD, would it, or something else?
00:18:29Well, it's hard to say.
00:18:30The colour is a little puzzling.
00:18:33However, a large red pill would indicate to me what is sometimes known as a mixed pill.
00:18:37That is LSD with something added.
00:18:40Possibly amphetamines.
00:18:41Amphetamines?
00:18:43Yes, my lord.
00:18:43Amphetamines act as a stimulant, don't they?
00:18:46That is so, yes, my lord.
00:18:48Well, then what on earth is the point of taking a stimulant, along with a drug which is meant at its best to produce dreamlike hallucinations?
00:18:55Well, to speed the process up, my lord, to make the breakthrough into the dream world more rapid and urgent.
00:19:05Doctor, did Miss Marlowe tell you anything else about the dosage that she'd taken the night of Peter Bess' death?
00:19:10Well, she admitted to me that she'd been drinking a good deal, some wine and about half a bottle of vodka.
00:19:16Really?
00:19:17And what exact effect did this cocktail of drugs have on her behaviour?
00:19:21Was she able to tell you anything about that?
00:19:23Oh, yes.
00:19:24She was remarkably clear on that subject, in fact.
00:19:26Um, I took some notes at the time.
00:19:29I should like to refer to them here, if I may.
00:19:31Yes, by whom it?
00:19:32Um, as nearly as I can reproduce them, these were Miss Marlowe's own words.
00:19:37It started in my head, and as it went down my body, I just sort of left.
00:19:45There was no more of me.
00:19:46It finally completely engulfed me.
00:19:49Then I was going out into space.
00:19:52I was actually up in space, in blackness.
00:19:56But I started to fall.
00:19:58I hung on desperately, but I couldn't help falling.
00:20:01Then they were grabbing at me.
00:20:04I didn't know what, but out of the blackness, out of the walls.
00:20:08Every time they touched me, it was like a giant slug.
00:20:12The room was full of giant slugs.
00:20:15They were covering me.
00:20:16I had to choke them off or be killed.
00:20:19I was fighting for my life.
00:20:22I knew if I could stop them breathing, they couldn't hurt me anymore.
00:20:26So I started to choke them, one after another.
00:20:29My hands squashed into them.
00:20:32I killed them, so that I could live if the slugs died.
00:20:37And I was free again.
00:20:40Thank you, Doctor.
00:20:42Now, the physical evidence of the studio itself.
00:20:44We've heard that furniture was overturned and equipment was broken.
00:20:47But did you take away certain objects for analysis?
00:20:50Yes, one in particular.
00:20:53You see, I was impressed by the fact that although Miss Best was heavily bruised about the head and body,
00:20:57the skin was nowhere broken.
00:21:00Now, among the debris, I found a length of rubber hosing.
00:21:04Very heavy.
00:21:06Possibly used to shield some electrical connection.
00:21:09Now, under analysis, I discovered that this had traces of Miss Best's hair on it
00:21:13and also Miss Marlowe's fingerprints.
00:21:16This is an agreed object, the Lord.
00:21:18Exhibit one.
00:21:18Yes, Mr. Bryce.
00:21:19A final question for you, Doctor.
00:21:21When you examined Miss Marlowe, what was she wearing?
00:21:25Um, kind of a dressing gown, as I remember it, yes.
00:21:28Did she have anything else on underneath?
00:21:31Yes, a pair of briefs.
00:21:32Only the briefs?
00:21:33No brass here?
00:21:34Nothing else?
00:21:35No, only the briefs.
00:21:36Thank you, Doctor.
00:21:37That's all.
00:21:41Dr. Stanislas, you tell us Peter Best died of suffocation,
00:21:44the result of a sheet thrust or rammed some eight inches down her throat.
00:21:48Yes, that is so.
00:21:49Do you mean here to imply thrust or rammed by some person other than Miss Best herself?
00:21:54Well, what...
00:21:55Well, it's a clear enough question, Doctor.
00:21:57Miss Best or some other party?
00:21:59Well, obviously, some other party, I should have thought.
00:22:02The grossly distended...
00:22:03You should have thought or can demonstrate, Doctor.
00:22:08I'm sorry, I...
00:22:09Is there anything in the medical evidence to establish beyond all doubt
00:22:13that some other party must have rammed that sheet down Miss Best's throat
00:22:17and that she could not have done it herself?
00:22:20Well, no, but the likelihood is...
00:22:21Yes or no, please, Doctor.
00:22:24Well, plainly no, but...
00:22:26It's quite a variance for the laws of probability.
00:22:28Thank you, Doctor.
00:22:31Now, you tell us further that you don't know precisely
00:22:33how much LSD and Natasha Marlowe had taken that night
00:22:36and that, in fact, it's almost impossible to establish
00:22:38the exact amount a person may have ingested.
00:22:41That is so.
00:22:42But, er, isn't there a maximum a human being might take and survive?
00:22:48Well, we don't know about that.
00:22:50There's never been a death recorded from LSD, if that's what you mean.
00:22:53We do seem to have a remarkable quantity of LSD floating about in this case, Doctor.
00:22:58There's the LSD that Natasha Marlowe took at the party.
00:23:02Then there's this large red pill which you took later.
00:23:05And then there's those two capsules, the shells of which you found in the studio bedroom.
00:23:09Now, what about them?
00:23:11Yes, the capsules.
00:23:12Yes, Doctor.
00:23:13We must put them into the overall arithmetic too, mustn't we?
00:23:17It's beginning to look as though Miss Marlowe took such a massive dose of LSD
00:23:20as to be fortunate ever to emerge into reality, doesn't it?
00:23:23Well, that doesn't necessarily follow.
00:23:24Do you really believe she took as much, Doctor, seriously?
00:23:28Or isn't it more probable that she had a travelling companion on her journey into the unknown?
00:23:35Beat her best.
00:23:36Who also had a bad trip, perhaps.
00:23:39A far worse one than Natasha Marlowe, since it led to her own death.
00:23:42A far worse one than Natasha Marlowe, since it led to her own death.
00:24:12Today, the trial of Natasha Marlowe, fashion model accused of the murder of Peter Best, the photographer,
00:24:35continues with evidence from Fulchester's leading forensic doctor.
00:24:42Mr. Charles Lotterby, defending Miss Marlowe, has put it to Dr. Stanislas that Peter Best may also have been on an LSD trip.
00:25:00Exhibit 2, Dr. Stanislas.
00:25:01The shells of the capsules you found in the studio bedroom and later certified have contained LSD.
00:25:07Now, is it possible to say what quantity of the drug each contained?
00:25:10Lord, I pretend that this line of questioning is irrelevant.
00:25:12It can only be pure speculation to ask whether or not Peter Best took LSD the night she died.
00:25:17Yes, that may be, Mr. Fryer, that may be.
00:25:19But the exact quantity of the drugs that Miss Marlowe took would seem to be of some moment.
00:25:23Now, Miss Marlowe told you, Doctor, that she only took the normal dosage at the party and then the red pill later.
00:25:32That is so, yes, my lord.
00:25:33Would that seem to you to be accurate?
00:25:34Might she not actually have taken more, the entire contents of these capsules, perhaps,
00:25:41and then either forgotten or concealed the fact?
00:25:43Well, as counsel for the defence has pointed out, my lord, this would have constituted a massive dose.
00:25:50I may be at fault here.
00:25:53It's true I hadn't considered the arithmetic of the matter.
00:25:55But if Miss Best had taken the contents of those two capsules,
00:26:00plus the other dosages she confesses to,
00:26:03then it's certainly very hard to see how she could have been speaking coherently by the time I examined her.
00:26:09Each of those capsules contains 600 micrograms.
00:26:12600 and an average dosage, I think you told us, is 50 micrograms?
00:26:17Yes, my lord.
00:26:18So that's more than 20 times as much.
00:26:23Massive indeed.
00:26:25Dr. Samus will ask, is there any recorded case of an LSD subject
00:26:29laying violent hands, let alone murderous hands, on a fellow human being?
00:26:38Yes, New York State in 1968.
00:26:41Oh, I should, of course, have specified any normal LSD subject.
00:26:45If you're quoting the case history, I think you are.
00:26:48The subject there was a homicidal paranoid who'd be given the drug under medical supervision.
00:26:52Isn't that so?
00:26:53Yes.
00:26:53There is no recorded case of a normal LSD subject laying violent or murderous hands on a fellow human being.
00:27:02On the other hand, among normal LSD subjects, isn't there a fairly consistent history of self-injury?
00:27:08Especially when the subject has had a bad trip.
00:27:11No, the number of suicides with LSD as a direct cause must be extremely small.
00:27:18In most attested cases, it's been clearly shown that the subject had a history of attempted suicides anyway.
00:27:23But not in all cases, Doctor.
00:27:24I repeat, in by far the majority.
00:27:27Not in all cases, Doctor.
00:27:29No, not in all.
00:27:32My lord, no doubt you will agree that it is highly important for us to know whether or not Peter Best took LSD on the night of her death.
00:27:40Is there any way of establishing such a possibility at this late date, Doctor?
00:27:44No, my lord.
00:27:44This would hardly have been possible even at the time of the post-mortem.
00:27:48As I've explained to the court, the drug is remarkably quickly absorbed into the system.
00:27:53Well, then it seems that we shall never know for certain, Mr. Latterby.
00:27:55With respect, my lord, surely that means we may invoke the presumptive evidence, if we wish.
00:28:00If there is no evidence to be introduced to show that anyone else was in the studio that night.
00:28:04And if Miss Marlowe couldn't have taken the LSD capsules, then surely we may infer that Miss Best did.
00:28:09Lord, I object to this.
00:28:10Do you, in fact, intend to show that there was somebody else in the studio that night, Mr. Fry?
00:28:16No, my lord. I have no evidence like that.
00:28:17Well, then I think we must agree that Mr. Latterby has established a likelihood.
00:28:22And the jury will note that there is now a possibility that Peter Best, too, took LSD on the night of her death.
00:28:30Thank you very much.
00:28:31Doctor, you find a length of rubber hosing in Peter Best's studio, Exhibit 1 over there,
00:28:36bearing traces of the dead woman's hair and the fingerprints of the accused.
00:28:40That is so, yes.
00:28:41In your view, could the injuries to Peter Best's head and body have been caused by blows from that length of hosing?
00:28:47Yes.
00:28:48Thank you, Doctor.
00:28:49That's all.
00:28:50You may stand down, Dr. Stanislaw.
00:28:52I call Alan Griffin.
00:28:56Call Alan Griffin.
00:29:01What is your religion?
00:29:09Roman Catholic.
00:29:11Take the testament in your right hand and read aloud the words on the card.
00:29:14I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:29:22Mr. Griffin.
00:29:26Carry on, Mr. Fry.
00:29:28Not.
00:29:29You are Alan Griffin of the Penthouse, France Court, Catherton Street, Fulchester.
00:29:34That's correct.
00:29:35What is your profession, please?
00:29:36I'm a publisher.
00:29:38What exactly do you publish?
00:29:39Various photo magazines.
00:29:41Girly Girl, Gander, Peekaboo, and Wink.
00:29:44Also certain children's material.
00:29:46Children's material?
00:29:48Oh, yes, my lord.
00:29:48We had a big success last year with a tiny tot sum book.
00:29:51Also, our Read with Sister series is very popular in the convent schools.
00:29:54On the 7th of July last, did you give a party at your flat?
00:30:00At my penthouse, yes, to celebrate my firm's birthday, five years.
00:30:04Was the accused in this case, Natasha Marlowe, at that party?
00:30:07She was.
00:30:08And did she come alone, or was she in company?
00:30:11She came and left with Peter Best, the photographer, which surprised me, really, since I'd naturally expected Natasha to show up with her boyfriend, Bill Archdeacon, the writer.
00:30:21They'd been a twosome for years, but there you are.
00:30:25Nothing's ever sure in this life except taxes.
00:30:30They'd split up.
00:30:31Did this evidence come to you from Miss Marlowe herself at the party?
00:30:36Mm-hmm.
00:30:37Not once, but several times.
00:30:39Through boozy tears, with mascara right down to the cleavage.
00:30:42She really laid into the vodka that night, completely blotto by 10 p.m., which is a bit heavy even when you're in mourning.
00:30:49I have here some photographs, Mr. Griffin, which I would like you to identify for us, if you can.
00:30:54Could the witness be shown in Exhibit 3, please?
00:30:56Mm-hmm.
00:31:07Mm-hmm.
00:31:07Yeah.
00:31:08These are some pictures of Natasha Marlowe that I bought from Peter Best for a centist spread in the August issue of Gander Magazine.
00:31:17But unfortunately, when we made up the dummy in early July, we found that two key shots weren't reproducing properly and would have to be done again.
00:31:24And this was Peter Best's business, wasn't it?
00:31:26Mm-hmm.
00:31:26The photographic studio involved takes full responsibility in cases like that. Under contract, pictures have to be in mint condition.
00:31:33You mean you were requiring Peter Best to reshoot two of these purses?
00:31:36Yes.
00:31:37After Natasha Marlowe?
00:31:38Yeah.
00:31:39And what happened?
00:31:40Well, Peter was supposed to have the photographs at my office by the morning of July 6th.
00:31:45Instead, she telephoned and asked if she could have some more time, because she was having difficulty persuading the model to get into the mood again.
00:31:52And what did you reply to there?
00:31:54I simply said, sweetheart, my absolute deadline is July 8th. It's not my problem.
00:31:59Had the shots been, in fact, provided by the time of your party on July 7th?
00:32:02Nope. Even then we were living under a question mark.
00:32:06Now, you say that by 10 o'clock in the evening of the party, Natasha Marlowe was recognizably drunk.
00:32:12Yes.
00:32:13Did this worry you?
00:32:13No. Booze never worries me. Not really.
00:32:17Just that particular evening, there happened to be a couple of important American agency people at the party.
00:32:22So when Natasha started condensing into her vodka, I went over to her and I said,
00:32:27sweetheart, it's been a long, hard day for all of us. Why don't you let me call you a taxi?
00:32:31To which she answered.
00:32:33No. Not to mince words.
00:32:35She said she had a better idea, in fact, to go on a nice, relaxing trip to outer space or thereabouts.
00:32:42And she scrabbled in her bag, whipped out a pill and popped it.
00:32:46Popped it?
00:32:46A term implying took or consumed, my lord, in quite common use these days.
00:32:50Indeed.
00:32:51Yes, my lord.
00:32:53Thank you, Mr. Fry.
00:32:54So, Miss Marlowe popped a pill, Mr. Griffin, and what did you do then?
00:32:58I shoved us straight into a bedroom, slamming the door behind us.
00:33:00I certainly wasn't taking any chances on that kind of a scene.
00:33:04Natasha, baby, I said, let's get something quite straight.
00:33:08Are there any more at home like that?
00:33:10She scrabbled in her bag again and this time whipped out the biggest red pill I'd ever seen.
00:33:14For after, she said, the greatest super new acid from the States.
00:33:19The exact words here are very important, Mr. Griffin.
00:33:23For afterwards, the greatest super new acid from the States.
00:33:29Yes.
00:33:29I see.
00:33:31And then what happened?
00:33:32Well, then she put the red pill back in her bag, the door opened, and Peter Best came in.
00:33:38She must have heard the flurry outside.
00:33:41Peter, I said, no wonder you can't get any cooperation out of this kid.
00:33:44She's an acid head, did you know?
00:33:46Peter said, don't you worry, I can handle her.
00:33:49You'll have your retakes by the morning.
00:33:51By the morning.
00:33:52You're quite sure of those words, are you?
00:33:54Oh, I'm quite sure.
00:33:55And then Natasha, well, she went berserk.
00:33:59She hurled herself at Peter, screaming, I won't do those shots.
00:34:02I won't do them.
00:34:04I'll kill you before I do.
00:34:06And did Miss Best reply to this attack?
00:34:08Oh, yeah.
00:34:09She grabbed Natasha, shoved her against a wall, and held her there.
00:34:13You'll do the shot, she said.
00:34:15You've got no choice.
00:34:16You owe me too much.
00:34:18And then, Mr. Griffin?
00:34:20Well, after that, Natasha seemed to calm down.
00:34:24Peter helped to clean up her face, and the two of them went outside again.
00:34:28Then, about 11, Peter came to find me.
00:34:31She said, Natasha was too far gone to cope with anymore, and she was taking her home with her.
00:34:36The acid-taking effect, I guess.
00:34:38So, Peter Best and Natasha Marlowe left together sometime after 11 o'clock?
00:34:42Yes.
00:34:42Thank you, Mr. Griffin, that's all.
00:34:44Yeah.
00:34:47Mr. Griffin, how well would you say you've known Miss Marlowe?
00:34:51How well?
00:34:52Yes.
00:34:53Not very well at all.
00:34:55Our paths have crossed once or twice.
00:34:56That's about it.
00:34:58You don't regard her as a friend, then?
00:35:00No.
00:35:00It was her ex-boyfriend, Bill Archdeacon, that I knew rather better.
00:35:04In fact, it was only through him I ever knew Natasha.
00:35:07At the time of your party, you didn't feel in any sense responsible for Miss Marlowe.
00:35:12Responsible?
00:35:12Well, you could see how upset she was over her broken love affair, and you knew, too, she
00:35:16didn't want to do the nude poses you'd ask for.
00:35:19That had nothing to do with me.
00:35:20It was Peter Best's business.
00:35:21You didn't even feel you ought to ask yourself why she didn't want to do the nude poses?
00:35:25If you start worrying about things like that, you'd go crazy.
00:35:29I mean, models are all alike.
00:35:30The ones who make the biggest fuss about stripping are the ones who won't stop taking off their
00:35:34clothes in the end.
00:35:35They enjoy it.
00:35:37All women do.
00:35:39Mr. Griffin, on the night of your party, didn't you appreciate that Miss Marlowe was in
00:35:42a critical emotional state?
00:35:44How was that?
00:35:45Drinking too much and in tears, she popped a pill, as you put it, and then you saw she
00:35:49had another larger pill in her bag.
00:35:51Now, why didn't you do something about that?
00:35:54Do what, brother?
00:35:55Well, I leave that to your imagination.
00:35:59Didn't you care that an unhappy and near hysterical girl was imbibing both alcohol and LSD in large
00:36:04and random proportions?
00:36:06All my life I've had three rules.
00:36:09Never tell the truth to a chick, never admit a tax debt, and if someone shows you the drug
00:36:14scene, brother, make like you've used a white stick from birth.
00:36:16Mr. Griffin, will you kindly stop addressing counsel for the defence as brother?
00:36:21That is not acceptable language in court.
00:36:24If you use it again, or indeed any equally familiar mode of address, I shall consider you
00:36:29in contempt and fine you accordingly.
00:36:31I advise you to be very careful.
00:36:33Continue, Mr. Lotton.
00:36:34Thank you, my lord.
00:36:37Mr. Griffin, would you have said Peter Bess was considerably stronger than Miss Marlowe?
00:36:42Stronger?
00:36:42Physically.
00:36:43You testified that in the bedroom she shoved Miss Marlowe back against the wall and held
00:36:48her there.
00:36:48Now, was that accomplished with ease, difficulty?
00:36:51With the greatest of ease.
00:36:53Peter was a knockout in the clinches.
00:36:55Could have gone in for female wrestling if she wanted to.
00:36:57I should know.
00:36:58I could hardly hold her down myself the day she tried to cut her wrist in my office.
00:37:02What was that you said, Mr. Griffin?
00:37:10The day Peter tried to slash her wrist.
00:37:12In my office on Duke Street about two years ago now.
00:37:15Oh, she was quite good at that, Peter.
00:37:20There'd been several attempts I'd heard.
00:37:22An hysteric.
00:37:23Couldn't help making a scene, brother.
00:37:25Uh, Miss Delottaby, sir.
00:37:26Now, Mr. Griffin, I think you'd better tell us about the time Peter Bess tried to kill
00:37:41herself in your office.
00:37:42Well, she came around with some pictures she had for me.
00:37:47That was all.
00:37:48She looked pretty grim.
00:37:49I asked her, was something the matter?
00:37:51She said, yes, she just had a terrible fight with, I forget his name, Hungarian actor she'd
00:37:56taken up with.
00:37:57Peter was a bit of a disaster area where men were concerned.
00:38:01Anyway, since I didn't want a neurosis all over my carpet, I went out to the secretary
00:38:05to get some aspirin.
00:38:06And while I was out, she grabbed up a letter opener.
00:38:08A letter opener?
00:38:10Uh, a paper opener.
00:38:12A paper knife?
00:38:12A paper knife.
00:38:13And had a go at her wrists.
00:38:15Lord knows why she chose my office.
00:38:17Anyway, when I came back into the office, she was raging about the place, hysterical,
00:38:20bleeding all over.
00:38:22And I practically had to sit on her chest to calm her down again.
00:38:25So, you in fact saved her life then?
00:38:28I'm made with the antiseptic and the bandages.
00:38:30And a good stiff drink.
00:38:32No ambulance?
00:38:34No, I hardly think that was necessary.
00:38:36So, Peter Bess demonstrated suicidal tendencies.
00:38:40And on both that occasion and the night of your party, considerable physical strength.
00:38:44Thank you, Mr. Griffin.
00:38:47Mr. Griffin, you say that when Peter Bess tried to slash her wrists in your office that day,
00:38:52she used a paper knife?
00:38:54Yes.
00:38:55What was it made of?
00:38:56Metal or plastic?
00:38:57Metal.
00:38:58But blunted, surely, as these things always are.
00:39:00Hardly the most efficient instrument for a suicide.
00:39:04Well, there was blood all over the place, if that's what you're talking about.
00:39:06Though not enough to persuade you to call an ambulance.
00:39:09All right, so I didn't want to get into trouble.
00:39:11These things can rebound on you.
00:39:13Peter Bess survived well enough, anyway.
00:39:15Yeah.
00:39:15So, on balance, rather than being an attempted suicide,
00:39:17wasn't this more an attempt to draw attention to her distress over a broken love affair?
00:39:21I know, but there'd been other occasions.
00:39:23We don't know about other occasions, Mr. Griffin.
00:39:26Just this one.
00:39:29Well, I suppose...
00:39:31I suppose you'd have to argue that out.
00:39:33Indeed you would, Mr. Griffin.
00:39:36Indeed you would.
00:39:38That concludes the case of the prosecution, my lord.
00:39:40I see.
00:39:42Very well, Mr. Griffin.
00:39:43You may stand down.
00:39:52For my first witness, I call the defendant, Natasha Marlowe.
00:40:03Take the testament in your right hand and read aloud the words on this card.
00:40:19I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give should be the truth,
00:40:24the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:40:28You are Natasha Marlowe, and you live at 5 Darlington Road, Milbury, Fulchester.
00:40:33Yes.
00:40:34Miss Marlowe, it has been testified that on the night of July the 7th,
00:40:37you were drinking heavily,
00:40:38and that you also took two dosages of drugs,
00:40:41some LSD at Alan Griffin's penthouse,
00:40:43and then a large red pill at the studio.
00:40:46Is all that correct?
00:40:47Yes.
00:40:49Could you speak a little louder, please, Miss Marlowe?
00:40:52And face the jury when you're answering my questions.
00:40:54It's they who must hear your replies.
00:40:57Yes.
00:40:58Yes.
00:40:59I took the acid at Alan's place,
00:41:01and then again at Peter's.
00:41:03Well, I thought that red pill was just acid.
00:41:06It's also been testified that you were required to pose
00:41:08for some retakes of nude photographs that you refused,
00:41:12and that when the photographer, Peter Best, tried to insist,
00:41:14you shouted at her,
00:41:16I won't do those shots, I won't,
00:41:18I'll kill you before I do.
00:41:20Now, is that also correct?
00:41:22Oh, I think I said something like that.
00:41:24Yes, I'm not sure of the exact words.
00:41:27I didn't mean it, not at all.
00:41:30Everything, everything's a bit confused, Trin.
00:41:33What clear memories do you have about that night?
00:41:36I remember about the LSD.
00:41:39I remember that perfectly.
00:41:41But other things, I...
00:41:43Well, before we talk about that night,
00:41:45can you tell us why you objected to doing the retakes of the nude photographs?
00:41:49Why?
00:41:50Well, it seems a little unreasonable of you.
00:41:53You'd already done the session.
00:41:55It was only a question of posing again for one or two pictures
00:41:57that hadn't been quite successful.
00:41:59Wasn't that right?
00:42:00Well, it wasn't till after I'd done the session
00:42:04that I saw what the pictures were like.
00:42:06They didn't please you?
00:42:08I thought they were awful.
00:42:09Dirty.
00:42:11Had you ever done nude photographs before, Miss Monty?
00:42:14No, no.
00:42:15This was the first time.
00:42:18I only did them because Peter said I should.
00:42:20Said you should?
00:42:21She said it would be good for my career.
00:42:23And it was crazy, really.
00:42:26I didn't want to make a success as a model,
00:42:28especially that sort.
00:42:30But modelling is your profession, isn't it?
00:42:32No.
00:42:33Oh, no.
00:42:34No, I'm really an actress.
00:42:36I only do that sort of work to pay the rent.
00:42:38An actress?
00:42:40Yeah.
00:42:40Yeah.
00:42:41I trained at the Netta Parsons Drama School
00:42:43three terms to take the diploma.
00:42:46I had one or two little jobs in television,
00:42:50you know, little bits.
00:42:51But work's very hard to come by.
00:42:53Now, about the LSD,
00:42:55have you been taking that for long?
00:42:57On and off for about two years.
00:42:59Why, Miss Marlowe?
00:43:01Why?
00:43:02Didn't it ever occur to you
00:43:03it was rather a silly thing to be doing?
00:43:05Well, I never worried about getting caught,
00:43:08if that's what you mean.
00:43:09No, it helped so much, you see.
00:43:12It helped with problems.
00:43:14I always had good trips,
00:43:15and when that happens, it's marvellous.
00:43:17You're so happy.
00:43:19You see things clearly.
00:43:21But then Bill said it was bad
00:43:23to get dependent on drugs,
00:43:24so I started a woman.
00:43:26Bill? Miss Marlowe?
00:43:27Bill. Bill Archdeacon, my boyfriend.
00:43:30He said I was becoming...
00:43:33habituated,
00:43:35and I ought to do something about it.
00:43:37So in the end, I went to a clinic.
00:43:39Oh, which clinic was that, Miss Marlowe?
00:43:41St John of the Cross Clinic
00:43:42at Parchester South Hospital.
00:43:45How does it happen that on the night of July the 7th,
00:43:48we find you taking an LSD dose
00:43:49followed by some kind of mixed pill?
00:43:53Well, I hadn't managed to come off the drug completely.
00:43:57I still took trips.
00:43:59Anyway, the night of Alan's party.
00:44:02Well, that was to do with Bill, really, you see.
00:44:05The spit-up had just happened,
00:44:06and I was properly depressed about it.
00:44:08So I suddenly thought I needed acid.
00:44:11Why did you and Bill Archdeacon split up?
00:44:14He got to think I was stupid.
00:44:17Stupid?
00:44:19Yeah.
00:44:20Well, he wrote books and scripts and things,
00:44:23and he just got to think that I was half-witted.
00:44:26He said I was silly to go on making out I was an actress
00:44:29when I never got any work.
00:44:30Well, he said I was especially silly
00:44:33to let myself fall into the clutches of people like Peter Best.
00:44:36Fall into the clutches?
00:44:37What did he mean by that?
00:44:38Yeah.
00:44:39Well, I owed Peter money.
00:44:41A lot?
00:44:43Yeah, quite a bit.
00:44:44She did advance me against work I might do for her one day.
00:44:48I don't think she meant to do any more than just help me,
00:44:51but it built up.
00:44:53In the end,
00:44:54well, that's how the nude session came about.
00:44:56I just had to agree to it in order to work off some of the money.
00:45:00Against your better judgment?
00:45:01I should say.
00:45:03That sort of thing gives me the creeps, really.
00:45:05Why?
00:45:07I don't know.
00:45:08It just does.
00:45:09I don't like to think of my...
00:45:11the people looking at me that way, I suppose.
00:45:13Never have.
00:45:14Now, my next question is very important, Miss Marlowe.
00:45:18Did you hate Peter Best
00:45:20for the obvious hold she had over you?
00:45:23Hated her?
00:45:24Yes.
00:45:24No, no.
00:45:27Peter was all right, really.
00:45:30It was...
00:45:30it was Bill going off like that.
00:45:32That hurt me.
00:45:34To come back to the night of Peter Best's death, Miss Marlowe,
00:45:37you went back to the studio with Miss Best
00:45:40after Alan Griffin's party, is that right?
00:45:42Yes.
00:45:43I was high on drink and acid.
00:45:46Both.
00:45:47I probably wouldn't have made it to my own place.
00:45:49So she said,
00:45:50come to the studio.
00:45:53But as soon as we got in the door,
00:45:54she said,
00:45:55what about those retakes?
00:45:57Let's do them now.
00:45:58This took you by surprise, did it?
00:46:01Yes.
00:46:02So what did you reply?
00:46:04I...
00:46:04I don't know exactly.
00:46:05My head was going round.
00:46:07But I know I told her
00:46:09I wasn't doing any nude shots.
00:46:11Not then,
00:46:12nor ever again.
00:46:13And what happened next, Miss Marlowe?
00:46:15I don't know.
00:46:19This is where it starts getting confused.
00:46:21I suddenly heard Peter's voice saying,
00:46:25well, go on, take it.
00:46:27And I looked down and saw the red pill in the palm of my hand.
00:46:31I was sitting cross-legged on the floor
00:46:33and Peter was opposite me.
00:46:34And Peter had some capsules that she was breaking open,
00:46:37letting the powder fall into a drink.
00:46:40This surprised me because I never knew her to take anything.
00:46:42So I...
00:46:45I took the red pill.
00:46:49And then?
00:46:55Peter was thrashing about on the floor.
00:46:59There were bangs and crashes.
00:47:02She'd pulled a sheet off the studio couch
00:47:05and was dragging it around with her.
00:47:07I said,
00:47:08stop it, Peter, you're in danger.
00:47:10That seemed to me a funny thing to say.
00:47:14But all of a sudden I could see why I said it.
00:47:19Coming across the studio.
00:47:24Yes, Miss Marlowe?
00:47:28There were the slugs.
00:47:32Just the way I told it to the doctor next morning.
00:47:35Dozens of slugs.
00:47:39Huge.
00:47:39Filthy things.
00:47:46You don't know what it was like.
00:47:50It was real.
00:47:52Real.
00:47:53I didn't think
00:47:54I'm having a trip.
00:47:56Nothing like that.
00:47:58I just knew there were these slugs
00:48:00coming towards me.
00:48:03They made a
00:48:03queer kind of sound.
00:48:06A gasping sound.
00:48:08I couldn't move.
00:48:13But I had to fight them.
00:48:17I just had to make sure I lived.
00:48:23By killing them.
00:48:25The case of the Queen versus Marlowe will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.
00:48:50The trial of Natasha Marlowe, fashion model accused of killing Peter Best, the photographer,
00:48:58today enters its final stages.
00:49:00Evidence given by Dr. Martin Stanislas, forensic expert, indicates that Miss Best died of suffocation, a sheet rammed down her throat.
00:49:21Alan Griffin, girly magazine publisher, has testified that at a party he gave the night before Miss Best's death, Natasha Marlowe was upset about some nude poses she was supposed to do for one of his journals, and under the influence of both alcohol and LSD, threatened to kill Miss Best.
00:49:38As I understand it, Miss Marlowe, you say that on the night in question you'd taken drugs and did not have a normal understanding of what was going on.
00:49:45I was on a trip, yeah.
00:49:47You explain this trip by saying that you'd taken a profusion of drugs.
00:49:50Now, when you were being questioned by your counsel just now, you knew that if it could be established that you were out of your senses at all material times, like a sleepwalker, you could not be convicted of murder.
00:49:59You knew that, didn't you?
00:50:00I suppose I did, yes.
00:50:02I expect somebody told you about it.
00:50:04And yet you remember just enough to suggest that Peter Best killed herself.
00:50:07Come now, Miss Marlowe, you remember it all, don't you?
00:50:09So why don't you tell it?
00:50:10But I don't.
00:50:11Not really, only about the bad trip.
00:50:13But that really won't do, Miss Marlowe, because you've just now told us that when the two of you got back to the studio that night, Peter Best asked you again to do the nude shots.
00:50:20Peter Best took LSD out of the capsules.
00:50:22Peter Best thrashed about on the floor, dragging a sheet behind her.
00:50:25In other words, in a period of supposed total amnesia, you remember just enough.
00:50:32I don't know what you mean.
00:50:33I mean that your memories tie up all the loose ends far too neatly, Miss Marlowe.
00:50:38That's the way it was.
00:50:40Now, you tell us that when Peter Best asked you again to do the nude shots, you refused.
00:50:44Not then, or ever again.
00:50:47Well, yes, I've made up my mind.
00:50:49Why, then, did you take up most of your clothing and change into a robe?
00:50:53A robe and a pair of briefs is all you were found to be wearing the next morning, Miss Marlowe.
00:50:57Why was that?
00:51:02I don't know.
00:51:04Maybe it was to feel better for the LSD trip.
00:51:09I can't answer the question, really.
00:51:10Can't you?
00:51:11Do you really expect this court to believe that Peter Best could have pushed a sheet eight inches down her own throat and caused her own death?
00:51:18Well, I didn't do it. I know I didn't.
00:51:20How do you know you didn't if you remember so little?
00:51:23It wasn't really a bad LSD trip you were experiencing that evening, was it, Miss Marlowe?
00:51:27It was an attack of wild hatred against the woman who had a hold over you.
00:51:30That's a lie!
00:51:31Your fingerprints were found on that piece of rubber hosing, Exhibit 1 over there, which also contained fragments of Peter Best's hair and could have been used to cause her injuries.
00:51:39How do you explain that?
00:51:40I don't...
00:51:41I can't.
00:51:43Well, here's what fits the facts, Miss Marlowe.
00:51:45The facts of the testimony so far.
00:51:47Peter Best did take LSD that night, perhaps to keep you company, perhaps to coax you into doing the nude shots after all.
00:51:53You took off your clothes, even began to pose.
00:51:55But then something happened.
00:51:57Perhaps the effect of the drugs you'd taken at the party began to wear off.
00:51:59Perhaps something else happened that you don't care to tell us about.
00:52:02And you attacked Peter Best.
00:52:04All your feeling against her coming out, beating her wildly with that length of rubber hose.
00:52:08It's all lies!
00:52:09And then you suffocated her, pushing the sheet down her mouth as she lay half-dazed on the floor.
00:52:14Oh, it was a struggle inasmuch as she was a stronger woman than you.
00:52:17Equipment got broken, a camera was damaged, and you deliberately destroyed the film, didn't you?
00:52:21You tore it out, spoiling its images before setting it apparently innocently aside in the waste place.
00:52:26No! No, no, no, no!
00:52:28Because that film was evidence above all else of Peter Best's hold over you.
00:52:32No! It isn't true!
00:52:35You can't say things like that! It isn't true! None of it!
00:52:40And it was then that you took the big red pill, Miss Marlowe, to hide your guilt in a trip.
00:52:47This big red pill, where did you get it?
00:52:51Get it?
00:52:53Yes.
00:52:53Usual sauce. You're a pushers.
00:53:01You were very upset when you had a rift with your boyfriend, weren't you?
00:53:04Did this have anything to do with Peter Best?
00:53:16Bill didn't think Peter would be...
00:53:18He wanted me to stop working for her altogether.
00:53:22So, indirectly, Peter Best broke up a relationship that meant more to you than anything else in the world.
00:53:28And that was one more reason for your hating her, wasn't it?
00:53:31No, no!
00:53:33I never hated Peter.
00:53:36It was crazy what Bill asked. He didn't understand. Nobody does.
00:53:41Peter Best was the only person who'd give me any kind of work, you see.
00:53:46So, I had to stick to her.
00:53:49Otherwise...
00:53:55Otherwise, I'd never get to be an actress.
00:54:01Thank you, Miss Marlowe.
00:54:02No further questions, but not...
00:54:04May the defendant now be curious, my lord.
00:54:07Yes, of course, Mr. Lodderby.
00:54:08You will return to the dock, Miss Marlowe.
00:54:19I call Sister Joanna Forbush.
00:54:23Sister Joanna Forbush, please.
00:54:24Sister Joanna Forbush, M.B., of the Medical Missionaries of St. Anne.
00:54:28I am.
00:54:28I am.
00:54:29I am.
00:54:30I am.
00:54:31I am.
00:54:32I am.
00:54:33I am.
00:54:34I am.
00:54:35I am.
00:54:36I am.
00:54:37I am.
00:54:38I am.
00:54:39Well, it was the brainchild of one of the members of my order.
00:54:42If that's not true, please.
00:54:43Sit in your right hand and read aloud the words on this card.
00:54:45I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth,
00:54:47and nothing but the truth.
00:54:49You are Sister Joanna Forbush, M.B., of the Medical Missionaries of St. Anne.
00:54:53I am.
00:54:54Are you also a graduate in social science, and do you give voluntary service at the St.
00:54:58John of the Cross Clinic for Drug Addiction at Fullchester South Hospital?
00:55:02All that is correct.
00:55:03Is the clinic a religious foundation, Sister?
00:55:06Well, it was the brainchild of one of the members of my order.
00:55:09If that's what you mean.
00:55:11But many of the people who work with us have no religious affiliations.
00:55:14I see.
00:55:15Do you know the defendant in this case, Natasha Marlowe?
00:55:18Yes.
00:55:19Natasha came to me last year for a three-month period with an LSD habituation problem.
00:55:24I suppose I saw her five or six times.
00:55:27Sister, today Miss Marlowe is charged with murder.
00:55:30And it's been testified that on the night when the events occurred which led to her arrest,
00:55:34she was heavily under the influence of LSD.
00:55:37Now, can you tell the court what progress she'd made during her period of treatment with you?
00:55:41Well, habituation is a special sort of problem.
00:55:45It isn't the same thing as addiction.
00:55:47You can't, in fact, become truly addicted to LSD.
00:55:50So the subject never feels himself in the same critical state of dependence as the addict does.
00:55:55Natasha simply wanted to come off the drug and really did very well at first.
00:56:00But there were relapses.
00:56:02Which is quite usual, is it?
00:56:03Oh, yes.
00:56:04If, as you say, you can't become truly addicted to LSD, what's the principal danger of it as a drug?
00:56:10Well, mainly that it's no respecter of persons.
00:56:14It creates a world of illusion.
00:56:18And some people find they come to crave that just as powerfully as an addict craves heroin, shall we say.
00:56:24This is ultimately disabling.
00:56:27Some personalities ought never to be like near LSD.
00:56:30What personality types would they be, sister?
00:56:33Oh, schizoids, paranoids, the emotionally disturbed, generally.
00:56:38Would that include, say, attempted suicides?
00:56:41Well, I should think so.
00:56:43Such persons probably constitute the highest risk group of all, in fact.
00:56:47They show a tendency towards bad trips, and self-injury is a fairly consistent feature of that.
00:56:52Did you observe any signs of emotional disturbance in Natasha Marlowe during the time she was attending the clinic?
00:56:59No.
00:57:00No.
00:57:01Not in the clinical sense, anyway.
00:57:02I thought Natasha was emotionally immature, but basically stable.
00:57:07She turned to LSD because of various insecurities, and I wanted most earnestly to give it up again.
00:57:13Her main motive seemed to be to please her boyfriend, and I found that encouraging.
00:57:18It was an outgoing thing to do, and it even seemed to me Natasha was wanting to form a generous, perhaps permanent relationship.
00:57:25Now, did Miss Marlowe ever mention to you the photographer, Peter Best?
00:57:29Yes.
00:57:30Yes, she did, on several occasions.
00:57:33How did she speak of her, exactly?
00:57:35Was she afraid of her, or did she dislike her?
00:57:39Oh, no.
00:57:40In the main, she seemed concerned to stress how grateful she was to her.
00:57:46How grateful she was to her?
00:57:48Yes.
00:57:49Natasha very earnestly desired to make a career in the entertainment industry, you see, and she thought the modelling work she was doing for Peter Best was helping towards this.
00:57:58Did Miss Marlowe tell you of any difficulties that occurred with, er, Miss Best?
00:58:04Well, there was something about some nude poses Natasha felt she'd been more or less compelled to do, yes.
00:58:10I simply told her she mustn't allow herself to be used.
00:58:13But did Miss Marlowe appear to hate Miss Best for having made her do something she didn't want to?
00:58:18Why, no, no, she seemed to understand Miss Best's motives rather too well for my liking.
00:58:24She said photographers had to do that sort of thing now and again, and since she was a model, she expected she should cooperate willingly.
00:58:31I disagreed.
00:58:33Later, when a rift with her boyfriend occurred, Natasha came to see me in deep depression.
00:58:39I tried to encourage her to look at what was positive in her life, and it was then she said,
00:58:44There's always Peter Best, I suppose. Peter is my only friend now.
00:58:50There's always Peter Best. Peter is my only friend now.
00:58:57She didn't then in any sense appear to blame Miss Best for the split up with her boyfriend?
00:59:02No, never once.
00:59:03Nor, as you say, give any signs of hating her.
00:59:07Thank you, sister.
00:59:09Oh, would you remain there, please?
00:59:12Sister Paul Bush, it's been established that on the night Peter Best died, Natasha Marlowe took a normal LSD pill.
00:59:19And that later she took another large red pill, the contents of which are doubtful.
00:59:23I see, yes.
00:59:24This is probably what we now know as a mixed pill.
00:59:27At the clinic, do you not warn people against the dangers of such cocktails?
00:59:30We certainly make people aware of their existence, yes.
00:59:33Did you make Natasha Marlowe so aware?
00:59:35I imagine so.
00:59:36So she was behaving irresponsibly, wasn't she, when she took the large red pill?
00:59:39Natasha was deeply upset over the ending of her love affair, over many things.
00:59:44Yes, of course, sister.
00:59:45Now, to come to what she apparently said to you about the nude poses,
00:59:48that photographers were required to do this sort of thing from time to time,
00:59:52and that since she was a model...
00:59:54Sister Paul Bush, is there something you haven't told us about Peter Best and Natasha Marlowe?
01:00:04There is, isn't there?
01:00:06I take it I do not have to remind a woman of your convictions that she is speaking under oath.
01:00:11Well, that's nonsense.
01:00:13I've told the truth throughout.
01:00:15I've answered all questions openly.
01:00:17All the questions you've been asked, yes.
01:00:18Well, I'll put another one to you.
01:00:20What precisely did you take Natasha Marlowe to mean when she said,
01:00:24Peter is my only friend now?
01:00:26Why, at the time that with her boyfriend gone, she had only Peter Best to turn to.
01:00:31As I've explained...
01:00:32At the time, yes.
01:00:33But now, now, Sister Paul Bush.
01:00:34You think something different now, don't you?
01:00:36Sister Paul Bush, if you do know something of relevance to this case,
01:00:41I'm afraid I must insist that you tell us.
01:00:44The witness promises to tell the whole truth, you know, not just to answer questions.
01:00:51It's something that only came up a day or two ago, in fact, at the clinic.
01:00:55I was hopeful it wouldn't arise.
01:00:58From a completely independent source,
01:01:00we've learned that Peter Best in her lifetime was a drug handler, a pusher.
01:01:05She supplied many addicts and habitués.
01:01:07Among them, we have reason to believe, Natasha Marlowe.
01:01:28Well, Mr Larrabee?
01:01:29Thank you, my lord.
01:01:30It was necessary for me to confer with my client.
01:01:31As you'll understand, this new evidence came as something of a surprise to me.
01:01:36Now, it's your belief, is it, Sister Paul Bush, that when Miss Marlowe said,
01:01:42Peter is my only friend, she meant that Peter was the source of the drugs
01:01:48which would enable her to escape from her unhappiness.
01:01:51That is what I believe now.
01:01:53Did you inform the police that Peter Best was a pusher?
01:01:57No.
01:01:58No, I didn't.
01:01:59I've never told anyone until today.
01:02:02Well, how pray did you become aware that Peter Best had been a drug pusher?
01:02:07Well, our clinic isn't exactly a detective organisation,
01:02:11but sometimes an addict will tell us something about his sources,
01:02:14and then we can help the police.
01:02:16In this case, a young man came in with a list of his suppliers over the last five years.
01:02:20It tied in with other scraps of information we had, other statements from patients.
01:02:25But, inasmuch as Peter Best was dead, I...
01:02:29Yes, thank you, Sister.
01:02:31Mr. Bright.
01:02:32I've no further question to this witness, my Lord.
01:02:34I've no re-examination, my Lord.
01:02:36You may stand down, Mr. Watford.
01:02:42With your permission, my Lord, I should like to recall to the witness box
01:02:45the defendant, Natasha Marlowe.
01:02:47I must remind you that you're still under oath, Miss Marlowe.
01:03:05Yes.
01:03:06Miss Marlowe, is it true that Peter Best was, in fact, supplying you with drugs?
01:03:12Miss Marlowe?
01:03:15You don't understand.
01:03:16It wasn't like that it was...
01:03:17Please.
01:03:18Yes or no?
01:03:19Yes.
01:03:20Yes, it's true.
01:03:22With your complete supply?
01:03:24With a mixed pill, even that?
01:03:26I see.
01:03:29Miss Marlowe, why have you kept this intelligence to yourself?
01:03:34I don't know.
01:03:36I suppose I...
01:03:37I suppose I thought that...
01:03:39Yes, Miss Marlowe?
01:03:41Well, it'd be better if I said nothing,
01:03:44since nobody else knew, I mean.
01:03:47Might...
01:03:48Might even go against me if I spoke.
01:03:51Was this, then, how you came to be in debt to Miss Best?
01:03:54Not through borrowing money, but through receiving drugs?
01:03:57Yes.
01:03:59Miss Marlowe, I've already asked you this question once before in this trial,
01:04:02but clearly I'll have to ask it you again.
01:04:05Did you hate Peter Best for the hold she had over you?
01:04:10No, no, no.
01:04:11It just wasn't like that.
01:04:13I like acid.
01:04:14I had good trips.
01:04:16Then there was Bill.
01:04:18Bill wanted me to get off drugs.
01:04:20So I...
01:04:21I tried.
01:04:22I really tried.
01:04:23And he went away.
01:04:26Then there was just acid again.
01:04:29Why should I hate Peter Best?
01:04:32She helped me.
01:04:34I meant it.
01:04:35I really meant what I said to Sister at the clinic that time.
01:04:39Peter Best's my only friend now.
01:04:42Who else?
01:04:46Thank you, Miss Marlowe.
01:04:47That's all.
01:04:49Miss Marlowe, we learn at length that Peter Best was supplying you with drugs.
01:04:53Yes.
01:04:54And numerous other people as well, presumably.
01:04:56I suppose so.
01:04:57Did she take drugs herself?
01:04:58No, not as a rule.
01:04:59She's most unusual for pushers to take drugs personally, isn't it?
01:05:02Too dangerous.
01:05:03Yes.
01:05:04And yet you expect us to believe that on the night she died,
01:05:05she took the contents of two LSD capsules.
01:05:08Look, Peter did crack those capsules into the glass and drink it.
01:05:14It was queer, but she did.
01:05:16I know.
01:05:17I remember it clear as day.
01:05:19You wanted to get off LSD in order to keep your boyfriend, didn't you?
01:05:22You were attending the clinic for that reason.
01:05:23Yes.
01:05:24And yet here was this woman with a vested interest in keeping you on LSD.
01:05:27Quite plainly, you couldn't succeed in breaking your habituation
01:05:30and keeping your boyfriend until you got rid of her.
01:05:32That's what you thought, isn't it?
01:05:33No!
01:05:34No wonder your boyfriend lost patience and broke with you.
01:05:37No wonder he hasn't been called to this court to give evidence today, in fact.
01:05:41He might have had things far too pointed to say about Peter Best
01:05:44and your true feelings towards her.
01:05:46My lord, that is a completely unjustified comment.
01:05:48Had the defence seen any point in calling Mr. Archdeacon,
01:05:51they certainly would have done so.
01:05:52Yes, Mr. Fry, please confine yourself to putting facts.
01:05:56I think you should withdraw that comment.
01:05:58I do withdraw the comment, my lord.
01:06:01With apologies to my learned friend.
01:06:04No further questions, Mrs. Marlow.
01:06:06That completes the case for the defence, my lord.
01:06:09Very well, Miss Marlow.
01:06:10You will return to the dock.
01:06:12Mr. Fry.
01:06:13May I please, Your Lordship?
01:06:14Members of the jury, in considering your verdict, I would ask you to keep firmly in your mind the following three facts.
01:06:30One, Natasha Marlow was indebted to Peter Best in that she needed drugs and Peter Best supplied them.
01:06:37Two, on the 7th of July, Peter Best told Alan Griffin that she would supply some pornographic photographs
01:06:43of Natasha Marlow that she had screamed, I won't do those shots, I'll kill you before I do.
01:06:50Three, the next morning Peter Best was dead, and Natasha Marlow was in the studio with her.
01:06:55So, the most important question you have to ask yourself is, was Natasha Marlow on a trip the night Peter Best died?
01:07:02A trip that would have rendered her harmless?
01:07:04Or was she still, because the drugs and things she'd taken at the party were wearing off, capable of murder?
01:07:12Now, Miss Marlow claims that at the studio she clearly remembers Peter Best taking LSD, rolling on the floor, bruising herself, dragging a sheet.
01:07:20Isn't it odd that she should remember just enough to suggest that Peter Best killed herself and no more?
01:07:27And there are two things here that puzzle me, members of the jury.
01:07:30One of them is this sheet that Peter Best is supposed to have swallowed.
01:07:33Now, do you think that anybody could push a sheet eight inches down their own throat and continue doing this until death occurred?
01:07:42I don't.
01:07:43And the forensic expert, Dr. Stanislaus, said that such an eventuality was quite outside the bounds of possibility.
01:07:50Is it not much more likely that somebody else pushed this sheet down her throat?
01:07:55Somebody who wished to harm her?
01:07:57And who else was there but Natasha Marlow?
01:08:00Now, the other thing that worries me is this length of rubber hosing over here in exhibit one,
01:08:04which my learned friend has so studiously ignored.
01:08:07Dr. Stanislaus said that the injuries to Miss Best were consistent with her having been beaten about the head and body by this hideous weapon,
01:08:15which, you will remember, contained fragments of hair from the dead woman's scalp and a single set of fingerprints, those of Natasha Marlow.
01:08:22Does not this suggest to you that Natasha Marlow, in a frenzy of destruction, attacked the woman who held her in subjection
01:08:29and, having failed to silence her with blows from the hosepipe, suffocated her while she lay on the floor.
01:08:36Natasha Marlow had the motive, the means and the opportunity to kill the woman who was alone with her in the studio that night.
01:08:44And on the evidence you have heard, members of the jury, I submit you are bound to find her guilty.
01:08:51Mr. Lottweb.
01:08:54Mr. Lottweb.
01:08:55Mr. Lottweb.
01:08:56OK.
01:08:57Members of the jury, for most us it is difficult to imagine the terrors of a bad trip on LSD,
01:09:03what has been described on Dr. Stanislaus as a journey into hell.
01:09:08But of one thing we can be certain, it would be our own psyche we'd be exploring, our own individual, personal hell.
01:09:19Now this is the point I want to make.
01:09:21it is not possible for a person under the influence of LSD to do something that they
01:09:28hadn't already wanted to do. And I put it to you that there is no evidence to show that
01:09:33Miss Marlow wanted to kill Peter Best. In fact, all the evidence shows that she was
01:09:40her only friend and her only source of supply for LSD. But there is evidence to show that
01:09:48Peter Best wanted to kill herself. And indeed, on one occasion, she slashed her wrists. Now,
01:09:53I put it to you, ladies and gentlemen, that someone who can deliberately, with full awareness,
01:10:00cut her own wrists so that the blood flows, such a person is fully capable of choking herself
01:10:07to death when her mind and senses are out of control because of a massive dose of LSD.
01:10:13Doesn't it seem a strange method of murder to stuff a sheet down someone's throat? But
01:10:22does it require much imagination to picture someone on a bad trip trying to eat it, to
01:10:29cram it into her mouth?
01:10:31I contend that Miss Best, in such a state, was capable of any such self-injury.
01:10:42However, it is not for me to prove that Peter Best killed herself. Rather, it is for my learned
01:10:48friend to prove that Miss Marlow killed her. And this, I contend, he singularly has failed
01:10:53to do. I want you to remember the words of Dr. Stanislas. There is no recorded case of a normal
01:11:01LSD subject laying violent or murderous hands on a fellow human being. But, as the doctor also said,
01:11:10there have been a number of cases of suicides. Members of the jury, you have no alternative
01:11:16but to find Natasha Marlow not guilty.
01:11:23Now, members of the jury, the issue before you is quite clear. You must decide whether or not
01:11:31Natasha Marlow caused Peter Best's death. If she did not, then plainly she is innocent and she must
01:11:37be acquitted. If she did, and if the prosecution proved beyond all reasonable doubt that she did,
01:11:44then she may be guilty of either murder or manslaughter. Now, she will be guilty of murder
01:11:52if you decide that, in spite of the drugs she took, she was still capable of forming an intent
01:11:58to kill. She will be guilty of manslaughter if she killed Miss Best whilst she, Miss Marlow,
01:12:06was so under the influence of drugs that one cannot say of her that she could form any intent
01:12:12to kill. But she will be guilty of no offence at all if you think that she was so drugged
01:12:19that her acts were involuntary, like those of a sleepwalker.
01:12:24You will now retire and consider your verdict. All stand.
01:12:40Members of the jury, will your foreman please stand?
01:12:45Just answer this question, yes or no. Have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?
01:12:50Yes. Do you find the prisoner Natasha Marlow guilty or not guilty of the murder of Peter
01:12:56Best? Not guilty. Do you find the prisoner Natasha Marlow guilty or not guilty of the manslaughter
01:13:02of Peter Best? Not guilty.
01:13:04Yes. Do you?
01:13:29Yes.
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