Cold Case UK Season 1 Episode 1

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Transcript

00:00Tunbridge Wells. Two brutal murders leaves one peaceful town gripped by fear.

00:08Two women between the age of 20 and 25 were both murdered.

00:13There would have been huge priorities to try and capture that offender very, very quickly.

00:19The killer had stalked these young women for quite some time.

00:24And like a predator in the wild, stalking its prey,

00:27he just waited for the right moment and the right opportunity to strike.

00:33The police would have been frustrated because as time went on,

00:36they would have been thinking, we haven't caught him yet.

00:38But they'd also be very fearful that another murder could happen.

00:42When all leads are exhausted, the search for the killer reaches a dead end.

00:46But decades later, a new cold case team emerges.

00:50In 2008, our role was to look at historic undetected and resolved murders and rapes within the county of Kent.

01:00And our intention was to try and identify the offender for the horrific rapes and murders of both of those girls.

01:08The cold case detectives eventually had a number one suspect.

01:13And they knocked on his door.

01:15Morning, this place.

01:19I don't need to come and speak to you.

01:21This was a level of offending, a level of depravity that went way beyond anything that we've seen.

01:29The case officer said, if you thought the murders were bad, what we found out is just unthinkable, unimaginable.

01:38It's horrific.

01:40I've often heard the word monster being used to describe this man.

01:46But does the word monster go far enough?

02:14Tunbridge Wells, or Royal Tunbridge Wells, as it's been known for over 100 years, was a big favourite of the royal family in the Victorian era.

02:23And it's best known as a spa town.

02:27This was a good place to live and to bring up a family.

02:34It was a low crime place, which created a sense of safety.

02:39There were sexual offences, of course.

02:42But in terms of things like murders, you know, those kind of things didn't come along often.

02:48In the summer of 1987, a horrific crime shatters the peace of Tunbridge Wells.

02:56The victim is 25-year-old Wendy Nell, a well-known local resident.

03:03She just was a young girl that was living her life, really.

03:08And she had a boyfriend and worked at Super Snaps.

03:12Wendy was a very popular young woman.

03:17She was well thought of by her work colleagues.

03:19She was seen as very good at her job.

03:21She was good at interacting with people.

03:23She was close to her family, and she had a close circle of friends, and she was well thought of.

03:28She had married young, and the marriage hadn't worked out.

03:33Wendy badly wanted to be in love and be married and start a family.

03:38But after her marriage ended, she was a little bit down, but she wanted to retain her independence.

03:43And she got herself a bedsit flat in the Guildford Road area of Tunbridge Wells.

03:52It was basically a place where she could lay her head at night, and it did for the time being.

03:59Guildford Road has very large houses.

04:02Almost all of them have been converted in one way or another into flats and bedsit.

04:07A very affluent-looking area within a short walk of the town centre.

04:12So a lot of people would walk to work.

04:15Wendy would work later at her job at Super Snaps, and often she was the last one there,

04:21and she would be on her own for a period of time, and she would have to lock up.

04:24She didn't particularly like this.

04:26She did feel a little bit unsafe being a woman on her own in these premises,

04:29especially as it got dark or as it got later into the evening.

04:32In fact, her boyfriend at the time would go and meet her there to walk her home, so she would feel safe.

04:37It's 11pm on the 22nd of June.

04:43Wendy was delivered home by her boyfriend on the back of his motorbike to her bedsit in Guildford Road.

04:52They parted company, no doubt amicably, and off she went inside.

04:57That was the last ever time she was seen.

05:03One of the things that Wendy had noticed about her flat was that there was a rear window that did not close properly

05:09because the latch had been painted over.

05:12The following morning, June the 23rd, Wendy does not show up to work.

05:23And this caused alarm amongst her colleagues because Wendy was a very good communicator.

05:28She was very good at turning up for her job.

05:31She was never really late, so it was very unlike her, and they were slightly perturbed at this.

05:37They attempted to contact Wendy herself.

05:41They had her landline telephone number, but they couldn't get a response.

05:45After a number of times of trying this, they contacted Wendy's boyfriend and explained the situation.

05:51He was very confused because he knew he had left her off safely the night before at around 11 o'clock.

05:56So he decided to straight away go to Wendy's flat.

06:04He tried to get in, but the door was locked.

06:08He then knew that he could go round the back and try and get into the property that way.

06:14And as he did so, when he reached the rear of the property, he noticed that rear window was open.

06:20And he thought that was strange, and he made his way into the flat where he found Wendy dead.

06:33There was blood on the walls, turmoil in the house, but on the bed there was this naked figure of his girlfriend,

06:41who had clearly been bludgeoned around the head and had also been strangled and sexually assaulted.

06:49The police arrived to the bed, sit straight away, and they decided to treat it then and there, obviously, as a murder on a crime scene.

06:59Wendy's father also arrived at the scene, and the police, bearing in mind they had to preserve the crime scene,

07:06could not let him in to the flat, but they confirmed to her father that Wendy was dead.

07:16After the crime scene is secured, police begin scouring the bedsit for evidence.

07:20This is a murder. We need to absolutely capture whatever forensic evidence that we can so that we can try and identify the offender.

07:30You know, back in the 80s, we were identifying people through blood.

07:33The initial CSIs would have gone there, they would have photographed everything meticulously,

07:39photographed Wendy in situ on her bed.

07:43They would have taken swabs for the blood spatter and whatever else they would have been picking up.

07:53As we now know through DNA, that could have been saliva, semen, hair,

07:58which could have been attributed to the offender.

08:02The first thing they discovered was that Wendy's body was sprawled,

08:06but slightly on her left side with her knees bent.

08:09It was almost as if she'd been placed there in some sort of meticulous way.

08:16There were some clues left scattered around the house, left by the killer.

08:21Firstly, there was a fingerprint in blood on a shopping bag belonging to Wendy.

08:27Then there were some missing keys and her diary, which clearly the killer had taken as trophies or for whatever memento.

08:34A partial footprint had been found on Wendy Nell's blouse in her room,

08:40and that was a Clark sports track trainer.

08:47Police next begin to appeal for witnesses along Guilford Road.

08:50The neighbours did not hear or report any screams or any signs of struggle or anything alarming coming from Wendy's flat.

09:02Now, that was interesting because you would expect with such a vicious attack the police would have heard this.

09:07But the police theory was that the killer had made his way into Wendy's flat through the rear window and had waited for Wendy to come home.

09:18Wendy also lacked any signs of defence wounds on her body, which would indicate that she was sleeping when the killer made his move and attacked her.

09:28The majority of murder victims are killed by someone they know.

09:34So in this instance, the police obviously question Wendy's then boyfriend quite extensively.

09:39He's the last one to see her alive. He is the one that finds her.

09:43So straight away, he is a suspect.

09:45He was in the premises, he'd found her there, but he was eliminated from the inquiry.

09:54But you still have to go through that process of visiting partners, associates, people who came up on the inquiry as peeping toms,

10:02who'd had convictions for sex offences, for burglaries and the like.

10:07So there was a whole host of people. I cannot convey what a massive inquiry this was.

10:13They also questioned her father, they also questioned her ex-husband and any males that she knew, and they were all eliminated.

10:26A young female victim and a dangerous sexual predator at large.

10:31Murder detectives have several clues and crucial evidence, but no leads.

10:36Will the killer evade capture long enough to strike again?

10:43For a lady who そう knew her and her husband had the case.

10:49DONNBRIDGE WELLS

10:53DONNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT, 1987.

10:55On June 23rd, 25-year-old Wendy Nell is found murdered in her bed set, victim of a sadistic and sexually-motivated attack.

11:0225-year-old Wendy Nell is found murdered in her bedsit,

11:05victim of a sadistic and sexually motivated attack.

11:09Investigators are hard at work trying to unmask her killer,

11:13who is still at large.

11:17That murder shook the community.

11:20There would have been huge priorities

11:23to try and capture that offender very, very quickly.

11:27A major crime unit, you know, experienced senior investigating officers

11:30would have been in charge.

11:32And, you know, there would have been a lot of media interest.

11:39The police haven't arrested anyone, they haven't charged anyone,

11:44they haven't solved the crime, they haven't caught the killer.

11:47There will be a very genuine fear

11:49within the minds of the investigating officers

11:52that this individual could strike again.

11:56Then, just five months later, on the 24th of November,

12:00another horrific attack takes place.

12:05Caroline Pearce is out for a night in the town with her friends.

12:09She gets a taxi back to her bedsit around midnight,

12:13and that is the last time she is seen.

12:17She fails to turn up to work the next day,

12:21and similar to Wendy's case, alarm bells start ringing.

12:24Police go to her bedsit, she isn't there, there's no sign of her,

12:29and her family are immediately concerned,

12:31and they know something is wrong.

12:35The belief has always been that she was attacked outside her house.

12:42Screams were heard just after the taxi had pulled away.

12:45Nobody acted on it, I suspect nobody thought that it could possibly mean

12:49that some poor girl was being abducted.

12:51But, clearly, she was attacked and abducted from her doorstep.

12:59Two women of very similar backgrounds and lifestyles,

13:04one dead, one missing,

13:06they thought for immediately, this is possibly linked.

13:09And certainly, when the media alert went out,

13:11it was pretty clear to the media as well

13:13that this was a possibly linked situation,

13:16that there was a man on the loose,

13:19capable of attacking young women.

13:22Women in their 20s,

13:23particularly those living on their own,

13:25were absolutely terrified.

13:28Three weeks after Carleen Pearce was missing,

13:30on the 15th of December,

13:33police receive a call.

13:35A body has been found 40 miles away

13:38from Tunbridge Wells in Romney Marsh.

13:43Romney Marsh is a very rural area.

13:47It's full of wetlands and fields,

13:49and it's extremely remote.

13:53A farmer out doing his work in the field,

13:56sitting in his tractor,

13:58looks down and sees,

14:00to the side of a field,

14:02in a water culvert,

14:03a body.

14:04The search for Carleen Pearce is over.

14:10When police examined Caroline's body,

14:13they found she, like Wendy,

14:15had been beaten around the head.

14:17She'd been strangled and raped

14:18before being left for dead.

14:23Body was clearly in the dranjitich,

14:26in a fetal position,

14:27in a similar way with her knees up,

14:30as Wendy had been found.

14:31Caroline was found 40 miles away.

14:39Why would they have discarded her body in a trench?

14:44She lay naked,

14:46but for wearing a pair of woolly black tights.

14:52Police immediately did a fingertip search of the area

14:57around Romney Marsh,

14:59going out from where Caroline's body was found.

15:01And they found Caroline's handbag.

15:03But, crucially,

15:05they noticed that Caroline's keys

15:08are missing from the handbag.

15:10And that's another similarity,

15:12that's another potential link

15:13between Wendy's murder and Caroline's murder,

15:15because Wendy Nell's keys

15:17were also missing from the crime scene.

15:19So that's something else

15:20the police are very interested in.

15:24Police were getting increasingly confident

15:26that the same man was responsible

15:27for both crimes,

15:29and they were very concerned,

15:30as were the women of the Kent area.

15:32They were very concerned

15:33that a killer was on the loose,

15:35targeting young women

15:36and sexually more evaded attacks.

15:39Who was this killer?

15:41Who was, at large,

15:42clearly, the police were struggling

15:44to find any lead to go on.

15:47There would have been

15:48very, very serious concerns

15:50that five months apart,

15:51two women,

15:52between the age of 20 and 25,

15:54were both murdered.

15:56And, you know,

15:56coming up to Christmas,

15:5715th of December,

15:58and finding a body discarded

16:01was absolutely horrendous.

16:03So the police would have been frustrated

16:06because as time went on,

16:09they would have been thinking,

16:10we need to catch this guy.

16:12We haven't caught him yet.

16:13But they'd also be very fearful

16:14that another murder could happen.

16:18There was no real attempt

16:19to conceal these crimes.

16:21He didn't care.

16:21These young women

16:22were mere objects to him.

16:24And he thought nothing

16:26about how he left them.

16:27He left them with no dignity.

16:29Caroline Pierce was 20.

16:30She lived just a mile away

16:34from Wendy Nail

16:35and also lived in a bed set.

16:38She was the manager

16:39of an American-style

16:41diner restaurant

16:42called Buster Brown's.

16:44She had a very close-knit

16:45circle of friends,

16:46many of whom she worked with.

16:48Her friends would say

16:49that she was the

16:50centre of the party.

16:52She liked to be

16:53where everybody else was.

16:54And she enjoyed life.

16:56She was at the start

16:59of her life, really,

17:00with lots of aspirations.

17:02This girl was so young

17:03when everything

17:04was taken away from her.

17:07When you're faced

17:08with things like that,

17:09you know that

17:10the female demograph

17:12of the population

17:13are just going to be

17:14running scared

17:14and not going to want

17:15to go out.

17:16They're going to have to

17:17start being cautious

17:18about telling husbands,

17:20boyfriends, partners,

17:21family, you know,

17:22where they're going,

17:23what time they're going to be.

17:24So it would have been

17:24really scary.

17:27Months go by

17:28and the killing

17:29seem to have ceased.

17:30But investigators

17:31are no closer

17:32to solving the double homicide.

17:34The community lives

17:35in fear of another attack.

17:39And as the days

17:40and the weeks

17:40and the months follow

17:41when there are no other

17:42crimes that are followed up,

17:44police are thinking

17:45and hoping

17:46that the offender

17:47has perhaps

17:49ended up in prison

17:50for another offence.

17:52The offender perhaps

17:53has went abroad.

17:56The offender perhaps

17:57has died.

17:59So there are a number

17:59of factors

18:00as to why

18:01a crime series

18:03suddenly stops.

18:07They never officially

18:08closed the case

18:09but it was inevitably

18:11wound down

18:12which came as

18:13a great disappointment

18:15to family and friends

18:17of the victims

18:18but was inevitable.

18:19They could not justify

18:21carrying on

18:22throwing

18:22so much resources

18:24of their limited budget

18:26into a case

18:27that had no new leads.

18:30Unfortunately

18:31this case

18:33goes cold.

18:34in June 1987

18:5625-year-old Wendy Nell

18:58is discovered murdered

18:59in her bedsit

19:00in Tunbridge Wells.

19:02Five months later

19:03in November

19:04that same year

19:0520-year-old Caroline Pierce

19:07is abducted

19:08from her nearby flat.

19:10Her body

19:11is discovered

19:11three weeks later

19:1240 miles away

19:13in the rural area

19:15of Romney.

19:16Both women

19:17had been sexually

19:18assaulted and strangled

19:19and police

19:20and police have long

19:20believed that this

19:21is the work

19:22of one killer.

19:23But with no suspect

19:24identified

19:25the case turns cold.

19:27But eight years later

19:28advancements

19:29in DNA technology

19:30offer newfound hope

19:32in catching the killer.

19:35In 1995

19:37the National DNA

19:39Database

19:40is established

19:41in the United Kingdom.

19:42Police had a trace

19:46suspect sample

19:47taken

19:48from the tights

19:50of Caroline Pierce

19:51but they had not

19:52at this point

19:53established

19:54a full DNA profile

19:55from that sample.

19:58But police

19:59had correctly

20:00collected

20:01the forensic samples

20:03from the duvet cover

20:04in Wendy's bed

20:05and that they got

20:06saliva from that

20:06so therefore

20:08they got a DNA profile

20:08and police

20:10put the DNA profile

20:12collected

20:13from the Wendy Nell

20:14crime scene

20:15into the database.

20:18But there were

20:18no direct hits

20:19on the database

20:21and by that mean

20:22the offender

20:23hadn't committed

20:25a crime

20:25and had his DNA loaded.

20:29Despite this

20:30remarkable progress

20:31investigators

20:32are unable

20:32to match the DNA

20:33and the case

20:34goes cold

20:35yet again.

20:37But a full

20:3813 years later

20:38a new team

20:40of detectives

20:40take on this case

20:41in a bid to find

20:42definitive proof

20:43that this is the work

20:44of a serial killer.

20:47Our role was

20:48to look at

20:50historic

20:50undetected

20:52unresolved murders

20:53and rapes

20:54within the county

20:55of Kent.

20:59In 2008

21:01when I was the DS

21:02on the team

21:03there was a few things

21:04that I wanted to focus on

21:06in terms of

21:06Wendy Nell and Caroline

21:07Pierce murders.

21:09One of my roles

21:11was to go and visit

21:12in this case

21:13Pam and Bill Nell.

21:15It's a very humbling

21:16experience because

21:18as much as you can see

21:20names and faces

21:21about a particular crime

21:23until you go

21:24and meet the family

21:25you realise

21:26you realise

21:26how it's torn

21:28their lives apart

21:29the loss

21:30of a loved one

21:31their child

21:32in such horrific

21:34circumstances

21:35they were so welcoming

21:37and they really wanted us

21:38to come in

21:39and have a cup of tea

21:40and they wanted to talk

21:41about Wendy

21:41and

21:43tell us

21:44a bit about her life

21:46they showed us pictures

21:50they shared

21:51different memories

21:52both of them

21:53had this pain

21:54on their face

21:55as if time had stood

21:56still

21:57when Wendy died

21:59and

22:00one of the things

22:01that will stick

22:01with me

22:02is

22:03Bill told me

22:04that it was his birthday

22:05when Wendy

22:07was murdered

22:08so his birthdays

22:09are never

22:10never were the same

22:11again

22:12Pam would say

22:14things like

22:14she kissed

22:16the photograph

22:17of Wendy

22:17when she went to bed

22:19every night

22:20and

22:21and then

22:23they both

22:24talked about

22:25the fact that

22:25their marriage

22:26ended

22:27when

22:27Wendy

22:28was murdered

22:29because

22:29they slept in

22:31different beds

22:32different rooms

22:33and they went about

22:34their business

22:34because it was

22:35a hole that

22:36nobody could fill

22:37I remember

22:38Pam telling me

22:39Wendy

22:40she wanted children

22:41you know

22:42she really wanted

22:42to enforce that

22:43when we visited her

22:44on different occasions

22:45when you meet the family

22:47it becomes a very

22:48human part

22:49of

22:51what you're actually

22:52trying to achieve

22:53it does become

22:54very human to you

22:55because you've got

22:56pictures of their

22:57other children

22:59grandchildren

22:59around the house

23:01and yet

23:02the absence was

23:03Wendy

23:03and

23:04and I think

23:05from that time

23:06you know

23:06I was

23:07I was just thinking

23:08you know

23:08with my team

23:08that we

23:09we should never forget

23:10what happened

23:11and we should

23:12try our best

23:13to try and

23:14bring the offender

23:15to justice

23:16the police

23:18to their credit

23:19would have stayed

23:20in contact

23:20with the family members

23:22of both girls

23:23not necessarily

23:24always to give them

23:26an update

23:27because in

23:27a lot of instances

23:28there was nothing

23:30to update

23:30but to just let them know

23:32and to reassure them

23:33that they were thinking

23:34of them

23:34that they hadn't

23:35give up

23:36and that they were

23:37still determined

23:37to get them justice

23:39the cold case unit

23:41combed through

23:42the case files

23:43from 1987

23:44and follow up

23:45inquiries or leads

23:46since

23:46their priority

23:48is to confirm

23:48the theory

23:49that the murders

23:50were carried out

23:51by the same individual

23:52if we can match

23:55the semen

23:55from the duvet

23:56that was covering

23:57Wendy Nell

23:58to semen

24:00if we can get it

24:01from the degraded material

24:02of the tights

24:03that Caroline Pierce

24:04was found wearing

24:06so if we could do that

24:07we would link them

24:08and that

24:09eureka moment

24:10for want of a better word

24:11came in March 2019

24:14they discover

24:16that the DNA profiles

24:18match

24:19the same man

24:22has killed both women

24:23they come up

24:25with a new idea

24:26this new idea

24:28is called

24:28familial DNA testing

24:31familial DNA testing

24:33is where

24:34you have

24:35a DNA profile

24:36that comes from

24:37a cluster

24:38of other DNA profiles

24:39and there are similarities

24:41amongst those

24:43different profiles

24:43that connect them

24:45together

24:45every car

24:48has a registration number

24:51the same way

24:52that everybody

24:52has a DNA profile

24:54DNA profiling

24:56works the same way

24:58working through

25:006.5 million profiles

25:02the police

25:05were able to bring

25:06a cluster of profiles

25:08down to under 100

25:11so they had

25:1290 specific suspects

25:15to work through

25:17these people

25:18are not

25:19an exact match

25:20if they were

25:21an exact match

25:22the police

25:22would go and arrest

25:23them straight away

25:23they have

25:24similar characteristics

25:26within their DNA profile

25:28so it is not them

25:29specifically the police

25:31are interested in

25:32but their relatives

25:33their family members

25:35because the closer

25:36you are to somebody

25:37family wise

25:39the more similar

25:40the DNA profile

25:41is

25:42it would be a process

25:45it would be a process of

25:45all those 90 people

25:48being briefed

25:49by the cold case

25:50investigation team

25:51they had all of the

25:52knowledge

25:53and experience

25:54and understanding

25:55about the crime scene

25:56stains

25:56and questions

25:57that we would want

25:58to ask people

25:59that we wanted to

26:01eliminate

26:01from the DNA

26:02when they start

26:06speaking to these

26:0690 people

26:08they are specifically

26:09asking them

26:09about their relatives

26:10what age

26:12are their male relatives

26:13what area

26:14do they come from

26:16what area

26:17were they living

26:17in 1987

26:18and it is through

26:20those lines of questioning

26:21that a suspect

26:23comes to their attention

26:25a man who had

26:29the most similar DNA

26:30to Wendy and Caroline's

26:31killer

26:31told the police

26:32that he had a brother

26:33who fitted the age range

26:34geographically

26:36lived in the area

26:37at the time

26:37and he gives the police

26:39his brother's name

26:39and the name

26:41is David Fuller

26:42Fuller had been

26:46in trouble with the police

26:47from an early age

26:48in school days

26:49he stole bikes

26:51set fire to property

26:52but when he grew up

26:54he was working

26:55as an electrician

26:56on the maintenance side

26:58first at the Kent

27:00and Sussex hospital

27:01in Tunbridge Wells

27:02and then secondly

27:03at the Tunbridge Wells

27:04hospital

27:04on its Pembry site

27:06he had full access

27:09anywhere on the site

27:10he would do

27:12whatever was asked

27:13with a fuse

27:14or a light bulb

27:15or whatever

27:15with a smile

27:16and with a minimum

27:17of fuss

27:18he was a member

27:21of cycling club

27:21went on cycling holidays

27:22he liked bird watch

27:24and he was a keen photographer

27:26a man with a settled

27:28home life

27:29a settled job

27:30surely he couldn't

27:32be a double murderer

27:33police look further

27:35into the background

27:36of general maintenance man

27:37David Fuller

27:38and find he's not

27:40as innocent

27:40as he may seem

27:41what the police

27:44particularly was attracted to

27:46was his convictions

27:47for what they called

27:49creeper burglaries

27:50burglary is an interesting

27:53offence

27:53in that it does

27:54transgress boundaries

27:55it involves going

27:56into someone's home

27:57or a premises

27:58and there are clear

27:59boundaries there

28:00he also offended

28:01by engaging in

28:02voyeuristic acts

28:03that means watching

28:04people without their

28:05consent

28:05usually in an

28:06intimate situation

28:07this is someone

28:09who gains entry

28:10often through a window

28:11to a property

28:12not necessarily

28:13with the intention

28:14of stealing property

28:15for financial gain

28:16but really just to

28:18look around

28:18even to the extent

28:20of just standing

28:21in a bedroom

28:21looking at the property

28:23owners asleep in bed

28:24and this

28:25lit up a huge

28:27big red light

28:29for the police

28:30saying

28:31this man is

28:32of particular interest

28:32the police were to find

28:40that these

28:41cycle routes

28:42that he took

28:43with his club members

28:44on holidays

28:45often crossed

28:47Romney Marsh

28:47and this was

28:53of interest to them

28:55as this was where

28:56Caroline had been

28:57dumped in the middle

28:58of nowhere

28:58Cleve

29:01the person

29:01who had dumped

29:02Caroline's body

29:03must have had

29:04some knowledge

29:05of the locality

29:06in the Romney Marsh

29:07area

29:08they had a name

29:10they had a number

29:10one suspect

29:11and on the 3rd of

29:13December

29:13pre-dawn

29:15they knocked

29:16on his door

29:16this man

29:2666 year old

29:28who'd lived

29:29for decades

29:29his quiet life

29:31he'd just sat there

29:32he is calm

29:34he doesn't protest

29:36you're under arrest

29:38and suspicion

29:38of the murders

29:39of Wendy Nell

29:40and Caroline Pearce

29:42in 1987

29:42do you understand?

29:44yes

29:45it was almost

29:47a meek acceptance

29:48right

29:49let me take you away now

29:50following Fuller's arrest

29:54police search his home

29:56for evidence

29:56and it's screwed to the back

29:58and it's screwed to the back

29:58of a chest of drawers

29:59and then hidden inside a wardrobe

30:01the detectives make an unimaginably disturbing discovery

30:04tunbridge wells in kent

30:23a cold case team

30:24have identified 66 year old maintenance man

30:27david fuller as a suspect

30:29as a suspect in the 1987 murders

30:30of 25 year old Wendy Nell

30:32and 20 year old Caroline Pearce

30:36police arrest him at his home in east sussex

30:41investigators are now searching his property

30:44for incriminating evidence

30:45tying him to the murders that terrorized tunbridge wells

30:49police were going through everything

30:53in this home

30:54looking for evidence

30:55linking him to Caroline and to Wendy

30:58in particular police were hoping to find

31:01the missing objects that were taken from Wendy

31:04her key ring and her diary

31:07and from Caroline

31:08the key rings taken from her as well

31:10david fuller turned out to be quite a hoarder

31:14he had documents, records

31:16almost a complete record of his life

31:18and his movements

31:19over the previous decades

31:21this was absolute gold dust

31:23in terms of evidence for the police

31:26they found an old diary of his

31:29and within that diary

31:30they found references to things

31:32he was interested in

31:33but they also found the name

31:35Buster Brown's

31:36which was the restaurant

31:38that Caroline had worked in

31:40do you remember this restaurant

31:43quite popular at the time

31:46Buster Brown's

31:48they also found a number of items

31:55belonging to Super Snaps

31:57which was the shop

31:58that Wendy Nell worked in

32:00so they found these two items

32:02that were able to connect him

32:04to the victims

32:05but he was telling the police

32:07I never met them

32:09I didn't know them

32:10he was lying to the police

32:12but the key element they found

32:16was a photograph

32:18of David Fuller

32:20with his shoes

32:22pointing almost immediately

32:23in front of the camera lens

32:25and the sole of that shoe

32:28could clearly be identified

32:30as identical to the shoe print

32:33found in Wendy's flat

32:35here surely was the killer

32:38after a while

32:41the police were working through

32:42into his bedroom

32:44and in a cupboard

32:46there was a secret compartment

32:48containing hard drive discs

32:51why was this hidden away

32:52when everything else was all out

32:54little did any of those

32:57investigated officers

32:58know what was going to unfold

33:00the footage recovered

33:02was unimaginable

33:03for what they found

33:04on the hard drives

33:06it was horrific

33:07what did those hard drive discs contain

33:10and when it was plugged in

33:13and it was shown for the first time

33:14the police were absolutely staggered

33:17by what they saw

33:18why does that person look

33:21this was thousands and thousands

33:25and thousands of images

33:27and videos taken by Fuller himself

33:30of him abusing dead bodies

33:33in the hospital morgue

33:34police had the arduous

33:42harrowing task

33:44of going through each video

33:46going through each photograph

33:47and looking for

33:48distinguishable marks

33:51scars

33:52tattoos

33:52distinguishable features

33:54that would have helped the police

33:55identify the victims

33:57and therefore

33:58go on to alert their families

34:00of the horrors

34:01of what had happened

34:02through looking at the videos

34:04and images

34:05for hours and hours

34:06the police were able to identify

34:07that there were at least

34:0898 bodies

34:10that Fuller had sexually interfered with

34:12and the age range was huge

34:14David Fuller managed to change

34:16his method of operation

34:19he was aware that after the murders

34:21of Wendy and Carline

34:22the cases were being linked

34:23he was aware there was a higher police presence

34:26on the ground in Tumbridge Wells

34:27he was aware people were talking about it

34:29he was aware that the police were probably expecting him

34:32to strike again

34:33the evidence showed that Fuller had abused multiple deceased bodies

34:38multiple people

34:39these were real people

34:40but what was also disturbing

34:42was that evidence showed that Fuller

34:43had gone on the internet

34:44searching for evidence of these people

34:46when they were alive

34:47he was looking on social media platforms

34:49looking at what these people were like

34:51in life

34:52yet he'd abused them so viciously in death

34:54so do you know when you start at Sussex Hospital

35:01in 1989

35:03what was your role there

35:05electrician

35:07the job he got in 1989

35:11as an electrician

35:13he saw an opportunity

35:15and after the murders of Wendy Nell and Caroline Pearce

35:19in Tumbridge Wells

35:20at that time

35:21there were no similar murders within the vicinity

35:25and I just thought to myself

35:28well it must be that

35:29to do those things

35:32he'd obviously decided on another course of offending

35:36to get his kicks

35:37and the fact that he had access to a mortuary

35:42and dead bodies

35:45I just can't get my head round

35:46that somebody could

35:48commit such a bar on crimes

35:50and he gradually over time

35:53came to perfect

35:54this method of offending

35:56he groomed the hospital staff

35:59he was given a swipe card

36:01which led him into the mortuary

36:02he became aware

36:04that half the mortuary had CCTV cameras

36:06the other half didn't

36:07and he had access to the half that didn't

36:10he changed his shift pattern

36:12so he could have later shifts in the evening

36:14knowing fully well

36:15that it was a lot quieter

36:16in the evening time and night time

36:18than the day when it was busy

36:20and he stood a higher chance of being disturbed

36:22he had free access in the hospitals

36:25to do whatever he wanted to do

36:28this is beyond the pale offending

36:30this is a totally different level of offender

36:33who was willing to change his MO

36:35and his lust for victims

36:37to suit him

36:38I'm not insane

36:42I may have some sort of residual personality problems

36:47I've gone a completely

36:48almost Christian life

36:52and the deadliest life

36:54all together at the same time

36:55with no crossovers

36:57it's just two different personalities

36:59Fuller described himself during an interview

37:04as someone who was just like two people

37:06a normal person doing everyday things

37:08and someone who was also offending

37:10this might have been a mechanism

37:11of how he allowed himself to do that

37:13it's easier to try and say

37:15oh that's not me

37:16that's not the real me

37:17doing these things

37:18and it helps people justify

37:20that continuation to themselves

37:22but ultimately offending of any kind

37:24is a decision

37:25Fuller made the decision to offend

37:27and he ruined lots of people's lives

37:29in the process

37:29Police run a DNA test on Fuller

37:34to finally confirm

37:36if he is the killer

37:37of Wendy and Caroline

37:39as well as being the abuser

37:41of over a hundred deceased women

37:42They take a DNA swab

37:46from the inside of his mouth

37:47and send it off

37:49to the forensic labs

37:50Police get the phone call

37:51from the forensic scientists

37:54confirming

37:55that David Fuller's DNA

37:57is a 100% match

37:59to the DNA

38:01belonging to the killer

38:03of Wendy Nell and Caroline Pearce

38:04It was absolutely overwhelming really

38:10to hear that they'd found the offender

38:13but I'm so glad that

38:14all the hard work from

38:16all of the team involved

38:18the teams, the scientists

38:20you know, the CSIs

38:22at the original investigations

38:24you know, what they picked up

38:25on those tapings

38:27was allowing us

38:28as years later

38:30forensic scientists

38:31to be able to evolve

38:32and link

38:34an offender

38:35to a crime

38:36Charged with the murders

38:39of Wendy Nell

38:40and Caroline Pearce

38:41David Fuller

38:42goes on trial

38:43in November

38:442021

38:46Fuller confesses

38:48to the crimes

38:49but he intends

38:51to plead

38:52not guilty

38:53by way of diminished

38:54responsibility

38:54but again

38:55he's trying to get off of it

38:57he's trying to

38:58get a lesser charge

38:59or a lesser sentence

39:00or instead of going to prison

39:01maybe he'll go to a mental health

39:03hospital

39:04he's thinking of himself

39:05and he's thinking

39:06at this stage

39:07as damage limitation

39:08he's aware

39:09they have DNA evidence

39:10Fuller would have heard

39:12all of this information

39:13he would have heard

39:14the links of him

39:16being a cyclist

39:17in Romney Marsh

39:18where Caroline's body

39:19was found

39:20links to Buster Brown's

39:23where he'd carried out

39:24some work

39:24links to where he'd had

39:25some photos developed

39:27as super snaps

39:28where Wendy was

39:29the manageress

39:30and just links

39:32generally to the community

39:33of the hospital

39:35where he worked

39:36it would have been

39:37an overwhelming

39:38series of facts

39:40being poured out

39:41in front of him

39:42I've got a truckload

39:45of circumstantial evidence

39:46along with the forensic evidence

39:47to put against him

39:48and he's thinking here

39:50how can I limit this

39:51for me

39:52how can I limit the damage

39:54of sentencing

39:55for me

39:55but then it changes

39:57during the trial

39:58four days into the trial

39:59as the evidence

40:00is going out

40:01and out and out

40:01he just goes to his brief

40:03enough of this

40:04I'm pleading guilty

40:06on the 15th of December

40:082021

40:09Fuller received

40:10two whole life tariffs

40:12for the murders

40:13of Wendy

40:14and Caroline

40:14he's just a blight

40:18on society

40:19really

40:19killing two people

40:21molesting

40:22over a hundred people

40:25is a monster

40:26I've often heard

40:28the word

40:29monster

40:30being used

40:31to describe

40:31David Fuller

40:32but does the word

40:33monster go far enough

40:34I don't think so

40:37you want the families

40:40to get that closure

40:43I don't think they ever do

40:45get closure

40:46but as a seasoned

40:48retired detective sergeant

40:50I did raise my glass

40:51that night

40:52to Wendy

40:53and Caroline

40:54it had taken decades

41:00many people

41:01had moved on

41:01in their lives

41:02people had even died

41:04from members

41:04of their family

41:05but nobody had forgotten

41:06the girls

41:07their memory

41:10of their contribution

41:12to life

41:12their liveliness

41:13their vivacity

41:14was never dimmed

41:16the cold case detectives

41:20had clearly shown

41:21a value

41:22in never giving up

41:23justice at last

41:24was served

41:25in 2022

41:30David Fuller

41:31received 16 years

41:32in prison

41:33to be added on

41:35to his two life sentences

41:36for the offences

41:37carried out

41:38in the mortuary

41:39this came to

41:41a little comfort

41:42to the

41:43family members

41:45of his victims

41:46in the mortuaries

41:47he will never be released

42:09in the mortuary

42:11a little bit

42:13of their lives

42:14but not even

42:15for the offences

42:16of their husbands

42:17their lives

42:18however

42:19they have spoken

42:20to the

42:20people

42:22of their husbands

42:23they have spent

42:23in the mortuary

42:25so they have been

42:26in the mortuary

42:28so they have given

42:29the new

42:30that they had

42:31given me

42:32to be also

42:34to be in the mortuary

42:35and to be

42:36the best

42:37and for all

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