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00:00On the 14th of April, 2003, police in the Welsh capital of Cardiff
00:13were called to the scene of a car on fire.
00:18They soon realized that in the back seat,
00:21there was a dead body wrapped in a carpet.
00:24Now it's clear that this was a murder
00:27and that whoever committed the murder
00:29took the precaution of setting fire to the car and the body in it.
00:36Investigators soon identified the victim as 41-year-old Derek Bennett
00:41and the number one suspect was Derek's friend, Philip Hegarty.
00:47For the people around Hegarty,
00:49they instinctively felt there were problems with him
00:53but couldn't possibly have known how much danger they were in.
00:56The evidence against Hegarty was strong
00:59but the 48-year-old refused to admit his guilt.
01:04Hegarty walked past me and he just looked at me
01:07and he said, I promise you, I didn't do it.
01:10Driven by violence and greed,
01:13Hegarty was willing to kill someone he called a friend,
01:16undoubtedly making him one of Britain's most evil killers.
01:20When Philip Hegarty was arrested in 2005,
01:38When Philip Hegarty was arrested in 2003
01:51for the murder of his friend, Derek Bennett,
01:53it was a shock to everyone who knew them both,
01:57including Derek's partner, Colleen.
02:03It's just unbelievable.
02:05You just don't believe it's true until you're going through it.
02:08Even though Derek knew some of Phil's criminal history,
02:15he didn't have a bad word to say about him.
02:18I suppose that's the show that he put on for him.
02:24Hegarty tried to deny murder,
02:26but the case was built on a wealth of forensic evidence.
02:31There was blood spatter in the basement.
02:34There was blood on the sofa
02:36where Derek had been murdered.
02:38There was blood on Hegarty's clothes.
02:41The evidence was overwhelming.
02:45When Hegarty was found guilty at his trial in July 2004,
02:51the judge decided that the 49-year-old career criminal
02:54would become one of around 70 prisoners in the UK
02:58with a whole-life tariff.
03:02Handing down a whole-life tariff
03:04is not going to be something that the judge
03:06is going to take lightly.
03:07I can only imagine the judge had its reasons.
03:12For the murder of his friend,
03:14Hegarty will never see beyond the prison walls.
03:19This killer story begins in Cardiff in 1955.
03:23Little is known about Hegarty's formative years,
03:27but he appeared to have been on the wrong path
03:30from an early age.
03:33Hegarty was a difficult little boy.
03:35There's no doubt of that.
03:36I think he had a mean streak very early on,
03:39and it came out as soon as he got to 10 or 11.
03:43He started stealing from the neighbours,
03:45and he became progressively more belligerent.
03:48He was a career criminal from such a young age,
03:53and that does predict that he will probably
03:57carry on that pattern throughout his life.
04:00As Hegarty grew older, his crimes only escalated.
04:07In his 20s, he went on to become
04:10a particularly violent and nasty handbag snatcher.
04:15He used to creep up behind old ladies,
04:19punch, hit or kick them,
04:21and then run away taking the money.
04:27He only chose people who he thought
04:30were vulnerable or weaker than him.
04:33He's become increasingly violent.
04:36Violence works for him.
04:38Why would you pick on elderly women
04:40if you didn't have that mean and violent streak?
04:42In 1987, 32-year-old Hegarty
04:49was charged with yet another robbery offence.
04:53And this time, it was even more violent.
04:59He was arrested for beating up a taxi driver.
05:03In fact, so badly that the poor driver
05:05had to go to hospital.
05:08Hegarty's persistent law-breaking
05:10meant he was regularly in and out of prison.
05:14By May 1988, he was back on the streets of Cardiff once again.
05:22He, at that time, had a bit of a part-time job,
05:26measuring people for suits.
05:29And one day, he returned to the home
05:32of a retired estate agent,
05:34knocked on the door and said,
05:36Oh, I've come to take some more measurements for your suit.
05:40But when he got inside the house,
05:43he beat his victim about the head
05:45with a cat-scratching post.
05:47He terrorised him.
05:49He tortured him.
05:50He put a knife to his throat.
05:53He slashed his face.
05:54Looking for money.
05:57He got away with £60 and a bank card,
06:02put a plastic bag, a bin liner,
06:04over his victim's head
06:06and left him for dead.
06:13What's escalating is the amount of gratuitous violence
06:17that he is using.
06:19So I think it's the violence that is the real driver here.
06:25After the horrendous attack,
06:28Hegarty assumed the man was dead.
06:31But the retired estate agent managed to call the police
06:34and was later able to identify Hegarty as his attacker.
06:41Arrested and put on trial at Newport Crown Court,
06:45the 33-year-old was charged with attempted murder,
06:48wounding with intent and robbery.
06:51But Hegarty denied it all.
06:54He did his absolute best
06:56to wriggle out of being anywhere near the crime.
07:02Hegarty spun a web of lies.
07:05He maintained that he was drinking with female friends.
07:09He maintained that he took one of his friends
07:13to pick up their daughter from school.
07:16On the stand,
07:20when asked if he'd been at the victim's house that day,
07:24he responded,
07:25certainly not.
07:30The evidence against Hegarty, I think, was compelling.
07:34But Hegarty's not the kind of person
07:37that is bothered by things like guilt.
07:40So he's going to use everything in his power
07:43to try and get out of it.
07:47The prosecution had one thing
07:49that Hegarty couldn't wriggle out of.
07:51The victim himself had clearly identified him.
07:58It was all lies.
08:00And he was convicted of attempted murder,
08:03wounding with intent.
08:08He gets a sentence of 15 years
08:11for the attack on this elderly man.
08:15He only serves 10 years of the 15.
08:19Newly released after his time in prison,
08:21the now 43-year-old Philip Hegarty relocated
08:25to the south coast of England.
08:29When he came out of prison,
08:31he would have been, in my opinion,
08:34possibly worse than when he went in.
08:36And he was bad enough when he went in.
08:39On his release, Hegarty returns to his old ways.
08:43Robbery, theft.
08:44At one point, he goes to Dorset
08:47and starts stealing television sets
08:49and all sorts of other things
08:51and doesn't see any point in earning a living.
08:54He'll make it by theft.
08:57I just don't think he recognized authority.
09:01He was the one who was going to do whatever he liked.
09:07By the early 2000s,
09:09Hegarty had a long list of charges to his name.
09:12He decided to move back to Cardiff,
09:16where he resumed an old friendship
09:17with a man called Derek Bennett.
09:23At the time, Derek was living with his partner, Colleen.
09:28I met Derek while out with my work colleagues
09:32for just a night out.
09:35He walked me home, never left.
09:39He was a very charming, lovable rogue.
09:42As my mum used to call him.
09:51Derek was so family-oriented.
09:54He always seemed so happy.
09:55He was never judgmental.
09:57Just basically happy that he had his life with his family
10:01and Derek loved everything to do with family.
10:07Colleen and Derek both already had children
10:10and together they had a son,
10:12forming a blended family.
10:15One day, they were out in Cardiff
10:18when they bumped into an old friend.
10:20Derek had met Hegarty a few years before I'd met him.
10:28I only met him when we walked into a joke shop.
10:31We were on our shopping trips in town
10:34and Hegarty was working there.
10:36That's how Hegarty came back into his life.
10:41And every now and again, Hegarty would go to football with him,
10:44go out drinking with him.
10:46The two bonded over their love of drink
10:50and their love of Cardiff City
10:52and they were seen together a lot of the time,
10:55going to matches.
10:56Derek even had a key to Hegarty's flat
11:00in the Grangetown area of Cardiff.
11:03He'd go there to hang out with Hegarty.
11:07At the time I'd known Hegarty,
11:09I'd known he'd been in and out of prison.
11:12But at the time, I never knew what for.
11:17Hegarty seemingly hid his crimes from those around him,
11:21but Colleen was still wary.
11:26Whenever Derek would come back from seeing Phil,
11:29I'd feel that he was just trying to poison his mind
11:32against everything.
11:35Whether it be our little family or something else.
11:40And when he'd come back home,
11:42and he'd be sullen and upset
11:45and he wouldn't talk
11:46and you could see anger in the eyes.
11:50It's quite possible that Derek was wary of him
11:55and all his instincts were telling him
11:58that he didn't really want to be around this guy.
12:03I do believe that Hegarty probably gave out that vibe
12:07because he wouldn't have the skills
12:10to make people trust him.
12:14Every time Phil's name was mentioned,
12:17I'd say, oh, please don't tell me he's coming.
12:20It's such a chill that would go down my spine,
12:22but never pinpointing why.
12:26The thought of being in the same room,
12:29it'd make my skin crawl.
12:31I'd never put my finger on it,
12:32so I'd try not to be left alone with him.
12:38What Colleen didn't know
12:40was that this was a man now facing serious debts.
12:45In the past, Hegarty had always resorted to crime
12:49to solve his financial problems,
12:51but in the early months of 2003,
12:55his debts were growing and growing,
12:58and he needed to do something to solve that problem.
13:01He was becoming increasingly more dangerous
13:06to the people that he actually knew
13:10because this was a man who enjoyed violence.
13:16Derek and Hegarty's friendship continued,
13:19and in April 2003, they went to a party together.
13:24On the surface, it was two friends out on a Friday,
13:27but only one of them would make it home alive.
13:41In April 2003,
13:44Philip Hegarty was living in Cardiff
13:46and had rekindled a friendship
13:48with 41-year-old Derek Bennett.
13:51By 2003, Hegarty has a string of violent convictions to his name,
13:59and it was inevitable that he would use violence again.
14:04For the people around Hegarty,
14:06they probably instinctively felt there were problems with him
14:12but couldn't possibly have known how much danger they were in.
14:14On Monday, the 14th of April,
14:22police received a 999 call
14:24informing them that a car was on fire
14:27in the Wychurch area of Cardiff.
14:30The fire brigade arrive, put the fire out,
14:33but then discover inside a body wrapped in a rug.
14:38They have no idea who the body is.
14:40They have no idea whose car it is.
14:43It's simply a burnt body in a car.
14:47The intriguing case landed on the desk of DS Martin Lloyd Evans.
14:53I hadn't long come home from work,
14:55and it was about 9 o'clock on a Monday evening.
14:58I had a phone call just telling me
15:00that a body had been found in a burnt-out car
15:03in a car park in Wychurch.
15:04I remember people couldn't quite believe
15:08that such a horrific thing had happened within that community.
15:14A battered body wrapped in a carpet
15:17in the back seat of a blazing car
15:19in the middle of Wychurch.
15:22That doesn't happen very often.
15:25As head of homicide,
15:27Martin was quick to assess the scene.
15:29There was a body in the back seat
15:34wrapped in something.
15:36You couldn't say it was male or female.
15:39Everything was protected by
15:41what was seen to be some sort of blanket
15:44or material over the body,
15:46but you could see the person's head
15:47and you could see their arm.
15:50We could see the feet were bound together
15:52with a bath towel.
15:55On top of the head
15:56had been placed a pillowcase.
15:58And then the person had wrapped in this carpet.
16:04The jumper, it was a reddish jumper
16:06with black stripes on it.
16:08Martin and his team began to look for clues
16:11as to what had happened
16:12and found two witnesses who saw the fire start.
16:16They didn't even smell smoke
16:18or see anything coming from the car
16:20when they parked quite near to it.
16:22They'd only literally got into a club
16:24upstairs to the snooker room
16:25a matter of minutes
16:27when they look out and see this car ablaze.
16:30Nobody remembers when the car was put there.
16:34No one remembers seeing anybody
16:35running away from it.
16:36It's a complete mystery.
16:38Reaching an impasse with the witnesses,
16:41Martin used his detective instincts
16:43to ascertain whether or not
16:45he was at an active murder scene.
16:47My suspicions were aroused
16:49when I saw this brownie-red fluid
16:52in the water that had washed out from the car.
16:56A crime scene examiner at the scene
16:57tested it and in fact it was blood.
17:00Now it's clear that this was a murder
17:03and that whoever committed the murder
17:05took the precaution of setting fire
17:08to the car and the body in it
17:10in an attempt to cover his or her tracks.
17:13One thing was clear
17:16the killer had attempted
17:18to destroy all the evidence
17:20but they'd overlooked something.
17:23Whoever put the victim
17:24in the back of that Renault Laguna
17:27had made a fatal mistake.
17:28They'd shut the doors and windows
17:30so that there wasn't enough oxygen
17:32for the fire to burn really fiercely.
17:35And although the facial features
17:37had been destroyed
17:39a lot of the body
17:40were still intact.
17:44Because the body was cocooned
17:45in the carpet
17:46it actually was protected
17:48from the fire.
17:50You could see that it was a male
17:52probably aged about 45
17:54but what was significant
17:56on the right-hand side
17:59of a temple
18:00you could see that the person
18:02had suffered a number of blunt trauma
18:04to the right side of their head.
18:06Given there were no witnesses
18:08police worked on the theory
18:10these blows to the head
18:11happened elsewhere
18:12and the body had been transported
18:15in the car.
18:16They managed to track down
18:17the registered owner
18:19to see if he could answer
18:20their questions.
18:22What he said is that
18:23he'd sold the car
18:24some six weeks before
18:25to a guy that he'd met
18:27in a public house.
18:29All he knew this guy
18:30was called Dell
18:31and he was a Cardiff City supporter.
18:34But who was this Dell?
18:35This is where the media
18:39can be really helpful.
18:42They had a name
18:43they knew he was referred to as Dell
18:45but really that's all they had.
18:48The day after discovering the body
18:51and armed with nothing more
18:53than the name Dell
18:54South Wales Police
18:56held a press conference
18:57to appeal to the public
18:59for information.
19:00At the press conference
19:02I released some certain information
19:04and watching the television
19:06was Dell's brother
19:08and he came forward
19:09and said
19:10he recognised the cars
19:11belonging to his brother
19:12Derek
19:13known as Dell.
19:16So now
19:16we had our victim
19:17Derek Bennett.
19:24The last time I saw Derek
19:27we'd had a lovely day out
19:29we'd had food
19:30and then he was coming back
19:32and he was getting changed
19:33to go out and celebrate
19:34a birthday
19:35with his brother
19:36and a few of their mates.
19:41Colleen knows he went out
19:42on Friday night
19:43and she hasn't heard from him
19:45by Sunday
19:46and it's beginning
19:47to be really worrying.
19:48I was drinking a cup of coffee
19:57and I had a knock on the door
19:59and it was Derek's
20:01sister-in-law and niece
20:02saying they've been in contact
20:06with the police
20:06and something's happened
20:08to Derek
20:08and I needed to phone them
20:10straight away.
20:14And I laughed.
20:16Don't be stupid.
20:17I just laughed.
20:21And when I phoned
20:22I went to Peter's.
20:34So just
20:35things from there on
20:38are spotty and grainy.
20:44Investigators
20:44had to tell Colleen
20:46the devastating news.
20:48Derek had been murdered
20:49and they didn't know
20:51who was responsible.
20:54I think it's a mixture
20:55of confusion
20:56and shock
20:57rolled into one
20:58is pure sadness.
21:01A life taken.
21:02Children not seeing
21:03their father again.
21:05Colleen had to break
21:07the news to her children.
21:09Their dad
21:09wouldn't be coming home.
21:11I just said
21:12some bad man
21:14had heard Derek
21:15and Derek's not
21:17coming back.
21:19And
21:19one of my daughters
21:21at the time said
21:22can I go see him
21:23in a balloon
21:24with a basket?
21:25Well, child's imagination, eh?
21:32The police asked us all
21:37to leave the house
21:38so that they can search
21:40their place
21:41just basically
21:42to rule out
21:43me as a suspect.
21:44That's the only way
21:46you can put it.
21:47I spoke to
21:53Derek's partner
21:53over the several days
21:54of the murder
21:55taking place.
21:56She, in fact,
21:57was a great source
21:58of information for us.
22:00Wanted to find out
22:01who would kill
22:02her partner.
22:04And she assisted us
22:05no end
22:06in that regard.
22:10Police were determined
22:11to find out
22:12who was responsible
22:13for Derek's brutal murder.
22:15The post-mortem
22:17gave them
22:17some of the answers
22:18they'd been looking for.
22:20Well, it was clear
22:21that the cause of death
22:22was blunt trauma
22:24to the right-hand side
22:26of Derek's body.
22:27He'd been hit
22:28a minimum of six times
22:29with a blunt object,
22:31probably a hammer,
22:32I would have thought.
22:35Which had caused
22:36the skull to shatter
22:37in numerous pieces.
22:42And that's what killed him.
22:43At least six blows,
22:46that means
22:47the first blow
22:48wasn't enough
22:49for this person.
22:51And they continued,
22:53probably,
22:54until he was
22:55completely incapacitated
22:56or even dead.
23:06Investigators established
23:08that Colleen last saw Derek
23:10on the Friday night.
23:11They spoke to the people
23:13that Derek had been out with
23:14to try and establish
23:16a timeline.
23:18He'd been out.
23:20He'd been visiting
23:21a number of public houses
23:22in Cardiff
23:23with his brother
23:23and a number
23:24of other people.
23:26Ending up then
23:27in a nightclub in Cardiff
23:28and then in the early hours
23:30then of the Saturday morning
23:31going to a house party
23:33in the Rumley area
23:34of the city.
23:37It seemed from
23:38those investigations
23:39that the last sighting
23:40of Derek
23:40was on the early hours
23:42of the Saturday morning.
23:47Derek's brother
23:48told police
23:49that Derek
23:50had left the party
23:51around 6.30
23:52in the morning.
23:54He'd left
23:54in a friend's car
23:55that of 48-year-old
23:58Philip Hegarty.
24:02Philip Hegarty
24:03he was driving the car
24:04and Derek
24:05was sitting in the car
24:06together with Derek's brother
24:08and they went
24:09to the petrol station
24:09and they bought petrol.
24:12We recovered
24:13the CCTV footage
24:14and we could see
24:15that Derek
24:16was wearing
24:17that red top
24:18with the black stripes
24:19on it.
24:21And that top
24:22is on the charred body
24:24in the car
24:25which means
24:26he was probably
24:26killed
24:27not long afterwards.
24:30Investigators
24:31were now certain
24:32that Derek Bennett
24:33had been murdered
24:33in the early hours
24:35of Saturday morning
24:36and the last person
24:37seen with him
24:38was Philip Hegarty.
24:40The 48-year-old
24:41was now the main suspect
24:43but was it truly
24:44conceivable
24:45that Derek's good friend
24:46was also his killer.
24:56In April 2003
24:5941-year-old Derek Bennett
25:01was found murdered
25:02on the back seat
25:03of his own burnt-out car.
25:06He was last seen
25:07driving through Cardiff
25:08after leaving a party
25:10with his friend
25:11Philip Hegarty.
25:12As the last person
25:14to see him alive
25:15and with a violent
25:16track record
25:17police needed
25:18to speak to Hegarty
25:20to get his account
25:21of that fateful
25:22Friday evening.
25:29He claimed that
25:30Derek Bennett
25:30hadn't been to his house
25:32that he'd dropped him
25:33off at the
25:33international arena.
25:37He'd gone one way
25:38he'd gone another
25:39you haven't seen him
25:39since
25:40simple as that
25:41and he was quite happy
25:44to tell us
25:44all that he knew
25:45or wanted us to know.
25:48He's setting
25:49the narrative
25:50about who he is.
25:51He knows
25:52that he's got
25:54a really, really
25:54long criminal past
25:57with violence
25:58so he's obviously
26:00going to come
26:01onto the radar.
26:04Hegarty was
26:05the prime suspect
26:06but investigators
26:07had no solid evidence
26:09against him.
26:10Martin spoke
26:11to witnesses
26:12about Hegarty's movements
26:13after Derek's murder.
26:25On a Saturday
26:26he should have
26:26gone to work.
26:28He didn't.
26:28He took the day off.
26:29He used to work
26:30in a call center.
26:32He just didn't show up
26:33and ran in sick
26:34on that particular day.
26:36He had a car
26:37that yet three days later
26:39he scrapped it
26:40and bought another car.
26:42Now this is a man
26:43that didn't have any money.
26:44He seemed to be
26:45in possession
26:45of quite a substantial
26:47sum of money.
26:48He paid off
26:48a number of debts
26:49that he borrowed
26:50to people
26:50that he worked with.
26:55Martin started
26:56to work
26:56on the theory
26:57that Hegarty
26:58could have stolen
26:59money from Derek
27:00but he had no proof.
27:02Whilst detectives
27:03looked into this motive
27:05Hegarty was making sure
27:07to pay his condolences
27:08to Derek's family.
27:16In the days that followed
27:18Hegarty came over
27:20and he'd just
27:23sit in my house
27:24with his feet
27:26on my chest.
27:28He'd sit there
27:29and start crying.
27:32Why did someone
27:33take my friend?
27:34What happened?
27:35Why?
27:38I felt so uncomfortable
27:40and I just
27:41didn't want to be there
27:43with him.
27:44I just needed him gone.
27:47He was desperately
27:49trying to portray himself
27:51as somebody
27:52trustworthy
27:53who couldn't possibly
27:54have been involved
27:56in this.
27:57He was offering up
27:57his sofa
27:58when one of the family
27:59needed that.
28:00This was a man
28:02who simplistically
28:04thought
28:05if I look
28:06like a nice guy
28:07everybody will
28:08think I'm a nice guy
28:10so nobody is going
28:11to point the finger
28:12at me.
28:17Investigators
28:18believed Derek
28:19was murdered
28:19in a different location
28:21to where his body
28:22was found.
28:24Martin decided
28:25to bring Hegarty
28:26back into the police
28:27station
28:27for an interview
28:28and whilst he was there
28:30they obtained a warrant
28:32to search his home.
28:34What the police
28:35didn't have
28:36in the wake
28:37of the discovery
28:38of the body
28:39in the car
28:39was where
28:41the crime took place
28:42and so they're looking
28:43for a crime scene
28:44and one potential crime scene
28:46would be
28:47Philip Hegarty's flat.
28:50The detectives went
28:51to his house
28:52to do a cursory search.
28:53Now he lived in
28:54a rented accommodation
28:55ground floor flat.
28:57When they looked
28:59around that house
28:59they found
29:01Derek's bum bag
29:03where he kept
29:03his money.
29:07Finding Derek's
29:08empty money bag
29:09backed up the theory
29:11that Hegarty
29:12had stolen cash
29:13from his friend.
29:14But investigators
29:15needed a lot more
29:17if they were going
29:18to prove murder.
29:22One major thing
29:23the police discovered
29:24in their search
29:25of Hegarty's flat
29:26was a speck
29:28literally
29:29of blood
29:30on the wall.
29:32We took a sample
29:33of the blood
29:34but in the blood
29:35was a fingerprint
29:35and that fingerprint
29:37belonged
29:37to Philip Hegarty.
29:41Martin didn't know
29:42who the blood
29:43belonged to yet
29:44but he suspected
29:45it would turn out
29:46to be Derek's.
29:47He decided
29:48to follow his hunch
29:49and arrest Hegarty
29:50on suspicion of murder.
29:52Now he was
29:53against the clock
29:54to prove it.
29:57I decided
29:58to fast track
29:59the blood
30:00we'd found
30:00at the scene
30:01and dispatched it
30:02to the forensic
30:03science service
30:04who came back
30:05a DNA profile
30:06of Derek Bennett.
30:09So we've got
30:09Philip Hegarty's
30:10fingerprint
30:11and Derek Bennett's
30:12blood
30:13at his scene.
30:15Police could
30:16now formally
30:16charge Hegarty
30:17with murder
30:18but he continued
30:19to deny it.
30:21Without a confession
30:22investigators knew
30:24they would have
30:25to find
30:25even more evidence.
30:27They started
30:28with a full
30:29forensic search
30:30of the flat.
30:35As the scientist
30:36carried out
30:37a more detailed
30:38search of the lounge
30:39there was a leather
30:41setting underneath
30:42the bookcase
30:42and underneath
30:44the bookcase
30:45were small
30:46droppers of blood
30:47and once you found
30:48one
30:49we found loads
30:50of them
30:50and it was quite clear
30:52this was the spray
30:53from where he
30:54struck Derek Bennett
30:56and the blood
30:57had splattered
30:58over the wall
30:58in minute spots.
31:01The blood
31:02spit indicates
31:03to the police
31:05that Derek
31:06was probably
31:07asleep on the sofa
31:08when he was attacked.
31:14Shockingly
31:14this was the very
31:16same sofa
31:16that Hegarty
31:18had let Derek's
31:19grieving son
31:19stay on
31:20in the days
31:21after the murder.
31:23The evidence
31:24all pointed
31:25towards Derek
31:26being killed
31:27in Hegarty's flat.
31:29Now they wanted
31:30to see
31:30if they could
31:31link him
31:31to the carpet
31:32that Derek's body
31:33was wrapped in.
31:34As we continued
31:37to look in the house
31:38there were signs
31:39that it had been cleaned.
31:41It was quite
31:41a dirty flat
31:42but this particular room
31:43had a shape
31:44of a carpet
31:45on the floor
31:46and clearly
31:47that had
31:47gone missing.
31:49Philip Hegarty
31:50had two dogs
31:51took samples
31:52from the carpet
31:53found at the scene
31:55compared them
31:56with the contents
31:57of the vacuum cleaner
31:58which was in
31:59Philip Hegarty's house
32:00and they matched.
32:01The evidence
32:05against Hegarty
32:06continued to mount
32:07but investigators
32:08wanted even more.
32:10This time
32:11they honed in
32:12on the pillowcase
32:13and towel
32:13that were found
32:14covering Derek's head
32:16and body.
32:18I had a phone call
32:20of the police officers
32:22dealing with Derek's murder
32:24and they asked me
32:25if I could go
32:26to the police station
32:27to identify some things.
32:29When I went down there
32:31I identified
32:32pillowcases
32:33and towels
32:34and I only knew
32:35they were from me
32:36because a couple
32:37of months previously
32:38Hegarty asked me
32:40if I had any spare bedding
32:41so I sorted out
32:42what I had
32:43and I gave it to him.
32:47The gathering
32:48of evidence
32:49in this case
32:50was probably
32:50one of the best cases.
32:52Everything just came together
32:53to make a complete picture
32:55pointing to only one person
32:56that committed this crime
32:57which was Philip Hegarty.
33:00Derek's family
33:01were shocked
33:02to discover
33:03that the man charged
33:04with his murder
33:05was someone
33:06that they all knew
33:07and had invited
33:09into their homes.
33:13Never suspected Hegarty
33:15at all.
33:16Why would you suspect
33:17someone who's coming
33:18to visit you?
33:20Why would you suspect
33:21them of
33:22them being a killer?
33:27Faced with a murder charge
33:31and a solid forensic case
33:33Hegarty still refused
33:35to admit
33:35to killing his friend.
33:38And at his upcoming trial
33:41he was going to try
33:42and get away
33:43with murder.
33:46In 2003
33:57Philip Hegarty
33:58was charged
33:59with the murder
34:00of Derek Bennett
34:01but despite the overwhelming
34:03forensic evidence
34:04against him
34:05Hegarty refused
34:06to admit
34:07to killing his friend.
34:09As the prosecution
34:10prepared
34:10for the upcoming trial
34:12they used the evidence
34:13to paint a picture
34:14of exactly
34:15what happened
34:16between the two friends
34:18on the night
34:18of Derek's murder.
34:23We know
34:24that Derek
34:24had gone
34:25to Hegarty's flat
34:26and was lying
34:27face down
34:28on the sofa
34:29sleeping off
34:30this very
34:31boozy night.
34:33We can only suppose
34:34that Hegarty thought
34:36this is my chance
34:38to get
34:39some money.
34:40He knew
34:41that Derek
34:42had around
34:42£3,000
34:44with him.
34:46I think it's something
34:47he just took advantage
34:48of the situation
34:49that he found himself in.
34:52But he was a danger
34:53a danger to everybody
34:54and almost like
34:55a ticking time bomb
34:56waiting for an opportunity
34:58to get what he wanted
35:00using force
35:01if necessary
35:02and that's what he did.
35:04Hegarty had been violent
35:05in the past
35:06but this attack
35:07went further.
35:08It may look
35:13on the surface
35:14as if he
35:15just wanted
35:15to rob him.
35:17He did not need
35:18to kill
35:19Derek
35:20to rob him.
35:23This was a very
35:24frenzied
35:25brutal killing
35:27straight from
35:28the Hegarty playbook.
35:30What he did
35:31was he beat
35:32his so-called
35:33best friend
35:34around the head.
35:35He had a slow
35:42and painful death.
35:44It took Derek
35:45one and a half
35:46hours
35:46to die
35:47and all the time
35:49Hegarty was there
35:51by his side.
35:54This is an
35:55out of the blue
35:56anger
35:57from Hegarty
35:58probably driven
35:59by his need
36:00to pay off his debts
36:01but also
36:02out of envy.
36:12Hegarty refused
36:13to admit
36:13to the murder
36:14let alone
36:15a motive
36:16for it
36:16but it seemed
36:17clear that money
36:18was at the centre
36:20of the vicious
36:21attack.
36:22He was skint.
36:24He owed people
36:25money all over
36:26Cardiff.
36:27On the day
36:28of the murder
36:29and days following
36:30he paid off
36:31a lot of his
36:32debts
36:32with money
36:33that he'd
36:34got from Derek.
36:35Witnesses
36:35describe him
36:36as being
36:37flush with
36:37money.
36:40It didn't
36:41seem to
36:42occur to him
36:43that somebody
36:44might say
36:44where did that
36:45money come
36:46from?
36:46You've been
36:46in debt
36:47for ages.
36:48How have you
36:49suddenly got
36:49the means
36:50to pay
36:51that off?
36:54I just
36:54don't think
36:55Hegarty is
36:56very clever.
37:00not only
37:05did investigators
37:06believe
37:06Hegarty murdered
37:07his so-called
37:08friend
37:09but they also
37:10believed
37:11he took
37:11multiple steps
37:12to try
37:13and cover
37:13up
37:14what he'd
37:14done.
37:16It's clear
37:17from the
37:17timeline
37:18that Derek's
37:19body was
37:20kept
37:20in the
37:21flat
37:22for some
37:23time
37:23because it
37:23was two
37:24days later
37:25that Derek's
37:26body was
37:27found in
37:27the blazing
37:28car in
37:29Whitchurch.
37:31This man
37:32I think
37:33enjoys the
37:35violence so
37:35much
37:36everything else
37:38kind of
37:39just goes
37:40a blank
37:40for him
37:41and he
37:42panics
37:42afterwards
37:43and just
37:43tries to
37:44deal with
37:44it afterwards
37:44in whatever
37:45way he
37:45can.
37:48Hegarty
37:48had committed
37:49a very
37:50brutal murder.
37:51What we know
37:51is that he
37:52made not
37:53terribly
37:53successful
37:54but extensive
37:55efforts
37:56to clear
37:56up the
37:57blood
37:57to try
37:58and cover
37:58his tracks
37:59but he
37:59had a
37:59problem.
38:00He was
38:01in a
38:01flat
38:01in a
38:02busy
38:02area
38:02of
38:03Cardiff
38:03and there
38:04was a
38:04dead
38:04body
38:05on
38:05his
38:05sofa.
38:09Philip
38:09Hegarty
38:10wrapped
38:11Derek
38:11in the
38:12carpet
38:13and had
38:13to carry
38:14it out
38:14of his
38:15flat
38:15to
38:16the
38:16car
38:16in
38:17the
38:17street
38:17so
38:18he
38:18had
38:19to
38:19hide
38:19the
38:19feet
38:20and
38:20hide
38:21the
38:21head.
38:21Prosecutors
38:23believe that
38:24in Hegarty's
38:25efforts to
38:25disguise the
38:26crime scene
38:27he left
38:28behind a
38:28trail of
38:29evidence
38:29which they
38:30were now
38:31ready to
38:31present to
38:32a jury
38:33in the
38:33courtroom.
38:35In July
38:362004
38:38the trial
38:39began at
38:40Swansea
38:40Crown Court.
38:41The
38:48prosecution
38:48had a
38:49very good
38:50case
38:50against
38:51Philip
38:51Hegarty.
38:52They
38:53had all
38:53the
38:53forensic
38:54evidence
38:55that
38:55scenes
38:56of
38:56crimes
38:56officer
38:56had
38:57gathered
38:57from
38:57Hegarty's
38:58fat.
38:59The
38:59blood,
39:00the
39:00fibres,
39:01the
39:01dog
39:02hairs
39:02from
39:02the
39:03carpet
39:03that
39:03was
39:03used
39:04to
39:04wrap
39:04Derek's
39:05body.
39:06The
39:07evidence
39:07in this
39:07case
39:08wasn't
39:08just
39:09circumstantial,
39:09it
39:09was
39:10overwhelming.
39:11Despite
39:17the odds
39:18being
39:18heavily
39:18stacked
39:19against
39:19him,
39:20Philip
39:20Hegarty
39:21pleaded
39:21not
39:22guilty.
39:25He
39:26did
39:26put
39:26forward
39:27a
39:27defense
39:28although
39:28it
39:28was
39:29very
39:29very
39:30weak.
39:31He
39:31said
39:31that
39:31there
39:32were
39:32heavies,
39:33drug
39:33heavies
39:33that
39:34Derek
39:35was
39:35afraid
39:36of
39:36and
39:37they
39:37must
39:37have
39:37come
39:37and
39:38killed
39:39him
39:39and
39:39murdered
39:40him
39:40and
39:40left
39:40his
39:40body
39:41in
39:41a
39:41car.
39:42He
39:43spent
39:43days
39:44trying
39:44to
39:44create
39:45false
39:45alibis.
39:46It
39:47was
39:47ridiculous.
39:48He
39:48also
39:48said
39:48he
39:49didn't
39:49know
39:49the
39:49area
39:50of
39:50Woodchurch
39:50in
39:51Cardiff
39:51so
39:51how
39:52could
39:52he
39:52possibly
39:53leave
39:54a
39:54dead
39:54body
39:55in
39:55a
39:55blazing
39:55car
39:56there?
39:58Hegarty
39:58would have
39:58continued
39:59to deny
40:00everything
40:01whilst
40:01there
40:01was
40:02the
40:02slightest
40:03chance
40:03that
40:03he
40:04might
40:04have
40:04got
40:05off.
40:05Simple
40:06as
40:06that.
40:06Derek's
40:08partner
40:09Colleen
40:09sat in
40:10the courtroom
40:10hearing
40:11Hegarty's
40:12passionate
40:12denial
40:13day in
40:14day out.
40:16Every day I'd go to the courts in Swansea
40:19and he'd walk past and they nearly took him back out of the court because he spoke to me.
40:26He just said out loud, I promise you I didn't do it.
40:30After 27 days, the trial concluded and on the 23rd of July, 2004, the jury were ready to deliver their verdict.
40:45It only took them a day and a half. They came back into court and told the judge, Mr. Justice Roderick Evans, that they had a verdict. That verdict was guilty. Hegarty was guilty.
40:59Finally, Philip Hegarty would be back behind bars. When it came to sentencing, the judge spoke of the 49-year-old's continued duplicity.
41:14Sentencing Hegarty, Mr. Justice Roderick Evans turned to him and said that he was a very dangerous, violent man, a manipulative and resourceful liar.
41:27In Hegarty's case, the judge said life should mean life. He imposed a whole life tariff.
41:36Whole life tariff are reserved only for the most serious of offenders. There's probably only about 70 of them because we only use them in the most extreme circumstances.
41:58When I heard the sentence, I thought, my life can carry on. My life can go, make a new normal, because my old normal's gone now.
42:14How do you get a new normal? You've got to work hard.
42:19For Derek's family, the ordeal was finally over.
42:23But they would never get their partner and father back.
42:32The two children Derek and I have together, they definitely felt what it's like growing up without a dad.
42:41The younger one has no photos with his dad, no memories, no nothing.
42:46And definitely doesn't heal, but it makes it easier to cope with as well.
42:55So all I've got to do is just keep living my life with my families.
42:58Philip Hegarty murdered Derek Bennett with little regard for his friend or his friend's family.
43:13This was a story of a Jekyll and Hyde character who was all short of money and wouldn't stop at anything to get what he wanted to get that money.
43:23He's used violence to his advantage throughout his life.
43:32The public should be protected from a man who's entirely capable of violence at a moment's notice.
43:38When Derek said goodbye to Colleen and his children that Friday night,
43:43he couldn't have known what his so-called friend was capable of.
43:47Philip Hegarty brutally murdered Derek for no other reason than pure greed,
43:52which is why Hegarty will forever be remembered as one of Britain's most evil killers.
44:22Philip Hegarty has that handle by Neil blinking away.
44:25John Hopefully he'll discover too much solúcar.
44:26Philip Hegarty with little grandfather and his other son now.
44:26He把 l tao-ziękuję.
44:28Philip Hegarty being so-called vividly therein to you man.
44:31Philip Hegarty with 1-1016-7ées actually existed.
44:32Philip Hegarty missed his first, Sam from the people in the HR entrance,
Recommended
42:46
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