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Britain's Most Evil Killers S09E05 (Nov 5 2024)
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00:00In 2020, pregnant Nicole McGregor disappeared from Leamington Spa.
00:18Her frantic boyfriend Chris searched for her, helped by a new friend.
00:23He had no idea that his friend was stone-cold killer Anthony Russell.
00:29Chris saw a newspaper and realised that Anthony was the person that the police were looking for in connection with the two murders in Coventry.
00:37The last person to see Nicole alive was wanted for the brutal murders of Julie Williams and her son, David.
00:47And now Anthony Russell had killed a third victim.
00:51He was saying things to Nicole's boyfriend like, oh, he must be really looking forward to becoming a father.
00:58He knew that Nicole was dead.
01:02Anthony Russell went on the run, sparking a huge manhunt.
01:08It wasn't an act of madness, it was calculated.
01:11And that calculation had cost three people their lives.
01:14Russell murdered three innocent people and destroyed the lives of those left behind.
01:25Daniel didn't want to live without his mum or without his brother.
01:29His week-long murderous rampage left a trail of death and destruction, making twisted Anthony Russell one of Britain's most evil killers.
01:38The search for 39-year-old Anthony Russell was one of the largest in West Midlands police history.
02:08We launched a huge manhunt.
02:12I think we had 200 officers that were working on it.
02:15We've got a responsibility to protect the public, that's our number one responsibility.
02:19And you've got someone who's already been prepared to kill who's on the loose.
02:23The police put in the papers a photograph of him.
02:27It's had it come on the radio every half hour.
02:29This man is dangerous, do not approach him.
02:31So, the police already knew what he'd done and they were frightened for the public.
02:37Over the course of a week, Anthony Russell killed three people.
02:42This was a murderer without mercy.
02:45This wasn't just enough violence to kill somebody.
02:51This is what we call overkill.
02:54So, that's way more violence than is needed to kill that person.
03:00The carnage that Anthony Russell left behind will stay with his victims' loved ones forever.
03:06You never expect something like that ever to happen to your family, ever.
03:11You might watch it on the television, read about it in a book, but to actually have it happen to you absolutely ripped our families apart.
03:20This killer's story begins in the West Midland city of Coventry.
03:28Anthony was born on the 16th of April, 1982.
03:32He'd got a number of siblings.
03:34He had a difficult childhood and he grew up mainly in care.
03:38He used to regularly go missing when he was in care and he was often difficult to find.
03:43So, he would be reported missing on a regular basis and it would take quite a long time to find him.
03:50As he entered adulthood, bad behaviour became criminal behaviour.
03:56Anthony Russell had a track record of low-level crime.
04:01Theft, burglary, possessing weapons.
04:06There was a bit of violence in there.
04:08I think he was convicted of robbery.
04:10Crimes that are often associated with people that have, you know, substance issues.
04:14It's pretty clear that Anthony Russell had a very big heroin addiction.
04:23In 2020, Russell was 38 years old and living in a flat in Riley Square in the Bell Green area of Coventry.
04:32It was a 1960s development.
04:35It's sort of a precinct-type design.
04:38It was built in a quadrant, so you have shops all around the bottom of the quadrant.
04:43And then, I think there's about four or five storeys above that, which contains flats.
04:48So, um, a very sort of urban area with local shops.
04:52So, it was quite a close-knit community.
04:56On that same estate, living in a one-bedroom flat, was 58-year-old Julie Williams.
05:04Widowed young, she'd raised her sons alone.
05:08Julie was my brother's partner, the love of my brother's life.
05:13My brother, unfortunately, passed away when he was 39.
05:16Julie and her eldest son, David, shared a close bond.
05:22David is my nephew.
05:25David didn't have long with my brother, which is a great shame,
05:29because his dad absolutely adored him, him and his brother, Daniel.
05:34He absolutely adored his mum.
05:36They lived together, and they went out together.
05:40He lived for his mum.
05:42He was very, um, family-orientated.
05:44He had lots of cousins that he got on with everywhere.
05:48Everybody absolutely loved him, because he was such a happy chappy.
05:52On Wednesday, the 21st of October, 2020,
05:5632-year-old David did not come home as planned.
06:00Three days later, Julie still hadn't managed to get in touch with David.
06:05My daughter phoned me up, and she said,
06:08there's something on the internet.
06:10She says that Julie's looking for David.
06:12She put out on the local radio,
06:21has anybody seen David?
06:23But we just thought, always,
06:25trashed out of one of his friend's houses, you know,
06:27and he'll be back in touch.
06:30First came to the attention of police on Saturday, 24th October, 2020,
06:35and that was, um, a report made by Julie to say that her son, David, had gone missing.
06:43Police will always do a kind of a victimology when they get a missing person report,
06:48and that will be largely around vulnerabilities, um,
06:51and how unusual it, it was for this person to go missing.
06:57His daily routine involved him being in the local area,
07:01and associating with friends, and spending time with his mother.
07:05So it was, it was really unusual for him not to be in contact with her or, or to come back home.
07:12We have a dedicated team that deal with missing persons.
07:16Inquiries were started to be made around house-to-house inquiries,
07:20looking at CCTV to see when they could see his last sighting.
07:24West Midlands Police identified David as a man struggling with addiction.
07:32He didn't want to do drugs, but all those around him were,
07:35and unfortunately, David got into that way of living,
07:38which changed him as a person,
07:42and I think that's why his mum always kept an eye out for him all the time.
07:48He'd been using drugs, it seems, for some considerable time,
07:51and all his connections were in the world of people who had similar addictions.
07:57We knew he regularly visited the chemists for medication,
08:01so they started to look and see when the last time it was that he picked up his medication,
08:07do work around his phone to see when that was last active.
08:11The police obtained David's phone records.
08:15Amongst the people that he called friends,
08:18there were some that worried his mother.
08:20She mentioned one person that she was concerned that he owed some money for drugs,
08:25and she'd also received a text from David that said he was potentially having to get out of the area
08:31because he owed money for drugs.
08:33I think she thought that was unusual because David could often owe money for drugs,
08:38but that wouldn't cause him to go missing.
08:39The circumstances surrounding David's disappearance were unclear.
08:47Police kept an open mind about what may have happened,
08:50but on the afternoon of Sunday, October the 25th,
08:54just 24 hours after Julie Williams reported David missing,
08:59there was an unbelievable twist in the investigation.
09:02Julie herself is reported missing by one of her sisters.
09:09Julie kept in touch with her sisters and her brothers every single day,
09:13so when she wasn't around, that's why her sister then reported it to the police,
09:18because she knew that that was out of character.
09:20Once we'd done all the background checks into the fact that David was missing,
09:26then it became a real concern,
09:28so at this point they went to Julie and David's address
09:31and they couldn't get a response there.
09:34The police at 11 o'clock that Sunday evening break into Julie's flat
09:41and they find her dead.
09:45The scene that met them was one of carnage.
09:49In the center lay Julie's bloodied body.
09:54Julie had been subjected to this episode of prolonged beating, essentially,
09:59punching and blunt force injury.
10:01Julie had an enormous number of injuries,
10:07something like 113 injuries to her body,
10:10so that suggests a rage-fuelled attack.
10:15The final act which caused her death was the application of a ligature.
10:21The ligature which was used in Julie's case
10:23was an electric flex from an electric fan.
10:27The case was allocated to the homicide team,
10:31with Detective Inspector Jim Mahon put in charge.
10:35I am the senior investigating officer,
10:37which means that I am the lead investigator for any serious crime.
10:43I went there in the middle of the night.
10:45It's dark, it's gloomy,
10:47so just even the inquiries around just trying to establish
10:50who was going in and out at the time
10:52was going to be really, really challenging.
10:54Julie's family woke to the news of her murder.
11:03We heard about Julie and that was from the papers telling us
11:07that they'd found a woman's body.
11:09It was so final, it was so traumatic,
11:14it was so evil, frightening,
11:17that somebody could do that to another human being.
11:20And straight away then,
11:21I think that's when we felt something bad's happened to David.
11:24We obviously then had immediate concerns
11:29about the welfare of David
11:30because he was still a missing person,
11:33but now Julie had been killed.
11:35So it just really ramped up in terms of,
11:38one, trying to identify who the killer was,
11:40and secondly, to try and find where David was.
11:44There were many questions and no answers
11:47to what may have happened.
11:50Investigators needed to find David Williams.
11:53Fast.
12:05On the 26th of October 2020,
12:08the investigation into the murder
12:10of 58-year-old Julie Williams in Coventry had just begun.
12:15At this point, we're in the evidence-gathering stage.
12:20There was some blood and what looked like
12:22a fingerprint in blood on the radiator.
12:26There was only a bedroom and a living room in the flat.
12:30David would sleep on a bed in the living room
12:32and Julie would sleep in her bedroom
12:35and watch telly there.
12:38Julie was dead on the floor
12:40in the room that David occupied.
12:43Her telly was still on in the bedroom.
12:46The neighbors had heard someone approach Julie's flat
12:50the night before,
12:51but they couldn't really hear what was being said.
12:55The person that had killed Julie had taken the keys
12:58and had locked the door behind them,
12:59so it was probably known to Julie
13:01for her to have let him into the house.
13:03For the family, not only the horror of Julie's death,
13:09the worry of David's whereabouts,
13:12but also the rumors surrounding the murder.
13:17People were saying,
13:18David's done that, he's gone disappearing,
13:20and David's gone and killed his mother.
13:22And I said, no, he wouldn't do that.
13:24He loves her too much.
13:25He definitely wouldn't do that.
13:26And he hasn't got a bad bone in his body.
13:29We didn't have a suspect at all.
13:32The main focus then was on this fingerprint in blood.
13:36Now, that might have been Julie's fingerprint,
13:38but if it wasn't,
13:40then it's most likely to be the killer.
13:44That became the sort of priority submission
13:47to take a photo
13:48and then see if we can match it
13:49to the fingerprint database,
13:51to somebody on it.
13:53Whilst the forensic investigations were underway,
13:56the search for David intensified.
14:00Accessing his phone records
14:02provided police with vital information.
14:06When we examined David's phone,
14:09we saw that he was in regular contact,
14:11quite a lot of contact with an individual,
14:14that when we checked him out on our police systems,
14:16was known to supply Class A drugs.
14:18That phone activity dropped off
14:20at the point where David had been reported missing,
14:23so there was an assumption there
14:25that that person knew
14:26that David was no longer going to be using his phone.
14:31On the Sunday night,
14:31we had that individual identified,
14:34located and arrested and brought into custody.
14:36And he protested his innocence straight away
14:38and provided an alibi.
14:40Part of David's routine included regular visits
14:44to the Riley Square Pharmacy,
14:47where he collected his methadone prescription.
14:49What we found out as our inquiries went through
14:52on the Monday was that David had been seen
14:54going in and out of the chemist
14:56with an individual called Anthony Russell.
14:59They were both drug users.
15:00They lived near each other.
15:02They used to beg in the area for money,
15:04so we were quite keen to trace Anthony.
15:06He was the last person other than Julie
15:08that had seen David alive.
15:10Five days after David Williams
15:13had been reported missing,
15:15police had a name,
15:1638-year-old local man,
15:19Anthony Russell.
15:20We realized that he was a close associate of David,
15:24and he lived in the area.
15:27He would hang around Riley Square
15:29or around the local supermarkets
15:31that surrounded the area
15:32and would beg for money
15:34with other people in that community.
15:37And then once they'd got enough money,
15:38they tended to head towards each other's flats
15:41and use drugs.
15:44He was a well-known figure in the area
15:47and one with a reputation for trouble.
15:50He was unhinged.
15:52He wasn't normal.
15:54You know, his behavior wasn't normal.
15:57But people were always frightened of him,
15:59so he got moved on,
16:00but nobody ever did anything about it.
16:03He used to go up to the hospital and annoy them.
16:06My daughter works at the hospital,
16:08and she said the security
16:10had had to move him on several times.
16:12We tried to locate him.
16:17We went to his flat.
16:20Couldn't get any response from the flat.
16:23We forced entry into his flat
16:25to try and search for Anthony and David.
16:28Anthony Russell's sparsely furnished flat
16:31was spattered with blood.
16:33A brief search uncovered the source.
16:37On that Monday evening,
16:38we found David's body
16:39hidden underneath Anthony's bed.
16:42What was evident
16:45was that he had been
16:46quite savagely beaten,
16:48so there had been quite a lot
16:49of brute force used on David.
16:53Either those injuries
16:54were defensive
16:56and came as a result
16:58of a full-out fight
17:00with his attacker,
17:02or, again,
17:03they could have been
17:04about the rage
17:06that the attacker was feeling.
17:10My daughter turned me up.
17:12And she was screaming
17:13down the phone at me.
17:14She says,
17:15they found David.
17:18We was devastated.
17:21I couldn't eat or sleep.
17:24And every time I closed my eyes,
17:25I kept thinking about
17:26what David must have gone through.
17:28He must have been so scared,
17:31because he probably
17:32wouldn't have believed it.
17:33You know,
17:33if somebody went to attack him,
17:35he'd probably just laugh,
17:36thinking it's a joke.
17:36He wouldn't have realised
17:37until it was too late.
17:41David's death meant
17:42the police faced
17:43an entirely different investigation.
17:47It had gone from
17:48a missing person on Saturday,
17:50a murder,
17:51and a missing person on Sunday.
17:53We've now got two murders.
17:54This now is where
17:57the investigation
17:58really, really ramped up.
18:01David had suffered
18:02from 81 external injuries,
18:06some including a knife,
18:07so he'd been stabbed.
18:09He'd got some severe wounds
18:11and bangs to his head.
18:12Also, there was
18:16a lanyard around his neck,
18:18which was causing
18:19neck compression,
18:21which would be
18:21very similar to Julie.
18:23The lanyard
18:25ordinarily held
18:26David's keys,
18:27but they were not
18:28with his body.
18:30Detectives believed
18:31his and his mother's
18:33deaths were linked.
18:34The fact that I could
18:35see similarities
18:36between Julie's body
18:38and David's body
18:39supported the notion
18:41that it was likely
18:41to be just one person,
18:43and I could see
18:44that the changes
18:46in which were present
18:47in David's body
18:48would suggest
18:49that he was, in fact,
18:50the first victim
18:51with Julie following
18:53on afterwards.
18:57We've got two crime scenes
18:59that we're working through,
19:01working through
19:01all the phone evidence,
19:03working through
19:03who were the last people
19:04to see everyone alive
19:06and understanding
19:07their background,
19:08but the main priority
19:09is we've got someone
19:10who's killed two people
19:11on the loose
19:12and is a real danger
19:13to the public.
19:14The double murder
19:16investigation was
19:17codenamed Operation
19:19Inshore,
19:20and detectives had
19:21one person at the top
19:23of their list,
19:24Anthony Russell.
19:28Anthony Russell is a person
19:30of considerable interest
19:31in the killing of David
19:32and Julie Williams.
19:34When we spoke
19:35to his family,
19:35we found that he had
19:38left the area,
19:39but he never had a phone.
19:41He never had
19:42his own mobile phone,
19:43so we had no way
19:44of tracking his phone
19:45or understanding
19:46who he was in contact with,
19:47and he just disappeared
19:49from Coventry.
19:49So we'd got a big manhunt
19:51on the go,
19:52but we had no idea
19:53where he was
19:53at this point.
19:55With a suspected
19:56double murderer at large,
19:59every precaution
20:00had to be taken.
20:01The alert on Russell
20:03was put out nationwide.
20:06They put it on the internet
20:08and in the commentary
20:09of the telegraph.
20:11They were showing you
20:12photos of this
20:13Anthony Russell
20:13saying,
20:14do not approach him.
20:15He's very, very dangerous.
20:18We were getting sightings
20:19all over the country,
20:20and we couldn't ignore
20:21these sightings
20:22because we had no way
20:23to confirm whether
20:24that sighting was correct
20:25or not,
20:25so we had to link in
20:27with all the different
20:27police forces
20:28to try and do those inquiries.
20:31He didn't have a vehicle
20:32of his own,
20:33so they weren't using
20:34the usual ANPR tracking,
20:36that kind of thing,
20:37but they would have been
20:39looking at all
20:40public transport.
20:43What we did find
20:45as we moved through
20:46the tracking on the CCTV,
20:47so we'd got some points
20:48where people who knew him
20:50had last seen him.
20:52He'd certainly been
20:53to a supermarket,
20:54which allowed us then
20:55to track him
20:55from the supermarket,
20:56which captured him
20:57getting on a bus.
20:58Now this bus then,
21:00we were able to track him
21:01going into Coventry
21:02City Centre,
21:03but then we lost him
21:04within the sort of
21:05bus station area,
21:06which wasn't covered
21:07by CCTV,
21:08so we assumed
21:09he'd gone into
21:10the city centre
21:11to then travel onwards,
21:12but we had no idea
21:13where he would have gone.
21:16Anthony Russell
21:17had been running away
21:18since childhood.
21:20By 2020,
21:21he was a man skilled
21:22in staying under the radar.
21:25Anthony Russell
21:26took it upon himself
21:28to adopt various disguises.
21:31He was a man
21:32who hadn't lost his senses.
21:34He was extremely aware
21:35that he was a focus
21:36of interest by the police.
21:38All the CCTV,
21:39when you put together
21:40each still
21:42of what he looked like,
21:43he was changing
21:44his appearance all the time.
21:45He was stealing glasses.
21:47He'd wear different hats.
21:48He'd wear hoods.
21:49His clothing was changed
21:50quite regularly.
21:51Russell was as organised
21:54as he was brutal.
21:57On Monday, 26th of October,
21:59just hours since
22:01Julie's body was discovered
22:02and David still lay dead
22:04in his flat,
22:06Anthony Russell
22:06was already thinking ahead.
22:10He needed cash
22:11and he needed a phone.
22:14He attacks a 78-year-old man
22:17stealing his mobile phone.
22:18He goes to Kenilworth
22:22where, believe it or not,
22:25Russell attacks
22:25a 71-year-old woman
22:27and steals 200 pounds.
22:30He drags the poor lady
22:32along the ground,
22:33injuring her.
22:35Once again,
22:36the act of a man
22:37who has absolutely
22:38no concern
22:39for anyone but himself.
22:41Anybody coming
22:43into this man's path
22:45at this time
22:46is in danger.
22:49On the run
22:51from the police
22:52wanted for two murders,
22:54Anthony Russell
22:55was a desperate man
22:56with nothing to lose
22:58and his murderous rampage
23:00was far from over.
23:02By the 27th of October, 2020,
23:16Coventry double-murder
23:18suspect Anthony Russell
23:19had been on the run
23:21for two days.
23:2312 miles away
23:24in the town
23:25of Leamington Spa,
23:26Warwickshire Police
23:27received a missing
23:28person alert.
23:30A man reported
23:31that his girlfriend
23:32had gone missing.
23:33They were begging
23:34in Leamington Spa.
23:36They had a different spot
23:37in the town
23:38where they would beg
23:39and when he went
23:41to see where she was,
23:42when they finished begging,
23:43she'd just gone.
23:45He made that report
23:46on the Tuesday,
23:47so Warwickshire Police
23:48started a missing
23:49person inquiry
23:50into a girl
23:51called Nicole.
23:54Nicole McGregor
23:55at this point
23:56is five months pregnant
23:57and extremely proud of it.
24:01She got a boyfriend
24:02called Chris.
24:03They lived in a flat
24:04in Leamington.
24:05They were both drug users,
24:07but they were trying
24:08to get off drugs.
24:10Nicole had not been seen
24:12since the previous day
24:13when she'd spent the morning
24:15with her partner
24:16and a new friend.
24:18By Tuesday afternoon,
24:20Chris was frantic
24:21with worry.
24:23Chris wasn't the sort
24:23of person really
24:24to interact with the police.
24:26I don't think he was
24:27particularly fond
24:28of the police,
24:29but he got so worried
24:30by that evening
24:31that he actually
24:32approached the uniformed
24:33police officer
24:33and said,
24:34I'm really concerned
24:35that my girlfriend's missing.
24:37When the police started
24:39to get the information
24:40from Chris,
24:41he started to disclose
24:42that the day before
24:43they'd befriended
24:44a person called Anthony.
24:46He was from Coventry.
24:48It was at that point
24:49when the realization
24:50came in that this
24:51might be Anthony Russell.
24:52That same evening,
24:55the investigation
24:55into the double murder
24:57of Julie and David
24:58got a result.
25:00The bloodied fingerprint
25:01from Julie's flat
25:03found a match
25:04on the national database.
25:06It belonged
25:07to Anthony Russell.
25:08The fingerprint
25:09was the confirmation
25:10that Anthony was the suspect
25:12that we were looking for.
25:14The chilling revelation
25:16that Nicole McGregor
25:17had been in the company
25:18of a man suspected
25:20of murdering two people
25:21in cold blood
25:23was one police took
25:24very seriously.
25:26They knew that time
25:28was of the essence.
25:30We'd scoured Leamington
25:32for CCTV
25:33and seized all the CCTV
25:34of the town centre.
25:36We were able then,
25:38with the information
25:39from Chris,
25:40to piece together
25:41where Nicole was.
25:42Then the story,
25:46dark although it already is,
25:48begets even darker
25:49because for some reason
25:51known only really
25:52to Anthony Russell,
25:54he targets Nicole McGregor.
25:57What we saw
25:58was that Anthony Russell
26:00had approached her,
26:01he'd been begging over
26:02the other side of the road
26:03and they'd walked away together.
26:06Anthony Russell invites
26:08Nicole McGregor
26:10to join him
26:11in a place called
26:12Newbold Common,
26:13a wooded area
26:15in Leamington Spa,
26:17quite quiet,
26:18quite secluded.
26:21It was suggested
26:22that she'd taken up
26:24the invitation
26:25because she thought
26:26that he could supply
26:28more drugs.
26:30CCTV showed Nicole
26:32and Anthony Russell
26:33entering the woods together.
26:36Forty minutes later,
26:37Russell emerged alone.
26:40That gave us then
26:41the last sighting
26:42of Nicole McGregor
26:43and we were able
26:45to go through
26:45the woodland
26:46in the area
26:47where he could have
26:48got to on foot
26:49in that 40-minute period.
26:51The CCTV cameras
26:52captured Russell
26:53walking the short journey
26:55back to the town centre.
26:58He goes to seek out
26:59Nicole's boyfriend,
27:00the father
27:01of her unborn child.
27:03What we were able
27:04to do then
27:05was track Anthony Russell
27:06and what we found
27:07was that he spent
27:08the Tuesday
27:09with Chris,
27:11Nicole's boyfriend,
27:12going round Leamington
27:14looking for her.
27:16He was, like,
27:17sympathetic to him
27:18and he was
27:19inserting himself
27:22into an investigation
27:23as a good guy.
27:25He was saying things
27:26to Nicole's boyfriend
27:27like, you know,
27:28oh, you must be
27:29really looking forward
27:30to becoming a father.
27:31On the 29th of October,
27:34three days after
27:36Nicole was last seen,
27:38police searched
27:38Newbold Common.
27:40We knew Anthony
27:41had already killed
27:42two people.
27:43We've got a girl
27:43going missing
27:44with Anthony.
27:46So, you know,
27:47our biggest fear
27:48was that she was dead.
27:53On the Thursday,
27:55there was a specialist
27:56police teams
27:57that are trained
27:58to search
27:58wooded difficult areas,
28:01do a methodical search
28:02to make sure
28:03that they search
28:03every area
28:05and they take it
28:05piece by piece.
28:07Storm Barbara
28:08was hitting the UK,
28:09the river was
28:10riding quite high,
28:12so the terrain
28:13was really,
28:13really difficult.
28:16Her body was found
28:17in some bushes
28:19and she'd been
28:21strangled
28:21with her own leggings.
28:22I received
28:25another phone call
28:26from the police
28:27to inform me
28:28that they had found
28:29another victim
28:30and this victim
28:32was Nicole McGregor.
28:35Nicole's body
28:36was found
28:37with her face down
28:38and what I could see
28:39was that there was
28:40vegetation
28:41within Nicole's mouth,
28:43which is likely
28:44to have been
28:45when she was face down
28:46on the floor
28:47but alive.
28:50The sheer terror
28:51that she must have felt
28:52when she was being
28:53attacked by this man
28:55she'd thought
28:55she'd trusted.
28:57The position
28:58in which she was found
28:59was very suggestive
29:01that she was likely
29:03to have been the subject
29:03of a sexual assault
29:05as well.
29:06Both Nicole
29:07and the baby
29:08she'd looked forward
29:09to bringing
29:10into the world
29:11were dead.
29:13It can be
29:13a very sobering
29:14experience
29:15when you perform
29:16a post-mortem examination
29:17on an expectant mother.
29:20When you find
29:21the unborn child
29:22lying peacefully
29:24inside the mum's womb,
29:26this woman
29:28who was excited
29:30about the prospect
29:32of being a mum
29:33has had that taken away
29:35from her.
29:36The death
29:37of Nicole McGregor
29:38meant police
29:39suspected Anthony Russell
29:41of killing
29:42three innocent people
29:44in a period
29:45of less than a week.
29:46Their biggest concern
29:48was what he would do next.
29:51Russell is becoming
29:53more and more dangerous.
29:55So he's committed
29:57murders.
29:59He then is attacking people,
30:01taking their money,
30:03taking their phones.
30:04But again,
30:05there's a kind of
30:05a logical reason
30:07for doing that
30:08even if the methods
30:09are brutal and awful.
30:10But now he's escalated
30:12to killing
30:13for the sake of it
30:15because it pleases him.
30:16So at the end
30:17of this seven days,
30:19he's about as dangerous
30:20as he can possibly get.
30:24Once again,
30:25Russell went on the run.
30:27A wanted man,
30:28he was prepared
30:29to do whatever it took
30:31to make his escape.
30:32He'd left Leamington.
30:35He'd walked away on foot.
30:36We saw that on CCTV
30:38and lost the tracking
30:39of him as he disappeared.
30:41We then found
30:42that there'd been a robbery
30:43just outside Leamington.
30:45An old man called Roy.
30:47He'd had a brick
30:48smashed over the top
30:49of his head.
30:50The attacker
30:51was a man with a plan,
30:53a man without mercy.
30:56He steals the car.
30:58He leaves the 78-year-old
30:59with a fractured skull
31:01in his own front door.
31:03Takes the car and leaves.
31:06He only survived
31:08because there were
31:09some people
31:09that were doing gardening
31:10that turned up
31:11to help with his garden
31:13that actually found him there
31:15and were able
31:15to get paramedics there
31:16and do first aid
31:18to keep him alive.
31:20Police suspected
31:21the attacker
31:22was Anthony Russell,
31:23a fugitive,
31:25hell-bent at getting away
31:26no matter what the cost.
31:29Russell is what
31:30I would call
31:31on a spree.
31:32one emotional event.
31:35He's not coming down.
31:37He's gone up
31:38into that rage
31:39when he's killed
31:39the first person
31:40and he kind of
31:41stayed there.
31:42Spree killers
31:43don't stop
31:44until they're stopped.
31:47Preventing Russell
31:49from killing again
31:50was the police's number one priority.
31:52We're working closely
31:55with Warwickshire Police
31:56to locate Anthony Russell
31:58as soon as possible,
31:59but I appeal to the public
32:01if they've got any information
32:03as to where he might be,
32:04if they see him at all,
32:06make sure that they call us
32:07on 999.
32:08They put out alerts
32:12on the red Ford C-Max
32:14he'd stolen.
32:16It was picked up
32:17on some A&PR cameras
32:18and it had headed towards
32:20the Staffordshire Police area,
32:22but it had pretty much
32:23disappeared into the countryside
32:25and it hadn't been hitting
32:27any A&PR cameras
32:28from that point.
32:29In October 2020,
32:32there was a large police presence
32:34in rural Staffordshire
32:36due to a recent spike
32:38in theft there.
32:40In the early hours
32:41of the 30th of October,
32:43one of the patrol cars
32:45made an unexpected find.
32:48They came across the vehicle
32:50and when they did the check
32:51on the vehicle,
32:51they realized that it had been
32:52stolen in a violent robbery.
32:54It might have been linked
32:55to our murder suspect.
32:57There's the car.
32:59Strike, strike, strike.
33:01They approached the car.
33:05Oh, please!
33:06Found Anthony asleep.
33:10I've got his hands.
33:11I've got his hands.
33:12That's where he was arrested.
33:14Anthony Russell,
33:15you're under arrest
33:16for the murder of three people.
33:19You do not have to say anything
33:20about my army defence.
33:21You do not mind to have
33:22questions, something
33:22which you later allow in court.
33:23If you do say,
33:24maybe given evidence.
33:26At 4.17am
33:28on Friday 30th of October,
33:31the man suspected
33:32of killing three people
33:33was taken to
33:34Penny Bar Police Station
33:36in Birmingham.
33:38He refused to be interviewed.
33:40He wouldn't leave his cell.
33:41So he was eventually
33:42asked the questions
33:43at his cell
33:44and he just put a blanket
33:45over his head
33:46and ignored all the questions
33:47and refused to make any comment.
33:49Having caught their fugitive,
33:53the police would now need
33:54to use all their skills
33:56to link Russell
33:57to all three murders
33:58and make sure
34:00a suspected triple killer
34:01didn't escape justice.
34:04On Monday, the 2nd of November, 2020,
34:17Anthony Russell appeared
34:18via video link
34:20from Birmingham Magistrates Court,
34:22charged with the murders
34:23of David Williams,
34:25Julie Williams
34:26and Nicole McGregor.
34:28Nicole's unborn baby
34:30was too young
34:31to be classed as a victim.
34:33He killed Julie.
34:35He killed David.
34:36He killed Nicola.
34:38But they didn't say
34:38he killed the baby
34:39because she wasn't born.
34:43I don't understand
34:44how that baby
34:46was not even classified
34:48as a body.
34:52The violent robberies
34:54Russell had carried out
34:55whilst on the run
34:56were added
34:57to the list of offences.
34:59The team that worked on it
35:01were brilliant.
35:03The real fear there
35:04is that you can find him
35:06within a week
35:06but if you've not got
35:07the evidence to hand,
35:09he could be back
35:09out the door again.
35:10So it was really, really key
35:12that the team worked
35:13as hard as they did
35:13to make sure
35:14that they got that evidence.
35:16Whilst Russell awaited trial,
35:18another charge
35:19was brought against him.
35:21We also charged him
35:23with rape of Nicole
35:24because we found evidence
35:26that he'd had
35:27sexual intercourse with her.
35:29we knew that Nicole
35:31wouldn't have willingly
35:32gone with him
35:33to have sex
35:34so we charged him
35:35with the rape.
35:37In the lead-up to trial,
35:39the Williams family
35:40suffered further heartbreak.
35:43For Julie's son,
35:44David's brother, Daniel,
35:46the loss was too great to bear.
35:50Daniel didn't want to live
35:51without his mum
35:51or without his brother
35:53which is why
35:54he decided
35:55to hang himself
35:56which is heartbreaking
35:58to think that he's
36:00in that much pain
36:01that he thought
36:01that was the best outcome.
36:07As far as I'm concerned,
36:09Anthony Russell
36:10should be charged
36:11with Daniel's murder as well.
36:15As the team prepared
36:17for the court case,
36:18investigators put together
36:20an account
36:21of that fateful week
36:22in October.
36:24We did piece together
36:26some things
36:27from Anthony's associates
36:28and David's associates
36:30and we realised
36:32that Anthony thought
36:34that David
36:34had slept with his girlfriend
36:35so we think
36:36that was the motive
36:37for killing David.
36:38It was all lies
36:40but all this
36:41was going on Facebook
36:42saying Anthony Russell
36:44is looking for David
36:45because he's been
36:45seeing his girlfriend.
36:48Police believe
36:49that Julie's murder
36:50was directly related
36:52to her sons.
36:54Anthony's never really
36:56given us a full account
36:57as to exactly
36:58what happened
36:58so we've never
36:59understood
37:00the real motives
37:02but we think
37:03Julie reporting
37:04David missing
37:05was the potential motive
37:07for killing Julie.
37:10Russell calculated
37:11that he couldn't
37:12keep up
37:13the charade
37:14of David
37:15having disappeared
37:16and decided
37:18in a cold-blooded
37:19premeditated manner
37:21to kill
37:22David's mother Julie.
37:24The police said
37:25that Anthony Russell
37:27probably knocked
37:28on Julie's door
37:29because she wasn't
37:30shutting up
37:31and she weren't
37:31going away.
37:33My heart breaks
37:35thinking
37:35she's just been told
37:37that her son's dead
37:38and now you're next.
37:40In the case
37:41of Nicole McGregor
37:42the evidence suggested
37:44Russell had raped her
37:45then killed her
37:46to cover his tracks.
37:49The team put together
37:50a case
37:50which the Crown Prosecution
37:52Service
37:53felt confident
37:54of winning.
37:55It was really
37:56really challenging
37:57because we're used to
37:58dealing with one murder
38:00one crime scene
38:01and suddenly
38:02we were finding
38:03murder
38:04murder
38:04murder
38:05scene
38:06scene
38:06The investigation
38:09gathered almost
38:119,000 hours
38:12of CCTV footage
38:14and put together
38:15a timeline
38:16which shone light
38:17on the message
38:18Julie had received
38:19from David
38:20about leaving town
38:22due to drug debts.
38:24We believe
38:25that that text message
38:26had actually been sent
38:27by Anthony
38:28after David
38:29had been killed
38:30to Julie
38:31to try and put her
38:32off the scent
38:33of it being Anthony
38:34that had killed him.
38:36It was 14 months
38:39after the murders
38:41before Anthony Russell
38:42was tried
38:43for his crimes.
38:45On the 14th of February
38:462022
38:47his trial began
38:49at Warwick Crown Court.
38:52Everyone was there
38:54and it was before
38:54the jury was sworn in
38:56so we were expecting
38:57quite a lengthy trial
38:58but then he pleaded guilty
39:00on the first day.
39:02He pleaded guilty
39:03to everything
39:04apart from the rape.
39:06That's not unusual
39:07actually
39:07because murdering somebody
39:09has some kind of
39:11machismo to it.
39:12You can hold your head
39:13up in the prison
39:13when you get your sentence.
39:15You're much more likely
39:16to get sympathy
39:17because you can say
39:18oh I thought this
39:19and I thought that
39:20and I was being treated badly.
39:22He can't say anything
39:23like that
39:24about a rape.
39:26So that left us
39:27with a decision then
39:27whether we were going to
39:28proceed just with the
39:29rape or not
39:31and we decided
39:32we would try him
39:33for the rape.
39:38Julia's sister
39:38went to the court
39:39every single day.
39:41I couldn't go
39:42because I kept thinking
39:43if I go and I see something
39:44I won't be able
39:46to unsee it.
39:48The things she's seen
39:49and the photos she's seen
39:50and what she heard
39:52that never came out
39:53in the papers.
39:54I think people
39:56would be very very shocked
39:57if they'd known
39:58just how bad he was.
40:01The jury heard
40:02the testimonies
40:03of those involved
40:05in the case.
40:06The focus of the trial
40:08was whether or not
40:09Anthony Russell
40:10had raped Nicole
40:12prior to her death.
40:14The fact that she was found
40:16in a state of undress
40:17the position in which
40:19her body was found
40:20would suggest to me
40:22that she had been subject
40:24to a sexual assault.
40:27Called to give evidence
40:28for the prosecution
40:29was Nicole's boyfriend
40:31Chris
40:32who'd searched for Nicole
40:34with the very man
40:35who'd killed her.
40:36It was the first time
40:38we'd seen Anthony
40:38since Anthony
40:39had been with him.
40:40He was unable
40:41to give any evidence
40:43in a calm way
40:44because he reacted
40:45so badly
40:46to seeing Anthony
40:47in the courtroom
40:47and that resulted
40:49in a jury failing
40:50to reach a verdict.
40:52A new trial date
40:53was set for the following
40:54month and on the 7th
40:56of March 2022
40:58at Warwick Crown Court
41:00Russell returned
41:01to face the charge
41:02of raping
41:03Nicole McGregor.
41:05We ran exactly
41:06the same trial
41:07and the second time
41:08around I think
41:10because Chris
41:10had actually seen
41:11Anthony he'd faced him
41:13he was able to stand
41:14and give evidence.
41:16Chris's evidence
41:17was quite compelling.
41:19When the jury came back
41:21they found him guilty
41:22after only deliberating
41:24for 83 minutes
41:25of the rape
41:26of Nicole McGregor.
41:29At his arrest
41:31and during the trial
41:32Russell had remained
41:33relatively silent.
41:36When the time came
41:37for sentencing
41:38he declined
41:39to leave his cell.
41:41Russell is so uncooperative
41:43he isn't even prepared
41:45to leave his jail cell
41:47to go to court
41:48to hear his sentence.
41:51He's got a whole life term
41:52which means he will
41:54never ever be released
41:55and that is reserved
41:56for the most serious
41:57of offenders.
41:58I think there's
41:59less than 100 people
42:01that have received
42:01that sort of sentence
42:02in the UK.
42:04It was the result
42:06everyone had hoped for
42:07but there was little
42:09cause for jubilation.
42:11The families are the ones
42:13that are doing the sentence
42:14not Russell.
42:15He's got the easy bit to do
42:17but the people
42:18that have to live
42:19with what he's done
42:20is unbearable.
42:25It's really difficult
42:26to feel any good feeling
42:28from it
42:28because it just
42:29is so horrific
42:30but the only satisfaction
42:32you get is that
42:33he's in prison now
42:34he won't come out
42:35and he won't hurt
42:36anybody else.
42:38The bodies weren't released
42:40until after the court cases.
42:43David and Julie
42:44had a funeral together
42:45at the Hanley crematorium
42:47and they also had a picture
42:49of Daniel
42:52and his ashes were there
42:53so that they could
42:55include the three of them
42:57and we're all sat there
42:59all looking at each other
43:00like everything's surreal
43:02because you might see it
43:04on the television
43:05you might read about it
43:06in the newspaper
43:06but that doesn't happen
43:07to people like her
43:08it's just ordinary people.
43:11If only Julie
43:12hadn't opened the door
43:13to Anthony Russell
43:14if David had realised
43:16what an evil
43:17evil person
43:18his friend was
43:19you know
43:20the story would be
43:21completely different.
43:23Anthony Russell
43:26was a man
43:27who took what he wanted
43:29and gave nothing back
43:31in return.
43:32A man motivated
43:33only by serving
43:35his own needs
43:36who terrified
43:37the elderly victims
43:38he brutalised
43:39and stole from
43:40who subjected
43:41three people
43:42who trusted him
43:43to sadistic
43:45and tortuous murders.
43:47To this day
43:48he's refused to explain
43:49or apologise
43:50for his actions
43:51making Anthony Russell
43:53one of Britain's
43:55most evil killers.
43:56me
43:59chosen
43:59who
44:01is
44:01most evil
44:10and can
44:10come out
44:11of dir
44:11and
44:18bye
44:19to me
44:19of you
44:20I
44:20I
44:21Transcription by CastingWords
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