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00:02On the 14th of January 2016, police are called to a home in Lancashire, England, after a woman fails to
00:08show up for work.
00:10The officers that attended could see through the window that there was a female on the floor.
00:18This is a scene where it's fairly clear that there's been a loss of life and an incredibly violent and
00:26sustained attack.
00:28A peaceful rural community is rocked by a devastating murder, leaving residents confused and frightened for their safety.
00:37This is a savage, targeted attack.
00:41There's nothing that could possibly compare with the brutal savagery of this murder.
00:47The residents are absolutely horrified. How could this possibly happen? And would they be safe themselves? Would this person strike
00:54again?
00:56Often people think, will the offenders come back?
01:00Will police be able to find those responsible for such a barbaric killing of an innocent woman?
01:16The End
01:46The End
01:48Helmshaw is an affluent village in the borough of Rossendale in Lancashire. Historically known for its rich industrial heritage, it
01:57is a place of scenic beauty with a peaceful atmosphere and strong community spirit.
02:04Helmshaw is a nice little village in the east of Lancashire. It's about 16 miles away from Manchester, 12 miles
02:10away from Burnley. It used to be a mill town, but over the years the industry has faded away. Fairly
02:17low crime, quite a bit of money there, nice cars, nice houses. Generally a nice place to live.
02:24Helmshaw is in a lovely part of Lancashire. It's in the Rossendale Valley. It's on the moors, which can be
02:30awfully bleak, beautiful in summer, but very, very cold in winter.
02:34It's a lot of exposed rock, a lot of sheep around the area. It is a beautiful part of the
02:40country to live in.
02:43It's an area where people congregate around the local pub. Most people know everyone. From a news perspective, it's an
02:50area where not an awful lot happens.
02:56Well, certainly it is a place where you wouldn't expect someone to be murdered. It's not like a city centre
03:02or an urban town.
03:06It's unusual for murders to occur in these idyllic villages. That said, they do happen. It's just that there are
03:12less people living in them.
03:19Sadie Hartley is a 60-year-old mother living in Helmshaw. She's a respected businesswoman and valued community member.
03:28Sadie Hartley was a 60-year-old mother of two, a very successful businesswoman, very outgoing, very adventurous woman.
03:36Her daughters would say that she never had a bad word about anybody. She didn't like confrontation. She would always
03:41talk things out.
03:42She was very much like a decent, hard-working woman.
03:49Sadie worked in intensive care medicine and had devoted her life to that kind of career.
03:56At this time, in January 2016, this was a very exciting time.
04:00Not only was she just getting ready to pack because she was going to join her family on the ski
04:05slopes of Switzerland,
04:06but she was looking forward to retirement and to spend more time with her family,
04:10particularly now that her daughter had become engaged.
04:16Sadie has a reputation for being reliable, so concerns are raised when she does not show up for work on
04:22the 15th of January 2016.
04:26One day, she simply doesn't turn up for work, which is incredibly out of character.
04:31This is a diligent, focused, hard-working individual who's conscientious and certainly wouldn't normally let somebody down like that and
04:38not turn up for work.
04:42Concerns were raised over Sadie when one of the co-workers contacted the police to say that she hadn't been
04:47into work that day,
04:48and they were concerned for her safety, so officers were sent round to the address.
04:56Sadie's co-worker rang the police and said that she hadn't seen Sadie for about 24 hours.
05:01I hadn't heard from her, which was unusual, and that instigated a visit from the police to Sadie's home address.
05:12So, having received a 999 call of that type, particularly if someone says it's unusual and out of character,
05:19police would carry out what's called a safe and well check, go in essentially knocking on the door,
05:24seeing if they got a response, if they didn't get a response at the door,
05:28seeing if there's any sort of signs of disturbance, forced entry, looking in windows,
05:32maybe speaking to neighbours, that type of thing.
05:36So, police visit her home, they're not necessarily expecting anything untoward.
05:41Maybe she tends a horse, maybe she's fallen over somewhere, maybe she's ill,
05:45maybe some minor things happened.
05:50Officers conducting the wellness check peer through the windows of the property.
05:55On this occasion, the officers that attended could see through the window
05:59that there was a female on the floor and what appeared to be blood around her.
06:08This is a scene where it's fairly clear that there's been an incredibly violent and sustained attack.
06:20Immediately, those officers would have looked for any signs of life.
06:24You know, the first building block of policing and investigation is preservation of life.
06:29They would have looked for that, but if they didn't see any established there was no life,
06:33then they would have stood back and looked to preserve that as a crime scene.
06:38My first initial assessment of that crime scene was how little blood was present.
06:45Given the injuries, I would expect to find a lot more blood patterns on the wall, etc.
06:52On looking at Sadie, it was clear to the officers that she had notable stab wounds
06:58that appeared to be in her torso and in her legs,
07:01and she was sort of half in and half out of the doorway.
07:08She clearly had been dead for some time with countless, countless knife wounds.
07:17On seeing injuries of that type, it would straightaway be obvious
07:23that the likelihood is that the officers would be looking at a murder,
07:26not something that had happened accidentally
07:29and, again, a highly unlikely self-inflicted.
07:36The more injuries, the more likely the thought process is,
07:39this is an attack that was sustained
07:41and potentially could have been caused by somebody known.
07:44But obviously, at this time, it's impossible to say.
07:50I was the on-call scientist and I first received a phone call
07:54early on the Saturday morning from the crime scene manager.
07:58There was no known suspect at the time,
08:00so I got called because my area of expertise is footwear evidence.
08:05The crime scene investigators had identified
08:08what they believed to be a footwear mark deposited in blood.
08:16The first thing the police would have to consider
08:18confronted with this horrific murder was,
08:21who were the suspects?
08:22Who has got a motive?
08:23How could this have happened?
08:25And their first thoughts were,
08:27she must have opened her door
08:29because there's no sign of a break-in.
08:31But equally, there's no sign of a disturbance
08:34and no sign of anything being taken.
08:42That scene would be what officers called held overnight.
08:45That means it's fully secured with officers making sure
08:48that nobody can get into the premises
08:50or, you know, entrances and exceses
08:52when the premises would be covered.
08:55Police were very anxious
08:56that nothing would be done to contaminate the scene.
08:58So it was sealed off, the whole house was sealed off that night
09:01with a police guard over it
09:03for the forensic team to arrive in daylight
09:05first thing the following morning.
09:10Just at the front of the front door in the entrance hall,
09:14there was three blood spots.
09:16They were swabbed and fast-tracked,
09:19what we classed as fast-tracked,
09:20to go straight to the DNA lab for DNA profiling.
09:24Many people underestimate the power of footwear evidence
09:27because they think it's a popular shoe.
09:30Lots of people have those types of shoes,
09:32so it could have been any one of those shoes.
09:34But that's not strictly true
09:36because as you wear your shoe,
09:38they begin to wear down in specific areas
09:40to a specific degree.
09:42But then also you can pick up lots of little cuts
09:45and lots of little scratches on the bottom of your shoe
09:47that make your shoe unique
09:48because they're random.
09:50And if any of those features
09:51are then reproduced in a crime scene mark,
09:53it's possible to say
09:55that that is the shoe that made that mark.
09:59So at the very beginning of the investigation,
10:01there'll be a briefing.
10:02This will be to set out the parameters
10:04of what is known at this point.
10:06So it will be described about the finding of the body
10:08and what we already at this stage know about Sadie
10:11and her family.
10:12And it will be to give a briefing
10:14to all the officers that are going to be working on that inquiry
10:16so they understand what's happened to start with.
10:20And from there, setting out tasks to those staff
10:24for specific areas of business
10:26to go and try and build up that picture
10:27because that's the main thing here
10:29is to try and build up a picture
10:30to understand what's taken place.
10:36It was evident that this was immediately
10:39a murder scene and a criminal investigation.
10:42This person is dangerous.
10:44They need to be caught.
10:47With the investigation in full swing,
10:49police are working around the clock
10:51to find evidence
10:52and identify those responsible for her murder.
10:56Authorities are determined
10:57to bring justice to Sadie and her family.
11:20On a cold January morning in 2016,
11:2460-year-old Sadie Hartley,
11:26a mother and respected businesswoman,
11:28is found murdered in her own home.
11:31Police have launched a full-scale investigation
11:33to find whoever is responsible
11:35for this savage killing.
11:41So you would want to know
11:42who your victim was,
11:44the lifestyle of your victim.
11:46You'd want to know who the family are.
11:49You would deploy a family liaison team.
11:51They would work directly, essentially,
11:53to the senior investigating officer.
11:55So Sadie lived on quite an affluent road
11:58where it was in a cul-de-sac,
11:59so only one road going in.
12:02It's described as quite an affluent cul-de-sac,
12:05quite big, expensive houses,
12:07expensive cars,
12:09one way in, one way out.
12:11The type of street that really,
12:12unless you were living there or visiting,
12:14you wouldn't have any cause to go down.
12:19The scene was held straight away.
12:21When crime scenes are like this found,
12:24then the important part is to do it slowly
12:27and to do it correctly,
12:28to make sure that all evidence is gathered,
12:30because at this point,
12:31it's really unclear what's taken place.
12:34To do that,
12:35you'd bring in a crime scene coordinator
12:37for essentially other forensic experts
12:40to try and understand that scene.
12:41That process can take a long time,
12:44which means that often the body of the individual
12:48will stay in that location,
12:49potentially for up to a couple of days.
12:53So we'll be discussing the scene,
12:55what options are available to you at the crime scene,
12:58so what forensic opportunities,
13:01what's the area like?
13:03Is it built up?
13:04Is it countryside?
13:05Is it rural?
13:08At this point,
13:10there is no time scale for that murder,
13:12only that she's been found
13:13because police have been attending.
13:14It's not known at this time
13:16how much earlier in the day
13:19or the previous day
13:19the murder would have taken place.
13:21There was obvious footwear marks in blood
13:23in the centre of the entrance hall.
13:26So the first task is
13:27what type of shoe has made this mark?
13:30And we could identify it
13:32as being made by a steel toe cap work boot.
13:35We identified the pattern,
13:37we then worked out the size
13:38and we gave it a size range
13:40of between a size 9 and a size 11.
13:42So we knew that the shoe
13:44that had made these marks in blood
13:45were within that size range.
13:51Police need to determine a motive
13:53for Sadie Hartley's murder.
13:55They speak with family, friends and colleagues
13:57to uncover any possible conflicts or tensions.
14:03So the first rule is don't disturb the evidence
14:06and don't disturb the crime scene.
14:07You immediately seal that off.
14:08But at the same time,
14:09you have to also see what has been stolen,
14:12what has been taken.
14:13Was this person looking for something?
14:14Were they looking for expensive items?
14:17It doesn't appear that anything has gone missing.
14:19In fact, the house is largely,
14:21apart from this appalling scene in the entrance,
14:24completely undisturbed.
14:24This was somebody that was determined
14:27to take somebody's life.
14:29It was an extremely violent and unusual incident.
14:35First call was obviously to Sadie Hartley's partner,
14:39Ian Johnson,
14:40who was at that time in Switzerland
14:42expecting Sadie to join him.
14:46And you can imagine the call to say,
14:49your partner is not just dead,
14:52but has been savagely murdered.
14:57But he was able to provide them
14:58with two pieces of evidence straight away.
15:01Firstly, Sadie had been worried
15:03because there had been a burglary at the house
15:05in the previous August.
15:06And this was the first time
15:08that she'd been alone in the house since then,
15:10with Ian being away on the slopes.
15:12And secondly, that a week before,
15:16Sadie had been particularly unnerved
15:17by the fact that someone had come to the door
15:19and knocked on the door,
15:21asked her to confirm her name,
15:23and then handed her a bunch of flowers.
15:27The information he was giving me
15:28from the inquiry team was
15:29somebody was believed to have knocked on the door
15:32and delivered Sadie a bunch of flowers.
15:34We was looking for these flowers
15:36to see if we could reveal
15:37maybe an identity of that person.
15:40Ian also said that Sadie had told him
15:43a lady in a baseball cap
15:44had delivered flowers to her.
15:46That had also unnerved her
15:47because, again, she wasn't sure
15:49whether that was anything to do with the burglary.
15:53Who was this person she'd never seen before?
15:56She was seriously spooked by this.
16:01Detectives turned their focus
16:02to the suspicious woman
16:04who delivered flowers to Sadie
16:05shortly before she was murdered.
16:09This is a cul-de-sac,
16:11and so you tend to only go down into the road
16:13if you're specifically going to an address.
16:15You cannot cut through.
16:17This isn't a road that goes as a thoroughfare
16:18to anywhere else.
16:19So as a result of the house-to-house strategy,
16:21that's where they identify,
16:24set parameters that are most important to the scene,
16:26and they set a questionnaire
16:28asking the local residents,
16:30what did they see?
16:31Anything out of the ordinary?
16:33And one of the residents did say
16:35they'd seen a woman
16:36that they didn't consider unusual at the time,
16:38but it's a line of inquiry
16:40that you don't ignore.
16:46The officers that were looking
16:48into the CCTV recovery,
16:50when they recovered some of the footage
16:52from the road that Sadie lived on,
16:54they noticed a Renault Clio
16:56going up and down the cul-de-sac.
16:58This seemed unusual
16:59because it wasn't the kind of vehicles
17:01that would normally be going up and down the close.
17:03So that was that first moment
17:05of this is something that's unusual
17:06and a starting point.
17:13This was a one-way street,
17:14so it wasn't getting anywhere,
17:16and a Renault Clio stuck out
17:18because it's a small, cheap, budget car,
17:20and the neighbours here
17:22were very much more top-of-the-range Porsches
17:24and 4x4s.
17:26One of the greatest breakthroughs
17:28in crime detection
17:29was the advent of CCTV,
17:31and Britain is one of the foremost places
17:34in the world
17:34which has so many CCTV cameras.
17:39So any part of a murder investigation,
17:42there'll be a CCTV strategy
17:44to determine about how much
17:47there's going to be a footprint
17:48of CCTV recovered,
17:50and over what time scale,
17:52because it isn't just
17:52the moment of the murder.
17:54Again, one of the inquirers
17:55will be to find out
17:56when she was last seen.
17:57That can be done
17:58through the house-to-house,
17:59that may be done
18:00through the CCTV,
18:01or it might be down
18:02to which member of the public
18:03or friend or family
18:04last saw the person.
18:09Sadie's partner, Ian,
18:10provides detectives
18:11with another lead,
18:12telling them he had a relationship
18:14with a woman named Sarah Williams,
18:16a local woman in her 30s.
18:18He reveals that she became
18:19increasingly obsessed with him
18:21and jealous of Sadie.
18:24So when Ian is spoken to further,
18:26he tells officers
18:27that he has an ex-partner,
18:29a lady by the name of Sarah Williams,
18:31who in fact he had a relationship with
18:33whilst in a relationship with Sadie.
18:35So it would appear
18:36that he has some concerns
18:38about that female.
18:44Checks would be carried out
18:46and looked into
18:46to ascertain who she is
18:48and find out a bit more about her.
18:50What officers do discover
18:51is that Sarah has in fact
18:53written a letter to Sadie,
18:55telling Sadie all about
18:56her relationship with Ian.
19:02Sarah is very, very obsessive
19:05in her behaviour,
19:06even down to the point
19:07that she's put trackers
19:08on Ian's vehicle
19:09so that she can see
19:10where he's at
19:11and what he's doing.
19:12So her obsessive behaviour
19:14would be a real concern
19:15to the investigation team.
19:18Ian said that he'd broke
19:20the relationship off
19:22because she was clingy
19:23and was hard to manage,
19:25something that Sarah Williams
19:26later said herself.
19:28Sarah Williams had also
19:30taken the step
19:31of sending a detailed
19:32and very angry letter
19:34to Sadie's address
19:36revealing the details
19:37of this torrid affair.
19:40This now becomes
19:42a really interesting line
19:44of inquiry for the police.
19:45He had a relationship
19:46with Sarah Williams,
19:47broke it off,
19:48she didn't take it well.
19:50Is she involved
19:52in this homicide?
19:57She had reacted extremely badly
19:59to being the end
20:01of their relationship.
20:02Williams had sent
20:04Sadie a particularly
20:05spiteful and vicious letter
20:07claiming still to have
20:09fantastic sex
20:10with Ian Johnson.
20:15So in these circumstances,
20:17because it's quite
20:18a remote location,
20:19a small village,
20:20and Sarah herself
20:21lived, I think it was
20:23around 50 miles away
20:24from that location,
20:26it's quite key
20:27to know where
20:28her phone might be
20:29and from the network providers,
20:31they're able to tell you
20:32to a reasonable certainty
20:35where a phone is
20:36if it's been moved.
20:38In this case,
20:39the phone on the night before
20:40was shown to be
20:42in the location
20:43of Sadie's village.
20:48So police immediately
20:49started looking at
20:50this Sarah Williams
20:51individual that
20:52Ian had had this affair
20:54with, this dysfunctional
20:56on-off affair,
20:57which had clearly
20:57ended quite badly.
20:59And looking at
21:00her mobile phone data,
21:02they can place her
21:03in the area
21:04on the day
21:05that these flowers
21:06were delivered
21:07to Sadie's address.
21:08It's not an area
21:09that you'd immediately
21:10obviously go to,
21:11this isn't an area
21:12with lots and lots
21:13of different things to do,
21:14this isn't a busy city centre.
21:16What reason did
21:17this individual
21:18who apparently
21:19has a grudge to bear
21:21need to be in that area,
21:23particularly at the time
21:24where this bouquet of flowers
21:26was delivered
21:26by this strange individual?
21:33So the hypothesis,
21:35and this would be my hypothesis,
21:37that she's a woman scorned
21:40from a relationship
21:42with Ian,
21:45didn't like it.
21:46She's found out
21:47where Sadie lives
21:48and she's gone
21:49and delivered flowers
21:51to the address
21:52to make sure
21:53she's got the right address.
21:55The police immediately
21:57had a scenario
21:58in their mind
21:58that Sarah Williams
22:01had been in Helmshaw,
22:02was involved
22:03in the delivery of flowers
22:04in what was clearly
22:05a dry run
22:06for the murder.
22:07They had to arrest
22:08this woman now.
22:13It was at 2.45 in the morning.
22:15The Cheshire police
22:16smashed in the door
22:18of Sarah Williams
22:19at her home in Chester
22:21and found her in bed
22:23and arrested her
22:24on the spot.
22:34The way that's done
22:35is to normally get
22:37a warrant
22:37for the address
22:38of the person
22:39that's going to be arrested
22:40to take a team of officers
22:42who can do
22:43what we call rapid entry,
22:44so making sure
22:45they can get into
22:45an address really quickly.
22:47The reason for that
22:48is to make sure
22:48people don't have
22:49chance to destroy evidence,
22:52you know,
22:52throw things out of windows,
22:54delete messages on phones.
22:55It's very much
22:56a rapid entry
22:57into the premises.
22:58They force entry
22:59through the doors,
23:00followed by
23:00some of the investigation team.
23:08Williams has taken
23:09into custody
23:09for the murder,
23:10but questions still remain.
23:12If Sarah delivered
23:13the flowers herself,
23:15wouldn't Sadie
23:15have recognised her
23:16and told her partner,
23:18Ian.
23:19Police will need
23:20more than circumstantial evidence
23:21to ascertain
23:22whether Sarah Williams
23:23murdered her ex's partner
23:25in a jealous rage.
23:45police in Lancashire have just arrested
23:4835-year-old Sarah Williams
23:50on suspicion of murdering
23:5260-year-old Sadie Hartley
23:54in her home in Helmshaw
23:56on January 15th, 2016.
23:59Williams,
24:00who is in a relationship
24:01with Sadie's partner,
24:02is believed
24:03to have become jealous
24:04and obsessive
24:05after he ended
24:06the relationship,
24:07raising suspicions
24:08that Williams
24:09had motive
24:09for the brutal killing.
24:13When she's arrested,
24:15one of her rights
24:16is to have someone informed.
24:17She asks that
24:18she describes him
24:19as her boyfriend.
24:20David is informed
24:22from the inquiry.
24:23Officers are aware
24:24that David
24:25is in a marital relationship
24:26but equally appears
24:27to be in a relationship
24:28with Sarah.
24:29He's quite considerably
24:30older than she is.
24:32It's a slightly
24:33unusual relationship.
24:34Police were to find
24:35that he paid
24:36huge amounts,
24:37I mean hundreds
24:37and hundreds of pounds
24:39into a bank account
24:40on a regular basis.
24:41He had paid
24:42for 12 holidays
24:43a year for her
24:44and had lent
24:45her 75,000 pounds
24:46to buy a house.
24:48This was a sugar daddy.
24:51Detectives looked
24:52deeper into
24:52Williams' background
24:53for any criminal history.
24:57Sarah Williams
24:58had never been
24:58arrested before.
24:59She'd never been
25:00in custody
25:00and I was quite
25:03surprised by
25:05her coolness,
25:07her calmness.
25:08Someone who's never
25:09been in custody before.
25:10It was a bit
25:11of an anomaly really.
25:16In this case,
25:17there are a number
25:18of messages
25:18between her and Ian
25:20that are shown
25:21within the phone.
25:22They'd look within
25:23the notes of the phone
25:24and see that she's
25:25made some kind
25:25of fantasy relationship
25:27between her and Ian
25:28about how she'd
25:29like to be with him.
25:30This would be
25:31unusual behaviour.
25:32We know that the
25:33relationship had finished
25:34a couple of years
25:35earlier but it clearly
25:36shows that she hasn't
25:37moved on from that.
25:38She's still got
25:39affections towards Ian.
25:45On her phone,
25:46they found evidence
25:47of the number
25:48of text messages
25:48she kept sending Ian
25:50and she'd also
25:51written little essays
25:52about him,
25:53how she'd fallen
25:54hook, line and sinker
25:55for him.
25:56He was the greatest
25:56man in the history
25:58of the world.
25:58She was head over
25:59heels in love
25:59with him and once
26:02he had dumped her,
26:03this was almost
26:04as if her world
26:05had come to an end.
26:07Police learned
26:08that Sadie's
26:09husband Ian
26:09had maintained
26:10contact with
26:11Williams in the
26:12months following
26:12their relationship
26:13ending.
26:14So, obviously,
26:16a key part
26:16of the investigation
26:17is to look
26:18at the content
26:19of Sarah's phone
26:20when she's in
26:21police custody.
26:22What they find
26:23is there's lots
26:23of messages
26:24between her
26:25and Ian.
26:26It's clear
26:26that the relationship
26:27has ended.
26:29However,
26:29for some reason,
26:30Ian does keep
26:31in contact
26:32with her occasionally.
26:33It would appear
26:34maybe just to keep
26:35her on side
26:36because he's aware
26:37of her obsessive
26:38behaviour.
26:39Every now and
26:40then check
26:40in with her.
26:42Which, again,
26:43might seem
26:43a little bit
26:44strange,
26:44but he's
26:45obviously got
26:45some sort
26:46of concerns
26:47about her
26:47and the way
26:48she is.
26:50So, in an early
26:52interview,
26:52she was talking
26:53to officers.
26:54She decided
26:55that she would
26:55talk and she
26:56was asked to,
26:57firstly,
26:58and it's always
26:58the first question
26:59when the interview
26:59starts,
27:00is have you
27:00committed the
27:01murder?
27:01She said
27:02that she hadn't.
27:02She then
27:03described how
27:04she was at home
27:05alone at the
27:06time of the
27:07murder and
27:08denies any
27:08involvement within
27:09it.
27:09She could have
27:10been telling
27:10the truth,
27:11and that was
27:12important because
27:14the investigation
27:16is there to
27:17gather facts
27:18and gather
27:18evidence.
27:19They're not
27:19judging jury.
27:21They are just
27:21there to gather
27:22the facts and
27:23gather the evidence
27:23so that can be
27:24presented before
27:25a court and
27:26before a jury.
27:26Police are very
27:27conscious that even
27:28though they have
27:28their prime suspect
27:29in custody,
27:30within 24 hours
27:32of the investigation
27:32starting,
27:33and that they
27:34have some very
27:35promising evidence,
27:36albeit unproven,
27:37but they only have
27:38three days to
27:40create a case
27:41strong enough to
27:42charge.
27:42The clock was
27:43ticking.
27:43This was a race
27:44against time.
27:50Once she's been
27:51arrested and her
27:52property's been
27:53secured as another
27:54scene, there'll be
27:55again another
27:55forensic strategy to
27:57look at that
27:58location because
27:59the chances are
28:01that the violent
28:02nature of the
28:03murder, the amount
28:04of blood that was
28:04involved in the
28:06attack, that any
28:07perpetrator of that
28:08attack will have
28:09blood on them and
28:10will transfer that
28:11blood to other
28:11locations, so it's
28:12really important when
28:13someone's arrested
28:14for murder that
28:15their home location
28:16is fully examined
28:17and that will be
28:18done forensically.
28:23Upon searching
28:24Williams' home,
28:25police uncover more
28:26incriminating evidence.
28:29When police are
28:30searching a suspect's
28:31home, they're
28:32looking for evidence
28:33that attaches them
28:34to the individual
28:35that's been murdered
28:36and to evidence of
28:37that they were there
28:38present at the crime
28:39scene.
28:40Within Sarah's home,
28:41what's suspicious is
28:44the complete absence
28:45of almost anything.
28:47This is a house that's
28:47been bleached top to
28:49bottom, which
28:49immediately is
28:50suspicious.
28:51However, on
28:52examination of the
28:53bathroom on a
28:54corner of the sink
28:55away from iview is a
28:58small smear of blood
28:59which immediately
29:01grabs attention, and
29:04this sample of blood
29:05is sent away for DNA
29:07testing.
29:10Day one was the
29:12house in Helmshore, and
29:13then we had scenes in
29:15Chester, which was the
29:16home of Sarah Williams.
29:18We had to get a team
29:19sent there to look for
29:20blood or any items in
29:22that property.
29:23They found dilute blood
29:24stains, and we used a
29:26test called luminol.
29:27Luminol is a chemical, and
29:29it's good at finding blood
29:31which has been diluted.
29:32And we sprayed that in the
29:34house of Sarah, especially
29:35in the bathroom, and we
29:37found two areas of dilute
29:39blood, and we swabbed that,
29:42and that had DNA inside that
29:44blood which matched the DNA
29:46of Sadie.
29:52whilst they're investigating,
29:54obviously the fact that
29:55seven days earlier, some
29:57flowers are delivered by a
29:58person that isn't known by
30:01Sadie, this would raise some
30:03concerns that it's potentially
30:04an accomplice working with
30:05Sarah.
30:06So officers will start to look
30:07at building that intelligence
30:08picture around Sarah to
30:10understand who her associates
30:11are and who she mixes with to
30:14see if that links then into
30:15this unknown person that came
30:16to the address.
30:21Police start thinking that
30:23Sarah Williams knows about
30:25the flowers and very much
30:26doesn't approve of Ian and
30:28Sadie still being together, and
30:30they start to think that
30:32someone else had delivered
30:33these flowers.
30:33Had Sarah recruited some sort
30:36of accomplice?
30:38The second round of interviews
30:40probed her relationship with
30:43Ian.
30:44She told them that she had
30:45met Ian when she was a ski
30:47instructor at the Manchester
30:48Chill Factory, and that she was
30:50immediately smitten and they
30:51started a relationship.
30:53So police are trawling through
30:54Sarah Williams' Facebook
30:55profile and her Facebook
30:56friends.
30:57They go through and they find
30:58an individual called Katrina
31:00Kit Walsh.
31:01Katrina Walsh is somebody
31:03that's got quite severe
31:04alopecia, she doesn't have
31:07much hair, she's largely
31:08bald, and because of this she
31:10regularly wears baseball caps
31:12and she regularly covers the
31:13top of her head.
31:22What they also notice in her
31:24address is lots and lots of
31:25baseball caps, and obviously the
31:27person that delivered the
31:28flowers was wearing a baseball
31:30cap.
31:30So they start to consider
31:32actually, Katrina is probably
31:35the person in the vehicle,
31:37probably the person that
31:38delivers the flowers.
31:42So police start trawling CCTV
31:44all across the area, and this
31:46is an immensely time-consuming,
31:48painstaking operation.
31:49They find what they think is
31:51incredibly interesting, CCTV in a
31:55big Tesco superstore of Katrina
31:57Walsh and Sarah Williams
31:59together.
31:59What are they doing?
32:00They're buying a cheap
32:01bouquet of Tesco flowers.
32:10A figure that was clearly Sarah
32:12Williams, equally a small figure
32:14in a baseball cap that
32:16definitely matched Katrina
32:17Walsh, the case was now
32:19starting to come together.
32:23The purpose of doing a structured
32:26interview is you drip feed, if you
32:29will, the information that you
32:31have, rather than giving them
32:34everything at once.
32:35From what she'd been told in the
32:36previous three, Sarah Williams must
32:39have known that the police were
32:41getting quite a bit of significant
32:43and probably damning evidence.
32:45So her bravado was starting to
32:48ebb away, her confidence was
32:50going, her coolness, her calmness
32:52was going.
32:53She could probably feel the walls
32:54were closing in a bit.
32:58Part of her next lot of
33:00interviews, Sarah is told by the
33:03fact that her friend Katrina is now
33:04also in police custody, and what
33:07officers note at this point is this
33:08is the first time she shows any sort
33:11of emotion or shock or any response
33:13to their questioning.
33:14The following day, they have some
33:15forensic evidence come back, and
33:17what that forensic evidence shows
33:19is that in the collar of Sadie's
33:21jumper, there's a barb that looks
33:23like it's come from a stun gun.
33:25So this is a really significant piece
33:27of evidence to suggest what may have
33:30happened to Sadie prior to her being
33:32murdered.
33:32In this case, we walked through, and I
33:34was there with the pathologist, and
33:36we noticed a piece of what we
33:39class as metal in the clothing.
33:41A couple of days later, I examined
33:44this said piece of metal, which was
33:46found on the clothing of Sadie, and I
33:49can remember this moment quite
33:51distinctively, and I can remember
33:52jumping up off my seat in the lab and
33:56saying out loud, what has a point and
33:59has an electric current towards it?
34:02And I said, it must be a stun gun, a barb.
34:07While police build their case against
34:09Sarah Williams, they continue to
34:11question Katrina Walsh, suspecting she
34:14was more involved in the murder than
34:15she's letting on.
34:18Katrina Walsh is an unusual character,
34:20and she immediately alerts suspicion, both
34:23in the evidence and the information they
34:25already know about her movements and her
34:27mobile phone and the flowers, but also
34:29everything she does when she's being
34:37questioned. One piece of evidence that
34:39comes from Katrina Walsh immediately is
34:42she says she's got such a bad memory, she
34:44always writes things down. And this
34:47immediately gets the police
34:49interested. What has she been writing
34:51down? Where is this information? What
34:54does she actually remember?
34:58As soon as Katrina Walsh reached the
35:00police station, almost as soon as she got
35:02into the custody suite, she was immediately
35:03telling the police that she had this
35:05terrible problem with memories and all
35:07this sort of stuff. But she did know a
35:09friend, Sarah, was an intimidating figure,
35:12and she was scared of her, and she was
35:14worried what she could possibly do.
35:18Katrina Walsh is all over the place. She is
35:21also saying things that immediately arouse
35:24suspicion. She's saying she's terrified of
35:26Sarah Williams. Sarah Williams is dangerous. She
35:29might try and kill her, but also she can't
35:32remember anything. She just knows that
35:33whenever she sees Sarah Williams, she's
35:35immediately afraid.
35:37So as a result of Katrina being arrested,
35:40searches are conducted at her home address. And
35:43what officers find at her home address are
35:45diaries in which she is detailed in quite some
35:50finite detail, being involved in the planning
35:55of Sadie's murder, about her excitement, about
35:58being involved in a murder plot. And yes, and
36:02generally quite concerning content that
36:05suggests she's fully aware of the plan to
36:07murder Sadie and his party to it.
36:16In the diaries, she does reveal that she was asked
36:20to bury or hide something on her estate. She is a
36:23riding instructor. She has stables with horses, quite a
36:28big, large estate on the outskirts of Chester. So
36:31police immediately sent a huge team down there to see
36:34what they could find.
36:35As a result of one of the searches, they found a
36:37Nokia under her bed. It was an additional phone. It
36:42had quite a bit of information on location and
36:47contact or attempted contact that Sarah Williams had
36:51tried to have with Sadie at work.
36:58Sarah Williams is suddenly probed for answers and
37:02previously very conversational. Sarah Williams has
37:05started to clamor. Suddenly long answers that she
37:08delivers with confidence have been switched to
37:10sharp, no comment.
37:11It was now Katrina Walsh's turn to be interviewed and
37:15she came over as a pathetic figure. She sort of
37:17collapsed on the floor and she had to be helped up and
37:20then out came a whole gushing account of the
37:25relationship she said she had with Williams. However,
37:27she was scared and frightened and was convinced that
37:30she was capable of murder.
37:33And she told the police that Williams had given her a
37:36bag containing clothing and towels and the murder
37:42weapon, the knife, and what she'd described as a
37:44zapper. And what is this zapper? And she said, oh, she went to
37:49Germany in December before Christmas the previous year and
37:53bought a stun gun which turned out to be capable of firing half
37:58a million faults.
38:04She was able to take the police to her farm and showed exactly
38:08where she had hidden them.
38:09The decision made to take Katrina out from the police
38:13location and to a scene potentially for her to identify where
38:17those items that she disguided are is unusual. However, in this
38:21case, it's really key to get back the murder weapon and other
38:24items that she described. That could prove crucial for the case.
38:28Officers managed to search that location and find what appears
38:32to be the murder weapon and knife that appears to have blood
38:35stain on it.
38:37We found boots in a river close to the farm she used to work on.
38:44The shoes that had been recovered from the stream on the
38:47farm that they were taken to by Katrina Walsh had been damaged.
38:52Attempts had been made to destroy them. So we did a direct
38:55comparison of the remains of the logo to all the different logos
38:59that were available that produce this pattern of shoe and we
39:02narrowed it down to just one specific to the shoe shop
39:05diamonds. They then looked at the CCTV from within the shop at the
39:10same time as the till receipt and they identified Sarah Williams at
39:13the counter buying the steel toe cap work boots. Officer at this
39:17stage will still need to be forensically proven. We're quite
39:20excited by that recovery. Whilst Sarah is still in custody, the
39:25forensic evidence from the blood that was found at her home
39:28address, the report comes back around that to confirm that it is
39:30Sadie's blood. This then would be put to Sarah for her to explain
39:36how Sadie's blood is in her sink at her home address.
39:40So the SIO had a decision to make. Was Katrina Walsh a witness or
39:46was she a suspect? And the enquiries revealed that she was
39:50actually in Elmshaw at the same time as Sarah Williams. She was
39:53now a suspect and she was arrested.
39:58Both Sarah Williams and Katrina Walsh are charged with the murder of
40:02Sadie Hartley. However, the investigation raises questions as
40:08to whether there has been any coercion or manipulation between the
40:11two women in planning the crime.
40:32Police in Lancashire have just charged two women, Sarah Williams and Katrina
40:37Walsh, for the murder of 60-year-old Sadie Hartley, who was stabbed to death in
40:42her own home in Elmshaw on the 15th of January 2016. Prosecutors face the
40:48challenge of deciphering the responsibility of the crime. While Walsh has a
40:52previous criminal history, Sarah has motive. She was in a relationship with
40:58Sadie's partner, Ian, and became jealous and obsessive when he ended the
41:02relationship.
41:04Katrina Walsh is now presenting herself as a victim, another victim of
41:10Sarah Williams' murderous plot. She is making out that she was swept along in
41:15this tide of fury and rage in this premeditated murder plot by a psychopathic,
41:21scorned Sarah Williams. However, that's not the case. While Katrina Walsh might
41:26present as frail, significantly older than Sarah, and of course, a bit of a loner,
41:32she really isn't that in practice. She is seen on CCTV, happily and ably, almost
41:39running along with Sarah Williams. This is somebody who's in control of her own
41:43body, her own actions, and also doesn't present as somebody that looks fearful.
41:48Diary entries and all of her actions show this is someone who is a very happy
41:53accomplice in this truly awful murder.
41:56The police had a theory that Williams did dominate Walsh and exploited her
42:00financially. But there's no question that this was an equal partnership and
42:07that one couldn't have carried out the murder on their own. He needed the two of
42:11them together. The trial of Sarah Williams and Katrina Walsh begins on
42:16August 17th, 2016. The difficulty is now the vast amount of work that will be
42:24involved to get this trial is just about to start. And this is where the picture
42:28has got to be built up around exactly what's taken place. And this isn't just
42:33an incident that's took place over a few hours. This is months in the planning.
42:37The bar, the stun gun, we know, was bought from Germany.
42:42And they located them in a specialist shop which sold stun guns, CS spray.
42:48The shop assistant can remember selling said stun gun to these two described people.
43:00So research is done obviously to when they were in Germany. And this transpires to be some weeks before.
43:05So again, builds to the picture of this wasn't an impulse killing. This is something that's been
43:11planned over a period of time.
43:12Police are now absolutely clear that these two are responsible for this innocent woman's murder.
43:18Not only that, they can see that they have plotted and planned this for well over a year. This is
43:23detailed
43:23in the diary accounts by Katrina Walsh. This is detailed by them going all the way to Germany to buy
43:29a stun gun. This is also demonstrated by them planning this reconnaissance run where they arrived at the
43:36address with this cheap bouquet of flowers in order to sort of scope the site out.
43:46When it comes to court, both of them plead not guilty, so a trial is held.
43:51This is unfortunate for the family because this means they now have to sit through the terrible trial and hear
43:56all the details of what's took place. It doesn't give the family any kind of relief from that.
44:03Both Williams and Walsh pleaded not guilty in court, forcing Sadie Hartley's family to endure the painful and
44:09gruesome details of her murder.
44:14The family of Sadie Hartley have to then listen in court. No need to these two individuals lie and lie
44:21and lie
44:22about what truly happened to their beloved mum. Even if you're expecting a guilty verdict or somebody's
44:28pleading guilty, when you're going there and you know that they've pleaded not guilty, it turns what's an appalling nightmare
44:36into a longer, more harrowing ordeal.
44:40On the 17th of August, they're convicted of the offence and sentenced. At sentencing, Sarah gets 30 years with a
44:49life sentence
44:50and Katrina also gets the life sentence with a minimum tariff of 25 years.
45:01Despite the convictions, the sentences provide little closure for Sadie's family, who are left to cope with the
45:08lasting pain of her loss.
45:11People use glib terms like closure.
45:14I don't think you ever get closure when somebody's been snatched away from you like that.
45:18I think that there's a sense of acceptance that the right people have been found guilty.
45:23But I don't think there's a moment where you don't think about these appalling monsters.
45:30For families, when it comes to sentencing, the reality is no sentence.
45:36Even the most maximum sentence that UK law allows is really ever enough.
45:41You know, their loved one is gone forever.
45:44My experience of working with families, the bigger the sentence, the slightly better they feel.
45:50But the reality is really, it doesn't matter.
45:53Because their loved one is gone forever and nothing can ever change that.
45:58No amount of justice can change.
46:00So yes, it does give them a little bit of a sense of justice.
46:03But the reality is nothing will ever really be enough.
46:30To be continued...
46:33To be continued...
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