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Britain's Most Evil Killers S08E05 (Oct 12 2023)
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00:03In April 1997 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, a 17-year-old girl was abducted at knife point
00:11by a stranger. She was held hostage for over 11 hours. I started to beg him. I didn't show
00:18any emotion before and I was pleading with him not to hurt me. Unbeknown to his victim,
00:24hours before her abduction, the stranger had brutally murdered another innocent woman in a
00:30gruesome act of violence. I've never ever experienced something as horrific as the
00:38circumstances surrounding that case. The mysterious killer was 27-year-old Nicholas
00:44Burton who did everything he could to prevent being brought to justice. You've still got no
00:50sense of any motive, no reason why this happened. Psychiatrists agreed that Burton was one of the
00:57most unstable people they'd ever assessed. This is something that is part of who this
01:05man is and he's going to continue to be a danger. Nicholas Burton had been exposed as
01:13one of Britain's most evil killers.
01:40In the early hours of April the 27th 19th 19th, he was one of Britain's most evil killers.
01:43In 1997, armed police gathered together, ready to storm a hotel room in North Wales.
01:51They were trying to locate a dangerous predator who'd abducted a 17-year-old girl at knife point.
01:58When North Wales police went to arrest Burton, it was for the abduction of Debbie. It was only when
02:05they got there and found his room that they realized they were actually arresting a murderer.
02:10As officers searched the hotel room, they discovered evidence that linked their suspect
02:15to the cold-blooded and savage murder of 27-year-old assistant bank manager Rachel McGrath the previous
02:23day. In the hotel room, they found Burton's clothing, which was stained in my sister's blood,
02:28a black leather jacket, trousers, shoes, and actually the murder weapon, a hunting knife,
02:33which is about 23-24 centimetres long. This killer story begins on the edge of the peak district
02:41in the north-west of England. Nicholas Burton was born on the 5th of February, 1970.
02:49He was born and bred in Derbyshire, New Mills, that sort of area, in a little tiny part of it
02:55called Newtown. His parents were lovely. He was described by his mother at the time
03:00as happy-go-lucky. Nicholas Burton appeared to have quite a normal childhood, and in his
03:08early adulthood, he was a full-time worker in a factory where his father had been for 30 years.
03:15He'd been educated well. He'd got a steady job, and everything was all going well.
03:22As an adult, Burton began a relationship with a woman who was a singer. She claimed he was a
03:29fairly normal guy when they were together. He was okay. Mr. Joe Public, average sort of person,
03:37really. The relationship fell apart when his girlfriend got a singing job in another part
03:42of the country and moved away. He seemed to take that really badly, that he couldn't deal with that
03:50rejection. And he seemed, at that point then, to spiral, and things changed quite dramatically.
03:57Nicholas Burton started experimenting with alcohol and drugs.
04:02It started off with the usual cannabis and built up very quickly to LSD, acid.
04:09When the substance abuse was gathering pace, he just seemed to go to a downward spiral,
04:14that he was worse and worse.
04:16The harder substances were having an effect on Burton, and the change in his behaviour was apparent
04:22to those around him.
04:24And at one point, his mum, in particular, was worried that he'd overstepped the mark
04:30with his mental health, and she became concerned.
04:34One day, she came back from work, and she discovered in the bathroom
04:41was a lot of towels that were covered in blood, and he'd locked himself away in the bedroom.
04:48She thought it was very strange, and she suspected, and even though this had never been confirmed,
04:55that he'd castrated himself.
04:56That kind of mutilation suggests some kind of self-hatred directed very, very specifically
05:07at a certain part of the self, which might include his sexuality and masculinity.
05:14What amazes me is that he's gone from the very low level, you know, just the average Joe public,
05:23and escalated very, very quickly into a monster, and the way he was.
05:28In 1997, 27-year-old Burton was still living in New Mills, Derbyshire.
05:3414 miles away, in Greater Manchester, 17-year-old Debbie had just recently passed her driving test.
05:4425 years on, Debbie now wishes to remain anonymous.
05:49Her words have been voiced by an actor.
05:51I was living with my parents and my two sisters in Gatley in Stockport.
05:55It was quite a nice community.
05:57It was nice pubs, you know, we knew neighbours, we all knew each other.
06:01It was quite normal and safe.
06:04On Saturday, the 26th of April, 1997, Debbie's day had started in the usual way.
06:11She was en route that particular morning on the Saturday morning to go to a part-time job.
06:18Debbie stopped at her local convenience store on her way to work to get some crisps and a drink.
06:25She parked her car directly outside the shop.
06:28I was literally around the corner from my house.
06:31On the way to the shop, I noticed a man walking the opposite way, but I didn't think anything of
06:36it.
06:37When Debbie came back out of the shop, she noticed the same man had doubled back and was lingering nearby.
06:44I remember thinking, I've just seen you walk past.
06:47Why are you here? What do you want?
06:49And as she went back to her vehicle, he jumped out on her and threatened her with a knife.
06:56And he just approached me with a knife and he said, can you get in your car and give me
07:01all your money, please?
07:03I was trapped. I was trapped. There's nowhere to run.
07:06If I could run, he'd run after me and I felt I wanted to scream.
07:13I did as I was told and got in the driver's seat and he climbed to the back of me
07:17and climbed into the passenger seat.
07:22So he's sitting next to me with a knife to my thigh while I was driving.
07:28Well, the poor woman, girl, is obviously terrified out of her wits.
07:36He's still threatening her with a knife and orders her to drive, not round the block, but a long way.
07:43The knife-wielding carjacker ordered Debbie to drive him to Wales, claiming he'd never been there before and wanted to
07:51go.
07:52Debbie had only recently passed her driving test and was fairly new to the roads.
07:57I'm trying to concentrate not to crash the car. I've never been on a motorway.
08:02There's nothing I could do.
08:06People are driving past me and I'm trying to get their attention.
08:09How can you get their attention? They're too fast.
08:12He's going to... He'll see my reaction.
08:15You know, I'm trapped. There's nothing I can do. I can't do anything.
08:20Debbie was terrified.
08:22The 17-year-old was being held hostage in her own vehicle by a complete stranger with no way of
08:29escape.
08:29As they headed into the remote countryside of Wales,
08:32the petrified teenager had no idea what the deadly stranger had planned for her.
08:38But one thing was for sure, Debbie's life was in grave danger.
08:53In the spring of 1997, 27-year-old loner and drug abuser Nicholas Burton
08:59was living in the small town of New Mills in Derbyshire.
09:03On the 26th of April, just 14 miles away in Stockport, Greater Manchester,
09:1017-year-old Debbie had been on her way to work
09:13when she was abducted at knife point
09:15and ordered to take the motorway heading west.
09:19On the way to Wales, I was doing about 60 on the inside lane
09:23and I was running out of petrol.
09:25So I said, we need... We need to get petrol.
09:30He said, turn off here.
09:32There's a church, a dirt track.
09:35He ordered me to reverse near the graves.
09:39And I reversed in near the church
09:42and then he told me to get out.
09:46She will know that things are getting more and more isolated.
09:50She knows there's this guy in the car with a knife.
09:53I can't imagine what she was thinking, where this was going to end.
10:00The abductor ordered Debbie to get into the boot of her own car
10:04so that she'd be hidden away when he went to refuel it.
10:09He opened the boot, he told me to lie on my front,
10:12put my legs up, put my hands behind my back.
10:17She was forced into going into the boot of the car
10:20and he was clearly angry, you know,
10:23and he was taking it out on Debbie.
10:26She was petrified, as you can imagine.
10:30I started to beg him.
10:33I didn't show any emotion before
10:36and I was pleading with him to not hurt me.
10:39He cut the seatbelt webbing, tied her up and gagged her.
10:46He tied my arms and my legs together with seatbelts.
10:50He put one round my mouth
10:53and then shut the boot.
10:58With Debbie in the boot,
11:00her abductor drove her car to a nearby petrol station,
11:04filling it up with £10 that Debbie had given him earlier.
11:08He then drove around for another 45 minutes or so
11:11with Debbie still in the boot.
11:15I was helpless.
11:17Just thinking of my friends and my family.
11:20I've got to be worried where I am.
11:23I can't die like this.
11:25I won't.
11:27I can't.
11:28This can't be it.
11:29I can't even begin to think
11:33how utterly horrified, terrifying
11:37she must have been.
11:40Eventually, the man stopped the car
11:42and released Debbie from the boot.
11:45He got me out of the boot
11:46and we parked in, like,
11:47in the mountains on the side of the road.
11:50Stayed there for hours.
11:52There was no one around.
11:56He was talking absolute rubbish about drugs,
11:59about the Happy Mondays,
12:01what the songs mean to him.
12:03He's smoking cigars.
12:07And all the time,
12:09she's trying to involve him in conversation
12:11in a desperate attempt to save her life.
12:15I remember telling him that I was 18 in four weeks
12:19because I wanted him to like me.
12:22Surely, if he liked me, he's not going to hurt me.
12:26She had the presence of mind
12:28or maybe that survival instinct
12:31where she tried to build
12:34some kind of rapport with him.
12:36That's an incredibly difficult thing to do
12:40and took great presence of mind
12:42and bravery from her.
12:46A rare glimmer of hope emerged
12:48as another car went by.
12:53But he was watching my reactions the whole time.
12:55I just couldn't do it.
12:58I couldn't scream for help again
13:00because he'll use the knife.
13:05Hours went by
13:06and eventually Debbie's abductor decided
13:09it was time to move on.
13:11They were low on fuel again
13:13and this time out of cash.
13:16I said, I've got my bank card.
13:18I can get cash.
13:19I can get more cash.
13:21He said, OK, we'll go and get cash.
13:24And I need more petrol.
13:27The knife-wielding man and Debbie
13:29drove down to the Welsh coastal town of Carnarvon.
13:33He then unleashed Debbie
13:37and she went with him to the cash point
13:40to put the number in
13:42and he then tried to get some money.
13:46There were loads of people around.
13:49He's got his arm around me
13:50with a knife to my stomach.
13:55There's people laughing, walking past me.
13:58I couldn't do it.
13:59I couldn't do it again.
13:59I couldn't help.
14:02I wanted to say help.
14:04I just couldn't do it.
14:06She must have been terrified.
14:09What an ordeal to take place.
14:12Debbie had missed her opportunity to escape
14:15and was still at her abductor's mercy.
14:18He got Debbie back into the car
14:21but this time let her sit in the passenger seat.
14:25So he must have trusted me a little bit
14:28to not put me back in the boot to get more petrol.
14:33And we got to the pump
14:34and I'm in the passenger seat.
14:37He gets out, fills up.
14:39He's watching me through the window, staring at me.
14:43With the kidnapper keeping a watchful eye on his captive,
14:47Debbie would struggle yet again to make her escape.
14:52So I just slowly, I saw there was a man.
14:57The next pump on my left, there was a man, a taxi driver,
15:00at the next pump.
15:02And I thought, I can do this.
15:04I can, I can do this.
15:07Slowly undid my seatbelt without looking at him.
15:11She saw the opportunity to escape
15:14whilst he was filling the car up with petrol.
15:16He was using her money
15:18and she ran, screaming and shouting.
15:22I just ran for it to the taxi driver,
15:25sat on his knee.
15:27Just opened his door and sat on his knee.
15:31Debbie's abductor did not pursue her.
15:34He just calmly and casually got back into the car
15:39and just drove off as though nothing had happened.
15:42That does actually tell us quite a lot
15:45about what's going on with him.
15:49So he seems to be quite emotionally divorced
15:52from what is going on.
15:54His language and his behavior,
15:56it's very much that he's in control of this situation,
16:00but he doesn't seem to have any real fear of being caught.
16:06It does kind of suggest
16:09that this isn't some really bad, psychotic episode.
16:15It's too controlled and he's too calm
16:21and going about his business as normal, almost.
16:26Debbie had finally escaped her abductor
16:29after a horrific 11-hour ordeal.
16:32But it could have been even more terrifying
16:34if Debbie had known what had happened
16:37less than 24 hours earlier,
16:39just five miles away from where she was taken.
16:45Michael McGrath and his sister Rachel
16:47grew up in Wilmslow in Cheshire
16:49after the McGrath family moved there in 1970.
16:53Michael was three and Rachel was five months old.
16:56Bright, lively, bubbly, beautiful.
17:01Incredibly stubborn at times.
17:03But as my baby sister, my baby sister.
17:08She was an amazing pianist.
17:11It was lovely.
17:12The music was a life, really.
17:13She loved it.
17:14Really loved it.
17:16Rachel McGrath was well-educated.
17:18She was working for a building society
17:21as an assistant manager.
17:23She was 27, got a good career ahead of her.
17:26She was a lovely girl
17:29who led life to the full.
17:33She was very much loved by her family.
17:38Rachel had recently moved in with her boyfriend
17:40and they were settling down together.
17:43He was very good for her
17:44and they were great as a couple.
17:45So it was great to see how happy she was.
17:47On the evening of the 25th of April 1997,
17:51Rachel's boyfriend went out for a few drinks with friends
17:55to a pub in nearby Bramall.
17:58It was the same pub
18:00that 27-year-old Nicholas Burton
18:02had made his way to that evening.
18:06Nicholas Burton, he was a bit of a loner.
18:09He'd left the house and he'd walked 10 miles
18:12to the pub in Bramall
18:15where he'd been seen by numerous members of the pub
18:19and he was prone to smoking cigars
18:23and drinking Guinness.
18:26And he was also going round the pub begging for money
18:29so that he could buy the items.
18:33Burton attempted to interact
18:35with a number of different customers
18:37that were there that evening.
18:40Numerous points he tried to engage in conversation
18:43with a group next to him.
18:46That was rebuffed.
18:47He made a rather lewd comment
18:50about what he was doing there
18:51and he said,
18:52I'm waiting to meet a beautiful woman.
18:54He clearly wasn't.
18:56He was clearly a loner on his own.
18:58He seemed to be quite focused on a beautiful girl
19:02and I just feel that maybe
19:06there were some strange thought processes going on then
19:10where he was definitely in the stages
19:14of planning some form of activity
19:18or action that was going to come later on.
19:21But he was obsessed with it, whatever it was,
19:24when he was just chatting in the pub.
19:26At one point, he begged money to go buy some cigars
19:30from the shop down the road and came back in.
19:34While Rachel's boyfriend was also drinking
19:37in the same pub as Burton,
19:39Rachel had gone to visit her parents
19:41and her brother Michael joined her there.
19:44She was really buzzing that day
19:46because she'd been interviewed by the Daily Mail
19:48about her team at work
19:51and there was a really lovely article
19:53where I left at about seven
19:55and she turned around to me and said,
19:57don't forget, Daily Mail pays 39.
19:59It's ironic because only a few hours later,
20:01she was all over the front page
20:03of pretty much all the nationals.
20:05Rachel returned to the pub at closing time
20:08to collect her boyfriend and take him home.
20:11But while she was waiting outside in the car,
20:14a deadly monster was also in the car park
20:17looking for someone to prey upon.
20:29On the evening of the 25th of April 1997,
20:34Nicholas Burton had been drinking
20:36in a pub in Bramall, Cheshire.
20:38The 27-year-old loner had spent the night
20:41begging for money and pestering other drinkers.
20:44He was probably in the pub for about four hours.
20:48Penniless, no money.
20:50He had enough money on him to buy a single pint of Guinness,
20:53which apparently he sipped,
20:55and may last that length of time.
20:57It was closing time at the pub
21:00and it was around 5 to 11
21:02when he went outside for a smoke.
21:0627-year-old Rachel McGrath's boyfriend
21:09had also been drinking in the same pub that evening
21:12and after spending time with her parents and brother,
21:16Rachel drove to the pub to pick him up.
21:19So she was waiting to collect him,
21:21pre-arranged meeting work by the rear door of the pub.
21:23Unbeknown to Rachel, she wasn't alone in the car park.
21:28She was being watched.
21:30He saw Rachel in the car
21:32and he took the opportunity when he saw her there, parked up.
21:36Doors unlocked in the passenger side and he jumped in.
21:39She probably thought that was her boyfriend getting in.
21:42What we think happened is that he got into the passenger door,
21:48held a knife to her,
21:50and was trying to abduct her.
21:52Instead of driving away as the man had wanted her to,
21:56Rachel decided to get out of the car
21:59and try to escape instead.
22:01She's no more than 30 feet, I would say,
22:04from the rear door of the pub.
22:08He goes down to the driver's door
22:10and trying to rush round to the pub entrance at the rear.
22:16And it's pretty clear that he goes round the other way
22:19and catches her at the rear of the car.
22:23He's chased her and caught her virtually against the wall
22:27and she's had no chance.
22:29Unfortunately, at that time, the pub was packed,
22:32but outside, everybody's having last orders,
22:35so we had no witnesses to what took place
22:39in the next period of time.
22:42As Rachel tried to escape,
22:44the man chasing her pulled out a hunting knife
22:47that he'd been concealing
22:48and used it to stop her getting away.
22:52Then he grabs her from behind.
22:56To incapacitate her,
22:58brings his knife up through the back of her right leg,
23:01so it comes out of the front.
23:03A second major incapacitation wound
23:06through her ribcage on the right-hand side
23:08that punctures her right lung.
23:10The knifeman had brought defenceless Rachel to the ground
23:13with injuries that would have been agonising for her.
23:17To stop Rachel from drawing attention
23:20to the attack from people nearby,
23:22the man then used the same knife
23:24he'd already horrifically wounded her with.
23:27To stop her screaming with a sawing action
23:30hacks through her throat,
23:32severing her vocal cords and a carotid artery
23:34on the right-hand side
23:35and actually nicking the back of her spine
23:39with a knife that we know is about 23 centimetres long.
23:43Doesn't get any worse than that.
23:45The only thing...
23:50..that he didn't do was rape her.
23:54But he made a real mess of her.
23:56A real mess of her.
23:58It doesn't get any worse.
24:01It would have been a slow death
24:03for over a few minutes.
24:06She was screaming,
24:07but there was nobody about to actually hear those screams.
24:10The cowardly knifeman then fled the scene,
24:13leaving Rachel dying alone
24:15on the cold ground outside the pub.
24:19And that's horrible.
24:21You know, nobody...
24:24Excuse me.
24:26Nobody deserves that.
24:28And it showed you what a monster it was.
24:32As revelers left the pub at closing time,
24:35Rachel's body was discovered.
24:37By then, it was too late to save her.
24:41Police quickly arrived at the crime scene.
24:45The night detective, who was a DC,
24:49he absolutely did a fantastic job
24:52in sealing the pub off so that nobody left.
24:55And we managed to get a brief chat
24:58before they were released from the pub.
25:00Detective Sergeant Paul Moores
25:02from Greater Manchester Police
25:04remembers arriving at the chilling scene.
25:07It's probably one of the worst sets of injuries
25:12that I've ever witnessed
25:13in the whole of my career as a detective.
25:16I was on the major incident team,
25:18which covered all murders in Manchester
25:20for the last seven years of my service.
25:22This was incredibly brutal.
25:25This was a young woman on her own
25:27in what should have been a relatively safe area
25:30and a completely random but targeted attack.
25:35I can see why that is shocking and deeply upsetting.
25:41The victim had been waiting
25:42to collect her boyfriend to take him home
25:45and this attack seemed to be entirely unprovoked.
25:49We didn't have a clue
25:51as regards what the motive was
25:53and what the potential was of the particular offender.
25:58We still didn't know anything about him.
26:02Nobody had seen the attack
26:04and there was no CCTV to provide vital clues
26:08as to who had done this.
26:10Identifying the mystery killer
26:12wouldn't be a quick task.
26:15Any forensic evidence at the scene
26:18wouldn't have been found until later.
26:21We all agreed that we'd got nothing at that stage,
26:24no evidence, and we needed a breakthrough.
26:27While Detective Sergeant Moores
26:29took charge of the crime scene,
26:30other police officers had to break
26:33the devastating news about Rachel to her family.
26:36We were awoken.
26:37I remember looking at the clock
26:39and next to the bed, it was 2.45 a.m.
26:42We got a knock on the door
26:44and immediately you're thinking,
26:45hang on a second, that's not good news.
26:47I opened the door
26:48and my parents were there with two policemen.
26:51So my mother was in tears, clearly,
26:55and her father was ashen-faced
26:57and the police basically said,
27:01Michael, we need you to come with us now, please.
27:04So I got dressed and got to my parents' house about three
27:06and then they sat us down and said,
27:09your sister's been killed.
27:11The family were unaware at that point
27:13of just how horrific the circumstances
27:16surrounding Rachel's death were.
27:19My brain's going into overtime.
27:21You don't really know how to take that in.
27:23You're still trying to digest all that.
27:25My mother at that time was really struggling.
27:27She was not reacting very well to what had happened.
27:31We had to call the doctor to her
27:32to give her some sedatives.
27:34By the morning news of the murder
27:37had sent shockwaves through the local community
27:39and attracted national press.
27:42So we got back to the house in Wilms-Ove
27:44and then there's just a media scrum developing.
27:47We had, say, reported outside the house that morning
27:51wanting to speak to my parents.
27:52I was keen to protect them.
27:54I managed to stop the newspapers arriving
27:57because the early pictures in the newspapers
28:00had photographs of a tent where Rachel had been killed.
28:05Rachel had been murdered around 11 p.m. the night before.
28:09The mystery killer had fled the scene and left her dying.
28:13Rachel's family had been informed,
28:15but the police had no further updates for them.
28:19So the police sat down with us later that morning
28:23and said, we are starting from scratch with this.
28:26At that stage, it's a murder.
28:29And we don't understand what the motive is.
28:31We don't understand if there are any suspects.
28:33They're working right through the investigation.
28:36And it's clearly a manhunt.
28:37It's clearly a manhunt.
28:39But they've got nothing to go on.
28:41When the police had arrived at the scene
28:43and interviewed customers still in the pub,
28:46a few of them mentioned that there'd been
28:48a new face in there that evening,
28:50a man drinking Guinness and smoking cigars.
28:54And we managed to get the names and addresses
28:57of every single one of those people.
28:59The identity of the customer was unknown.
29:02But even then, there was nothing to suggest
29:05this mysterious man had anything to do with the murder.
29:09A Sunday evening came around with no further leads.
29:12Detective Paul Morse received a phone call.
29:15When 17-year-old Debbie had escaped in Wales,
29:19the police from where she went missing
29:21in Greater Manchester were informed.
29:23And we put two and two together.
29:25And we didn't know at that stage
29:27that it was definitively linked.
29:29And there was briefed that I was going to go
29:32to North Wales, to Carnarvon,
29:35where Debbie had managed to escape
29:37and progress the inquiry from there.
29:42The police came.
29:43And I remember seeing Paul and thinking,
29:45I'm safe.
29:46I've got away.
29:47I've escaped.
29:49I was just in complete shock and relief
29:51that I got away.
29:53We wanted to see whether there was a link
29:56to the murder, and there clearly was.
29:59Because I remember this vividly,
30:01as it was yesterday,
30:03Debbie said to me
30:06that he'd talked about smoking cigars
30:09and that he drank Guinness.
30:10And when that clicked into place
30:12and with the inquiries that had been done
30:14with the occupants of the pub
30:16the previous night.
30:18As the details started to fit together,
30:21police in the next town of Bangor
30:23had located Debbie's stolen car.
30:26North Wales police found Debbie's car abandoned,
30:30having been involved in a bit of a collision
30:31with a wall.
30:32So that activated even more inquiries.
30:35The police immediately contacted
30:38all of the nearby hotels,
30:40trying to find the wanted man.
30:43And a staff member at one of the hotels
30:45soon gave Detective Sergeant Moores
30:48the news he'd been waiting to hear.
30:51He was there.
30:53And as soon as it was mentioned
30:56by him about the cigars and the Guinness,
31:00I knew it was him, you know.
31:03My gut feeling had become
31:06an adrenaline pumping situation.
31:09And I asked for a firearms team
31:11to go and make the arrest.
31:14Armed police gathered in Bangor, Wales,
31:17ready to storm the hotel room,
31:19expecting to find Debbie's abductor
31:21on the other side of the door.
31:23There was even more at stake
31:25for Detective Sergeant Moores.
31:27He was hoping this raid
31:29would finally help him
31:31find Rachel's killer.
31:41In April 1997,
31:4317-year-old Debbie had been abducted
31:46from her hometown of Gatley,
31:48Greater Manchester,
31:49and forced to drive at Knife Point
31:51to North Wales.
31:52Debbie had escaped,
31:53and the police had located
31:55where her kidnapper may be hiding.
31:57As they got ready to storm the hotel room,
32:01Detective Sergeant Paul Moores
32:02briefed them that this may also be
32:05the man responsible
32:06for killing 27-year-old Rachel McGrath
32:09in Bramall, Cheshire,
32:11just over 24 hours earlier.
32:13And I emphasized the seriousness
32:17and the horrendous nature of the attack,
32:20and I made sure that they knew full well
32:24that the room was to be sealed off completely,
32:28and we got him.
32:29And that's when it all started
32:31to kick into place.
32:33The man apprehended at the hotel
32:36was 27-year-old Nicholas Burton,
32:38the drug abuser who'd been drinking in the pub
32:41the night Rachel was killed.
32:44Items found in his hotel room
32:46gave the police even more
32:48to potentially link him to the murder.
32:51They'd found bloodstains on the knife.
32:54They'd found bloodstains in the sink.
32:58There was some trainers that were drying
33:01that might be blood.
33:02And there was also a jacket in the wardrobe
33:05that had a stain on it,
33:07which could have been the bloodstain,
33:11and it turned out it was.
33:12There were some similarities
33:14between his appearance
33:17and an individual
33:18who they believe was in the pub
33:21writing my sister's murder.
33:23Nicholas Burton had been caught
33:25with incriminating evidence,
33:28but if officers thought
33:29it would be an easy conviction,
33:31they were wrong.
33:32He wouldn't speak to the police.
33:36He didn't speak
33:37when he was interviewed.
33:40No admissions.
33:42He wouldn't have any blood samples
33:43taken from him.
33:45He was not cooperating.
33:47The results of the DNA analysis
33:50linked the knife found
33:51in Burton's hotel room
33:53to Rachel McGrath.
33:55Once that came back,
33:56statistically it was a 1 in 300 million
33:59chance of it not being Rachel's blood,
34:01so at that point you know it's him.
34:03Burton was still not cooperating
34:05with the police,
34:06and they were unable to find a motive
34:08that linked him to the crimes.
34:10Despite Burton's silence,
34:12detectives were confident
34:13the evidence against him was strong.
34:16On the 30th of April 1997,
34:19they charged him
34:20with the abduction of Debbie.
34:21Two days later,
34:22they charged him
34:23with Rachel's murder.
34:25To secure a conviction for murder,
34:27the police would have to prove
34:29that Burton had fully intended to kill.
34:31But you've still got
34:33no sense of any motive,
34:35no reason.
34:37And as rational human being,
34:39you're turning these things
34:40over in your mind
34:41and you're going,
34:41why, why,
34:42what's,
34:43why has this happened?
34:45Another element police would have to prove
34:47is that Burton was of sound mind
34:49at the time he committed the crimes.
34:52Just prior to the trial,
34:54Burton started to make some
34:56previously unmentioned claims.
34:58He said he thought he was God
35:00and that he,
35:02the voices were telling him
35:04to do these things.
35:06You know, again,
35:07it shows a lot of premeditation.
35:11There was no supporting evidence
35:13from the past,
35:14from his medical records,
35:15that he'd suffered
35:16from any kind of mental illness.
35:18I think that was just
35:20Burton cottoning on to an idea
35:22in an attempt to save his skin.
35:24He'd never claimed this before,
35:26so the timing does become
35:28quite important.
35:31The trial started
35:32at Liverpool Crown Court
35:34on the 23rd of March, 1998,
35:37and Burton carried on
35:38using the same excuses
35:40as to why he'd acted
35:41the way he did.
35:42He tried to plead not guilty
35:46on the grounds
35:46of diminished responsibility,
35:48and when that failed completely,
35:51he went down the lines of
35:52he was unfit through insanity.
35:54Burton's attempts to argue
35:56he wasn't in the right frame of mind
35:58when he killed Rachel
35:59and abducted Debbie
36:00were quickly quashed
36:02by the professionals.
36:03The prosecution called
36:04two psychiatrists
36:05who say there's absolutely
36:08no question of him being
36:10diminished responsibility.
36:11He knew exactly
36:12what he was doing.
36:13We had reports coming in
36:15from the psychiatrist
36:16saying he's
36:18the most dangerous man
36:19I've ever had to interview
36:20in my whole career,
36:22professional career.
36:23That's quite a chilling assessment
36:26to come from
36:26two separate professionals
36:29who both saw
36:30that level of danger in him,
36:33so I think what they were
36:35saying in that is
36:37this was not an isolated incident.
36:39this is something
36:41that is part of
36:43who this man is
36:45and that maybe
36:46he's going to continue
36:47to be a danger.
36:52In my service,
36:53I've never heard
36:54a psychiatrist
36:56give such strong evidence
36:58that showed that
36:59he was actually
37:01sane, but he was
37:03a dangerous, dangerous man
37:05and still is,
37:07in my opinion.
37:08There was still
37:08the issue of proving
37:10that Burton had a motive,
37:12thereby showing for certain
37:13that it was
37:14a premeditated attack
37:16and that it was,
37:17in fact, murder
37:18rather than manslaughter.
37:20We had a witness
37:22who was in prison
37:23and he had been
37:25in the hospital wing
37:27with Burton
37:28and a conversation
37:31had been taking place
37:32where Burton had suggested
37:34that he'd been reading
37:37a book
37:37which was based
37:38around SAS tactics
37:41and that was
37:43the motive behind
37:44bringing down
37:45Rachel from a standing position
37:48after he'd hacked her throat.
37:51He was bragging
37:52about what he'd done
37:53to make himself
37:55look like the big man
37:55in prison, no doubt.
37:58provided a motive
38:01as to why
38:02he killed her
38:03in that way
38:03and it also showed
38:05that he'd premeditated
38:07the murder.
38:08He knew what he was doing,
38:10he was calculated
38:11and manipulated
38:11with the way
38:13that he attacked her.
38:14Detective Sergeant
38:15Paul Mawls
38:16and the McGrath family
38:18were at the trial
38:19every day
38:20and Debbie was able
38:21to come face to face
38:22with her abductor
38:23to watch him account
38:25for what he'd done
38:26to her.
38:27He looked like a rat
38:28or stooped
38:30and he looked pathetic.
38:32He had the odd glance
38:33at us and just looked.
38:35He just didn't have
38:36any emotion.
38:37Yeah, just little,
38:39pathetic.
38:40Just didn't have
38:41any remorse,
38:42nothing.
38:44Nicholas Burton
38:45took to the stand
38:46himself
38:46to give his account
38:47of what happened
38:48on those fateful days
38:50in April 1997.
38:52As his own barrister
38:54asked him questions,
38:55the courtroom watched on
38:56in disbelief.
38:58I remember
38:59I was shaking.
39:01My legs were shaking.
39:03When he came out
39:04with this answer,
39:05when he could have
39:06dropped a pin
39:07in the courtroom,
39:08it was that silent.
39:10He was asked the question,
39:12what were you going to do
39:14to Debbie?
39:18He said,
39:20he said he wanted
39:21to rape me
39:22and kill me.
39:24I knew that was
39:25his intention,
39:27but to actually hear
39:28the words
39:29was too much to hear
39:30in front of all
39:31those people.
39:33It's just more real.
39:35Hearing the words,
39:35matter of fact,
39:37no emotion whatsoever.
39:39It was just evil.
39:44It was a dramatic
39:46moment in the trial,
39:49but it was,
39:50it was,
39:50it was really chilling,
39:52really chilling,
39:52and something
39:54I'll never forget.
39:55It was deadly silent
39:57for a few seconds
39:59and then poor Debbie,
40:01she realised
40:03what he'd said
40:04and the impact
40:06it had on her
40:06and she ran out
40:08of court in tears.
40:10Three men,
40:11three at least
40:11members of the jury
40:13burst into tears.
40:15One of my officers,
40:16he burst into tears.
40:19So I had to physically
40:21take him away
40:22and say,
40:22look,
40:22we've got to be
40:23professional here.
40:25Burton shocked
40:26the court further
40:27by saying he would
40:28then have looked
40:28for a third victim.
40:30After a two-week trial,
40:32the jury went out
40:33to deliberate
40:34whether Nicholas Burton
40:35was guilty
40:36or whether he didn't
40:37have the mental capacity
40:38to commit murder.
40:40There were four counts.
40:41The first was
40:42Rachel's murder.
40:42The second was
40:44the abduction of Debbie.
40:46The third one
40:47was the false
40:47imprisonment of Debbie.
40:49The fourth one
40:50was threats to kill her.
40:51It was guilty
40:52on all four counts
40:54and it was unanimous.
40:56So all 12 members
40:57of that jury
40:58all believed
40:59he was guilty
41:00based on the evidence.
41:02Nicholas Burton
41:03received three
41:04life sentences
41:05for the murder
41:06of Rachel,
41:07the abduction of Debbie
41:08and the false
41:09imprisonment of Debbie.
41:11The judge also
41:12handed Burton
41:13an additional
41:14ten years
41:15for threats
41:16to kill Debbie.
41:16He ended
41:17by saying
41:18I shall
41:20recommend
41:20to the Home
41:20Secretary
41:21that you
41:22never released.
41:24The judge
41:25had reassured
41:26the court
41:26that Burton
41:27would never
41:28walk the streets
41:29again.
41:2925 years
41:31later
41:31and due
41:32to changes
41:33in the law
41:34that removed
41:34that power
41:35from the Home
41:36Secretary
41:36and passed
41:37it to parole
41:38boards,
41:39a shocking
41:40twist came
41:40about.
41:41So we received
41:42a phone call
41:43from our
41:43victim liaison
41:44officer
41:45on the 3rd
41:46of March
41:472021.
41:48They said
41:49to us
41:49that Burton
41:50was eligible
41:50for parole
41:53potentially
41:53as soon
41:54as May
41:54that year.
41:55We heard
41:56the trial
41:56judge
41:57make it
41:58very clear
42:00that the
42:01recommendation
42:01to the Home
42:02Secretary
42:02was that Burton
42:03should never
42:03be released.
42:04There's got
42:04to be some
42:05mistake here,
42:05there's got
42:05to be some
42:06error.
42:07Debbie,
42:08now in her
42:0940s,
42:09also received
42:10a phone call
42:11to tell her
42:12that Burton
42:13was up
42:13for parole.
42:14We left
42:15the court
42:15that day
42:16knowing he's
42:16never coming
42:17out,
42:17thinking that's
42:18it for life.
42:20So it's just
42:21complete shock
42:22when someone,
42:23something,
42:24has gone
42:24wrong.
42:26If he gets
42:27parole
42:27and he's
42:29back out
42:29on the streets,
42:30no doubt
42:31in my mind
42:32is a good
42:34chance
42:34that he
42:35could commit
42:35further
42:36offences
42:36and upset
42:37a lot
42:39of lives
42:39as a result
42:40again.
42:44Rachel's
42:45family
42:45and Debbie
42:46are campaigning
42:47to prevent
42:48Burton's parole
42:49to ensure
42:50that he stays
42:51behind bars
42:52forever.
42:53We just
42:53don't want
42:54people like
42:54this
42:55walking the
42:56streets again.
42:58He needs
42:59to be locked
42:59up for the
43:00rest of his
43:00life.
43:01The risk
43:01is too
43:01much,
43:02it's too
43:02high
43:03for him
43:03to be
43:04released.
43:06I don't
43:07think he's
43:07ever going
43:08to change.
43:08I think
43:09this is
43:09part of
43:10his
43:10personality
43:11rather than
43:13it being
43:14a temporary
43:15and contained
43:16psychotic
43:18episode,
43:18for example.
43:19The nature
43:20of Rachel's
43:21brutal murder
43:22impacted even
43:23seasoned police
43:24officers during
43:25the case.
43:26In all
43:27my service,
43:2832 years,
43:30I've never
43:31ever experienced
43:32something as
43:34horrific as
43:36the circumstances
43:37surrounding that
43:37case.
43:38There's not a
43:39day goes by
43:40where I don't
43:41think about
43:41this case.
43:43It's the
43:43worst one I've
43:45ever been
43:45involved in.
43:46And
43:47Nicholas Burton's
43:48actions on
43:49the 25th and
43:5026th of
43:51April,
43:511997,
43:52have had
43:53lifelong effects
43:54for Rachel's
43:55family.
43:56My father's a
43:57broken man.
43:58My mother's
43:58never recovered.
43:59I don't know
44:00any mother who
44:00would.
44:01So he destroyed
44:02my parents.
44:03He destroyed
44:03my parents.
44:05And for
44:06Debbie, she'll
44:07forever live
44:08with the trauma
44:09of what happened
44:10to her.
44:11I never really
44:12processed it
44:12properly.
44:13I just found
44:14it too painful
44:15to talk about.
44:17Thinking I spent
44:1811 hours with
44:19this monster and
44:21what he could
44:21have done to
44:22me and what
44:23he did to
44:23Rachel.
44:25It's like
44:25it's something
44:26out of a
44:26horror film.
44:28Who does
44:29those things?
44:31It's just
44:32evil.
44:33Just a
44:34monster.
44:35Just
44:37inhumane.
44:40Nicholas Burton
44:41was a loner
44:42and a drug addict
44:43who went out
44:44with the intention
44:45to rape and
44:46murder innocent
44:47strangers.
44:48Psychiatrists
44:49agreed he was
44:50the most dangerous
44:51man they'd met
44:52and the
44:53sentencing judge
44:54advised that
44:55he should never
44:55be allowed to
44:56walk the streets
44:57again.
44:58Nicholas Burton
44:59will forever be
45:00known as one of
45:01Britain's most
45:02evil killers.
45:06You wouldn't
45:07expect a
45:07spiritualist
45:08minister to lie,
45:09have affairs,
45:10or borrow
45:11thousands of
45:11pounds and
45:12never return it.
45:13But even if he
45:14did all that,
45:15would he go so
45:16far as to
45:17kill?
45:17Killer in my
45:18village.
45:19Available now.
45:20New on Sky
45:22Crime.
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