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00:04This tragic incident brought shock and sadness to the community.
00:12I had a horrible feeling all day.
00:16I said to my friend that I don't feel right sometimes,
00:20not right with Jenna.
00:21I was worried sick about her.
00:25And then, I went to 21, she rang me screaming and crying,
00:28he's going to kill her.
00:30I said, are you strapped in?
00:32No. I said, strap yourself in, because I could hear the car going.
00:36And I was screaming at her to strap in.
00:40And then, the phone went dead.
00:48When a murder's committed, it's always a race against time
00:52to find the truth, to separate fact from fiction,
00:56to catch the killer,
00:58and to make sure that justice is served.
01:02But what if the truth disappears when the victim dies?
01:07I'm Dr. Richard Shepard, and I've spent my whole career as a forensic pathologist,
01:12performing over 23,000 autopsies.
01:16I've learned that the dead don't hide the truth, and they never lie.
01:22With the aid of a state-of-the-art laboratory, and using ground-breaking technology,
01:27I'll be investigating a series of appalling crimes,
01:31and examining the trail of evidence left behind on the victims' bodies,
01:35to reveal the truth behind their murder.
02:00The Bulg Mountain Road, one of the highest and most picturesque in Wales.
02:06A network of routes linking the Rhonda valleys with Bridge End, Neath, and Port Talbot,
02:12with winding curves that pass close to steep cliffs.
02:16At night, it's pitch black and perilous.
02:34Two brothers were driving along a remote stretch of the road when their headlights picked out a disturbing sight.
02:47They had been sent by their father, who'd received a phone call that one of his sons had crashed his
02:54car.
02:55The brothers were dispatched to look for the car.
02:59They found the crash site, but their brother had left the scene.
03:03And instead, they found the body of a young woman lying motionless in the road.
03:09They immediately called 999.
03:14The operators were trying to talk them through CPR whilst they were still at the scene.
03:19And I distinctly remember one brother saying,
03:22I'm not a doctor, but I know she's dead.
03:25Ambulance would have been alerted to the report that came in, which was a road traffic collision.
03:31The men knew the victim.
03:33It was their brother's girlfriend, 21-year-old Jenna Watkins.
03:42It was their brother's girlfriend, 21-year-old Jenna Watkins.
03:42Emergency services arrived at the scene.
03:44The road was cordoned off and the police moved in to investigate.
03:49But Jenna couldn't be revived.
04:01Overnight, police had tracked down Jenna's family and had to break the news to them.
04:06When you get tasked to deliver the death message, you just have to realise that you were going in
04:11and you were effectively changing the life forever.
04:22Police come twenty past seven in the morning.
04:26I wouldn't let him tell me. I kept talking over him.
04:30And then he said, will you sit down?
04:32I said, no, I don't know.
04:34Please, we need to talk to you.
04:36I said, no, I don't know.
04:37I don't know. Don't say nothing to me.
04:39Because I knew what he was going to say.
04:43Emma White was the family liaison officer assigned to the case.
04:47She was living in Neath at the time.
04:50I was effectively living where I was working and I knew the community very well.
04:56And it's a very close-knit community.
04:58Obviously, knock on the front door and everyone's clearly there ready to meet me.
05:03It's quite nerve-wracking, to be honest, going in.
05:07I just can't imagine what it was like to see me.
05:12I went into the living room and all of the family are in all of the seats in the living
05:17room.
05:18Thinking back to going into that family and the devastation that was in that room,
05:24forgive the terminology, but it's like you'd thrown a grenade into somewhere
05:27and the devastation was there and I perch and then they wait for me to speak.
05:33And then, obviously, I offer my sincere condolences on behalf of South Wales Police.
05:40And then, from there on, form a relationship with the family as best I can
05:44to glean as much information from them as I could to help the investigation.
05:50I would have given anything in that moment to wave a magic wand and be there for a different reason.
05:56And be there just to tell them that, you know, Jen has fallen over or,
06:01yes, they've had a bump in the car, she's gone to hospital, she's fine, she's been checked out.
06:09So, Pauline told police about what was now the very last phone call she would receive from her daughter.
06:26I said, are you strapped in? No. I said, strap yourself in because I could hear the car going.
06:31And he was driving like a madman. I could hear him screaming at her and she was breaking her heart
06:36and I was screaming at her to strap in, you know, not to go through the windscreen and then the
06:44phone went dead.
06:47Pauline called 999 but had no idea what had happened to Jenna after the phone cut out.
06:56That call, she says, haunts her and we'll haunt her for the rest of her life because it was Jenna
07:03upset, distressed, in a vehicle.
07:08The he Pauline was referring to was Jenna's boyfriend, Jason Shaddock.
07:14It seemed they'd crashed on this treacherous road.
07:18With investigators examining the scene, it was hoped the post-mortem would also provide some answers.
07:28When Jenna's body came into the mortuary, the evidence at the scene had pointed to a tragic road traffic accident.
07:37Jenna was the front seat passenger.
07:39A front seat passenger in a high-speed collision can suffer any number of potentially fatal injuries.
07:49If wearing a seat belt, injuries to the chest result from the massive pressure as it's flung against the seat
07:57belt.
07:58And these pressures cause injuries to cascade right through the body.
08:03On the top level, we see rib fractures and in severe collisions, we can also see fractures of the sternum
08:10or breastbone.
08:12As huge pressure is exerted on the body, we can see damage to the internal organs, the spleen and the
08:19liver.
08:20The liver especially is supplied by numerous small blood vessels.
08:26And even a small tear can lead to major internal bleeding.
08:30But the post-mortem didn't suggest any injuries from a seat belt.
08:36Liver and spleen injuries weren't present, suggesting that Jenna wasn't wearing a seat belt and had been thrown from the
08:45car on impact.
08:48The first examination also noted severe bruising all over Jenna's body, but especially on the legs and around her head.
08:58This could have been caused by impact with the road surface, but usually you'd see abrasions caused by the body
09:05being dragged over the surface.
09:09But there were no abrasions.
09:11The initial theory of a car accident was just not adding up.
09:15And now, in daylight, fresh clues at the crash were also raising questions.
09:24Jenna had been discovered lying face down in the road, with her belongings scattered around her.
09:34There was some jewellery, some close to her body, some away from her body.
09:41And it was a puzzle as to how she got to the position she was in.
09:47It didn't appear that she'd been thrown from the vehicle, just looking at the windows and things like that.
09:54I was chief reporter in the newsroom at BBC Wales.
09:57And this case has lodged in my memory, because initially it came into the newsroom as a road traffic accident.
10:06Something very tragic, because a young woman had lost her life.
10:10But it soon became quite clear to us that there was something else going on here.
10:17With only one eyewitness to what had happened on the mountain road,
10:22police appealed for the driver of the crashed car to come forward.
10:43The following morning, Jason Shaddock handed himself in, I believe, at Neith Police Station.
10:50But during the police interviews, he answered no comment to the questions posed to him.
10:58The police were a little frustrated, a little confused about why this man had handed himself in,
11:05but then refused to be interviewed by detectives.
11:13With Jason Shaddock refusing to talk and the evidence at the scene not providing clear answers.
11:19The post-mortem examination continued on Jenner's body to try to establish the cause of death.
11:29If someone is flung from a car, on impact, fatal neck injuries are very common.
11:35The neck contains the body's major blood vessels, the carotid arteries and jugular veins.
11:45And pressure on these blood vessels can cause unconsciousness and death within minutes,
11:51because the brain is so sensitive to the lack of oxygen.
11:57And inside Jenner's throat were the telltale signs of a crushed larynx.
12:05The thyroid cartilage is the Adam's apple, and it's made of rubbery connective tissue.
12:11It hardens in older people, but Jenner was just 21, so it was still soft and pliable.
12:19And what's more important, it had the ability to bruise.
12:25And that's exactly what was seen on Jenner's thyroid cartilage.
12:32It suggested that extreme pressure had been applied to Jenner's neck.
12:37That would have obstructed the blood vessels and the larynx and caused Jenner to die within seconds.
12:43But despite Jenner's neck injury, the pathological findings suggested that there was something else going on here.
12:52I've examined many victims of fatal road traffic accidents.
12:56And overall, Jenner's body really didn't suggest that she had been involved in one.
13:03The nature and the distribution of the bruising associated with the lack of serious underlying injuries,
13:10with no fractures of the body.
13:13Suggested that she had not been involved in a road traffic accident.
13:19In fact, overall, the appearances were beginning to suggest strangulation.
13:28These findings were put to Shaddock, who now responded in writing,
13:33giving an account of a violent row they'd had in the car just before the crash.
13:42He gave two prepared statements where he had suggested that he'd crashed because he was being assaulted by Jenner.
13:52And it was actually self-defense.
13:55She'd been the instigator of the struggle and she had assaulted him first.
14:01He said that there was a row and that she put his forearm around her to calm her down.
14:08And he said he realized when she went limp that his arm must have drifted up to her throat and
14:15he was beside himself, he said.
14:17But his argument was it was a terrible accident that he'd killed the woman he loved when he was trying
14:23to calm her down in self-defense, if you like.
14:27He was trying to calm her down in self-defense, if you want to calm her down in self-defense,
14:44if you want to calm her down in self-defense.
14:56So I had a written statement from Pauline over a period of days, maybe a week to build it all
15:02after weeks and weeks of not taking and asking questions and asking that little bit more detail about the relationship
15:11as well.
15:15Jenner was a beautiful baby, the youngest of three children she was.
15:22Amazing feeling when I had the three of them.
15:26She was a lovely child.
15:30She had meningitis when she was three, I think, or just gone three.
15:36I nearly lost her.
15:37It was horrendous.
15:39I nursed and prayed all night.
15:41I never prayed so much in my life.
15:43She pulled through her and I was thinking, oh, I've got to look after her more.
15:49She didn't want no children of her own.
15:51She said, nob.
15:53I said, why is that?
15:54Nob.
15:55I want to spoil myself and you.
15:59Because she used to, oh, she did spoil me.
16:03Spoiled me rotten liver.
16:05Always had a balloon of flowers for Mother's Day.
16:09I go shopping with her and I'd be sitting there waiting, always in Topshop and that.
16:15I'd be sitting there waiting for her.
16:17Is this okay, Mum?
16:18Yeah, is this okay?
16:20And I've been there for about two hours.
16:24Are you all right, Mum?
16:25Yes, I'm all right.
16:30Jason Shaddock and Jenna Watkins were very well known in the area.
16:35Lots of friends.
16:36They used to enjoy going out.
16:38They were fun-loving.
16:39They were very, very well groomed.
16:41They loved their clothes.
16:43Jason Shaddock was 28.
16:45He had a good job.
16:47You know, he had money to go out.
16:48He was good looking.
16:49He took care of himself.
16:51He was always dressed very nicely.
16:53He was like a very smart looking.
16:55They used to call them the Hollywood couple because they were dressed perfect.
17:01They both had, you know, good jobs.
17:03Jenna used to work in shops.
17:04She worked in a call centre at the time of her death.
17:08Shaddock worked in the car parts factory on Fabian Way in Swansea.
17:14But through insight gathered by Emma from the family,
17:18it was clear there was a darker side to the relationship.
17:22Pauline had said to me that they'd have riotous rows
17:27where they'd be screaming at each other and obviously Jenna would scream back as well.
17:31And she may have had to push him off on occasion.
17:34And then Pauline recalled sitting out in the garden with her cats one day
17:39and finding one of Jenna's necklaces broken on the concrete where she was sat.
17:48Alarm bells were ringing, particularly for me as a police officer.
17:52He'd previously ripped her jewellery off her body, which is obviously very similar to this scene.
18:04Pauline was able to share further evidence of Shaddock's controlling behaviour.
18:11She said to me one day, take a photo of my mum.
18:13I said, what for?
18:14Please, will you take a photo of me?
18:16I said, yes.
18:17She had a little denim skirt on, a little vest top.
18:19She looked beautiful.
18:21And she came off the phone and I could hear her being a bit upset.
18:25And I said, what's my love?
18:26I've got to change my clothes.
18:28I said, you are.
18:29I've got to change my clothes.
18:31He told me to change them.
18:32I said, no, you're not.
18:33You're coming to town with me and we're staying as well.
18:35I said, you're not changing clothes.
18:38I went, no, was he to tell you what to wear?
18:41He was horrible.
18:42He was nasty.
18:43He was awful, possessive.
18:50Forensic psychologist Dr Catherine Williams works with dangerous offenders
18:54and victims of violent crime.
18:58We are seeing patterns of what we call coercive control.
19:01Now, coercive control is a type of abuse, psychological abuse,
19:06that perpetrators engage in to control the victim, to control their partner.
19:10In fact, it's a hallmark feature of coercive control is when perpetrators
19:17control friendship groups, clothing, finances, movements.
19:23Essentially, what this means is, I'm going to control you or better yet,
19:28I need to control you.
19:32I need to control you or better.
19:33Digging deeper, investigators discovered this need for control had escalated into
19:38physical violence in the past.
19:41Previous girlfriends were also spoken to and it was established that he had two
19:47previous convictions from assaulting a girlfriend.
19:53So, there was evidence of him being a domestic aggressor.
20:00She was picking her funeral songs.
20:02I said, what are you doing that for?
20:04You know, you're only 21.
20:05What are you doing that for?
20:07I won't do.
20:09Something wasn't right.
20:10Because she had bruises on her.
20:13And I said to her, where are we getting bruises from?
20:16And I said to her, come home please.
20:18I said, no, I beg her, come home.
20:19My bedroom's always, it was.
20:21I said to her, he's going to really hurt you or maybe you might kill you.
20:25And I was begging her to come home.
20:29The post-mortem offered definitive evidence of the reality of their relationship behind closed doors.
20:41The 48 bruises on Jenna's body had a story to tell.
20:45Bruisings caused when the tiny blood vessels in the skin are broken and blood leaks out.
20:50In this case, the more recent bruising was pink and red.
20:57But others, particularly on her legs and her arms, were grey and brown.
21:03Showing that the blood had coagulated under the skin.
21:07Suggesting that they were at least weeks old.
21:10And from the pattern of these injuries, I can say that they were most likely to have
21:16been caused by heavy blows from a clenched fist.
21:22While Jenna's body confirmed a story of historic abuse, police still had to investigate if there
21:29could be any truth in Shaddock's claim that Jenna started the argument that night and he had
21:35accidentally caused her death in the aftermath.
21:39And the new injuries on Jenna's body told a very different story to Shaddock's claims that he'd acted in self
21:46-defence.
21:47There were some cuts and bruises around Jenna's arms, but the most disturbing injuries were on Jenna's cheeks and chin.
21:57These seemed to be bite marks which looked as though they'd been made with some violence.
22:04In places, the bites were deep and the bleeding was profuse, suggesting a tear to a vein or artery.
22:13These wounds were far more consistent with being attacked rather than being the attacker.
22:25Pauline had to formally identify her daughter's body.
22:31You could see his teeth marks.
22:34But I was horrendous seeing her.
22:36And I was, all her nose was all damaged, but there she was black and blue.
22:42And I was tidying her hair and kissing her.
22:45I had my arms around her.
22:50Still refusing to answer questions, Shaddock stuck to his story,
22:55but did offer an explanation for the bite marks.
23:00When the police asked Shaddock about this bite mark,
23:04he came up with another story, but only in a prepared statement.
23:07He said that Jenna had grabbed him by the testicles while he was driving,
23:12and he turned to her and bit her cheek to make her release him.
23:18I mean, it was preposterous, but because it was a written statement,
23:22because his solicitor said he would be answering no questions about it, that was it.
23:32Shaddock's flat denials and refusal to talk meant investigators would have to prepare
23:37to convince a jury he was guilty.
23:40They needed conclusive proof that he was lying.
23:57I had a horrible feeling all day.
24:01It's something my gut knows telling me something's not right.
24:06And they always say, always go with your gut feeling.
24:12They were arguing in the party that they'd gone to in Patalbert.
24:19She'd left the house. He'd gone after her in the car.
24:24He said that they'd argued because Jen had taken cocaine and he disapproved.
24:32The argument continued in the vehicle over the bulk mountain road.
24:36She'd assaulted him and he had to sort of react back to get it off him.
24:45Aside from the frantic call Jenna made to her mother,
24:49police only had Shaddock's word for events that night.
24:54They turned to pathology to put his drug story to the test.
25:08Jason Shaddock was adamant that Jenna was high on cocaine and that's what made her attack him.
25:15Cocaine's well known to be a drug to make people hyper excited, hyper volatile and sometimes violent.
25:21At post-mortem we take biological samples and toxicological specimens from several areas around the body.
25:31We take blood from a peripheral femoral vein and if there's urine in the bladder,
25:38we take a sample of that because it's useful for both acute and chronic drug use.
25:43For cocaine especially, liver is used because it retains the drug longer than it will stay in the blood.
25:51If cocaine is taken on numerous occasions, it can be detected in the liver for up to two weeks.
25:59Routine toxicology samples were taken from Jenna in the mortuary and when the results came back,
26:04they showed that she had not taken cocaine or any other drug and in fact her alcohol levels were also
26:12low.
26:17On the other hand, toxicological examination showed that Jason Shaddock had taken cocaine
26:24and had high levels of alcohol in his body.
26:33Even though Jason Shaddock's account was falling apart, he was sticking to his story.
26:45It was evident at the scene there'd been a struggle from the jewellery that was spread out about the place.
26:55And it was clearly fingernails broken, rings out of shape on her fingers.
27:00There had clearly been some sort of struggle.
27:05And pathology revealed further clues about who had been the aggressor and who the victim.
27:12Jenna's body showed how she desperately tried to defend herself.
27:16Her lower arms were scratched and bruised in the exact areas associated with defensive injuries.
27:25And her nails, which were always immaculate, had snapped as she tried to fend off an attack.
27:32And there's another intriguing detail.
27:35During the police investigation, a flip-flop that Jenna was wearing was found in an adjacent field.
27:41I think it's most likely that it flew there as she kicked out in self-defence.
27:53Shaddock had repeatedly placed the blame on Jenna, describing her as the one who attacked, while he just reacted.
28:02Pathology proved this to be a lie.
28:05Jason Shaddock was charged with murder, but he was still denying that he'd intended to kill Jenna.
28:13Where we start seeing blame, this is what we call externalisation of behaviour.
28:19And it's a coping strategy. Externalisation is easier to cope with.
28:24It wasn't me, it was them. We see this in children. We see this in people who have lied about
28:30small things.
28:32We want to give the blame to someone else, have a scapegoat, because isn't that just so much more comfortable?
28:52It's possible.
28:56Oh, my God.
28:58I never seen so many people in all my life. Any youngsters, all in suits and ties.
29:05All holding a rose for her.
29:07Oh, it was amazing, fair play.
29:15six months later jason shaddick went on trial at swansea crown court he pleaded not guilty to
29:23murder the atmosphere in the courtroom was very charged there were lots of people from
29:32the neath area the public gallery was packed shaddick came from a very large family they
29:38were there too it wasn't the easiest of cases for the prosecution because here you had a man
29:46who claimed that he'd accidentally killed his girlfriend when he was trying to calm her down
29:55i can remember the morning that pauline was given evidence in the crown court she was
30:03understandably shaking belong belief she was pushing herself to give the evidence for jenna
30:08and really pushing herself physically and mentally and emotionally and i sat down with her in the
30:13witness room and i held her hands and i said the worst thing in the world has already happened to
30:18you so we're going to do this for jenna shanik wanted to paint a picture of a very volatile
30:24girlfriend and him as the loving boyfriend who was trying to calm her down and it ended up in a
30:31very tragic death he loved her you know that was his that was his story he loved her didn't want
30:37to
30:37hurt her um but accidentally killed the woman he loved this is not the psychological profile of
30:46somebody who's going to find taking up accountability for something so gruesome that's not going to come
30:54easy to him but also by continuing the denial he's keeping control he's controlling the narrative
31:02he's controlling the story at least for himself i couldn't listen to his lies i couldn't listen to it
31:12every time every time you said something nasty about died had gone she wouldn't even touch a cigarette
31:17let alone drugs in court the jury also heard evidence that shaddick had moved jenna's body
31:24in an attempt to stage the scene as a road traffic accident because apparently he took her out of the
31:33car
31:33put her on the floor and i left her then face down on the floor and i thought i'd been
31:40on the floor
31:41face down now
31:47but key bit of evidence i think for the prosecution was that he'd done it before the jury heard that
31:56shaddick
31:57had been convicted of actual bodily harm and those offenses related to him putting his arm around his
32:06ex-girlfriend's throat and squeezing if the jury had any doubts i am sure that they would have been
32:15dispelled by what they heard because what shaddick did to jenna was straight out of his violent playbook
32:27jason shaddick did all that he could to create a smokescreen of lies about what happened on the night
32:34of jenna's murder but he couldn't escape the truth of what her body was saying
32:42pathology was able to prove that every claim shaddick had made about what happened that night
32:48was a lie it became clear that shaddick had driven his car with high levels of alcohol and cocaine
32:56which is probably why it crashed in the first place but this crash on a deserted mountain road
33:03wasn't what kills jenna nor was it an accidental death her body showed how she desperately tried to
33:13defend herself but she was beaten and bitten and then strangled in a headlock which ended her life
33:21in seconds this wasn't a manslaughter jenna watkins was murdered
33:34on the 28th of november 2007 jason shaddick was found guilty of the murder of jenna watkins
33:42sentencing jason shaddick to life in prison the judge mr justice pitchford said i accept this was
33:49not premeditated i accept there was a blazing row but i do not accept there was not an intent to
33:55kill
33:57jason shaddick was given a life sentence i can recall when they sent shaddick down after being found guilty
34:07he turned around and smiled i was looking to the floor i was i was looking to the floor
34:14and my son said to him unlucky no one amongst other words and uh he blew him a kiss to
34:23my son
34:26so i said i'm glad i didn't look at them
34:31well thoughts are obviously with the family and the friends of jenna today
34:35this tragic incident brought shock and sadness to the community and we're glad that today's verdict will
34:39help the family move forward as a family liaison officer over the years and other cases i've worked on
34:48a lot of things we can make right we can get justice for people but no matter what justice we
34:53had for
34:54pauline she's never going to see jenna again we hope that life means life it won't bring our jenna
35:01back but at least we know that justice has been done it has been a horrible journey for us all
35:06that
35:07will continue for the rest of our lives every day will be a reminder that jenna is not here and
35:13that
35:13monster jekyll and hyde character has taken her away at least the shaddock family can visit their son
35:19who is still breathing all we can do is visit a graveyard to pay our respects the minimum term
35:26imposed on jason shaddock was devastating for jenna's family it's just not it's not right man
35:35the judge only put herself in our shoes 13 years is nothing
35:48pauline has kept jenna's bedroom at home just as it was
35:56there'll always be a room that's that's the favorite one of me and jenna but there
36:01we used to love dressing up for halloween there we all are up there
36:09i asked pauline to tell me about jenna from the very beginning i asked her to show me a photo
36:15album
36:16she's got many many photos as you can imagine she talked me through family events holidays
36:22it really built a picture for me of the strong strong bond they had as a family
36:28yeah i love it and yeah i always feel close to her in this room it's lovely so it's precious
36:35this
36:35room is to me i like to have her photos everywhere i go so i can see her i got
36:42her on my purse my phone
36:43page but uh no i gotta be seeing her all the time so yeah and 18 years it's like yesterday
36:53to me
36:54like all the other grieving mothers do just don't move on people think there's something wrong with
37:00it but it's not so with shaddock now released from prison the ripple effect of jenna's death continues
37:10to this day for her mother i started on ptsd the thoughts of him being out living his life and
37:20jen
37:20i was no no i've got the grave and i get angry so claire my daughter always says to me
37:29mam you need to
37:30get rid of the anger the only person hurting is yourself as i can't can't get rid of it i
37:38said
37:40when he's no longer around then my anger will ease pauline described jenna has not only a daughter but
37:49like a soulmate so they were very very close if i see pauline now in neith i will i will
37:57think to
37:58myself i will remember that that time in my life and her life which she's living every day um and
38:06it
38:06will be nice to see her but not nice to see her as well because i don't want to be
38:10a reminder that her
38:11daughter's not shopping in neith with her that day you know so that's that's difficult
38:18i see her in my dreams i was coaching and kissing me in my dreams and holding me and telling
38:25me she
38:25she loves me when i have a lovely dream of her home on cloud nine
38:32so
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