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00:10I'm David Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Criminology, and for over 30 years I've
00:17investigated the phenomenon of murder and what it is that might motivate someone to kill.
00:27Every murder case is different but time and again a deadly pattern emerges of warning signs and red flags.
00:40In this new series I investigate some of the UK's most harrowing murder cases to understand how
00:49and why these terrible crimes occur.
00:55This is Murder UK.
01:14In 1995 Benlyn Burke was born into a close loving family in the Philippines.
01:22I have six children and I have three boys and three girls.
01:30We are a happy family in Manila.
01:36We love each other that's why we are happy.
01:40Benlyn's sister still lives in the Philippines and is speaking via video call with a translator.
01:52When we were teenagers Benlyn was into art a lot.
01:55She can draw very well and her ambition growing up was to create her own shop to design dresses,
02:02make clothes and make money out of that as a business so she could help my family.
02:10It's clear that Benlyn, while she grew up in a loving home, she grew up in difficult circumstances.
02:15She grew up where poverty was ever present.
02:19So she would have struggled as would her family in the Philippines and you know love doesn't always put lunch
02:27on the table.
02:35Benlyn grows up intelligent, hard-working and full of ambition.
02:41You know she lives on the outskirts of Manila and poverty is a constant feature, the backdrop to her family's
02:51life.
02:53And therefore pressure as much as passion is going to dictate some of her life choices.
03:00In 2015, aged just 20, Benlyn meets 57-year-old Lexington Burke from England on an online dating site.
03:11A man who seems financially secure and full of promise.
03:16Benlyn meets her first husband and comparatively to Benlyn and her upbringing, he's very wealthy.
03:23He's from England.
03:25And so she sees this as things starting to look up, not only for her, but for her entire family's
03:30circumstances.
03:33For someone in Benlyn's position, marriage might have looked like a path to stability,
03:40not just for herself, but for her entire family.
03:45Three years later, she and Lexington marry in the Philippines and have a daughter called Jellica.
03:55Benlyn was a very caring mother.
03:58She loved her daughter, she loved her husband, and she loved all of her family.
04:08That ultimately leads to her coming to the UK and coming to live in Bristol.
04:16Benlyn told me that Bristol was a very nice place.
04:22It had very pleasant views.
04:25And it was a good place to find work compared to the poverty in the Philippines.
04:32But once in the UK, the relationship between Benlyn and Burke starts to break down.
04:40There's a quiet unravelling that leaves her with little support.
04:45And shortly after, Benlyn moves out.
04:49So she goes from an environment that she knows well, being surrounded by people who love her,
04:54to an environment that's absolutely new to her, where suddenly she's isolated, she's alienated.
05:01At this point, she's in a really difficult position. She doesn't know a lot of people.
05:06She's not living in the best circumstances. And really, she's quite lonely.
05:11Benlyn starts a YouTube channel and puts on a positive front for friends and family back in the Philippines.
05:19It's an attempt to show strength, even when things were quietly falling apart behind the scenes.
05:31She was a very responsible person, especially to her family and her child.
05:40She always made sure that Jelica had something to eat, that she was safe, and that she was in a
05:45good place all the time.
05:52She was eventually given a place of her own.
05:55And she called me and told me, I'm so happy. I feel really good. I can do this.
06:02I didn't realize how good this feels. I feel free from all the hardships that I've been going through.
06:13In February 2021, Benlyn decides to stay in the UK and begins searching for a soulmate online.
06:22Still hopeful, she's looking for connection and also for a sense of security.
06:30My name is Susan Cueva. I work with a charity called Canlung and Filipino Consortium.
06:36We provide quite a lot of support to migrant Filipino workers in the UK.
06:44You know, the idea of going back to your country where your relationship has broken down,
06:50caused a lot of stigma in the Philippines, because the relationship in the Philippines is never allowed
06:55to break down because it's a Catholic country. You have to stick and stay with your relationship and partner.
07:01With there being few support networks in the United Kingdom, I get the impression that Benlyn didn't
07:08just feel isolated. She felt somewhat ashamed. And given that she needed reassurance, companionship,
07:18that can often outweigh caution in an individual's decision making. And for Benlyn, I therefore think
07:27that's the gateway for her choosing as a path forward, a kind of online connection.
07:34Benlyn signs up to a website called Filipino Cupid. It's specifically tailored towards Filipino women
07:40looking for love. And in this instance, Benlyn is clearly looking for a new partner. And this is
07:47where she meets Andrew Innes. Andrew Innes is a 50-year-old software engineer living in Dundee.
07:57On the surface, he's intelligent, stable, and successful. The kind of man who might appear
08:04trustworthy to someone like Benlyn. We know that from a very early age, Andrew Innes proved to be a
08:11gifted computer programmer. I think from the age of 11, he was engaged with the Sinclair Spectrum,
08:17and he demonstrated significant talent. He found himself coding for big names, you know,
08:24big name companies he was involved with. Eight years before meeting Benlyn, Innes begins another
08:32serious relationship. It's a chapter that gives an early insight into the patterns that will later
08:39raise concern. Innes has been very successful in his career. He's got quite a lot of money.
08:45And at this point, he develops this real fascination with Japan.
08:49He had an interest that seemed fixated, in my opinion, on Asian women, who there's a perception
08:58that they tend to be easily dominated and very deferential. And he goes on to marry a Japanese
09:04woman before moving over there and having three children. Innes and his new family first off are
09:10based in Japan before moving to California and then finally relocating back to Scotland.
09:16But that marriage breaks down and once again, Innes begins searching for a new partner.
09:24This time, his focus narrows, shaped by personal fixations and the troubling attitudes that have
09:32begun to surface. Benlyn told me that they started off as friends and that they met in a chat room.
09:41Benlyn starts talking to Innes and it seems like a fairly nice and polite conversation. But what she
09:48doesn't know is what's going on behind the scenes.
09:54He turned his coding skills, his computer software skills into a weapon in this regard to collect and
10:02create information. So he developed a script that allowed him to scrape information from those sites that
10:10identified the targets that he'd be most interested in. So women under 29, but critically single moms.
10:20Using code to automate the search for single mothers isn't about connection. Innes is simply trying to
10:30target single mothers with the greatest amount of precision. Because it's those single mothers that are going to
10:39be most vulnerable. And really what he's doing is reducing potential partners to data points that he can exploit.
10:49On many of these dating sites, you will find sexual predators. It is a hunting ground. It's the nature of
10:55the beast.
10:56They go there to seek out the most vulnerable. And sites like that will draw them to them. I know
11:02statistically, there's over 10% of sex offenders who do frequent dating sites.
11:07So there's always a risk. Whether someone from a sheltered background like Benelynn would have understood that is an entirely
11:12different question.
11:20Benelynn has no way of knowing. Innes is registered on dozens of dating sites.
11:34Benelynn told me that Andrew promised her a lot of things.
11:48Benelynn told me that Andrew promised her a lot of things.
11:51I really feel awful for Benelynn at this point in time because she has no concept of the fact that
11:57there are even people out there like Innes. And it's almost like she's just out of purely wrong place,
12:03wrong time, now become targeted by him. It's like she's his prey.
12:20When 25-year-old Benelynn Burke met 50-year-old Andrew Innes on a dating site,
12:27she didn't realise that Innes had built specific software that would target Asian single mums under 30.
12:37His was a mindset that was dominated by control, not connection.
12:44Innes is really trying to gauge at this point what Benelynn's circumstances are.
12:49And he does that by doing things like offering employment and housing up in Dundee.
12:54And she kind of shuts that offer down, says that she could do that from Bristol.
12:59She wouldn't need to relocate. He also then starts asking her for sexy pictures.
13:05So he's kind of, I think, gauging her boundaries. But actually, she says no to the job offer.
13:10She says no to the sexual pictures. But at the same time, as much as she's holding these boundaries,
13:15she's lonely and she's looking for connection. And having this communication with another adult
13:21in this country where she feels so isolated is a bit of a lifeline for her.
13:28The greatest gift a predator gives a vulnerable person, a lonely and isolated person,
13:34is actually not the mobile phones or the money. It's the gift of friendship.
13:44In February 2021, the UK was in coronavirus lockdown, a period that left many people feeling
13:54more isolated than ever. For someone like Benelynn, far from home with little local support,
14:02the need for connection was intensified.
14:09Innes and Benelynn have been having this online communication. And on February 18th, 2021,
14:14Innes decides to drive hundreds of miles from Dundee down to Bristol to visit Benelynn and her daughter,
14:21Jellica. That's really far. It's like the whole stretch of the country.
14:27Innes was breaking the lockdown restriction at the time, even at the point when he shouldn't have gone
14:32and travelled from where he came from to Bristol.
14:38He gets down there knowing that he's not going to be able to stay because she lives in sheltered
14:43accommodation. She's not allowed overnight visitors. And so I think he does this as part of his plan to
14:48convince Benelynn to join him back up to Dundee.
14:53She takes pity on Innes because she realises that he's going to have to sleep outside in his car
14:58if he stays there. And he promises that he'll drive her and her daughter back down to Bristol.
15:04She's never been to Scotland before. They can do some sightseeing, have a nice weekend.
15:09And that's exactly what happens.
15:10What Innes does next is subtle, but very calculated. By appearing to offer Benelynn a weekend break,
15:22a holiday, it seems like she's in control, that she's accepted the offer. Whereas in fact,
15:30this is really deliberate and calculating. And it serves to further isolate Benelynn
15:36from any support network that she might have.
15:41For somebody who is not very long in the UK and had been restricted by the Covid situation at the
15:48time she came here, immediately there was Covid lockdown. She hasn't got much information and
15:53much network to be able to check all those things that he said. So she trusted him.
16:02My sister is a typical Filipina. She's very kind and very trusting of people. And that's why I think
16:10she agreed to go with Andrew to Scotland that quickly, because she trusted him.
16:21I didn't know anything about Andrew. Sheila told me that Benelynn was going to Scotland for a few days,
16:27and was going to go back to Bristol afterwards. But I wasn't worried, because I was told that
16:34they were just going for a holiday.
16:45I only met Andrew once via a video call when they were traveling.
16:52Benelynn told me that they were going away, and when I asked her who she was with,
16:56she showed me Andrew on camera. She told me that he was married to a Japanese woman.
17:05And I even tried speaking to him in Japanese, but he obviously couldn't understand me because
17:10I don't really speak good Japanese. But I told him he was handsome.
17:18Even during the journey, Benelynn is trying to remain calm and cautious by keeping her family in the loop.
17:30But Innes is very calculating. Innes is very conning. He knows by appearing on camera and smiling and
17:37offering reassurance is a way of engaging with her and making her feel at ease and making her family
17:47feel comfortable as well. And all of that is simply part of the manipulation.
17:54The journey in the car is important. Andrew Innes was able to further enhance his relationship
18:01by engaging with her family, and she loved her family. So that would have been a positive
18:05positive from her point of view and further reassurance.
18:19During the journey to Scotland, Benelynn chats with her sister Sheila about plans to go sightseeing in Dundee,
18:27sending photos and messages along the way. But shortly after she arrives, the messages stop without warning.
18:38When she arrived in Dundee, there was no communication of any kind.
18:43She was not contactable. Then that raised significant levels of anxiety with her family.
18:49When Benelynn stops replying, her sister is immediately really concerned for her.
18:54It's very out of character. And so she starts reaching out to Innes to try and find out what's
18:59happening and why her sister is no longer replying.
19:03Where is my sister? I said. Can you send me a picture or video? My sister. I want to talk
19:09to her.
19:11Many, many alibi. Many, many alibi.
19:14Innes' shifting stories are classic deflection.
19:18And when Benelynn's sister reaches out again, he actually says that Benelynn has left,
19:23gone to Glasgow with a different man that she met online.
19:27And again, he's just trying to remove himself from the situation.
19:30He's saying, OK, yeah, you saw me in the car with her. She's not here anymore.
19:35I'm not involved. Don't want to talk. You know, he's removing himself from the situation.
19:40He's trying to position the blame elsewhere.
19:42Innes attempts to shut down communication with Schella, offering conflicting excuses and distancing himself from Benelynn.
20:01I really started to worry when Schella told me that Benelynn didn't go back to Bristol.
20:10Why? What happened? Why had she not been able to go back to Bristol?
20:15I couldn't sleep then. And I started to worry.
20:20We were all very anxious and very nervous.
20:25My mother especially got very, very worried. She couldn't sleep.
20:30She told us to keep contacting Andrew because he was the only person who could tell us what was going
20:35on.
20:37It was difficult because we didn't know who else to contact or ask.
20:48I had so many questions. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have any relatives in London.
20:56And then, how was I going to get to London? What was I going to do?
21:01It was hard for me to deal with the problems left by Benelynn.
21:10With Benelynn and her two-year-old daughter, Jelica, still missing,
21:14her family continue messaging Innes, clinging to the only link they have.
21:24Every time we asked him what happened, he just told us that Benelynn was all right.
21:30That she was with a friend and that he was afraid that he might be in trouble with the police
21:34because he took Benelynn up to Scotland during the Covid lockdown, when he wasn't supposed to.
21:45He told me that Benelynn was going to message us soon, that she was well.
21:50But we no longer believed a word he said.
21:55Innes' responses grow vague and evasive, a pattern in criminology that often signals
22:03an attempt to control the narrative and delay suspicion.
22:07In the days before Innes has driven down to see Benelynn, he's also been googling things such as
22:13as he used chloroform and underfloor storage.
22:27On March the 1st, 2021, Benelynn's first husband arrives at her home in Bristol for a scheduled
22:35contact visit with their daughter, Jelica.
22:48So Jelica's father attended Benelynn's home for a pre-arranged contact visit with Jelica and
22:55he discovers that there is nobody home.
22:57So he starts to make inquiries as to where they are.
23:01That same day, it becomes clear 25-year-old Benelynn Burke and her two-year-old daughter,
23:09Jelica, are missing.
23:11From the outside, there are no clear signs of danger.
23:15But those closest to Benelynn knows something is wrong.
23:19Her family in the Philippines is desperate for information.
23:24At that time, the husband is still the next of kin.
23:28And then the police will not deal with anybody except the next of kin.
23:32It took a bit of time before we were able to convince the police that they should also
23:36talk to the family in the Philippines.
23:38The police were able to trace Benelynn's contact with Innes through phone records and digital
23:46communication more generally, enough to link her disappearance to his address in a house in Dundee.
23:54And more generally, in missing persons cases, trying to establish last known contacts is absolutely critical.
24:22So, once Benelynn and Jelica were reported missing, Avon and Somerset Police made a request to
24:28Police Scotland to attend at the home address of Andrew Innes.
24:33When police attend Innes's house, he presents himself at the door.
24:38They're there to do a safe and well check, just to check, in essence, that Benelynn isn't missing,
24:43that she is, in fact, with him and that she's OK.
24:46He's reticent about letting the police in, and so the police step back slightly.
24:52Reluctance to engage with officers during a welfare check is an early behavioural red flag,
24:59especially when the story being offered starts to shift.
25:04At first, Innes was reluctant to speak to them. He was asked if he had seen Benelynn and Jelica,
25:10and he responded that he had, but he had dropped them off near to Glasgow with another male,
25:17and they were not at his home any longer. The two officers then phoned in to headquarters,
25:23but were then asked to return to Innes's door to probe the matter further.
25:29When officers return to the door, Innes is noticeably more talkative, offering new details
25:37without being prompted. By this point, police know he was the last known contact with Benelynn,
25:44and his inconsistent account, paired with mounting digital evidence, brings him firmly into suspicion.
25:53When the police went back in and began to question him, Andrew Innes clearly realised that the game was up.
26:00And upon doing so, he admitted to having killed Benelynn and having killed Jelica.
26:16So, on the day of the murder, Innes was caught on CCTV camera in a large hardware store purchasing a
26:26hammer,
26:26and it seemed that he even offered up his loyalty card for the purchase whilst he was doing that.
26:34So, Andrew Innes said that when he returned home from buying the hammer, Benelynn first attacked him,
26:43and he struck her in the back of the head with the hammer that he'd just bought.
26:49So, essentially, at that stage, saying that he was acting in self-defence.
26:57In reality, what Innes had done is, whilst Benelynn was cooking in his kitchen,
27:02he'd gone up behind her and attacked her, first with a hammer,
27:06and then with an ornamental Japanese sword that he had in his study.
27:12From the start, detectives saw inconsistencies in Innes' version of events.
27:20Combined with forensic evidence and his own admission,
27:24the investigation begins to point clearly towards premeditated violence.
27:30Obviously, buying a hammer at a hardware store is not an unusual thing to do.
27:36When it's factored into all the other parts of this case,
27:40then it definitely demonstrates some premeditation to the killing of Benelynn and Jelica.
27:48The instruments that Innes uses to attack Benelynn are really important here,
27:52because the hammer is really representative of this anger, this aggression,
27:58which I think feeds into this motive that part of this is out of anger
28:03for having been left behind by his ex-wife and ex-partner,
28:06and he's taking that out now on Benelynn.
28:09And then, secondly, he's using this ornamental Japanese sword,
28:12again, speaking to the fact that he's got this real obsession with Asian culture.
28:18It's like he was trying to immerse himself in this fantasy world,
28:21and I do think that it was very intentional, his use of that weapon.
28:25Innes has now confessed to murder, but for the investigators, a confession alone isn't enough.
28:34They still need to locate the bodies.
28:41So, Andrian is told police that he had buried Benelynn and her daughter Jelica under his kitchen floor.
28:51He explained further that there was concrete laid on top of them,
28:56and it would take them some time to get them out.
28:59It wasn't just that he committed this murder in an act of anger in the moment.
29:05He actually went out to a hardware store and got cement.
29:08He went out and got the materials, and so he was going to great lengths to cover up what he
29:14had done.
29:15He had no intention of ever admitting it, and if he had had long enough,
29:19he would have had that kitchen back in exactly the way it was before,
29:23and it would be much more difficult without an admission to find Benelynn and Jelica.
29:30To hide a woman and a child under his kitchen floor shows a quite remarkable degree of calculating,
29:43cunning, and lack of remorse, and I think gives us some insight into Innes's personality more generally,
29:52the kind of sadism that seems to characterize that kind of decision,
29:58to keep his victims as close as possible to him.
30:05Andrianus at this stage is charged in connection with the deaths of Benelynn and Jelica.
30:13Forensic teams are brought to the house,
30:16and the fingertip search for additional evidence begins.
30:23Once he had made that admission, there would be a set of processes and procedures that would,
30:30you know, forensically protect the house,
30:32so that best evidence could be collected and collated to help in the prosecution.
30:40As forensic teams begin their work in Dundee,
30:44thousands of miles away in Manila, Benelynn's family are told the unthinkable.
30:52It was the police in Scotland who told me that my daughter and granddaughter
30:57had been murdered in Dundee.
31:02It is the most distressing and painful thing to lose a granddaughter and daughter.
31:10I find it really hard to understand how he could have done that to them.
31:16Especially to kill an innocent little two-year-old girl.
31:20I couldn't accept it. What did they do wrong? Why were they killed?
31:26It was just so harrowing and painful for all of us.
31:33While Benelynn's family tries to process the devastating news,
31:37the police in Scotland begin the painstaking task of confirming the truth.
31:44And what they uncover beneath the kitchen floor will turn heartbreak into horror.
31:52It took police two weeks to excavate the site.
31:55And what they discovered was Benelynn and Angelica's bodies were indeed under the kitchen floor.
32:02They were discovered in rubble bags covered over with concrete.
32:09The first thing I wanted to ask him
32:11was how he could have done that to such a kind and innocent baby.
32:16A normal person couldn't have possibly done that to anyone.
32:19How could you kill people so easily?
32:28In truth, all my family were devastated.
32:32We were all hurt by what had happened.
32:35My wife couldn't accept it and was beside herself with grief.
32:43We loved our child, Benelynn. We can't say for sure how we're feeling right now.
32:47Except that we're filled with pain.
32:51For many people, what will be unsettling is that Andrew Innes has no criminal history.
32:59And yet, you must appreciate that this kind of extreme sadistic violence doesn't come out of nowhere.
33:07It isn't created overnight, but rather it's built up over years behind a mask of normality.
33:21I was so confused.
33:23I had so much pain in my heart when I learned of what had happened to them.
33:28I couldn't eat, I couldn't think, I couldn't do anything.
33:32I couldn't believe that it had happened.
33:38When the body was found and Scotland police showed us, we were still in doubt,
33:43so they had to show us proof of DNA and whatever else.
33:47And when they sent the documents to me, it was only then that I really did believe.
33:54But there's even more pain to come for the family.
34:01When Jellica and her mother's body are recovered, they're examined by forensic medical staff.
34:07And the evidence that's recovered from that examination paints a picture of the true horror
34:13of the crimes that Andrew Innes committed.
34:20Jellica, a small child, barely more than a baby, had been raped and brutalized by him and ultimately asphyxiated.
34:29Her mother, who lay not far from her under the concrete, had been brutalized with a hammer
34:35and had been stabbed with a Japanese samurai sword.
34:41What you saw in the aftermath of that was unequivocal evidence of the depths of depravity
34:48that a predator like Innes could go to, and also the depths that he was going to,
34:54to cover up the crimes that he'd committed.
35:08Police uncover that Andrew Innes is both a paedophile and a killer,
35:13and his targeting of a single mother and her child reveals his predatory intent.
35:20When we found out about the full details of what happened, we did a big campaign
35:24to ensure that justice will be served for Benelin and the family.
35:28Members of Benelin's family travelled to the UK for the trial, hoping to see Innes receive a lengthy prison term.
35:38The only time that I met him personally was in court hearing.
35:44I didn't feel any remorse at all, and I didn't feel any kind of regret at all to what he
35:51did.
35:53When the case comes to trial, Andrew Innes admits killing Benelin Angelica, but he denies murder.
36:01Innes lodges a defence of diminished responsibility, that his actions were caused by emotional distress.
36:11And if that defence was successful, it would lead to a shorter prison sentence.
36:16What you find with predators, and I've seen it time and time and time again,
36:22is that they will minimise any responsibility they had.
36:29So at trial, Innes gave evidence that when he returned from buying the hammer,
36:35he saw Benelin in the kitchen, preparing food.
36:40And he said that his view of her from behind with her long, dark hair and just her figure,
36:46reminded him of his ex-wife and also of an ex-partner.
36:52And he said that he then went into an apocalyptic rage.
36:59Innes also claims he was suffering from steroid-induced psychosis at the time of the killings,
37:05caused by the medication he was taking.
37:09He argues that the drugs distorted his thinking.
37:14They minimise, they self-justify, and they blame others.
37:18So it was the fault of the drugs. It wasn't his fault.
37:20He was under the influence. He'd been taking too many of the steroids,
37:25and that had created an imbalance in his mind.
37:32I didn't believe him because the doctor confirmed that it couldn't have been steroids.
37:38He was able to travel from Bristol to Scotland.
37:45Alongside claims of psychosis, Innes also alleges he acted in self-defence.
37:52He tells the court that Benelin attacked him first, despite his physical advantage and the weapons he used.
38:00He pivots to, she was attacking me with a sushi knife.
38:04This tiny woman, four foot six inches tall, who weighed next to nothing.
38:14Innes also offers justification for the murder of two-year-old Jellica.
38:20Andrian has said he killed Jellica because she was screaming.
38:25He couldn't look after his child.
38:27And that she had been asking for her mother.
38:30So he thought the best place for her was to be with her mother.
38:36And that's the reason that he said he killed her.
38:40It's a chilling rationalisation often seen in offenders who begin to dehumanise their victims
38:48and then reframe their brutality as acts of mercy.
38:59I do think he is truly evil because he killed my daughter, who was very kind,
39:05and my granddaughter, who was completely innocent.
39:09I don't understand how someone could possibly do that to two innocent people,
39:14especially a small, innocent child.
39:23On the 6th of February 2023, after weeks of harrowing evidence, the jury returns its verdict.
39:32Their decision leaves no doubt.
39:36Andrew Innes is found guilty of the murders of Benelin Angelica.
39:42He's also found guilty of sexually abusing Jellica.
39:50And also found guilty of perverting the course of justice by burying Benelin Angelica.
39:59Andrew Innes was sentenced to life imprisonment, which is the tariff for a murder.
40:05But in Scotland, the judge will also announce the punishment part.
40:11That is the period of time that a convicted person must serve before they are eligible for parole.
40:17And in Andrew Innes' case, he was handed down a punishment part of 36 years.
40:25He is evil and he deserves to pay his sins.
40:34If you would ask me, a life sentence is not enough because he took the lives of two people.
40:42He should be given the death penalty.
40:46The conviction brings justice, but not peace.
40:50The methodical control, the predatory planning and the hidden life of Andrew Innes leave behind questions
40:59that may yet take years to answer.
41:06I will be shocked if there's not more to be told with regard to the criminal history of Andrew Innes.
41:16I cannot believe that this was the first and only offence committed by this individual.
41:25Innes has the profile of a serial killer.
41:28He is someone who will just keep on going.
41:31He's trying to achieve this fantasy that he's not able to achieve,
41:34but he's going to keep on trying until he's caught, until he's stopped.
41:39The National Crime Agency described the case as a once in a generation inquiry,
41:46not just because of its brutality, but because of what it exposed.
41:51It revealed how predators can operate undetected, how digital spaces can be exploited,
42:00and how systems sometimes struggle to protect the most vulnerable.
42:06This case had an impact upon the legal professionals involved at the trial,
42:13with most, if not all of them, commenting that this was one of the most difficult
42:18cases that they've ever had to deal with.
42:27My only advice is, if someone is going to start a relationship with someone else,
42:33they ought to first check that person's background,
42:37confirm that their identities are true.
42:41They should make sure everything they say is true.
42:48Benilin's case is not isolated. You know, many studies show that women who meet a partner online
42:56experience threats and coercive control if that relationship develops offline.
43:03And globally, there's an increase in transnational abuse,
43:08and many women are lured to the United Kingdom with the promises of a better life,
43:16which simply is never going to materialize.
43:23My message to women who would like to move because of a partner is that there's nothing wrong with making
43:28friends, but to think twice, even thrice before they travel with them.
43:41And also not to trust people immediately because of what happened to my sister.
43:48And because Filipinos have good hearts and are very trusting.
43:52I always believe that relationships should be built with mutual trust and equal footing.
44:06And therefore, many of the women who are looking for this kind of relationship
44:11should really think a hundred times before they can go into it.
44:18Taking a child to meet a man you've never met in person may seem unthinkable.
44:24But for someone isolated, vulnerable, and searching for connection, judgment can be clouded.
44:33Benilin's story is a devastating reminder of how predators exploit hope.
44:40These are very, very difficult crimes to predict.
44:45And raising awareness, I think, is perhaps one of the key ways in helping keep people safe.
44:52Benilin's relationship with her wider family, indeed with her sister and her father in the Philippines, was key.
45:00And the closeness of that relationship was real.
45:03There was a frequent and routine communication between them.
45:07And I think that supported her.
45:10And ultimately, was one of the primary influences on Andrew Innes being caught.
45:20I miss singing with her.
45:22I miss doing karaoke with her.
45:24I miss going to the park with her.
45:27Just going for a walk or even to the mall.
45:30I miss all that so much, both of them.
45:35It's very painful in my heart that Benilin's already died.
45:41And also my granddaughter, she's also died.
45:46That's why I miss him very much.
45:49I miss him very much.
45:50I miss him very much.
46:20Transcription by CastingWords
46:31CastingWords
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