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00:01on April 29th 2019 a young man disappears without warning he was well respected well liked and had
00:10a wonderful network of friends so he had all his life to live for we weren't looking at an 18
00:15year
00:15old lad who just stayed out too late there was something more to this a rural community rocked
00:22by a gruesome murder the superintendent rang me and said we've found a body they were unable to
00:29actually identify not just who it was but whether it was male or female he had over 146 different
00:36injuries to his body in my career I can only think of a couple of cases where I've seen injuries
00:41have
00:41come anywhere close to that a race against time to catch the killer was he gonna do it again they
00:48could have been looking at a serial killer here I need to protect the public from this monster it
00:52seems like a real contradiction to have such a gruesome awful scene in such a beautiful
00:58picturesque location
01:44parbold it's quite an affluent little village just outside Skelmersdale really quiet nice people very rural it is a lovely
01:55area
01:57population of about two and a half thousand in a wonderful village setting with its pubs its shops and its
02:04church
02:06there's a little railway station it's very quaint it's what you think of when you think of a village in
02:12the north west of England
02:17there's a really low crime rate in that area I mean you get the occasional bit that's flown over from
02:23the bigger cities because it's between Manchester and
02:25in Liverpool but really it's it's quiet people like it for that reason you don't expect any issues any trouble
02:34let alone the murder to happen it's that one place that you would always see on the television when locals
02:40were interviewed and they'd say well we'd never expect that to happen around here
02:43but on April 29th 2019 a young man went missing under unusual circumstances
02:52the first I heard about this case was when the police put out a missing persons appeal
02:56it seemed a little bit odd because quite often when 18 year olds don't go home
03:02they don't reach the point of media attention because
03:0518 year olds you know it's not that unusual for them to
03:08stay out overnight or whatever but we heard about this case this appeal for
03:14Alex and you just get a feeling about things the missing person was 18 year old Alex Davies from
03:22the nearby town of Skelmersdale Alex worked in home bargains and he was doing really well there and
03:28he just recently got promoted he had a really good social life he had a lot of close friends and
03:35growing
03:35up for Alex wasn't easy he stood out he realized at an early age he was gay but of course
03:42when you're
03:42very young the word that comes to mind is different I was different in some way where all it was
03:47was it
03:47was his sexuality children can be cruel and I can pick out when children are different in some way
03:54now for Alex that was he liked to do train spotting he would often go with his friend looking at
03:59trains
03:59he liked ABBA and he was open about the fact he was gay the sort of things that children can
04:05focus
04:06in on and he was picked on for for standing out Alex however had done really well for himself he'd
04:11showed resilience he'd got through that time in his life he was openly gay as an adult he was
04:16working hard and doing really well Alex was so comfortable in his own skin that he really didn't
04:22care if people liked him or not he was just going to be himself and people could think what they
04:27liked
04:28very friendly he would approach people and often you know it was said by some of his friends he didn't
04:35have filters you know if you like somebody would go and ask them for on a date you know carefree
04:40life
04:40loving lad Alex had a great group of friends they described him as lively and happy and he would see
04:47them really often like many boys of his age Alex was into cars so he liked to drive around late
04:54at night
04:54out listening to music he was even known to pull your donut he'd pick his friends up he'd drop them
04:59off at
04:59home if they were on the same shift or you know he'd go and pick them up and they'd have
05:03some music on
05:04they'd be singing and joking and just having a fun time of it he was really there for people and
05:10when
05:11you hear people talking about what Alex was like as a person that really comes through that that that
05:16he was there for people everybody said that he was one of the nicest guys that you could ever meet
05:20he was well respected well liked and had a wonderful network of friends so he had all his life to
05:25live
05:26for the last time that Alex met up with his group of friends was on the Friday night they had
05:33drinks
05:34they did what they would usually do but sadly they didn't know that when they said bye to him that
05:38night for many of them that would be the final time on Monday 29th of April 2019 Alex's mother
05:46Beverly returned home from work to find that Alex had not come home the kind of relationship that
05:52Alex had with his mum they were really close and it would have been really unusual for him not to
05:58be
05:58in contact with her when she came home that night nine o'clock and she hadn't heard from him all
06:03day
06:03she started to worry she had those mother instincts that it's not quite right because this is out of the
06:08normal I would have heard from him by now there were no secrets so she would know where he'd be
06:13a lot of
06:14relationships like that you can set your watch you you know what's going to happen where people are
06:20going to be so she was very surprised that he wasn't there and he didn't turn up at home and
06:24she
06:24was at home and when you know somebody whatever age they are you know that's out of character so
06:30straight away um his mother was concerned worried and a bit bamboozled about what has happened to Alex
06:39Beverly grew even more concerned as it drew closer to midnight on Monday and there was still
06:44no sign of Alex Alex's mum was starting to get really worried now and as you would expect she
06:51started to phone around his friends obviously hoping that there was a really simple explanation
06:55that perhaps he got caught up in things his phone had no battery but as she was ringing through it
07:00soon
07:00became clear that none of his friends had seen him since the Friday then one particular friend Leon
07:05when he said he hadn't heard from Alex that really started to worry her because that was unusual Leon
07:11had seen him on the Sunday at work but he'd not seen him at all since then and for both
07:15of them not
07:16to have seen him something was really wrong the following morning when Alex still wasn't home she was more
07:22worried than ever and that was when she decided to phone the police unfortunately perhaps as might be
07:27expected it wasn't treated as high-risk Alex was an adult it was suggested that give it some time see
07:33what happens then it was a case of well he'll come back he may have just been staying at a
07:38friend's
07:39house so please don't sort of take it lightly but they don't take it seriously in the sense so
07:44therefore as a parent you feel that you've been let down that no reports being taken they're not going
07:49to do anything I think it's a mother's instinct you know your children you know your patterns you know
07:55what to expect and when something's not right it's just a feeling and it's not something you can
08:00describe it's just it's powerful Alex's friends and family did not want to waste any time so they
08:08began their own appeals for help his friends took to social media to try and raise awareness that Alex
08:16is missing asking for information that anybody had of him had they seen him do they know where he is
08:22and I included home bargains where he worked they use their own Facebook page to put an appeal for
08:27information as to where Alex might be Alex had previously been confronted by a group on his way
08:32to work so one of his friends was worried that perhaps you know perhaps he'd been picked on
08:36perhaps he'd been attacked they must have been thinking the worst Beverly downloaded the CCTV footage
08:42from her front door camera and made an interesting discovery in the recordings from Monday 29th April
08:49Alex got a taxi from outside their house and on the CCTV she could make out the registration number
08:56that she could trace back to the cab firm so the next thing you'd automatically do is anybody let
09:02alone a parent is to ring that firm and say look I'm worried about my son can you please tell
09:08me where
09:08that taxi actually took my son it turns out that he was dropped off at the station in parbold which
09:14is
09:15about 10 miles away from where he lives there was no indications that Alex was alive moving around
09:25doing everyday things and this would have started to raise the concerns of the police and raise the
09:31risk against him police began their search for Alex by scouring CCTV footage in parbold where he had
09:38taken the taxi to on the day he went missing there was CCTV in and around parbold train station which
09:46showed Alex turning up in the taxi getting out carrying a rucksack and he went into a shop and
09:52he bought a can of pop and bar chocolate they were able to track Alex's route using different CCTV cameras
10:05that
10:06were available but only to a certain point because this was now a rural area the camera footage stopped
10:12the coverage stopped so some distance away from parbold station they knew that Alex was walking towards a
10:19more rural area from that point on the trail went cold there seemed to be no more evidence of Alex
10:27in
10:27the area the police and family members had reached a dead end in their search for Alex
10:33and as the days went on it became more and more concerning really that you know that we weren't
10:41looking at an 18 year old lad who just stayed out too late and not gone home when he was
10:45expected there
10:46was something more to this but everything changed when the inevitable call came on the evening of May 1st
10:57I finished work gone home doing me thing at home just sat down watching the telly and the superintendent
11:03rang me and said are you aware there's a job at parbold and I said I'm not what is it
11:08and he said we've found a body
11:18it's hard to understand that such a brutal thing could happen here
11:23the rural community of parbold was about to be shocked by what had happened in their peaceful village
11:33April 29th 2019 18 year old Alex Davies from Skelmersdale Lancashire has disappeared
11:40raising concerns among his family and friends he was last sighted on CCTV in the village of parbold before vanishing
11:48without a trace but a grim discovery is made on May 1st a body has been found in some nearby
11:55woods
11:57I took responsibility for the investigation on the Thursday morning Alex was found on the Wednesday
12:04evening he was found by a gamekeeper who'd gone to check the traps he spotted an arm underneath a pile
12:10of conifers it was quite clear that there'd been a lot of violence the body has been so badly mutilated
12:20they
12:21were unable to actually identify not just who it was but whether it was male or female so at that
12:28point I
12:29said to my deputy DI Muller can you open your computer and see what missing from homes we've got locally
12:35he
12:35said they've got a missing from home from Skelmersdale and he brought up a picture of of Alex I said
12:40let's
12:40have a look at him and I was looking at a picture of Alex and I'm looking at the body
12:45in front of me and
12:46I'm thinking I got they don't look the same for the family of course it's terrible that a body's been
12:54found but there was still that grain of hope that maybe it wasn't Alex that maybe Alex was still out
13:00there somewhere his mother must have just been so distressed on the one hand she's hoping it's not Alex
13:08but on the other hand she wants to know what's happened to Alex Beverly's worst nightmare becomes a
13:14reality when the identification of the body is confirmed we had a search team and suddenly I
13:21heard a cry of find from one of the search officers and they all stopped it was almost military in
13:28in
13:29in precision really they just stopped searching and the pulser then took over and they found what
13:36you would call the contents of a wallet so library card a train card other other cards bank cards
13:44etc etc etc and they were in the name of Alex Davis Alex had a little tiny birthmark on his
13:52cheek
13:52well just like a little beauty spot if you will and in his photograph it was wearing a silver chain
13:59so I examined the body in front of me and I thought I could just see a little beauty spot
14:07and the body did
14:09have a silver chain on so at that point I made the call I want someone to go around to
14:14his mom to
14:15who's reported him missing tell her I think we found him it must have been terrible for his mom to
14:25know
14:26firstly that her son had died that he'd been murdered and that he was in such a state that they
14:33needed to
14:33identify him through jewelry and that moment when they showed her that jewelry I just I can't imagine
14:40the feeling that must have been in her stomach and in her heart it's not just losing a son it's
14:45losing
14:46a son in such horrific circumstances Alex had multiple stab wounds as well as the stab wounds Alex had
14:55injuries to his face he had a broken nose it looked like he'd been badly beaten as well as being
15:00stabbed when
15:02I started to look at Alex I noticed that he had mud up his nostrils and in his mouth it
15:09looked like
15:09he'd been dragged face down and that was awful and I saw this flat area of land I started to
15:17sort of
15:18just assess it as a crime scene is that relevant very quickly established that the grass was flat and
15:25there were lots of bluebells it was May lots of bluebells the lowest stick in my mind and a lot
15:32of them
15:32had been were flattened which said to me a lot of activities happened in that area so is that
15:40where something's happened and it's that where where it started and this where Alex was is this
15:45where it's ended so I started to hypothesize what might have happened the post-mortem revealed the
15:52horrific nature of Alex's death he was stabbed 128 times he had over 146 different injuries to his body
16:05we know that Alex was still alive when the stab wounds were being inflicted on him because the
16:11post-mortem found his cause of death to be asphyxiation so he'd felt those injuries in my career I can
16:17only
16:17think of a couple of cases where I've seen injuries that come anywhere close to that this is indicating
16:23a horrific sustained violent attack on him and it appeared as if the body had been dragged down a
16:32slope placed next to a tree and had foliage put over it in a most crude attempt to hide the
16:37body
16:39it's hard to fathom the level of force and also the level of rage that must have been involved in
16:45an
16:45attack like that what was going through this killer's mind to be so angry and to be so vicious and
16:52so violent that kind of crime scene with over a hundred stab wounds suggests to me a perpetrator
16:58who was acting on emotion loss of emotional control that's not to say them didn't have control over
17:03their decision-making and their actions but it's someone who couldn't cope with their emotions
17:07somebody kept going until they were either no longer feeling those emotions in the moment or they
17:12simply tired themselves out we had what we call a welfare van it had equipment so so we could make
17:20a cup of tea or a coffee so the CSI said we've got we're gonna go to the welfare van
17:25so they all went
17:26off to do their thing and then I looked at Alex and I thought I can't leave this young man
17:31his mum
17:33wouldn't want me to leave him like this all on his own I don't really know what what the catalyst
17:39for
17:40that was but I just couldn't leave him so I just stood at the side of him quietly but during
17:48that
17:48time I was thinking look at the injuries that this young man's suffered and I was trying to imagine who
17:54would have done it who would have been responsible what kind of person could have been responsible for
18:00that kind of horrific attack it seems like a real contradiction to have such a gruesome awful scene
18:07such a horrible crime in such a beautiful picturesque location it's night and day
18:21when Alex's body was found there was an outpouring of love for him actually there was a lot of tributes
18:27laid at the scene you know it was clear that he was he was a really loved guy
18:34he had a lot friends and a lot of people who were absolutely devastated that this kind friendly young
18:42man had been killed in such an awful way the media were quite keen to understand what was happening but
18:48equally for me as an SIO I wanted to offer as much reassurance to the public of par boulder and
18:55the wider
18:56communities that we were doing everything that we could sort of understand what had happened and catch the
19:03person responsible for killing Alex if I'm honest I wanted to get him in the cells as quickly as so
19:08I couldn't he
19:09couldn't do anything else to anybody any other people I had this thing about I need to protect the public
19:14from this monster
19:16now the hunt is on for Alex's killer despite the difficulties of a rural crime scene severe weather wind rain
19:24not to mention animals being present around the crime scene to the police found a crucial piece of evidence
19:30in the ground was a small knife that had been pushed into the dirt just with the handle sticking up
19:37and that became really important because when we are that forensically examined it had Alex's blood on it
19:44and then we showed the pathologist the knife and she could then compare that to the injuries and it all
19:51fell into place so it was a really really good find
19:54there's a sign in murder investigation to understand how a person died you have to understand how they lived and
20:00that's because in general there's some link between
20:04someone or something in the victim's life that would indicate why harm has come to them and that's because most
20:10times there's a link between a killer and a victim
20:13so you need to start to build up a picture of the victim's life and that could be by talking
20:18to friends looking at their social media posts and importantly now is looking at people's phones
20:24we can build up such a huge picture of someone's life now from their phones so this is a task
20:29that the police were now having to do for Alex
20:31to build up a picture of those hours and days leading up to his murder as to who he was
20:37in contact with
20:37the police began to look into Alex's call logs had he contacted anybody that was out of the ordinary and
20:43they did see something different
20:45they saw a number that had contacted him on the day of his murder that had never contacted him before
20:50police managed to find out that the number that had called Alex had also called a landline
20:54so they called the landline and asked the people there whose phone it was
20:58and this led them straight to brian helis
21:03investigators waste no time and go to the home address of brian helis
21:08i've got someone who's just brutalized an 18 year old boy
21:12and was still at large and my sense of duty to protect the public
21:18was immense
21:20but the person they discovered is not who they expected
21:25and he was just a young fellow absolutely unremarkable in every way shape and form
21:31physically he had no presence
21:34you know you could almost describe him as grey
21:37you would never notice him in a quiet street
21:40never mind a busy one
21:41there's just nothing about him
21:44police need to establish any previous criminal history
21:48most people who commit murder have some kind of history with the police
21:52that might not necessarily be violent crime
21:54but they'll be known in some way
21:56he had no criminal history
21:58he wasn't known to the police
22:00so he hadn't been arrested before
22:02hadn't come to notice in any way
22:03so if it was brian helis that had murdered
22:06Alex in this brutal way
22:09this is going to be really quite unusual
22:12the police then understandably searched helis's house
22:15importantly they found crucial evidence there
22:18in the cctv footage of Alex
22:21as he was walking away from that train station
22:23he had a rucksack
22:25and the contents of that rucksack
22:29were now found in helis's home
22:33investigators now need to uncover
22:35the sequence of events that led to Alex's death
22:44on 29th april 2019
22:4718 year old Alex Davies from Skelmersdale
22:50disappeared without a trace in a rural part of Lancashire
22:54his mutilated body was discovered in a wooded area of parpled hill a few days later
22:59investigators have been led to the home of 18 year old brian helis
23:03who they learned had called Alex on the day he went missing
23:08when the police were searching helis's home
23:11they'll be looking for any clues any evidence
23:14that can link him to either the crime scene
23:17or to Alex himself
23:18and that's what they found in his home
23:21they found earphones mobile phone and wallet belonging to Alex
23:28when they found Alex's headphones at helis's house
23:31they'd also got the serial number of that exact pair of headphones
23:36because Alex had kept the box for them
23:38so they were able to match the serial number
23:41on the box to the actual pair of headphones
23:44that they found at helis's house
23:46you couldn't say that he had a pair that were the same
23:49these were the exact headphones
23:51we looked at the telephone
23:53and we established that that was his grandad's
23:56his grandad had passed
23:57so Alex had said to his uncle
23:59can I have grandad's phone
24:01that I can keep as a spare in case my battery dies
24:05so all of a sudden
24:06Ryan Helis has got Alex's spare phone
24:09Alex's headphones and Alex's wallet
24:12not only had he got his wallet
24:14he'd taken everything out of Alex's and thrown it at the scene
24:18and he'd put his own ID cards and his own money in it
24:20he was actually using it
24:23we found the knife lock
24:24with a missing knife
24:27we found a bike
24:28and we found clothing
24:29which was all seized
24:32so the evidence is fairly overwhelming
24:35so if there was any doubt
24:37as to whether or not
24:38Helis was the person that they were looking for
24:41that doubt had gone now
24:43there was no doubt whatsoever in the officer's mind
24:45we have our man
24:47and now we start the process of gathering evidence from him
24:51so we did the custody procedures
24:54we did the hand swaps
24:55all that kind of thing
24:56and then the interview was going to be key
25:00Ryan Helis was taken into custody
25:02and he was asked a lot of questions
25:04about Alex's disappearance and about the murder
25:08he's been given the same old advice
25:11from a solicitor who turns out to represent him
25:13don't say anything
25:15make the police prove it
25:17first question gets asked
25:19and he's been advised to say no comment
25:21what does he say?
25:22no
25:22are you responsible for the murder of Alex Davies?
25:27no
25:28that tells me he wanted to talk
25:31do you recall the advice I gave you in the interview?
25:34yes
25:34we'll start again
25:35are you responsible for the murder of Alex Davies?
25:38no comment
25:39that's Alex
25:40look at that picture
25:42do you know Alex?
25:44no comment
25:45have you ever seen that person before?
25:48no comment
25:49how do you know him?
25:51no comment
25:53with no cooperation from Helis
25:55investigators need to work hard
25:56to build a case against him
25:58it might be easy to think
26:00that once somebody's been arrested
26:01and there's some evidence available
26:02that it's really easy for the police to prove
26:04that they committed the offence
26:05but that's far from the case
26:07they have to prove this beyond reasonable doubt
26:09so in the background
26:10there will have been loads of work going on
26:12to hone out what the actual evidence was
26:15to make things clear
26:16and to see if there was anything else they needed
26:17to support prosecution
26:20so then they start to look at CCTV
26:22in and around the areas Alex had been
26:25and importantly
26:27the route between Helis' home
26:29and the crime scene
26:32and what this showed is that
26:34he in actual fact on the day that Alex went missing
26:36had cycled from Chorley
26:38to Parbold
26:40and that footage showed him
26:43going there
26:44and coming back
26:46the first time that they see Brian Helis
26:48in the area
26:49he's not got anything with him
26:50he's just riding a bike
26:52later on that day
26:53they see him
26:55again
26:56riding the bike
26:57but this time
26:58he's got a backpack on
26:59and that rucksack matched
27:01the one seen
27:01being carried by Alex
27:03on the CCTV they had of him
27:05so again
27:07it's more evidence
27:08linking Helis
27:10not only to Alex
27:10but linking him to his murder
27:13but how had these two young men
27:15encountered each other
27:16and how had Alex ended up murdered
27:18on Parbold Hill
27:20an important element in any murder investigation
27:22is a building up of a timeline
27:24by laying out known facts
27:26and when they happened
27:27and that's what they did in this case
27:30and it started to build a picture
27:32a picture that indicated
27:34what had happened in the lead up
27:35to Alex's murder
27:37what they were able to identify
27:39is that Helis and Alex
27:41have been communicating
27:42on a dating app
27:43and those communications
27:45have moved from the dating app
27:47to WhatsApp
27:48and they started to talk to each other
27:51the majority of this was literally
27:52the build up to the day
27:53that we know that Alex was murdered
27:55so you've got that initial
27:57of how are you
27:59do you fancy meeting up
28:00what should we do etc
28:02then a few interests
28:03we know that Alex actually
28:04was very very much into his ABBA music
28:07and of course even the Bee Gees
28:09he actually says
28:10in one of the messages
28:11do you know who the Bee Gees are
28:12Brian Helis has no idea
28:14what he's talking about
28:16so you've got some normal conversations
28:18but a lot of it is flirtatious
28:28What became clear is that
28:30Helis was pushing for a meet
28:33pushing to meet Alex
28:34and he was being
28:36what I would describe as manipulative
28:38he was talking himself as
28:41I haven't come out yet as gay
28:43so people don't know
28:44meaning that when we meet
28:45it needs to be somewhere secluded
28:47somewhere we're not going to get seen
28:51and now we know
28:52looking back
28:53why that was
28:55but for Alex himself
28:57he probably wanted to see the best
29:00in the person he was speaking to
29:02it's not unusual for young people
29:04to try and keep their love lives
29:08from the parents
29:09regardless of sexuality
29:11but particularly in the situation
29:14that perhaps you know
29:15the mum and dad maybe aren't as open-minded
29:17so it would be a believable story
29:21Alex's character is so trusting
29:24you know he's got this wonderful network of friends
29:26he works so much for charity
29:28he believes in people
29:29and I think that was picked up
29:31straight away
29:32there's that question of
29:33Helis asks
29:34what phone have you got
29:35and of course he's got a Samson 9
29:37and of course
29:38what does Helis have a Samson 3
29:40automatically you can think to yourself
29:42oh this could be robbery
29:43he wants a better phone
29:45to me
29:45what that's doing
29:47is Helis trying to go for the sympathy
29:48oh I've only got a Samson 3
29:51and then you've got
29:52because you've got this wonderful caring individual
29:53and Alex saying
29:54oh I can
29:55you know I can look after you there
29:56and I've got a Samson 9
29:58I can help you out
29:59you're a bit younger than me
30:00so I can be like the older brother
30:02but also in the relationship
30:03I can make sure that I can look after you
30:05so I think
30:06you've already seen that
30:08Alex even felt that
30:09Helis was slightly vulnerable
30:11but he wasn't
30:12he was being duped
30:12he was being lured into this awful trap
30:14he said
30:15do you think it would be
30:16worth upgrading
30:17because mine's so slow
30:20that was really important
30:21that
30:22because you think
30:22what are you talking about Jeff
30:23but that saw
30:24you know the S with a lot of O's
30:28thought that's unusual
30:29anyway
30:29when we then do the research on
30:31Ryan Helis' computer
30:33we see him
30:34after he's had that conversation with Alex
30:36he's researching on eBay
30:38how much you can sell
30:39Galaxy S9 for
30:41and how to reset
30:43a scam
30:44Samsung Galaxy S9
30:45how to avoid being tracked
30:48also in the phone messages
30:50were the plans of when the two young men would meet
30:52it was scheduled for April 29th
30:54the day that Alex went missing
31:06and now you start to see the build-up and the arrangements for meeting
31:10who is in control of this
31:12they both decided that there will be a meet
31:14but of course what's very interesting here
31:17is that you've got Brian Helis
31:19who's actually turned around and said
31:20I've got a location
31:27so he's now in control of the meet
31:29he knows where it's going to be
31:31what time it's going to be
31:33I'm in control
31:40Alex must have been excited
31:42looking forward to a nice day out
31:43going on a date
31:44going to meet this new guy
31:45who seemed
31:47fawn and flirty
31:57it was Helis that was pushing for this meet
32:00then he was pushing for it in a secluded area
32:03he took a knife with him
32:05these were indications that
32:08this natural fact wasn't a spontaneous event
32:11this was a planned and premeditated murder
32:19Alex must have been terrified
32:21he'd set out that morning
32:22looking forward to a nice day out
32:24and when it turned so badly
32:26and so violent
32:28he must have been terrified
32:30it was exactly what he wasn't expecting that day
32:51and then obviously they met in the wood
32:55I couldn't speculate
32:56but I do know
32:58there was a violent episode
33:00and Brian Helis battered
33:01and then stabbed Alex to death
33:09When we found Alex
33:10he has multiple injuries
33:12are you responsible for causing those injuries?
33:14No comment
33:15Are you responsible for murdering Alex Davis?
33:19No comment
33:22Brian Helis' phone
33:24held some other disturbing information
33:26in the days after Alex had been murdered
33:30Really worryingly
33:32what they also find
33:33is that after Alex has been killed
33:36Helis is back on the dating apps
33:43He was speaking to multiple other young men
33:46he was trying to arrange meetups
33:53Was he going to do it again?
33:54There's every chance that
33:56they could have been looking at a serial killer here
34:03On May 3rd, 2019
34:05police arrest 18-year-old Brian Helis
34:08for the brutal murder of Alex Davies
34:11in a secluded area of Parbold Hill
34:14Alex had been stabbed 128 times by Helis
34:18who he met on a dating site
34:20Police discovered the details
34:22of how Helis lured Alex
34:23to the woods in Parbold that day
34:25and now they have incriminating evidence
34:27on Helis' phone
34:28to suggest that he was planning to kill again
34:33He killed Alex on the Tuesday afternoon
34:37and then on the Wednesday and Thursday
34:40he'd made contact with a man in Scalmersdale
34:45about a sexual encounter
34:46Brian Helis had sort of indicated
34:49that he could stay over at this address
34:50and the other person said
34:52not likely, you know
34:53we'll do what we need to do
34:54and then you're away mate
34:55so that didn't seem to fit the
34:58what Helis wanted
35:00but then he made contact with another guy
35:03in the Bolton area
35:05so the other side of Chorley
35:08and really unusual
35:09because he asked this guy
35:11what kind of phone he had
35:12and he said
35:13oh I've got a Huawei P light
35:15and he said
35:16I've got rubbish
35:18whatever it is
35:20is it worth upgrading
35:21because mine is so slow
35:26and they arranged to meet
35:27and he said
35:28as he said with Alex
35:29it would be the first time
35:30I've kissed anybody
35:31so I'm a bit shy
35:32is there somewhere discreet
35:33we can go
35:34and the other person had said
35:35well there's a wooded area near mine
35:37we can go there
35:39and then
35:40we arrested him on a Friday night
35:42he was going to meet him the following day
35:44we'll never know
35:45we'll never know
35:46whether that was for the same purpose
35:48but it's not exactly a leap is it
35:50to go from
35:51I've just killed one person
35:53in this route
35:54and now I'm trying to meet another
35:56there's a very good chance
35:57that they've prevented him
35:58carrying out
35:59a second murder
36:00there were other signs
36:01that Helis may not have stopped
36:03after the murder of Alex
36:05he'd been doing searches
36:07on army spades
36:09as it were
36:10they're the fold up spades
36:11so you can carry them in a rucksack
36:12why would you be doing that
36:14when we know those actual items
36:16for the army
36:16are used to actually dig very quickly
36:19little troughs
36:20or little holes in the ground
36:21so is this all this learning curve
36:23for this sociopath
36:25psychopath
36:26who is now
36:28actually living his dream
36:29which is gets the anger
36:30and he wants to kill
36:31and now he's planning the future
36:33well I've got to dispose of the body a lot better
36:35so perhaps
36:36it's actually not worked that out
36:38if I do this
36:38what do I do with the body
36:39and that's hit him
36:40when it's happened
36:41he's dragged it
36:42tried to cover it up
36:43it didn't work
36:44and now already he's planning
36:45for the next one
36:47so when we look at the circumstances
36:49of what happened
36:50after Alex's murder
36:52can any sort of inference be drawn
36:54from the fact that
36:55Helis had taken
36:57Alex's property
36:58and still had it with him
36:59in his bedroom
37:00well it's difficult in all honesty
37:03to 100% save one way or the other
37:05but what he would have been able to do
37:07he had the opportunity to do
37:08is to throw away that property
37:11to dump it on his root home
37:13put it in a bin
37:13throw it in a bush
37:15he didn't do that
37:16he took it home
37:17why would he do that?
37:19well one of two reasons really
37:20one it's a shiny object
37:22I want to keep
37:23it's a phone
37:23it's got value
37:25or
37:25and more sinister
37:27it's some kind of trophy
37:28a reminder of what he's done
37:30and if we're talking about
37:32an emotional attack
37:34where someone's carried it out
37:35because of that
37:36what these killers will often do
37:37is keep almost like a memento
37:39from their crime
37:40to remind them
37:41of the attack
37:42and almost sort of
37:44to draw out that emotion again
37:46at some later time
37:47they couldn't rule out the fact
37:49that they might be looking at somebody
37:51with a real vengeance
37:52and having killed one person
37:54you could do it again
38:07the trial for the murder of Alex Davies
38:09is held at Preston Crown Court in March 2020
38:18there was quite a lot of press there
38:20for the trial
38:21it was an intriguing case
38:23at that point
38:24all that we knew
38:25was that
38:26Alex had disappeared
38:28his body had been found
38:29on Parbald Hill
38:30and the boy had been arrested
38:32at that stage
38:33we didn't know the background
38:34about the dating app
38:36we didn't know the extent
38:37of Alex's injuries
38:38so
38:39when the prosecution opened the case
38:41it was really quite a shock
38:43to learn
38:43what had happened that day
38:45when Brian Helis walked into the dock
38:49he just looked like
38:50you might see him outside
38:51the local sixth form college
38:52he was very emotionless
38:55his face
38:56barely moved
38:57there was no sign
38:58of any sort of remorse
39:00or anything
39:00he was an odd character
39:02in that regard
39:05by the time the prosecutions
39:07finished opening the case
39:09it seems
39:10fairly cut and dried
39:11they had so much evidence
39:13the headphones
39:14the backpack
39:15all the phone evidence
39:17all the CCTV evidence
39:19it was difficult to think
39:21what Helis could possibly say
39:24to try and
39:25get out of this one
39:27murder investigations teams
39:28put a huge amount of effort
39:29into gathering the evidence
39:31against any killer
39:32and you can go to court
39:34and you can feel like
39:36we've done everything
39:37we've done
39:37we've got all the evidence we have
39:39I'm in absolutely no doubt
39:41that a person standing trial
39:43has committed this crime
39:45but that does not mean
39:46that you go to court
39:47confident that the verdict's
39:48going to be one of guilty
39:49because it has to go through
39:50a jury
39:51and you can never take for granted
39:53the decision a jury
39:54are going to make
39:55so as confident as you are
39:57you can never go into a trial
39:59expecting
39:59to get a guilty verdict
40:03Helis's defence
40:04was diminished responsibility
40:06there was reports
40:07from psychiatrists
40:08that backed that up actually
40:11he had been diagnosed
40:13with paranoid schizophrenia
40:14and his defence was
40:18that he'd committed this offence
40:20while suffering with that condition
40:23Helis said that he thought
40:25that people were after him
40:26and that that was why
40:27he was carrying a knife that day
40:29and he said that
40:30while he was on his way
40:31to meet Alex
40:32he thought that
40:33there was people
40:34trying to knock him off
40:35his bike in their cars
40:36and yeah he was
40:37he was painting a picture
40:38of real paranoia
40:40what happens when
40:41a defendant looks to use
40:44a defence of diminished responsibility
40:46is that they will be seen
40:48by their own psychiatrist
40:50appointed by their own legal team
40:53and they will assess them
40:55as to whether or not
40:56that defence
40:57partial defence of diminished responsibility
40:59is open to them
41:01and that's what happened
41:02in this case
41:02and this psychiatrist said
41:04yes
41:05in my opinion
41:06Helis has a defence
41:08of diminished responsibility
41:09because he was suffering
41:10from paranoid schizophrenia
41:13but then what would happen
41:15is the prosecution
41:16would appoint their own psychiatrist
41:17to carry out the same assessment
41:20if they agree
41:21with the previous assessment
41:23yes the defence is open to them
41:25the likelihood is that
41:26the Crown Prosecution Service
41:27will accept that
41:28if they disagree
41:30then they would go to trial
41:31and it wouldn't be
41:33on the facts of whether or not
41:34the incident took place
41:35it would be whether
41:36what was in the mind
41:37of the defendant
41:39what was in the mind
41:40of Helis
41:40at the time it was being committed
41:42it seems that it was agreed
41:44that paranoid schizophrenia
41:45was a relevant diagnosis
41:46for Helis
41:47but there's still the question
41:48did it cause the murder
41:50does it result
41:50in diminished responsibility
41:52you've got the days beforehand
41:54of the chat
41:55you've got the whole thing
41:56that's been planned
41:57to meet an individual
41:58so he knows
41:59he's going to meet an individual
42:00and he takes a knife
42:01with him
42:02and then immediately
42:03goes into the anger
42:05and attacks Alex
42:07this is your classic
42:09premeditation
42:10the fact that he's
42:12planned everything
42:13to meet Alex
42:14in a secluded spot
42:15even controls the location
42:17and kills Alex
42:19so it's not spontaneous
42:20where they've had a relationship
42:22something's broken down
42:23and he's picked up a weapon
42:23and used it
42:24and then what do I do
42:26he's actually
42:27and to miss responsibilities
42:28would mean
42:29he's got no idea
42:30what he's doing
42:30but just look at the chat logs
42:32look at the control
42:33he's doing
42:33so without a doubt
42:34he has thought
42:35out the whole thing here
42:39after the trial
42:40had concluded
42:40the judge had made his
42:42comments
42:42sent the jury out
42:44we were waiting
42:45despite having complex issues
42:47like a defence
42:48of diminished responsibility
42:49to navigate
42:50the jury took only an hour
42:52to decide
42:52they knew what the outcome
42:54was going to be
42:55and he was found guilty
42:56of murder
43:00in the UK
43:01there's only one sentence
43:02for murder
43:03and that is one of life
43:05imprisonment
43:05but in the UK
43:07life doesn't always
43:08and rarely
43:09means life
43:10a judge will
43:12set a minimum tariff
43:13meaning the defendant
43:15will have to serve
43:15this amount of prison time
43:16before they can apply
43:18for parole
43:18in this instance
43:20the judge passed
43:21a sentence
43:21of a minimum
43:22of 24 years
43:23meaning it would be
43:25that long
43:25before Helis could
43:27apply for parole
43:29but Brian Helis
43:30is yet to see
43:31the inside
43:32of a prison
43:33because of his
43:34mental health conditions
43:36he has never actually
43:38gone into a prison
43:39he's detained
43:40now
43:40at a psychiatric unit
43:42a secure psychiatric unit
43:44on the outskirts
43:45of Preston
43:45I think for Alex's family
43:48it's got to be hard
43:49to know that
43:49the young man
43:50that killed Alex
43:51has never been
43:53inside a prison cell
43:54they feel that
43:55there's a lack of justice
43:56there
43:56that
43:58for everything
43:59that he did
44:00he's never really
44:01paid the price
44:06I mean no doubt
44:08Helis is
44:09and probably always
44:11will be
44:11a dangerous individual
44:13to go from
44:15no offending history
44:16to an attack
44:17of this veracity
44:18really suggests
44:19someone
44:20and I don't use this
44:21word lightly
44:22he's evil
44:2324 years
44:24would mean
44:24he'll be roughly
44:25in his early 40s
44:26before he could be released
44:28so still a relatively
44:29young person
44:30young enough
44:31to start his own family
44:32to start a life
44:33something that Alex
44:35will never have
44:38loads of people
44:40use dating websites
44:41perfectly safely
44:42but the difficulty
44:43with that is we can be
44:43lulled into a false sense
44:45of security
44:46we need to remember
44:46that we're messaging
44:47someone who
44:48you've no idea in reality
44:49who they are
44:50what they're like
44:51they might be telling you
44:52one thing but the truth
44:53is something else completely
44:55Bev
44:56Alice's mother said
44:57well yes she was aware
44:58that her son was using them
44:59even to the extent
45:01they had the conversation
45:03that his mother was aware
45:05of some horrendous cases
45:07involving some online
45:09sexual predators
45:10who had gone on to murder
45:12Alex said
45:13that's okay
45:14that will never happen to me
45:16online dating is the world
45:18that we live in now isn't it
45:19that's how people meet
45:20you know I think
45:21certainly a high number
45:22of relationships start online
45:23these days
45:24I think there's always
45:26advice out there
45:27if you're going to meet somebody
45:29meet them in public
45:30tell a friend where you're going
45:32all of those kind of things
45:33because really until
45:35you've met
45:36you can never really be sure
45:38that somebody is who they say
45:39they are
46:05early on
46:05on
46:06Oh
46:06yeah
46:18there's no
46:19know
46:20víeze
46:22see
46:27there's no
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