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00:10I'm David Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Criminology, and for over 30 years, I've investigated the phenomenon of murder, and what
00:21it 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.
00:39In this new series, I investigate some of the UK's most harrowing murder cases to understand how and why these
00:50terrible crimes occur.
00:55This is Murder UK.
01:16On a sunny March day, 55-year-old music teacher Christopher Donnelly was reported dead at home.
01:25Though his wife, Hanna Gritt, suggested the death was natural, police were instantly suspicious.
01:33They knew this was no ordinary death, and their initial inquiry focused entirely on proving that a murder had taken
01:42place.
01:44Detectives began questioning Hanna Gritt Donnelly.
01:50Within your family, what would you say your role is?
02:01Yeah, I don't know.
02:07I'd like to know what's going on.
02:13I'd like to be informed as to what is going on.
02:17I don't like it when people talk behind my back.
02:21Over the coming weeks, evidence would emerge suggesting something sinister happened behind the closed doors of an ordinary home on
02:31an ordinary street.
02:32The first that the emergency services knew about Christopher's death was when they received a call from Hanna Gritt using
02:40her neighbour's phone to say that her husband had died the night before.
02:44When they attended, they found Christopher clearly dead on the bathroom floor with a significant number of injuries.
02:55Hanna Gritt called the emergency services from her neighbour's phone because the Donnelly family, Hanna Gritt and Christopher, and their
03:04four children, had opted out of society, choosing not to own a phone.
03:13She told the operator Christopher had died the night before, claiming she'd tried to revive him.
03:21Emergency services immediately noted the unusual delay.
03:26The patient had reportedly died hours earlier.
03:35The 999 operator questioned a little bit, saying, when did he die?
03:40And she told him it was 12 hours ago, and that she hadn't called in the interim because they were
03:45coming to terms with his death.
03:48Police and ambulance turned up at the same time.
03:52Hanna Gritt's decision to wait 12 hours before calling for help, and also using a neighbour's phone to do so,
04:02isn't a sign of panic, but a deliberate, calculated act.
04:09That delay of 12 hours allows her to decide what her story's going to be, clean up the crime scene,
04:18calm down.
04:19So, from the very start, Hanna Gritt is deliberately staging a narrative that she would like the outside world to
04:29accept about what happens to her husband.
04:34Wounds over his head and face looked several days old.
04:39They'd already scabbed over.
04:42A paramedic also noted a significant admission.
04:46Hanna Gritt stated they'd had a falling out, and when that happened, she'd hit Christopher with a rolling pin.
04:56Damning evidence begins to emerge.
05:00She admitted that she had assaulted him at some point in the past, but he had just simply died.
05:07All in all, a series of highly abnormal events seem to have taken place.
05:16Leaving somebody that, at some point, you have presumably loved, regardless of what's happened in your relationship,
05:23to die on their own on a bathroom floor and not to call the authorities until some 12 hours after
05:32life is extinct indicates a lack of any moral fibre,
05:38a lack of any compassion.
05:40It is not a normal response to somebody's death, and it's one of the most chilling things about this woman.
05:48Police bring the German-born Hanna Gritt in for further questioning.
05:53She had admitted to assaulting Christopher in the past, and was that what happened here?
06:00He tripped over and fell, and he fell against a crate.
06:05There was a crate, and the crate got broken, and then he cut himself on the head.
06:12Her answers were convoluted.
06:16Police quickly suspected this was far from an accident.
06:20The wounds to Christopher's head were clearly not caused by falling on a crate.
06:26When Christopher Donnelly's body was examined, 78 external injuries were found,
06:33and internal injuries, which included a fractured spine and a fractured neck.
06:40Even a cursory examination of the body would have clearly revealed evidence of domestic abuse.
06:49There was a number of crucial findings within the home,
06:52which actually did point towards this being a long-running systemic abuse.
06:57There was blood spatters found on the ceiling, there was blood found on the walls,
07:01and blood found on furniture, which clearly indicated this isn't just somebody who's got ill and died.
07:08This is someone who's been violently assaulted on a number of occasions.
07:14It's the forensic discovery of blood spatter on the ceilings and on the wall
07:21that really give us evidence that what happens to Christopher isn't a singular abusive attack,
07:29but characterised by systematic abuse over many months, many years.
07:38And of course, what we tend to forget is that whether you're a man or a woman,
07:42you're more likely to be murdered in a domestic setting than in an outdoor public space.
07:49The home for Christopher was not a place of sanctuary.
07:54It's the forensic evidence in particular that refutes Hanegret's narrative that this was an accident,
08:03that Christopher had simply fallen onto the crate.
08:08Christopher's official cause of death was listed as bronchal pneumonia,
08:12but police had to determine if the death was accelerated by his wife's violence.
08:20Was this a murder case?
08:22When questioned, Hanegret Donnelly offered a bizarre justification.
08:28Her husband had entered a trance,
08:31and she had hit him with a rolling pin simply to force him to snap out of it.
08:38I did hit him a bit harder sometimes,
08:43but as I said, it wasn't that he sort of fell over and lost consciousness.
08:52Hanegret claimed that frequently the abuse was due to some desire
08:57to bring him out of what she called a trance,
09:00that he would be in a state where he wasn't listening,
09:03and she would want to revive him from that.
09:06But what we know is that Christopher was a very, very ill man by this point.
09:11He was both physically and mentally weak.
09:17One of the strangest features of this case
09:21is the weaponization of Christopher's health.
09:27Hanegret actually claims that she was beating Christopher
09:32so as to sort of waken him out of his trance-like state,
09:37whereas, in fact, his trance-like state
09:40is caused by the fact he has been beaten regularly by his wife.
09:48The belief that somehow she can talk her way out
09:52of what has happened to Christopher.
09:55She thinks, because she controlled that domestic sphere
09:58in the way that she did,
10:00that she can control all the spheres outside the home
10:04in relation to explaining what might have happened to her husband.
10:09The police interview tapes offer a crucial window
10:13into the true nature of Hanegret Donnelly.
10:17What I see here is somebody whose body language
10:19is very much at odds with the words coming out of her mouth.
10:22She's used to providing a believable, rational, reasonable,
10:27almost professional account of what happened.
10:31What was the real cause of Christopher Donnelly's death?
10:38Bronchopneumonia or years of beatings at the hands of his wife?
10:52The violence inflicted upon Christopher Donnelly
10:55was dismissed by his wife Hanegret
10:58as nothing more than banter between husband and wife.
11:03It was more like, so we had a chase around the kitchen table or something.
11:08It was more, you know, sometimes just, yeah...
11:13Sorry, what did you say?
11:14A chase around the kitchen table in a more sort of light-hearted way.
11:19Her story is simply not adding up.
11:23To charge Hanegret with murder,
11:26detectives had to uncover the truth
11:28hidden inside an ordinary home on the Buryfields estate.
11:37The couple had been married for 23 years.
11:41Christopher, a music teacher with a biochemistry degree,
11:46was a talented musician.
11:49Their life, a husband, wife and four children,
11:53was a routine dictated by the strong,
11:56matriarchal influence of Hanegret Donnelly.
12:02Hanegret Donnelly, in some respects, is a bit of a mystery.
12:05She and her family very much kept themselves to themselves.
12:08She'd trained as a midwife,
12:10but in fact hadn't worked since she'd had her children.
12:12She'd been a stay-at-home mum and homeschooling them.
12:15Her husband, Christopher, had a science background,
12:18but he was a very talented musician.
12:20He'd worked as a music teacher for a long time and performed as well.
12:24He was around the same age, a year older than his wife.
12:28They'd been married for 23 years.
12:31So far, the Donnelly story seems normal.
12:35But aspects of the household are starkly dissimilar
12:40from the lives of their neighbours.
12:43They were incredibly a religious family with deeply held beliefs.
12:47They apparently had some type of view
12:49around there being an end-of-day's existence.
12:52They shunned modern technology.
12:55What emerges is that the Donnelly family,
12:59Hanegret, Christopher and their four children,
13:02had opted out of society,
13:05with Hanegret at the heart of every decision.
13:10Hanegret had gradually began
13:12to take more control of things in their relationship.
13:16She had little interest in the world
13:19beyond the confines of their four walls.
13:23Such was their mistrust that they took their children
13:25out of mainstream education and schooled them at home.
13:28All the reports are that they lived a very insular existence
13:32and really didn't associate with neighbours
13:35or anything particularly such as that.
13:39I get the sense that Hanegret creates within the home
13:44a kind of psychological fortress.
13:48The home becomes her domain.
13:51The children are homeschooled.
13:54She cuts off technology to the house.
13:58She controls the influences within the house itself.
14:03And therefore, there's no contradictory voices.
14:07Was this isolation part of a bigger picture?
14:13Experts agree that isolation
14:16is a tried and trusted technique
14:18that's utilised by abusers
14:21to gain greater power over vulnerable victims.
14:26It is possible, of course,
14:27for families to be very happy and self-sufficient,
14:30to homeschool their own children,
14:32to avoid the evils of the internet and modern technology.
14:37But it also makes it much, much more difficult
14:40for any authorities to keep an eye on what's going on
14:44and to raise concerns
14:46if they see anything out of the ordinary.
14:50Christopher's life took a turn after his marriage.
14:54Though it started well,
14:56police uncover that he had become both physically weak
14:59and mentally frail in recent years.
15:04Her husband initially was a talented musician,
15:08but quite clearly over time
15:10became more and more and more weak
15:12and became a shadow of his former self.
15:14By January 2018,
15:19Christopher was effectively disabled
15:21and unable to walk.
15:23His health simply dwindled
15:26over the years of his marriage,
15:28likely due to the injuries
15:31he suffered at his wife's hands.
15:35We know that Christopher stopped working as a music teacher
15:38in 2015 due to ill health,
15:41and we can only assume that some of that ill health
15:44was as a result of Hanegret's treatment of him.
15:47His mental health began to suffer,
15:50and what's particularly distressing about this case
15:52is the knowledge that Hanegret was abusing her husband
15:56at the very time when he needed her support.
15:59So, gradually, Christopher became weaker,
16:02not just physically, but mentally,
16:04until he wasn't able to defend himself at all.
16:09Detectives needed to know more
16:10from this outwardly cooperative woman,
16:13who, to many, seemed like an unlikely abuser.
16:20The pathologist said he had never seen a case
16:23where so many injuries were inflicted.
16:29That kind of says it all
16:31for Christopher, a 55-year-old man,
16:35to have been subjected to such abuse,
16:38which led to so much scar tissue
16:40that even a home office pathologist was shocked.
16:46There were a number of old injuries as well
16:49that showed that Christopher's abuse
16:51had started many years previously.
16:54He had a cauliflower ear,
16:56which is more commonly associated
16:58with rugby player injuries,
17:00and a fracture to the cartilage in his voice box,
17:04which was consistent with attempted strangulation.
17:07These are not minor injuries.
17:10This is not a bitter peak.
17:11This is systematic physical abuse
17:15using third-party objects,
17:18not just using her fists.
17:21The critical question for detectives was simple.
17:25Can a death from pneumonia
17:27be directly linked to years of sustained beating?
17:31There are different types of pneumonia,
17:34and some of them strike much more quickly than others.
17:37Some of them are very, very virulent.
17:39Some of them can strike completely healthy people
17:42and leave them almost at death's door within hours.
17:47But others are only likely to strike
17:50if somebody's physical condition has been so weakened
17:54that that germ can invade more deeply.
17:58It seems highly likely
18:00that Christopher was in such a physically weakened state
18:04that even his immune system was giving up.
18:10The pathologist's conclusion
18:12was that Christopher didn't die from natural causes.
18:16He didn't die from bronchial pneumonia.
18:19Instead, he died because of the 78 injuries
18:23that the pathologist was able to determine.
18:27And therefore, in the eyes of the law,
18:29that's where we can bring a murder charge.
18:33The abuse of men by women
18:35is more common than many people think.
18:39Alex Skeel, who was trapped
18:41in a long-term abusive relationship
18:43until his former partner was jailed,
18:46considers the parallels
18:48with what happened to Christopher Donnelly.
18:52You can't do anything right.
18:56And I always think of it as
18:59if you offer to do the cooking,
19:02you're the worst cook in the world.
19:04Then if you don't offer to do the cooking,
19:06it's, oh, well, you never cook.
19:07So you never, ever write, you're always wrong.
19:10And there's so many examples that
19:11you're always walking on eggshells
19:13and you're just so frightened of doing anything wrong.
19:16And then it gets to the point
19:17where you almost try and avoid any triggers
19:23that you know that will trigger her off.
19:26You turn into just a robot
19:27and that's just your way of life
19:32and you can't get out of it.
19:36In the vast majority of domestic abuse cases,
19:40men are the perpetrators.
19:43But as detectives consider a murder charge,
19:46it's clear Hanna Gret Donnelly's case
19:49is far from usual.
19:51It's possible to divide Hanna Gret's behaviour
19:54into two different types of abuse.
19:57So on the one hand,
19:59there was very strong evidence
20:01of systemic physical abuse,
20:04beatings with blunt objects,
20:06punching, jabbing in Christopher's throat.
20:09I suffered abuse for five years.
20:13It started off with really small little things
20:16that happened and it was simple things like,
20:19oh, you can't wear those shoes.
20:21I prefer these shoes.
20:22Oh, you can't have your hair like that.
20:23I don't like the top you're wearing.
20:25I don't like the colour.
20:26So that type of control
20:27was down to Hanna Gret's desire
20:30for knowledge of everything
20:32that Christopher was doing,
20:34where he was going,
20:35what he was thinking,
20:36withholding trips to the toilet,
20:38withholding medical treatment,
20:40complete control of somebody else's life.
20:44What's unusual here is that that abuse
20:46does not seem to be motivated,
20:47as we might expect,
20:49by any kind of anger or hatred of her victim.
20:53But rather by an unquestioning belief
20:56in her own absolute authority.
20:59This very much speaks to a woman
21:01who is a complete bully,
21:05who is an abuser,
21:07and relatively unusually a physical abuser of a man,
21:12but also a woman who has no remorse
21:15and who believes that her enjoyment of life,
21:20her satisfaction,
21:21and that avoiding any irritations of her life
21:24are more important than anything else.
21:27It may even be that she got perverse pleasure
21:31out of tormenting her eventually completely powerless husband.
21:37Nine out of ten murder perpetrators are men.
21:43But that does mean there is a small group of women
21:46who are prepared to use lethal violence.
21:50And Hanegret is one of those people.
21:52She was enjoying the control,
21:55the total control that she exercised over Christopher,
21:59the way that she created this isolated environment
22:02in which she could do as she pleased.
22:07It's now believed that Christopher suffered
22:10over a decade of abuse.
22:13Throughout that entire time,
22:15his physical condition meant
22:17he was rendered effectively defenceless.
22:21So with every subsequent act of violence
22:24that she inflicted upon her husband,
22:26he was weakened,
22:27and therefore the next act of violence
22:29became even more impactful,
22:30was even more powerful,
22:32had an even more powerful effect.
22:35She reduced him over time
22:37almost to the state of a wounded animal.
22:40It was more like,
22:41I thought we had a chase around the kitchen table or something.
22:44It was more, you know,
22:46sometimes just, yeah...
22:49Sorry, what did you say?
22:50A chase around the kitchen table
22:52in a more sort of light-hearted way.
22:54The picture detectives are forming
22:57is a living hell
22:59for a man hidden in plain sight.
23:02Christopher, beaten, scolded, trapped.
23:07Alex Skeel understands that feeling.
23:10Yeah, you just don't want to leave
23:12cos you fear that possibly something could happen to the children.
23:16She even threatened to kill me if I tried to leave.
23:18But you're just stuck.
23:21The police were now uncovering
23:23the truly horrific reality
23:25of life inside the Donnelly family home.
23:37Four children were part of the Donnelly family,
23:41yet not one of them complained
23:43about their mother's treatment of their father.
23:46Given the circumstances,
23:48it's highly unlikely
23:50that they would have been able to.
23:54It doesn't surprise me
23:56that none of the children
23:57came forward to the authorities.
23:59It's clear that Hannah Gret
24:01ruled that family with a rod of iron,
24:04and no doubt anyone in that family,
24:06children as well as Christopher,
24:08were absolutely terrified of her.
24:11Because the family had no visitors
24:13and saw few people,
24:15Christopher had no sense of hope.
24:18His children were isolated
24:20from anyone who might help too.
24:23What shocked me the most
24:25was just how vulnerable Christopher was,
24:28and the fact that nobody noticed
24:30that here was a family with children
24:33who were living on a very ordinary estate
24:35in a very ordinary town,
24:38and yet somehow they went under the radar.
24:42The key to Hannah Gret's
24:45long-term abuse of Christopher
24:48was in fact ensuring
24:50their children's silence.
24:53You know, the children weren't able
24:56to talk about what it was
24:59that they saw,
25:00the fact that their mother
25:01was abusing their father.
25:03The children's silence
25:05becomes also a means
25:07by which we have to recognize
25:09that this was a very psychologically
25:11controlling domestic environment.
25:15And in that respect,
25:16the children are also victims.
25:20This systematic, psychological,
25:23controlled environment
25:25creates almost a vacuum
25:28in which it's possible
25:30to physically abuse Christopher
25:34for year after year after year.
25:39Hannah Gret Donnelly's power
25:41over Christopher was unquestionable.
25:43The abuse was so frequent
25:45it became the norm.
25:47The relationship dynamic
25:49had shifted so completely
25:51that Christopher was unable to function
25:53without his wife's say-so.
25:55What is clear here
25:57is that the level of control
26:01and the level of abuse
26:03made this an almost everyday occurrence.
26:07A level of abuse
26:08that had simply become accepted.
26:11It's just so lonely and dark
26:13and you don't have anyone to talk to.
26:16I can imagine there was probably
26:17no conversations that went on between them
26:19other than arguments.
26:21It's just the way it is
26:22and it's just a really horrible way to live.
26:26I have read some reports
26:27where Hannah Gret suggested
26:30that Christopher almost invited
26:32these beatings.
26:38Well, I struggle to think
26:39that a relationship
26:41that plumbed the depths
26:43that this did
26:44was ever a relationship
26:47that was ever built on equality.
26:51To me, it feels like
26:52somebody who was
26:54almost brainwashed as a child,
26:55somebody who's come out
26:56of some really kind of
26:58bizarre childhood upbringing
26:59that has taught her
27:01to think in this way
27:02about human relationships
27:04and about the need
27:05to maintain control.
27:07That's what I would suspect
27:09with Hannah Gret.
27:10What we do know
27:12is that her power
27:13over Christopher
27:14was absolute.
27:17After the police
27:18arrested Hannah Gret,
27:19they seized her diary
27:20and among the entries
27:22in there
27:22was clear evidence
27:23of abuse,
27:24not least the fact
27:25that Hannah Gret
27:26had refused
27:27to let her husband
27:28go to the toilet.
27:29And this withholding
27:31of a basic human need
27:33is particularly cruel.
27:35It's not just controlling
27:36but it's dehumanising
27:38and it's a particularly
27:40shocking part of this case.
27:43It now seems likely
27:44that Christopher Donnelly,
27:46suffering from years
27:48of abuse,
27:49actually thought
27:50he was the one
27:51in the wrong.
27:52Blaming it upon yourself
27:55when you are a victim
27:56is quite common.
27:57Most people that I've
27:58spoken to,
27:59that's male, female,
28:01whatever,
28:02gender, age, ethnicity.
28:04I've had thousands
28:05of people message me.
28:07They've all said
28:07the same thing.
28:08I thought it was my fault
28:09when in fact it isn't at all.
28:11They're just made
28:12to believe that
28:13and that's why
28:14it kind of makes it worse
28:15because I think
28:16for a lot of people
28:19you try and sort of
28:22please them more
28:23so they make out
28:24that it isn't your fault
28:25because you just
28:26completely feel
28:27that it's your fault
28:27and you're doing
28:28something wrong
28:28so you try and change it
28:30but then it goes back
28:30to what I was saying
28:31about cooking the food
28:32and not cooking the food.
28:33It just goes back
28:34that it's a vicious circle
28:35and it just goes round
28:36and round and round
28:38and I think
28:40yeah, you do feel
28:42as though it's your own fault
28:43but then part of you
28:44knows that it isn't.
28:46The problem facing detectives
28:48having amassed evidence
28:50of abuse and control
28:51is proving the murder.
28:54If Hannah Gritt is a killer
28:55how can they get her
28:57to confess?
28:59To be honest
29:01Hannah Gritt is perfectly composed
29:03during her police interviews.
29:06She's calm.
29:07She doesn't feel under pressure.
29:10She's simply selling her narrative
29:12and that's because
29:13she's lived within an environment
29:16in which her narrative
29:17her word was law.
29:20Why wouldn't it be law
29:21in this environment too?
29:24An interview in a murder case
29:25such as this
29:26will be
29:26there'll be a formal strategy
29:28which will be agreed
29:29with the senior investigating officer.
29:31First of all
29:32I tried to sort of
29:34sort things out with him
29:35in sort of a
29:38bantering sort of way.
29:40The strategy would have been
29:41we need to find out
29:42what's going on
29:42we need to get her talking.
29:44That didn't seem to be a problem
29:45she seemed eager to talk
29:47and they would then be thinking
29:48I mean obviously
29:49to prove murder
29:50they need to prove
29:51that she caused
29:52really serious harm to him
29:53and she intended to cause
29:54really serious harm to him.
29:56That would then prove murder
29:58bearing in mind
29:58he's dead
29:59if they can prove
30:00that she inflicted
30:01the injury upon him
30:02that resulted in his death.
30:04Bantering sort of.
30:05During the police interviews
30:06it becomes quickly apparent
30:08that for a person
30:09like Hanegret
30:10violence is a perfectly
30:13acceptable tool
30:14to reinforce her dominance.
30:17I did hit him
30:19a bit harder sometimes.
30:22Hanegret Donnelly's
30:23police interviews
30:24are truly chilling.
30:26I don't think I've ever heard
30:28a criminal talk
30:29in such a dispassionate way
30:31about such a horrific crime.
30:33As I said
30:34he never
30:34it wasn't that he
30:37sort of fell
30:38fell over
30:40and lost consciousness.
30:41She dismisses
30:43her actions
30:44as banter
30:45and as normal
30:47behaviour
30:48in a relationship
30:49and really shows
30:51no sign of
30:52compassion
30:53or love
30:54for the man
30:54that she's killed.
30:56It was more like
30:56we had a chase
30:58around the kitchen table
30:59or something
30:59it was more
31:00you know
31:01sometimes
31:02just
31:04yeah
31:04sorry
31:06when you say
31:06chase around the kitchen table
31:08but in a more
31:09sort of lighthearted way.
31:10It was quite disturbing
31:11to watch.
31:12She was incredibly calm
31:14not visibly distressed
31:16and almost matter of fact
31:18in
31:19she actually described
31:21what had happened
31:22at the house
31:23in almost a forensic level
31:25of detail.
31:26She would almost talk about
31:28that there would be banter
31:30between them
31:31whilst she was assaulting him.
31:33It was an incredibly
31:34cavalier view
31:35of
31:36what was a
31:38a terrible
31:38systemic level
31:40of violence
31:40towards her husband.
31:41She came across
31:42as incredibly cold
31:44and detached
31:45from what must have been
31:46an entirely horrific situation.
31:48I'd like to know
31:49what's going on
31:50so
31:51but
31:51yeah.
31:52It sounds very much
31:54as if this woman
31:54was paranoid.
31:56I'd like to be informed
31:57as to what is going on.
31:59I don't like
32:01like when people
32:02talk behind my back.
32:03She was
32:04absolutely determined
32:05to be in control
32:06at all times
32:07and she didn't like
32:09any secrets going on.
32:10Now that paranoia
32:12might have meant
32:12that she felt
32:13that people were scheming
32:14behind her back.
32:15Heaven knows
32:15they had reason
32:16to try and scheme
32:17and get away.
32:17So it was all part
32:19of this idea
32:20of keeping control.
32:21This was clearly
32:22a woman
32:22who was terrified
32:24of losing control.
32:26I get upset
32:27when I feel
32:28that there's
32:29some sort of
32:30things going on
32:32that I'm not told about.
32:35That's why she had
32:36to keep her family near her.
32:37She kept them
32:38under her thumb
32:39inside the home.
32:41Now that would mean
32:42that they wouldn't feel
32:43they had anywhere
32:44they could go
32:45and speak freely.
32:47Anywhere
32:47that they could be
32:48themselves.
32:49And of course
32:50anybody
32:51that they could turn
32:53to for help.
32:54I've met
32:55lots of criminals
32:56over the course
32:57of my police career
32:58and I've researched
33:00even more
33:01as a result
33:02of my crime writing years.
33:04I don't think
33:05I've ever come across
33:06such a terrifying figure
33:08as Hannah Gregg Donnelly.
33:10The lack of compassion
33:11and the extent
33:12of her abuse
33:14is truly horrific.
33:16And arguably
33:17if I wrote
33:18a character that bad
33:19I'm not sure
33:20anyone would believe
33:21that she could exist.
33:23And then it did get...
33:24The primary challenge
33:26for detectives
33:27was forcing a confession
33:28from Hannah Gregg Donnelly.
33:31As they applied pressure
33:32could the truth emerge
33:34from how she reacted
33:36to their questioning?
33:38Does that mean
33:39he's fallen down
33:40the whole...
33:40pretty much
33:41the whole flight of stairs?
33:42No, no.
33:43As I said he...
33:44It's an interesting
33:46gradual evolution
33:47of recognition
33:49that she just might
33:50have done something wrong.
33:52she fell against
33:53the crate
33:53there was a crate
33:54and the crate
33:55got broken
33:56and then he cut himself.
34:01As Hannah Gregg Donnelly
34:02tries to explain away
34:04her brutal treatment
34:05of Christopher
34:06even the rolling pin attack
34:08what does her body language betray
34:11and how does it contradict
34:13her claims about his death?
34:15First of all
34:16I tried to sort of
34:17sort things out
34:19with him
34:19in sort of a
34:22bantering sort of way.
34:24Donnelly
34:25freely admits
34:26hitting Christopher.
34:27I punched him
34:28on his nose
34:30severely
34:30because I was so angry
34:32with him
34:32but he didn't have
34:33such a big cut
34:34he had just a small cut.
34:36Do you feel that
34:38hitting him over the head
34:39with a rolling pin
34:40with a hairbrush
34:41using your hands
34:42and fist
34:43is an appropriate
34:45reaction to him
34:49acting in that way
34:50being in his strange moods?
34:53Well, it's more like this
34:54helping him
34:57to come out
34:58of some sort of
35:00peculiar chance.
35:01It's just how uncomfortable
35:03she's starting to feel
35:04we can see
35:05in the way
35:05that she clenches
35:06her hands together
35:07as if trying to give herself
35:08some kind of reassurance.
35:13And there's the mystified
35:15shaking of the head.
35:17Does that mean
35:17he's fallen down
35:18the whole
35:19pretty much
35:19the whole flight of stairs?
35:20No, no.
35:21As I said
35:22he walked.
35:24These times
35:24that you've hit him
35:27they weren't a result
35:29of him being
35:31violent to you?
35:33No.
35:35During the interviews
35:36the detectives
35:38tried to establish
35:39whether Hannah Grett
35:40felt she was justified
35:42in doing what she did.
35:47She did not.
35:48Within your family
35:49what would you say
35:50your role is?
36:00Yeah, I don't know.
36:02She pauses
36:02in annoyance.
36:04She's annoyed
36:04at being asked
36:05this question.
36:06She thinks
36:06it's none
36:07of the interviewer's
36:07business.
36:08She has never
36:09had to explain
36:10herself within
36:11her household.
36:13I'd like to know
36:14what's going on.
36:19To be informed
36:20as to what is
36:21going on
36:22I don't like
36:24people talk
36:25behind my back.
36:27I was quite
36:29intrigued
36:29by the
36:31interview footage
36:32taken by the
36:33police
36:33that Hannah Grett
36:35never identifies
36:36a family member
36:37by their name.
36:38It's always
36:39a kind of
36:40anonymized.
36:41The environment
36:42doesn't include
36:43individuals
36:44it's just simply
36:45the family.
36:46She likes
36:47to be informed
36:48about what's
36:49going on
36:49but no one
36:51is ever
36:51mentioned.
36:52No one
36:52ever gets
36:53an identity.
36:55They lack
36:56identity
36:57in her
36:58language
36:58because she
36:59hasn't given
37:00them an
37:01identity.
37:02They merely
37:02are extensions
37:04of herself.
37:05I get upset
37:07when I feel
37:08that there's
37:08some sort
37:10of things
37:11going on
37:12that I'm
37:14not told
37:14about.
37:14There's
37:15no indication
37:16in her
37:17face,
37:18her expression,
37:18her body
37:19language
37:19that she's
37:20aware that
37:20what she's
37:21saying is
37:22in any way
37:23potentially
37:24offensive.
37:25It's more
37:26like this
37:32helping him
37:34to come
37:35out of
37:35some sort
37:36of peculiar
37:38trans,
37:39trans,
37:40I can't say
37:41it's a trans
37:41but it's
37:42sort of
37:42peculiar
37:44feeling,
37:45feeling
37:47strangely,
37:49I don't know.
37:50This is
37:51very interesting
37:52where for a
37:53moment she
37:54gives up,
37:55for just a
37:56moment she's
37:57exhausted by
37:58the questions.
37:59This is the
38:00first flicker
38:01of recognition
38:02to herself
38:03that she's
38:03guilty but
38:04also that she
38:04may be being
38:05seen as guilty
38:06by the
38:07interviewer,
38:07that she may
38:08have lost
38:08her hold
38:09on control.
38:11The use
38:12of the word
38:12trans by
38:13Donnelly may
38:14have some
38:15element of
38:15truth behind
38:16it, again
38:17because of
38:18Christopher's
38:19condition.
38:20Bronchopneumonia
38:21can cause a
38:21wide variety
38:22of symptoms
38:23but of course
38:23it can have
38:24an impact
38:25on your
38:26mental state
38:26because if
38:27you're lacking
38:27oxygen to
38:28the brain
38:29and if you
38:30have germs
38:31flooding around
38:32your body
38:32you can feel
38:33lightheaded,
38:35you can feel
38:35dizzy,
38:36you can feel
38:36confused and
38:37it's entirely
38:38possible that
38:39your level of
38:39consciousness would
38:40drop so that
38:42you would enter
38:42what his wife
38:44described as a
38:45quote,
38:46trance-like
38:47state.
38:48No,
38:49normal wife
38:51would dream
38:51of dealing
38:53with that
38:53by hitting
38:54him with
38:55the rolling
38:55pin to
38:56knock it
38:56out of
38:56him.
38:58But that
38:59is exactly
39:00what she
39:01did regardless
39:02of whether
39:03she's prepared
39:04to admit
39:05it.
39:06there's a
39:07lot of
39:08pride in
39:08the general
39:09body
39:10language
39:10here.
39:11There's
39:11a refusal
39:12to alter
39:14her expression
39:15whatever the
39:15interviewer throws
39:16at her.
39:17The expression
39:18is just
39:18maintained
39:19throughout.
39:20There's no
39:21natural response
39:23and that's an
39:24indication of a
39:25lot of pride
39:26in the
39:26personality.
39:28Hannah Grepp
39:28had clearly
39:29lost touch
39:30with any
39:31shred of
39:32common decency.
39:33she would
39:34beat Christopher
39:35if he didn't
39:36answer a
39:37question quickly
39:38enough or if
39:39she felt he
39:40was in some
39:40kind of
39:41trance.
39:42She was evil.
39:44She terrified
39:45him and she
39:47ran that house
39:49through fear
39:50and intimidation.
39:52One can only
39:54imagine what
39:56horrors the
39:57children may
39:58have seen
39:59or heard.
40:04I feel
40:04sorry for him
40:05but again
40:05I just feel
40:08I know
40:08how he was
40:09feeling
40:09at that
40:10time.
40:11I knew
40:11my body
40:12was shutting
40:12down and
40:13I was waiting
40:14to die.
40:15I just
40:15thought well
40:16the next
40:16time I get
40:18stabbed
40:18the next
40:18time I get
40:19hit
40:19it's going
40:20to be
40:20in the
40:20wrong
40:21place
40:21or
40:21the knife
40:22is going
40:22to go
40:22a little
40:23bit deeper
40:23or
40:24go in
40:24the wrong
40:24way
40:25and
40:27eventually
40:28my body
40:29will shut
40:30down
40:30and I
40:30can
40:30completely
40:32I'm
40:33uncomfortable
40:33thinking
40:34about it.
40:36Dehumanising
40:36Christopher
40:37which is
40:38precisely
40:38what
40:39Hanegret
40:40did
40:40helped
40:41her
40:41justify
40:42the
40:42beating
40:43she
40:43inflicted.
40:45So
40:46Hanegret
40:46is what
40:47we call
40:47a victim
40:48as object
40:49murderer
40:49meaning
40:51that she
40:51doesn't see
40:52her victim
40:52as fully
40:53human
40:53so that
40:54actually
40:55they're not
40:56that relevant
40:56to her
40:57as an
40:57individual
40:58in any
40:59kind of
40:59emotional
40:59sense
41:00and the
41:00murders
41:01in these
41:02types of
41:02cases
41:03can often
41:03be
41:03the
41:04incidental
41:05the
41:05consequences
41:06simply
41:07of her
41:08enactment
41:09of her
41:09absolute
41:10control
41:10on an
41:11object
41:12the murder
41:12is often
41:13incidental.
41:15I get
41:16the distinct
41:17impression
41:17that
41:18because of
41:19the
41:20systematic
41:21abuse
41:22that
41:23Christopher
41:23had
41:24suffered
41:24that
41:25he
41:26no
41:26longer
41:27has
41:27in
41:28Hanegret's
41:29mind
41:29the
41:30status
41:30of
41:31being
41:31human
41:32that
41:33he's
41:33been
41:33reduced
41:34to
41:34being
41:34an
41:35object
41:35he's
41:37denied
41:37his
41:38humanity
41:38and
41:39because
41:39he's
41:40denied
41:40his
41:41humanity
41:41that
41:42perversely
41:43will
41:44allow
41:44the
41:45abuse
41:45to
41:45escalate
41:47because
41:47once
41:48you
41:48deny
41:48that
41:49someone
41:50is
41:50the
41:50same
41:50as
41:51you
41:51that
41:52someone
41:52is
41:53lesser
41:53than
41:54you
41:54it
41:55is
41:55much
41:56easier
41:56to
41:56cause
41:57them
41:57harm
41:59Hanegret's
42:00initial
42:00wounding
42:01charge
42:01is
42:01escalated
42:02to
42:03murder
42:03after
42:04all the
42:04forensic
42:05post-mortem
42:06and interview
42:07evidence
42:08is collated
42:08despite
42:10the
42:10massive
42:11amount
42:11of
42:11evidence
42:12she
42:13enters
42:13a
42:14not
42:14guilty
42:14plea
42:17she
42:17also
42:18maintained
42:18the
42:18fact
42:19that
42:19she
42:19never
42:19intended
42:19to
42:20kill
42:20her
42:20husband
42:24despite
42:24her
42:25not
42:25guilty
42:25plea
42:25she
42:26was
42:26found
42:26unanimously
42:27guilty
42:28by
42:28the
42:28jury
42:28on
42:29the
42:2920th
42:29of
42:29March
42:292019
42:30and
42:31sentenced
42:31to
42:31life
42:32imprisonment
42:32with
42:32a
42:32minimum
42:33term
42:33of
42:3316
42:33years
42:47Hanegritt
42:48Donnelly
42:49is
42:49statistically
42:50a
42:50very
42:51rare
42:51killer
42:52coercion
42:53and
42:53murder
42:53are
42:54much
42:54more
42:54often
42:55perpetrated
42:56by
42:56men
42:57in
42:57domestic
42:58abuse
42:58cases
42:59but
43:00as
43:00Alex
43:01Skeel
43:01discovered
43:02violence
43:03can
43:04come
43:04from
43:04anybody
43:05Christopher
43:07Donnelly
43:07discovered
43:08that
43:08too
43:09at
43:11the
43:11start
43:11of
43:11our
43:12relationship
43:12it
43:13was
43:13the
43:13first
43:13relationship
43:14that
43:14I
43:14had
43:15so
43:15everything
43:16felt
43:16normal
43:17but
43:17obviously
43:18now
43:18I
43:18can
43:18look
43:18back
43:19and
43:19see
43:19things
43:19and
43:19go
43:20well
43:20that
43:20wasn't
43:20but
43:21at
43:21the
43:21time
43:22I
43:22was
43:23happy
43:23it
43:23was
43:23nice
43:24to
43:24sort
43:24of
43:24tell
43:25your
43:25mates
43:26that
43:26you
43:26went
43:26out
43:26at
43:27the
43:27weekend
43:27and
43:28just
43:29felt
43:29normal
43:30but
43:30obviously
43:31things
43:31steadily
43:32gets
43:32worse
43:33and
43:33worse
43:33and
43:33worse
43:33and
43:34worse
43:34and
43:34worse
43:34and
43:35then
43:37I
43:37just
43:38find
43:38it
43:38weird
43:38that
43:39I
43:39was
43:41a
43:41sort
43:42of
43:42young
43:42person
43:44in sixth
43:44form
43:45and
43:45then
43:45five
43:45years
43:46later
43:46for
43:47no
43:47fault
43:48of
43:48my
43:48own
43:48I
43:49was
43:50about
43:51two
43:51weeks
43:51away
43:51ten
43:52days
43:52from
43:52dying
43:53and
43:53I
43:53could
43:54feel
43:54that
43:54happening
43:56but
43:56it
43:56wasn't
43:57my
43:57fault
43:57that
43:57that
43:57was
43:58happening
43:58it
43:58was
43:58just
44:00a
44:01terrible
44:02place
44:02to
44:02be
44:03in
44:03and
44:03there's
44:03nothing
44:03I
44:04could
44:04have
44:04done
44:04about
44:04it
44:05because
44:05I
44:05literally
44:06had
44:06no
44:06money
44:10Hanigret
44:11Donnelly
44:12had
44:12beaten
44:12and
44:13coerced
44:13her
44:14husband
44:14taking
44:15complete
44:15control
44:16of his
44:16life
44:17and
44:17their
44:17children
44:18it
44:19was
44:19the
44:19years
44:19of
44:20degradation
44:20and
44:21abuse
44:21that
44:22led
44:22directly
44:23to
44:23his
44:23physical
44:24collapse
44:24when
44:26he
44:26contracted
44:26pneumonia
44:27his
44:28life
44:28was
44:28on
44:29the
44:29line
44:29not
44:30because
44:31of
44:31the
44:31illness
44:32but
44:33because
44:33of
44:33his
44:34wife
44:37it
44:37might
44:37be
44:38easy
44:39to
44:39assume
44:39that
44:40the
44:40most
44:41shocking
44:41element
44:41of
44:42this
44:42case
44:42is
44:42that
44:43the
44:43offender
44:43is
44:43a
44:44woman
44:44we're
44:45perhaps
44:45very
44:45used
44:46to
44:46domestic
44:46violence
44:47being
44:47committed
44:48by
44:48men
44:49but
44:49men
44:51are
44:51victims
44:51of
44:52domestic
44:52violence
44:52far
44:53too
44:53often
44:53and
44:54what
44:54this
44:55case
44:55shows
44:55is
44:56that
44:56this
44:56is
44:56a
44:57very
44:57real
44:57problem
44:57that needs
44:58to be
44:59addressed
44:59regardless
45:00of the
45:00genders
45:01of the
45:01people
45:01involved
45:02Hanigret
45:03Donnelly
45:04will not be
45:05eligible for
45:06parole
45:06until
45:072034
45:09safeguards
45:10are now in
45:11place
45:12for the
45:12couple's
45:13four
45:13children
45:14time
45:15Hanigret
45:16Donnelly
45:16wasn't
45:18convicted
45:18of
45:19murdering
45:20her
45:20husband
45:21because
45:21of a
45:22single
45:22blow
45:23she
45:23was
45:24convicted
45:24of
45:24murdering
45:25Christopher
45:26Donnelly
45:26after
45:27years
45:28of
45:29prolonged
45:29and
45:30systematic
45:31physical
45:32abuse
45:33you know
45:35there are
45:35already
45:36a number
45:37of
45:37pressures
45:37to keep
45:38the
45:38victims
45:39of
45:39domestic
45:40abuse
45:41silent
45:41and I
45:42think
45:43we
45:43have
45:43to
45:43acknowledge
45:44through
45:44this
45:45case
45:45and
45:46through
45:46other
45:46cases
45:47which
45:47are
45:47similar
45:48that
45:49there
45:49are
45:49equal
45:50if
45:50not
45:51greater
45:51pressures
45:52on
45:53men
45:53who
45:53are
45:53suffering
45:54domestic
45:54abuse
45:55to
45:56keep
45:56silent
45:57too
46:11to
46:13moreThumb
46:14other things
46:14areved
46:14together
46:14are
46:15there
46:16the
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