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Britains Most Evil Killers - Season 10 - Episode 02: Attila Ban
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00:02The following programme contains descriptions of violence, which some viewers may find distressing.
00:10When three airport hotel employees failed to turn up for their shift in August 2011, no one was alarmed at
00:18first.
00:19They knew that there had been a party the night before.
00:23Had they just overslept?
00:25One of the three, Attila Ban, was known as a model worker.
00:30Ban had never put a foot wrong. Indeed, he'd become Employee of the Year at the hotel.
00:36When the police entered Ban's flat, they were met with a scene of carnage.
00:42Two young people, both clearly deceased.
00:47A great deal of blood.
00:50Attila Ban was nowhere to be seen.
00:52Nothing about the scene made sense.
00:56There were no real warning signs and nothing to explain why Attila Ban went from zero to murder in one
01:06night.
01:06For taking the lives of his two young colleagues in a frenzy of violence,
01:12and for giving their devastated families no explanation for his actions,
01:17Attila Ban must be recognised as one of Britain's most evil killers.
01:22And he said,
01:50You're not safe for摯
01:51that you are.
01:52and Tibor Vass in July 2012,
01:55it wasn't just the brutality of the crime that made headlines,
01:59it was the killer's actions afterwards.
02:02Inconceivably, Ban had never left the murder scene.
02:06So after Ban had been arrested and taken to the police station,
02:10there was obviously then a debrief as to how he was still in the flat
02:14after two days of forensic examination.
02:18Not only was he hiding in the murder scene,
02:21but he was actually watching the police
02:23as they were carrying out their examination of their room.
02:28Concealing himself inside a West London flat for two days
02:33raised questions about Ban's state of mind.
02:37That is a highly unusual behaviour.
02:40It's more common that if you murder somebody
02:44that you're going to want to exit the building as quickly as possible,
02:49make sure that you're not a suspect
02:53to get away from what you've done.
02:56But in some cases, rarer cases,
03:00the killer will want to keep that emotional connection
03:03to the person that they've killed
03:05because they've killed them in a very emotional state,
03:10probably with sexual connotations,
03:12and they can just keep revisiting that.
03:15They can feel that closeness to that person.
03:20The incident also raised questions
03:23about the way crime scenes are processed.
03:27You have to ask yourself about the searching of the property at that time,
03:32how much more detail could have gone into searching.
03:38It was actually quite unnerving for the officers that had been in the flat,
03:42particularly officers that had maybe been in their flat on their own,
03:45to subsequently realise that he was probably watching them.
03:52Fortunately, nothing more severe came from that,
03:55but obviously the consequences could have been a lot worse.
03:57Perhaps more than anything,
04:00the episode was a reminder to all
04:03that a killer's mind can be an unpredictable place.
04:10This killer's story begins in Hungary, in Central Europe, around 1980.
04:20We know very little about the Taliban's early life in Hungary.
04:23We know that he went to the United States as a young man
04:26and worked in hotels there.
04:28We know very little about his family, indeed.
04:33In 2011, Attila Ban was 31 years old.
04:36He had been working for a couple of years at this hotel,
04:39very close to Heathrow Airport.
04:42Ban worked as a receptionist at the four-star hotel,
04:46which was within sight of the airport's runways.
04:51All of that area is full of big hotels,
04:54which have a very transient guest list.
04:57Customers come, stay one night, and fly off.
05:03Attila Ban was identified as the model professional.
05:09He was hardworking, he was devoted,
05:13and he was on the face of a very popular employee.
05:17In fact, he was so well thought of
05:19that he was chosen as Employee of the Year in 2010.
05:24Ban lived in a flat owned by the hotel
05:27on the edge of the premises.
05:29In August 2010, he was joined there by a new flatmate,
05:33fellow Hungarian Tibor Vass.
05:36Tibor was 20 years old, and he was from Budapest.
05:39A very close family.
05:40His father died when he was 15,
05:42very close to his mother and his sister.
05:46After his father's sudden death,
05:48Tibor had taken it upon himself
05:50to get a job after school to help support his family.
05:55He first came to the UK in 2008.
05:59And according to his mother,
06:00he just fell in love with the free spirit of London.
06:06He came back to start working in the hotel industry.
06:11Tibor was a very creative person.
06:14He loved music.
06:15He was able to play all sorts of different instruments,
06:18and he even taught his sister how to play piano.
06:22He was also devoted to his BMX bike,
06:25which was called Daisy.
06:29And indeed, when he came to England,
06:31he brought his bike with him and did tricks in the car park.
06:36He obviously engendered a degree of fondness
06:39with his colleagues and his friends, and he was likeable.
06:42Tibor Vass had taken some time out from studying
06:45after being turned down for a university place.
06:50He began working at the hotel alongside Attila Ban.
06:56Clearly, Ban took Tibor under his wing.
06:59They both worked on reception together.
07:02They were flatmates.
07:03Tibor clearly trusted him.
07:07Tibor kept in touch with his mother while he was in London,
07:09and in fact, he had introduced her over the phone to Attila Ban.
07:14And Ban had actually told Mrs. Vass,
07:18don't worry, I'll look after your son.
07:20I'll make sure he comes to no harm while he's here in London.
07:24Mrs. Vass was hugely reassured.
07:26She thought Ban was mature and friendly and intelligent.
07:33He was Hungarian as well,
07:35and he'd been in the country for much longer,
07:38and he'd been working there for longer,
07:40and he would look after him.
07:41And I think that probably gave the family a lot of comfort,
07:45to feel that there was somebody there looking out for their son.
07:51As time went on, however, Ban developed feelings for Tibor
07:56that were not entirely paternal.
07:59There can be no doubt that Ban fancied Tibor.
08:04Attila Ban was openly gay,
08:06and in London, which is a very cosmopolitan city,
08:09that wasn't looked in any way different,
08:11unlike his homeland in Hungary.
08:15Tibor was a good-looking boy,
08:17and he took time to look after himself.
08:19He was grooming all the clothes he wore,
08:21or working out in the gym.
08:24We know that Attila had a fascination with Tibor,
08:30but that was not reciprocated.
08:33Tibor Vass, I think, made it quite clear to Attila
08:36that he wasn't interested in having a relationship in that way.
08:40But they were still friends.
08:44In July 2011,
08:46a new receptionist began working at the hotel,
08:49someone Attila Ban instantly saw as a threat.
08:54Alice Adams is from Ivorheath in Buckinghamshire,
09:00which is a lovely part of the home counties.
09:03She came from a very close family,
09:05and she liked the outdoors and nature and the environment.
09:09Alice had an on-off relationship
09:11with a young man back home in Buckinghamshire,
09:14but friends at the hotel noticed
09:16that she and Tibor Vass made an instant connection.
09:21Alice and Tibor were of a similar age,
09:2319, 20 years of age.
09:26Alice Adams was, by all accounts,
09:29bubbly, charming, cheerful,
09:30a joy to be with.
09:34She was just a really charming, pleasant young lady,
09:37and she had immediately struck up
09:39a really good friendship with Tibor.
09:44They both were musicians,
09:47and so that would have been a common interest
09:49between the two of them,
09:50and there was, to all intents and purposes,
09:52a physical attraction between the two.
09:54As Alice and Tibor enjoyed getting to know one another,
09:57hotel staff noticed Attila Ban
10:00becoming increasingly possessive
10:02towards his younger male colleague.
10:05Tibor and Ban were both at a team event
10:09organised by the hotel,
10:11and Tibor was taking photographs.
10:14And in one particular instance,
10:17Ban thought he'd been left out of the photograph deliberately,
10:21and there was a sort of antagonism between the two.
10:25And Ban absolutely hit the roof
10:27and launched into a tirade against Tibor
10:30because Ban said he hadn't been included in these pictures.
10:35I think Ban had cultivated this persona
10:39of being a wonderful, kind, caring, friendly person.
10:45It was clearly masking something else,
10:48and that mask definitely slipped in the team-building session.
10:54Where he felt so strongly about Tibor,
10:58he couldn't control the way that he was responding to things.
11:03That was a warning sign that where Tibor was concerned,
11:10he didn't really have control of the mask.
11:15In the first week of August,
11:17just three weeks after Alice's arrival,
11:20Tibor Vass received good news from home.
11:23He'd actually just been granted a place
11:26at a really well-respected university in Hungary.
11:30Tibor was excited to be returning so soon to his family
11:34and his home city of Budapest.
11:37He was going to leave the hotel on the 30th of August.
11:41It was a date that would never arrive for Tibor Vass.
11:45On Tuesday the 9th of August,
11:47a group of colleagues, including Alice Adams,
11:50gathered after work for drinks
11:51at Ban and Tibor's flat behind the hotel.
11:54A little after midnight,
11:57Alice texted her mother
11:58to say she planned to stay the night there.
12:01It would be the last time her loving family
12:03would ever hear from her.
12:14On Wednesday the 10th of August, 2011,
12:18three receptionists failed to turn up
12:20for their 7am shift at a West London airport hotel.
12:2731-year-old Atiliban and his two 20-year-old colleagues,
12:31Tibor Vass and Alice Adams,
12:33were no shows that morning.
12:39Normally, if you're not going to turn up for work,
12:41you'd let your colleagues know that you're sick
12:42or something's happened to you,
12:44and then they would find other people
12:45to perform those roles,
12:47but that didn't happen.
12:51There wasn't any great concern at that point.
12:53It was just a question of had they just overslept
12:55that something happened to them.
13:00Mystified as to the non-appearance of these three,
13:06colleagues started looking at the social media accounts.
13:10And around the time he was due to have started
13:13at the reception,
13:15they found a post by Ban.
13:20Attila posted on Facebook,
13:21I would like to wake up from that nightmare.
13:26At around 2.30pm,
13:29staff from the hotel call the police
13:31to report their concerns
13:33about the welfare of Tibor,
13:35Alice and Ban.
13:36Clearly, this was completely out of character
13:39for Attila to not attend work.
13:44And also,
13:45the slightly unusual Facebook page
13:48gave the hotel enough concern to say,
13:50look,
13:51could you send someone out to assist us?
13:55I think any police officer
13:57who receives that call
14:00should be approaching it
14:02with sort of utmost caution.
14:05And I've had that in my situation,
14:07in my experience,
14:08where I've entered a flat
14:10and come across awful crime scenes.
14:12So you have to be hoping for the best,
14:15but preparing for the worst.
14:17You don't know what you're going to find,
14:18so you have to be prepared
14:19for every eventuality.
14:21At 3.15pm,
14:24local police officers went to the flat
14:26where the three had last been seen.
14:30The scene
14:31when the officers
14:34entered Ban's flat
14:35was worse than they can ever have anticipated.
14:40When they opened the door
14:42and walked into the flat,
14:44there was Alice's body
14:46beneath the window,
14:48covered in blood,
14:50fully clothed,
14:51but almost as if she'd been tossed on the floor
14:53like a discarded doll.
14:57A pillow had been placed over her face
14:59and it was clear to the officers
15:01that she had probably multiple stab wounds.
15:05There was heavy blood staining in that area.
15:09A chef's knife was recovered close to Alice's body.
15:15When they moved into the bedroom,
15:20they discovered Tibor,
15:22naked,
15:22lying on the double bed
15:24with his legs drawn up.
15:28Tibor's T-shirt and boxer shorts,
15:30bearing signs of having been cut off his body,
15:33were discarded by the front door.
15:35The way that Tibor had been found stripped naked
15:39and almost placed
15:40in a very deliberately posed position
15:42would show that someone else had done that
15:46rather than Tibor putting himself in that position.
15:49Tibor had two obvious stab wounds.
15:53I can't imagine.
15:55It must have horrified them.
15:56I mean, they were literally walking into a...
16:00..carnage, an abattoir.
16:03Officers could see that their welfare check
16:06for three missing people
16:07had turned very quickly
16:09into a double murder inquiry at the very least.
16:12Clearly a major, major crime scene.
16:17Obviously, your first thoughts would have been
16:19to preserve the scene
16:21and to consider any suspects.
16:25But then immediately, first of all,
16:27trying to establish
16:28if there's anyone else in the flat.
16:30The police had entered the flat
16:32looking for three missing people.
16:35They had found only two.
16:37There was no sign at the moment of Ban himself.
16:41Upon finding this crime scene,
16:44you would have to be considering all options.
16:47Where is the tiller Ban?
16:50Has he also been injured?
16:53Has he been assaulted as well?
16:56You know, is he the suspect?
16:58The first officers on the scene
17:01had a delicate line to tread
17:03in their search for a tiller Ban.
17:06It's drilled into, from sort of day one,
17:08preservation of the scene.
17:12The first officers on scene
17:14would be incredibly conscious
17:16to disturb that scene
17:18as little as possible
17:19while still establishing
17:21that there were no other victims
17:23or suspects present.
17:25There was a search of the premises.
17:27The love space within the premises
17:29was also searched
17:31but there was no sign of him.
17:34The scene was very heavily bloodstained
17:36but there were no obvious
17:37bloodstained footprints
17:39outside the flat.
17:43Quite clearly,
17:44he wasn't in the room,
17:46although it was his room,
17:47so it would have the appearance of
17:51he'd done it
17:51and he'd run.
17:53Ban had been alone
17:55with Alice and Tibor
17:56when their other two colleagues
17:58had left the flat
17:59the night before.
18:00There were no signs of a struggle
18:02and nothing to suggest
18:03he'd left the flat
18:04against his will.
18:05And then there was
18:07the early morning Facebook post.
18:08I would like to wake up
18:10from that nightmare.
18:12On finding out
18:12about that message,
18:14the police might have started
18:15to focus far more on him
18:17as a suspect
18:21than a victim.
18:26With two dead victims
18:28and a potential suspect
18:29nowhere to be seen,
18:31the officers handed
18:32the investigation
18:33over to the Metropolitan Police
18:35Homicide Unit
18:36under the leadership
18:38of DCI Howard Groves.
18:40Senior investigating officer
18:41is the person
18:42who has overall control
18:43and responsibility
18:44for a murder investigation.
18:46It means from the moment
18:47that my colleagues
18:48inform us of a murder,
18:50I would then have to make
18:50all the decisions
18:51around what we do
18:52in relation to identifying
18:54why someone was killed,
18:56who the victim was,
18:57who the suspects are,
18:58and progress that investigation.
19:01Howard's team
19:01began gathering information.
19:05We conducted
19:07house-to-house inquiries,
19:08speak to staff.
19:10We tried to make contact
19:12with family and friends
19:13of the deceased
19:14and try and build up a picture
19:16about those two individuals.
19:19The first priority
19:20at Band's flat
19:21was scouring
19:22the crime scene for clues.
19:25The first thing would be
19:26to have the area cordoned off.
19:28From my experience,
19:29the crime scene
19:30was what I would describe
19:31as fairly tidy, clean.
19:34A lot of times
19:35when you have that many injuries,
19:36you'd expect to see
19:37blood all over the place,
19:38on the ceilings,
19:39on the walls.
19:40You'd find items
19:41have been tipped over.
19:43That wasn't the case here.
19:49Processing a crime scene
19:51of that nature
19:52could take
19:54several days,
19:55a week,
19:56maybe even two weeks.
19:58Pathologists came out
19:59to the scene
20:00to see the victims in situ
20:02and examine the bodies
20:04before they are removed
20:06to the mortuary.
20:07The flat would then be sealed.
20:10And once that crime scene
20:12is sealed,
20:13only relevant,
20:15authorised people
20:16can go into it,
20:17such as fingerprint officers,
20:19forensic experts,
20:20other scenes of crime staff.
20:23In the meantime,
20:24an operation began
20:26to locate Attila Ban.
20:30As soon as a manhunt
20:31is launched,
20:32police pull together
20:34a vast amount of resources.
20:37There was nothing
20:38to suggest
20:39that he'd been seen
20:41by anyone
20:42leaving the premises.
20:43There was no CCTV footage
20:44to say there was an image
20:45of him leaving
20:46at a particular time.
20:49Obviously,
20:50you would be looking
20:51at friends,
20:52associates,
20:53who could potentially
20:55harbour someone
20:56or help them
20:57evade capture.
20:58You would also be looking
20:59at all possible
21:00technical means
21:01to trace them,
21:02any kind of use
21:03of their bank facilities,
21:05anything that could
21:06pinpoint their position.
21:09The initial action
21:10that was taken
21:11to trace him
21:12was by his phone
21:13and it indicated
21:14that his phone
21:15was pinging
21:16in the area.
21:17So we had to ask ourselves,
21:19had he disposed
21:20of his phone
21:21or was he somewhere
21:22locally?
21:23While normally
21:25the police would inquire
21:26if friends and family
21:27were harbouring
21:28the fugitive,
21:29with Attila Ban,
21:31this seemed unlikely.
21:34We didn't have
21:35anywhere else
21:35to look for him
21:36and let's be honest,
21:38Attila didn't have
21:38anywhere else to go.
21:40It was apparent
21:41during the investigation,
21:42Attila,
21:43his life revolved
21:44around working
21:45at the hotel
21:46and living close
21:47to the premises.
21:47He probably didn't
21:48have as much
21:49friends
21:51and acquaintances
21:52for him to have
21:53a life outside
21:54of work.
21:58So they had to try
21:59and exhaust
22:00all other options
22:01looking at
22:01like flight manifests
22:02if anyone was trying
22:03to leave the country,
22:05booking flights,
22:06etc.
22:08Detectives wondered
22:09if the well-travelled
22:10receptionist
22:11might be fleeing abroad
22:13or even going
22:14back home
22:15to Hungary.
22:16As it transpired,
22:18there was an Attila Ban
22:19leaving Heathrow
22:20around about that time.
22:22So the police
22:23actually did
22:24stop the plane
22:25literally on the tarmac.
22:27Police boarded the plane
22:28but it wasn't
22:30the correct Attila Ban,
22:32not the one
22:32we were looking for.
22:37While the search
22:38for Attila Ban
22:40continued,
22:41detectives set about
22:42reconstructing
22:43the events
22:44leading up
22:45to the murders.
22:46What exactly
22:47had taken place
22:48in Ban's flat
22:49that night
22:50and why had
22:51two innocent
22:52young people
22:53lost their lives?
23:07In August 2011,
23:09the Metropolitan Police
23:11Homicide Unit
23:12was investigating
23:13the murder
23:14of Alice Adams
23:15and Tibor Vass
23:16at a flat
23:17in West London.
23:18Their prime suspect,
23:1931-year-old
23:20hotel receptionist
23:22Attila Ban
23:22was nowhere
23:23to be found.
23:25Detectives attempted
23:26to reconstruct
23:26the events
23:27of the humid
23:28summer night
23:29when Ban
23:30and the two
23:30young victims
23:31were last seen.
23:33Alice,
23:34Tibor and Ban
23:35all went
23:36to Ban's
23:38staff flat
23:39to have a party.
23:43Playing
23:43drinking games,
23:45etc.
23:47They were also
23:48joined by two
23:50other colleagues
23:51who also had
23:52some drinks
23:52with them.
23:54The other two
23:55men at the party
23:56that evening
23:57told the police
23:58that they left
23:59when Ban
24:00produced some
24:01pills,
24:02which he called
24:03poppers,
24:04and they thought
24:05that wasn't for them
24:06and they departed,
24:07leaving Alice,
24:08Tibor and Ban
24:09together.
24:12their colleagues
24:13reported that
24:14it was a party
24:15atmosphere,
24:16everything was fine
24:17and certainly
24:18there was no
24:18cause for alarm.
24:23The post-mortem
24:24examinations
24:25of the two
24:26young victims
24:27told a different
24:28story.
24:32Tibor only had
24:33two stab wounds,
24:34both through the heart.
24:35Alice had suffered
24:3622 stab wounds,
24:38a really frenzied
24:39attack.
24:43She had a stab
24:44wound to the heart,
24:46she had stab
24:46wounds to her
24:47stomach,
24:48her spleen,
24:49her diaphragm,
24:50and her lungs.
24:51So those were
24:52significant injuries
24:53and would have
24:53resulted in her death.
24:55now that's
24:57rage,
24:58that's
24:59anger,
25:00so somebody
25:01was taking out
25:02their rage
25:02on Alice
25:04and it takes
25:05quite a long time
25:06to stab someone
25:0722 times,
25:09that's not something
25:09that just happens
25:10in seconds.
25:13But Tibor's wounds
25:15were quite different,
25:16they were very,
25:17very targeted,
25:18they were targeted
25:19on his heart,
25:20there was only
25:21two stab wounds
25:22and they were
25:23meant
25:23to end his life
25:26quickly
25:27and efficiently.
25:31When the crime scene
25:33investigators
25:34looked at the flat,
25:36it seemed to them
25:38that Tibor had been
25:39stabbed on the sofa
25:42and then subsequently
25:44moved
25:45and his body
25:46posed in this
25:47rather remarkable way.
25:50Tibor is on the bed,
25:53he's naked
25:55and his body's
25:57been positioned
25:58and even though
25:59Tibor's dead,
26:02he's not really
26:03being treated
26:04as if he's dead.
26:06The killer
26:07wants to possess
26:09this man
26:09completely.
26:12For 48 hours,
26:14the homicide squad
26:15had investigated
26:16the murders
26:17while the manhunt
26:18for Attila
26:19banned
26:19continued
26:20to no avail.
26:25On Friday
26:26the 12th
26:26of August,
26:27there was
26:28a disturbing
26:29breakthrough.
26:30Some police officers
26:32went back
26:32to the flats
26:33and one noticed
26:34that the door
26:35that he thought
26:36had been
26:37left open
26:38last time
26:39he'd there
26:39was now shut.
26:42So those officers
26:43thought something
26:44is not quite right
26:45here.
26:45They then tried
26:46to get into
26:47that room
26:47and realised
26:48that the door
26:48had been wedged
26:49with a bed.
26:52It was the
26:53very same bed
26:54Tibor Vass's
26:55body had been
26:56found on
26:56two days earlier.
26:59The moment
27:00that they realised
27:00that they knew
27:02that somebody
27:03had to be
27:04physically in
27:04that property
27:05at that time.
27:06Knowing that
27:07no one
27:08could have
27:08entered
27:08or left
27:09the flat
27:10without the
27:10Calden
27:11officers seeing
27:12there was
27:12only one
27:13conclusion
27:13about who
27:14was lurking
27:15behind the
27:16bedroom door.
27:17When the
27:18officers managed
27:19to force
27:19their way
27:19into the
27:20room
27:20they found
27:21Ban.
27:21He was lying
27:23naked
27:23on the bed
27:24covered in
27:25blood.
27:26He was lying
27:26face down.
27:27He had injuries
27:28to his wrists.
27:30He had a
27:31craft knife
27:31sticking in
27:33his arm
27:33and he also
27:34had another
27:35craft style
27:36knife
27:36sticking out
27:37of one
27:38of his
27:38buttocks.
27:39Arrested
27:40at the
27:40scene
27:41on suspicion
27:42of murder
27:42Attila Ban
27:44was taken
27:44to hospital
27:45for treatment
27:45to his
27:46wounds
27:46which were
27:47not
27:47life
27:48threatening.
27:51Once Ban
27:52had received
27:52treatment
27:52he was taken
27:53to a
27:53West London
27:54police station
27:54and he
27:55was interviewed.
27:57If homicide
27:58detectives
27:59hoped for
27:59answers to
28:00the tragic
28:01deaths of
28:01Tibor and
28:02Alice
28:03they would
28:03be sadly
28:04disappointed.
28:06When Attila
28:08was initially
28:08interviewed
28:09he wouldn't
28:10speak.
28:11They had to
28:12use sign
28:12language to
28:13try and see
28:13if they could
28:14ascertain what
28:15happened.
28:17He just had
28:18the complete
28:19impression of a
28:20man utterly
28:21in shock and
28:22utterly incapable
28:23of describing
28:25anything which
28:26had happened
28:26in the last 48
28:27hours.
28:30If he can't
28:31speak he can't
28:31explain what's
28:33happened.
28:33He doesn't have
28:34to reveal
28:34anything that's
28:36happened.
28:37He might
28:37appear
28:38mentally
28:39distressed,
28:40mentally ill.
28:41So all of
28:42that could
28:43very well be
28:44self-preservation.
28:48While Ban
28:50faced interrogation
28:51questions were
28:52also being asked
28:54about the
28:54extraordinary
28:55circumstances of
28:56his capture.
28:57So once the
28:58shock of Ban
29:00being found in
29:01the flat after
29:02a couple of
29:04days of quite
29:05intense forensic
29:06examination,
29:07after that shock
29:08had subsided,
29:09obviously there
29:10was a debrief to
29:12establish how and
29:13where he had
29:13been.
29:14He had been
29:15actually hiding
29:16under the divan
29:18part of the bed
29:19that Tibor had
29:20been on.
29:23They found any
29:24number of water
29:25bottles that he
29:26had taken in
29:26there to refresh
29:27himself over this
29:28period of time,
29:29plus his phone
29:30in which he'd
29:31updated his
29:32Facebook page,
29:33and a knife
29:34which had cut
29:35the area around
29:37so he could not
29:38only get into
29:39the divan,
29:40but also he
29:41could look out
29:42and see what
29:43the police were
29:44doing.
29:48I mean,
29:48not in your
29:49wildest dreams
29:50could you have
29:51imagined that he
29:52would be hiding
29:53under the divan.
29:54I think all the
29:55evidence tended
29:56to suggest that
29:57he had committed
29:58two very violent
29:59murders and had
30:01left immediately
30:02afterwards.
30:03Professor Jane
30:04Monckton-Smith
30:05believes Ban's
30:06bizarre actions
30:07stem from his
30:08desire to possess
30:10and control
30:11Tibor Vass.
30:13If you imagine
30:14this man has,
30:16in a very
30:17targeted way,
30:19killed,
30:20Tibor,
30:20doing the least
30:21amount of damage
30:22to his body,
30:25but making sure
30:26he's absolutely
30:27dead,
30:28at that moment
30:29he finally
30:30possesses him.
30:31Is he just
30:32going to run out
30:33the door
30:33at that point?
30:35No,
30:36he's going to want
30:37to have that
30:38feeling of possession
30:39carry on,
30:41so he hides
30:43himself in the room
30:45for as long
30:46as he can.
30:50After being at
30:52first apparently
30:53unable to speak,
30:54Attila Ban
30:55eventually found
30:56his voice,
30:57but concrete
30:58information was
30:59not forthcoming.
31:01In the interview,
31:02Attila did not
31:03make any full and
31:05frank admissions as
31:06to why he killed
31:07him.
31:08All he would say
31:10is that he must
31:10have, but he was
31:12unable to recount
31:13exactly what happened.
31:15He spent two days
31:16in the crime scene
31:17being very quiet,
31:18staying hidden,
31:20knowing exactly
31:21why he was in
31:23that divan.
31:24So I think that
31:25he had no memory
31:27of the crime
31:27is probably
31:28stretching things
31:29a little.
31:30There's lots of
31:31reasons why people
31:32might say they do
31:33not remember
31:34killing someone.
31:35Now, some of it
31:36could be shock,
31:37yeah.
31:37equally, it could
31:39be so that they
31:41don't have to
31:42actually tell people
31:43what they did,
31:44admit to it,
31:46and that may
31:49well protect them
31:50in any future
31:52trial.
31:53Ban was able to
31:55tell officers what
31:56had happened in the
31:57hours after he
31:58stabbed Alice and
31:59Tibor to death.
32:00Ban told the police
32:02that when he woke
32:03up and saw the
32:04terrible scene of
32:04carnage that he had
32:05clearly caused,
32:06he wanted to
32:07kill himself.
32:09He actually took
32:10Tibor's body
32:12and placed it
32:13in the bath
32:14with him.
32:16Ban wanted to
32:18kill himself,
32:18he said,
32:19but he didn't
32:19want to die alone.
32:24Filling the bath
32:25with water and
32:26climbing in with
32:27the body of his
32:27victim,
32:28Attila Ban
32:29switched on a
32:30hairdryer and
32:31dropped it into
32:32the water.
32:33All he found out
32:34was that the
32:34hairdryer worked
32:35underwater as
32:36well as it
32:36worked outside.
32:38So he got out
32:39of the bath,
32:40replaced Tibor's
32:42body back on
32:43the divan,
32:44double bed.
32:46He started then
32:47trying to hack
32:48his wrists and
32:50his neck.
32:51He didn't harm
32:52himself enough to
32:53take his own
32:54life and he
32:55harmed himself in
32:55some strange
32:56places.
32:56He stabbed
32:57himself in the
32:58arm and he
33:00stabbed himself in
33:01the buttock,
33:03maybe wishing he
33:04could join Tibor in
33:07death but just
33:08not having the
33:09courage maybe or
33:10the ability to
33:12harm himself in
33:13that way.
33:14Ban gave this
33:15rather complicated
33:16account that the
33:18reason he had got
33:19inside the bed was
33:20to watch the police
33:21as they were going
33:22about their business.
33:24But when the police
33:25left for the night,
33:26he would come out
33:29and move a few
33:30things around and
33:33then get back into
33:34the bed again because
33:35he didn't want to be
33:35discovered, he said,
33:38because he thought the
33:39police would save his
33:40life and prevent him
33:41from dying.
33:43Despite his best
33:45efforts, 31-year-old
33:47Attila Ban was alive.
33:50Though they still
33:51didn't have the full
33:52story, Howard Groves'
33:54homicide team was
33:55satisfied they had
33:57caught the right
33:58man.
33:59There was enough
34:00forensic opportunities
34:02and evidence available
34:03that we were satisfied
34:05that he had killed
34:06them, but what we
34:07were not going to be
34:08able to establish
34:08significantly was why.
34:15On Saturday, the 13th
34:16of August, 2011, just a
34:19few days after the
34:20murders, Ban appeared
34:22at the magistrate's
34:23court charged with the
34:24murders of Tibor Vass
34:26and Alice Adams.
34:32The police would be
34:33able to provide the
34:34prosecution with the
34:36who and the how of Alice
34:37and Tibor's untimely
34:39deaths, but not
34:40the why.
34:41It remained to be
34:42seen if Attila Ban's
34:44trial would bring
34:45answers for their
34:46devastated families and
34:47bring a killer to
34:49justice.
34:59On Monday, the 9th of
35:01July, 2012, 11 months
35:04after Tibor Vass and
35:06Alice Adams were
35:07murdered in a West
35:08London flat, 32-year-old
35:10Attila Ban stood trial
35:12at London's Central
35:14Criminal Court, known
35:15as the Old Bailey.
35:17Ban faced two charges
35:19and a very simple
35:20indictment.
35:21Number one, murder of
35:23Tibor.
35:24Number two, murder of
35:25Alice.
35:28Ban entered an
35:30interesting plea that he
35:31said he was not guilty
35:32to murder, but guilty of
35:35manslaughter and the grounds
35:37of diminished
35:37responsibility.
35:39Which basically means he
35:41accepted that he had
35:42killed Alice and Tibor, but
35:45that he didn't know what he
35:46was doing at the time.
35:50given the circumstances of the
35:53crime and the fact that he
35:57clearly was obsessed about
35:59Tibor and had behaved so
36:03erratically, it's quite
36:06possible that that diminished
36:08responsibility would be able to
36:11be made plausible in court.
36:14The prosecution argued at
36:17Ban's trial that he had
36:20fancied Tibor and that some
36:24kind of sexual jealousy had
36:26taken place on the night of
36:29the party at Ban's flat.
36:35The prosecutor claimed that
36:38Ban's frustration had reached a
36:40desperate pitch because he knew
36:42that time was running out to
36:44ensnare the object of his
36:46affections.
36:47We knew that Tibor was going
36:49to be going back to Hungary.
36:53Therefore, Attila's
36:54opportunities to form a
36:56relationship with him were even
36:58less likely.
37:02At some point during the
37:04evening, sexual activity had
37:07taken place between Tibor,
37:09Alice and Attila Ban.
37:12DNA was found on Alice's chest
37:15and they related both to
37:17Attila and Tibor.
37:21However, it was asserted in
37:24court that witnessing Alice and
37:26Tibor's attraction towards one
37:28another was what finally tipped Ban
37:30over the edge.
37:32The prosecution case was that Ban
37:35had seen Alice and Tibor kissing
37:37and through drink and other drugs
37:40had acted in a violent rage.
37:45We were able to show that the
37:48level of injuries that Tibor
37:50received was significantly less
37:54to what Alice received.
37:59So we're going to try and show the jury
38:01that Attila had this deep-rooted
38:04anger or hatred towards Alice.
38:07There's no doubt that in that
38:09moment, he saw Alice as a
38:13obstacle to his affection.
38:15It was a rush of blood which had been
38:18building up for a very long time.
38:24Though his lawyer confirmed that Attila
38:27Ban accepted he had stabbed Tibor and
38:30Alice, Ban did not take the stand to
38:33explain his actions.
38:35I don't find that particularly
38:36surprising because he would have to
38:39admit and talk about things that he
38:41really would not want to talk about.
38:46Ban looked a lost soul in the dock
38:49through the weeks of that trial.
38:51He was gazing around the court.
38:53He was making no contribution to
38:55passing notes or anything to his
38:57defence team.
38:57He was just walked in with his
38:59prison officers and walked out again.
39:05He didn't seem engaged.
39:06He didn't seem remorseful.
39:08He didn't seem in any way fighting to
39:11win this case.
39:12He just seemed utterly detached.
39:17Ban's lawyer told the court that Ban
39:21was deeply remorseful and he really
39:24wanted to explain what he'd done to
39:25the families of both Tibor and Alice.
39:28Jane Monckton-Smith doubts that
39:30Attila Ban's offer of an explanation
39:33was made in good faith.
39:37That offer was not made through
39:39remorse.
39:41That's control.
39:43He still wants to possess him, even in
39:46death.
39:46What makes him think that he could give
39:50them any relief from their pain?
39:54The man who killed their son.
39:56No, he wants them now in his life.
40:02It's cruelty.
40:11On Wednesday, the 18th of July, Ban was found guilty by the jury of the murders of Alice and Tibor.
40:21It's quite telling, I think, that the jury only took five hours of deliberation to find Ban guilty.
40:30I mean, this, in my experience, was an incredibly short time and I think points towards the strength of evidence
40:38against Ban.
40:38Ban was sentenced to life with a minimum tariff of 26 years.
40:44The judge, in his sentencing, described Ban as a vain and paranoid young man who killed two decent young people.
40:55He also commented on the fact that because Ban was still refusing to accept full responsibility and give an accurate
41:03account of what happened,
41:04it's still left their families, not knowing what happened in their last few moments.
41:12In the wake of the verdict, Alice's mother made a statement and it was extremely moving.
41:22What she asked for was the details of why her daughter, her lovely daughter, had lost her life in this
41:30extraordinary way.
41:33She said, I don't mind if the details are horrific, but at least it stopped me wondering what had happened.
41:40And you have to feel for her for that.
41:43And it was very moving that Alice's mother said that she felt that she had failed to protect her daughter
41:49when, of course, there was nothing she could possibly have done.
41:55Tibor's mother said that her grief was multiplied countless times because the murder of her son had taken place really
42:02just a matter of weeks before he was due to leave London and come back to Hungary.
42:08And it was extra agony to Tibor's mother that the person that had committed this awful crime was somebody that
42:15they had come to trust and believe would actually look after Tibor,
42:20but in fact the opposite couldn't be further from the truth.
42:26Those investigating this dreadful crime had to conclude Ban's actions were driven simply by hatred, jealousy and resentment.
42:37In many ways he was like a loner, his life revolved around the hotel, whereas the other two were youngsters
42:45who were happy to go out and have a good time with their friends, and Attila didn't like that.
42:52What you can surmise is that he has acted out of rage and jealousy and taken away the lives of
42:59two thoroughly decent, innocent young people for nothing, and it's just absolutely heartbreaking.
43:10The day after the trial, Alice's family announced that they wanted to raise £100,000 for a treehouse playground in
43:17her memory.
43:19In January 2016, the treehouse was officially opened in Black Park, Ivor, as a joyful tribute to a much-loved
43:28young woman.
43:33In the summer of 2011, hotel receptionist Attila Ban stole the lives of two young, vibrant colleagues who had their
43:42whole future ahead of them.
43:44For lashing out in a rage born of jealousy and frustration, and causing devastation that is still felt to this
43:51day, Attila Ban has cemented his place as one of Britain's most evil killers.
44:29You
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