Documentary written and presented by journalist Fiona Bruce, recounting the horrific murder of Rachel Nickell, and the pursuit of the wrong man.
Documentary written and presented by journalist Fiona Bruce, who recounts her experiences with the shocking murder of Rachel Nickell. Twenty five years ago on Wimbledon Common, the outgoing and vivacious Rachel Nickell was murdered brutally and shockingly in front of her two year old child. Police flew into immediate action, and were deluged with calls from the public following a sketchy profile from a psychologist assisting police to profile the killer. Police at the time assumed they had the right man, and through profiling, and a bizarre and grotesque attempt at entrapment, hounded the wrong man while the real killer stayed free. Interviews with key persons, including the wronged man Colin Stagg, piece together how and why it went wrong, and what happened in the intervening 14 years between the killings, his acquittal, and the revelation of the real guilty party. Police, barristers, Colin Stagg himself and journalists speak frankly about how information came to them, why incorrect decisions were made, and how the police continued to believe they had the right man, even after he was set free by the criminal justice system. DNA evidence is examined and its role in discovering the identity of the real killer highlighted, as are the ramifications of what happens when the police get it wrong. Original footage from the scenes, and how Fiona Bruce kept up with her first murder case as a reporter, show how Colin Stagg was vilified, set up and hounded for many years in the common belief that justice had been cheated and a guilty man had been let out of prison. Tragically the real killer could have been caught much earlier, had certain guidelines been put in place and adhered to, foremost amongst them standard police and evidentiary procedure, and common sense.
