A serial kidnapper strikes again in Leeds | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website in July of 1991 things looked promising
for eighteen year old to Julie dart a bubbly spirited teenager with wavy brown hair and a white smile she had recently
finished high school and was hoping to fulfill her lifelong dream of joining Britain's Armed Forces Julie had grown
up in Leeds the largest city in the north and English county of West Yorkshire where she still lived with her
mother on Tuesday July 9 1991 Julie spent the day with her boyfriend 20 year old Dominic Murray who lived in the
nearby suburb of Gibson at six o'clock in the evening the couple went to Dominic's sister Rose's house where
Julie helped prepare a meal of roast lamb and a Yorkshire pudding after they'd eaten Julie excused herself
to start a night shift at the hospital where she'd recently started working as an orderly at 7:45 p.m. she kissed the
Domonique goodbye and departed wearing a black skirt with a pink and black jacket
at 9 p.m. Julie phoned Dominique to say she would be working until 11:30 p.m. and would
then return to her own home Dominique noticed that there appeared to be music playing in the background as
though Julie were calling from a pub two days passed and Dominica didn't hear from Julie then on the morning of Friday
July 12 he received an unexpected visit from his sister Rose who had found a handwritten
envelope addressed to him amongst her mail there was a letter inside written in Julie's handwriting which read
Dominic help me please I've been kidnapped and are being held as a personal security until next Monday
night please go and tell my mum straight away love you so much Dominic mum phoned
the police straightaway and helped me have not eaten anything but I have been offered food feeling a bit sick but I'm
drinking two cups of tea per day mum Dominic helped me love you all Julie [Music]
[Music] [Music] [Music] upon reading the letter dominic called to Julie's mother Linda who rushed over
to read it for herself she noticed that despite being penned in Julie's handwriting some of the words and
phrasing didn't sound like her daughter at all moreover Lyn couldn't understand why
Julie would be abducted and held for ransom as their family had a little money Lyn immediately called the police
to report her daughter missing and it gave them the letter police began looking into Julie's life born on March
1 1973 Julie and art was the first child of Lynn and Alek Hill who went on to have a son named Paul two years later
when Julie was four years old Alek left his young family and in 1978 Lynn remarried an electrician named Ian
dart both the Julie and Paul were close to their stepfather calling him dad and adopting his surname Lynn and daen
separated when Julie was 16 years old but Ian maintained a relationship with his stepchildren
although Julie was bright she wasn't a dedicated student and instead preferred to focus on her athletic abilities a
talented runner she participated in school and County competitions accumulating a number of trophies which
her mother proudly displayed in the family home in her spare time Julie liked socializing dancing and performing
karaoke with her friends while she was still at school she got a part-time job at a cafe which was where she met
Dominic a co-worker who was two years her senior they dated for three years and when Julie was just 17 they became
engaged Julie moved out of her family home to live with Dominic in his flat which her mother Lynne didn't approve of
Julie had confided in her younger brother Paul that she and Dominic often argued and to these altercations
sometimes became violent by the end of 1990 the relationship ended and - Julie returned home she and her mother had
always been particularly close but they both had strong personalities and living
together sometimes resulted in clashes and disagreements Julie longed for the day when she could live independently
and start a career her longtime dream was to become a physical training instructor for the army she had always
been fit and healthy though she was claustrophobic and suffered from mild asthma as a child in December of 1990
she visited the Army recruiting office in Leeds to apply for a role as a driver in the women's Royal Army Corps after
several months her application was accepted under the condition that she said a final selection examination
on Friday June 7 1991 one week before she was due to take the exam a 41 year old man named Michael Walter called the
Army recruiting office he had befriended Julie several years earlier when she was
employed at the cafe and had eventually offered her a part-time job as a cleaner
Michael was calling to notify the office that Julie had recently stolen two of his bank cards and to used them to
withdraw 660 pounds she had since signed a liability form agreeing to repay the money to the bank
but Michael was worried that if she joined to the army before settling the debt the money might never be repaid the
recruitment officer who took the call was concerned as it was essential that all new recruits were free from
financial liability when questioned by the officer Julie denied owing any money and proceeded to excel at her final exam
she was subsequently accepted for the Army's September intake michael Walter repeated his concerns that if Julie
didn't settle her debt the bank would initiate criminal proceedings Julie continued to deny ever taking the money
but agreed to pay the bank what was owed to enable her to join the Armed Forces by September however on Thursday July 4
the recruitment officer went to Julie's high school to confirm her final grades and discovered that she had forged her
academic records this resulted in Julie's application being rejected the recruitment officer sent her a
letter explaining the situation that same day but it is unknown whether Julie ever received it
Lynne told the police that there had been nothing happening in Julie's life that had given her any cause for concern
she said that about a month prior Julie had started experimenting with her physical appearance by trying out
different makeup styles and coloring her hair however she had dyed it back to its
natural color when her grandmother didn't approve Julie had told her mother that she had recently started a night
shift job sterilizing syringes at a laboratory and had been spending nights at the home of an old friend police
questioned this friend who revealed she hadn't seen Julie in four months it soon
became clear that Julie and Dominique had reconciled their relationship but had been keeping it a secret from
Julie's family Dominique often divided his time between the homes of his two sisters and - Julie
had occasionally been staying with him while telling her mother she was with her friend while Lynn believed - Julie
had a job sterilizing syringes at a laboratory Dominic was under the impression she worked as an orderly at a
hospital the police inquired with both workplaces but neither had ever heard of Julie Dodd after filing her report Lyn
walked the streets of Leeds over and over showing people Julie's photograph at night she visited the city's pubs asking
punters whether they had seen her daughter a number of people recognized the Julie's picture and said they knew
her but none had cited her within the last week the police decided to speak with vice squad investigators from the
Leeds suburb of chapel town which at the time was a red-light district popular with sex workers from 1975 until 1980
the area was a hunting ground notorious serial killer the Yorkshire Ripper whose crimes were covered in
episode 37 of case file although the vice squad had no record of Julie they soon established that
multiple witnesses had seen her hanging around at the district in the three weeks leading up to her disappearance
she had apparently told some sex workers that she was new to the industry and had
asked to their advice on where to take clients and how much to charge a former classmate of Julie's also came forward
claiming he'd seen her in Chapel town on Tuesday July 9 the night she went missing he had been driving through the
area at 8:15 p.m. when he spotted Julie standing on a street corner with another
girl they briefly made eye contact but Julie turned her head away as though she didn't want to be seen she had been
dressed in light blue denim jeans and a white blouse which was different to the outfit she had been wearing when she
left the Dominic half an hour earlier inquiries revealed that shortly after this Julie caught a taxi to a pub with
two other young women and at 9:00 p.m. she phoned to Dominic from the pub's phone she then had a few drinks and
played the jukebox before all three women caught a cab to the chapel town street of Spencer place to engage in sex
work there Julie spent roughly 20 minutes with a client before buying a takeaway kebab by
11 p.m. both of her friends had gone home leaving Julie standing alone on the corner of Spencer Place and a Leopold
Street the discovery that Julie had been engaging in sex work troubled the vice squad on Friday July 12 the same day
that Dominick received the kidnap letter from Julie the West Yorkshire police had
received an envelope addressed to Leeds City police an outdated name that hadn't
been used since 1974 inside was a letter typed in red ink informing officers that
a young sex worker had been kidnapped from the chapel town area and would be killed unless the police paid 140,000
pounds in cash the author also demanded that 5,000 pounds be loaded onto bank cards
instructions for the handover read next Tuesday July 16 a woman police constable
will drive to Birmingham New Street Station with the money and await a phone call at the phone terminal in the
waiting room on platform 9 she must wear a lightish blue skirt with the money in
a shoulder bag she must be there by 6:00 p.m. and await the call at 7 p.m. she will then be given the location of the
next phone call the letter instructed the constable to drive from pay phone to pay phone where she would receive
further directions along the way eventually at the last sight a dog leash would be hanging from a tree ready for
her to clip the money to the cash was to be wrapped in polythene and debris on paper then tied with the nylon cord
the author threatened that if these demands weren't met a fire bomb would go off at a major store in an English city
at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday July 17 according to the postmarks on the envelope of this letter and to the one
sent to Dominic both had been sent at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday July 11 from the town of Huntingdon located 135 miles
south of Leeds realizing that they appeared to be dealing with a genuine kidnapping investigators decided to run
an operation in accordance with the kidnappers instructions at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday July 16 Constable Annette Cygnus
went to Birmingham New Street station as instructed carrying the money in a shoulder bag located 120 miles south of
Leeds in England's West Midlands region the station is the busiest and largest of three railway stations the service
Birmingham central business district undercover officers surveilled constables Ignis as she waited for the
phone call at the phone terminal in the waiting room at platform 9 at six minutes past seven the pay phone rang
constables Ignis answered it but the caller on the other end was silent and too disconnected the call after several
seconds constables Ignis waited another 20 minutes but no other calls came through with no further instructions
from the kidnapper investigators were left waiting to see whether the individual would make contact again
despite the kidnappers threat to firebomb a city building if their demands weren't met the following day of
Wednesday July 17 past with the art incident early on the morning of Friday July 1951 year-old farmer Bob Skelton
was preparing for his day in the rural village of Easton 92 miles southeast of Leeds
Bob's bomb spend 579 acres and included a disused to railway line his plan for the day was to relocate his cattle to
fresh pastures with the help of his 18-year old son and another young employee at 7:45 a.m. the three men were
in a field located alongside the abandoned railway line half a mile from the a1 motorway when they noticed the
pink and white striped sheep lying on the grass assuming it was carelessly done to rubbish they moved closer and
saw that the Sheep was bound with lengths of teal colored rope and something appeared to be wrapped up
inside Bob's son used his penknife to slice the rope and cut a 6-inch hole in the sheet revealing another layer of
sheet Bob thought he could see the outline of a human arm and all three men smelled a strong unpleasant odour Bob
decided to drive back to the farm to call the police while the two younger men stood a guard over the grisly
discovery officers arrived at the scene and unwrapped the sheep inside they found the naked and significantly
decomposed body of a young woman the corpse was taken to be autopsy by Professor Stephen Jones who noted that
the only item the victim was wearing was a gold wishbone ring on her right your finger her head was entirely bald
and there were several injuries to her skull including one at the back of her scalp another above her left ear and a
fracture below the year these injuries had to likely been caused by a hammer-like weapon but were not the
cause of death around the victim's neck was a ligature mark indicating she had also been strangled her right ankle
featured a chain like bruises suggesting she had been made to wear some sort of Allegra strain due to the state of
decomposition professor Jones was unable to determine whether she had been sexually assaulted it was determined
that the victim had likely been killed a week prior to being discovered but the grass beneath where the body had been
found showed a no discoloration indicating it had only been dumped hours earlier using clear adhesive tape
forensic scientists recovered a number of fibers from the sheet including yellow wool and brown nylon fibers which
appeared to have originated from a mustard colored carpet these same yellow and brown fibers were
also found in the rope that had been used to tie the xi an electronic message was sent out to police forces around the
country to inform them that an unidentified body had been found the message caught the attention of
Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Taylor of the West Yorkshire Police who had been investigating Julie darts
disappearance Julie had a chipped tooth leading Superintendent Taylor to inquire
whether the unidentified victim shared this characteristic when it was confirmed that she did
Julie's dental records were summoned and on Saturday July 20 the victim was positively identified as 18 year old
Julie Dodd that night superintendent Taylor went to Lynn darts home to inform her of the news bringing
with him the gold wishbone ring recovered from Julie's body the devastated mother identified the ring as
a gift she had given Julie for her 18th birthday four months prior witnesses who
had seen anything suspicious in the area near Bob Skelton's farm were encouraged
to come forward several individuals reported that two hours before Julie's body was found they had been traveling
on a bus along high dark road in Easton when they noticed a red car up ahead and
to the right the vehicle was approaching the road from a track next to the pasture where Julie's body was found and
it was being driven by a white lone male police had initially considered whether
Julie's boyfriend Dominic Marie could be responsible for her murder however he didn't own a car in two days
before Julie's disappearance he had sustained an injury that would have made it impossible for him to dispose of her
body alone at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday July 7 he and Julie had been walking home together after a night drinking at the
pub an off-duty constable noticed that Julie could hardly stand and that her face was swollen and her lip was bloody
Dominic who was propping her up and slapping her so the constable intervened and Dominic fell breaking his ankle he
and Julie were taken to the hospital and kept there overnight with Dominic having
a cast put on his left foot Julie's older friend Michael Walter who had alerted the army recruitment office
to her theft of his bank cards was also considered a suspect believing he had a motive police arrested him for
questioning a week after Julie's disappearance he was released on Thursday July 18 but police ordered that
he be kept under constant surveillance as he was still being monitored when Julie's body was discovered the next day
he was ruled out as a suspect three days after Julie's body was found the police received another letter
claiming to be from the kidnapper this typed message had been sent from Leeds railway station and was postmarked
Sunday July 22 at red words we'll never be able to express my regret that Julie dart had to be killed but I did warn
what would happen if anything went wrong at the time of this letter there has been no publicity if you do
not find the body within a few days I will contact you as to the location she was not raped or sexually abused or
harmed in any way until she met her and she was tired up and hit a few blows to the back of their head to render her
unconscious and to then strangled she never saw what was to happen never felt no pain or knew anything about it the
firebomb was not left as promised as the sealant around the combustibles must have got knocked in transit and
smelled badly so it was never placed owens furniture store in Coventry was to be the target I still require the same
monies as before under the same conditions if you want to avoid a serious fire damage and any further
prostitutes lives place an ad in the personal column of the Sun to read let's try again for Julie's sake convinced the
letter was genuinely penned by Julie's killer on Saturday July 27 the police placed an ad in the Sun newspaper as
instructed on Tuesday July 30 they received a handwritten letter from the kidnapper acknowledging the ad and
warning that another hostage would soon be taken he instructed constable Lynette
Cygnus to travel to a particular payphone alongside the m1 motorway in the County of Leicester that evening and
await his call constables Ignis waited by the payphone as directed when the call came instead of speaking directly
into the phone the kidnapper played an audio recording Constable's Ignis explained that she was
unable to hear the message over the noise of the traffic but the line went dead two days later on Thursday August 1 the
kidnapper sent another letter ordering constables Ignis to return to the same payphone in Leicester on Tuesday August
6 she followed these instructions but no call came through three days after that
police received a letter from the kidnapper explaining that he'd been unable to find a suitable hostage in
time he told constables Ignis to return to the phone booth on Wednesday August 14
at 8:15 p.m. threatening quote this will be the last time you will receive a call at the
usual location should anything go wrong you will not then be given the location of the incendiary device or the
prostitutes body on August 14 the call came through as promised and the kidnapper spoke two constables Ignis
directly claiming to have abducted a sex worker named Sarah Davies from the town
of Ipswich he provided directions to another phone box near the m1 motorway and told constables Ignis to be there by
9:45 p.m. she arrived in time but when she answered the call the kidnapper said he'd encountered some problems and would
call back in half an hour the phone rang again 30 minutes later but the phone's cradle had jammed and constable Zeke
nurse struggled to answer it by the time she was able to pick up the receiver the
caller had hung up constables Ignis waited for another half hour but the phone didn't ring again the West
Yorkshire police checked whether anyone named Sarah Davies had gone missing from
hip switch but no reports of this nature had been made they concluded that the caller had a lied about the kidnapping
in order to increase pressure on police the following day some men were walking underneath the disused railway bridge on
the m1 motorway near the phone box that had jammed when they found what appeared
to be a small bomb the device was shaped like a tin can and attached to one end was a wire and a small red plastic cube
responding officers from the South Yorkshire Police were unaware that their colleagues in West Yorkshire had been
interacting with a possible extortionist and suspected the device was a fake this
was confirmed by a bomb disposal officer who arrived on the scene to investigate
nearby police found a brick that had been painted white and had an envelope attached that was marked with the number
3 inside a hand stencil denote red message next bridge 400 meters detector on panel carry money when the news
spread to the West Yorkshire Police they were certain the items had been left by
their suspect and that the disused bridge was his intended location for the money drop to test to their theory they
carried out a reconstruction at the site had constable Zeke nurse being able to receive the second phone call the police
deduced that she would have been directed to the bridge and to the fake incendiary device from there she would
have placed the device which the suspect had referred to as a detector on her Kart dashboard and driven to the next
bridge 400 metres away there as per the kidnappers original letter he would have
intended to stand on the bridge and to lower a dog leash for constables Ignis to clip the bundle of money to the
kidnapper would have been intended to haul up the money and attempt an escape ten days later a discovery in the South
Yorkshire town of Barnsley revealed that the kidnapper had planned yet another step which police had missed an envelope
labelled with the number two was found taped underneath a shelf in one of the town's phone booths inside was a note
providing directions to the fake incendiary device and a white brick investigators determined that the
kidnapper had actually planned to direct the constables Ignis to this payphone first to receive the instructions but
his plan had been thwarted when the phone receiver jammed at the previous phone booth on Monday August to 1911
that read games now abandoned crime watch UK will tell me most of what I wanted to know you'll have to file your
papers until I try again as you know I never picked anyone up in Ipswich or planted a device I didn't need to
following Julie's unfortunate death you'd cooperate with anything I wanted for your records Julie was picked up on
Tuesday July 9 11:30 p.m. the reason the body deteriorated so quick was that it was kept in a wheelie bin in a
greenhouse for two very hot days her head was wrapped in a towel but when this was removed to clean her up before
dropping her her hair came away stuck to the blood on the tower as none of these
details about Julie's body had been released to the media the police forwarded the letter to a
pathologist to verify the kidnappers claims professor Steven Jones confirmed that the state Julie's body was in was
consistent with having been stored in a plastic bin inside a greenhouse as the killer described
[Music] in order to gain further insight as to the type of individual that were dealing
with police retained criminal psychologist Paul Brittain to create a profile of the suspect Brittain
concluded that the suspect was likely aged in his late 40s or early 50s and it was a careful planner as his letters
were riddled with grammatical and spelling errors he likely had a secondary level education but no
university degree in terms of occupation he likely worked in a field that required a high level of technical
knowledge but not a high level of technical skills he wanted to be taken seriously by police and have them engage
him as a high level adversary although murder wasn't the primary aim of the crime and the suspect probably
hadn't killed before Britain concluded that he would kill again unless he was caught as the suspects letters had been
posted from various locations it was clear that whoever had sent them had the time and freedom to travel they were
sent to a forensic document examiner in Birmingham who determined that the typed
letters were written using an Olivetti manual type bar typewriter that had damaged - its typefaces several keys
were missing particular elements including the lower left portion of the number zero and part of the lowercase F
consequently it was estimated that the machine was between 20 to 30 years old the handwritten letters were mostly
panned using messy capital letters possibly by the kidnapper using his non-dominant hand despite his obvious
attempts to disguise his handwriting consistent features were noted in how he drew particular letters of the alphabet
furthermore given that he referred to the West Yorkshire police by their old name of a leeds city police it was
suggested that the kidnapper could be an older individual with a grudge against the force an examination of the fake
bomb revealed it had been crafted from a container of fish food that had been painted silver the white painted brick
was harder to identify it wasn't of a standard brick size and was originally blue instead of a typical red color
chemical and mineral analysis revealed that the brick had been made from a particular clay found at a quarry in the
county of Staffordshire only one company in the country manufactured this sort of
brick which was used to construct the road cutters on Wednesday August 21 the police held a
press conference to share some of the details about Julie's murder that they had intentionally been withholding they
revealed that one of the kidnappers letters contained indentations from another message that had been written on
a sheet of paper placed on top it read Mavis will not be in on Tuesday Phil on Thursday September 12 Julie's case was
covered by crime watch a monthly BBC program that shared information about unsolved crimes and requested viewers
assistance in solving them reconstructions depicting Julie's last-known movements were aired along
with the red car that was spotted by the field where her body was found the coverage prompted 400 viewers to phone
in with information including one man who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with the Julie one week before
her disappearance he said the two had met in a Leeds pub and he later gave Julie a lift in his car they chatted for
an hour during which Julie revealed she had taken up sex work to repay a debt so
that she could join the army another man called asking to speak to superintendent Bob Taylor directly
before abruptly hanging up the phone this led police to consider whether the caller had been the kidnapper himself on
October 16 1991 after two months of silence the police received another handwritten letter from the kidnapper it
read as you are nowhere near on my tail the time has come to collect my 140,000 pounds from you I do not get any bigger
sentence for two murders and prostitutes are easy to pick up he ordered constable
Zeke nurse to go to a payphone at the Carlisle train station in northwest England at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday
October 21 and wait for his call investigators were confused as October 21 was actually a Monday not a Wednesday
moreover the phone box the kidnapper described had been relocated years earlier nevertheless they sent their
crime squad to the location on both Monday and Wednesday but received no further contact from their suspect on
October 15 a menacing letter had also been sent to the London headquarters of British Rail the state-owned company
that operated most of Great Britain's over ground to rail transport it had been sent five days prior from the city
of stoke-on-trent in Staffordshire over two typed pages the author threatened to derail a high-speed train
unless 200 thousand pounds in cash was delivered by two female employees on Wednesday October 23 the employees were
directed to go to a payphone at Crewe Station in Cheshire to receive further instructions with a stenciled message
warning your females will be in danger if money not real throughout the letter the pronoun we was used repeatedly
giving the impression that more than one person was behind the extortion scheme Detective Chief Superintendent Pat
Fleming from the London Metropolitan Police was assigned to coordinate the railway thread inquiry and began looking
into possible links with other blackmail schemes including the Julie dark case on
Monday October 21 senior officers from both investigations compared to their respective letters and discovered there
were a number of similarities both included stenciled writing the use of technical language and diagrams and
instructed women to act as couriers to deliver money in a similar fashion as the British Rail extortionist was
requesting that money be delivered on the same day that officers from the Julie Dart inquiry would be carrying out
their own operation police suspected the perpetrator was attempting to tie up their resources at 7 p.m. on Wednesday
October 23 a female police officer went to crew station to await the extortionists phone call eight minutes
later a call came through during which the caller repeatedly asked hello before hanging up
the phone rang again shortly afterwards but stopped before it could be answered and - the operation was subsequently are
bordered on Monday October 28th another letter arrived at British Rail stating congratulations you have now qualified
for retribution the extortionist threatened to take down a section of a train line and remove an
electric local pantograph which is an apparatus that connects a train to a line overhead a week later on Monday
November 4 British Rail track charged Minh Dennis Parton was conducting a routine inspection of the west coast
line which runs from London to Glasgow he was focusing on an 8 mile stretch that ran south between crew station and
Stafford station when he came to a bridge near the stuff at show village of mill Meese under the bridge
Denis noticed that a broken concrete block some sandstone and a piece of rope were lying between the rails he notified
the British Transport Police who determined that the extortionist had likely tied at the concrete to one end
of the rope and to the sandstone to the other using the concrete and as an anchor
he then threw the sandstone end over the train line with the intention of damaging a passing trains pantograph if
this plan had succeeded the train would have lost power and potentially caused significant damage to both the Train and
to those on board on Thursday November 7 the Julie Dodd inquiry was formally linked with the
British Rail case and to West Yorkshire police were awarded responsibility for both investigations that same day
Julie's funeral was held in Leeds almost four months had passed since her body was discovered and three hundred
mourners gathered to pay their respects including a number of police officers who had been working tirelessly on
solving her case Julie's family were devastated by the revelation that she had been struggling with finances an
abusive relationship and her army application and had chosen to keep these troubles to herself her maternal
grandparents Margaret and Harvey Aiken had always told their grandchildren to come to them anytime they needed help
Margaret later stated I think of Julie every day it still breaks my heart that she
couldn't come to us and tell us what was wrong police continued to work the case
but no substantial leads emerged On January 16 1992 an inquest into Julie's death was held with the coroner ruling
her death had been an unlawful killing by person or persons unknown six days later on the morning of
Wednesday January 22 1992 real-estate agent Stephanie Slater was preparing for work
the 25 year old lived with her parents in Birmingham and had recently started a new job at ship ways estate agents an
offshoot of one of England's largest insurance groups things were going well for Stephanie she liked her new job she
had a boyfriend and an active social life and had just booked a two-week summer holiday with a friend the pair
were planning to visit the Isle of what a picturesque island south of England that Stephanie had often visited as a
child by the time Stephanie was ready for work her parents had already left for the day she gave her two pet cats a
quick pat before heading out the door her first appointment was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. where she would be showing a
client name - Bob Southall a rundown 2-story semi-detached house located at 153 turn Bri Road in Birmingham Bob had
called ship ways two weeks earlier seeking a list of houses for sale in the 60,000 pound price range he had visited
the office in person to collect the list before sending a letter confirming which
house he wanted to visit this was unusual as most prospective buyers typically book to their viewings via
telephone Stephanie arrived at the office at 9:00 a.m. and spent the first part of her
morning checking her mail and following up on client inquiries before driving to
meet Bob at the Turnberry Road property shortly before noon Stephanie's manager Kevin watts and
another colleague were on their way to a meeting when they drove past 153 Turnberry Road and to notice that
Stephanie's car was still parked out the front they remarked that she'd been at her appointment for an unusually long
time 20 minutes later the phone rang at the ship ways office receptionist Sylvia
Baker answered and a man on the other end stated listen Syl Stephanie Slater she's been kidnapped there will be a
ransom note in the post tomorrow contact the police or anybody and she'll die he then hung up stunned
Sylvia immediately called Kevin watts at his meeting and he quickly returned to the office Stephanie's co-workers called
the number Bob Southall had provided but it turned out to be connected to a phone
booth at a petrol station Kevin and a colleague then hurried to 153 Turnberry Road Stephanie's car was still parked
out the front but the house was empty in the hallway they found Stephanie's car keys as well as the keys for the
property on one of the key rings there were several spots of blood and a single long hair
Kevin phoned to the police and uniformed officers were immediately dispatched to
the house on Turnberry Road to conduct a search in the upstairs bathroom and at the top of the stairs
they found drops of blood as well as a larger blood stain on a wall near the kitchen
officers interviewed ship ways employees and installed a phone at the office that
could record and trace incoming calls when Stephanie's parents Warren and Betty Slater were notified
they both collapsed in shock and required sedation they couldn't think of any reason why Stephanie would be
targeted nor did they believe she had any reason to war castrate her own disappearance detectives from the West
Midlands Police were assigned to the case and immediately realized it had been a mistake
to send a uniformed officers in response to the report as the kidnapper had warned Sylvia not to call the police the
uniformed officers were quickly withdrawn and replaced with undercover investigators shortly after 3:00 p.m.
another call came through at the ship Way's office a man with the northern accent stated just listen Stephanie's
dropped her keys to their house in the hall so going to lock it up the call was over so fast that it was unable to be
recorded an incident room was set up and a media embargo was enforced to prevent
the story from going public ship ways agreed to pay whatever the kidnapper demanded and police were granted
permission to sort through the post that Birmingham's Royal Mail sorting office in an attempt to find the ransom letter
as soon as possible at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday January 23 they found an envelope addressed to ship ways that
contained a letter into micro cassette tape the letter explained that Stephanie would only be released if ship ways
agreed to pay 175,000 pounds in unmarked bills that were free from tracking devices
the microcassette featured a female voice saying this is Stephanie Slater the time is 11:45 I can assure you I am
okay and unharmed providing these instructions are carried out I will be released on Friday the 31st of January
she explained that her manager Kevin Watts was to deliver the money on Wednesday January 29 he had to use his
own car and would be given instructions at various points along the way West Midlands Police were aware of Julie
darts murder and the extortion attempt against British Rail and wondered whether Stephanie's disappearance could
be connected the similarities between the three crimes appeared to be mounting both Julie and Stephanie's kidnapper had
used recorded messages and misspelled the word ransom by adding an e on the end moreover in all three crimes the
perpetrator provided very specific instructions about how the money was to be bundled investigators began carrying
out covert operations in the neighborhood where Stephanie had been abducted they door knocked houses on
Turnberry Road explaining that there had been a break-in nearby and asked whether
neighbors had seen anything unusual on Wednesday January 22 one mentioned seeing a red van revving its engine and
turning into a laneway to the rear of the houses another had noticed a man standing outside of 153 Turnberry Road
who appeared to be in his early 50s he was short and wore a coat with a badge on the left breast pocket with
little in the way of leads investigators were forced to wait and see whether the
kidnapper would make contact again at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday January 26 four days after Stephanie had
vanished the phone rang at her parents home recording equipment had been set up in anticipation of this moment and
Stephanie's father Warren immediately started taping the call a male voice on the other end told Warren to listen and
then played a pre-recorded message featuring Stephanie's voice she said hello it's Stephanie here they've allowed me
to make a message to you just to let you know that I'm all right and unharmed I hear that Westar Bromwich Albion lost
yesterday to Swansea three two I want you to know that I love you I'm not to say too much and whatever the outcome
I'll always love you look after the cats for me the results from the recent football match indicated that stephanie
was still alive her parents were both relieved and distraught while investigators believed
that if they followed the kidnappers demands they might have a chance of bringing Stephanie home safely
Stephanie's manager Kevin Watts agreed to help and investigators provided him with
strategies to speak with the kidnapper to minimize threats to his own safety as the kidnapper had already
demonstrated that he was capable of traveling throughout the country 1,000 detectives from the Midlands police
forces Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police were enlisted to be positioned throughout various motorways
during the operation investigators would follow Kevin from all directions with a backup ready just
in case for female detectives who would be on standby to care for Stephanie if she was returned safely while another 30
officers were prepared to spring into action if she was found to be deceased shortly before 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday
January 28 the day before the ransom drop the phone rang at ship ways a state agency it was the kidnapper demanding to
speak to Kevin he asked if Kevin had the money and in response Kevin inquired who was calling the
kidnapper responded impatiently never mind have you got the money for tomorrow Kevin confirmed that he was getting it
and if the kidnapper told him to expect a message at three o'clock the following
day the next morning Kevin said goodbye to his wife and daughters using his finger to write I love you in the air
before getting into his car at the office he put a bulletproof vest on beneath his
work suit a two-way radio was installed in his vehicle and to the ransom money was delivered to the office in a sports
bag that had a tracking device sewn into the lining it was to keep the bag with him at all times so that the police
could constantly track his whereabouts at 3:25 p.m. the kidnapper called and instructed Kevin to go to the railway
station in Glossop a town almost 298 miles north of Birmingham there he was to head to the payphone in the station's
entrance hall where the kidnapper would call to provide further instructions at 7 o'clock
Kevin departed for Glossop with undercover officers trailing behind as he drove he used the two-way radio to
keep the police informed about the route he was taking he arrived at Glossop railway station shortly before 7 p.m.
and waited nervously by the phone booth the kidnapper had described eventually the kidnapper called and told Kevin to
leave the station turned right and to go to another phone box about 200 yards away there he would find written
instructions taped beneath a shelf Kevin followed these orders and found an envelope in the phone booth marked with
the letter A inside was a type 2 note directing him to drive 22 miles east towards the town of Dodd Worth where
another letter was waiting in a phone booth Kevin got back in his car and started driving but within a minute
heavy fog fell all around him making it difficult to see the limited visibility hindered his progress but he made it to
the isolated phone booth by 8:15 a node inside pointed him towards an off-road alain 150 yards away and to warned this
route will show if you are being followed once there kevin was to look for a red
and white traffic cone near a small building there would be a bag next to the cone
which he was to place the money into Kevin returned to his car again and to turn to left onto the lane passing a
small wooden sign that red ship weighs the track was rough and framed by hedges and a low stone walls but he soon
spotted a shared with a cone and a large black bag in front of it Kevin pulled over grabbed the bag and stuffed the
cash inside he found a note directing him to continue to the end of the lane and then on to another pay phone several
miles away where another note was waiting kevin kept driving forward noticing that the stone walls on either
side suddenly loomed too much higher within 300 yards he unexpectedly encountered another cone with a
stenciled message attached it explained that a wooden tray with the sensor inside was perched on one of the walls
kevin was instructed to place the bag with the money in the tray and if the sensor didn't buzz he could leave the
money and ago Kevin walked over to the tray noticing a silver rectangular device in one of its corners he jammed
the bag inside and was relieved when the sensor didn't make a sound nervously he
then headed back to his car meanwhile the investigators who were monitoring Kevin's movements had
struggled to find a parallel route along the narrow lane and had lost contact with the tracking signal that had been
fitted into his bag by the time Kevin delivered the money they had lost sight of him altogether
Kevin had used the two-way radio to let the police know that he was about to hand over the cash but a technical
problem had prevented them from receiving the message as Kevin drove away from the drop-off site
he used the two-way radio again to inform police that he'd successfully dropped off the money this time his
message went through investigators were horrified to learn that they'd lost contact with their courier at the most
crucial moment as it meant the kidnapper had likely managed to escape with the money worse still they had no idea where
stephanie was or if they just lost their only chance to save her life when West Yorkshire detectives heard
that their prime suspect for Julie darts mother had slipped through West Midlands
police's comprehensive and elaborate sting they were furious investigators said about detaining and interrogating
everyone they encountered in proximity of the drop-off zone but there was no sign of the kidnapper or of Stephanie
Slater eventually at 11:30 p.m. police reluctantly held a press conference to announce that their operation had failed
although the media embargo on the story was still being enforced investigators admitted the money had
been handed over but they had not managed to recover Stephanie detective Inspector Adrian Bowers had been tasked
with looking after Stephanie's parents while the operation was carried out and was waiting with them in their family
home the past eight days had been incredibly distressing for Warren and Betty Slater and to the news that
Stephanie had not been saved during the operation further added to their grief at 12:50 a.m. there was a loud banging
at the Slater's front door accompanied by the doorbell ringing detective Bowers raced to answer it and found a
disheveled looking young woman whom he didn't recognize standing on the doorstep warrants later rushed up from
behind pushed the detective out of the way and pulled the woman into the house shouting to his wife
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make sure they know that our show sent you Stephanie's parents were eager to embrace their daughter
the detective bow has held them back explaining them might be crucial evidence on her body
he asked Stephanie where her kidnapper was to which she responded oh he's long gone it turned out that the kidnapper
had driven Stephanie home himself dropping her roughly 200 feet from her house there had been no security detail
outside meaning the kidnapper had managed to elude police twice that night investigators and doctors arrived at the
Slater's home and Stephanie underwent a physical examination though confused and
disoriented she didn't have any serious injuries she revealed she had been blunt
faltered for a long period of time and the doctors confirmed that her eyesight was temporarily damaged as a result
blood and hair samples were taken and physical evidence was collected from underneath her fingernails her clothing
was also taken into evidence Stephanie denied that any sexual assault had taken place meaning that it wasn't
necessary for doctors to conduct a rape kit after being allowed to shower she was
transported to a private hospital for monitoring where her parents were allowed to stay in an adjoining room
when she learned that her kidnapper was also suspected of having murdered Julie Dart
she was overcome with grief at the thought of what Julie had endured the eight-day media embargo was finally
lifted and - the next morning Stephanie's story featured on breakfast news and radio programs throughout the
country West Midlands Police Assistant Chief Constable Phil Thomas thanked the press
for their cooperation throughout the operation and said that while the kidnapper had escaped with 175,000
pounds police had achieved their primary objective of bringing Stephanie home he
stated quote we can now openly get on with the investigation to catch this man our inquiries are now well in hand and
we have gained a lot of information which we didn't have before the media interest in this story
was intense and - later that afternoon Stephanie appeared at a press conference to answer questions about her ordeal
when asked how she felt upon realizing she had been abducted she stated I'd call it sheer terror you can't put that
sort of feeling into words unless you've actually been through it Stephanie said
she was eager to thank her manager Kevin Watts in person and hoped that she could
return to her normal life as soon as possible following the press conference Stephanie returned to the hospital where
she spent the next 10 days providing evidence about her ordeal to three female officers who were specially
trained in debriefing victims her recall was excellent and she managed to provide
a detailed account of the events that unfolded after she met the man claiming to be named Bob Southall at 153
Turnberry Road when Stephanie arrived at the address Bob was already standing by
the front door she described him as aged between 40 and 55 with an average - stocky build and attained complexion he
had been wearing thick black framed glasses and a jacket that had a badge picturing a train on its left pocket he
spoke with a northern accent indicating he wasn't local to Birmingham when they entered the property Bob asked
a few questions about the house but didn't appear particularly interested as they headed upstairs to see the second
story Bob pointed to a window and inquired whether it was double glazed Stephane replied that it was Stephanie
waited nearby while Bob explored to the upstairs rooms as he entered the bathroom Stefanie began to walk back
downstairs but Bob suddenly pointed at the wall opposite him and asked what's that up there Stephanie went into the
bathroom and realized he was pointing at a hawk which she explained was to hang a
towel on she turned around to leave but Bob suddenly flew towards her he was holding a 10 to 12 inch knife in one
hand and a long flat chisel with a hook in the other a struggle ensued and Stephanie received small next to her
face from the knife she grabbed both weapons and managed to bend the chisel rendering at useless
Stephanie screamed and Bob attempted to cover her mouth with his hands he then jumped on her and two grabbed her long
hair from behind wrenching her head back and pushing her over the side of the bathtub
Stephanie caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and saw that Bob was holding
a knife to her throat he threatened to cut her throat if she started screaming - which Stephanie
responded all right calm down you've got me don't kill me please don't kill me please remember I'm human barb and
Stephanie's wrists together with what appeared to be rope from a washing line and placed the noose around her neck
made from the same material he forced her downstairs yelling angrily whenever she looked directly at him at the bottom
of the stairs he blindfolded and gagged Stephanie using her own scarf then tied her legs with a rope just below the
knees he then stood her through the back of the house and into the garage where he forced her into a vehicle at
knifepoint stephanie was made to lie down on the passenger seat which had been moved into a reclining position her
face was then covered with a blanket and a line of rope was tied across her neck
to restrict her from sitting up Bob held a knife to her stomach and started driving in order to determine
where they were going Stephanie focused on noises the quality of the roads and the turns Bob was
taking he eventually pulled over in a quiet isolated area and forced the Stephanie to record the ransom message
that he later sent to her employers he also explained that his name wasn't really Bob but instructed Stephanie to
continue calling him that to make things easier by evening they reached a rough dirt track
Bob parked the car and to guided Stephanie along a gravel path he pushed what sounded like a metallic sliding
door and to lead Stephanie into a room with a stone floor where he tied her to a wooden chair he left the room and
returned shortly after with some chips for her to eat he then forced her to change into men's clothing and remarked
I hope you're not claustrophobic Bob explained he was going to play Stephanie inside a box that was placed inside
another box she was forced to lie down and shuffle feet first into a long narrow container which required her to
twist her body into an uncomfortable corkscrew position once she was in Bob tied Stephanie's
handcuff to wrists to a metal bar above her head and warned that if she pulled on the bar boulders placed above would
fall down and crush her he also placed a wire inside the box which he explained was
attached to electrodes that would shock Stephanie if she moved Bob told Stephanie he couldn't understand why she
was so calm to which she responded on not calm I'm frightened to death Bob closed the lid over the top of her
head and said see you in the morning then Stephanie spent the night in physical agony that was freezing cold and her
body was in pain from the awkward restricted position she'd been forced into terrified she lay awake throughout
the night convinced she would die from suffocation or hypothermia at her most distraught point she noticed the speck
of a light that appeared to grow and move towards her as it came closer stephanie realized that resembled the
face of jesus christ as she was not a religious person the vision took her by surprise and she wondered whether she
had died the following morning music started playing from a nearby radio by this stage Stephanie's entire body was
wracked with excruciating pain and her extremities were numb Bob open to the box and seemed surprised to find her in
such agony he removed Stephanie from the box and set her onto a chair rubbing her
arms in an attempt to lessen the pain after giving her a cup of tea and some porridge he explained that his plan was
to keep her hostage until the following Wednesday January 29 when he would collect his ransom money
if she behaved Bob told Stephanie she would be home within a week instead of returning her to the box Bob then
allowed Stephanie to stay on a mattress on the floor while he went to work provided she didn't make any noise or
attempt an escape after he had left Stephanie began reflecting on Bob's behavior although he had been
threatening and violent he had also shown a more humane side and Stephanie wondered if she could appeal to this
part of his personality deciding her best chance of survival was to be compliant and polite she resolved to put
her strong people skills to use over the following week Bob returned every morning and evening to give Stephanie
food and to let her use the toilet at night he would also back into the box during his visits
Stephanie attempted to humanize herself by chatting with Bob about the TV programs she liked to watch she told him
about her boyfriend whom her mother hoped she would marry one day on one occasion Bob a broader German
Shepherd puppy with him and Stephanie revealed her love of animals she also confided that she had been adopted at 6
months old because her parents were unable to conceive children and barb appeared moved by this revelation
although stephanie was kept the blindfolded and bound a majority of the time she managed to pay close attention
to her surroundings during her first the day in captivity she heard muffled voices nearby followed by a short
ringing sound and to then silence this pattern repeated several times and Stephanie realized she was likely being
held out the back of a store the sound of an electric saw and banging led her to believe it could be an engineering
workshop in addition she knew there was a microwave nearby as it made a dinging sound every time Bob made her porridge a
radio was also close by which played all day and was permanently tuned to BBC's radio to channel Stephanie also heard a
bell on what sounded like an old-fashioned cash register and the ringing of a rotary style phone the
sound of trucks lorries and trains could also be heard regularly passing through
the neighborhood during one conversation Bob told Stephanie that he was carrying
out the Ransom scheme with a male accomplice whom he referred to as his mate he described the man as a nasty
piece of work and told Stephanie she was lucky not to be stuck with him Bob appeared to grow somewhat fond of
Stephanie and repeatedly promised that she would be going home yet he also appeared to take pleasure in scaring her
on one occasion Stephanie told a joke that made Bob laugh after which he remarked I'll have to get rid of that
bin now when Stephanie asked which bin he was referring to Bob explained there was a plastic really been in the corner
that he had planned to dispose of her body in on Sunday January 26 barber made Stephanie record a message that he could
play for her parents he had her mentioned the result of the recent West Bromwich Albion versus swansea football
match to verify that she was still alive the next day he confirmed that she would
be going home on Wednesday January 29 on Stephanie's final night in captivity Bob
but let her sleep on the mattress instead of inside the box on the morning of Wednesday January 29 Bob told
Stephanie he would be collecting the ransom money from her manager Kevin watts that night and would be back to
release her between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. he then remarked I was thinking that it would be nice to have a photograph of
you you know something to remember you by he told Stephanie to remove her blindfold but keep her eyes closed while
he snapped a picture of her Stephanie was then secured back into the box where she remained for the rest of the
day the radio was kept on allowing her to keep track of the time via the hourly news bulletins 9:00 p.m.
eventually came and went with no sign of Bob and Stephanie began to worry that he
wasn't coming back after all she became increasingly panicked that she would be left to die a slow painful death
alone in captivity to escape such a fate she contemplated taking her own life by
smothering her face with the duvet that had been left inside the box with her at
10:45 p.m. Bob finally returns he released Stephanie had her change into new clothes and reassured her that he
was taking her home his initial plan was to leave her at a police station or a phone box but he drove her back to
Birmingham instead and had dropped her off near her home before he left he asked for a kiss goodbye
after being blindfolded and restricted forever awake Stephanie found it difficult to see and walk but she
managed to stumble home where she was finally reunited with her parents the police were impressed by the level
of detail in Stephanie's recollections and said about having a sketch artist to create an impression of the perpetrator
meanwhile an investigation of the money drop site revealed that the narrow lane with large stone walls that Kevin had
been sent to was actually a bridge above an abandoned railway line underneath the
bridge officers recovered a rectangular device that had been painted silver as well as the trade that Kevin had placed
the money in which was a wooden drawer with a length of washing line attached it appeared that the kidnapper had
waited under the bridge then dragged the draw with the money in it down after Kevin had left investigators theorized
that he may have escaped on a motorbike to avoid police roadblocks the site of the abandoned railway line was part of a
country walking trail known as the DA Valley Trail it was just three miles down the track from the bridge where the
painted brick and false incendiary device were found in relation to Julie darts case the two cases were formerly
linked into West Yorkshire Assistant Chief Constable Tom cork was appointed as the head of the investigation
stephanie's neighbors were questioned to save day to noticed anything unusual on
the night of her return a spray painter named les Barnaby recalled that he'd been watching a film in bed around 1:00
a.m. when he heard the sound of a car engine revving outside he looked out the window and saw a red Austin Metro in the
street below it was old and muddy and to the passenger door was slightly open after a
minute a young disheveled looking woman stumbled backwards out of the car and staggered down the street in an awkward
run on the evening of Tuesday February 4 six days after Stephanie's return police
released the first sketch of the suspect it depicted a middle-aged white male with short dark hair wearing square
black framed glasses his face was broad with a square forehead and a straight nose within an hour of going public more
than 500 people found tips in to the police but none generated any promising leads Assistant Chief Constable Tom cook
told the media he was almost expecting to hear from the kidnapper directly quote perhaps he might like to boast
about it if he feels he has been successful on Thursday February 6 a letter arrived that the officers of the
BBC Yorkshire television the son and the news of the world and newspapers the West Midlands and West Yorkshire police
and at the workplace of Julie darts mother it claimed to be from the kidnapper who admitted to abducting
Stephanie but denied murdering Julie or blackmailing British Rail he wanted to clarify this out of concern for
Stephanie's well-being as he had previously told her that he'd never killed anyone and was worried about how
she might feel if she thought he had the letter read the fact that I could and did carry out the crime extremely
successfully is my only satisfaction I am ashamed upset and thoroughly disgusted at my treatment of Stephanie
and the suffering I must have caused to her parents even now my eyes are filled with tears I
wake up but during the night actually crying with a little luck Stephanie will get over it shortly
myself I do not think I ever will the letter contained spelling and punctuation errors that matched previous
correspondence from the kidnapper the phrase with a little luck had also been used in one of the letters sent to
British Rail this indicated that the same person was indeed responsible for all three crimes and on Friday February
7 snippets of the letter were published in the country's newspapers two days later
Stephanie finally left the hospital and was able to return home a number of reporters had set up camp in the fields
opposite her house to cover her homecoming she agreed to pose for the cameras with her parents and to pet cats
and was met at the front door by a police officer carrying a bouquet of flowers and detectives took shifts
guarding the family and escorting them everywhere they went while police dogs and their handlers patrolled the land
between the house and the nearby motorway media interest in the case was unrelenting and stephanie was inundated
with large financial offers in exchange for an exclusive interview police advised her to negotiate a deal with one
newspaper as this would prompt all other outlets to back off she decided to sign
a contract with the Sun newspaper as it was the paper her father read and also had the highest number of readers
Stephanie wanted to use her experience to alert women to the possible dangers they face and suggest the ways they
could protect themselves from the outset of the investigation police had intentionally withheld
significant details from the media and they eventually chose to release this information on an episode of BBC's crime
watch the show aired on the evening of Thursday February 20 with 15 million viewers tuning in to watch for the first
time that was publicly revealed that the kidnapper drove a red Austin Metro that
he appeared to have a connection with British Railways and that Stephanie had been held hostage in a workshop
environment the recorded phone call between the kidnapper and Kevin Watts was also played prompting 1,000 phone
calls to police and to the crime watch headquarters 48 year-old Susan Oak had been out when the show aired but she had
taped it so she could watch it later on the case had caught Susan's attention as
the sketch of the suspect resembled her ex-husband Michael Sams who also drove a
red car similar to the one witness too near the location where Julie darts body was found
furthermore the suspect had reportedly worn a railway badge on his coat and Michael loved trains however Michael had
one leg amputated a 13 years earlier and the suspect that wasn't said to have a limp so Susan deemed it unlikely that
her ex could be responsible she primarily wanted to see the crime watch episode to lay her suspicions to rest
at 11:00 p.m. on the night the episode aired Susan played the tape upon hearing the
voice of the kidnapper she left out of her chair and shouted it's him that's Mike Michael Bannerman Sam's was born on
August 11 1941 in the West Yorkshire town of Keithley he had a conventional middle-class upbringing and was a bright
child who did well at school although struggled with spelling and grammar at the age of 20
Sam's joined the Merchant Navy but returned to his hometown a year later and trained to work as a lift engineer
he met his first wife Susan when he was installing lifts at her workplace the young couple married on July 18 1964 and
went on to have two sons by 1970 Sam's had started his own business servicing central heating boilers and was often so
busy that he rarely saw his wife and children he dedicated any spare time he had to Trainspotting a term used to
describe the hobby of watching trains samms was fascinated by rail transport he collected train memorabilia and
displayed a model railway in a spare room in 1973 Sam's suddenly became ill and was rushed to hospital doctors suspected
he had meningitis an inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord but tests were inconclusive
Sam's managed to make a recovery but thereafter he was prone to mood swings and violent outbursts he and Susan
argued frequently with Sam's often becoming physically and sexually aggressive he started raping his wife and subjected
her to humiliating sexual abuse in 1976 Susan left Sam's taking the couple's two
sons with her Sam's begged her to take him back while also threatening if I can't have you
nobody else will on one occasion one of Sam's employees told Susan that seems that offered him
money to kill her Sam's had also bragged to the employee that he knew how to carry out the perfect kidnapping Sam's
and Susan divorced in 1977 and - that same year Sam stole a car resulting in his first recorded criminal offense and
to nine months in prison while serving his sentence Sam's began experiencing significant
pain in his right knee he was diagnosed with cancer and to prevent the disease from spreading his leg was amputated
above the knee Sam's was released after serving six months three weeks later he married a
woman named - Jane whom he demit through a lonely hearts personal xored however Jane soon became unhappy in the
relationship and ended the marriage in 1981 the next year Sam's began work as a power tool
repairmen for Black and Decker in Birmingham he met his third wife Tina after she placed a personal ad in a
local newspaper and he soon opened his own tool repair shop in the town of Peterborough Cambridgeshire
Sam's often criticized to Tina and pestered her for sex which caused their marriage to deteriorate within a few
years he once threatened to go to Leeds to find a sex worker saying he knew which areas they frequented despite
being unhappy the couple stayed together and eventually moved to the village of Sutton on Trent which was approximately
halfway between Leeds and Birmingham Sims started his own business repairing power tools and had a shop in the nearby
town of nuoc Susan oak had little to do with her ex-husband and though her sons still saw him occasionally
in mid February 1992 Sam's father died and Susan attended his funeral where she saw Sam's for the first time in four
years he appeared strange and evasive refusing to make eye contact or give Susan a lift to the cemetery in his red
Austin Metro his voice sent peculiar behavior was still clear in Susan's mind several
days later when she watched the Crimewatch episode and she had no doubt that he was responsible for the crimes
she immediately called the crime watch hotline but it was busy so she reported her suspicions to the Julie dart
incident room in Leeds instead one of her son's also called crime watch to back his mother's report
among the hundreds of calls that were coming through the West Yorkshire police quickly prioritized Susan's information
and two officers would dispatch to her home by 2:00 a.m. Michael Sams had officially been placed on the suspect
list along with four other individuals at 10:40 a.m. on Friday February 21 for high-ranking officers were dispatched to
Sam's residence in Sutton on Trent his wife Tina he answered the door and explained that her husband was at work
one of the detectives noticed an abundance of a railway paraphernalia hanging on the walls of the house
including photographs of trains and salvaged engine nameplates there was also a moped
a German Shepherd and a fish tank these details were significant as a fish food container had been used to construct the
fake incendiary device found in the Julie dark case Stephanie had also been shown a German Shepherd puppy while in
captivity and police believed the kidnapper may have driven a motorbike of some kind when picking up the ransom
money the officers told Tina they would return at 5:00 p.m. but then rushed to Sam's shop 8 miles away in nuoc hoping
that tina wouldn't alert him to their visit they pulled up at the address where a hand stenciled sign read T and M
tools Sam's red Austin Metro was parked outside and a railway line ran nearby which could account for the trains that
Stephanie heard during her time in captivity inside tools were hanging on the wall and a cash register sat on the
counter but nobody was there a number of other features aligned with Stephanie's recollections there was an
old rotary style telephone a microwave a bell above the door and a radio playing
that was tuned to BBC Radio 2 one of the officers called out and Sam's emerged from behind a curtain stating I've been
expecting you what is it you want the officers explained that he was under arrest for suspicion of abduction and
murder relating to Julie dart and Stephanie Slater Samms retorted you've got the wrong man you were making a big
mistake he was taken to the nearest police station and held for questioning a young constable tasked with guarding
Sam's asked what he was in for Sam's replied suspicion of murder and abduction didn't you watch crime watch
last night the constable said that he hadn't and asked whether Sam's was referring to the Stephanie Slater case
Sam's responded yes the evidence is in the workshop I didn't do the murder I don't know how they've linked the two
startled the constable last Sam's if he was responsible for Stephanie's abduction he replied yeah but I didn't
do the other one Sam's was taken to the station sergeant to repeat his admission
he stated I've done the kidnapping I've not done the murder I promised Stephanie that she'd go home
and she did following this confession Sam's was stripped searched and given new clothes with his own scent off the
forensic testing as he was moved throughout the station he continued to provide further details to the young
constable whenever the two were left alone Sam's explained that he was annoyed when the real-estate agency sent
a woman to the property at 153 Turnberry Road as he would have become less emotionally attached to a male hostage
he also boasted about successfully hiding the fact that he had a prosthetic leg from Stephanie and added that he
only carried out the kidnapping because he was bored and too lonely Sam's first formal interview commenced
later that afternoon he repeated his confession and explained that he'd buried most of the ransom money after
dropping Stephanie home he said that he only asked for 175,000 pounds because it
seemed like a realistic amount that would be manageable to carry by the time the interview ended news had broken
about the arrest Sam's was transferred to a police station in Birmingham where angry crowds
were waiting out the front to hurl abuse as he was rushed inside meanwhile forensic investigators had been
inspecting Sam's workshop for evidence and found 19 thousand pounds in cash they discovered that the chamber he had
kept Stephanie in was a custom-built timber box that had been placed inside a sideways plastic Willie been a number of
human hairs matching Stephanie's were found while other dyed strands of hair looked like they could belong to Julie
dark a diluted blood stain was found on an old curtain which someone appeared to
have attempt to wash away with water there wasn't enough blood to obtain a DNA profile but
the blood type was identified as the same as Julie's brown nylon fibers on the workshop floor also matched to those
found on the sheets used to wrap Julie's body an inspection of Sam's computer revealed a disturbing Word document
written in the style of a police statement it explained that he had picked up a young sex worker named -
Julie from Leeds who said she worked at the Leeds General Infirmary she mentioned having a boyfriend whose name
began with do but she stopped herself before revealing his whole name the two had sex during which Sam's noticed that
Julie had a number of bruises on her body afterwards she wrote the name Julie D on a business card and told him I will
be around here some evenings I get dropped off about 10:45 and collected around 11:30
Sam's claimed he'd returned to the area a few days later but didn't see Julie again investigators also searched the
tool repair shop in Cambridgeshire that seems had runs several years earlier there they found a number of unusual
bricks that matched the one found during the Julie Dodd investigation that brick
had been painted white and had an envelope attached with instructions and a forensic examination revealed that it
had been made from blue colour to clay the bricks found at sam's former shop were of the same size and color Sam's
wife Tina told investigators that she and her husband had watched the latest episode of crime watch together and
their Sam's had commented that the suspect sketch looked like him 10 years prior Tina had agreed and joked you've
got a metro and you live near a railway line it's a good job you've got a tin leg when Sam's mother was questioned she
said that he and Tina had visited her on July 21 1991 this matched the date that
Julie darts killer had posted a letter to the police from Leeds railway station Tina confirmed that she and her husband
had stopped at the station during their trip while other journeys Sam's had made
also aligned with dates that other ransom letters had been sent sam's ex-wife Susan oak was shown some of
these letters and confirmed that the spelling and grammatical errors matched those she'd seen before in Sam's writing
on Saturday February 22 the police continued to formally interview Sam's about Stephanie's kidnapping when
talking about Stephanie he often started crying saying that he couldn't bring himself to hurt her
Sam's adamantly denied having anything to do with the Julie darts murder or being familiar with the chapel town's
read a light district insisting he was incapable of hurting a woman when the police pointed out that Julie's body was
disposed of in a wheelie bin and that he had made a similar threat to Stephanie Sam's dismissed this as a coincidence
the days interrogation concluded and police applied for a 36-hour extension on Sam's detention so they could
continue questioning him about Julie the following morning Sam's provided investigators with a
lengthy written statement in which he claimed to have an accomplice in Stephanie's kidnapping he said he paid
the accomplice 20 thousand pounds to drive him to the Glossop railway station which was the first sight that
Stephanie's manager Kevin Watts was directed to leaving Sam's with a moped and other equipment after Sam's had
successfully obtained the ransom money the accomplice picked him up and insisted that Stephanie be killed
Sam's refused and a violent argument broke out between the two men the accomplice only relented when Sam's
offered to give him a majority of the money Sam's claimed that it was his accomplice
who was responsible for blackmailing British Rail and for murdering Julie Dodd the accomplice had allegedly kept
Julie tied to a bed in a chalet on the east coast of England and to beat her with a hammer when she tried to escape
from his sexual abuse Sam's also claimed that his accomplice had a key to Sam's workshop and had used his computer on
multiple occasions Sam's refused to name this individual out of fear he might harm Stephanie in
retaliation investigators didn't believe that another individual was involved instead they were convinced this was
Sam's way of explaining the evidence that linked him to the other two cases they obtained a writing sample from
Sam's and had an expert compared it to the handwritten letters from Julie darts case the sample featured a number of
notable similarities to the letters including 14 identical spelling errors the expert concluded that Sam's was the
author of the letters on Monday February 24 Michael Sams was formally charged with the kidnapping of
Stephanie Slater as well as unlawfully holding her prisoner and demanding 175,000 pounds from her employer with
menaces two days later he was also charged with the murder of Julie Dodd and with demanding 140 thousand pounds
with menaces from West Yorkshire Police Sam's was remanded in custody pending trial during which she continued to
undergo interviews with the police during one interview he suddenly confessed to another failed kidnapping
attempt Samms admitted that one week before Julie's disappearance he made an appointment to view a house with
Nottingham real estate agent 42 year-old Carol Jones he went armed with a knife and drove intending to abduct her but
his plans were foiled when a build up working on the house next door started chatting to him while he waited for
Carol to arrive Sam's ended up leaving before Carol got there investigators spoke with Carol
Jones who remembered that her client was a no-show that day one of her colleagues
Karen Langdon recalled going to meet a client at that same Nottingham property upon her arrival she had been approached
by a man carrying a clipboard who was wearing glasses similar to Michael Sams he walked away at the last moment and
Karen noticed he walked with a slight limp both Carol and Karen was shocked to learn they had escaped a brush with a
kidnapper karen was particularly shaken as she had resigned from her job after stephanie slayed his abduction out of
fear of the risks involved michael sams eventually admitted to writing the ransom letters but claimed
his accomplice had forced him to do so as he maintained that this individual had the majority of the ransom money
finding the cash became a priority for investigators as it would disprove Sam's claims about a second perpetrator once
and for all two witnesses had reported that in July of 1991 they saw a man with a walking
stick on a disused railway track less than one mile from where Julie's body was found Samms denied ever visiting the
area except for one occasion when he visited a popular Trainspotting destination named Stoke Summit police
then spoke with a retired colonel from the Special Air Service who had specialized in finding arms caches he
advised that the money would likely be buried in a remote location that was close to public access based on this
advice and the witness sighting police honed in on the stoke summit railway embankment located 1.7 miles from where
Julie's body had been dumped on December 2 1992 just over ten months after Stephanie's kidnapping
they used ground probing radar to dig in the area eight inches below the surface
they found a black tray wrapped in polythene topped with a newspaper dated february 6 1992 inside there were stacks
of banknotes when Samms heard about the discovery he told police the parcel was one of two he'd prepared but claimed
that it must have been buried by his accomplice two days later buried 16 feet away from
the first police recovered the second parcel of money all up they recovered all of the ransom
money less 12 and a half thousand pounds which was never found Michael Sams trial
commenced at the Nottingham Crown Court on June 9 1993 he pleaded guilty to the charges relating to Stephanie Slater but
not guilty - Julie's abduction and murder and not guilty to the attempted extortion of British Rail over two and a
half days the prosecutor delivered a dramatic opening speech detailing what he dubbed Michael Sam's campaign of
crime Julie dark was known to be terrified of confined spaces and was described as someone who would have
bought back against an attacker the prosecution's theory was that Julie had likely attempted to escape from the box
Sam's hold her in and Sims had then killed her how to fear that she had seen too much
the prosecution believed that Stephanie had survived because she had played along with Sam's demands
when Stephanie took the stand to deliver her testimony she kept her eyes to the ground while Sam's sobbed in the
background the defense called Michael Sams as their first witness he maintained that his accomplice had a
murder - Julie dart and had forced Sam's to write the ransom letters as for Stephanie's kidnapping he claimed he was
financially motivated to commit the crime because he wanted to buy a nice house for his wife in an attempt to mend
their relationship during cross-examination Sam's refused to name Julie's killer
saying he would only do so at the conclusion of the trial after proving himself innocent the prosecutor accused
Sam's of lying stating quote you cannot bring yourself to admit that you killed Julie dart and are like a little child
you have invented this friend the trial ran for four ways and on July 8th the jury retired to consider their
verdict they deliberated for three and a half hours before declaring Michael Sam's guilty of all charges including
Julie's murder and to the British Rail extortion attempt those seated in the public gallery
applauded and cheered while Stephanie Slater cried and mouthed thank you to the jury Julie's mother
Linda cried out you bastard before bursting into tears Sam's showed a no emotion as the judge
addressed him directly saying quote you are an extremely dangerous and evil man the jury has convicted you of the murder
of Julie Dodd that was murder in cold blood a kidnap gone wrong because she saw more than she should
undeterred by the horror of what you had done you tried to turn her death to your
advantage when Stephanie Slater was kidnapped I have not the slightest doubt that she was in desperate and mortal
danger the ordeal that you inflicted on her is something that the rest of us can
only imagine her survival in my judgment is entirely due to her own remarkable moral courage
he's crimes against Julie and Stephanie the judge sentenced Sam's to four lifetimes
he also received concurrent 10-year sentences for each of the blackmail attempts and the attempted extortion of
British Rail when Stephanie was later asked how she felt she remarked well he shouldn't have done it should he if he
was going to cry like that after what he has done I can show him tears I can show
him lots of tears stronger upsetting natural tears outside court Linda told reporters quote I know we will never
have Julie back I also know that justice has been done at last and to that beast
Sam's and to that's what he is has got what he justly deserves Sam's were sent to serve his sentence
that full Sutton prison in Yorkshire four days after his conviction he requested to speak with West Yorkshire
detective Superintendent Bob Taylor who had been in charge of the Julie Dodd inquiry Sam's told the detective that he
had seen a photo of Julie darts headstone on television and to notice that it didn't have an exact date for
her death consequently he had decided to come clean as he wanted Julie's mother to
know when her daughter had died Sam's confessed that he had lured to Julie into his car at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday
July 9 1991 under the guise of hiring her for sex work when she leaned forward in the passenger seat to remove her
shoes he placed the noose around her neck and drove her to his workshop there he stripped her clothes tied her to a
chair and forced her to write a ransom letter to her boyfriend Sam's then confined to Julie in the box
inside the Willie Ben like he did with Stephanie the next day Julie managed to smash her way out but
Sam's had set up a trigger mechanism that sent him a phone call to alert him to any escape attempts shortly before
6:00 p.m. the trigger went off and Sam's raced over to the workshop using a hammer he not - Julie unconscious before
strangling her to death although she was no longer alive Sam's proceeded with his
extortion attempts but continuing to send a ransom letters to the police after Sam's confession detective
Superintendent Taylor met with the Julie darts family to share this new information Linda was finally able to
update her daughter's headstone with Julie's exact date of death she told Yorkshire television quote Sam's has
known for two years that he did it he knew all through the trial that he was guilty so why does he now decide to come
out and say it he's just warped and twisted he is twisting the knife and rubbing salt in
the wound as well it is just another game in his book one month later portions of a letter that Sam's had
written to his now estranged wife Tina were published in newspapers throughout Britain in it Sam's revealed that he had
always intended to release Stephanie and had always planned on killing Julie based on this information investigators
theorized that Sam's have likely abducted and killed Julie as a trial run for his subsequent abduction scheme from
the moment Stephanie Slater was abducted comparisons were made to the 1986 disappearance of Suzy lamb blue which
was covered in episode 48 of case file Suzy was a 25 year old British estate agent who vanished after going to show a
house to a client named mr. kipper and her case has never been solved Stephanie had been well aware of Suzy's
disappearance and as a real estate agent herself she had initially started carrying a personal alarm when she was
out showing houses however by the time of her own abduction in 1992 the memory of Suzy's tragedy had faded and
Stephanie no longer carried the alarm during her time being held hostage Sam's had assured Stephanie that he had
nothing to do with Suzy's disappearance but after his arrest the media speculated that he may be responsible
police dismissed this theory stating that Samms wasn't a likely culprit but had likely been inspired by the case in
1994 Samms allegedly sent a letter from prison confessing to Suzie's abduction but it was dismissed by police as a sick
hoax the following year crime writer Christopher Barry D published a book titled unmasking mr. Cooper who really
killed Susie lamp Liu which argued that Sam's was responsible for the crime the lamp Lu family were never consulted
about the book and were unhappy about its publication Susie's mother Diana publicly stated her belief that Barry
Dee was using her daughter's disappearance to sell his book which was far more focused on Michael Sams then on Suze
Stephanie Slater found it difficult to return to normal life after her abduction she was unable to return to
her job struggled to socialize with friends and to ended her relationship with her boyfriend as a result of being
kept in the wooden box she suffered from chronic back pain as well as anxiety nightmares and panic attacks people
recognized her everywhere she went so she altered her appearance and temporarily changed her name in an
attempt to create a new identity Stephanie also struggled with the fact that she had survived while Julie dart
hadn't been so lucky she met Julie's mother and grandparents and went with Linda to place flowers on Julie's grave
in an attempt to find closure Stephanie decided to go back to the workshop where
she'd been held hostage and agreed that television network Central Television could film the visit
seeing the workshop unblind folded for the first time she was surprised by how small it was and how close it was to a
main road though she found the experience unnerving it didn't provide the resolution stephanie was looking for
in need of a fresh start in October 1993 she decided to relocate to the Isle of Wight with her best friend Stacy Kettner
Stephanie had spent many happy summers there as a child and described it as her own personal heaven on earth the
following year she began working as a part-time tour guide at a historic castle this helped to give her life
focus and encouraged her to speak to strangers again Stephanie developed a close-knit circle of friends and
attributed her recovery to the support of her loved ones Stephanie decided to write a book about her ordeal in the
hopes her story might help others titled beyond be my will to survive the book revealed that Stephanie had in fact been
raped by Michael Sams during her first night as a hostage she had originally withheld this information as she was
terrified that the truth would devastate her mother who had health problems and had suffered a heart attack
following Stephanie's kidnapping on the night Stephanie had been released from captivity
her mother had begged her to say that the kidnapper hadn't touched her and Stephanie decided not to raise the issue
in the months and years that followed the only person she told about the rape was her friend Stacey while stephanie
was in the process of writing her book it was reported that Michael Sams also intended to write a book claiming that
he and Stephanie were in love and had a consensual affair stephanie was incensed by the claims
later stating quote it felt as if I was being raped all over again I was taking antidepressants and drinking heavily to
try to stop the flashbacks and nightmares I was drinking two bottles of wine and
night in the hope of sinking into some kind of oblivion Stephanie's co-writer eventually
convinced her not to let Sam's bully her and she persevered with telling the truth in her book she later said that
this decision was quote the best thing I ever did I just the wished I'd have done
it earlier when the rape became public knowledge following the book's publication in 1995
Michael Sams threatened to sue Stephanie for libel but was prevented from doing so by the Prison Service on October 24
1995 probation officer julia flack was in her office when Michael seemed centered with the out warning armed with
a sharpened metal rod he'd stolen from a prison workshop Julia screamed for help and depressed an
alarm button but since through a lunch tray at her and proceeded to headbutt her another prisoner heard the attack
and came to Julia's rescue he managed to overpower Samms before prison officers arrived
seconds later due to this quick intervention Julia only required minor medical treatment Samms was transferred
to the prison's segregation unit and charged with false imprisonment and attempted murder in February 1997 he
opted to defend himself at trial Sam said he had committed the attack because he was angry that the Prison Service had
prevented him from suing Stephanie he had also wanted to sell some paintings for charity but these had been
confiscated he claimed to have entered a julia flaks office to stage a peaceful demonstration and had planned to hold
her hostage until police were called at which point he intended to take his own life
jurors banned Sam's guilty of false imprisonment but not guilty of attempted murder and he was sentenced to a further
eight years he is now among the oldest tend to longest-serving life sentence prisoners
in England and Wales over the years Stephanie Slater continued to use her traumatic ordeal to
help others she helped to various Police Department's improve their interactions
with kidnapped victims and provided support to other survivors of crime in 2011 she said quote before this happened
I had a boyfriend a job and a company car I had a loads of friends and a great social life but Sam's took everything
and destroyed the next 20 years of my life but now I am ready to begin again most people begin their lives in their
20s and 30s but those years of my life were destroyed in a 2012 interview with the journalist - Keith the wilkinson
Stephanie said I ran away from my name Steph for a long time because of everything that was attached to but the
thing was I didn't realize when I was running so fast that I've actually come back into contact with her again
this time around I'm proud of what she's done and I'm proud of what she survived
and I've embraced it again I'm not going to run away from Stephanie Slater anymore because I found her again and
it's me so now I take on board what happened to me I use it and hopefully help others through it
[Music] Stephanie continued living on the Isle of Wight where she and her best friend
Stacy made plans to start a ghost tour business using a restored 1966 camper van
however in August 2017 stephanie was diagnosed with liver cancer at the age of 50 and died just 11 days later her
funeral was held at the Isle of Wight crematorium on September 14 mourners traveled in her vintage camper van while
her coffin was carried in a second silver camper Stephanie's friend Stacy caetna said
we have had a unique into epic friendship for over 25 years and shared so much together good and bad times I
know that she truly never got over the events that shaped her life so dramatically in January 1992
it's been an honor and a privilege to be Stephanie's best friend the West Midlands Police also paid tribute to
Stephanie in a statement that read to Stephanie's courage and bravery over the years and for the work she did in
helping police officers and victims by sharing her experience journalist Katie Wilkinson who worked with Stephanie on a
documentary in the 1990s said there's no doubt her efforts helped pave the way for better support for victims
she also helped to raise awareness of the possible dangers faced by estate agents meeting clients alone for her
bravery and campaigning work many people lo Stephanie a great debt of gratitude [Music]
you [Music]

Case 147: Julie Dart and Stephanie Slater

Two days had gone by and Dominic hadn’t heard from his girlfriend Julie Dart. Then, on the morning of Friday, July 12, Dominic received an unexpected visit from his sister, who had found a handwritten envelope addressed to him amongst her mail...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-147-julie-dart-and-stephanie-slater

Brief Summary

Julie Dart was kidnapped and murdered by Michael Sams, who also abducted Stephanie Slater, leading to his arrest and trial.

Key points

The Kidnapper's Letter. A letter arrives demanding ransom for Julie's safe return, escalating the urgency.
Kidnapper's Threats Intensify. The kidnapper threatens police with dire consequences if they fail to comply with demands.
Discovery of Fake Bomb. A fake bomb is found near a phone box, raising alarms for police.
Stephanie Slater's Kidnapping. Real-estate agent Stephanie Slater is kidnapped, leading to a frantic search.
Stephanie's Message Home. Stephanie's father receives a call with a pre-recorded message from her, confirming she is alive.
Stephanie's Return. Stephanie is found and reunited with her parents, but the ordeal leaves lasting scars.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I will contact you as to the location.

The kidnapper's chilling promise in a letter.

2:26WatchJun 20, 2020

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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