Forensic Files - Season 5, Episode 15 - Time Will Tell - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: The date, July 28, 1996. The place, 60 feet beneath the English Channel
off the coast of Devon, England. A fisherman was about to haul in his nets. His catch of the day would unearth of gruesome secret.
Buried among the sea bass and crabs was a very large catch, a dead man with no apparent identification.
The nets had disturbed a watery grave, revealing a mystery that would cross an ocean.
[music playing] NARRATOR: When John Copik, a fisherman of 30 years, pulled a dead body on board, he had a decision to make.
A floater is a bad omen. JOHN COPIK: I can do one of two things here. I can pull this, cut line, and he goes back over the side
and we go on fishing. Or we take him in, in which case the fish is going to be condemned, your going to lose a day's wages.
Brixham Coast Guard, this is a fishing vessel "Malcary." I've just hauled my gear six miles east of Teignmouth,
and I've got a body in the [inaudible]. -This is Brixham Coastguard. Could you please stay at your position
and we'll send somebody out. NARRATOR: The victim was an unidentified male between the ages of 40 and 50.
From the amount of decomposition, the pathologist determined that the body had been in the water for less than a week.
The victim was wearing a blue and white checkered shirt, leather belt, and green corduroy trousers with the pockets
pulled inside out. GYAN FERNANDO: When I first examined the body, I noticed a tattoo on the back of the hand.
I thought it was a cluster of stars, and that's what I said in my original report.
And in any case I'd never seen a tattoo like that, not in British subjects. NARRATOR: There were several injuries noted on the body.
Bruises on his left hip and lower leg, and the four inch gash on the back of the head.
Most likely the head injury caused unconsciousness, but the actual cause of death was never in question.
GYAN FERNANDO: The lungs are the best organs to look for drowning, and the lung showed evidence of drowning.
So the cause of death was not difficult, but why he got into the water and why he drowned
was the difficult part. NARRATOR: The only item of note on the victim, was an expensive wrist watch.
It was a Swiss made Rolex brand Oyster Perpetual Chronometer, which had stopped on the 22nd of the month.
Every Rolex watch has a story. BILL SCHILLER: Rolex keeps extraordinary records on their watches worldwide.
Every Rolex watch comes with a serial number. It's hidden on the watch. But detailed records are kept for everyone
who owns that watch forever, and all the servicing records. NARRATOR: The Rolex company identified
the watch owner as Ronald J Platt. The victim's next of kin were contacted. His brother positively identified Ronald Platt's body
by the tattoo on his hand, a Canadian maple leaf. Ronald Platt was a 50-year-old television
repairman who was divorced. He hadn't been in regular contact with his family which is why he hadn't been reported missing.
Platt had been living in Essex County, over 300 miles from Devon where his body was discovered.
On his application for his last apartment rental, he listed a man named David Davis as a reference.
CONSTABLE IAN CLENEHAN: I phoned David Davis up on his mobile phone number and, unfortunately,
I told him about the fact that we'd recovered a body from the sea which we believed to be his friend, Ronald Platt.
NARRATOR: Davis told police that he and Ronald Platt had been friends, but he hadn't seen
Platt in over three months. David Davis was a 50-year-old retired financial adviser
from Canada, who was living in England with his 21-year-old wife Noel and their two daughters.
Davis and his family lived in the small village of Woodham Walter in a cul-de-sac
at the end of Little London Lane. When police went to interview Davis in person,
they made the mistake of knocking on the wrong door. BILL SCHILLER: The elderly gentleman replies, no, no, no.
This isn't Little London farm. That, he says, pointing next door. That is Little London farm.
So Redmond then asks, well is that where David Davis lives? And the elderly gentleman says no, no, no.
That's not where David Davis lives. There's no David Davis, there. That's where Ronald Platt lives.
That's where Ronald Platt lives with his lovely wife, and their two little children.
CONSTABLE IAN CLENEHAN: I couldn't believe what he was telling me, you know, it was bizarre.
The guy that I had thought was dead, and had been identified as dead to me, was in fact alive and well and living
in Woodham Walter. NARRATOR: But why was David Davis now posing as Ronald Platt? DET.
PHIL SINCOCK: There's clearly something wrong here. And we had to put David Davis under a microscope.
Find out who he was, why was he using this false identity. Was there something more sinister involved?
NARRATOR: For reasons that were not at all clear, David Davis, a Canadian citizen living in England,
had been posing as Ronald Platt, the name of the man found at the bottom of the English Channel.
An investigation into Davis's background revealed some troubling information. For the last three years, all of Davis's bills
were paid for with checks and credit cards signed by Ronald Platt, some signed after Platt's body was pulled from the sea.
Davis met the real Ronald Platt through Platt's girlfriend, Elaine Boyes, who worked for David Davis
in a small investment company Davis ran in London. Police also discovered that David Davis owned a sailboat
that was moored in Devin, only a few miles from where Ronald Platt's body was discovered.
Police searched through David Davis' mobile telephone records, which showed calls made from the same area
where Platt's body was found. And the calls were made during the same time period in July
that the medical examiner said Ronald Platt drowned. Davis claimed he hadn't seen his friend Ronald Platt in months,
but police found witnesses who saw them together in the Devin area shortly before Platt's death.
DET. PHIL SINCOCK: He was clearly lying to us as well as using Ronald Platt's identity
and that changed the complexion of things. So I contacted Essex and told them to change the charge
that they were going to arrest him for from check fraud to murder. NARRATOR: On Halloween morning, in 1996,
an armed English Response Team waited to arrest Davis at his home at the end of Little London Lane.
A taxi unexpectedly drove down the lane in the middle of the police raid. Davis made a dash from the house to the taxi, which
quickly took off to get past police. BILL SCHILLER: Finally the main police car catches up,
pushes the taxi cab drive-- driver over to the shoulder. A policeman with a very big gun drawn moves out of the car,
points it directly through the window at Davis's head. NARRATOR: David Davis was arrested
on suspicion of the murder of Ronald Platt. In the house was Davis's 21-year-old wife Noel
and the couple's two little girls, three-year-old Emily, and Lillian, who was just six months old.
Police allowed Noel to pack a diaper bag with items for the children. DET. PHIL SINCOCK: One of the officers
there was a little suspicious however, about its weight, and searched the bag and inside found
that she'd slipped inside the baby clothes 4,000 pounds in cash and five gold bars.
NARRATOR: At police headquarters, Noel's purse contained a treasure trove of incriminating
evidence, documents in the name of Ronald Platt and Platt's girlfriend, Elaine Boyes,
and the children's birth certificates which listed Ronald Platt and Elaine Boyes as the parents.
DET. PHIL SINCOCK: She gave no real explanation for that other than to say that when she got pregnant,
she needed medical attention and had actually used Elaine Boyes's identity cards to get that medical treatment.
BILL SCHILLER: The police are mystified by the gap in ages. In fact, it seems like about a 30 year gap.
She barely looks 20. He looks to be about 50. What's going on? They decide that they're going to bear down
on her in questioning, see if they could make her crack. And in fact they do. And they find out something that surprises even
them, namely, she blurts out, he's my father. NARRATOR: Noel refused to identify
the father of the children. David Davis' home on Little London Lane held a wealth of evidence.
Envelopes stuffed with Swiss francs, British pounds, American dollars, keys to storage lockers,
gold bars, expensive paintings. And in a mountain of documents a tiny scrap of paper that would be a turning point in the investigation.
BILL SCHILLER: And they found a receipt with seven items listed on it, bought from a shop called Sport Nautique in Dartmouth,
on the water. And in those seven items, there was something that was noted, it was a 10 pound plow anchor.
NARRATOR: The police went back to question John Copik, the fisherman who pulled Platt's body out of the sea
in his nets. JOHN COPIK: I didn't notice the anchor till we actually got, physically got the gear on board--
until we got the trawler on board. And I didn't connect the two together until the following day.
NARRATOR: The 10 pound zinc galvanized plow anchor found in the fishing nets with Ronald Platt's body,
may have been used to anchor Platt's body at the bottom of the English Channel and came loose
when he was dragged to the surface by fishing nets. When Dr. Fernando laid the anchor next to the injuries
on Platt's leg, he discovered the cause of the wounds. GYAN FERNANDO: The bruise on the hip
was caused by the low end of the anchor and the bruise on the thigh was caused by the other the end of the anchor.
So the anchor had been hooked to his waist band or to his belt. NARRATOR: It was becoming evident how Ron Platt died.
The anchor and Platt's belt were sent to the forensics lab for analysis. On Platt's leather belt was a translucent deposit.
Police asked a forensic metallurgist to determine what made the mark. ALEXANDER GRANT: I worked with a sample from the belt
in the area of the mark and a sample from the surface of the anchor. NARRATOR: The mark on Platt's belt
was analyzed with a scanning electron microscope, and the material on the belt was identified.
ALEXANDER GRANT: Basically the mark on the belt was predominantly zinc, as was the surface of the anchor.
NARRATOR: Still unanswered was how Ron Platt's body got six miles out into the English Channel.
Dr. Bob Allen, a hydraulic engineer, analyzed the location of the body and studied the water currents during the week
Platt was in the English Channel. BOB ALLEN: They told me where the body was recovered
and what they were concerned about was where the body had entered the water. We determined what the currents were in the area,
but what we weren't able to say was whether those currents were strong enough to move the body without some further work.
NARRATOR: Dr. Alan conducted a unique experiment to simulate a drowned man anchored
to the bottom of the English Channel. He attached a 10 pound anchor to his belt, expelled the air
from his lungs, and sank to the bottom of an artificial channel which recreated the cold sea water and the same currents
that were present when Platt's body was dumped. The anchor held the body firm, meaning
it was dumped in the same location where it was found. BOB ALLEN: And we knew then that the body
had not moved anywhere. That it was found where it was dumped. NARRATOR: Davis's sailboat, the Lady Jane,
was brought into the forensics lab for an inspection. Inside the cabin, a small hair sample
was discovered on the seat cushion and there was a plastic Sports Nautique bag from the same store where Davis purchased the anchor.
Both were sent for forensic testing. To fingerprint smooth, non porous material, like the Sport
Nautique bag, forensic experts put the bag in a sealed cabinet. Inside, super glue is heated and fumes adhere to the finger oils
on the bag, which can be visualized when the bag is dipped in a yellow fluorescent dye
which adheres to finger oils. The fingerprint on the Sport Nautique bag was that of Ronald Platt.
DNA testing of the hair found on the boat cushion revealed the hair was also that of Ronald Platt.
Finally, police examined the ship's navigational device called a GPS, Global Positioning System, which records signals
from three satellites triangulating the boat's position on the earth. A GPS stores the time and location
of the boat when it is last turned off. The GPS from Davis's boat indicated that he shut off
the navigational device just 3.8 nautical miles from the spot where the body resurfaced.
The date was July 20. The Rolex watch found on Ronald Platt was self winding, which means it runs for 40 hours
after it stops moving. The watch stopped on July 22. 40 hours earlier made the date July 20.
The same date recorded by the GPS on the Lady Jane. Police knew that David Davis wasn't this man's real name.
But just who was he? A man living with his daughter as husband and wife with two small children whose paternity was unclear.
And what was his motive to murder Ronald Platt? A retired businessman, David Davis
was a suspect in the murder of his friend Ronald Platt. But investigators wanted to know his true identity.
When they compared Davis's fingerprints to those of wanted fugitives from around the world,
the prints matched a man who had been on the run for six years. DET. PHIL SINCOCK: We had a hit.
David Davis came back identified in Canada as being their most wanted man, called Albert Johnson Walker.
So this was the first time that we actually know who this guy was. NARRATOR: Albert J Walker, from Ontario, Canada,
had been married for 22 years and had four children. He became one of the 10 most wanted criminals in the world
after embezzling over $4 million from investors in Canada. BILL SCHILLER: He was on the verge of being caught
so he decided to flee to Canada and he took his 15-year-old daughter Sheena with him
and disappeared, completely, or almost. NARRATOR: Walker and his daughter, Sheena, lived together in England
as David and Noel Davis, man and wife. BILL SCHILLER: One of the Canadian police decided
to phone Walker's wife, Barbara. And it was very simple, very straightforward. We found Albert and we found your daughter Sheena.
And by the way congratulations, you're a grandmother. NARRATOR: When Walker fled to England,
he began working the same investment scams as he did in Canada and hired Elaine Boyes as an executive assistant.
When Walker no longer needed Elaine Boyes's services he paid for Elaine and her boyfriend, Ronald Platt,
to move to Canada to start a new life together. With Platt gone, Walker assumed his identity.
But three years later, Elaine Boyes and Ronald Platt returned to England, which threatened Walker's plans.
DET. PHIL SINCOCK: And now we're two Ronald Platt's and was one too many for Albert Walker.
He had to get rid of this friend. NARRATOR: Albert Walker put his plan into motion
when he purchased a new 10 pound anchor, not for his sailboat, but for Ronald Platt.
On July 20, 1996 Walker invited Platt out on the Lady Jane for a day of sailing.
With a blunt instrument, Walker knocked Platt unconscious with a blow to the back of his head.
Blood and hair spattered onto the plastic bag. Walker then pulled Platt to the upper deck
where he slipped the anchor under Platt's belt and heaved him overboard. Among the mistakes Walker made that day,
was failing to remove Platt's wrist watch with the serial number and using his boats
global positioning system, which captured the location, date, and time of the murder.
Albert Walker went on trial for murder. In a rare courtroom occurrence, Walker's daughter
testified against her own father. BILL SCHILLER: At this stage in the trial, it came out in the courtroom that, obviously, Mr. Walker
and Sheena were father and daughter, and yet two children were found on the premises
when the police made their raid. Well the jury was just struck dumb. NARRATOR: On July 6, 1998 it took the jury just two hours
to find Albert Walker guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
DET. PHIL SINCOCK: He make one big mistake and that was that he forgot to take off that Rolex watch.
And it was really that Rolex watch that led us to the identity of Ronald Platt and started the whole chain of events which ended up
with Walker getting a life sentence for murder. Sheena Walker is now living quietly
with her children in Canada. She would not agree to a paternity test on her two little girls.
BILL SCHILLER: I think Mr. Walker is, without a doubt, probably the most fascinating character
I've ever come across. He was a consummate actor. Even as we speak, this man is still plotting his way out
of prison and I think that's-- I think it's chilling really. DET. PHIL SINCOCK: Ronald Platt, the victim, is often forgotten.
It was Ronald Platt, the one in a million shot of him actually returning from his watery grave six miles out at sea
when he was caught in those nets. The injuries on his body showing us exactly how he was killed
and how the anchor was used to weigh him down. The piece of paper he wrote out for his reference
where he put David Davis, the name of his killer. And his cell phone number, which led us to Davis.
Everything really came from Ronald Platt. His head hair that was found on the boat,
his fingerprints on the plastic bag. He was showing us that he'd been on that boat,
and that that boat had been used to murder him. It was really Ronald Platt who solved this case.
And when he emerged from his watery grave, pointed his tattooed hand directly at his murderer, Albert Johnson Walker.
[music playing]

In this international case of extortion, murder, and stolen identities, scam-artist Albert J. Walker assumes the identity of co-worker Ronald Platt. Platt later turns up dead in an ocean, with an anchor tied around his torso.

Forensic Files is the longest-running true crime series in television history. Evidence and interviews with experts help solve real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world.

Brief Summary

The episode details the murder of Ronald Platt and the investigation that led to Albert Johnson Walker's arrest and conviction.

Key points

The Discovery of Ronald Platt. A fisherman uncovers a dead body while fishing in the English Channel.
The Identity of the Victim. The victim is identified as Ronald J Platt, a 50-year-old television repairman.
The Arrest of David Davis. David Davis is arrested on suspicion of murdering Ronald Platt after a police raid.
The Trial of Albert Walker. Albert Walker is found guilty of first-degree murder after a shocking trial.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Every Rolex watch has a story.

Discussing the significance of the Rolex found on Ronald Platt.

3:11WatchNov 11, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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