Meet, Marry, Murder - Season 1, Episode 28 - Jarvis - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[music playing] NARRATOR: As 47-year-old Carol Jarvis became ill, her husband, Harry moved his mistress Rita into the garden
shed. There, she sleeps on a dingy mattress. GARY ALLEN: If Rita were sleeping there,
her head would be only about four feet from where I understood Carol's head would have been in her bed
through the wall inside the house. NARRATOR: There was much detectives had to uncover about the story of Mr. Harry and Mrs. Carol
Jarvis, including how she died. One of her four children learned about Carol's death
in gruesome fashion. GRAHAM JARVIS: Later on that day, they had came round and-- and there was-- they told us
that they had found a body on underneath the floorboards of the house. And obviously it was his Mom.
NARRATOR: Carole Jarvis was dead. Had she been killed by the man she had married?
If so, proving it was not going to be straightforward. PHIL GACHAGAN: I had meetings with Crown solicitors.
And there was a real worry that there wasn't enough evidence to even take the case to court.
[music playing] NARRATOR: Harry Jarvis was working as a bus driver in London when he met Carol.
He quickly set his sights on marrying her despite her age. Graham Jarvis, the couple's son, would
hear stories of their youth. GRAHAM JARVIS: She was a proper bound [inaudible] girl.
And so we had all proper cockneys. And Dad was from Grimsby area. But my Mom's family were all London, [inaudible] Londoners.
Jarvis met Carol in 1977. And times were different then. And we can see this because at 29 years old,
he is working as a bus driver and he meets a 15-year-old girl and gets into a relationship with one another.
NARRATOR: Harry was much more worldly. A fact which he displayed in his drinking.
Even back then, I think he was a man who would get through the best part of the bottle of whiskey a day.
So he really wasn't exactly the kind of man that you want for your daughter. It was a very, very frowned upon relationship as a result.
Carol's entire family were very much against it. His interest is in a schoolgirl.
That says something firstly, about his personality that he's somebody who doesn't obey rules.
But secondly, that he doesn't feel that there is a power imbalance in a man dating a child.
NARRATOR: Despite the obvious differences in age and personality, the couple married
and children soon follow. JANE MONCKTON-SMITH: Carol has three children in quick succession, just a--
one a year, really, for the first three children. And that's another warning perhaps
that Carol is being put into a position where she's actually now completely trapped in the relationship.
NARRATOR: Before their eldest child Graham had finished primary school, the family left London and moved 450 miles to Scotland.
We grew up in [inaudible] and then, I think, from the age of eight, we moved up to Scotland.
Because Mom used to always like it. We used to go on holidays there. She always had a special fancy for Scotland,
and specifically Bathgate for some reason. NARRATOR: Harry had fallen out with some of his family.
So making the decision for he and Carol to move to Bathgate easy, it was a far cry from London.
A small town 22 miles West of Edinburgh. GRAHAM JARVIS: I think ma and Dad, and specifically Dad had these demons, should we say, just
in terms of his history and his family history and those [inaudible] him and his brothers
and his side of the family. I think they settled on Bathgate as that sort of forever home.
NARRATOR: They moved into Balbardie Crescent. Carol embraced life in her Scottish community,
becoming a Brownie leader and devoting herself to being a good Mom. TONY KENT: It seems of the two of them--
it seems of Harry and Carol, that Carol was the parent. I don't think Harry seemed to play much of a role at all.
But Carol more than made up for that. She was to all intents and purposes, the perfect mother.
GRAHAM JARVIS: She was one of a kind. I think always like at a party and stuff like that she'd always dancing.
She didn't-- she didn't care about what anyone thought. But on the flip side of it, she would always have your back.
Like we were sort of picked on for being English and moving up. And she would almost come over and defend us.
And she was the type of woman who really loved bringing up her children. GRAHAM JARVIS: Back in the younger days,
because he was a bus driver for-- for when I was growing up, he used to go on, like,
the long journey, so he used to drive buses from London up to Edinburgh. And sometimes even back down again a couple of times
in a row. So and it was pretty much left to Mom to do day-to-day stuff. She just bloomed into the whole maternal role.
The children could not ask for more from their mother. For example, when they had a birthday,
they'd have a birthday party but all of the kids would get the presents on each of the children's birthday.
It was like they had four birthdays a year. When she would go on all the Girl Guides trips,
she would be the first port of call for any of her children who had any kind of problem at all.
JANE MONCKTON-SMITH: And from the outside, certainly, it seems some people thought
that it was a really good marriage or, you know, they were both happy. Carol was happy, the children were happy.
Everything's rolling along perfect family. But, you know, what looks perfect rarely is.
TONY KENT: As well as being this great mother, Carol was also an absolutely devoted wife.
She was absolutely besotted with her husband. It's very clear when you look into this relationship
that Carol trusted her husband implicitly. NARRATOR: She trusted him, despite evidence which
suggested that he had something secret and separate in his life. GRAHAM JARVIS: And then there was
times whereby again, I think he just-- maybe just needed a break or whatever. I don't know.
But used to go away for, like, maybe a couple of days at a time or a week at a time.
We called them missing episodes and he'd vanished. You know, even at a young age, you
start to ask, where is he going, where has he been, if you like. She ignored so many warning signs.
He was picking up a bit of a criminal record. He was in trouble for embezzlement.
He was in trouble for fraud. He was doing quite a lot of dishonest things. And he was being found out.
And Carol turned a blind eye to all of them. Carol let go because she absolutely
adored the man who had brought her to Scotland when she was 15 years old. EMMA KENNY: Even though some of his behaviors are very dubious,
she chose to see him in the best light possible. We are introduced to a very concerning trait in Jarvis
when he starts to get involved in fraud and embezzlement. Con artistry behavior scores highly
on the psychopathy scale. Because people who are willing to con people are very deceptive and malicious and manipulative.
NARRATOR: Fraud and embezzlement weren't they only have Jarvis's vises to have a negative impact
upon family life. We always knew when he was in a mood or when he was tired just to stay clear of him, if you like.
'Cause he would just not be the best person to talk to, if you like. Other times, he would be fine.
He would be happy as Larry and, you know, he'd be fine. But when he was maybe in the kitchen having a wee drink
or he was [inaudible],, you would just avoid him. NARRATOR: It was around 2000 when, 38, that Carol became
overrun with a debilitating illness and was forced into a wheelchair. It was due to a degenerative muscle condition.
GRAHAM JARVIS: I was probably around about 12-13, I reckon, and I became aware of, like,
how-- how Mom could be and, um, sort of some of the stuff that she used to be able to do, she--
she couldn't, if you like. And almost, like, sort of seeing Dad taking an active role in the house.
Or sometimes when he was gone, we would have to take that active role and to sort of, you know,
do the housework and stuff like that. So I think round about 12 or 13 when I fully recognized that, you know,
Mom's not in a good place. NARRATOR: It was agreed that Harry would become Carol's full time carer.
And the family relied on the benefit money that he received for that role to keep things afloat.
GRAHAM JARVIS: I think in-- in the early days, Dad's done a good job caring for Mom.
Obviously, it's difficult, like, you know, trying to raise four kids, let alone caring
for your-- your-- your partner. It's a-- it's a tough job. But I think in the mainstream, in the early days,
I done a reasonable job. Now, he's the hero. He's taking care of her. He's given up his job for her.
So again, her analysis of him is potentially that he is the most caring husband.
And that the devotion that she's given him is being played out positively for her here.
NARRATOR: With Carol bedridden, Jarvis had a free rein to prowl the internet looking for women.
He was having affairs. A chance encounter lead him to Rita. TONY KENT: Harry's affairs continued.
And they culminated in what was probably the unluckiest affair when we look at it
from the position of Carol. And that's with a woman called Rita Heyster. NARRATOR: Rita Heyster had been a millionaire after inheritance
but had spent lavishly. Temporarily, she needed a roof over her head and she wanted a man in her life.
Enter Harry Jarvis. Harry fitted out the garden shed with a mattress and a bowl and a towel and other basic things.
And Rita moved in. She moved into the shed in the back garden of the house where Carol was lying as an invalid.
NARRATOR: The complicated world of Harry Jarvis in 2008, heavy drinker, embezzler, husband and father,
a man who thought he'd found a meal ticket for life in Rita Heyster, heiress to a family fortune.
If only Carol wasn't on the scene, perhaps Rita could be a useful second wife. By 2008, Harry Jarvis was displaying his love of whiskey,
women and doing his wife wrong. GARY ALLEN: As a regular feature of his life, he would take a fancy to other women.
He would make contact on the internet in some way. He would go off with them on a jolly
for sometimes weeks at a time. Carol, whilst not happy about the situation, tolerated the situation.
And when Jarvis did misbehave, I think she protected her children from perhaps what she really
probably knew their father was. But also, she's protecting him. She's protecting him from any negative feedback
and perhaps trying to keep things nice and balanced. NARRATOR: It was May of 2008 when
Harry Jarvis found 56-year-old Rita Heyster on an internet dating site. She lived 50 miles south on the England-Scotland border.
GRAHAM JARVIS: Rita was the first person that we knew that Dad had a full-on affair with.
She had, it seems, been a lady who had inherited a substantial legacy following the death of her father.
TONY KENT: Unfortunately, Rita went through that money very quickly. So she came from this very privileged background.
Yeah, she was adopted into privilege. She was adopted into wealth. She likes nice cars, nice homes.
So she's very, very frivolous with her cash. On one level, this could introduce us to somebody who's
quite naive and vulnerable. She doesn't know how to manage herself. And we know that Jarvis likes that kind of woman.
He can control her. But on another, they've got this perfect synergy. He is chaotic, he drinks heavily.
She is chaotic, she spends heavily. They probably have a very immature emotional coping strategy.
TONY KENT: By the time she met Harry, she had been married twice. She had found herself having to downgrade
repeatedly in her houses as her wealth dwindled. By the time she met Harry, she was
living in a semi-detached council house. NARRATOR: Things developed quickly between Jarvis and Rita.
Apparently, in love and desperate to be together. We know that when Rita meets him she's instantly besotted.
And even though her friends are saying, this guy might not be a good idea. She disregards all of her friends advice
and she just absolutely goes full throttle into this relationship. She moved up to Bathgate to be near him.
She initially, it seems, stayed in bed and breakfast accommodation. But that was too expensive.
NARRATOR: What cheaper accommodation than the Jarvis family shed? Rita's defense lawyer uncovered the reality
of her makeshift home. And it was literally one or two feet away from the window
of the living room of the house, which was looking out onto the back garden where the shed was situated.
There were electricity cables running from the house into the shed to provide some sort of power.
But I just thought the whole situation seemed bizarre from the outset. GARY ALLEN: How the mattress, which filled the whole shed was
positioned meant that at night, if Rita was sleeping there, her head would be only about four feet from where
Carol's head would have been in her bed through the wall inside the house. Because this happened so often that actually all
of the neighbors became aware that there was this woman who seemed to be in a relationship with Harry,
because they would walk up and down the road hand-in-hand, though, not really seeming to care who saw them.
And everyone knew she was living in the garden shed. It must have been the-- the strangest sort
of circumstance for the local gossips to talk about. Rita would have gone along with this ludicrous scenario
because she believed it was the path to them being together in a permanent relationship.
And this is just something they had to go through temporarily to get there. NARRATOR: At that time, only Harry
and Carol's 18-year-old daughter was living with the couple. It meant often, regular and unwitnessed access
to a medicine cupboard and an opportunity that Harry took to keep Carol under his control.
Dad had access to her medication, was giving her medication as a [inaudible] They
say that he was giving her excessive sleeping tablets, I feel like. So, again, if you're constantly sleeping all day,
then it helps [inaudible]. We didn't really question it at the time. NARRATOR: Watching the mother's health
deteriorate, Carol's children grew increasingly suspicious about her worsening ill health.
After all, when Dad was away, Mom seemed to get better. When Dad would sort of maybe went away
again on one of his vanishing episodes, and then we used to give Mom her medication,
she seemed to be, like, perking up a lot more, waking up and asking where Dad is.
And almost trying to find him. And I remember she used to just go back to the nights of getting off her bed and looking for him,
if you like. And not so much a miraculous recovery, like, sort of the alarm bells started ringing.
But even as young adults, how do you question your-- question your Dad, if you like, if terms
of, like, Dad what's happening? She's fine one minute and then not the next. NARRATOR: Unquestioned and unaccountable to anyone,
Jarvis seemed to see his future with Rita. And she fell under his spell. He was clearly a very manipulative, persuasive
individual. And that applied to many people with whom he came into contact. And I think the reasoning that I reached at the time for Rita
Heyster being in that situation was entirely down to her desire to keep Harry Jarvis happy and to go
along with what he wanted. NARRATOR: Jarvis and Rita became inseparable. Carol, an inconvenience.
Harry wanted out of the marriage and sends Rita twisted love letters to the shed unveiling
his plan to get rid of her. EMMA KENNY: Rita and Jarvis are engaged in some kind of fantasy play.
They are writing to each other letters from the shed to the house to express how much they love one another.
But also, really, disturbingly, they're talking about Carol's demise. NARRATOR: Phil Gachagan would one day
be asked to investigate the events surrounding the married life of Harry and Carol Jarvis,
and the letters between Harry and his mistress Rita. The letters talked about Carol dying as he wrote.
And that at some point in the near future, he and Rita would be together and everything behind them
and start a new life together. TONY KENT: The letters they were writing were all about how this was almost over,
it won't be long now. Most importantly, it was very clear from the letters written
by Harry that by now, at least, he was actively poisoning Carol with the intention
of killing her. NARRATOR: On Friday, 11th of September, as Kimberly, their youngest child leaves for university, her brother Graham
sees their father walking in town and is struck by his uncomfortable behavior. GRAHAM JARVIS: I seen Dad walking through Bathgate market
and he looked sort of confused, dazed. And I was with my partner at the time and it--
[inaudible] it even at that time, [inaudible] said to me, have you got a couple of quids, see?
[inaudible] then I was like, ah. Then I said, where's Mom? And he was like, oh, he's in-- she's in the house sleeping.
And then I don't think any more of it. And then the Monday, Kevin had phoned me and he said, are--
like, are you going back to the house because-- or are you going for to see Mom today?
Because like, I went through and Dad was being like really funny and, like, sort of couldn't--
I couldn't get into the house. When the children start asking questions, he comes up with a bizarre and poorly thought
out excuse for her absence. I didn't understand that. He was like, I didn't have my key to get in and check,
so can you go through after work. So after work on the Monday night, I went through and asked Dad where was-- saying like,
where's Mom? And then he sort of made up a story that she was like away for a walk or something.
And he quickly changed his story to, oh, she was away up to-- to Dundee 'cause they were planning on moving up
there or something. So I think that was time, like, alarm bells started ringing that something's not right.
He's really kind of reckless because it's so easily uncovered. So he hadn't really thought about how he was
going to get away with this. He told a story that could so easily be disproved. She literally disappears.
Her children don't know where she is. NARRATOR: Graham calls his siblings and they gather in the front garden
to question their father. They want answers about their mother's whereabouts. GRAHAM JARVIS: Even in the garden,
it was like a hostile atmosphere. He was clearly trying to defend his self and there was no way a [inaudible],, if you like.
And Dad was sort of still [inaudible] that Mom away up in Dundee looking for a house
and everything like that. And I managed to actually get in the house and I had a quick scope about.
And I couldn't see anybody. And then I came back out. And then we phoned-- we phoned the police and the police came out.
NARRATOR: There's supposed to be a bizarre discovery of a woman they knew nothing about.
They find Rita hidden under a bed. But instead of admitting that she's his lover,
he tries to pass her off as his wife. Rita came out from underneath the bed and went along with Harry's story
that this was Carol, the missing wife. The difficulty with that is that the female police officer
had met Carol and knew who Carol was and knew that Rita was not Carol. PHIL GACHAGAN: When I arrived at the police station,
I was briefed on the circumstances of the case. I was told that Carol had been reported
missing by her children. And that during the initial part of the investigation to try and find Carol, a woman had
been found hiding under a bed in the house who was not Carol. And she gave her name as Rita.
NARRATOR: Jarvis told police that he would collect his wife from Dundee the next day.
The children now had an agonizing wait for Jarvis to bring their mother home. GRAHAM JARVIS: The police said, look, you know,
we need to give it 24 hours. Your dad's going to get your mom tomorrow and make sure she's safe.
We'll come back and check her over. We went away and we were-- we were, right, something's not right here.
Definitely not something on. But ultimately, there was nothing else we could do, eh?
NARRATOR: They had met, married in haste, had four children very quickly. Now, those same children were witnesses
to an unfolding mystery. What had happened to their mother Carol Jarvis? Was she in Dundee or was she dead
at the hands of their father? [music playing] [music playing] September 2009 and Carol Jarvis is missing.
Her husband, Harry unable to convince the couple's children that she's still alive.
I think the siblings we, being in that space of time, we knew something that happened.
We just wasn't sure what. We couldn't report her as missing because she's an adult.
And you had to wait the full 24 hours. And Dad had agreed that he was going to bring Mom down
to the place on the Tuesday so it was almost just a sitting and waiting game. NARRATOR: A waiting game which ended with a police search team
making a grim discovery at the Jarvis family home. On the day that Carol was found,
I was on call at home at 1 o'clock in the morning and received a call to see that a body had been
found under the floorboards of a house in Bathgate-- a women's body. I attended to Bathgate police station
and there was briefed on the discovery. And at that time, I found out that Carol
had been reported missing the day before by her children. So the suspicion at that point was that the body
may actually be Carol. Later on that day, they had called us just to see-- or they had came 'round and they told us
that they had found a body underneath the floorboards of the house. And obviously it was-- it was Mom.
PHIL GACHAGAN: It was a space of three feet in height. Through a small trap door about two feet by two feet.
She was wrapped in a duvet cover and was bound with a partial tape and pushed up
against the corner of the space underneath the floor. And if you can imagine, a skip where people would dump their,
you know, unwanted belongings or trash. And that's what it was like under the floor.
It was full of debris-- household debris, books, old items of household equipment,
pieces of furniture. And Carol was squeezed into that space with some of the stuff dumped over the top of her.
[music playing] GRAHAM JARVIS: So many questions when-- when they tell you as to what's happened
and that they found her. It's almost like, obviously, shock. I just remember feeling sick.
The lack of respect for her, the lack of respect for the children that they shared together.
The sheer disdain for this woman that he should have loved. It's just remarkable.
I think at the time to have the siblings-- and not just the siblings, but, like, the--
the various friends, partners, again, without that support and that-- that close-knit network, if you like.
And you do wonder, well, like how things would have turned out. NARRATOR: Police launched a murder inquiry.
PHIL GACHAGAN: Obviously, we had to confirm that it was Carol. So we contacted our forensic team.
Forensic teams came in and went into the space beneath the floor and removed the body from their,
having carried out some forensic tests before hand. NARRATOR: It was Carol's body.
But other results were inconclusive. GARY ALLEN: What was clear is that no one could tell how Carol had died.
Because when her body was in due course discovered, it was in a state of decomposition,
which prevented the pathologists who investigated that matter-- it prevented them arriving at a conclusion.
NARRATOR: Unable to determine cause of death, police turned their attention to Harry Jarvis and Rita.
They were nowhere to be seen. And then that was just like I say, trying to find Dad.
And I think after that, he'd done a runner, should we say. And he's disappeared.
NARRATOR: Harry Jarvis had been wrong footed by the arrival of his children, who had confronted him about their mother.
Our suspicion was that had he been given the time, he would have disposed of Carol's
body away from the house. And there was evidence that we uncovered that suggested that that's what he was planning to do.
I think we had caught him on the hop, if that makes sense. I think he was-- we had caught him a couple of days short.
If we had left it until sort of a couple of days later, I think he-- him and Rita probably
would have disappeared. And it would have been later on down the line. I think we've rushed these plans, if you like, by--
by establishing through Kevin, going through on the Monday. On me on the Friday seeing him a wee bit
shaken to put two and two together for him to then bring his plans forward, if you like.
NARRATOR: A manhunt was launched. PHIL GACHAGAN: Jarvis and Rita went on the run.
And we had to cut out some surveillance to-- to try and trace them. RAYMOND MCMENAMIN: It seems as if they'd tried to get away
from the Bathgate area and they both went to, I think, some guest house-- a bed and breakfast in Perth.
And they left without the bill having been settled. PHIL GACHAGAN: We were able to pinpoint
that whereabouts, which at that time, was in Perth. After a short period of time, we found that they had
moved to [inaudible] Edinburgh. And we had some officers waiting at Edinburgh bus station
if we picked them up coming back off the bus from Perth. NARRATOR: The couple were taken to the local headquarters
at Livingston police station where they were searched, processed, interviewed. PHIL GACHAGAN: He basically said that Carol had died of a fit,
having had a fit during sex with him, and that he decided to place a body beneath the floorboards
because he couldn't bear to be without her. TONY KENT: His whole explanation for the death of Carol
is they were involved in a kinky sex game that Carol had particular likes and dislikes.
And that one of the things that she asked him to do was to choke her in the course of sex with a rubber--
I think, a red rubber implement. GARY ALLEN: I thought that that was a very odd lie to tell.
To say such a thing of one's deceased wife struck me as being not a great indicator
of character or sensitivity so far as his family were concerned. All it would really do was hurt the children
and denigrate Carol further. But it gives us an idea of how she actually died. And I think it tells us that he strangled her because he was
actually making up a plausible story of why she would have marks on her neck, just in case that came
up in the forensic post-mortem. NARRATOR: Jarvis claimed that after the alleged accident,
he had treated his wife with love and respect. PHIL GACHAGAN: So he had placed a lovingly
beneath the floorboards. And occasionally, over the weekend, would go down and lie beside her and speak to her.
And basically, have some time with her because he found it very difficult to be without her, which obviously, in my mind,
was a complete fantasy. And he actually probably believed that he would get away with that.
I formed the impression from all the material that he was a manipulator. That he was untruthful and that he would probably say anything
to get himself out of trouble. NARRATOR: Separated from Jarvis for questioning on her initial interrogation, Rita told
a completely different story. PHIL GACHAGAN: She claimed that she and Jarvis were an item.
They were romantically involved. That he was leaving his wife and that they were going to set up home elsewhere together.
She claimed that she had no idea that Carol had died and that they were leaving to set up a home somewhere else
and live out the rest of their lives together. NARRATOR: Their stories appeared contradictory and implausible.
Prosecutors and investigators were concerned. The case of Mr. Harry Jarvis, his wife
Carol and Harry's lover Rita was far from clear cut. We didn't have a cause of death.
We had no eyewitnesses to the death. And forensic evidence was always going to be tricky because Carol and Jarvis lived together.
There was no direct evidence that anyone had seen a criminal act being committed.
There was no direct evidence of how Carol had died, what was the cause of death.
I had meetings with Crown solicitors. And there was a real worry that there wasn't enough evidence
to even take the case to court. NARRATOR: Was it a case of a husband killing his wife?
Were a lover's, Harry Jarvis and Rita Heyster about to be free to begin a life together?
[music playing] Harry Jarvis and his lover, ex-millionaire heiress, Rita Heyster, are under arrest for the murder
of his 47-year-old wife Carol. GARY ALLEN: My impression of Harry Jarvis was that he was a manipulative man.
My impression was that he told lies easily. NARRATOR: Jarvis and Rita denied murder.
The police and the prosecution built a case to prove how they left the mother of his children, Carol,
rotting under the floorboards of the family home in Bathgate. PHIL GACHAGAN: We managed to build
a good circumstantial case against both Jarvis and Rita. NARRATOR: Before the trial at the high court in Edinburgh
begins, there's an early setback for the prosecution. That trial started out as being
intended as a single trial. But in the course of the preliminary procedure, an application was made by the solicitor advocate who
was acting for Rita Heyster, that the trials of the two individuals be held separately.
I was able to submit to the court that there was insufficient evidence to link Rita Heyster
to the death of the victim. There had to be evidence that she, to some degree, participated in the murder.
The judge was sympathetic to my argument and he decided to acquit Rita Heyster at that stage
of the charge of murder. NARRATOR: Instead Rita's defense team argued successfully
that Rita should stand trial separately from Harry Jarvis for attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
RAYMOND MCMENAMIN: I think if they'd been tried together, Rita would have been prejudiced by having
Harry as a co-accuser. And I think there was a real chance of her being convicted
simply by her association with Harry if the two of them were to stand trial together.
NARRATOR: Jarvis now stood alone in the dark on a count of murder. In the court, his four children.
GRAHAM JARVIS: We went to trial when it started. We used to always ask, like, what would Mom do?
And we used to always say, like, Mom would still probably be to defend him. You know, whether it be through love or just sheer stupidness.
During the trial, Jarvis changed his story all the time, going from one ridiculous explanation
to another. He's basically like a compulsive liar. So, like, anything he says, you just take with a pinch of salt.
And that's not that surprising with somebody who's maybe a psychopath. Because they are used to working from scripts.
They are used to responding to things in ways they know that will work. This was taking some intuition.
This was taking knowing people and how to think on your feet. He couldn't do that.
This was a script he'd never come across. So he was having to think on his feet.
Couldn't do it. NARRATOR: What was the evidence put to a jury that Harry Jarvis had killed his wife?
What we did know that what-- she was dead. What we did know, she was under the floorboards.
What we did know, she was trussed up in a blanket and duct tape. What we did know was that her husband had told
lies about where she had been when the children inquired of him. The one thing that really helped with the investigation
was the letters that Jarvis had written to Rita, which indicated that he was drugging Carol
and was planning on killing her. The notes which suggested that Carol's death was imminent.
The notes which suggested that at that time, Harry and Rita could sell off everything
and move on to a life-- I think, the expression was, somewhere in paradise-- was a very dramatic picture, which I was able--
I thought-- to present to the jury and show that this was not an unfortunate death which
had resulted in panicked decisions being made by individuals close to the deceased.
NARRATOR: After a lengthy trial, the jury were ready to announce their verdict. GRAHAM JARVIS: The verdict that I wanted was guilty, of course.
I was in court and the foreman of the jury stood up and delivered the jury's verdict.
Even at that point, I didn't know which way it was going to go. It was a circumstantial case.
No direct evidence, so we were really worried that the case would be lost. However, the jury returned a guilty verdict,
which was a massive relief to me and my team. NARRATOR: Jarvis was convicted of murdering
his wife Carol at Edinburgh high court on the 30th of March 2011. He received a life sentence with a minimum of 15 years
before being able to apply for parole. At the end of the day, we had no cause of death.
We had no eyewitnesses. But we still managed to achieve justice for Carol and for her family.
I don't think I'll ever forgive or forget Dad, I mean, for what he's-- for what he's done. 'Cause there's no
rhyme or reason. And I think even though we wanted to sort of be civil and understanding, I think the trial went--
the way that the whole trial and the way he handled hisself and, you know, some times if he had put his hand up
and sort of-- and if we'd noticed he-- what actually happened, then that's potential whereby you can sort of not so much
understand and accept it, but you can sort of just process it more. Because I think now that will forever
be that question of what actually happened and what actually got him to that stage?
And nobody's going to know that. I think because that, you can-- you can never forgive him for it.
NARRATOR: Rita's trial followed. RAYMOND MCMENAMIN: The funny thing is that she didn't say anything at any stage
to anybody about it. And she didn't give evidence. But on the basis of our instructions,
the defense will run as a denial of any involvement in murder. It was in that trial that Harry, seemingly going
against the grain of what his normal character was, acted almost selflessly. Almost without explanation really.
And continued to say that he was not in a relationship with Rita. But of course, that was proved very wrong.
NARRATOR: There was one piece of forensic evidence that came from the body of Carol Jarvis.
And it showed that Rita had been in contact with Carol's body. We also had some forensic evidence
linking Rita to the parcel tape that had been wrapped around Carol's body. NARRATOR: Rita's trial lasted for weeks
at the high court in Edinburgh. PHIL GACHAGAN: Rita was found guilty with attempting
to defeat ends of justice, which is basically helping Jarvis hide the body. That was what she was found guilty of.
And I think that was a just result. NARRATOR: The judge sentenced Rita Heyster to four years and six months.
And said that she had delayed the discovery of Mrs. Jarvis's body. I think Rita was the victim of Jarvis.
What she did was awful. She shouldn't have done it. But if she'd never met him, she'd
never have got into trouble. He was always going to be in trouble, whatever he did.
He didn't need somebody else. So from that perspective, he wrecked her life. I think all this [inaudible] almost felt
sorry for her to an extent. Like she just happened to-- she probably could have been any woman and it fell on Rita.
I think Rita, she's a bit of a lost soul and could potentially have become another victim of Jarvis
at sometime in the future. And that was always at the back of my mind during the investigation.
GARY ALLEN: I cannot remember at any stage in the trial, Harry Jarvis showing any remorse because his position
was he had not killed his wife. His position was she had died naturally. And anything he had done had been in panic
and had been directed at hiding her remains. GRAHAM JARVIS: After the trial, that
was the last time we seen Dad. And he went to prison. I don't think any of us got in contact with him.
NARRATOR: A bitter irony about the motivation Harry Jarvis may have had to kill his wife was the expectation
of helping Rita spend money that he felt certain she still had. It seems that he killed Carol under a misapprehension.
It seems that he was well aware of Rita's inheritance. But somehow, he believed that it was still there.
He no longer needed to be the world's most dysfunctional carer and to be paid by the state
to do so because he could go off and marry Rita and enjoy her money. And all he had to do to achieve that was to get rid of Carol.
[music playing] NARRATOR: On the 20th of April 2017, Harry Jarvis died in prison in West Lothian, Scotland
after a heart attack. He had served six years of his 15 year sentence. And I was like, not a weight off your mind, if you like.
But it was almost like, right, that's it. That's it, closed off, I feel like. But again, it's never really closed off.
Jarvis was a very manipulative, controlling man. And he thought he knew everything.
He tried to con people. And he did con people over the years. And he was someone that you just could not trust.
And ultimately, he was found guilty of the most serious crime of all, murder. He shouldn't have done what he'd done, so I--
it's a difficult one in terms of how you feel for him. He eventually got his comeuppance.
But it's so sad that it happened at the cost of his wife's life. NARRATOR: Left behind from the marriage of Harry
to Carol Jarvis, four children. GRAHAM JARVIS: I've got like a-- a photo of my Mom in the house in all--
event some music that comes on that makes me remember her. And, you know, [inaudible] favorite song, if you like.
You know, if I'm talking to my kids. Well, it still plays on your mind. Even after 11 years last week, it's still as fresh
as it was like yesterday. [music playing] [music playing]

Harry Jarvis went to great lengths to be with his lover Rita Heyster at the expense of his loving wife Carole.

Though wedded couples vow to stay together until death do they part, this new true crime series looks at what happens when a groom or bride causes their beloved's death.

Brief Summary

Harry Jarvis murdered his wife Carol while having an affair with Rita Heyster, leading to a shocking investigation and trial.

Key points

The Illness of Carol Jarvis. As Carol becomes gravely ill, her husband Harry moves his mistress into the garden shed.
The Discovery of a Body. One of Carol's children learns of her death in a shocking manner.
Harry's Double Life. While caring for Carol, Harry begins an affair with Rita, leading to a complicated web of deceit.
The Letters of Deceit. Harry and Rita exchange letters discussing their love and Carol's demise.
The Bizarre Discovery. Police find Rita hiding under a bed while searching for the missing Carol.
Murder Inquiry Launched. Police begin a murder inquiry after the grim discovery of Carol Jarvis's body.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What looks perfect rarely is.

JANE MONCKTON-SMITH reflects on the facade of the Jarvis family.

6:06WatchJun 8, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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