Meet, Marry, Murder - Season 1, Episode 41 - Tavener - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[music playing] NARRATOR: On an ordinary street in England, an extraordinary tragedy as two children
week to discover their mother lying on the floor. The eldest son, just six years old, killed 999.
He told the operator that she had blood all over her. She was lying on her back with her eyes open.
[music playing] NARRATOR: The children's father is missing. There's no sign of Andrew Tavener.
He's gone. He's fled. He's into the wind. First thing I heard was, the following morning, my sister
rang me to tell me that Andy Tav's had been at the train station. That he tried to jump in front of a train.
When he approached Mr. Tavener, the train driver said, what have you been doing?
He indicated that he just wanted to die. NARRATOR: What had happened that night between Andrew and Claire
Tavener? They had met, they had married. Now, one appeared to be dead and the other about to die.
[music playing] [music playing] NARRATOR: When Claire was 22 years old, she thought she had it all.
A doting fiancee, a gorgeous new baby. She was content with the life she had built for herself in her hometown of Nailsea, Somerset.
EMMA KENNY: Claire is a human being who is highly charismatic. She's incredibly witty, her friends
respond to her in a really great way because she's so popular. She's one of those individuals that really is the center.
She's the person that you definitely wanted to party with you. She was an outdoorsy girl, she loved riding horses,
she had two dogs. She worked in the Old Farmhouse Pub. NARRATOR: It is while working at the Farmhouse Pub
that she meets Andrew Tavener. EMMA KENNY: Tavener is a tree surgeon, so he's got a really regular career.
He's an individual, he's had a relationship before, he's got a child from that relationship.
And it doesn't seem to have been massively eventful. But when he meets Claire, he feels like she's
the love of his life. And she tells people that she is the one for him. NARRATOR: Andrew is 40 years old,
18 years older than Claire. He's from the village of Nailsea, close to Bristol, which is a rural community.
And he was a very physical and tough guy. NARRATOR: The land at the Railway In Pub in Bristol
knew the couple. Andy was a regular. He played pool on the county team with her husband.
Andy's he's been playing pool here, I reckon, maybe seven or eight years. [music playing]
It was a team of about 50 people. He was a great character who always brought a lot
of enthusiasm to the team. He was known as a gentle giant. He was always very willing to help anyone out.
Just generally, he was a pleasant person to be around. He was enjoyed as part of the team.
And he was always very positive. What's interesting about Tavener is that he doesn't come across in any negative way.
When people are asked about his nature, he's straightforward, he's very kind. So he's somebody that doesn't strike you as having
any particular potential. NARRATOR: Within months of meeting Andrew Tavener, Claire was pregnant.
The couple thrilled. They tell friends that they're planning to spend the rest of their lives together.
This was a whirlwind relationship that turned into a whirlwind marriage. NARRATOR: So on a beautiful English spring day in April
2013, Claire and Andrew gathered their loved ones together at Clifton Hall. And he tells all his friends that she's
simply the best thing that's ever happened to him. NARRATOR: Wedding photographer Simon Burns
likes to get to know couples before their big day so he can capture the personalities in the pictures.
To be at someone's wedding and to be asked to be their photographer on, you know, one
of the biggest days of their life is-- is actually a great honor. And that somebody is giving me that responsibility to capture,
to record this big day. NARRATOR: One thing struck Simon out of the ordinary for the usual weddings that he photographed.
I do, in particular, remember Andrew and Claire's wedding. I think one of the reasons may be the age difference
between Andrew and Claire. I believe there was about 18 years between them, which is always something that stands out.
And also I think I remember it because Andrew was quite a character. He was a jolly character.
He seemed happy. He seemed quite outgoing, quite loud. He was always having a bit of a joke with a laugh.
NARRATOR: To Simon, Claire seemed quiet. SIMON ELLISON-BURNS: I think Claire was a little bit nervous.
She was a bit shy as well. So I think that came with that. I don't think Andrew was really nervous.
Andrew was outside the hall greeting the guests as they turned up. He was a jolly chap.
He was full of energy. NARRATOR: Nervous or not, the bride was a picture. SIMON ELLISON-BURNS: Claire was wearing white wedding dress.
It was a shoulder-less dress. She had quite a long-- well, a medium-sized train at the back of the dress.
It wasn't too long. But she also had a nice tiara with the veil over her head. I also remember that she had a hair with a nice curl coming
down in front of her face. And she looked very nice indeed. She was very beautiful bride, I mean.
NARRATOR: So Claire begins her life as Mrs. Tavener. Within a year, they have another baby.
The perfect couple perhaps. But Claire tells friends that Andy was not quite the same
after the couple married. I think what becomes very clear about this relationship
quite early on is that Andrew feels like this is a very traditional relationship.
He's the boss. He's the alpha male. She's the little woman who should stay at home
and do what she's told. Quite actually strong beliefs in that direction, it seems.
EMMA KENNY: Whilst it appears that there were no obvious signs of problematic behavior
as far as Tavener's violence or aggression or abuse towards Claire's consent before the marriage,
after the marriage there seems to be an upping of controlling behaviors. So she has to leave social events
to go home and make his tea. He complains about the way that she looks after the household.
So there are these incremental shifts in the way that he views her. But also incremental shifts in the way that he feels he
has a possession of her. NARRATOR: Outwardly, he's still the gentle giant. Loved by his mates down the pub.
Maybe and Andrew drink a little too much. But he's a key player on the pub pool team.
Drinking goes with the territory. MERRAN LAWRENCE: We never had any trouble with Andy at all, ever really.
And they used to get quite drunk on county days, to say the least. They've come back from their coach trips
having been drinking all day. We've got pictures of him pouring, they're all having a transport beer themselves
and things like that. You know, just joining in with everybody else. NARRATOR: In public, Andrew is a joker.
In private, though, his controlling behavior towards his wife is escalating. In February 2015, there were two
reports of domestic violence. One of which involved Tavener allegedly pushing Claire down the stairs.
NARRATOR: His abuse of her is witnessed on occasions. He calls her friends quite sexist names.
And he actually pushes Claire around in front of them. He's not particularly concerned about people
thinking that-- that he's violent with her. He seems to be quite happy for them to know,
which suggests that he feels justified, he feels he's in charge. He's making sure that he's dominating.
And he's showing everyone that. Something seems to change in Andrew. Now, whether that's insecurity about the age difference,
about the fact that she's very, very attractive, he's an outdoors working guy. And is he worried about what his wife's going to do?
Something changes inside him. The violence begins. His controlling nature comes to the fore.
These culminate in some really quite serious domestic violence incidents where police are called.
Where she's grabbed by the throat. Where he tries to throw down the stairs. This is the start-- the emergence of a very, very
serious pattern of violence. NARRATOR: It's an escalation in his violent behavior
which would worry domestic abuse experts like Jill Barr. Tavener has grabbed Claire around her neck
and lifted her off the ground. And this has been done in front of friends. That's saying, look what I can do.
Look what I'm doing and what are you guys going to do? NARRATOR: Two years after they had married,
and by February 2015, Andrew Tavener is openly abusing his wife. Fueling his apparent rage, the very thing he thought
made him popular, drinking. He could-- he could drink a knot, yes. I don't know what he drank the rest of the time,
but anybody who can drink as much as he could and still be OK, clearly drank quite a lot.
[music playing] NARRATOR: In February 2015, 24 years old mom of two, Claire Tavener has a steady job.
Her parents living just down the road. But less than two years into their marriage,
Andrew Tavener has turned into someone she doesn't recognize. JANE MONCKTON SMITH: Claire's found herself in a marriage
with a much older man who has very set ideas about their relative roles within that relationship.
And Claire finds herself now, after having quite a lot of freedom, a mother but also somebody who
has to keep house for this man. And he's insistent on it. We see lots of arguments around whether she's
keeping the house tidy enough. You know, whether she is home at the right time. So all of these kind of gendered roles
are being really, really enforced by this man. And that must have been quite a shock for Claire.
NARRATOR: Friends are starting to notice how much he's drinking. He was a blokey guy.
He enjoyed his work. He enjoyed a drink. He loved the glass of cider. He'd often go to the pub, drink far too much.
And he wouldn't be aggressive, he wouldn't be violent. But he'd be annoying, too loud.
And sometimes, made a nuisance of himself. He drank far too much, which also led to a drunk driving
conviction some time ago. NARRATOR: Though popular with his pool pals, he could fall out with people.
JANE MONCKTON SMITH: Andrew Tavener is a very thin-skinned individual. He sees critique and slights in everything people say.
So he's-- he's constantly, you know, having petty arguments with people and enforcing his--
his opinion. NARRATOR: And forcing his attitude towards his wife, too. Friends report that Claire would often
leave social engagements in order to go home and prepare food for Tavener. And she also claimed that he would
make comments about her not keeping the house tidy enough. He's actually quite sexist in his beliefs.
And he clearly thinks that Claire is there to serve him as the alpha male. And it's all completely over the top.
And it's almost a role he's playing. But inside his head, he actually feels entitled
to have that alpha male role. And he is enforcing it through violence. [music playing]
NARRATOR: Claire's friends can't help but notice his worsening behavior. He is hurting Claire in front of them and in the family home.
JANE MONCKTON SMITH: It's kind of, look at me. Look what I'm doing. Be scared of me.
Be worried about me. I've got this temper. I've got this strength. I think he picks up a TV at some point
and throws it out of the window. Everything is kind of noisy and visual with this man.
NARRATOR: Two years into their marriage, and Claire lives every day fearing for her safety.
[music playing] I've been in this situation as a police officer. I've been to houses where there has been violence.
Not necessarily an enormous amount of violence, maybe not even any visible injuries.
But sometimes you can smell the fear. Sometimes you can smell the fear from the wife
but she does not want to assist you, she does not want to make an allegation. You can sense the atmosphere within these houses,
particularly in situations like this where you have a significantly older man, probably
an enormously jealous man. A man with some physical means. You drive away from there and you just hope-- you hope you
don't have to go back again. NARRATOR: In 2015, Claire finds the courage to report two instances of domestic violence
to the police. She was looking for help. That only fuels Tavener's rage. So she accuses him of violence twice.
And also now we see an escalation of his behavior regarding what he feels is betrayal.
So he's constantly questioning her and suggesting that she's cheated on him. So he's looking to pick apart the relationship and also
the commitment that she has towards it. NARRATOR: In one instance, reports to the police Andy
tries to throw Claire down the stairs while she's holding their young son. Former police inspector Jill Barr
spent 20 years on the force specializing in domestic violence cases. To her, this latest attack was a warning
of how bad things could become. When you're holding a baby or a young child, how vulnerable was Claire feeling at that point
to then have the father of that child push, which could have resulted in not just entry to clear but injury
to the child as well. And you have to ask the question, what dad-- what man would do that to a woman
he supposedly loves when she's holding a child? What a great example of power and control is that?
I can do to you what I want because you're holding our child. What are you going to do?
You're not in a position to defend yourself. And look what I can do. NARRATOR: What Andrew was doing increasingly
became common knowledge. He done it once, he did it again. He attacked Claire in public.
In the second of these incidents, witnessed by several of Claire's friends, Tavener
called Claire's friends bitches. He grabbed Claire by the throat. Picked her up and shook her.
JILL BARR: The second incident we're aware of is Claire is picked up by Tavener by her neck in front of people and lifted off the ground.
That's very bold, abusive, physical assault in front of people that know them. That's saying to the people around about,
look what I can do. Imagine sitting watching that thinking, what can I do? What is going on here?
That doesn't look right. But there's no suggestion that at any point anybody intervened to help Claire.
So people feel sometimes disabled by seeing things like that. And what that does and for a man Tavener,
it plays into that power and control dynamic. Because let's remember, part of the power and control behavior
is to cause isolation. So if you're making friends uncomfortable, in this case, witnessing Claire being grabbed by the neck
and picked up off the ground, are you going to put yourself in a position to see that again
or are you going to turn the other way? NARRATOR: Landlady Merran remembers the incident.
It was the talk of the community. One of the friends of Claire Tavener also named Claire talked about it in the pub.
She was telling me about a time where Andy was on his way home and Claire offered to help Claire Tavener tidy the house.
Because Claire Tavener was really worried that when Andy came home, he'd be really
cross because the house wasn't tidy. So she cleaned the kitchen. And because she put the dish cloth over the top
instead of where Claire Tavener would put it, Andy knew that as she hadn't cleaned the kitchen
and pinned up against the wall because of it. [music playing] Was it just how he complete control
over someone, which I suppose will happen when someone so much younger. I don't know.
NARRATOR: By 2017, Andrew is barely recognizable as the loving husband, giggling with his wife
at the altar on that day in April 2013. He has isolated her from her friends, controls her every move, assaults her
when she doesn't behave. And now, perhaps, her children are at risk. Is it time for her to leave?
She goes and seeks advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau that she wants to end the relationship.
These are signs and symptoms to him that the power and control he's had for so long as ebbing away.
She's making plans to leave. NARRATOR: Experts point to this moment when a woman decides she's leaving as very dangerous.
In 2020, 41% of women murdered by their partners were killed once they had tried to leave.
It's one of the most high risk points in an abusive relationship for the women, in this case, Claire to say, you know what?
That's enough. I'm going. We know that that's a loss of power and control. And we know that first three months of somebody like Claire
leave and somebody like Tavener is a high risk factor for homicide. NARRATOR: In the winter of 2017, Claire Tavener
has begun to plan her life without her violent husband. She agrees to one last Christmas together as a family.
Then she's planning her escape. Someone like Andrew is getting more dangerous. So Claire starts having conversations with him
about ending the relationship. She talks about moving out. She talks about moving in to the pub.
And Andrew is becoming a lot more volatile. So that control that he has over her,
he wants to enforce that even stronger now because he's got no arguments left now.
Physical force, really, is the only thing. He doesn't seem to have that side to him
that can charm or manipulate. He literally has his physical strength to win any argument.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors would soon get to know all about the life and times of Mr. and Mrs. Tavener.
KERRY MAYLIN: My name's Kerry Maylin. I was the prosecution counsel in the case against Andrew Tavener.
He was charged with murder. All of the witness evidence that the police obtained
and that they were coexisting for the purposes of the Christmas period with very much the idea
that post Christmas, Claire would leave with the boys and the relationship would be formally ended.
NARRATOR: Over Christmas, they put on a show. The couple spend New Year's Eve with neighbors.
Nobody suspects that this is the beginning of the end for the Taveners. But in January, Claire begins to put her plan into action.
She's been offered a room in the pub where she works to sleep. And she tells her husband she's moving out.
Andrew won't allow that. After new year, things begin to get unbearable for Claire.
His bullying, coercive and violent nature is getting worse. He takes her keys from her to prevent
her driving away from him. He will do anything to keep her. But she wants out. EMMA KENNY: She decides that she wants to file for divorce.
So she leaves him and starts that procedure. And it's clear at that point, that she's
got some very clear visions about what she wants for her life. And it doesn't involve a controlling partner.
She doesn't want that violence in her world. NARRATOR: Andrew Tavener, a so-called alpha male with
a fragile ego, cannot understand why his wife would want to leave. He begins to develop a paranoid delusion,
Claire is leaving not because he is violent, but because she is seeing another man.
Andrew Tavener was driven by jealousy. Driven by jealousy that his wife might be having an affair,
despite the fact that there was no evidence of this whatsoever. Other things started happening that just
confirmed this paranoid belief about the affair. You know, she was wanting to leave.
She was staying out. She might have been talking to her friends. All of this would have been proof positive
for him that he was a cuckold. He was being humiliated by this woman. NEIL LANCASTER: She's showing an enormous amount of strength
of character to have the bravery to walk away from this man who has controlled her for such an amount of time.
Little does she know this is putting the danger against her up and up and up. Once she asks for a divorce, this
is going to cause problems. NARRATOR: Claire Tavener has never been in more danger.
JANE MONCKTON SMITH: This is a violent man. This is a paranoid man and a melodramatic man.
Claire wanted to leave him. That would go against all of his kind of macho and sexist belief
systems. He's much older than she is. He's violent. He's paranoid. This is a dangerous time for Claire.
She probably didn't realize how dangerous. The knowledge that his wife is now having the strength
to leave him, he's already been violent to her-- significantly violent. This is the thing that will tip him over the edge.
[music playing] NARRATOR: Claire Tavener, just 26, is in an abusive marriage. Claire told Tavener that she was
going to go and live at the Old Farmhouse, the pub where she worked. This enraged Tavener who attempted to throw
a television out of the window. He took Claire's car keys so that she couldn't take the children with her.
NARRATOR: She could not yet move to the pub either. But Claire is determined. From the 3rd of January, she keeps a safe distance
from her violent husband. Now, you can imagine how this would send him into a spiral of depression.
EMMA KENNY: She goes out for four nights on the row. And that seems to be a real trigger point for him.
Tavener feels that there's potentially betrayal occurring. Remember, he's constantly been concerned
that she is betraying him. NEIL LANCASTER: He's going to be drinking heavily, there's absolutely no doubt about that.
He's got nothing to lose now. He thinks he's lost her. He thinks she's having an affair.
Entirely incorrectly. Where does he go now? What does he do? You can just see the writing on the wall.
This is going to be enough to give him the fuel to the fire. NARRATOR: Claire tells parents that she has to go out.
Andrew won't allow her to go into the bedroom. And he's insisting on watching TV in the living room.
He's leaving her no choice. CLARE MACKINTOSH: For Tavener, this was confirmation of his suspicion
that Clare was having an affair. But Claire explained to her parents that she had to go out.
That Tavener wouldn't let her in the bedroom. He had control of the television in the living room.
She had nowhere else to go. NARRATOR: On the 6th of January, she tells her parents that she's moving out that weekend.
Andrew finds out. It's a turning point. He wasn't going to get the relationship back with Claire.
And at that point, people like Andrew become really quite dangerous. So at this point, he knows that his physical strength,
the only thing he's got, is not going to force her back to him. So he seems to start thinking about how he's going
to resolve this whole issue. And it seems that he starts to decide that it's going to be
through physical violence. NARRATOR: Andrew and Claire fight again. This time, over who would look after the children.
Andrew wants to go on a trip to Weymouth with his pool team. It was the weekend that everything started to unravel.
That first day, Claire told her father that she and Tavener had agreed to separate.
That she wasn't sorry about it. The marriage had run its course. It transpired that the couple have agreed
to stay together for Christmas. But now that that was over, they were definitely separating.
EMMA KENNY: Tavener actually goes and plays pool with his friends in Weymouth. He's very fixated about the relationship.
Again, he's talking to them about how his relationship is falling apart. How he's been crying.
So he is very distressed. And he's sharing that information, which means that it's constantly on his mind.
NEIL LANCASTER: During this time, he starts drinking incredibly heavily. He starts telling his friends his world is falling apart.
NARRATOR: Andrew is drinking heavily. They were all drinking. It's not uncommon when the team travels to tournaments.
But friends remember Andrew was drinking a lot. KERRY MAYLIN: A number of those teammates
gave evidence in relation to his consumption of alcohol. He drank both on the journey to the pool tournament
in Weymouth, drank during the pool tournament. And then prior to boarding the coach for the return journey
to Bristol, purchased more alcohol and snacks for the journey home. And on return to Bristol, went into a public house
when others perhaps suggested he would be better off going home. But in his words, he was going to get wasted.
NARRATOR: For Merran and her partner Kevin, that weekend is seared into their memories.
What could they have done differently to protect Claire? MERRAN LAWRENCE: On the last day of the season for county pool,
the men were away to Weymouth. And Andy was on the coach with them all. They had started drinking in the morning, which
was customary to their outing. And on the way back on the coach, Andy had said to my partner Kevin
that he split with his wife and he didn't want to split with her. NARRATOR: Marren liked Andrew Tavener.
He was a regular in the pub and a good friend of her partner. She was surprised to learn that the Taveners were splitting up.
She told Kevin to make sure Andrew knew he could stay at the pub but he needed to.
As they put their children to bed that night, Merran heard the whole story from Kevin.
Andy had said to a couple of his teammates that he was going to go home and kill his wife.
And they didn't think anything of it. Because, well, they didn't know that he was splitting with his wife.
He had told Kevin but he hadn't told the other guys. JANE MONCKTON SMITH: There's a lot of drinking this weekend
and he starts saying things that people remember afterwards. Saying things like he's--
he's going to stab Claire. KERRY MAYLIN: On the journey home, Mr. Tavener continued very much on the same theme in relation
to his relationship with Claire. And told a different friend that if Claire continued
to argue with him when he returned home, he would stab her and kill her. NARRATOR: How could Andrew's friends have
known what was going to happen? He was a charming, charismatic friend, the gentle giant.
Yes, he's making threats, but does he really mean them? NEIL LANCASTER: So here we are now is the 7th of January,
he's drunk. He's telling his friends that he wants to get a knife and stab his wife.
Did he mean it? It's not unusual that people who have decided to kill their partners start to talk about it
and start to tell people of their plans. People don't tend to believe them, don't think they're serious.
Think, oh, they've had too much to drink. But these threats really, really should be taken seriously
by anybody who hears them. EMMA KENNY: What people tend to do is they see the best in the people that they know.
So their friends expectation is that, well, he'd never act on this. This is just a drunken ramblings.
But actually it's those moments that separate the opportunity of making a change to the situation.
And people should take this kind of threat very seriously. JANE MONCKTON SMITH: He's using language
that is quite absolute. My world is falling apart. He's-- he's kind of saying he can't live without this woman--
without this relationship. And that kind of suggests where his-- his thinking is going.
He does not see a future without that relationship. NARRATOR: The night of January the 7th,
Claire is at home, the children asleep in bed. NEIL LANCASTER: So Andrew goes home.
He's got a plan. We don't know exactly what that plan was. But we do know he had a knife with him.
A wooden handle, large lock knife. We don't know exactly how it happens but there's clearly a big row a big violent row
with tragic consequences. NARRATOR: Andrew is very drunk and he's angry. He calls Claire's father.
He said, you need to take your daughter back and the sooner the better. KERRY MAYLIN: Mr. Tavener had returned
home by about 20 to 9:00 on the evening of the 7th of January. We know that by virtue of a conversation
he had with Claire's father. There was some conversation in relation to Mr. Tavener suggesting that Claire
needed to leave the property. He made mention that Clare was a nice woman in relation
and a fabulous daughter. But she could not remain at the house with him. It's almost like he's wanting to punish her.
And she says to her dad, oh, ignore him. He's drunk. She's used to these kind of dramatic-- melodramatic
outbursts from him. Remember that Claire has had a history with Tavener drinking
and, obviously, at times, being threatening. So even though her father relays this to Claire,
Claire doesn't feel that she's any imminent danger. NARRATOR: Claire had no way of knowing
that today was different. She doesn't know that he's carrying a knife. EMMA KENNY: So by the time he walks through the door
to start arguing with Claire, he's not meeting her an equal scenario where they then start to argue about a particular issue.
He has been arguing with her all day in his head. He's at fever pitch when he arrives home.
That's what makes him hugely dangerous. NARRATOR: Her father knows something isn't right.
He tries texting Claire. KERRY MAYLIN: Claire's father, after receiving that telephone
call, had some concerns about the state of the relationship between his daughter and Mr. Tavener.
And therefore, made contact both via text and via social media platform just to reassure
himself that she was all right. Claire was the type of phone user that would have replied immediately.
And he received no reply. And therefore, shortly before 10:00, Claire's father made the short walk from his home
to hers to see if he could see if everything was all right. On his arrival at Claire's home, the house
was in darkness and very quiet. And so Claire's father didn't knock the door or go into the property.
NARRATOR: Her father returns home thinking that he'll check on the couple in the morning.
Both Claire and her father hoped for the best. Andrew Tavener, though, was preparing for the worst.
NEIL LANCASTER: There's this argument. He's armed with a knife. What happened next was inevitable.
CLARE MACKINTOSH: Tavener had told his friends that he was going to go home and start a row.
He told them that he was going to take a knife and stab his wife. It appears that's exactly what he did.
He stabbed Claire 10 times. This is a violent and ferocious sustained attack. 10 stab wounds into the neck and the chest.
Those in the chest being fatal. Claire died at the scene from her injuries. The post-mortem confirmed that she sustained four stab
wounds in a sustained attack. Two to her neck and two to her chest. She also had a number of defensive injuries
from an attempt to fend off her husband. NARRATOR: Tavener sees only one way out.
He walks out of the house leaving his children to find the body of their mother.
A 999 call was made to the emergency services by Claire's eldest son who was age six at the time.
And in that call he was able to say that his mother was dead. Thinking using the words, my mom is dead.
She's covered in blood. NARRATOR: 6:55 am on the 8th of January 2018, Claire's children let paramedics into their home.
NEIL LANCASTER: Whilst all this is going on, there's no sign of Andrew Tavener. He's gone.
He's fled. He's into the wind. NARRATOR: Will Andrew Tavener face justice? KERRY MAYLIN: When he approached Mr. Tavener,
the train driver said, what have you been doing? He indicated that he just wanted to die.
[music playing] [music playing] NARRATOR: Claire Tavener lies dead on her living room floor.
NEIL LANCASTER: Emergency services turned up at the premises and were let in by the boys
still in their pajamas to be met with what would only be described as an entirely horrific scene.
Obviously, there was that terribly brutally injured Claire. This must have been truly shocking for all concerned.
KERRY MAYLIN: Police and paramedics found the younger boy sat on the sofa biting his nails
and looking very frightened. Both boys were asked where their father was. And the elder boy was able to say
that daddy had been out playing pool but usually would be home by now. And then made the unsolicited comment
but daddy wouldn't have done this. NARRATOR: Claire's father arrives to check on her.
He hasn't heard from her since she told him there was nothing to worry about just before 9 o'clock
the previous evening. He and the police suspected they knew the culprit for the murder
of Claire Tavener. We can assume that when police arrived and discovered no sign of forced entry, and of course, spoke to Claire's
father and understood about the issues that the couple were having with their relationship,
that their prime suspect would have been Tavener. NARRATOR: But Andrew Tavener is missing.
NEIL LANCASTER: Andrew Tavener has fled. He is desperate. He wants to end his life.
[music playing] CLARE MACKINTOSH: At 7:10 AM that day, call handlers received a 999 call from a commuter
at Nailsea and Backwell station. The commuter reported seeing a man lying on the tracks.
KERRY MAYLIN: Mr. Tavener was first seen at Temple Seven at Nailsea and Backwell station where a commuter saw him,
asked him what he was doing. EMMA KENNY: And he lies down on the tracks, because he has a full intention--
that is a full intention of taking his own life as well. NARRATOR: Word quickly gets around the small, tight knit
community. Something's wrong. MERRAN LAWRENCE: The first thing I heard was the following morning, my sister
rang me to tell me that Andy Tav's have been at the train station. And that his wife had died and that he tried
to jump in front of a train. And we all thought that he'd gone home drunk, they'd had a row, and he had-- she had fallen down
the stairs or something. Because obviously, the Andy we knew was a gentle giant.
You-- you wouldn't think he would do something like that. At no point did he even enter our mind that he would actually
do something like that. And then we thought he jumped in front of the train because he felt so bad about what he'd done that he
didn't see life himself. And then when we found out what he'd actually done, well, we were all in shock.
We just couldn't believe it. None of us. NARRATOR: Criminologist Jane Monckton Smith
believes that rather than feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt, it was the humiliation a desire to save face
that drove Andrew Tavener to lie down on the tracks that morning. JANE MONCKTON SMITH: I think the very idea
that he wanted to kill himself shows that he did not want to face up. He didn't want to face people with what he'd done.
He's probably quite humiliated, in fact, that he had killed his wife. Wasn't shameful.
No guilt. This is all about how small he was going to look in other people's eyes.
Now, he absolutely knew that people were going to look at him and think, you awful, terrible man.
Couldn't face his children. So he decided in a very melodramatic fashion that he was going to kill himself by lying
across the railway tracks. But like with everything in this man's life, it's all bluster
and it's all drama. He's not really a strong man. He's not really a big man. And it could be that at the end, he couldn't-- couldn't actually
see it through. NARRATOR: Andrew Tavener's suicide attempt did not succeed. He lies on the train tracks but appears to twist
away from the train, severely damaging his right hand. Tavener ends up with the five fingers
on his right hand missing. The same five fingers in the right hand that used to kill his wife.
And Tavener then ends up in hospital, not a prison. So Tavener becomes a victim in his mind.
NARRATOR: At 7:30 AM, barely half an hour after Claire's body is found, police arrest
Andrew Tavener for her murder. The police were called to Nailsea station. And on their arrival, they arrested Mr.
Tavener on suspicion of murder. Mr. Tavener's response to that was that there was no suspicion about it.
That he had killed his wife. And he said, I've murdered her. Yes, I did it. NARRATOR: He tells police what he's done.
CLARE MACKINTOSH: When Tavener was approached by police at the train station, he instantly confessed
to murdering his wife. He said, there's no suspicion about it. I did it. I killed her.
NARRATOR: But that is the last time Andrew Tavener will show any remorse. When interviewed by Avon and Somerset police,
he refuses to answer. Despite evidence, despite witnesses he denies ever hurting his wife.
CLARE MACKINTOSH: On February the 1st, Tavener was formally charged with murder.
He'd replied no comment to all questions put to him during police interviews. NARRATOR: On the day of the court case,
Andrew Tavener changed his tune. On March the 8th, Andrew Tavener pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife.
This was only 35 days after being charged. KERRY MAYLIN: The defense put forward in terms of mitigation
that this was an end of a relationship. That he couldn't really remember what had happened
but accepted what he had done. NARRATOR: On April the 10th, the judge sentenced Tavener
to life imprisonment with a minimum of 16 years and eight months to serve. CLARE MACKINTOSH: In summing up, the judge
described Tavener's conduct as self-centered and cruel. He said you left your wife's body
in the house in the full knowledge that your young children would find her. The whole relationship, the marriage,
his life, this murder, everything was ego driven with this man. And I think the judge kind of said that when
he was sentencing him. NARRATOR: After Claire's death, the community struggled to come
to terms with her murder. The pub where she had worked closed its doors as a mark of respect.
Merran, her partner and the pool team who had spent those final days with Tavener
had to come to terms with their part in witnessing the beginning of the evening.
Just complete and utter shock, really. A lot of people-- well, all of us really felt really bad.
Because we all thought we could have stopped it if he hadn't gotten back to Nailsea.
If he'd stayed here for the night, he could have thought differently the next day.
I think everybody felt really-- like, they could have stopped it in some way. NARRATOR: A family was forever changed
the day that Andrew Tavener bragged of his intention to kill. A community, too. Neither can be certain exactly what had made him do it.
KERRY MAYLIN: What caused the ferocity of the attack? I don't think anybody could answer apart from Mr. Tavener
himself. [music playing] [music playing]

Claire and Andrew Tavener were a sociable couple…almost too sociable. When Andrew got drunk, he became paranoid and violent.

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

Claire Tavener was murdered by her abusive husband Andrew after she planned to leave him, highlighting the dangers of domestic violence.

Key points

A Tragic Discovery. Two children find their mother dead on the floor, leading to a shocking call to emergency services.
The Gentle Giant's Transformation. Andrew Tavener, once a beloved figure, becomes increasingly controlling and abusive towards Claire.
Escalation of Violence. Andrew's controlling behavior escalates into physical violence, witnessed by friends and family.
Planning for Escape. Claire begins to plan her escape from Andrew, seeking advice on ending the relationship.
Dangerous Decisions. Experts warn that leaving an abusive relationship is one of the most dangerous times for women.
Claire's Dangerous Decision. Claire decides to leave her abusive husband, escalating tensions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What have you been doing?

Train driver questioning Andrew Tavener after he approached him at the station.

0:56WatchJun 8, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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