The Shocking Murder of Conner Marshall | Murdered at First Sight | Forensic Files

I like that one because they're all smart that's really nice that one a wedding yeah your best man doesn't he
yeah even my best man [Music] I've been promoted yeah I've been from A Different Page boy
yep so he was he was my best man did he said I'll be your best man but I'm not saying the speech
so the bond of me and Connor had was really good as fathers and it was brilliant
I wanted to be a young father so that I could do these things with kind of climb
trees make bow and arrows this personality was bright his clothes Choice were bright
his attitude to life was was bright [Music] the last conversation I with Connor or
the last text out of cornered he was saying can he come around because there was something wrong with his motorbike
and I've actually got slow got the text message and he says Dad can I come over and can we fix my page and everything
and I said yeah come over and we'll have a look at her Conor had gone to the Caravan park for
one night with his friend and the boys were just going to go out into postcode into town and just sort of have a nice
night I just said just be careful don't drink too much [Music] never thought that the day where he was
just going out walking he was looking to you know have a stroll by the beach would end in such a tragic manner
we actually got woken up by a knock on the door there was two police did then they just said
there's been an accident I can't even remember driving to the hospital and just thinking what is it what's
happened what on Earth has happened what you're faced with was just the most horrific gruesome
unrecognizable person it was just blood and bruises and this red thing around his head just just keeping him
still and just a mess a total mess Ponder was on the bed but we were told it was Connor but it didn't
look like Connor some it's total strange to just picking anything kid like that and just
do what he done to him it's just unbelievable [Music] these are my favorite ones remember that
there's always a small ones they're the ones that really gets me because he was my blonde bad boy yeah
this photo here of Connor and his big boy uniform as he used to call it wasn't it so his first proper pair of shoes not
trainers and I just remember him being really sort of feeling like rule in the school
wearing the school uniform [Music] you asked him he said to me you're going to go again
tomorrow oh no what have you been to school yeah on my big ones I say yeah we always knew that we wanted we you
know we wanted to start a family it was always going to be on the cards and it just happened much quicker than than we
both had you know sort of anticipated but Rich was absolutely ecstatic he was over the moon as I was being Connor's
Dad it meant everything it really did it was literally it was like as if you're complete then
big things that stand out for me with him was his sense of humor and how caring he was and then when I had the
other children he was really really caring and very protective towards them so they're sort of grinning like
Cheshire cats there they automatically stood in that order I remember taking a photograph and they were both the boys
would always then fuss with Georgia make sure that Georgia was okay he wouldn't know George was in the photograph and
but Connor was very much sort of he would organize them wouldn't he when I look back I do feel glad they
didn't work all the time I'm glad I made time for the children we actually had time together
this is his 18th wasn't it I remember clearly um and we were just really proud weren't
we we had the party for a man who didn't want the first he made sure that the celebrations went on didn't they do it
soon yeah just a day or two or three or four [Music] like the eighth of March is my birthday
um and on that particular day um it was just a normal busy day Jack had rugby Georgia had gymnastics so it was
one of those usual Here There and Everywhere taxi in days and Connor had come over to say that he was going on
holiday and I was really sort of oh right okay so I'm going on holiday I'm going to
pause call and he was really excited and a post call is probably 40 minutes by car from us but to Connor it was a real
big you know he was going to the end of the Earth because it was something that he decided to do
is sort of seaside resort where families go to have holidays it's a very sort of
small town sort of people go there to have a good time he told me that it was all planned he
was going and they were going to go down and just spend the night with his friend
in postcall and that was that so I still all right then and you know sort of joked and I said look when you
come back tomorrow we'll have Sunday lunch which is Connor's favorite so that was sort of
foregone kit yet we'll see you tomorrow that was that I kind of had gone to stay at Taco Bell
Caravan park with two of his friends it was the first sort of holiday he had been on without his parents so while at
the Caravan Park he and his friends attended the on-site bar I had a few drinks throughout the evening I got taxes from
him updating where they were where they were going I think we went to Port called Town Center where they went to
the sports bar and was seen there until quite late in in the night the three of them then made their way back to choco
Bay Caravan Park site I had the the nightly tax which is north star kariti which is good night I love you but it
didn't arrive that night and it arrived every single night without fail I just remember waking up at 7 22.
it's a big bang on the door lady went downstairs to see where it was I looked out the bedroom window and seen
there was a police car there so I jumped out about ran down the stairs and I said
I'll get it I'll get it but um making by then she started to open the door there was two police officers
might have been two it might have been three stood there um and Rich came down the stairs at the
same time and they both said are you parents of Connor Marshall and obviously yes so we invited them in and they were
sort of like ushering us into the into our living room so we went in and they just said that they were really sorry
um but they'd been an incident and Connor was very very poorly it was like as if everything was in slow
motion and it was just you know just thousands of thoughts going through your head what happened
um trying to get questions or answers off the police and that was it I think they were just told just going to tell
the family they've got to come into hospital and that was it because they knew nothing
commoners discovered underneath a caravan by a dog walker who just happened to stumble across him
he had serious head injuries which had rendered him unconscious he was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in
Cardiff drove to the hospital I can't remember driving there but we pulled into the car park
and I said well that's the emergency exit there I said so we parked as close as we possibly could I can remember
running across the road and the doors were closed and we were banging on the door
and then the next thing I know is that we were in like a side room and they were in there and I remember Richard
saying why can't we see him why can't we see him [Music] tracker Bay Caravan Park is known for
being a family-friendly place where people go to have holidays and have a good time
so this was sort of the last thing you would expect it was just horrible and strange to
think that something's wrong with him and we couldn't see him you know never in a
million years did we think that it was as bad as it was but um they're trying to keep us in this
room and I walked out to the room then and I'd seen this trolley coming towards me
and as I looked at the trolley I was just like oh God God what's happened there and as a trolley don't need it I
realized it was Connor all I could see was just a person a body in on the bed and Rich was like
like these doors and again they wouldn't let us through I'm just thinking what is it what's
happened what on Earth has happened just being really frightened in this feeling
in the pit of your stomach of fear [Music] I first heard about the attack on Connor
when southwest police issued a press release saying that Conor had been attacked that the person who had
um who they believed to be responsible for the attack was still at large and they were appealing from information
from Witnesses and for people to get in contact who might be able to help with the investigation
the last conversation I had with Connor was was literally just about enjoying himself and just staying safe be careful
the usual things that parents would say he was just like we're going down there we're staying in the Caravan with his
best mate his sister and the baby and everything they're gonna just go out in the night go into the town have a couple
of drinks and then and that was it we know now from Connor's friend they went back to the Caravan and the baby
that was there was crying and Connor didn't like the crying he just and that was Connor he was sort of
sensitive and he said to the friend oh I'm going to just go out for a walk while they try and settle the baby and
that was that that's what Connor did Connor was found some hours later by some people that were staying at the
Caravan site lying unconscious under a caravan covered in blood and bruises and he was taken to hospital
they opened the doors then and they said right you can you know and we just walked in and
just the state of Conor it was just it didn't look like honor I just remember this huge wound on his
eye and lots of blood and lots of doctors and and sayings and beeping and police
and just being in a situation that was completely alien I remember saying to the doctor what
about his eye what about his eyes you know you need to do something you need to do something can the doctor very
calmly just took my hand and he just said mum we will sort the eye out but that's
not the the priority at the moment and that's when things really started hitting you and then
you know what do you mean well fixing them you know he's he's in he's in here and everything we can get him warmed up
they can't warm him up for some reason it was he was just cold and again you get you're getting like
Snippets of information and you're trying to sort of work it out and like what you mean he was cold
[Music] when Connor was found he had internal injuries he was in a coma he was suffering from hypothermia he had brain
swelling he even had hemorrhages in his eyes they explained that Conor had been found
naked and that his clothes were on Caravan next door so again it was just like you know why and I remember asking them
you know was it was it a sexual attack was it you know was that the motivation and they didn't give us a straight
answer at that time they just said they didn't think so [Music] it was just a random violent
animalistic attack [Music] state that Connor was in when he was found beaten so bad that even his father
said it was difficult to recognize him you know naked I left alone freezing to death on top of all the injuries is
sustained this is just so difficult for anyone to imagine and it really motivated police not only to find this
person immediately but also to make sure this wasn't something that was going to
be ongoing it could happen to someone else soon you wouldn't necessarily know what
weapons were used in order to attack Conor so you would be keeping an open mind in respect of what you're looking
for as they were searching the area of the Caravans where Connor had been found they discovered a metal pole underneath
a caravan when this was examined it was found to have traces of Connor's blood on it and
perhaps the most crucial piece of evidence they found was a fingerprint so that would be one of the crucial
lines of inquiry in that investigation to Fast Track the DNA to see if a perpetrator could be identified at the
very early stages of that investigation I think it unfolded a lot over the 4D who were in The hostel but obviously we
wouldn't take any notice of it I remember the nurse saying you know he was in a in a coma but that he may be
able to hear so it's really important that you keep talking to him and and that's what we did
hour by hour [Music] some of the swelling had gone down some of the bruising had gone down so to us
he looked like he was getting better we were in this aside room at one point and then a nurse two nurses came in
sat and introduced herself and she said that she was the organ donor coordinating nurse or something
when they first come in the room and they said where from organ donation the first thought went through my head
was they were going to give Connor organs they were going to give commas and think
but then as soon as they said that economy was on the organ donation about using his organs that was when it
was like what and it was disbelief we weren't prepared to even try to understand because to
agree to organ donation was to agree to to stop any medical intervention and then they they told us about
the actual process that was happening in Connor's neck or head and that was why he was swirling was because of the brain
injury was so significant that the actual brain was being pushed down the spinal column I was down the spinal cord
and that once that happened then it's irreversible said everything we literally I said to
him look if they said that he had a ruptured something and we'll take mine off me then
you know just you know I said I'm older I said I've had my life I said you need something to make him
better take it if I gotta go I gotta go and that's it Connor was 18 years old so
[Music] the doctors were very clear that everything every intervention had been used was being used but that brain scans
and all the evidence was showing that there was no and I remember the words sustainable
life possible [Music] it was quite shocking that a young man of 18 years old had gone out
just to have a good time with his friends and ended up in a critical condition in
hospital I felt absolutely terrible for his parents and his family for what they
were going through and obviously trying to find out what had happened at the in the early stages
saying it's an incident to dunking into it snowballed from there then I described Connor he was handsome he
was good looking he was very polite I mean he literally stopped and opened the door for somebody and things like that
which you do you look back and you just you smile about it because you think you
know you think oh that's when all the people and they go oh thank you very much you know and you just think oh I
brought him up well when you are dealing with an investigation that at that particular time is an
attempted murder you hope with all your heart that this young man 18 years of age in his prime
you hope that he will survive and then you deal with Memphis the family who also would be completely traumatized
I remember climbing up on the bed with him and just snuggling in and crutching with him but
he wasn't able to do that it was rich had to put his arm around me Conor's arm around me and
the kids did the same and it was just it was brutal as a dad I'd let him down because I wasn't there to protect him
[Music] seen him in that state [Music] just that I should have been there [Music]
I know I couldn't have been there but everybody says oh yeah because you couldn't have done anything but that's
not the point he's my son and I'm there I'm supposed to protect him Connor was asleep
he you know he he was very it was very peaceful it was harrowing it was just the hardest thing to do
it became apparent that he had suffered brain swelling as a result of the head injuries he had sustained and as a
result of that he he died [Music] and I remember being in the hospital and then having having spent four days
there and then finally leaving four of us leaving after we talked to say goodbye to Connor
I don't even know how Richard did it but he drove us all home we got home and we just all went into the living
room and we just crashed all of us good you're dealing with the family you're dealing with the investigation that is
unfolding in front of you and there are a whole host of questions that were asked the family wanted to know who did
this why did this happen What part did their son actually play in this attack on him
was he involved in an altercation they would have a whole number of questions that were rumbling through their minds
because they want to know what's happened I can remember the the detective coming
in I don't know at what point and telling us that um the investigation was really like
ramping up and that they had an idea of a suspect who they wanted to speak to in the elite stages of the investigation
we were told that police wanted to speak to a man who had driven from the Caravan
site had gotten a train at caerphilly train station had then gone to Cardiff Central Railway
Station before making their way to the north of England that was when they told us that this
person that they were pretty sure was was involved was was person that hurt Connor had disappeared
he'd gone to grind and it was just this name that came up this David Braden and I never heard of
it and it was you know that name then that is rotten inside you then so police first stumbled across the name David
Bradham after finding the fingerprint on the metal pole that was found in the scene of Connor's murder Bradham was
previously known to police and his details were in the police system so when they put their fingerprint through
the system they then discovered that it was braddon as soon as David Braden was identified
as being involved in the attack on Connor police officers would have taken a series of actions so first of all they
would have circulated him as wanted but also they would take steps to locate him
via his mobile phone and it was a mobile phone that actually located David Braden
they told us of the operation that that he'd gone to Scotland um and basically they knew who he was and
they knew where he was he was found hiding behind a sofa at a relative's house and when the officers made the
initial arrest he said something along the lines of am I being arrested for suspicion of murder and is the boy dead
when they first were interrogating him he wouldn't say anything and this is not uncommon for the first round of
interviews that police experience and the likelihood is he made no comment because he probably felt at that time
that he had a good chance of not being convicted of the murder in four days we'd been left with nothing
a whole massive crater in our lives um not very much to fill it with because David Braden being the coward
that he was refused to help and was not giving any reasons or answers as to why he did it
it's just a big mess and a huge as it said a huge crater that's just completely obliterated my heart my
family my life anything that I know that being said police also knew they had a lot of forensic evidence and other
types of evidence that ultimately they felt pretty confident would secure a conviction if they had to go to trial
the Caravan site did have CCTV around the area it showed Connor there a young 18 year old vibrant young man enjoying
his evening with his friends amazingly and coincidentally both Braden and Connor were in the same environment
in the same bar Connor was sat there literally feet away enjoying his evening not knowing that that was going to be
the last night he would ever ever spend with his friends having made their way back to tracker Bay Caravan Park Connors
put up from his friends at around 1am he wanted to go and walk along the coastline
he was then seen later that evening around 2 to 2 30 in the morning perhaps the most
it was the last footage in which Conor was conscious and her life when Braden was initially interviewed by
police officers he made no comment but he changed his mind and then he did begin to answer questions when the
evidence started to unfold in front of him the metal pole that was found nearby the
clothes that were discarded from Connor and obviously the forensic information on that poll including Brad's
fingerprint he would have to give an account to the police officers as to why his blood was
found on the weapon that was used to assort Connor Marshall [Music] and then they were also telling us the
reasons why was there was two he was there allegedly to rekindle his relationship with the
mother of his children and that was why they were in the camp it was while at the Caravan Park that he
discovered that his girlfriend had been sending messages to her ex-boyfriend who
was coincidentally also staying at the Caravan Park this sent him into a rage braddon had taken a [ __ ] a cocktail of
alcohol and drugs he'd taken cocaine and 50 Valiant tablets I mean that is a ridiculous amount and what can happen in
some people who are prone to violence who are you know naturally quite impulsive and aggressive it can
disinhibit them David Braden wasn't an individual that had serious issues around jealousy
couldn't control his own temper couldn't control his own behaviors was jealous of
the fact that they'd been an exchange of text messages between his exchanged partner and her ex-partner
and so then braddon decides that he's going to take matters into his own hand and he grabbed a kitchen life and he
went out onto the Caravan Park looking for this man he's in the state where he's looking for
a fight so it's not surprising that when he sees Conor he almost convinces himself that this is the man this is the
target he was walking ahead at me if he just turned wrong he was like no one else about it was Darkness yeah
sort of seeing but I've started I wouldn't Sweden her he started swearing backs of assumed it
was in and he started fighting I just got out of control he said that they'd gotten into an
altercation and that Connor threw the first punch so by this point he's building up a picture to suggest that
Conor was actually the person that was a perpetrator and that an altercation had
taken place Connor won the fighter he was literally he used to think he was tough but he
wasn't he was a big teddy bear he was literally he would shy away from a fight straight away
young Connor was attacked so ferociously he was knocked to the ground he was beaten about the face about the chest
about the head how many times have you did five foreign the fact that Connor was defenseless was
so badly injured but he took it upon himself to strip this young man naked and throw his clothing to one side is an
indication of the type of individual that he is the level of violence that he inflicted shows a level of depth of
anger the Red Mist and the violence that was within this individual and I don't think that anybody could have predicted
that it was then that he claimed he Sean hit the torch in Conor's face and realized
it was not the person he'd intended to tuck and then fled the scene in in fear for the consequences
started speaking before we get up no Partners went I didn't mean to kill it Braden's main
defense was basically mistaken identity that he brutally murdered the wrong person but when you think about this
that is equally horrific this other man had done nothing to him as well and yet he was supposedly going to be brutally
murdered because he had been exchanging text messages with Braden's girlfriend and there's no justification
knowing what what we knew then from the police that it was an unprovoked attack for no reason
it's just mind-blowing how you can comprehend and understand it [Music] somehow or another in all of the the
chaos we we managed to organ you know to arrange a funeral that was just lovely in all its
horrible reasoning for being there we went into it local florist uh not far from us and she got this book
from under the counter opened the book and there was a coffin with all flowers on top of it
and I walked out at that stage and said the brown coffin horrible Brown coughing
brass angles and I said he's 18 years old I'm not no no that's that's not right [Music]
Richard was absolutely amazing he got this beautiful coffin full of pictures of Connor
because Connor was the star of the show it was all about Conor and we wanted Connor to be
the center of that as he was to us when you go to a funeral the coughing comes down and you stood
down and you look at the coffin and then you look away because there's a coffin whereas
this was Connor's and when people looked at that coffin they took another look at the coffin
because it was different it was pictures of Connor all over the coffin [Music] took on his death was
again just surreal we just put one foot in front of the other it was our new normal that we had to
to do and we we just sort of waded through it given all of the evidence that police
had suggesting that Braden was in fact the killer it was infuriating for the family for the community and for law
enforcement that he refused to admit what he had done and then when we got to the trial here in
there was lots of people there there was lots of our family lots of his family his children were there
it was just horrific and when he finally came up from under the court he walked up the steps
he didn't look at us and he sat in front of us and I could see the tattoos on his
neck and on his hands when I seen him I could have truly killed him myself direct it ruined my life
and he really did I was just shaking completely shaking couldn't stop shaking and feeling as if
I was going to be sick David Bradley's a coward that's why he didn't go to trial
he left here long enough to you know and at the last minute then he pleaded guilty
ultimately he ended up changing his plea to guilty but they seemed very self-serving it was just to get a
reduced sentence which only further infuriated the family at the end of The Plea hearing he was
basically awarded a 25-year tariff but because he pleaded guilty early in their opinion he was rewarded with five years
taken off his sentence they told us life means life how can life mean 20 years in prison
that's not life me and my wife are going through a life sentence that animal will be out when they walk
in the streets the judge did his daddy said and then he turned Round And basically
said I said to you know take him away and as he turned around he looked directly at us we were sat up in the
balcony and he looked up at us and gave us a thumbs up and that was just absolutely crushing
that there was such disrespect and No Remorse he wasn't remorseful he was taunt in US
[Music] he may have pled guilty to the crime however the fact is he hasn't shown any remorse and I think
that's the last disgraceful despicable Act of a coward [Music] I know I struggle really hard with and
I've said it too loads of times haven't either I struggle with trying to remember Connor's voice
and I so desperately don't want to forget and I find that really difficult that if I'm honest with myself
I think no I can't remember it but I've really got a struggle and push and try and that's the only the
only words I can ever remember him is just ma'am and then that makes me angry that
somebody took that away from me [Music] the longer it goes on the more you miss him
and he's not going to come back to the door you just where there is prey whether it's wish
and just that it was all a big mistake and then in August A letter came to us as parents of Conor
Marshall and it simply it was just a general letter saying hello hi my name is search and search I'm the probation
liaison officer appointed by the service because you may or may not know that David Braden was already being managed
by the probation service and I said so they're saying that they knew who David Bradham was
I don't get that I thought that was it it just again it just turned the world upside down again
it was just like why won't we told any of this why one always brought up before he went
to trial at the time of the attack radin was already under supervision for drug offenses for attacking a police officer
plus he had this previous conviction of battery in 2009 so there's a patent here
we're seeing the picture of a man who is callous he's impulsive he's aggressive he's violent
and then so eventually it became clear that David Braden was should have been monitored and that he had conditions and
those conditions were that he had you know a curfew or he wasn't allowed to go different places
even now I think I I I was only understanding that if you're unlicensed you're being watched
you're being managed obviously that's not not the case is it because if he can go out and you can go into the family
area and do what he's done and obviously they're not watching him this is something that shocks Connor's
parents and it was then they campaigned to make sure there's an inquest into Connor's death to look into the failures
of what happened in this particular case the purpose of the coroner's inquest was to see if the
Probation Services were fit for purpose were they doing their job during the inquest into Connor's death
we learned that broaden had missed a total of eight appointments and probation which would have put him in breach
of of that license and perhaps if things have been monitored more carefully there would have been a
different outcome thankfully we got the best results that we could that we could have got we which
was that it was agreed that yes there were systemic failings there was complete and utter
management disarray and oversight the coroner did not find a direct link between the problems with the probation
services and Conor's death but nevertheless they highlighted some big areas that needed Improvement
and that's you know that is a voice for Connor that we demanded that there be more
transparency and more accountability but it's not there yet con had the tattoo on his arm Life Goes
On which had caused a massive row when he'd had it because he went and had it without me knowing
and he had this pointless thing written on his on his thing and I was like why why you know but he just kind of quite
simply said at the time because it Desmond life does go on foreign [Music] just to get skim stones and throw stones
and it was it was mum sort of that suggested wasn't it you know let's have you know what about a bench
one of the many reasons why I wanted the bench to be here was because I used to come here with my mum and dad and even
my nan and grumpy I just remember the nice things here because Connor lived it Connor lived it
here so much this was our happy place and this is where they used to have fun all the time you know
the inscription on the bench it just says it all really doesn't it it's enough we have to have his name obviously
Connor Jake Marshall but our number one son our number one you know because he was a fit number one
wouldn't he your number one Sunny was our firstborn and then he's missed every day
and then Life Goes On which is that motto that as a family we all literally stick to it don't we I mean that's his
Mandarin the Life Goes On you know unless in a way it's one of those things that's yeah when we do feel down and we
feel thing then Life Goes On [Music] [Music] thank you

In 2015, when 18-year-old Conner Marshall embarks on a long weekend trip with friends, he never imagines that the trip would take a dark turn after a chance encounter with a crazed stranger. Police and are shocked by the grisly crime scene and work tirelessly to identify the killer. Upon arrest, they’re appalled to learn about the perpetrators dark criminal past. Murdered At First Sight is a true crime documentary series that tells the first-hand stories of the most complex and hard-to-solve homicide cases: murders committed by strangers.

Brief Summary

Connor Marshall's tragic story unfolds through his family's memories and the investigation into his violent death.

Key points

A Tragic Accident. A young man's night out ends in tragedy, leaving his family devastated.
The Discovery. Connor was found unconscious under a caravan, leading to a frantic hospital rush.
The Last Conversation. A parent recalls their final chat with Connor, filled with normalcy before tragedy struck.
The Arrest. David Braden is arrested, questioning if he's being charged with murder.
The Tragic Night. Connor Marshall's last night with friends, unaware of the impending tragedy.
The Violent Attack. Connor is brutally attacked by Braden, leading to his tragic death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I can’t even remember driving to the hospital.

A parent’s frantic drive to the hospital after hearing about their child's accident.

1:57WatchOct 18, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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