World's Most Evil Killers - Season 5, Episode 12 - Victor Ferrant - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[DRAMATIC TUNE] NARRATOR: On the 7th of February 1996, 15-year-old Katie Hoskins arrived
home from school to discover her mother had vanished. Later that night, Katie checked the converted loft
of their house in Portsmouth, on the South Coast of England, where she made a horrifying discovery.
HELEN WHEELER: I was told, away from the children, how Glenda had died. How they'd found her.
But the fact that it was Katie that was involved in that, I can't even say how awful it must have been for those two
children that day. And for everybody else involved, it was all a shock. NARRATOR: Her killer was Victor Farrant,
a 46-year-old convicted rapist, who'd attacked another woman six weeks earlier. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: There are fractures.
There are knife wounds. There's blunt trauma. This woman really did go through a horrendous experience
with Farrant. NARRATOR: Before the police could catch up with him, Farrant had fled the country.
Stealing Glenda's car, and boarding a ferry to Belgium, where he disappeared without a trace.
RICHARD JONES: This was the biggest murder hunt in the history of Hampshire police.
And the biggest manhunt since the hunt for Ronnie Biggs, back in the 1970s. It was vital for Hampshire police to capture him,
because they knew just how dangerous he was. NARRATOR: The police faced a race against time
to capture Victor Farrant, one of the world's most evil killers. [MUSIC PLAYS] On the 31st of January 1997, convicted rapist,
Victor Farrant, was extradited back to the UK, after a six month international manhunt discovered
him hiding out in Nice, France. TV reporter, Richard Jones, followed the case from the very beginning.
At the time, I was a news reporter with ITV in the South of England, and this case
happened on our patch. In fact, it happened just a few miles from where I worked
and from where I lived. So I covered the initial news angle on the story. NARRATOR: During his trial in 1998,
Farrant remained remorseless, claiming no responsibility for the lives he blighted.
Jeremy Gibbon's QC, was responsible for building the case against Farrant. The brutality this killer was capable
of shocked the seasoned prosecutor. JEREMY GIBBONS: I've been barristing for 25 years or so.
And you think you've seen most things, but I think this was a cut above just about any other crime
scene I've seen. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: The attack on Anne was an incredibly brutal one.
He attacked her using an iron, he smashed the oven door into her head. There's misogyny all over this attack.
I think this is very much an outlet for those feelings. NARRATOR: This killer's story begins in Londonderry,
Northern Ireland. Victor Farrant was born on the 18th of November 1949. He and his four sisters had a transient life growing up.
DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Farrant came from a military family. His father was a Major in the army,
so they traveled around a lot. And that had a couple of impacts. Firstly, he has this model of masculinity,
which is idealized for him. So that is somebody who is tough, and stoic, and has a capacity for violence.
And also, the constant moving around, this is an individual who is constantly having to reinvent himself and introduce
himself to new groups of peers. So he doesn't have that stability of peer support
that a lot of us do have. It's all rather a conventional childhood, with the exception of the conceit, which is
built into him very early on. Together with a fascination with pretending to be someone he isn't.
I think Farrant always wanted to be bigger, better, bolder than he really was. NARRATOR: In 1969, the family moved back to England,
and settled in Cambridge. Despite his seemingly normal childhood, it was here Farrant first came to the attention of the law.
ANDY BAKER: He's someone that has been on the continuum of criminality. So when you look at his early life,
he started off as a thief. He was convicted of shoplifting, petty crimes. Indecent assault of a teenager, when he was 20.
NARRATOR: This violent behavior rapidly spurred a major deterioration of his family ties.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: By the age of 22, he's completely fallen out with his father. They have a row, which is never mended.
He goes to Brussels, he goes to Madeira, and works, and he travels. But the great advantage of being able to travel
is, of course, you can reinvent yourself every time you go to a new place. A new nightclub, a new persona.
A new city, a new persona. A new job, a new persona. And there you have the essence of Victor Farrant.
This man loves to reinvent himself. NARRATOR: In 1983, the now 33-year-old Farrant,
returned to the UK, and settled in Brighton on the South Coast. It was here that a dangerous pattern of behavior
surfaced in this nomadic fantasist. RICHARD JONES: He was described as somebody who was charming,
who was a smooth talker, a bit of a ladies' man. But then it also came across that he was a con man,
a fraud, a liar, with a very unhealthy attitude in the ends to women. ANDY BAKER: So he was very much this kind of person
who built himself up and believed in this persona, and then acted out the persona.
This charmer, this womanizer, this man that women loved. NARRATOR: In 1984, Farrant even received a local award
for bravery, after tackled a mugger outside the sandwich shop where he worked. His story appeared in the local paper.
So this was evidence of him being charming, and chivalrous, and a nice person. And I think he would have really enjoyed this kind of attention,
because that self that he's trying to project, it's there in black and white. NARRATOR: The seemingly charming 35-year-old
used this pretense of gallantry to mask his dark desires. RICHARD JONES: The way Victor Farrant operated,
was that he met women in nightclubs. And this is where his sort of double personality
comes in, because he would quite often use a different name. He'd quite often pretend that he was
an airline pilot, for example. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He had a lot of superficial charm.
And he would use aliases, he would use different names, he would put on different accents.
And I think this was a coping mechanism that he'd used as a child. But in this instance, it's the way to appear
exotic and exciting to women. NARRATOR: In October 1987, Victor Farrant met a 32-year-old woman in the Midnight Blues Nightclub
in Brighton. The young mother was captivated by this handsome stranger. GEOFFREY WANSELL: And he says to her, perhaps we
could go out for a meal. Well then begins something of a charade, which she doesn't quite cotton on to.
He says, oh, well I've got to go back to my flat. To collect his credit card, or his wallet, or whatever it
would be. NARRATOR: Once back at his flat, the Jekyll and Hyde like Farrant, revealed his sinister side.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: He becomes brutal. He handcuffs her and dumps her on the bed. And she gets out of one of the handcuffs,
and hits him over the head with it. It doesn't, unfortunately, render him unconscious.
And that action makes him lose his temper in the most brutal way. And this time, he knocks her unconscious.
And when she wakes up, he is indeed raping her. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: During the time that she is being held
by Farrant, he asks her to take hold of a wine bottle, essentially to put her fingerprints on it.
So he's trying to create a narrative around this attack, that he can explain away.
He's trying to blame the victim here. He's trying to create the impression that she came back
willingly, she was drinking. All of these things that tarnish her image as an innocent victim.
NARRATOR: That morning, Farrant became charming once more, and let the young woman go.
Wrongly convinced that he could escape justice. GEOFFREY WANSELL: It's a horrifying ordeal.
The man she thought was perfectly respectable and upright, turns out to be anything but.
NARRATOR: She immediately went to the police. And despite his best efforts to cover his crimes,
in 1988, 39-year-old Farrant received an 11 year sentence for rape, false imprisonment, and GBH.
He also received an additional one year sentence for a further attack on another woman, with a bread knife,
during the same period. But Farrant spent his time behind bars convincing the authorities that he was a reformed man.
DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He really does portray himself as the suave, sophisticated, charming man.
But at the time he's in prison, he's also learning during this process, what a parole board need to hear.
He's learning the kind of behavior that he needs to display to eventually get released.
NARRATOR: In 1993, Farrant's seemingly good behavior was rewarded. He was released from prison that week ends, in an attempt
to integrate him back into society. It was during one of these unsupervised home visits,
that Farrant met another unsuspecting woman. RICHARD JONES: Glenda Hoskins was separated
from her husband, Tony. She was living a quite independent, happy life. She would go to nightclubs in Southsea with her friends.
And actually, at one of these nightclubs, is where she met Victor Farrant. NARRATOR: 43-year-old mother of three,
Glenda, was initially enamored by this tall, charismatic stranger, who set about working
his way into her life. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He's very charming, he's very attentive.
He tells her that he has a job working away. He's actually on release from prison at this point in time.
He sends her love letters, he sends her gifts. So he appears to be a knight in shining armor.
ANDY BAKER: We know from Glenda's children and other people, just how generous, giving,
caring person Glenda is. The children talk about she would always have dinner for them.
She would always be there. She would drop them off, she'll pick them up. And she demonstrate this, actually, with Farrant.
They were friends, they had a relationship, but he was so possessive and so controlling of her,
she tried to end it. She tried to call it. And in fact told him so. NARRATOR: In November 1995, Farrant was permanently
released from prison, having served eight years of his 12 year sentence. RICHARD JONES: What we discovered
was, that although Farrant had been prosecuted, sentenced, and sent to jail for attacking one woman
and for raping another, he was released early from his sentence. And he wasn't subject to any supervision.
The sort of supervision that would happen now, when people would end up on the sex offenders
register. NARRATOR: Once free, the obstinate Farrant continued to pursue Glenda obsessively.
Taking pity on him, Glenda invited Farrant over at Christmas. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: So he goes after her again.
And he's very attentive, he's very charming, he's very loving. And he wheedles his way back into her life.
He came over to her home during the Christmas holidays, and her children noticed quite a few really important things
about him. See, he was quite childish. He was very determined when he was convinced he was in the right.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: They thought he was a bit false. I think one of the memorably called him cringey.
RICHARD JONES: They described playing board games. And he's playing with children, but he always had to win.
He couldn't be proved to be wrong, or to get anything wrong. NARRATOR: Despite Glenda trying to distance herself
from Farrant, the 46-year-old remained possessive and envious. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: There was stalking behavior.
He hung around her house, he made several phone calls to her. He felt that he had a right to do this.
He felt entitled to engage in these behaviors, because she was his property. NARRATOR: Then on the 7th of February 1996,
Glenda's 15-year-old daughter, Katie, arrived home from school to discover the house locked up, and her mother
nowhere to be found. This uncharacteristic behavior immediately set alarm bells ringing for her family.
RICHARD JONES: Concern for Glenda's safety arose, because Katie arrived home from school
and couldn't get into the house, the door was locked. Nobody knew where Glenda was.
And if you remember, this is the time before mobile phones were very common. So it wasn't a question of ringing mum
and finding out, where are you. ANDY BAKER: Glenda's daughter was waiting outside.
While she was waiting, a man turned up who had an appointment with Glenda to sign some papers.
He saw that, obviously, Glenda's daughter couldn't get in, so he let her sit in the car and warm up.
He then drove her to a phone box, and she phoned her father. NARRATOR: After calling friends, neighbors,
and the local hospital, Katie, her father, and her younger brother, David, went to the local police station.
PC Helen Wheeler was on duty at the time. HELEN WHEELER: Katie's first reaction to most of this
was, something's wrong. And she was adamant with that the whole time. Even when they came into the police station,
something's not right. My mum would have rung, my mum would have left me a message,
my mum would have left a note on the door. Or something similar to those sort of questions,
where this just isn't right. NARRATOR: Shortly after midnight, police forced entry
into the family's home through the downstairs window of David's bedroom. ANDY BAKER: And as I go in, I do a search,
and find nothing apart from Glenda's clothes on the floor in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs.
Quite disheveled, like in a pile. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Glenda's somebody who was very neat and very meticulous,
so that is completely out of character. So it's a mystery. And it's a very worrying one, because here is their family
home, but where is their mum? NARRATOR: As the police and family continue to search the three story townhouse,
their feelings of foreboding increased. ANDY BAKER: They'd looked in the loft. And it had been a converted loft.
It was a fairly cursory look, because they used a torch, they couldn't find a light switch.
But because Glenda's daughter knew where the light switch was, she-- bearing in mind, she's 15 years of age--
she decides to go up there. Having turned on the light switch for the loft room in the office, she saw the rolled
up carpet and Glenda's legs. She said they looked like mannequins legs. And she let out a piercing scream.
NARRATOR: The horrifying discovery spurred the police into immediate action. HELEN WHEELER: The next minute I know,
I'm looking after two children, who've had their clothes taken from them, and they put them in white suits.
And they were just sat back, to have a little bit more of a calming, let's look after you.
It was very traumatic. NARRATOR: Despite her inexperience, young PC, Helen Wheeler, was given
the role of family liaison officer for the first time. Honestly, I was a bit scared, myself.
Am I going to say the right thing? Are they going to talk to me? Am I going to give the right information back
to the investigation? I think it's scary the first time you do it. NARRATOR: In the small hours of the morning,
Helen and the police started to piece together information from the family. HELEN WHEELER: We have a golden hour,
where we have to find as much information as we can to give us the leads. It's very much how people work now.
We have to find as much as we can, as quick as we can. This is day one, hour one, hour two.
With this young lady, Katie, she was together, she didn't scream and shout. She didn't want things there and then.
She was happy to ask questions. She was happy to give information. I was able to talk to them about things
that people had told me that were things that may have been in the house. Was that correct, was it not correct.
And what's interesting is, both the children noticed that the CDs had been taken, TVs had been taken,
another item had being taken, also her car had gone as well. NARRATOR: Both children suspected
that one of their mother's friends, known to them as Vic, might be involved in her death.
The man had spent Christmas with the family, and his behavior had concerned them.
The police found the mysterious Vic's phone number in Glenda's address book. And soon discovered that he was a 46-year-old man named
Victor Farrant. ANDY BAKER: They had loads of lines of inquiries around the property, they had a car number to circulate,
and they had Farrant's name. And once they started digging deeper, they would have seen Farrant's past as well.
And within hours of Glenda's body being found, they named him as being involved.
NARRATOR: A team were dispatched to his home address. And by 5:20 AM, they were staking out Farrant's property.
20 minutes later, police forced entry into his bedsit. There was no sign of Farrant, but they
did make another remarkable discovery on a notepad. He didn't know about ESDA tracing,
because he'd written a note-- that clearly he had handed to her-- and the police were able to reconstruct
what was on the note. And it was pretty chilling stuff. NARRATOR: Traced from the notepad,
were two letters Farrant had written to Glenda. ANDY BAKER: One he immediately showed
to her, which said to her, look don't, make a noise. I want you to undress. I want you to stand a certain way.
I want you to say to me-- Look me in the eyes and say to me, use my body as you want.
Also another letter that said, kiss me as you know I like to be kissed, you know how I like it.
NARRATOR: A disturbing picture surrounding the events that led to Glenda's murder was starting to emerge.
At 8:00 AM, Havant police opened an incident room to track Victor Farrant's movements.
We now know that Farrant traveled in Glenda's car along the South Coast selling CDs, TV
to a person in Brighton, who readily came forward and said that a guy called Charles Kelly, who is in fact Farrant,
sold them to him. RICHARD JONES: He carried on driving, and he'd got to Ashford.
Where again, he'd arranged to get rid of his car, which was taken to London. Without his car, he got a train to Ramsgate.
So you've got a pretty clear indication now of who the prime suspect is. Inspector Farrant.
NARRATOR: Shortly after 6:00 AM, the police contacted all local ports to try and stop
Farrant from leaving the country, but they were too late. It turned out actually that Farrant
had planned the murder of Glenda Hoskins very carefully. We found out that he'd studied ferry timetables, so he knew
how, and when, and where he was going to get out of the country. NARRATOR: As Farrant slipped through the police's net,
crime scene investigators undertook a thorough search of Glenda's home. JEREMY GIBBONS: They dusted absolutely
everything for fingerprints. And one of the things you realize as the amount of care
they take, is they've got little stands that they put on the floor, very low, so that they don't disturb anything
on the carpets or the floors. They were certainly in Glenda Hoskins house for days,
absolutely taking the whole thing apart and looking at absolutely everything. ANDY BAKER: We now know that Farrant had
planned to go to Glenda's home. He knew what property was in the home and he had planned to steal that.
He took with him items-- we believe-- to control Glenda. And he went to the house.
There's no sign of forced entry. But we now know that she was forced, or she was stripped naked at the foot of the stairs.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: It's very difficult not to feel a terrible sense of foreboding.
That sense that she must have been in utter fear for her life. And that makes the crime even more horrifying,
because it involves an element of torture. NARRATOR: The post-mortem examination
revealed Glenda had been sexually assaulted and asphyxiated. Water was also found in her lungs.
ANDY BAKER: And then we can only speculate on this bit. He then decided he was going to clean forensically,
and make her take a bath. JEREMY GIBBONS: It appears, from the marks on the body,
that she got bruises to her ankles. So clearly they'd been hoisted up in the air.
And she had bruises either side of her nose, on her cheekbones, where she had clearly
been held under the water and she drowned. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He is a parasite.
He has taken everything from this woman. He has used every last inch of her. And now he's done with her, and he's moving on.
NARRATOR: Farrant's details were circulated throughout constabularies along the South Coast.
It was then the detectives in Eastleigh, investigating the brutal attempted murder of a local woman called Anne Fidler, which had taken
place in December 1995, made a vital breakthrough in their investigation. ANDY BAKER: The inquiry team looking
into Anne's attempted murder, checked Farrant against their database. They got his palm prints from Cambridgeshire
from the early offenses he had committed. And they checked that palm print against a palm print
on the iron from Anne's attack, and they were the same. They therefore joined the two inquiries together,
and we now have a manhunt. NARRATOR: The horrifying realization that in the first three months after Farrant was released
from prison, he'd attempted to murder one woman, and succeeded in murdering another,
revealed just how unrepentant this dangerous criminal was. Victor Farrant had escaped the country,
and was now on the run from the police. ANDY BAKER: Looking at Farrant against other criminals,
or murderers, or perpetrators. Farrant looks to me as if he's someone that is infatuated.
Doesn't like being spurned, and will take that personally. And then that spurn turns into hate within him.
And then he will plan an evil act against people. NARRATOR: The attack on Eastleigh resident, Anne,
was one of the most violent local detectives had ever seen. RICHARD JONES: Anne Fidler was actually
a former civil servant, but strangely she was working as a prostitute. She advertised her services in local newspapers,
and she had a string of clients. And they turned out to actually include Victor Farrant.
NARRATOR: Savvy 43-year-old Anne, met clients at her home. Not before ingeniously vetting their credentials.
ANDY BAKER: She would go to a phone box near where she lived. And she could see them in the phone box.
See if they looked presentable, businesslike. And then let them come to the house.
The husband would always ring the home on his way back from the gymnasium to see if he
could come into the house, because he didn't want that confrontation. Even though he didn't understand it, he knew what she was doing.
NARRATOR: On the 27th of December 1995, Anne Fidler met Victor Farrant. GEOFFREY WANSELL: Exactly how Farrant
worked his magic on Fidler, remains a matter of conjecture. But nevertheless, on that day, Fidler
finds herself in the hands of a man who truly is a beast. NARRATOR: Anne was subjected to a violent and prolonged attack
at the hands of Farrant, who then escaped the scene of the crime, leaving her for dead.
The attack took place in the kitchen. And clearly he'd used considerable force on her,
because the outer glass oven door was shattered and lying in pieces all over the floor.
And sort of safety glass. And there was a large pool of vomit. She was cut and bruised very badly.
And so her husband lets himself in and discovers Anne, literally a pulp, on the floor in the kitchen.
ANDY BAKER: She had been bound with duct tape. There was blood everywhere. Glass everywhere.
And she was in the middle of it. And he couldn't recognize his wife's face. GEOFFREY WANSELL: It's impossible to imagine
the horror that he must have felt at that instant. And she's almost not breathing, she's barely alive.
NARRATOR: Anne remained in a coma for over a fortnight. ANDY BAKER: You also have to remember that Anne was
in an awful state from her injuries, and was unable to say who had committed the crime.
In fact, when she was able to talk, she was blank up until Christmas. She couldn't remember beyond Christmas day.
So she couldn't remember how she was attacked, who attacked her, where, when, et cetera.
NARRATOR: Crime scene investigators sealed off the house, and began to gather evidence,
in the hope of identifying the person responsible for this vicious attempted murder.
JEREMY GIBBONS: By the time the police photographer got there, she'd gone to hospital.
But there was the scene left in the kitchen, which of course they were very careful not to disturb.
DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Farrant is an offender who learns with every attack that he carries out.
And when you look at Anne's place, there were no fingerprints anywhere. So he's always trying to stay one step ahead.
And in this regard, he's a very organized offender. It seems clear that Farrant was, to some extent,
forensically aware. He certainly tries to dispose of evidence, to clean up after himself, to limit forensic opportunities.
But at the same time, he is foolish enough to drop an article of clothing as he escapes.
People realize as they're running away-- They kind of realize, oh, I shouldn't have that on me.
Or that's blood stained, or something like that. The police would start a perimeter search.
And in this case, where Anne was attacked, they searched and they found panties just discarded on the road.
NARRATOR: Realizing the killer may have discarded even more items of evidence, the police
quickly contacted the local counsel, and had all bin collections stopped. ANDY BAKER: They searched an industrial bin at Eastleigh
College, and they found part of the iron that was used as one of the weapons to attack Anne.
They also found a bottle in a bin. Along that broken part of an iron was Anne's blood and his palm print.
NARRATOR: Along with the palm print, they also found blood belonging to someone other than Anne
on her kitchen tap. The police now had solid forensic evidence. But without the advantages of modern technology,
identifying the attacker was going to prove difficult. There's no national database for a great many things,
including the palm print on the iron remnant that they found. ANDY BAKER: So they made an appeal for local men,
and the people who have been Anne's clients, to come forward to eliminate them from the blood and the palm print,
which many, many men willingly did. Nothing was identified. So they were very much in the dark for a number of weeks,
as to who the perpetrator of this attempted murder was. NARRATOR: It would be six weeks before the team at Eastleigh
would receive a breakthrough in the case. Farrant's details were sent to them by the team investigating
the murder of Glenda Hoskins. Farrant's details were sent over to the inquiry team
to be checked against any database that they had on the attempted murder of her.
They identified him as a person that had been arrested in Cambridgeshire. NARRATOR: Investigators then compared the palm prints
on the iron to the ones held on Victor Farrant's file in Cambridge. They found a match.
With the two crimes conclusively linked to the same perpetrator, the police knew they needed to find Farrant fast.
RICHARD JONES: It was really quite dramatic, the day after the murder when they'd
obviously found the link. We were called to something which I'd never been to before,
a late night press conference at Havant police station. Where they announced what Victor Farrant
was suspected of having done, and they described just how dangerous he was. NARRATOR: CCTV tracked Victor Farrant from Ashford
International Station to Ramsgate, where he boarded a ferry to Belgium. Once on the continent, Farrant disappeared.
RICHARD JONES: We understood that the likeliest place for Farrant to have gone once he had arrived in Belgium,
was to go to Brussels. We understood that he'd worked there in the 1970s as a barman.
So it was a place he knew well. He knew it was somewhere he could hide. NARRATOR: An extensive manhunt was launched,
but the master of disguise remained elusive. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Here's somebody
who's used to moving around. He's used to taking on new identities. He's used to blending in in a new environment.
So I think the police have really got their work cut out. RICHARD JONES: I think just before the Belgium police were
going to pounce and capture him, he left Brussels and then continued on to other parts of Europe.
NARRATOR: As Farrant continue to play cat and mouse with the police and the press through Europe,
concern mounted that this deadly charmer would strike again. ANDY BAKER: And there was a major concern
he was going to then go on a spree of crimes to satisfy his lust and his sexual desire
before he was caught. RICHARD JONES: We set out to track Farrant, as best we could, across Europe, as sightings came in.
The police were also well aware then of his interest in prostitutes. And we interviewed a couple of prostitutes
in Belgium, who'd been warned about Farrant by the police. They'd been circulating photos of him,
so concerned were they about his mental state and the threats he might pose to women in Brussels.
NARRATOR: Farrant made his way South through France. RICHARD JONES: Farrant had clearly
been living the high life. I expect he knew this was going to be his last taste of freedom.
We heard stories that he'd hold parties on the beach with young backpackers, many of them
women. And that he'd encourage women to go skinny dipping with him. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: It was quite
obvious that during this time, Farrant was up to his old tricks. He was the charmer again.
And I think this was a ticking time bomb. RICHARD JONES: After he left Brussels,
there were sightings of him in various parts of Europe. We heard that he might have been in Spain.
We also heard that he might have been in France. There were reports of him being in the French town of Sete.
NARRATOR: Hampshire police were determined to bring Victor Farrant to justice. An international manhunt was underway,
but with the whole of Europe to hide out in, the search for this accomplished liar
was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. RICHARD JONES: One of the key aspects of this case
is that actually, this was a crime committed in the analog age. So the police very much relied on traditional, normal methods.
So posters, and appeals on TV and radio, and trying to get his picture out as far across Europe
as possible. Because what they really needed was somebody who'd seen him, somebody who knew where he was, to get in contact.
And after five months, that finally happened. NARRATOR: A Canadian backpacker arrived in the UK in July 1996,
and alerted the authorities that the man they were looking for was working in a hostel in Nice.
As a consequence of that, we contacted our French counterparts, who visited the premises.
Confirmed the fact that it was Mr Farrant, and effected the arrest. GEOFFREY WANSELL: He has been living below the radar.
But on the 5th of July, an international arrest warrant is executed and Farrant is taken into custody.
Still of course, protesting his innocence. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He is an offender
who is so sure of himself, that he thought he could just front it out. So he was very calm, he was very relaxed.
He thought, I've got this, I can talk my way out of this. Such was his belief in himself.
NARRATOR: On the 31st of January 1997, Victor Farrant finally arrived back in the UK
to face justice for his crimes. [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS] Nearly a year later, on the 17th of January 1998,
his trial finally began at Winchester Crown Court. Jeremy Gibbons was the lead prosecutor.
JEREMY GIBBONS: And I remember saying, if I lose this case, I'll probably never work again.
I remember when I went into court with my papers, to set them out, ready to open the case to the jury.
The-- I remember the courtroom was absolutely huge, and it was full. It's certainly a bit nerve wracking.
But it's like so many other things. Once you get going, your butterflies disappear.
NARRATOR: Farrant pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Anne Fidler, and claimed the death of Glenda Hoskins
was an accident. JEREMY GIBBONS: It's a matter of explaining to the jury what the facts are.
I always used to say in cases-- if they were complicated-- that my opening isn't evidence.
It's like the picture on the box of the jigsaw, it's how we see where the pieces fit as we work
our way through the evidence. GEOFFREY WANSELL: Gradually, the prosecution reveal the case.
He sold the stuff that's stolen from Glenda. He's prepared the notes, the cards, in advance
about what she's got to do. He has a history with Glenda. It's very difficult for the defense
to argue that she's mysteriously been killed by some unknown person, while he's been flogging her belongings.
NARRATOR: In court, Farrant tried to deny he had anything to do with the attack on Anne.
JEREMY GIBBONS: His account in the witness box was that he'd been in Anne Fidler's house,
it wasn't him that attacked her. He saw somebody else coming, and left the house.
Because he's seen this out of the front window, next to the front door. But I was able to show a photograph that showed
that the internal shutters were firmly closed, so you couldn't see out of the window.
And that foxed him a bit. NARRATOR: Glenda's three children and her former husband
attended the entire trial. Their family liaison officer, PC Helen Wheeler, accompanied them.
HELEN WHEELER: I just remember having a phone call to say that the children would like me to go to court with them,
once it had got to that point. so I ended up in court for quite a lot of days. And it was all very genuine.
Genuine feelings. If they want to cry, they'd cry. But it's not massive sobbing that everybody could hear.
It was a gentle squeeze on the hand, and you can see they're getting upset about something.
But it's really hard. And it's hard for the whole team, because you've got to relive all of this all over again.
NARRATOR: Farrant's protestations continued throughout the trial. JEREMY GIBBONS: Glenda Hoskins drowned in the bath.
And he said, basically, it was an accident. And that was where the marks on the cheeks and the ankles
came in important. And he said, this is all consensual up to that. And then they had a bit of a tiff and she fell in the bath,
and he panicked and put her upstairs. NARRATOR: The jury were not convinced. And on the 29th of January 1998, Victor Farrant
was found guilty of murder. HELEN WHEELER: It was almost like a big (SIGHS) When he was found guilty.
And I just remember Katie turning to me, and we had a massive great cuddle. David cuddled his dad.
And it was just the nearest person I think we all just grabbed. Doesn't make it any easier, though.
In the long term, it doesn't make it any easier for the children. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: In terms of whether
justice has been served. I think in a formal sense, yes. But informally, this man has taken
away the life of somebody who had many, many years to live. And that decision has affected the lives of her children,
of her wider family, of her colleagues. So I think that this isn't justice, as such,
it's the closing of a chapter. NARRATOR: Farrant was also found guilty of the attempted
murder of Anne Fidler. He was sentenced to 18 years for this brutal crime. He also received a life sentence for the murder
of Glenda Hoskins. ANDY BAKER: This man is a danger to women. This man should not be allowed out.
He's a controlling, dangerous individual, that shouldn't be allowed near women. It's as simple as that.
He deserves every day of that life sentence that he's going to serve. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: When the verdict was handed down,
he kicked the witness box. In almost a way that a child not getting what they want,
kind of lashes out. This is very revealing about him, in terms of his level of emotional immaturity.
And that frustration that actually, the justice system has got the better of him.
NARRATOR: The Judge, Mr. Justice Butterfield, stated during sentencing, that these crimes were so terrible,
and Victor Farrant was such a dangerous man, that in this case, life should mean life
and he should never be released. DR. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Murder casts an incredibly long shadow.
And for the families of the victims who have been killed, this is something that they have to live with for the rest
of their lives. But I think, if I'm honest, the people who have survived this kind of violence, this kind of abuse,
they are actually some of the toughest and the strongest people I know. And some of the things that they go on to do, very often
helping other victims, very often campaigning for change, really does leave a very big mark on society.
A much bigger mark than any killer ever leaves. HELEN WHEELER: She was this loving mum
that was fun to be with, that listened to them, that cared for them, that loved them.
All three of them. And I think that's how they want to remember her, is just being a mom.
NARRATOR: Despite the trauma Victor Farrant inflicted on the Hoskins family, they
remain steadfast in their loyalty to each other throughout. HELEN WHEELER: They knew something had to be done,
and they knew they had to help. And, yes, we had tears. And, yes, we had cuddles.
And, yes, we had shouting matches. But at the end of the day, I think they were just three very loyal children to both
their mum and their dad. NARRATOR: Victor Farrant's conviction meant he could no longer worm his way
into another unsuspecting woman's life. RICHARD JONES: From the day that Glenda Hoskins was murdered,
to the day that Victor Farrant was jailed, was two years. In that two years, I'm sure I did do other stories,
but I really can't remember any of them. This dominated what I did for those whole two years.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: The one thing that's important to remember about Victor Farrant,
is his capacity to charm. Every person who came across him, called him a charmer.
You'd leave your grandmother with him to look after. That was the one side of Victor Farrant's character.
The other, was the one seen by Anne Fidler and Glenda Hoskins. JEREMY GIBBONS: Evil is such a strong word,
I'm always reluctant to use it. And the number of people I've met over 40 years in the law,
who that might be an appropriate term to use, I could count on the fingers of one hand, and he's one of.
NARRATOR: Controlling and manipulative, Farrant appeared charming and loving to the women he met.
But below the surface of this Jekyll and Hyde like man, lurked a violent sadist who attacked
multiple women, murdered one, and attempted to murder another. Victor Farrant's selfish desires and ability
to hide in plain sight, makes him one of the world's most evil killers. [MUSIC PLAYS]

Victor Farrant is a convicted rapist who murdered his former girlfriend in 1996 and attempted to murder another woman after he was released from prison.

An in-depth look at the lives and crimes of some of the world's most evil killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, Cary Stayner, Leonard Lake, Dorothea Puente and more.

Brief Summary

Glenda Hoskins was murdered by Victor Farrant, a convicted rapist, leading to a major manhunt and his eventual capture and conviction.

Key points

The Manhunt for Victor Farrant. Farrant, a convicted rapist, fled the country after Glenda's murder, leading to a massive manhunt.
The Disappearance of Glenda Hoskins. On February 7, 1996, 15-year-old Katie returned home to find her mother missing, sparking a frantic search.
Farrant's Chilling Letters. Police discovered disturbing letters written by Farrant to Glenda, revealing his sinister intentions.
The Horrifying Crime. Glenda was sexually assaulted and drowned, revealing the brutality of her murder.
A Dangerous Manhunt. Victor Farrant's details were circulated, leading to a manhunt after linking two crimes.
Farrant's Capture. After months on the run, Victor Farrant was arrested in Nice, France.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This was the biggest murder hunt in the history of Hampshire police.

RICHARD JONES highlights the scale of the manhunt for Victor Farrant.

1:09WatchAug 27, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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