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WOMAN ON PHONE: Hello? Police
Emergency. What's your emergency?

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(KNOCKING)

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Is it possible to
get away with murder?

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What does a killer do

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after committing the most heinous
of crimes?

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It's absolutely horrific.

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The murderer spent so much time
in the address.

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Do they carry on as normal

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and hide in plain sight?

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Or go on the run?

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WOMAN: Forensics officers

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were continuing to examine
the house and nearby area.

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How do the actions of a killer,
after their crime,

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influence the police investigation.

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The offender could cover
their tracks.

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His intention was to destroy
the crime scene.

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By focusing on the aftermath,

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we unpick the mindset of a killer...

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..understand the motive

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and reveal

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what the killer did next.

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(BIRDS CHIRP)

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79-year-old Norma Bell

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set up home with husband John in this
red-brick terrace house 30 years ago.

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After his death in 2010,
she remained in the home

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where she'd raised her three children
and cared for many others.

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She'd fostered 50 children

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over the time that her and her
husband, John, were foster parents.

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So she was a remarkable woman
who looked after all these kids

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and gave them the best start
that she could in life.

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Norma and her husband, John, bought
the house after we moved in.

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Met some of her kids then,
was friends with her kids,

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still friends with some of them now.

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She was just always pleasant.

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Didn't mess about with her.

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She was firm but fair

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and just genuinely a lovely lady.

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Norma was well liked in the community

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and known as someone who always
had time for a friendly chat

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and would open her door to anyone.

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But it seemed this friendliness

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would ultimately lead to Norma's
untimely and horrific death.

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What shocked the community the most

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was that it actually happened
on their doorstep

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to somebody who they all knew,
somebody they loved.

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This was the day PCSO Graeme Handley

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decided to do his rounds of neighbour
visits to residents in the community.

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Hello! You alright?

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On the Saturday morning, when I got
up to Norma's address here,

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her relatives were just pulling up
in a car outside.

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Told me, "Well, can you have
a word with me mam?

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She always leaves the door
open behind her.

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She always opens it to people,"

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at which point Norma's
come to the door.

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I've had a conversation with her
regarding,

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"Don't leave your door open,
don't answer it to strangers.

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Make sure you know who they are
before you open the door."

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But it appears Norma
didn't heed the warning.

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(SIREN WAILS)

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Natalie Wing from Cleveland Police
was just starting her shift.

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On Sunday 3 April 2016,

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I was at work

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and got a call to say
that there'd been a report of a fire

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at an address in Hartlepool.

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So at that point,
my team made our way to the scene.

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(SIREN WAILS)

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Emergency services
respond to the call

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and head to the home
of 79-year-old Norma Bell.

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But it seems as though the first
responders are, on this occasion,

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a little too late.

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They found a deceased female in the
address, who'd been brought outside.

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It was made clear to me at that time
that that was a suspicious fire,

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as the female had a ligature tied
around her neck.

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Norma was dead before
the fire started.

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A fire started,

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a woman's body found,

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a ligature around her neck.

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This isn't an accident -
this is a murder.

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The news filters through
the community.

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WOMAN: Police have revealed

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that an elderly woman discovered
in a Hartlepool house fire

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had been murdered.

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The victim has been named
as 79-year-old Norma Bell.

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It's such a horrific crime.

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It's not the sort of thing that we
cover all the time, by any means.

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It was a really rare event.

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An investigation begins
and immediately, police have a clue.

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Norma's trousers
had been pulled down

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and her tights and her knickers
had been sort of cut from her...

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from her naval, sort of,
down to her crutch.

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Was there a sexual motive
to this murder?

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The discovery sends shockwaves
through the community.

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Personally, I'd describe
it as horrific.

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How anybody could do something
like that to a little old lady,

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somebody's grandmother,
is beyond me, to be honest.

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The murder investigation
gathers pace.

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The golden hour of opportunity

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for police to collect vital evidence
begins.

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But a killer is still free.

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Are they living a normal life?

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Are they covering their tracks?

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Or are they panicking
as the net closes in around them?

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What does a killer do next?

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You're doing the investigation
to catch a killer

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but you very firmly feel

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that you're doing the investigation
on behalf of the family

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who need to know that their
mother's killer will be caught.

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Norma's burned-out house has been
made safe and is being forensically

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examined by scene-of-crime officers
desperate for any evidence

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which might reveal crucial clues.

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So, one of my priorities
when we actually go in there

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is identifying things that stand out

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as potentially being
fast-track items

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that we can send away
to get a result,

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to actually see if we can identify
an offender from that address.

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The results of the post-mortem
come in

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and turn the focus
of the investigation on its head.

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There was no evidence of any sexual
assault and no trace of any semen.

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The attacker might have thought
about a sexual assault

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but might not have gone
through with it.

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There was some kind of
sexual motive.

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It might not have been
to assault her

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but there was some premeditation
about humiliation,

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removing dignity
and having power over her body,

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and that says something
very scary about her killer.

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Police look at the cause of death

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in the hope it reveals clues
to the identity of the killer.

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So, Norma had a number of broken
ribs and some bruising to her back.

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And the pathologist was able
to tell us that the attacker

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would have been kneeling on Norma
at the time of putting

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his or her hands around
Norma's neck to strangle her.

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So we were able to
conclusively determine

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that Norma was dead
before the fire started.

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He may have been kneeling
on her chest

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to make sure that he strangled her

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and to keep her still.

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Having ruled out a sexual motive,

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police now have to ascertain
why Norma was targeted

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and who was behind the murder.

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There's a concept known as
the 'golden hour',

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which reflects the fact

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that actually, in the early stages
of investigation,

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it's possible to lose evidence
that you'll never get back again.

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So some of the early decisions
are critical to make sure that,

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you know, you're doing things
in the right order.

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An example of that is the forensic
examination of the house.

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He thought the best way to destroy
all of the evidence

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was to set fire to the house,

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and he lit fires
in two different places.

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The police would have put
a lot of resources into this.

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Norma knew a lot of people

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so, in those first and early stages,

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there would have been
a lot of people to consider

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as possible suspects.

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Scene-of-crime manager Natalie
Wing's role is to access the scene

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and process the evidence.

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We were carrying out assessments

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of what areas would be useful
for DNA recovery.

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What seemed very clear to me

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was that Mrs Bell
was a very tidy and organised lady

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but there were certain items
that stood out as being unusual

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and that seemed out of place.

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There was a number of mobile phones

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that appeared to have been
dismantled.

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There were some batteries
and the backs of phones

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kind of scattered underneath
the TV cabinet,

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which was placed in the corner
of the kitchen.

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We recovered some evidence
from those to send away.

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With police awaiting forensic results
from DNA found at the property,

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it's Norma's bedroom,
which throws up their next clue.

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We had information from the family

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that there'd been a significant
amount of cash being kept

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within the address by Mrs Bell.

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Norma's family revealed that she
kept cash in a briefcase

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inside an ottoman
at the end of her bed.

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Norma's bedroom had been ransacked

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so there was paperwork
all over the bedroom.

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You know, and a briefcase
that had been in an ottoman,

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sort of, next to Norma's bed
had been taken out.

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Norma was of an age
where she might have been targeted

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by a burglar that was seeking to do
a distraction burglary

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to gain entry to the house
to try and steal from her.

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You know, she was
a vulnerable victim.

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You know, she would have
been easy to overpower.

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The motive appears to be money.

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Then police discover something else
missing from the house.

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A new 49-inch television.

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Neighbourhood enquiries intensify.

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We had to go to every single house,
visit every single person,

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obviously go through
the day-to-day stuff.

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"Did you see this?
Did you see that?

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Anything unusual?"

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And that built a massive amount
of intelligence,

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which the murder inquiry team
were delving through.

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You know, we got a really, really
good response from the community.

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People from all walks of life
wanted to help the investigation,

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wanted to help us catch
Norma Bell's killer.

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And it's not long
before they have a lead.

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Because we're community officers
and people see us all the time,

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they trust us
and they give us information.

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She'd been visiting
an elderly gentleman,

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driving her car just off
Cornwall Street out the back.

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She'd remembered seeing this lad

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coming out of the top of
Westbourne Road carrying a TV.

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00:12:03,541 --> 00:12:07,341
Could this be Norma Bell's killer?
Who is he?

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Police turn to the public for help.

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00:12:10,341 --> 00:12:12,101
I went into the media appeal.

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I went on TV

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and asked the public to come forward
with any information about this TV.

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I would like to take
this opportunity

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to appeal to anyone living
in the local area

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who may have seen or heard
anything suspicious

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from late evening on Saturday

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to early morning on Sunday.

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The investigation is gaining momentum

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00:12:35,981 --> 00:12:38,781
but there is one mystery
which threatens to scupper the hunt.

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00:12:40,101 --> 00:12:41,901
How did the killer get in...

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there was no sign of forced entry.

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How did the offender
get into the property?

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00:12:49,541 --> 00:12:52,301
Have they climbed over the rear
to get into the rear yard

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and come through the back?

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00:12:53,821 --> 00:12:58,581
Or have they potentially been let
into the property by the victim?

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Another hypothesis that we looked at
at the time

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was that the attacker was known
to Norma

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and that she opened the door
to her attacker

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because she knew him or her
at the time.

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The new findings throw the focus
of the investigation

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00:13:16,941 --> 00:13:19,541
firmly on the local community.

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If there was no forced entry, Norma
Bell opened the door to her killer.

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Police now know Norma's murderer
was probably known to her.

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The fact that there
was no forced entry

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kind of turned the investigation in
onto people that Norma would know.

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And we do know that when
these type of murders happen,

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especially when women are killed,

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it's usually,
statistically speaking,

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going to be somebody that they know.

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I feel sick about it.

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It's an eerie feeling, actually.

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It was such a shock, I suppose.

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People just couldn't believe
it had happened.

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Everybody knew her, would speak to
her going up and down the street.

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The murder investigation
now has a focus.

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00:14:07,101 --> 00:14:09,101
Police don't yet have a killer,

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00:14:09,181 --> 00:14:11,181
but when DNA results come in,

245
00:14:11,261 --> 00:14:13,621
the chase is on.

246
00:14:13,701 --> 00:14:15,141
We will catch the murderer.

247
00:14:23,981 --> 00:14:26,781
Police now have the name of someone
who had visited Norma recently

248
00:14:26,861 --> 00:14:28,821
and need to speak to him

249
00:14:28,901 --> 00:14:32,181
to establish if they can rule him out
of their enquiries.

250
00:14:33,261 --> 00:14:35,861
He was somebody that, clearly,
we wanted to speak to...

251
00:14:35,941 --> 00:14:38,981
we wanted to speak to
to understand about that.

252
00:14:39,061 --> 00:14:42,061
We wanted to understand when
the last time he'd seen Norma was,

253
00:14:42,141 --> 00:14:45,221
you know, what he was doing
in the relevant time window.

254
00:14:45,301 --> 00:14:47,381
With detectives looking to track down
Gareth Dack,

255
00:14:47,461 --> 00:14:50,381
in Westbourne Road,
Graeme Handley is making headway

256
00:14:50,461 --> 00:14:52,661
speaking with the local community.

257
00:14:53,781 --> 00:14:55,301
So, everything goes in
an officer's report,

258
00:14:55,381 --> 00:14:56,661
so the slightest conversation,

259
00:14:56,741 --> 00:14:58,501
you should put in
as an officer's report.

260
00:14:58,581 --> 00:15:01,661
So everything that happens
around a major enquiry like that

261
00:15:01,741 --> 00:15:03,741
could be very, very key.

262
00:15:03,821 --> 00:15:08,141
And it wasn't long before he received
some interesting information.

263
00:15:08,221 --> 00:15:10,541
Got some intelligence,
unconfirmed intelligence,

264
00:15:10,621 --> 00:15:15,501
that, having previously been,
sort of, in debt to drug dealers,

265
00:15:15,581 --> 00:15:19,581
Gareth Dack had suddenly come into
a little bit of money, you know,

266
00:15:19,661 --> 00:15:21,781
and potentially been seen carrying
a TV around.

267
00:15:21,861 --> 00:15:24,781
And we knew that Norma was missing
a TV from her front room.

268
00:15:25,861 --> 00:15:28,621
Police focus turns even further
towards Gareth Dack.

269
00:15:28,701 --> 00:15:31,341
And then, DNA results come in.

270
00:15:33,301 --> 00:15:35,501
That Gareth Dack's DNA
had been found on the phones

271
00:15:35,581 --> 00:15:38,821
that had been taken apart
in the living area in the house.

272
00:15:38,901 --> 00:15:43,541
You know, at that point, Gareth Dack
became a suspect in my eyes

273
00:15:43,621 --> 00:15:47,421
'cause there was no reason
for his DNA to be on those phones,

274
00:15:47,501 --> 00:15:51,461
as far as I could see, unless
he'd been involved in the offence.

275
00:15:51,541 --> 00:15:55,861
It isn't long before further DNA
evidence links Dack to heinous crime.

276
00:15:55,941 --> 00:15:58,101
Some of the key things

277
00:15:58,181 --> 00:16:02,181
that we actually recovered from
Mrs Bell herself were the ligature.

278
00:16:02,261 --> 00:16:05,421
We were able to then achieve
a DNA result,

279
00:16:05,501 --> 00:16:07,261
which came back to Mr Dack

280
00:16:07,341 --> 00:16:10,861
to say that he was represented
within the profile on the ligature.

281
00:16:12,141 --> 00:16:15,101
And we were able to then obtain
a DNA profile

282
00:16:15,181 --> 00:16:17,821
from the waistband of Mrs Bell's
underwear and knickers,

283
00:16:17,901 --> 00:16:21,381
which then came back as a match
to Gareth Dack.

284
00:16:24,541 --> 00:16:27,821
That was another piece
of the evidential chain

285
00:16:27,901 --> 00:16:29,981
that really pointed to the fact
that Gareth Dack

286
00:16:30,061 --> 00:16:32,461
was the murderer of Norma Bell.

287
00:16:33,501 --> 00:16:35,861
Suddenly, police have
a number-one suspect.

288
00:16:35,941 --> 00:16:38,301
But where is Gareth Dack?

289
00:16:39,461 --> 00:16:43,021
During the course of the day,
our detectives initially phoned him

290
00:16:43,101 --> 00:16:46,621
just to arrange, you know,
an interview, a chat with him

291
00:16:46,701 --> 00:16:48,461
about his knowledge of Norma

292
00:16:48,541 --> 00:16:50,861
and his knowledge about
what might have happened.

293
00:16:52,021 --> 00:16:53,821
And he'd explained
that he was in Liverpool

294
00:16:53,901 --> 00:16:55,701
and would be coming back
later that evening.

295
00:16:57,181 --> 00:16:59,021
Police now believe
there's a killer on the loose.

296
00:17:00,221 --> 00:17:01,981
But what lay behind
this brutal murder?

297
00:17:02,061 --> 00:17:05,421
And despite the killer's attempts
at burning the evidence,

298
00:17:05,501 --> 00:17:09,981
how had everything he had done next
led police right to his door?

299
00:17:13,781 --> 00:17:15,141
(TAPE WHIRRS)

300
00:17:15,221 --> 00:17:16,701
(SIREN WAILS)

301
00:17:29,021 --> 00:17:32,061
The body of foster mother
and grandmother Norma Bell

302
00:17:32,141 --> 00:17:34,461
has been pulled
from her burning home.

303
00:17:35,941 --> 00:17:38,261
But the truth behind her death
is shocking.

304
00:17:42,541 --> 00:17:44,341
On the night of 2 April,

305
00:17:44,421 --> 00:17:46,221
this man entered Norma Bell's home,

306
00:17:47,701 --> 00:17:49,381
strangled her with his bare hands

307
00:17:49,461 --> 00:17:51,741
and tied a ligature tightly
around her neck.

308
00:17:53,701 --> 00:17:55,781
He cut her clothing and underwear,

309
00:17:55,861 --> 00:17:58,381
making it look as if
there was a sexual motive.

310
00:17:58,461 --> 00:18:00,221
Then he ransacked her house
for money.

311
00:18:03,301 --> 00:18:05,421
This man is Gareth Dack.

312
00:18:05,501 --> 00:18:07,061
This man is Norma Bell's murderer.

313
00:18:08,981 --> 00:18:11,301
And we are about to discover
what this killer did next.

314
00:18:19,821 --> 00:18:21,701
Having killed Norma,

315
00:18:21,781 --> 00:18:25,701
Gareth ransacks the home
looking for anything he can sell.

316
00:18:25,781 --> 00:18:28,901
He obviously had financial problems,
he was in debt.

317
00:18:28,981 --> 00:18:32,421
He was a small-time drug dealer
and cocaine user,

318
00:18:33,501 --> 00:18:35,901
so he'd run up some debts
and he was well-known

319
00:18:35,981 --> 00:18:38,341
for going around trying to
borrow money from local people.

320
00:18:39,581 --> 00:18:41,021
Dack settles on a new television.

321
00:18:43,461 --> 00:18:47,141
He was seen carrying a large TV out
of the top of Westbourne Road.

322
00:18:47,221 --> 00:18:49,901
And he's later sold that that night
for 60 quid,

323
00:18:49,981 --> 00:18:52,781
to a friend or an associate.

324
00:18:52,861 --> 00:18:54,021
Dack is an opportunistic killer.

325
00:18:54,101 --> 00:18:57,101
He isn't somebody who's really
planned what he's going to do next.

326
00:18:57,181 --> 00:18:59,061
But, after he's killed Norma Bell,

327
00:18:59,141 --> 00:19:01,621
he recognises that there are
opportunities around him.

328
00:19:01,701 --> 00:19:05,021
There's a television, for example,
that he can go and sell.

329
00:19:05,101 --> 00:19:08,461
And his drugs motivate him
more than his sense,

330
00:19:08,541 --> 00:19:10,981
so he picks it up and he carries
it through the streets

331
00:19:11,061 --> 00:19:13,381
and people see him with that item.

332
00:19:14,581 --> 00:19:16,221
But Dack needs to get his hands
on more cash.

333
00:19:18,301 --> 00:19:21,261
From that point on, I think Gareth
Dack was a man who was driven,

334
00:19:21,341 --> 00:19:27,421
firstly, still by a desire to get
a fix for his drug addiction.

335
00:19:27,501 --> 00:19:30,781
You know, and that was driving his
initial decisions to take the telly

336
00:19:30,861 --> 00:19:34,741
and take it up the road and sell it
to somebody and access some drugs.

337
00:19:34,821 --> 00:19:36,501
But following that,

338
00:19:37,661 --> 00:19:39,941
I think he had to come back
to the address

339
00:19:40,021 --> 00:19:42,741
and he had to think about
what he was gonna do next.

340
00:19:43,821 --> 00:19:45,541
Dack trawls through Norma's house,

341
00:19:45,621 --> 00:19:49,181
seemingly unaffected by the horrific
crime he's just committed.

342
00:19:50,581 --> 00:19:53,861
Norma had round about 700 pounds
in cash.

343
00:19:53,941 --> 00:19:55,301
We know from the family members

344
00:19:55,381 --> 00:19:58,501
that money is likely to be
in a briefcase,

345
00:19:58,581 --> 00:20:01,141
which was in an ottoman
at the bottom of Norma's bed.

346
00:20:01,221 --> 00:20:03,221
It could only have been found

347
00:20:03,301 --> 00:20:05,661
by somebody that was ransacking
Norma's address

348
00:20:05,741 --> 00:20:07,821
and we know that, you know,
that's what Gareth Dack did.

349
00:20:09,181 --> 00:20:11,781
But still, Dack doesn't
leave Norma's house.

350
00:20:12,861 --> 00:20:14,581
And what he does next is chilling.

351
00:20:17,821 --> 00:20:19,981
He's rung sex lines
from her landline

352
00:20:20,061 --> 00:20:22,061
that were advertised
on Babestation channel.

353
00:20:24,181 --> 00:20:27,301
As she's dead or dying,
he's made those phone calls.

354
00:20:27,381 --> 00:20:31,501
So, he was using her phone
to phone sex lines.

355
00:20:31,581 --> 00:20:33,941
Why was he thinking about sex
at this particular time?

356
00:20:34,021 --> 00:20:35,621
That shows his callousness.

357
00:20:35,701 --> 00:20:37,861
That shows how he wasn't feeling

358
00:20:37,941 --> 00:20:40,861
any remorse or shame
from what he'd done.

359
00:20:42,061 --> 00:20:44,541
Dack phones the sex chat line
more than once throughout the night

360
00:20:44,621 --> 00:20:47,981
and early hours of the morning
before deciding to visit a friend

361
00:20:48,061 --> 00:20:53,901
and buy more drugs with the money
he's stolen from his victim.

362
00:20:54,981 --> 00:20:58,061
He then left the address around
about half-past midnight.

363
00:20:58,141 --> 00:20:59,101
He's taken some more drugs

364
00:20:59,181 --> 00:21:02,581
and he's picked up his car and he's
driven it back to Westbourne Road.

365
00:21:02,661 --> 00:21:04,341
And returned, probably...

366
00:21:04,421 --> 00:21:06,981
well, the next phone call
to the chat line

367
00:21:07,061 --> 00:21:09,021
was about 1:50 in the morning.

368
00:21:10,501 --> 00:21:13,021
Dack parks his car
along Norma's road,

369
00:21:13,101 --> 00:21:15,381
unaware it will be picked up
on CCTV cameras.

370
00:21:16,461 --> 00:21:20,701
Then Dack returns to Norma's house
and sits by her body,

371
00:21:20,781 --> 00:21:22,981
continuing to call the chat lines.

372
00:21:24,581 --> 00:21:26,181
He wants to escape.

373
00:21:26,261 --> 00:21:28,101
He's murdered a defenceless old lady

374
00:21:28,181 --> 00:21:29,981
and the recognition of that
is so powerful

375
00:21:30,061 --> 00:21:32,421
that now he wants
to take himself away.

376
00:21:32,501 --> 00:21:34,541
And being driven by drugs

377
00:21:34,621 --> 00:21:37,061
means that his instinct
and compulsion, sexually,

378
00:21:37,141 --> 00:21:38,741
are probably high level, as well.

379
00:21:38,821 --> 00:21:40,581
It was really unusual

380
00:21:40,661 --> 00:21:44,461
that the murderer spent so much time
in the address

381
00:21:44,541 --> 00:21:45,861
throughout the course of the night,

382
00:21:45,941 --> 00:21:48,141
rather than potentially committing
the murder

383
00:21:48,221 --> 00:21:50,221
and then looking to distance himself
as quickly as possible

384
00:21:50,301 --> 00:21:51,261
from the scene.

385
00:21:58,341 --> 00:22:00,021
Sunrise.

386
00:22:00,101 --> 00:22:03,981
Having spent a considerable amount
of time at Norma's home,

387
00:22:04,061 --> 00:22:06,461
Gareth Dack decides
to try to cover his tracks.

388
00:22:07,581 --> 00:22:10,661
His aim - to get away with murder.

389
00:22:10,741 --> 00:22:13,141
His plan - to burn down her house.

390
00:22:16,901 --> 00:22:21,781
He tried to destroy the scene of
the crime by blowing up the house.

391
00:22:21,861 --> 00:22:24,741
He'd left the back door open.
He set the gas off.

392
00:22:25,861 --> 00:22:27,501
These fires that had been set
at this property

393
00:22:27,581 --> 00:22:29,661
were so the offender
could cover their tracks

394
00:22:29,741 --> 00:22:32,101
and destroy some of the evidence
at that scene.

395
00:22:33,221 --> 00:22:34,661
If he'd shut the back door
after he left,

396
00:22:34,741 --> 00:22:36,501
the build-up of gas
would have destroyed

397
00:22:36,581 --> 00:22:39,581
not only Norma's house
but our house and next door, as well.

398
00:22:41,501 --> 00:22:43,901
I don't think burning down the house

399
00:22:43,981 --> 00:22:48,221
was probably what he was thinking
of doing at first.

400
00:22:48,301 --> 00:22:51,181
And it was at the end of the night
that he decided,

401
00:22:51,261 --> 00:22:56,781
"I think I'm just gonna set a fire
and destroy all of the evidence.

402
00:22:56,861 --> 00:22:59,981
Nobody will ever know
that Norma's clothes were cut.

403
00:23:01,221 --> 00:23:03,421
Nobody will ever know
that I had been there."

404
00:23:05,341 --> 00:23:08,501
Having turned on the gas
and struck a match,

405
00:23:08,581 --> 00:23:10,261
Dack knows he needs to escape unseen.

406
00:23:11,701 --> 00:23:13,501
He jumps over a wheelie bin
into a side alley.

407
00:23:17,461 --> 00:23:20,701
And he knows exactly where to hide
out to watch the unfolding drama...

408
00:23:23,381 --> 00:23:25,261
just doors away at his parents' home.

409
00:23:26,381 --> 00:23:29,541
He's gone back down the road
to where his mum and dad live

410
00:23:29,621 --> 00:23:31,421
and he seems to have hid in
the garage for awhile.

411
00:23:31,501 --> 00:23:33,061
He didn't have a key
to his parents' house

412
00:23:33,141 --> 00:23:35,381
but he was able to access the garage.

413
00:23:35,461 --> 00:23:38,421
He hid himself away
in his parents' garage

414
00:23:38,501 --> 00:23:40,581
because he probably needed
to get his head straight

415
00:23:40,661 --> 00:23:43,421
and he needed to get his story
straight,

416
00:23:43,501 --> 00:23:48,101
because somebody at some point
was gonna come and talk to him.

417
00:23:48,181 --> 00:23:51,221
And being able to take some time
and get his story straight

418
00:23:51,301 --> 00:23:52,821
was probably quite important.

419
00:23:55,941 --> 00:23:58,221
(PHONE RINGS)

420
00:24:03,981 --> 00:24:06,181
WOMAN: Emergency. Which service?

421
00:24:06,261 --> 00:24:08,421
MAN: Fire brigade, please,
and police.

422
00:24:08,501 --> 00:24:11,861
At 8.23am,
with Gareth Dack hiding yards away,

423
00:24:11,941 --> 00:24:14,421
police and fire crews
arrive at the scene.

424
00:24:15,901 --> 00:24:17,941
They're about to discover
Norma Bell's dead body.

425
00:24:19,621 --> 00:24:21,781
The body of an elderly woman,

426
00:24:21,861 --> 00:24:25,261
who I can now confirm to be
79-year-old Norma Bell,

427
00:24:25,341 --> 00:24:27,341
was found inside the property.

428
00:24:27,421 --> 00:24:30,741
Norma was the mother of three
biological children

429
00:24:30,821 --> 00:24:35,021
and a foster mother
to more than 50 foster children.

430
00:24:36,061 --> 00:24:40,061
She'd lived on Westbourne Road
in Hartlepool for 27 years

431
00:24:40,141 --> 00:24:43,221
and would have celebrated
her 80th birthday in May.

432
00:24:44,821 --> 00:24:47,861
Dack lies low in his parents' garage
for several hours.

433
00:24:48,941 --> 00:24:50,461
He's thinking hard

434
00:24:50,541 --> 00:24:52,581
about how to escape
from Westbourne Road unnoticed.

435
00:24:52,661 --> 00:24:53,821
But there's a problem.

436
00:24:53,901 --> 00:24:58,421
His car is now within the police
cordon and he cannot access it.

437
00:24:59,621 --> 00:25:02,021
He makes a call to his girlfriend.

438
00:25:02,101 --> 00:25:06,541
He asked her to arrange a taxi for
him to get back to his home address.

439
00:25:06,621 --> 00:25:10,021
She did that and I think he
arrived home that afternoon

440
00:25:10,101 --> 00:25:13,101
and spent the rest of the Sunday
with his partner.

441
00:25:14,221 --> 00:25:15,901
Now in the comfort of his own home,

442
00:25:15,981 --> 00:25:19,621
Dack has time to rest and think
through his next plan of action

443
00:25:19,701 --> 00:25:21,621
on how to get away with murder.

444
00:25:28,581 --> 00:25:30,301
Norma's house is still a crime scene

445
00:25:30,381 --> 00:25:32,621
and police are on the hunt
for a killer.

446
00:25:33,901 --> 00:25:35,981
Dack knows he needs to lay low,

447
00:25:36,061 --> 00:25:38,581
but first, he makes a risky move.

448
00:25:38,661 --> 00:25:40,781
He heads back to Westbourne Road.

449
00:25:40,861 --> 00:25:43,701
He attended, with his girlfriend,

450
00:25:43,781 --> 00:25:46,541
to come and pick up his car
from Westbourne Road.

451
00:25:46,621 --> 00:25:49,101
So he got a taxi back
to Westbourne Road

452
00:25:49,181 --> 00:25:53,581
and he got his silver VW Bora car,
you know, and he took that away

453
00:25:53,661 --> 00:25:59,261
and he also was making arrangements
with associates to go on a trip.

454
00:26:00,341 --> 00:26:04,261
Having got his car,
Dack decides to leave Hartlepool,

455
00:26:04,341 --> 00:26:07,861
stopping for supplies at a local
service station with a friend.

456
00:26:07,941 --> 00:26:09,781
For many people, the idea
that you could murder someone

457
00:26:09,861 --> 00:26:13,701
and then get on about your business
might seem completely strange.

458
00:26:13,781 --> 00:26:15,861
But you have to remember

459
00:26:15,941 --> 00:26:19,101
Dack is recognising that he needs
some kind of alibi,

460
00:26:19,181 --> 00:26:21,981
some kind of cover-up.
The more normal he can seem,

461
00:26:22,061 --> 00:26:25,021
the less he will believe that people
can connect him with the crime.

462
00:26:29,021 --> 00:26:33,141
He goes away from the Hartlepool
area and he turns up in Liverpool.

463
00:26:33,221 --> 00:26:36,741
He went with friends to Liverpool.
His friends were visiting relatives.

464
00:26:36,821 --> 00:26:38,901
In the days after the murder,

465
00:26:38,981 --> 00:26:41,861
what he's trying to do
is just act normally -

466
00:26:41,941 --> 00:26:45,181
not attract any suspicion
to himself.

467
00:26:45,261 --> 00:26:48,181
And he didn't seem to have a lot
of difficulty doing that.

468
00:26:48,261 --> 00:26:50,181
He didn't seem to be worried

469
00:26:50,261 --> 00:26:51,261
or concerned

470
00:26:51,341 --> 00:26:53,701
or emotionally disturbed

471
00:26:53,781 --> 00:26:54,981
by what he'd done.

472
00:26:58,501 --> 00:27:01,701
In Liverpool, Dack and his friends
enjoy some drinks in a pub.

473
00:27:02,781 --> 00:27:05,461
He's unaware that the investigation
into Norma Bell's murder

474
00:27:05,541 --> 00:27:06,701
is gaining momentum....

475
00:27:11,301 --> 00:27:13,381
and he is now suspect number one.

476
00:27:15,981 --> 00:27:18,021
So, I knew after making Gareth Dack
a suspect

477
00:27:18,101 --> 00:27:21,061
that I wanted to arrest him
at the earliest opportunity.

478
00:27:21,141 --> 00:27:24,861
I also knew at the time
that he was in Liverpool.

479
00:27:27,621 --> 00:27:31,141
As Gareth Dack makes his way home
to Hartlepool,

480
00:27:31,221 --> 00:27:32,901
something is playing on his mind.

481
00:27:34,141 --> 00:27:37,941
From returning from Liverpool,
Gareth Dack had accessed his phone

482
00:27:38,021 --> 00:27:41,101
and he'd Googled,
"Hartlepool, Gareth Dack,"

483
00:27:41,181 --> 00:27:45,021
I believe, in an attempt to see if
there was any news already out there

484
00:27:45,101 --> 00:27:47,101
that suggested
that he was being looked for

485
00:27:47,181 --> 00:27:50,141
as a suspect in the offence.

486
00:27:51,621 --> 00:27:53,541
At this point it's clear
that for Dack

487
00:27:53,621 --> 00:27:55,061
reality is starting to settle in.

488
00:27:55,141 --> 00:27:57,101
He's realising
that the likelihood is

489
00:27:57,181 --> 00:28:00,141
that he's going to be incriminated
in some way.

490
00:28:00,221 --> 00:28:02,021
Whether he's checking information

491
00:28:02,101 --> 00:28:05,781
to see whether he's being considered
as a guilty party

492
00:28:05,861 --> 00:28:07,301
or whether he's hoping

493
00:28:07,381 --> 00:28:09,301
that potentially other people
are gonna be implicated

494
00:28:09,381 --> 00:28:12,661
and he can get away with just being
a witness, who knows?

495
00:28:12,741 --> 00:28:14,901
What we do know is his mind
is directed to that worry.

496
00:28:21,101 --> 00:28:25,781
When Dack returns to Hartlepool,
the police pounce.

497
00:28:31,661 --> 00:28:32,821
(UNCLEAR)

498
00:28:38,541 --> 00:28:39,701
(UNCLEAR)

499
00:28:53,541 --> 00:28:54,701
WOMAN: Right.

500
00:29:29,541 --> 00:29:32,941
Dack's movements have bought him
three days of freedom,

501
00:29:33,021 --> 00:29:35,741
but this is all about to come
to an abrupt end.

502
00:29:41,901 --> 00:29:43,341
WOMAN: A man's been arrested
on suspicion of murder

503
00:29:43,421 --> 00:29:45,661
in connection with the death
of an elderly woman in Hartlepool

504
00:29:45,741 --> 00:29:47,701
at the weekend.

505
00:29:47,781 --> 00:29:49,341
I'm just gonna have to cuff you,
alright?

506
00:29:51,741 --> 00:29:54,701
Gareth's name was getting spread
round pretty quick

507
00:29:54,781 --> 00:29:56,741
and then everybody started
to text again,

508
00:29:56,821 --> 00:29:58,301
"Guess who's been arrested for
that?"

509
00:29:58,381 --> 00:29:59,981
"Guess who's been arrested
for this?" And what have you.

510
00:30:28,381 --> 00:30:31,741
Sunday 3 April 2016,

511
00:30:31,821 --> 00:30:34,861
the day life on Westbourne Road
changed forever...

512
00:30:39,381 --> 00:30:43,301
a much-loved grandma and foster
parent found dead in her home,

513
00:30:43,381 --> 00:30:46,141
a fire set to cover
the killer's tracks,

514
00:30:46,221 --> 00:30:49,501
a former neighbour arrested
on suspicion of murder.

515
00:30:49,581 --> 00:30:52,701
But what led to this father of four

516
00:30:52,781 --> 00:30:55,381
carrying out
the most horrific crime possible?

517
00:30:56,501 --> 00:30:57,901
Gareth Dack was a hardworking father

518
00:30:57,981 --> 00:31:02,621
but ill health had led to time off
work as an asbestos lagger,

519
00:31:02,701 --> 00:31:06,101
which in turn led to
a spiralling drug habit and debts.

520
00:31:10,461 --> 00:31:13,821
In the couple of weeks prior
to the attack,

521
00:31:13,901 --> 00:31:17,061
he'd been contacting a number of
people to try and borrow money.

522
00:31:17,141 --> 00:31:19,181
We'd established
that he was a drug user

523
00:31:19,261 --> 00:31:22,261
and that he was, you know,
using money to buy drugs.

524
00:31:30,341 --> 00:31:33,381
On Saturday 26 March 2016,

525
00:31:33,461 --> 00:31:37,021
33-year-old Gareth Dack
asked to borrow 20 pounds

526
00:31:37,101 --> 00:31:39,741
from his childhood neighbour,
Norma Bell.

527
00:31:41,301 --> 00:31:44,181
I saw Gareth Dack approach
the property,

528
00:31:45,341 --> 00:31:47,181
knock on her door and go in.

529
00:31:48,301 --> 00:31:52,141
I told Norma on numerous occasions
not to let anybody into her house.

530
00:31:52,221 --> 00:31:55,221
She normally listened
but because she knew Gareth,

531
00:31:55,301 --> 00:31:59,181
he was a friend of one of the sons,
she let him in.

532
00:32:01,021 --> 00:32:04,341
He gave an explanation
that he needed to borrow some money

533
00:32:04,421 --> 00:32:08,381
because he needed to go and visit
his parents in their caravan.

534
00:32:08,461 --> 00:32:09,821
That they had his bank cards

535
00:32:09,901 --> 00:32:13,021
and he needed the money for petrol
to get there.

536
00:32:13,101 --> 00:32:14,381
So Norma invited him in.

537
00:32:14,461 --> 00:32:17,461
Norma went to her handbag
and gave him ten pounds.

538
00:32:17,541 --> 00:32:20,301
He'd asked for 20 pounds but she
wasn't particularly comfortable.

539
00:32:20,381 --> 00:32:23,061
She'd shielded her handbag
while she gave him the money

540
00:32:23,141 --> 00:32:25,421
and she gave him ten pounds.

541
00:32:27,141 --> 00:32:28,541
Having borrowed the money,

542
00:32:28,621 --> 00:32:32,101
Dack needed to pay it back
the following week.

543
00:32:32,181 --> 00:32:36,301
But while he did visit Norma again,
it wasn't to repay her.

544
00:32:40,421 --> 00:32:41,501
He'd been at home with his partner.

545
00:32:41,581 --> 00:32:45,461
I think they'd been out for
a family day out with the kids.

546
00:32:45,541 --> 00:32:49,581
And about half 8:30, he seemed
to have some kind of row with her.

547
00:32:49,661 --> 00:32:52,541
He left home
and sometime that evening,

548
00:32:52,621 --> 00:32:54,101
he turned up at Norma Bell's house.

549
00:32:58,381 --> 00:33:00,101
He went to Norma's address
that night

550
00:33:00,181 --> 00:33:01,661
because he was desperate for drugs

551
00:33:01,741 --> 00:33:04,981
and he'd run out of cash
and run out of sources of credit.

552
00:33:06,021 --> 00:33:07,981
She was a strong lady and she would
have had no difficulty saying,

553
00:33:08,061 --> 00:33:10,501
"No, I'm not lending you the money."

554
00:33:10,581 --> 00:33:12,981
And I think Gareth Dack
lost his temper at that point

555
00:33:13,061 --> 00:33:15,221
and that led directly into

556
00:33:15,301 --> 00:33:18,541
the attack that ultimately
would have caused Norma's death.

557
00:33:20,181 --> 00:33:23,461
He murdered Norma and that
was because he wanted money.

558
00:33:24,581 --> 00:33:29,141
I don't think that Dack planned
for a lot of the things

559
00:33:29,221 --> 00:33:30,541
that happened that night.

560
00:33:30,621 --> 00:33:32,701
Things, as in the rest of his life,

561
00:33:32,781 --> 00:33:34,301
got out of his control.

562
00:33:44,501 --> 00:33:47,781
Having arrested Gareth Dack
for the murder of Norma Bell,

563
00:33:47,861 --> 00:33:49,941
police bring him in for questioning

564
00:33:50,021 --> 00:33:52,821
and get a warrant
to search his home and car.

565
00:33:57,501 --> 00:34:02,021
So, in the car,
we found 405 pounds in notes

566
00:34:02,101 --> 00:34:06,301
and we know that Norma potentially
had around about 700 pounds in cash

567
00:34:06,381 --> 00:34:07,941
in the house.

568
00:34:08,021 --> 00:34:12,741
My theory is that the cash
that was in Gareth Dack's VW Bora

569
00:34:12,821 --> 00:34:15,901
was the cash that he stole
from Norma's house.

570
00:34:15,981 --> 00:34:17,821
It could only have been found

571
00:34:17,901 --> 00:34:20,021
by somebody
that was ransacking Norma's address

572
00:34:20,101 --> 00:34:23,461
and we know that, you know,
that's what Gareth Dack did.

573
00:34:24,901 --> 00:34:26,741
Police were also able to put together
the final piece of the jigsaw.

574
00:34:28,461 --> 00:34:30,221
Forensic officers had discovered
a vital clue

575
00:34:30,301 --> 00:34:33,581
as to how the killer had left Norma's
property after setting it alight.

576
00:34:36,781 --> 00:34:39,381
So, this is the alleyway that leads
to the rear of Norma's address.

577
00:34:40,861 --> 00:34:44,861
Now, we know that the last time
that Gareth Dack left that address,

578
00:34:46,181 --> 00:34:48,701
after he'd set the fire,
he must have come out the rear

579
00:34:48,781 --> 00:34:52,221
because he snapped the key
in the back of the front door lock

580
00:34:52,301 --> 00:34:55,981
and then exited
using the wheelie bin

581
00:34:56,061 --> 00:34:57,981
over the gate with the barbed wire.

582
00:34:58,061 --> 00:35:01,141
There was a footprint
on a wheelie bin.

583
00:35:03,741 --> 00:35:05,301
Once Gareth Dack had been arrested,

584
00:35:05,381 --> 00:35:07,261
there was a search carried out
at his property

585
00:35:07,341 --> 00:35:09,301
where there was a pair
of trainers recovered.

586
00:35:09,381 --> 00:35:12,141
We were then able to send those
trainers and the footwear mark

587
00:35:12,221 --> 00:35:13,541
away to a scientist,

588
00:35:13,621 --> 00:35:15,861
who was then able to provide us
with extremely strong support

589
00:35:15,941 --> 00:35:19,421
that those trainers
that belonged to Mr Dack,

590
00:35:19,501 --> 00:35:22,381
the pad left that mark
on the top of the wheelie bin.

591
00:35:27,341 --> 00:35:29,061
With all the evidence compiled,

592
00:35:29,141 --> 00:35:31,381
it was now for the courts to decide
Dack's fate.

593
00:35:34,381 --> 00:35:35,621
(THUNDER CLAPS)

594
00:35:36,941 --> 00:35:38,381
NEWSCAST: A man's appeared in court

595
00:35:38,461 --> 00:35:40,661
to deny murdering
a Hartlepool grandmother

596
00:35:40,741 --> 00:35:42,981
who looked after dozens
of foster children.

597
00:35:43,061 --> 00:35:47,261
On 12 January 2017,

598
00:35:47,341 --> 00:35:49,621
the trial into the murder
of 79-year-old Norma Bell

599
00:35:49,701 --> 00:35:51,221
begins at Teesside Crown Court.

600
00:35:52,101 --> 00:35:54,181
Journalist Tom Wilkinson was there
every day of the trial.

601
00:35:55,661 --> 00:35:58,301
So, for every part
of the prosecution case,

602
00:35:58,381 --> 00:36:01,141
he tried to give an innocent
explanation for why it was there.

603
00:36:02,741 --> 00:36:05,141
He was quite assured in his story.
He stuck to it.

604
00:36:05,221 --> 00:36:06,981
He was quite arrogant
in the way he said it.

605
00:36:08,021 --> 00:36:09,381
The jury heard DNA evidence

606
00:36:09,461 --> 00:36:10,781
was overwhelming...

607
00:36:12,181 --> 00:36:14,741
and the chance of it belonging
to someone other than Dack

608
00:36:14,821 --> 00:36:16,341
was one in one billion.

609
00:36:18,101 --> 00:36:20,421
But Dack
had an answer for everything.

610
00:36:21,941 --> 00:36:25,381
He accounted for the DNA
on the phones

611
00:36:25,461 --> 00:36:27,581
by saying that when he'd been
in Norma's house -

612
00:36:27,661 --> 00:36:29,301
and he professed to be
a friend of Norma -

613
00:36:29,381 --> 00:36:31,141
he professed to see Norma
quite regularly

614
00:36:31,221 --> 00:36:33,701
to do sort of jobs
around the house for her,

615
00:36:33,781 --> 00:36:35,781
to be a bit of a helping hand.

616
00:36:35,861 --> 00:36:37,581
There was DNA found
on some spent matches

617
00:36:37,661 --> 00:36:40,221
where he's struck a match
and tried to blow the house up.

618
00:36:40,301 --> 00:36:41,941
He said, "Oh, no, when I was there
the other night,

619
00:36:42,021 --> 00:36:43,381
I was trying to light a fire
for her."

620
00:36:44,821 --> 00:36:47,741
We were able to make
a mockery of that, really.

621
00:36:47,821 --> 00:36:49,501
We were able to take statements
from the family

622
00:36:49,581 --> 00:36:52,581
that showed that Gareth Dack
was not a friend of Norma.

623
00:36:55,421 --> 00:37:00,061
On 1 February 2017,
the jury came to a conclusion.

624
00:37:01,901 --> 00:37:03,661
In a unanimous verdict,

625
00:37:03,741 --> 00:37:06,381
they found Gareth Dack
guilty of murdering Norma Bell.

626
00:37:09,301 --> 00:37:13,221
He was sentenced to a minimum
of 33 years before parole.

627
00:37:14,781 --> 00:37:17,421
Gareth Dack has never shown
an ounce of remorse

628
00:37:17,501 --> 00:37:20,541
and, considering the horrific nature
of the acts he's committed,

629
00:37:20,621 --> 00:37:23,261
I find that incredible, really.

630
00:37:23,341 --> 00:37:27,781
But he's never...never accepted
responsibility for what he's done.

631
00:37:29,541 --> 00:37:33,301
After the verdict, Norma's
emotional family face the public.

632
00:37:33,381 --> 00:37:37,421
Norma Bell was our confidant,
our friend,

633
00:37:37,501 --> 00:37:40,301
our crutch to lean on
and, not least, she was out mam.

634
00:37:40,381 --> 00:37:42,901
Our mother dedicated her adult life

635
00:37:42,981 --> 00:37:45,421
to fostering and looking after
needy children.

636
00:37:45,501 --> 00:37:47,541
Our mam had
a heart as big as a lion.

637
00:37:47,621 --> 00:37:50,581
Captioned by Ai-Media
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