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You Rea listening to the Mens Rea podcast,

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and this is the story of

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Alison Shaughnessy, In

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the summer of nineteen ninety one, a

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newly wed couple were beginning to settle

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into life together in their first home.

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They had moved into a flash in a three story

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over basement, Terrace house in

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Vardens Rea, battery in

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Southwest London. Twenty

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one year old Alison was born in London,

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though her parents were originally from pill

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ten, Can't you kill Kenny? Bobby

1:01

and Brita Blackmoor had moved from Pill

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town shortly after they got married, and

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Bobby eventually started working as

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a bus driver. The Blackmoores

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had four children, two daughters

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including Alison and two sons.

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Despite living in England's capital

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city, the family retained close links

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with the Pill town area. They

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often made trips home to visit relatives,

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and Alison even made her first holy communion

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in the Paris church. It was at

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that same church that she married her husband,

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John Shaughnessy, in June of nineteen

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ninety. Twenty

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nine year old John also came from

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an Irish family. Born in Dublin

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and raised in Balan Tubber, Candy Ross

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common, He had come from a large family

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of eleven children. After moving

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to London, John had met Alison in

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a pub and they'd hit it off. A

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relationship blossomed from there.

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Alison worked as a Barclays Bank

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clerk and John was a purchasing manager,

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Ash churchill Clinic, a private hospital

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in Lambuth. The young

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couple spent their time working and

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socializing while they set up their first

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home and made plans for their future.

2:09

They seemed like any other happy, newly

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wed couple, full of optimism, as

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they looked forward to the rest of their lives

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together. But on Monday,

2:18

June third nineteen ninety one,

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John arrived home at around half past

2:22

eight to find his wife lying dead

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on the landing of their first floor flash.

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She had been brutally attacked with a knife.

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A full scale murder investigation was

2:33

quickly launched by the Metropolitan Police.

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Officers conducted door to door inquiries

2:38

in an effort to learn if any of the shop

2:40

lessee's neighbors had seen or heard

2:42

anything that was connected to Alison's death.

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They were hoping for something that would indicate

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what had happened and who might

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be responsible for the unthinkable killing

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of the young woman. Detective

2:54

superintendent, Tom Glenn Denning,

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led the investigation. He

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spoke with the press and said that Alison

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had endured a quote, ferocious attack

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during which she sustained multiple

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stab wounds. It was

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thought that the weapon used by the killer was

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a flick or sheath knife with a five

3:12

inch blade. Detective superintendent

3:15

Glen Denning said that after an initial

3:17

examination of the scene, The investigators

3:19

had not found any evidence of forced

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entry to the flash. Nothing seemed

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to be missing from the couple's home, and there were

3:26

no obvious signs of sexual assault.

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Detective superintendent Glen Denning

3:31

also said that there was no question of family

3:33

involvement. Alison's husband

3:35

had discovered her in a pool of blood when

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he arrived home. He was extremely

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distressed and he was not considered to

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be a suspect in the murder. During

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the initial stages of the stigation,

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the police believed that Alison had been surprised

3:49

by her assailant who had somehow managed

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to gain entry into the house. Her

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keys were found next to her body and it

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appeared as though she had used them to open

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the door herself. Sometime

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after that, she had encountered her attacker

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and it was clear she had put up a tremendous

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fight. There were no issues

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noted within Alison's social

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circle or at her office. So the

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police believed that her attacker had

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been a complete stranger. The

4:15

lead investigator arranged to

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have a reconstruction of Alison's last

4:20

movement during the final thirty minutes of

4:22

her life carried out. She had been

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carrying a box shaped handbag with

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chrome clasps on a shoulder strap.

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The bag itself was quite unusual and

4:31

striking, and it was hoped that this might

4:33

job the public's memory. The

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police also asked that the public report

4:37

anyone in the area who had suspicious

4:40

cuts or blood stained clothing after

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Alison's killing. On

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Wednesday, the fifth, detective superintendent

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Glen Denning said that they had established that Alison

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had left the Barclays branch on the strand

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in Central London where she worked. And

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had taken a bus to Waterloo station.

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Here, she caught the train to clapham Junction.

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And from the station, she made her way

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to the flat on foot. It was around

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a ten minute walk, so she arrived

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home at approximately six PM.

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The investigators presumed that she had been

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followed to her home from the station. Or

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that someone had been lying in wait either

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outside or inside the flash and

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then attacked her as she entered. Because

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of the frenzied nature of the attack, it

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seemed possible that Alison knew her attacker,

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or she had interrupted a would be

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burglar. The defensive wounds

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found on Alison's body indicated

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that she had fought back, and it was likely

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that the person who killed her would have had scratches

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on their face or arms. On

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the evening of June tenth, the Mens

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police established checkpoints near the

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Shaughnessy flat and at Klapham

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Junction station. The Varden

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Road area was congested with traffic

5:51

jams as motorists were stopped

5:53

and asked if they had seen anything on the night

5:55

of the murder. Nearby,

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on a corner in plain sight, stood

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a woman who bore a likeness to Alison.

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And commuters were asked if they had seen

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someone like her. That

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night, Alison's woodwork, John Shaughnessy,

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made an appeal. In an article for

6:11

the Irish Independent, Bernad Persil wrote

6:13

that John looked pale and distressed

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as he told the press, quote, Allison

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didn't deserve anything like this. There

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are plenty of people out there who may have seen

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something. I begged them to go to the police.

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Whoever is responsible for this is not human.

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My wife would not hurt anybody and didn't

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deserve this. She would have walked away from

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any argument. Allison's

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remains were flown to Ireland on June

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twenty first for a burial in her

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family's home place of pill town. Her

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requiem mass took place a week later

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in the same church that she'd been married in.

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By June twenty fourth, Furgle Keane

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for the evening express reported that

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Scotland Yard was investigating the possibility

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that Alison's killing might be linked

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to a, quote, bizarre serial killer

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who stalks his victims from railway

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stations. There were two

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other unsolved cases, one

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of a woman, another of an elderly

7:07

Mens. been stabbed or beaten

7:09

to death in or near London train

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stations. It was hoped that

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reviewing those files would reveal information

7:16

about Allison's killer. As

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there was no significant progress in the case

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by late July, Barclays Bank offered

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a reward of up to twenty five thousand

7:25

pounds for more information. There

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was finally a break in the case when

7:31

on August seventh. Three women

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were arrested by the police and held overnight

7:35

in separate stations for questioning. Two

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of the women were twenty one year old accounts

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worker, Michelle Taylor, and her eighteen year

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old sister, who worked as a domestic

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assistant. Michelle worked

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at the Churchill Clinic, the same private

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hospital where Alison's husband John

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worked, and she had reportedly attended

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both the Shaughnessy wedding, and

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Alison's funeral in Kilkenny. The

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sisters parents said that their daughters had

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been, quote, hounded by police in recent

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weeks. Their mother Anne Taylor

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told reporters that the notion that Michelle and

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Lisa had been involved in Alison's death

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was nonsense and that they had

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cast iron alibis. Michelle

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and Lisa Taylor appeared at the southwestern

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magistrates court in Lavender Hill,

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London, on Friday the ninth of August.

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Where they were jointly charged with the murder

8:24

of Allison Shaughnessy. Their father,

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forty nine year old Derek Taylor, was also

8:28

set to appear before the court later that month.

8:31

On a charge of possessing a deadly weapon,

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a knife, when a mop in his possession

8:36

was unscrewed and it was discovered inside.

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The pair were held without bombed and remanded

8:42

into custody, an order that caused

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both young women to burst into

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tears in the courtroom. Eventually

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though, both Derek and Lisa were

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granted police bail, but

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Michelle was not. By

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the time the trial began on the sixth of

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July nineteen ninety two with the old

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Bailey, it had already been learned

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through the committal proceedings that

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Michelle Taylor had a motive

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to kill Alison. On the first

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day of the trial in Court number eight, the

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public gallery was filled to the brim

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as the sisters with their fair hair

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crimped in similar styles, sat

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in the dock to face the murder charges.

9:20

Mister John Noting appeared on behalf of

9:22

the crown prosecution. He outlined

9:24

for the course that Michelle had been having an affair

9:26

with John Shaughnessy since nineteen

9:28

eighty nine, but John Shocknessy was

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under the impression that quote, Their

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relationship in no way affected

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his marriage. John

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had moved to the UK in nineteen eighty

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five and lived in staff accommodation in

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the Lambert Hospital. Until after he was

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married. He had met Alison in

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nineteen eighty six and around the

9:47

same time that they'd got engaged just over

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two years later, John began an affair

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with his coworker, Michelle. Michelle

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had also lived in the staff wing at Lambuth.

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Allison had never had another boyfriend

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before meeting John and her mother had

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told the court during the committal hearings that John

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was Alison's whole life. According

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to her workmates, Alison was a bit

10:09

shy, but she was also a quote, conscientious,

10:12

willing, and professional person. Allison

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had been a bit annoyed by her husband's

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close relationship with Michelle Taylor,

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but she'd been a bit naive and

10:21

a chore and she didn't know that the

10:23

two had been engaged in an affair nor

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did she imagine the depth of Michelle's

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feelings for John. Michelle

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had even attended the couple's wedding,

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a trip that was paid for by John.

10:36

Sheila Walsh, who had also been at the wedding,

10:38

said that Michelle had stayed with her during

10:40

the Rea, and she thought that the young

10:42

woman was polite. Sheila recalled

10:44

that Michelle had been the one to iron

10:46

John's shirt for his wedding. And she'd

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seemed quite chuffed to have been able

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to do that for him. Michelle

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had pretended to be friends with Alison

10:55

even going to the pub with her and so on in

10:57

order to preserve her relationship with

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John and to keep Alison's suspicions

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at bay. On the evening of

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the murder, the court heard that Michelle had helped

11:06

John arrange flowers in the private medical

11:08

office and that they'd had sex before

11:10

Michelle drove John home. They

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had both discovered Alison's body at

11:14

the flat. Fingerprints and witness

11:17

descriptions had placed Michelle and Lisa

11:19

Taylor in the vicinity of the murder earlier

11:21

that afternoon. Bush,

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when they were questioned by the police, they

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said that they had both been in broadly

11:28

incant at the time. Bank

11:30

records later showed that Michelle Taylor

11:32

had withdrawn ten pounds from a cash

11:34

machine in Lambert North at

11:36

twenty past three. A car

11:38

similar to Michelle's white Sierra had

11:41

been seen in the Varden Road area

11:43

at the time of the murder too. Michelle

11:45

had stated during her police interview that

11:48

on the day of Alison's death, she had gone

11:50

to the flat with John to have a quick chat

11:52

with Alison and to use the bathroom.

11:54

When she saw her lying on the floor and

11:57

the blood that was everywhere, she began to

11:59

scream. After making the supposed

12:01

discovery, Michelle had run to a nearby pub

12:03

and started shouting hysterically, quote,

12:06

please phone the police my friend has been

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killed. The pathologist

12:10

who conducted Alison's post mortem

12:12

examination said that the cause of death had been

12:14

blood loss due to multiple stab wounds,

12:17

but in particular, it was a stab wound

12:19

to Alison's throat that he considered

12:21

to be fatal. He estimated that

12:23

the attack had occurred anytime between

12:25

four PM and eight PM that evening,

12:28

and he counted fifty four stab wounds

12:30

in total. There were bruises

12:32

on Alison's face, head, and

12:34

hands, and defensive wounds showed

12:36

that she had certainly put up a struggle. A

12:39

four inch stab wound in her chest had

12:41

penetrated her lung and another

12:43

slashed her throat, severing an archery.

12:46

After Alison's death, neither Michelle

12:48

nor John told the police about their affair

12:51

for different reasons. They both

12:53

finally admitted it after Michelle's

12:55

arrest on August seventh. At

12:58

this point, Michelle told the police that she

13:00

had felt sorry for Alison because John

13:02

was unfaith to her, but she admitted

13:04

that she also hated Alison because she

13:06

was with John. Michelle

13:09

denied having anything to do with Alison's

13:11

murder. She said that she and her sister Lisa

13:13

had been at the clinic with a friend at the time.

13:15

Their friend had corroborated this story,

13:18

but later admitted that it was not true.

13:21

Lisa had told the police that she had never been

13:23

to the Shaughnessy flash, but her fingerprints

13:25

were found inside the front door, and

13:28

she had been identified in a line of

13:30

by a witness who sought two women

13:32

running from the flat. During

13:35

the trial, the crown prosecutor said that Michelle

13:37

Taylor was obsessed with John, and

13:39

she knew that John would never leave Alison

13:41

or divorce her. In fact, John had

13:43

told her this I would write before. According

13:46

to mister Nutting, the evidence would show that

13:48

on June third of the previous year,

13:51

Michelle and Alisa had gone to the

13:53

Shaughnessy flash with the intention of

13:55

killing Alison. They had waited for

13:57

Alison to arrive home from work and then

13:59

gained access to the flash, unquote,

14:01

some pretext or other. When

14:03

they reached the stairs, the women

14:06

had attacked Allison and stabbed her

14:08

multiple times. The prosecutor

14:10

said, quote, Michelle struck at Alison

14:12

with a knife. She vainly tried

14:14

to defend herself. Michelle's attack

14:17

became more frenzied and more violent.

14:19

She hit at her victim, her rival,

14:22

again and again with the knife, at

14:24

least two blows proved fatal.

14:27

After this, the Taylor sisters had made their

14:29

way back to Lambuth to the clinic where

14:31

Michelle had sex with John and later drove

14:34

him home to discover his wife's body.

14:36

John had not known about Michelle's plan,

14:39

but her diary had revealed her

14:41

true thoughts. The court would

14:43

hear that Michelle's diary entries

14:45

illustrated her intense jealousy and

14:47

hatred of Alice and Shaughnessy.

14:49

She had documented failed attempts to

14:52

make John jealous too. In

14:54

an entry, written in October nineteen

14:56

ninety, Michelle had written, quote,

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I hate Alison, the unwashed bitch.

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My dream solution would be for Alison

15:03

to disappear as if she'd never existed.

15:05

And then maybe I could give everything

15:07

I wanted to the man I love. Another

15:10

entry detailed a time when Michelle

15:12

had walked in on the newlyweds in bed

15:14

together at the staff quarters in lambeth.

15:17

She said, quote, used would

15:19

be the word I felt at this moment. I am

15:21

crying right now. The

15:23

prosecutor told the court that the diary was

15:25

a, quote, sinister forecast of

15:28

what was to come. On

15:40

Tuesday, the seventh of July nineteen

15:42

ninety two, John Shaughnessy took

15:44

to the witness box. He was very emotional

15:46

while giving evidence, so much

15:48

so that he was permitted to take a siege

15:51

just five minutes into his testimony. As

15:53

he'd become so distraught that he couldn't

15:55

stand as was customary to do.

15:58

John told the course that just two weeks

16:00

after Alison's death, Michelle had traveled

16:02

to Iron land with him to attend one of his brother's

16:05

weddings. John said that Michelle had

16:07

convinced him to let her share his hotel

16:09

room, and he said he'd only agreed

16:11

to do this on the condition that they would

16:13

not continue the affair. She

16:15

could just stay in the room. But

16:18

once there, Michelle had disregarded John's

16:20

request. He told the court she

16:22

attempted to resume our old relationship,

16:24

but I was not willing. John

16:27

said he had seen Michelle as a friend. She

16:29

was always offering to help with things, and

16:31

she had showed nothing beyond good

16:34

friendship. He did not have any

16:36

strong feelings for Michelle, but admitted

16:38

that he could have told her otherwise after

16:40

a few drinks. He said, quote, Alison,

16:42

I loved. John told the

16:44

course that he had informed Michelle that

16:46

he had not intended their relationship to

16:49

be long term. He just wanted

16:51

to be friends. He said that they would

16:53

have sex twice a month. And when he

16:55

told her that it was over, she was angry,

16:57

but also seemed like she agreed.

17:00

John said, quote, She would always come

17:02

back and again be a bit forward

17:04

about things like that. On

17:06

the afternoon of June third, the day

17:08

Alison was killed, John said that he had received

17:11

a phone call at work from Michelle. He

17:13

thought she'd told him that she was at her family

17:15

home and might not make it in time to

17:17

pick up flowers that need to be arranged in

17:19

the clinic. He said that he would pick

17:21

them up himself from Walter Lee's station.

17:24

When he got back, Michelle was there.

17:26

He told the course that she seemed quiet

17:28

and apologized for being late,

17:31

and that evening, she drove him home.

17:34

He said he had taken a lift with Michelle

17:36

as she was to pick up some pots for

17:38

miniature trees for the office. On

17:40

the way home, he had stopped to get flowers

17:42

for Alison, When he arrived at the

17:45

flat, he noticed that the lock was undone

17:47

and commented on the strangeness of it

17:49

to Michelle. As he turned the corner

17:51

after mounting the first flight of stairs, he

17:53

saw Alison on the ground. The

17:56

jury were shown a photo of the scene on the

17:58

landing where Alison's body was discovered.

18:01

John said that when he saw his wife's body,

18:03

he threw his briefcase in the flowers he had

18:06

brought home for her aside. He could

18:08

see that she was injured, but he didn't

18:10

move her. John told the court that he

18:12

had run down to a neighbor to raise the alarm

18:14

and Michelle had run out of the building crying.

18:17

She returned with three men from nearby

18:19

pub. When he was

18:21

cross examined by the defense barrister

18:23

Richard Ferguson, Queen's cancel, as

18:25

it was at the time, appearing on behalf of

18:27

Michelle, John said that he had made mistake

18:29

in not finishing things with Michelle and

18:32

in not coming clean to Alison. Mister

18:35

Ferguson put it to John that he was eight

18:37

years older than Michelle and could have walked

18:39

away. John agreed and

18:41

said that he had been weak. As testimony

18:43

wrapped up for the first day, John spoke through

18:46

tears about his last interaction with

18:48

Alison on the morning of her death. He'd

18:50

given her a kiss before he left to catch

18:52

the bus to work. When

18:55

the trial resumed the following day, mister

18:57

Ferguson continued his cross examination

18:59

of John's Shaughnessy and asked him if it

19:01

was true that he'd had sex with Michelle on

19:03

the morning of his wedding. John

19:05

denied the allegation but admitted that Michelle

19:08

had slept in a separate bed in his room

19:10

the night before he was married. He

19:12

said she'd come to his room that night simply

19:15

to have a chat as they had not had a chance

19:17

to speak earlier that day, and

19:19

she ended up staying. Lady

19:22

Anne Malibu, Queen's Council, appeared

19:24

defending Lisa Taylor. She

19:27

asked John if he had slept with any

19:29

other women during his marriage to Alison,

19:31

and John said that he hadn't. She

19:33

then asked if there was anyone who stood

19:36

to benefit financially from Alison's

19:38

death. John replied, quote,

19:40

certainly not and said that while

19:42

he did receive an eighteen thousand

19:44

pan pension paid out after Alison's

19:47

death, She did not have a life insurance

19:49

policy in effect. Mister

19:52

Nutting for the crown then brushed John

19:54

Schocknathy through a series questions relating

19:56

to whether or not he himself had been

19:59

involved in Alison's murder. John

20:01

denied stabbing his wife, wishing

20:03

her dead were having anything to

20:06

do with her death as he wept

20:08

on the stand. On

20:11

Thursday, the ninth of July, the jury

20:13

heard from a duck. Who lived on Barton's

20:16

Rea. Doctor Unsworth White

20:18

had left work at half five and

20:20

cycled home. The cycle usually

20:22

took him about fifteen minutes. As

20:24

he made his way along his road, he saw

20:26

two girls come down some steps. When

20:29

they reached the pavement, doctor Unsworth

20:31

White said that they turned and began

20:33

jogging towards him. Later,

20:35

when the police asked if he had seen anything

20:38

on the day of the murder, he had brought police

20:40

to the stairs where he had seen the girls

20:42

running from. The doctor informed

20:44

the court that it was number forty one

20:47

where the sophomies lived. The witness

20:49

described the two girls as in their early

20:51

twenties, both wearing track suits

20:53

or running type clothing. Both

20:55

had blonde hair. One of them

20:58

wore her hair in a ponytail. Doctor

21:00

Unsworth White said something about the

21:02

girls had struck him his strange. It

21:05

jarred him. One of the girls had a

21:07

bag. They looked as if they were going running,

21:09

but the doctor said, clearly,

21:11

you don't carry a bag if you're going running

21:13

around the block. It was a bulky bag

21:15

and my impression was that perhaps they were

21:18

taking some clothes to the laundry. It

21:20

had struck him later that they were actually headed

21:22

in the opposite direction of the nearest laundry

21:25

though. It seemed very suspicious, and

21:27

he had never seen either of the women in the

21:29

road before. He continued and

21:31

said, quote, They were not covered in

21:33

blood or wielding axes or anything like

21:36

that. They were not sprinting for cover or

21:38

anything. They moved down the steps

21:40

briskly. I saw the door open

21:42

and they were going through the door as they

21:44

hit the step. As they moved out,

21:46

a man filled the space. They pushed

21:48

the door too, not closed, and the man

21:50

was in the doorway. He opened the door

21:52

fully and came down as well. The

21:55

court then heard from pathologist, professor

21:58

Rufus Crumpton, who gave evidence of

22:00

Alison's post mortem examination. On

22:02

the basis of his examination, the professor

22:05

had concluded that the weapon used

22:07

was likely a sharp knife of about

22:09

five inches long. Though he did

22:11

not rule out that more than one weapon might

22:13

have been used. Professor

22:15

Compton told the court that Alison had

22:17

been standing facing her attacker when

22:19

the incident began. Twenty

22:21

four stab wounds were present on the front

22:23

of her body through which he said Alison

22:26

would have been conscious. One of these

22:28

injuries was a cut to her neck, which had severed

22:30

her windpipe and an archery. The

22:32

pathologist estimated that within

22:34

few seconds of that blow, Allison

22:37

had fallen unconscious as she lay

22:39

on the floor on her stomach face down.

22:41

However, thirty more stab wounds

22:43

were evident from the continued attack on

22:45

her. He described the assault

22:47

as frenzied and continued, quote,

22:50

the wounds were inflicted in rapid succession.

22:53

It could have been done in two or three minutes.

22:55

Crompton testified that it was his

22:57

opinion based on the level of force

23:00

used in the act of stabbing that Alison's

23:02

attacker or attackers had

23:04

been a woman. Throughout the pathologist's

23:07

evidence, John Shaughnessy sashed

23:09

in the body of the courtroom with his head in

23:11

his hands clearly distressed. The

23:15

following day, the court heard from mister

23:17

Kevin Tranche of the trustee's savings

23:20

bank who advised that Michelle Taylor

23:22

had withdrawn ten pounds from her

23:24

account in a location in Lambuth

23:27

on the day of Alison's death. The

23:29

prosecutor noted that this was not

23:31

where Michelle said she was that day.

23:33

She had claimed to have been impromly and Kent.

23:36

Mister Trash also told the course that Michelle

23:38

had never reported her bank heart stolen

23:41

or missing. Nor did she complain

23:43

about an unauthorized transaction on

23:45

her account that day. Ian

23:48

Findlay had been in a hub near Varden's

23:50

road on the day of the murder. He testified

23:53

that he had been with two friends when

23:55

Michelle Taylor entered and began

23:57

hysterically screaming. Mister

23:59

Finlay recalled that she had rushed into

24:01

the pub and was, quote, very disturbed

24:04

about something. She said help me help

24:06

me call the police. My friend is dead.

24:09

Mister Findlay and his friends had stood and left

24:11

the bar with Michelle to see if they could help in

24:13

any way. When they arrived outside

24:15

number forty one, mister Findlay sought John

24:18

Shaughnessy standing on the path. He

24:20

described John as being in shock.

24:23

John asked if the had called the police

24:25

and then asked Is she dead? Tell me

24:27

she's not dead. One of the other

24:29

men in the group had what mister Finley described

24:32

as a, quote, mobile yuppy phone. And

24:34

attempted to ring 999 while mister

24:36

Finlay and his friend, Roger Nichols, went

24:39

inside and up the stairs, where

24:41

Alison lay, According

24:43

to Ian Findlay, mister Nichols, had felt

24:45

for a pulse on Alison's neck

24:47

and told Finlay, he thought that

24:50

Alison's throat had been cut. Allison

24:52

appeared to have fallen wedged in the door

24:54

Rea, and mister Finley said, quote,

24:57

she looked pretty dead to me. A

25:00

statement made by Michelle Taylor to

25:02

the police was then read to the court. In

25:04

it, she outlined how she'd given

25:06

John a lift that evening before heading

25:08

up to the flat with him as she wanted to have

25:10

a chat with Alison. Michelle

25:13

had recalled that John made note that

25:15

the deadlock to the front door was not engaged

25:17

and she had followed him up the stairs when

25:19

she heard him suddenly begin to yell out Alison's

25:22

name. Michelle said that she had run

25:24

up the remaining stairs and then saw

25:26

Alison lying on her stomach on the landing,

25:28

facing away from the stairs in the doorway.

25:31

Michelle had initially thought Alison had

25:33

collapsed. John had turned to her

25:35

and said, quote, I don't know what happened.

25:38

Michelle said she had gone to Alison and

25:40

tried to pick her up, but she was stiff and

25:42

had blood on her mouth. She

25:44

looked for a pulse, but eventually Michelle

25:46

said she realized Alison was dead.

25:49

Michelle had then started screaming and ran

25:51

down to the local pub to get help. Michelle

25:54

had been asked by police if she had any

25:56

knowledge of any difficulties in the Shaughnessy

25:58

marriage, including affairs. At

26:00

that time, she had told them about a girl in

26:02

Ireland called Natalie, a former girlfriend,

26:05

who often wrote letters to John.

26:08

Allison had told her that the contact

26:10

was causing arguments at home.

26:12

Michelle also believed that when John had

26:14

traveled to America on holiday for

26:16

a week the previous March, he had met

26:18

up with a woman called Kathy. Michelle

26:21

believed that Kathy was his girlfriend. Michelle's

26:24

statement made no mention of her own

26:26

affair with John Shaughnessy.

26:30

Before the proceedings ended for that weekend,

26:32

the presiding judge just as blow failed,

26:34

addressed the jury, and reiterated

26:37

that they were to ignore any press regarding

26:39

the trial or the case. Complaints

26:41

had been made to the court regarding some of

26:43

the media coverage, which included the

26:46

publishing of photographs of Alison and

26:48

John's wedding. With one photo

26:50

showing Michelle kissing John.

26:53

When the trial resumed on Monday morning,

26:56

the court heard from John Young, a

26:58

forensic officer from Scotland Yard.

27:00

Mister Young had examined the Shaughnessy

27:03

flat after Alison's death for signs

27:05

of a break in. A likely point

27:07

of entry for an intruder was the window

27:09

on the landing at the back of the house.

27:11

Mister Young looked at the window itself,

27:14

the flat roof that was outside it, and

27:16

the nearby drain pipe on the back wall

27:18

of the house for signs that they had been used

27:20

in the course of a break in. He

27:22

found no such signs and told the

27:24

court that if there had been a break in, he

27:27

would have expected scuffing marks, fingerprints,

27:29

shoe prints, or handprints on some of

27:31

these surfaces, but there was nothing.

27:35

More police evidence was heard from detective

27:37

constable Angela Thomas who had

27:39

interviewed Michelle Taylor after the

27:41

investigators uncovered her affair with

27:44

John Shaughnessy. Michelle had

27:46

told her that she loved John, but sometimes

27:48

thought, quote, it would be nice to have

27:50

someone of her own to make a commitment to.

27:53

The defendant had also told DC

27:55

Thomas that she didn't think Alison knew

27:57

about the affair, though there were rumors

27:59

of it in the workplace. Michelle said

28:02

in the interview that she liked Allison and

28:04

on one occasion after they'd gone out together

28:06

for the evening, Allison had told her she

28:08

was glad that they were friends. The

28:11

jury heard that Michelle had named

28:13

a friend, Janesh Tap as an

28:15

alibi for the afternoon of the murder.

28:18

Ms. Tap had initially corroborated the

28:20

account, but she later admitted that she

28:22

had lied. Detective

28:24

constable Thomas said Michelle had

28:26

outlined her movements that day in detail,

28:29

saying she and her sister had been in Bromley

28:31

looking for a dress for Lisa, but

28:33

they'd found nothing. Then they

28:35

returned to the clinic and met up with John

28:38

as Michelle had made plans to help him

28:40

with the flour arrangements. She

28:42

then gave John a lift. When they left

28:44

Columbus, Lisa had been playing monopoly.

28:47

When detective constable Thomas was cross

28:49

examined by Michelle's counsel, mister

28:51

Ferguson. He asked her if,

28:53

while involved in a search of the Lambuth

28:56

Clinic, she'd asked Michelle to,

28:58

quote, look me in the face and tell me

29:00

you do not know anything about the murder.

29:03

And then, quote, if I find out

29:05

you did, I'll come around here and kick you

29:07

out the fucking window. The detective

29:09

constable firmly denied making

29:12

any such comments to the defendant. Detective

29:15

chief superintendent Thomas Glenn

29:17

Denning gave evidence that he had asked for

29:19

authorization to bug a meeting

29:21

between the two defendants and their mother

29:24

at batter seat police station when

29:26

they went there voluntarily to make

29:28

witness statements. The chief

29:30

superintendent acknowledged that this

29:32

was a, quote, extremely unusual

29:34

step. In an investigation. Detective

29:38

sergeant Bernard Gleason told the

29:40

court that there had been nothing in this

29:42

forty five minute conversation which contradicted

29:45

Michelle's alibi. In fact,

29:47

Michelle had said, quote, if I had something

29:49

to hide, I would be worried, but I'm not.

29:52

Her mother had commented that the police were

29:54

probably listening and reassured her daughter

29:56

that she had done nothing wrong. Detective

29:59

Sergeant Jerry Gallaher told the court

30:01

that he had interviewed Michelle after her

30:03

arrest on August seventh. Michelle

30:05

had told him that she found out about John's

30:07

relationship with Alison and the fact

30:09

that they were engaged some months after

30:12

she had begun a relationship with him.

30:14

The news was broken to her by a receptionist

30:17

at the Lambert Clinic. Michelle admitted

30:19

she had never had the sort of relationship she

30:21

had had with John before and that she

30:23

loved him and that he'd told her that he

30:26

loved her. She had been devastated

30:28

when she returned from holiday and heard about

30:30

the engagement. She had made excuses

30:32

to leave work early that day and went home

30:35

to her mom. According to

30:37

the detective sergeant, after Michelle

30:39

found out about the engagement, she had told John

30:41

she didn't want to see him again and she didn't

30:43

speak to him for a few months. Eventually,

30:46

though, they began talking again and

30:48

the relationship resumed. Michelle's

30:51

diary entries were also read

30:53

to the court. She wrote often

30:55

about her relationship with John and included

30:58

discussions they had had about how John didn't

31:00

want to cause problems in his marriage. And

31:02

that the affair would not go on forever.

31:05

He also said he looked forward to Michelle

31:07

finding someone nice. The

31:09

entries detailed her love for John

31:12

and how he would get jealous if she

31:14

showed interest in others or was

31:16

less than receptive to his affections.

31:18

He'd gotten angry once when she had told

31:20

him that she felt used. Further

31:23

diary entries read the following day,

31:25

the seventh of the trial, reiterated the

31:27

complications of their relationship and

31:29

John's apparent lack of awareness of

31:32

the emotional effect that this was having

31:34

on Michelle. He had told her all

31:36

about a special trip he had booked for him and

31:38

Alison for her twenty first and

31:40

was excited to share that the couple would

31:42

be traveling first class. And having

31:44

champagne and so on. On

31:47

Wednesday, the fifteenth twenty six

31:49

year old Janesh TAP took to the stand.

31:52

After Alison's murder, Jeanette said that

31:54

Michelle and Lisa had told her that they

31:56

were with her in her room in the Lamboth

31:59

clinic that evening at the time of the murder,

32:01

around a quarter to six. Jeanette

32:04

knew this was not true, but they assured

32:06

her that they had nothing to do with Alison's

32:08

death. And so Janesh gave

32:10

two statements to the police to that effect

32:13

that the girls had been with her. Janesh

32:15

told the court, quote, I was a bag of

32:18

nerves. I could not handle what I had done.

32:20

was too frightened to go back to the police and

32:22

tell them the truth. I didn't know what to

32:24

do. It seemed to me that I was more

32:26

frightened and worried than anyone else. Michelle

32:29

seemed to be so calm. Such

32:31

was Jeannette's worry about her statements

32:33

to police that she had even gone and spoken

32:35

to the sisters' mother. Janesh

32:38

told missus Taylor that she had not been

32:40

with Lisa and Michelle that evening. And

32:42

according to Janesh, the other woman went on

32:44

to try and persuade her that she had been

32:46

with the girls. Janesh was

32:49

arrest alongside Lisa and

32:51

Michelle on the seventh of August, the year before,

32:53

where she was questioned on suspicion of

32:55

conspiracy to murder. Janesh

32:58

admitted to police that she had lied in

33:00

her statements and that she had not

33:02

been with the tailors that evening. Instead,

33:04

Janesh told the court that she had been at her

33:06

mother's house until around seven PM

33:09

and only then had she returned to her

33:11

rooms at the Lamboth Clinic. DASH

33:13

was when she had seen Lisa and Michelle. Lisa

33:16

had been waiting for Janesh in her room and

33:18

Michelle was helping John with the flower arrangements.

33:21

As was usual for her for Monday

33:23

evenings. The only other thing she had

33:25

done that day was to take a trip to a local

33:27

supermarket. The witness

33:29

explains thus lying to the police had been

33:31

very difficult for her. She felt

33:33

a heavy burden of guilt for what she

33:35

had done and said this guilt had

33:38

affected her to the extent that she couldn't

33:40

concentrate on her work and had trouble

33:42

sleeping at night. Janesh testified

33:44

that she knew about Alison through John

33:47

and knew that John had loved his wife very

33:49

much. She thought that Michelle and

33:51

John were friends. Though she was aware

33:53

that the two had gone out together before John's

33:55

engagement to Alison. Jeanette

33:58

told the court that after Michelle had left

34:00

to give John a Lyft home, Lisa had stayed

34:02

in her room playing monopoly. That

34:05

evening, they got a call to the clinic

34:07

informing them about Alison's death.

34:10

Jannette recalled that on hearing this,

34:12

Lisa had gone pure white and,

34:14

quote, she cried, just

34:16

cried even more and went to pure white.

34:19

Jinesh had poured her a stiff drink to try

34:21

and calm her nerves. Jinesh

34:23

was cross examined by mister Ferguson

34:26

for Michelle, where she confirmed that she

34:28

had initially weaved a very elaborate

34:30

deceit to police, but insisted that

34:32

the evidence she had given before the court

34:35

was the truth. Jannette's mother

34:37

also took to the stand to confirm that

34:39

her daughter had been at her home on the

34:41

evening of the third of July, the year before.

34:45

A fingerprint expert from Scotland

34:47

Yard also appeared before the court that

34:49

day. Eric Mill had examined

34:52

a number of fingerprints found near the scene

34:54

of since death on the fourth of July.

34:56

Mister Milne had identified forty

34:59

fingerprints there. Eleven of

35:01

those were left unidentified, and

35:03

the court was told that they belonged to anywhere

35:05

between two and seven people.

35:08

Three prints, which he had matched to

35:10

those of Michelle Taylor were found on a banister,

35:13

and a finger and thumbprint matched

35:15

to Lisa were left on the inside

35:17

of the Schocknersee's front door. Mister

35:20

Milne suggested that they could have been made

35:22

as Lisa gently closed the door.

35:25

The mark was positioned such that the

35:27

witness said Lisa must have been inside

35:30

when she touched the door. The experts

35:32

also made the claim that the fingerprints had

35:34

all been left at the same time and

35:37

within forty eight to seventy two

35:39

hours of his check for fingerprints on

35:41

the scene because his powder had

35:43

adhered to them easily, which suggested

35:46

to him that they were, quote, fresh.

35:49

On the final day of the prosecution's case,

35:51

Adrian Eames from the mesh

35:53

police lab gave evidence as the jury

35:56

were shown pictures of the black sweatshirt

35:58

Alison had been wearing the day she died.

36:01

Mister Eames said he had identified

36:04

forty four knife cuts into the garment,

36:06

but had been struck by the lack of blood

36:08

at the scene. The expert said, quote,

36:10

I would assume that much of the bleeding had

36:13

been internal and that external

36:15

bleeding would have been absorbed by

36:17

her clothing. Mister Eames

36:19

confirmed during cross examination that

36:21

he had taken hair samples from both defendants,

36:24

but had found no material at the flesh

36:26

matching them. After examining shoes

36:29

belonging to the Taylor sisters, he found

36:31

no blood material. No fingerprints

36:33

had been found in what little blood there was

36:35

either. Mister Justice

36:38

Blofield then asked if it would be accurate

36:40

to say that no DNA, blood evidence,

36:42

or, quote, scientific material

36:44

was found, which linked the defendants to

36:47

Alison's killing. Mister Eames

36:49

agreed with the judge's assessment. On

37:02

Monday, the twentieth of July, Richard

37:04

Ferguson delivered his opening statement

37:06

on behalf of Michelle Taylor. He

37:09

asserted that there was, quote, simply

37:11

no evidence against his client and

37:13

asked the jury to consider what exactly

37:15

they had heard until point, which was

37:17

evidence against Michelle. There

37:19

was no one who identified Michelle at

37:21

the scene at the time of Alison's killing and

37:24

no forensic evidence linking

37:26

her to the crime. He also

37:28

said that a woman who lived downstairs in

37:30

the house had seen Alison pass by

37:32

her window sometime between six

37:34

and six thirty. At that time,

37:37

Michelle was in work with John Shaughnessy.

37:40

Defense Council then went on to discuss

37:43

what the prosecution had presented.

37:45

Michelle's apparent motive for the murder.

37:48

Mister Ferguson said that the crown had painted

37:51

Michelle as a jealous miss and

37:53

pointed to the affair itself in Michelle's

37:55

diary as evidence of this. However,

37:58

Ferguson argued that an affair was

38:00

not uncommon and, quote, scarcely

38:03

in this day and age a motive for murder.

38:06

Further, Michelle's diary entries regarding

38:08

the affair and her feelings towards Alison

38:10

couldn't be taken as literal. Or evidence

38:13

of her intent to carry out the murder.

38:15

Ferguson said, quote, what a teenage

38:18

girl confides in her direy is

38:20

not to be taken as a declaration of intent.

38:22

Who can say that at no time in their lives,

38:25

they have not wished someone would at least

38:27

disappear? But it does not mean that

38:29

they Rea going to kill the person. Mister

38:32

Ferguson also noticed that the media

38:34

had seized on the contents of Michelle's diary

38:36

to sensationalize the case in the press,

38:38

which he noted meant that coverage

38:40

was hostile towards Michelle. But

38:43

the jury would hear that not only did the defendant

38:45

lack the hatred and jealousy alleged to

38:47

have been the motive for Alison's death,

38:50

the fair at the center of the state's case was

38:52

in fact, quote, dead or

38:54

dying at the time. Ferguson

38:57

ended his statement by saying, quote, One

38:59

could understand Michelle turning against

39:01

the man who had seduced her and who had casually

39:03

used her love for his own sexual gratification.

39:06

But as for Alison, You will hear from

39:08

Michelle that she had nothing towards her, but

39:10

feelings of friendship tinged with sympathy.

39:13

Ferguson pointed out that Michelle had

39:15

not blackmailed John or threatened to tell

39:17

Alison of the affair. Surely,

39:20

this would have been a much easier way

39:22

to solve Michelle's so called problems.

39:25

Then Michelle Taylor took the stand

39:28

to testify in her own defense. Michelle

39:31

outlined for the lawyer the beginning of her

39:33

relationship with John Shaughnessy and revealed

39:35

she had made a note of the first time they'd slept

39:37

together in her diary. She'd begun

39:39

avoiding John after learning of his engagement

39:42

but then she had changed her job and

39:44

the two were required to work closer

39:47

together. It was after this that their relationship

39:49

had resumed. Michelle went

39:51

on to tell the jury about attending John

39:53

Allison's wedding in Ireland. She

39:55

said she'd been initially booked into a B

39:58

and B but then got a room in the hotel

40:00

John was staying in. She attended a

40:02

party the night before where Alison and

40:04

her family were not present and said that

40:06

afterwards, John had called her

40:08

and asked her to come to his room. Michelle

40:11

maintained that John and she had slept

40:13

together that night. But after

40:15

they returned from Ireland, Michelle told the

40:17

court that her feelings about and for

40:20

John had changed and said that this

40:22

was due in part to spending time with

40:24

Alison. They'd gone out for a

40:26

meal together on Alison's twenty first

40:28

birthday, and Michelle said they had a really

40:30

good time. After dinner, they returned

40:33

to the defendant's room in the clinic. And

40:35

according to Michelle, Alison had shown

40:37

her ticket stubs from a film. And

40:39

asked whether she had gone to see the film

40:41

with John while they were in Ireland. Michelle

40:44

had never seen that movie either, though, and

40:46

assumed that John must have taken someone

40:49

else. Alison also showed

40:51

her letters from a girl in Ireland to

40:53

John. It was after this, Michelle

40:55

testified, quote, I realized

40:57

I was just being used along with Alison

41:00

and the other girls. I could not bear

41:02

to be with John Shaughnessy, and I did not want

41:04

a relationship with him anymore. Commenting

41:07

on the entries in her diary, which prosecution

41:10

had pointed to as evidence of her

41:12

jealousy and motive for murder.

41:15

Michelle told mister Ferguson that she had

41:17

not meant that she wanted Alison dead

41:19

and that any feelings of hate she had had

41:21

towards Alison had only lasted

41:23

a day or two. She had actually wanted

41:26

to be friends with Alison but felt she couldn't

41:28

because of John. Michelle's testimony

41:31

then turned to the state of the affair, but between

41:33

her and John between December nineteen

41:35

ninety and June third when Alison

41:37

died. In the early part of that

41:40

year, John was more of a friend although

41:42

very occasionally at his instigation,

41:45

she said they would sleep together. That

41:47

had not occurred for some months before

41:49

Alison's death though. And by June, Michelle

41:51

told the court that she saw John as just

41:53

a friend and considered the affair over.

41:56

She said she also saw Alison as

41:58

a friend. The defendant went

42:00

on to outline her version of events leading

42:03

up to the day of Alison's death. According

42:05

to Michelle, early in May, John had

42:08

asked her and her sister Lisa to go to

42:10

the shop and see home and clean the windows there.

42:12

Because of the family's access to cleaning

42:14

materials. But when she was

42:16

told that they could be cleaned by just leaning outside,

42:19

Alison had told the girls that she would

42:21

do them herself. And so both

42:23

she and her sister, Lisa, had

42:25

been in the Shaughnessy flat. On

42:28

June third, Michelle testified that she

42:30

and her sister had gone too wrongly. To

42:32

shop. They'd arrived at about a quarter

42:34

pass three. Michelle had not taken

42:36

her bank card with her. She had left it

42:38

in her bag, Internet TAP's room.

42:41

And said that Jeanette had used

42:43

her card before with Michelle's permission

42:45

three times. It was her assumption

42:48

that the withdrawal from her account that day

42:50

had been made by Janesh or

42:52

some other person. Michelle

42:55

and Lisa had returned to the clinic at twenty

42:57

past five and watched TV. Then

43:00

she'd helped John with the flour arranging

43:02

and gave him a lift out of Barton's Rea.

43:05

Michelle said they'd gone into the house

43:08

and while he was ahead of her, John had

43:10

started shouting. Michelle thought

43:12

Alison had collapsed and tried to get her pulse

43:14

but found nothing. And she noticed that Alison

43:17

was very cold. On the

43:19

stand, Michelle said she couldn't remember anything

43:21

more detailed then just that she went

43:23

to the pub and got the men. Michelle

43:26

further recalled that on her return

43:28

to the flat, she had pulled down Alison's

43:30

skirt and opened window to get

43:32

fresh air in. She said she'd felt

43:34

sick. On the stand, Michelle

43:36

asked to take a break as she came to describe

43:39

what happened next, and this was granted

43:41

by the judge. When she resumed

43:43

the stand, Michelle said that John had tried

43:45

to have sex with her three weeks after

43:47

Alison's death while they were in Ireland.

43:50

And she had been disgusted by this

43:52

behavior. Quote, I told him he

43:54

was very confused and needed to sort

43:56

himself out. Asked if she wanted

43:58

Alison dead, if that was what the

44:00

reference to Alison's disappearance in

44:02

her diary meant, Michelle had

44:04

stated, quote, that is not true.

44:06

It just means that if she had not been there from

44:08

the beginning, if I had known John before

44:11

he'd known Alison, if there had been

44:13

no Alison, there would have been no problems.

44:17

Michelle was briefly cross examined by

44:19

Lady Anne Malibu, appearing for her sister,

44:21

Lisa. She said that Lisa did

44:23

not like John and would not have encouraged

44:26

a relationship with him. Michelle

44:28

was then cross examined by mister Nutting

44:30

for the crown prosecution. She was

44:32

asked again about a comment in her

44:34

diary regarding Alison disappearing

44:37

and she replied, quote, when I

44:39

wrote that, I was very emotionally upset.

44:41

There's a lot going through my mind. At

44:43

that time, I could not be friends with Alison

44:46

because I was sleeping with her husband. As

44:48

time went on, I realized it was not Alison

44:51

I hated. It was John. Nothing

44:54

said she had told the police that she

44:56

was still engaged in the affair when she

44:58

was arrested and that she said she had loved

45:00

and needed John. Michelle

45:03

became obsessed and alleged that she'd been bullied

45:05

by one of the police officers in the case

45:07

and that the female officer had threatened

45:09

her, so she had said things that she didn't

45:11

mean. Quote, she kept threatening

45:13

me over the table. She kept shouting at

45:15

me saying that I was seeing John and that I'd killed

45:18

Alison. She bullied me in the interview

45:20

room. She made me feel small and she

45:22

made me cry. I didn't sign

45:24

any of those papers. I was threatened.

45:27

I wanted to get out of there as quick as possible.

45:29

I wanted to be with my mom and dad.

45:31

I wanted to go home. The

45:34

prosecutor bluntly and with

45:36

apology, put it to Michelle that she

45:38

had known John wouldn't leave Alison

45:40

for her and feared that the two would move

45:42

to Ireland, and so she had planned Alison's

45:45

death. Michelle said, me and

45:47

my sister did not kill Alison. Michelle

45:50

said she had been lying to police when she told

45:52

them Lisa had never been to the flat. She had

45:54

said this in order to distance Lisa from

45:56

the investigation and Alison's home.

45:59

The following day, a statement from

46:02

seventy four year old Christina Wright,

46:04

a neighbor of the Shaughnessy, was read to

46:06

the court. The corporal told that the older

46:08

woman was too frail to attend in person.

46:11

Missus Wright lived in the basement flat

46:13

of the house where the Shaughnessy lived. She

46:15

described Alison as a very

46:17

nice, pleasant girl. On the

46:19

third of June, the previous year, missus

46:21

Wright said she'd been watching the news on

46:23

BBC one and had noticed Alison

46:26

arriving back at the flash during

46:28

that time, which would have been sometime between

46:31

six and half past six, meaning

46:33

Alison couldn't have been killed at the time

46:35

the prosecution had alleged. Philip

46:38

Beeston, a friend of Michelle's, was called

46:40

to testify that he had seen Michelle and

46:42

Lisa in Bromley. However,

46:44

he could not recall the date or

46:46

time he had stopped to chat with the girls.

46:50

Miss Malibu for Lisa Taylor

46:52

then informed the court that they

46:54

would not be calling on any evidence.

46:58

Mister Nutting began his closing statement

47:00

for the prosecution on Wednesday, the twenty second

47:02

of July nineteen ninety two. He

47:05

said that Alison could only have been killed

47:07

by someone that she knew. He

47:09

asserted that because Michelle and Lisa

47:11

had tried to set up an alibi before

47:13

Alison's death. Only they could

47:15

be the killers. Quote, only

47:17

they knew she was dead and

47:19

the time of her death. This

47:22

was not a murder committed for sexual gratification

47:24

by a stranger. There is not the slightest

47:27

evidence of any form of sexual assault

47:29

or attack. Nor is there any evidence

47:31

of any intruder or that the house

47:33

had been forced in any way. Nothing

47:36

said Michelle had been obsessed with John

47:38

as seen in her diary. She was,

47:41

quote, deeply emotional and wanted

47:43

her rival out of the way. Nothing

47:45

questioned the notion that the affair was

47:47

over by the time Alison had died,

47:50

given John told the court that they were still

47:52

sleeping together. The plan to

47:54

kill Alison had been a last desperate

47:56

act, he said. But nothing had

47:59

no doubt that Michelle now, quote, busierly

48:01

regretted the wasted months and years with

48:03

that really rather worthless human being.

48:06

John. John was planning

48:08

on giving up flower arranging on Monday's

48:11

which was Michelle's only real time with

48:13

him. And this must have hurt Michelle

48:15

Rea, he said. There

48:17

was a tiny window of opportunity for

48:19

Michelle to have carried out the crime, less

48:21

than six minutes once the journey back to the

48:24

private clinic was taken into account. There

48:26

were loose ends, nothing said, used

48:28

by the defense to confuse and deflect.

48:31

Jewelry was missing from the flash, and there

48:33

was the sighting of a man in the door of the house.

48:36

He acknowledged that the prosecution couldn't

48:38

give a certain identity of this man.

48:42

Richard Ferguson told the jury that there

48:44

was very little against the two

48:46

sisters and said that this was

48:48

frightening. The motive the crown had

48:50

provided was pathetic, and there were

48:52

a number of different ways Michelle could have

48:54

achieved her so called goal of having

48:56

John all to herself if she truly wanted

48:58

this. Lady Malibu gave

49:00

her closing statement in defensive Lisa

49:02

Taylor the following day. She

49:04

said that the crown had presented no evidence

49:07

of her client's guilt. The injuries

49:09

that the pathologist had described in the court did

49:11

not match the narrative that had been presented

49:13

by the prosecution. Shaughnessy initially

49:16

inflicted to Alison's front indicated that

49:18

she hadn't been attacked by someone after she had

49:20

opened her flat door and was facing

49:22

into the flat to enter. Her wounds

49:24

were, quote, characteristic of

49:26

the cornered intruder. Lady

49:29

Malibu continued, quote, there is no

49:31

evidence that makes Lisa Taylor guilty

49:33

of murder. Where evidence is

49:35

thin or nonexistent as it is in this

49:37

case? The temptation to guess or

49:39

speculate is enormous, but guesswork

49:41

and speculation are not evidence and

49:44

nor is suspicion. Lisa's

49:47

defense counsel said that the fingerprint

49:49

expert had given testimony that was beyond

49:51

scientific judgment when he'd said that

49:53

Lisa's prints on the door had been fresh

49:55

and the expert had gone on to acknowledge

49:58

that aging fingerprints was a, quote,

50:00

harsh rather than a science. She

50:02

said, quote, Cases like this are

50:04

potentially highly dangerous. They

50:06

contain the stuff of which miscarriages of

50:08

justice are made. There's absolutely nothing

50:11

heard in this court to suggest this young girl is

50:13

anything other than a perfectly normal teenager.

50:15

The accusations against her were patently

50:18

absurd. After

50:20

the judge's summation, the jury retired

50:23

to deliberate. When the decision

50:25

of the seven women and five men was

50:27

read aloud, Michelle Taylor stared

50:29

straight ahead as her younger sister sobbed

50:31

into folded arms. They had

50:33

found the Taylor sisters guilty

50:35

of the murder of Alison Shaughnessy.

50:38

The rest of the Taylor family gasped and

50:40

held each other. Even a woman sitting

50:42

in the jury broke into tears at the verdict.

50:45

Mister Justice Blofield said that after

50:47

the fourteen day trial and careful

50:49

consideration of the evidence by the jury,

50:51

the two women had been found guilty of

50:54

this, quote, terrible crime. The

50:56

sisters held hands and wept as the

50:58

judge passed down a life sentence for them

51:00

both. Michelle was seen be

51:02

clutching a bible and a small picture

51:05

of Jesus. Salicitors for

51:07

the tailors said that they would

51:09

be appealing. After

51:20

the verdict, when John Shaughnessy arrived

51:22

back in the court, he had not been present

51:24

for the verdict. He hugged members of

51:27

the family and spoke with them. He had shown

51:29

little emotion throughout the trial despite

51:31

the close examination of his own behavior through

51:33

the hearings. He said, quote, it's

51:35

good to see it's all over and just as has been

51:37

done at the end of the day. Allison

51:40

can rest in peace now. We know that those

51:42

two people have been sent to prison.

51:44

After he had given evidence, Shaughnessy

51:46

had said, quote, Alison was a sweet

51:49

and gentle person. I never thought I

51:51

was doing anything that would wreck what was between

51:53

us. Michelle pastered me and

51:55

hung around all the time. I allowed her

51:57

to get under my skin. I just wish

51:59

she had never come into my life. One

52:02

of the senior investigators reported

52:04

by the Irish press to have spent a great deal

52:07

of time with John Shaughnessy told to

52:09

report her, quote, His parents must

52:11

have thought he had won the pools when he walked

52:13

in with her. She was the perfect wife.

52:15

He is an arrogant pampers little

52:17

man who believes he is God's gift to women

52:20

and still thinks he's done nothing wrong.

52:22

With Michelle chasing him, he was on an ego

52:24

trip and used her just as a tool

52:26

satisfy his loss. Alison's

52:29

mother, missus Brie de Blackmore, told

52:32

the Irish press, quote, Alison

52:34

was a very private person, but I knew

52:36

my daughter. I would have been the quickest

52:38

to know if anything was wrong. John

52:40

and Alison were always together. They

52:42

were inseparable. I told her she

52:44

was lucky to have a man who went shopping

52:46

with her. After Alison

52:49

died, John couldn't go back to the flash

52:51

and he had no place to go and so it moved

52:53

in with Allison's parents. Brita

52:55

said, quote, I'm sure there is many

52:57

a man who was made a mistake. She

52:59

said she had complex emotions about

53:02

her son-in-law and did not want to make

53:04

detailed comments about it. She

53:06

did say however, quote, we are still

53:08

a family. We will be talking to

53:10

John. We will all get together as a

53:12

family. The Taylor's

53:14

solicitor said that they were in tears when

53:16

he went to see the sisters in the cells and

53:18

that they were understandably very upset.

53:21

On the sixth of August, Michelle Taylor

53:23

spoke to the press rather than being

53:26

held at a juvenile prison, Lisa

53:28

and Michelle were being allowed to share a

53:30

cell in Holloway prison in London. Michelle

53:32

said her sister cried every day

53:35

and that she was desperate to go home.

53:37

Such was Lisa's distress, Michelle

53:39

said that she would be prepared to stay in

53:41

prison if it meant that Lisa could go home.

53:44

Details of the appeal emerged in the days

53:46

after, indicating that the media coverage

53:48

of the trial would be a point raised on

53:50

behalf of the women. By December

53:52

of nineteen ninety two, reports

53:54

revealed that in addition to complaints regarding

53:57

media cover, in particular, a photograph

53:59

published by the British son newspaper

54:02

that the Taylor's legal team alleged was

54:04

doctored to give the appearance of an open

54:06

mouth kiss between Michelle and John.

54:09

The appeal would also include testimony

54:11

from a new witness who was said to be

54:13

able to put the tailors far from the

54:15

scene of Alison's death at the time

54:17

of her fatal stabbing. Silicit

54:20

her Michael Holmes said, quote, we

54:22

will be asking for the court to say that

54:24

in the media climate in which the matter was

54:26

thought out, the Taylor girls could

54:28

not get a fair trial. Secondly,

54:31

we will be asking if the court is prepared

54:33

to make a practice direction as to

54:35

the amount of press coverage there should be

54:37

of a trial. This would be

54:39

the first time the Court of Appeal would be asked

54:42

to consider the matter of media coverage solely

54:44

as causing prejudice to the defendant in

54:46

a trial. A date for the appeal

54:49

was set quickly. In

54:51

early June, news broke that a

54:53

social worker had spoken to a TV

54:55

news outlet in London and said

54:57

that a vagrant had confessed to her

54:59

that he had killed Alison. He

55:01

had been living rough in the strand at the

55:03

time. The social worker had brought

55:05

this information to the police who

55:07

had looked at the man who was named. Detectives

55:10

had then ruled him out of the investigation as

55:13

a suspect. Meanwhile,

55:15

Alison's parents said that they would

55:17

attend the hearings in the appeal, but

55:19

after that it was their intention to

55:21

move home to Ireland. Brita

55:23

revealed that John Shaughnessy was not

55:25

in regular contact with them. The

55:27

last they spoke was about

55:29

six months before at Christmas. And

55:32

it was missus Blackmore's understanding that

55:35

he was, quote, starting a new

55:37

life in the west of Ireland. Michelle

55:41

and Lisa Taylor's appeal opened on

55:43

Thursday the tenth of June before

55:45

Lord Justice McCowan and Justice

55:47

Douglas Brown and Tucky. Mister

55:50

Richard Ferguson, Queen council told

55:52

the three judge panel that in August of

55:54

nineteen ninety one, doctor Unsworth

55:56

White, a witness in the case against

55:58

the Taylor's had spoken to DC Angela

56:01

Thomas and said that one of the women he

56:03

saw leaving the Shaughnessy flash may have

56:05

been black. This information had

56:07

not been made available to the defense nor

56:10

was it brought up during trial despite

56:12

the DC in question being present for

56:14

most of that procedure. Mister

56:16

Ferguson said that this amounted to a,

56:18

quote, material irregularity. Police

56:22

had failed to turn over evidence

56:24

that concerned the only witness who

56:26

had put the two women at Allison's home.

56:28

It emerged that doctor Unsworth White

56:30

had changed his account of that evening a

56:32

number of times. Including having

56:34

initially told police that he saw

56:36

nothing unusual at all. The

56:39

doctor and his fiancee had also

56:41

attempted to collect the reward for information

56:44

that had been offered by the bank that Alison

56:46

had worked for. The fact that

56:48

the girls he had reported to have seen were moving

56:50

quickly and were carrying a laundry bag

56:52

had gone some way to support the crown's

56:54

case that the tailors had been rushing to complete

56:56

their tasks, and the presence of

56:58

this laundry bag had explained the absence

57:01

of evidence of the attack on their clothing

57:03

and so on. A hundred and

57:05

sixty two witnesses had been interviewed

57:07

by police, yet just a few of these were

57:09

made available to the defense. Allison's

57:12

elderly neighbor recalled seeing her

57:14

at about six PM, by which time

57:16

it was clear that Michelle and Lisa

57:18

had arrived at the clinic. And this

57:20

woman had also had a visitor that day

57:22

who could corroborate her recollection now

57:25

too. Police had concealed this

57:27

witness from the defense. Ferguson

57:30

also told the appeals course that the defense

57:32

team had in recent times discovered the

57:34

identity of the person they would suggest

57:36

was in fact Alison's killer. There

57:39

was no physical or forensic evidence

57:41

linking Michelle and Lisa to the scene.

57:43

The main witness was unreliable and

57:46

the less than twenty five minute window

57:48

they would have had to commit the murder just

57:50

added to the improbability of their

57:52

guilt. Michelle and

57:54

Telisa's convictions were overturned

57:57

due to the withholding of evidence and

57:59

for the prejudicial nature of the media

58:01

coverage of the proceeding at self. They

58:04

had been denied a fair trial and

58:06

so were released. Mister

58:10

Justice McCown was critical of the

58:12

police, and of the press. Of

58:14

the police, the Lord Justice, said that he could

58:16

only conclude that the information regarding

58:18

this witness and his testimony had been

58:20

withheld because the Crown knew it would

58:23

be damaging to their case. To the

58:25

media coverage, he said it was, quote, not

58:27

reporting but comment. And the press

58:29

had, quote, no more right to assume the

58:31

guilt of the girls than a police officer had

58:33

to convince himself that they were guilty and

58:35

suppressed evidence. Lord Justice

58:38

McCowan said that he would refer the case

58:40

to the attorney general for that office

58:42

to consider whether action should be taken

58:44

against the papers involved. When

58:47

the court delivered its judgment, the public

58:49

gallery, which was full of supporters of the

58:51

Taylor sisters, erupted in cheers.

58:53

Lord Justice McCowan had to call for

58:55

order, but the two girls simply looked

58:57

at each other and gave nothing away.

59:00

Outside the course, their mother said the

59:02

girls would be going straight to church

59:04

to give thanks for the answering of their prayers.

59:07

Michelle and Lisa were bundled into

59:09

a blue van waiting for them outside the court

59:12

complex. Meanwhile, the Blackmoor

59:14

family were devastated. Missus Blackmoor's

59:16

sister, Mary Tynon, from Kilkenny,

59:19

told the Irish press quote, it was not

59:21

unexpected, but we were devastated.

59:24

At this moment, all I think about is

59:26

my sister, her husband and family in

59:28

London, We've been in constant contact.

59:30

I was at the trial at the old Bailey and I know

59:32

how we felt when the girls were convicted. We

59:35

felt Alison could rest in peace. Now

59:37

the girls are out. I just don't know.

59:39

I think it is over. There will

59:42

not be any more about it. In

59:44

response to criticism of the press coverage

59:47

and the decision, the Sun newspaper wholeheartedly

59:49

denied any wrongdoing. They

59:51

said that the coverage of the trial had only

59:54

been sensationalist because the case itself

59:56

was sensational. The picture complained

59:59

of had been taken from a video and not

1:00:01

doctored at all. The kiss of Rea

1:00:03

was not something that was in question and

1:00:05

was a fact. The spokesperson asked

1:00:07

why it was that the issue of media coverage

1:00:09

had not been brought up during the original trial

1:00:12

if it had been so objectionable. They then

1:00:14

went on to criticize the judiciary as

1:00:16

a whole as being elitist. In

1:00:19

Ireland, reporters tracked down John

1:00:22

Shaughnessy. Who had moved to Kerry

1:00:24

and was living an anonymous life to that

1:00:26

point. But when the media arrived,

1:00:28

he spoke to the Irish press. John

1:00:30

told Murray Carey that despite earlier

1:00:33

reports he had been in regular contact

1:00:35

with Alison's family and that he was planning

1:00:37

a trip to London, quote, to see

1:00:39

if anything can be done about the appeals court

1:00:41

decision. He had until that point

1:00:44

been trying to put his life back together, focusing

1:00:46

only on his business and visiting Alison's

1:00:49

grave in Kilkenny. John

1:00:51

left Kilkenny shortly after when the British

1:00:54

tabloid press descended. He spoke

1:00:56

out again after pictures of him were published

1:00:58

alongside claims that he had a new girlfriend.

1:01:01

He denied this strenuously. Pointing

1:01:03

out that the woman he was pictured with was in

1:01:05

fact his niece and telling the Irish

1:01:07

press that the accusations were all very

1:01:09

upsetting. And that he was just trying to pull

1:01:11

his life back together. The

1:01:14

press had also begun asking the

1:01:16

obvious question. If the Taylor

1:01:18

sisters hadn't killed Alison, than

1:01:20

who had. Many suggested

1:01:22

a burglar. It seems that they had no

1:01:24

dismissed testimony from the pathologist who

1:01:27

said that a woman had killed Alison. The

1:01:29

observant newspaper had reported that

1:01:31

a pathologist from the home office, Albert

1:01:33

Hunt, had been prepared to give evidence that

1:01:35

the appeal that Alison had in fact been

1:01:37

killed by someone taller than her

1:01:39

after having studied the pattern of the wounds

1:01:41

on Alison's body. And so

1:01:43

the media had moved on to the notion that the

1:01:45

suspect could be a man. Suspicion

1:01:48

was cast on John Shaughnessy once more.

1:01:51

His family said that mister Schottnessy was the

1:01:53

victim of a witch hunt. Danny Schottnessy

1:01:55

told the Irish press, quote, People

1:01:57

keep forgetting he lost his wife and he's

1:01:59

convinced that last week's verdict is

1:02:01

wrong. For their part,

1:02:04

Michelle and Lisa Taylor told the media

1:02:06

they intended to fight to have the investigation into

1:02:08

Allison's death reopened. Scotland

1:02:11

Yard refused to comment on the matter.

1:02:14

The following month, July of nineteen

1:02:16

ninety three, the police complaints

1:02:18

authority in London launched an investigation

1:02:21

into complaints made by Michelle and Lisa

1:02:23

Taylor in the investigation against

1:02:25

them, which ran alongside an internal

1:02:28

inquiry by the Metropolitan police into

1:02:30

the handling of the case. Derek

1:02:32

and Anne Taylor did an interview with the

1:02:34

British Independent and spoke about the

1:02:36

girls and what the family had gone through

1:02:39

after their conviction. They alleged

1:02:41

that Michelle and Lisa had been drugged

1:02:43

while in Holloway prison and their parents

1:02:45

had to kick up a fuss to have them taken off

1:02:47

medication. Derek Taylor

1:02:50

told the paper that just a few weeks after his

1:02:52

daughter's arrest, he lost the family

1:02:54

cleaning business, and his wife

1:02:56

had effectively stopped eating and had lost

1:02:59

three stone subsisting on cups

1:03:01

of tea and cigarettes. But

1:03:03

after their release, the parents said that the

1:03:05

girls weren't bitter. They were utterly

1:03:07

changed by the experience, but had kept

1:03:10

up their senses of humor and were going

1:03:12

about trying to build their lives back up

1:03:14

again. Anne told the paper that

1:03:16

she would like to speak to Alison's parents,

1:03:18

though she knew this prospect was unlikely.

1:03:21

She wanted to tell them the full story,

1:03:23

noting that the black mowers only knew what

1:03:25

the police and the prosecution had told them,

1:03:27

which hadn't been held up in the appeals court.

1:03:30

Anne said she was concerned about Alison's

1:03:32

mum's welfare. In

1:03:34

November of nineteen ninety four, the report

1:03:37

into the police investigation was made public.

1:03:39

It had been carried out by a chief superintendent

1:03:42

of the Metropolitan Police under the

1:03:44

supervision of the police complaints authority.

1:03:47

This was then handed over to the Crown

1:03:50

Prosecution Service and was

1:03:52

considered carefully. After

1:03:54

this, it was decided that there was inefficient

1:03:57

evidence to bring any cases against police

1:03:59

officers involved in the investigation. The

1:04:01

matter was closed. The Taylor

1:04:04

sisters did manage to get permission from

1:04:06

the high court to challenge an attorney general's

1:04:08

office decision, notched to charge certain

1:04:10

newspapers with contempt of course for

1:04:12

their coverage of the case, in particular,

1:04:15

the still from the wedding video showing Michelle

1:04:17

kissing John. The sisters would

1:04:19

be able to pursue judicial review of

1:04:21

this decision. The Taylor

1:04:23

sisters appeared in court again in nineteen

1:04:26

ninety five. This time in relation

1:04:28

to a claim of breach of confidence and

1:04:30

breach of contract, alleged against

1:04:32

a former friend. Bernard Omagani

1:04:35

had campaigned for them when they were in prison,

1:04:37

but the tailors came to believe that he had

1:04:39

passed on confidential information to

1:04:41

tablets about them. The parties

1:04:43

appeared in court in June of nineteen ninety

1:04:45

five, agreeing that both sides would refrain

1:04:48

from contacting the press over the issue

1:04:50

to be heard. The sisters also

1:04:52

claimed Omane, a night club bouncer,

1:04:55

had been stalking them and other members

1:04:57

of their family. In

1:04:59

August of nineteen ninety five, the judicial

1:05:02

review hearing was held before the high court.

1:05:04

Lawyers for Taylor's argued that the attorney

1:05:07

general had acted unlawfully and irrationally

1:05:10

by not bringing charges of contempt against

1:05:12

the papers. With the AG's

1:05:14

office saying it had decided that

1:05:16

they didn't think there would be a successful conviction

1:05:19

for contempt. And though the

1:05:21

judges at the high court said that the coverage

1:05:23

of the sister's trial, quote, crossed

1:05:25

the acceptable limits of fair and accurate

1:05:27

reporting by a substantial margin.

1:05:30

They accepted the attorney general office's

1:05:33

opinion that the content charges would

1:05:35

fail. This decision was

1:05:37

not one that was open to legal challenge.

1:05:40

As listener acting for the Taylor's, Mark

1:05:43

Stevens, said that they would be bringing their case

1:05:45

to the House of Lords, noting that it

1:05:47

was an issue of public importance and

1:05:49

that it would raise bigger questions about the

1:05:51

role of the attorney general, an office

1:05:53

that was mostly unaccountable for

1:05:55

the decisions it made. Four

1:05:58

months later, however, the House of Lords

1:06:00

upheld the High Court decision. In

1:06:03

July of nineteen ninety seven, the Irish

1:06:05

Independent reported that Alison's brother,

1:06:07

Robert Blackmoor, had hired lawyers

1:06:09

to investigate the possibility of taking

1:06:11

a civil action against the Taylor sisters,

1:06:14

in relation to Alison's death. He

1:06:16

did note, however, that he had passed

1:06:18

the six year time limit on taking an

1:06:20

action and cost would also

1:06:22

be an issue. But the balance of

1:06:24

probabilities might work in their favor.

1:06:28

In March of two thousand and one, it was

1:06:30

reported that the litigation into Alison's

1:06:32

murder might be reopened. Her

1:06:34

family welcomed the move. Rita

1:06:36

Blackburn said, quote, I was devastated

1:06:39

It was so hard for us to comprehend. John

1:06:42

adored Alison and never in a million

1:06:44

years would I have suspected him of cheating

1:06:46

on her. Yet apparently, Michelle, who had

1:06:48

been guest at their wedding, had shared a bed

1:06:51

with John the night before they were married. When

1:06:53

we heard that, Bobby and I made a conscious

1:06:55

decision. That once the trial was over,

1:06:57

we would have nothing more to do with him. We wanted

1:07:00

to keep a united front for the trial, but beyond

1:07:02

that, we didn't see much point in carrying on

1:07:04

the pretense that we were one happy family.

1:07:07

We knew we would never get an apology

1:07:09

from John, so there was no point in

1:07:11

talking to him about his behavior. For

1:07:13

my part, the only way to cope was to

1:07:15

put him out of my Mens. Otherwise, bitterness

1:07:17

and anger would have eaten away at me.

1:07:20

Brida said that they had waited eight years

1:07:22

and they were finally feeling like something positive

1:07:25

could happen. Bushed by

1:07:27

June of two thousand and five, Rea Blackburn

1:07:29

said she'd given up hope that her daughter's

1:07:31

killer or killers would ever

1:07:33

be brought to court. The family

1:07:36

had been told that a retrial in the case

1:07:38

involving the Taylor sisters would be

1:07:40

impossible without some sort of new evidence.

1:07:43

Despite the double jeopardy law being

1:07:45

scrapped in England and Wales the month before.

1:07:48

John Shaughnessy remarried in August

1:07:51

of nineteen ninety eight. To

1:07:53

date, no one has been held responsible

1:07:56

for the murder of Allison Shaughnessy,

1:07:58

and the case remains unsolved. Thank

1:08:03

you for listening to Mens, a true

1:08:05

crime podcast. You can find us on Facebook,

1:08:07

Twitter, and Instagram, Mens, apart,

1:08:10

or you can send an email to Mens dot

1:08:12

com. This podcast is made possible

1:08:14

in part from generous donations by supporters

1:08:17

on Patreon. Special thanks this week to

1:08:19

Rafael, Nendell Flores, Kate

1:08:21

Lynch, Louise Amanda, CS677,

1:08:24

Wayne Wheeler, and Carly.

1:08:27

Please do check it out at patreon dot com

1:08:29

forward slash men's Rea Our theme

1:08:31

music is Quinn Song, The Dance begins

1:08:33

by Kevin McCloud. Additional music

1:08:35

is by Winita Meisel and Kevin

1:08:37

McCloud. This podcast was

1:08:39

researched written and produced. By

1:08:41

me, your host, Shanaite with additional

1:08:44

writing assistance this week from Aileen

1:08:46

McFarlane. All sources for today's

1:08:48

episode can be found in the show notes

1:08:50

or on our website. WWW

1:08:52

dot Mens dot com.

1:08:55

And so till next time,

1:08:57

don't do anything I wouldn't do. Lady

1:09:13

Ann Malibu, Lady Ann

1:09:15

Malo, Queen's cancel. Lady

1:09:18

Ann Malo, Queen's Lady

1:09:20

Ann Malo, Queen's cancel