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Case studies unit 3 criminology
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Melanie Road, Colin Stagg, Amanda Knox, Adam Scott, Steven Lawrence, OJ Simpson, Barry George, Sally Clark, Damilola Taylor.
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Unit 3 Criminology- Case studies researchColin Stagg
On 15th July 1992, Rachel Nickell was found dead after suffering 49 stab wounds on Wimbledon
Common in London. She was assaulted and murdered in broad daylight during a walk with her dog
and two-year-old son. Rachel’s throat was slashed from behind leaving her almost decapitated. Her
son was found clinging to her body pleading for her to wake up, Alex is reported saying that she
looked as if she was peacefully sleeping. At the crime scene the police surround the area of over
1000 acres and launch a huge investigation however end up pinning the crime on the wrong man.
Colin Stagg. The only DNA evidence found at the scene was a partial footprint they believed to
belong to the killer and flecks of red paint in Alex’s hair which was too small to test with the
technology they had available. A criminal psychologist had been asked by police to create an
offender profile of the killer as there was no witnesses except her two-year-old son. The criminal
profile suggested the killer was a stranger to Rachel, a young male no older than 30, probably single,
average intelligence and it was believed this was his first murder, but he may have committed other
sexual crimes previously. Alex had been seeing a child psychologist who was hoping to get a
description of the murderer, but his father was the one to get the information out of him. He said
the man was tall, white with short brown hair, he also said he was wearing blue trousers, a white
button-up shirt with a belt around it, brown shoes and a black bag. Colin was arrested for the
murder of Rachel with no real evidence except the character profile built by the psychologist, so they
organised a “honey trap” operation. For many months an undercover policewomen spoke to Colin
through letters and phone calls in hopes of building a relationship of trust where he would confess
to the killing of Rachel. The undercover police officer “Lizzie James” met Colin to reveal a secret to
him, she confessed that she worshipped Satan and that she had killed a pregnant woman and her
child to drink her blood as a sacrifice in hopes that Colin would feel comfortable in confessing to
being a murder too. When “Lizzie” and Colin parted, Stagg handed her another fantasy love letter
that said he wanted to have sex with “Lizzie” on Wimbledon Common at knife point. A search of
Colins home was conducted. During this search police found a pentagram in his bedroom in white
paint, symbols such as goat heads drawn on walls, a hooded black clock and books on cults. Police
also looked for any previous convictions of Stagg and found he was arrested for indecent exposure
on Wimbledon Common but was never charged. As no one had been charged for the murder of
Rachel, her boyfriend launched many media campaigns which led to a woman calling police stating
she had been on Wimbledon Common the day Rachel was murdered and seen a man who looked
like he was hiding his face, this man matched descriptions however there was still no physical
evidence. In 2002, Scotland Yard reopened the case leading to a breakthrough in 2006. Advances in
DNA testing led to Robert Napper being identified as Rachels attacker who was already serving time
for the murder of Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter. Robert Napper is a serial rapist
who is said to have had a terrible upbringing including being sexual assault at the age of 12 by a
close family member and being bullied at school. In 2008, 16 years after the murder of Rachel Nickel,
Napper confessed to the murder and Colin Stagg was given £706,000 in compensation and a public
apology from the Metropolitan Police. Alongside the confession police had found a map which
circled the places of attacks, a shoe which matched the print at the crime scene and a red toolbox
which matched the red flecks of paint in Alex’s hair while searching Napper's house. He was found
guilty of two murders, one manslaughter, two accounts of rape and two attempted rapes and sent
to Broadmoor Hospital.
, Damilola Taylor
On 27th November 2000, ten-year-old Damilola Taylor was discovered bleeding to death in the
stairwell of a block of flats in South-East London. The day before his murder, Damilola had told his
mother about a series of incidents that had occurred including the older boys at a rival school
shouting racial abuse and bullying Damilola. His life was tragically taken by two boys aged 12 and 13
who stabbed Damilola in the leg with a shard of glass. At first police theorised a version of events
from the CCTV they had available. They believed he set off from the library and got as close as 400
yards from the flat they were living in before a group of boys tried to steal his coat. The wound
Damilola suffered was a 6cm stab wound through an artery. Three black youths were seen running
away from the stairwell the night of murder wearing dark hoodies meaning police now had 11
people of interest however none of these suspects were charged. Five months later, a fourteen-
year-old girl came forward to police as a witness, she told police she seen 4 boys aged 11-16 the
night of the murder, 3 of which she knew. These boys were sentenced to court, but it was later
revealed she was lying as she was being bribed by police. It took six years and three trials that had
cleared seven people, for the Preddie brothers to be convicted of manslaughter due to lack of
forensic evidence. In 2005 three boys were arrested. While searching the boys’ belongings police
found clothes similar to the descriptions given and Damilola’s blood on a shoe and a sweatshirt of
only two of the boys arrested. They were also able to match fibres found on Damilola’s body to the
clothes the boys were wearing. In 2006 all boys pled not guilty and argued they did not mean to kill
Damilola, that it was just a fight and he had fallen. The brothers were sentenced to only 8 years in
prison. Damilola’s parents set up a charity and the “Damilola Taylor centre” which aims to stop knife
crime by helping those born in bad environments focus on something other than crime.
Sally Clark
Sally Clark became a victim of a miscarriage of justice in 1999 when she was sentenced to life in
prison after being wrongly accused of killing her sons at home. In December 1996, Sally’s oldest son
Christopher was found dead. Two years later her other son is found dead at just eight weeks old. At
first Christopher’s death was ruled as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) however the death was
revisited after the death of her second child and was seen as suspicious. There were no witnesses as
Sally was alone with the children at both deaths due to her husband working away. Although there
was no evidence of trauma, Sally was tried at Chester crown court in 1999. Experts at the time had
told police that the chances of two children dying of cot death syndrome in the same household was
1 in 37 million. She was found guilty of smothering 11-year-old Christopher and shaking eight-week-
old Harry to death and sentenced to two life sentences. Sally only served three years of her life
sentence when she appealed to the court of appeal. In 2002 criminal cases were reviewed and clear
evidence that staphylococcus aureus infection had spread to Harry’s cerebral spinal fluid was found.
It was also noted that no blood test from autopsy’s had been disclosed during Sally’s trial. She was
released in January 2003 after it was found pathologist Alan Williams knew of the infection but had
not mentioned this to medical professionals, the police or lawyers. She has always maintained that
her children had died of cot death syndrome. In 2007 Sally suffered a heart attack and passed away,
her friend says she “drank herself to death.” John Batt wrote a book “stolen innocence: A mothers
fight for justice” about Sally’s experiences.
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