November 7, 2021 • 53 mins
This episode contains information which may be triggering for some listeners, relating to domestic abuse and coersive control, listener discretion is advised. This episode was written and researched in part by Fern from Evidence of a Crime. All sources will be on our website, as will helpline numbers if you need them. If you are in immediate danger please call emergency services.
On May 3rd 2016, Margaret Hammond reported her daughter Natalie Hemming as a missing person in a 999 call. She was asked if there was anything that made her concerned and she simply said “him”.
This episode is sponsored by Elfster.com the number one secret santa app.
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Crime Con UK is back in London on June 11/12th 2022. Go to crimecon.co.uk to get your tickets and use the code WINDOW for 10% off.
On May 3rd 2016, Margaret Hammond reported her daughter Natalie Hemming as a missing person in a 999 call. She was asked if there was anything that made her concerned and she simply said “him”.
This episode is sponsored by Elfster.com the number one secret santa app.
Download the app and make gift exchanges easier.
Crime Con UK is back in London on June 11/12th 2022. Go to crimecon.co.uk to get your tickets and use the code WINDOW for 10% off.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to Crime Naps. I amAileen and I'm Charlie. We just want
to start by thanking our patrons fortheir support, especially as we've been enactive
for the last couple of months.So thank you Tania, Angela, Jubilee,
Terry, Kelly, Ray, Sophie, Shannon, Emily, Dara,
(00:24):
Tom mac Gina, Emily, Alanand Adam. We appreciate your support more
than you'll know. This episode containsinformation which may be triggering for some listeners
relating to domestic abuse and coercive control. Listener discretion is advised. This episode
(00:46):
was written and researched in part byFern from evidence of a crime. All
sources will be on our website,as will helpline numbers if you need them.
If you were an immediate danger,please contact emergency services. On May
third, twenty sixteen, Margaret Hammondreported her daughter Natalie Hemming as a missing
person in a nine nine nine car. She was asked if there was anything
(01:08):
that made her concerned, and shesimply said him, this is danced with
the Devil. In two thousand andseven, Natalie went shopping at her local
supermarket and bumped into a man namedPaul Hemming. He was eleven years older
(01:32):
than her, but that didn't botherNatalie. She thought he was attractive and
charming. He had a good job, a nice house, and a nice
car, and their brief encounter rapidlyevolved into a relationship. Natalie began staying
over at Paul's house with her daughterwithin weeks of meeting him, and by
six months she decided to move in. Natalie was bestopped with Paul, but
(02:00):
her family weren't so sure about him. Her sister jo Anne had since spoken
in an interview about the first timethat she met Paul. She had expected
him to be respectful and polite,given that she was Natalie's sister and they
were meeting for the first time,but instead, Paul dismissed jo Anne completely
and announced that he had to goand get changed before disappearing upstairs. She
(02:22):
described him as stand off, fishand odd. Margaret, Natalie's mum,
also didn't have a good feeling aboutPaul, but she would be civil to
him for Natalie's sake because she knewhow much Natalie loved him. Natalie Debrah
Hammond was born on the fifteenth ofJuly nineteen eighty four. She had two
(02:43):
sisters and two brothers. Her sisterssay she would get away with everything.
As the baby of the family.Kerry was five when her sister Natalie was
born, and as sisters do,Kerry, Joanne and Natalie bickered endlessly,
but as the three of them grewup, they came extremely close and were
always there for each other. Atschool, Natalie's favorite subjects were history and
(03:07):
English, and she was regularly foundwith her head in a book. She
was outspoken and loud, but equallya really nice, funny, caring and
genuine person. She loved buying shoes, clothes, and handbags, and was
overall a fantastic mum, daughter,sister, and friend. After Natalie left
(03:30):
school, she joined the Navy,where she met her first partner and went
on to have a baby girl,who they named Kirsty. Natalie loved being
a mum, but like many newmothers, she struggled with postnatal depression.
Her partner was still in the navyand lived far away, so it couldn't
really help Natalie in those essential firstfew months. They both agreed that it
(03:52):
wasn't working and decided to separate,and Natalie went on to raise Kirsty alone.
That was until she met Paul Matthew. Kirsty's father said that he tried
sending gifts to his daughter and seeingher, but Paul wouldn't allow it.
Four years into their relationship, Nataliehad fallen pregnant with her and Paul's first
(04:13):
child together, a little boy,and three years after that, they went
on to have a little girl.From the outside, looking in the family
of five seemed perfect, the realitywas quite the opposite. Natalie's sister said
that they were a large and closefamily. Paul didn't mix with them at
(04:34):
family gatherings. He always sat apartfrom the group and stayed quiet. He
had even refused to attend his ownchildren's baptisms, which resulted in temporary splits
of their relationship. Natalie was verycareful about what she told her family members
about her relationship with Paul, andaccording to her sisters, they had no
idea what was really happening inside ofNatalie's home. They knew that Natalie and
(04:59):
Paul would argue and that Natalie wasn'thappy in the relationship, but the thought
of domestic violence had never crossed theirminds. In July of two thousand and
seven, six months into his andNatalie's relationship. Natalie had filed a statement
with the police detailing a violent incidentthat had occurred in their home. She
(05:21):
claimed that her phone beat and Paulgrabbed it in anger. It was a
message from her ex boyfriend saying happybirthday, honey, take care of yourself.
Paul read it and threw the phoneat Natalie was forth, where it
struck her in the head. Immediately, she began to pour with blood,
and she asked pauled phone and ambulanceor take her to A and E,
(05:43):
but he said no. He thenthrew her on the bed, put his
hand around her throat and had tightenedhis grip. Eventually he drove her to
A and E in hem l Hempstead, where he told Natalie that if she
told anybody the truth, he wouldkill her. She writes, I am
really scared of this man and signsthe statement at the bottom. A few
(06:06):
weeks later, in August, Natalieretracted her statement, claiming that she was
doing serve her own free will andwas working on her relationship with Paul.
Natalie decided to take back her lifeafter raising her two babies, and applied
for a job at the Mercedes dealership, but Paul begged her to stay at
home, even claiming that he wouldpay her to do so on her own
(06:30):
YouTube channel, Living with Murder.Her sister Joanne claims that Natalie never had
any money. She thought this wasodd because Natalie worked and had a good
income, but yet she was alwaysreliant on other people buying her things if
they went out. At one point, Natalie had gone away on holiday with
Kerry, her other sister, andhad taken barely anything to spend. Her
(06:50):
best friend, Becky, also claimsthat Paul constantly made Nattie feel as though
she'd done something bad, saying shedidn't have a nice life with him.
Natalie and Paul had agreed to getmarried, and Natalie had excitedly told all
of her friends and family she'd bookedthe venue and arranged the whole day.
He even bought Natalie a two thousand, five hundred pound engagement ring. Paul
(07:15):
later canceled the whole event without eventelling Natalie. He would continuously promise to
get married to her and use thisas a manipulative tactic to keep her around.
Whenever the relationship was crumbling, Paulwould reintroduce the idea of marriage.
Eventually, Natalie changed her surname tohis as a compromise. Natalie wasn't the
(07:42):
only person who had faced abuse atthe hands of Paul. During an interview
with Natalie's eldest daughter, Kirsty,who was twelve at the time, she
claimed that she had accidentally left anapple in her bag that had gone soggy.
Paul, her stepdad, demanded thatshe clean out her bag and made
her and in the corner of theliving room for thirteen hours overnight before having
(08:03):
to get dressed for school. Sheclaims he went up to bed and repeatedly
came down through the night to checkthat she was still stood upright in the
corner facing the wall. She wasso frightened of him that she didn't take
the chance of sitting down. Kirstyclaims that he was angry on a daily
(08:26):
basis, and that something as smallas not tidying up or forgetting a piece
of homework would result in her beingforced to stand in the many naughty corners
of the house or being sent tobed without food. Natalie tried to sneak
food up to her daughter, butif Paul found out, he'd become violent,
(08:46):
so she wasn't always able to doso. Both Natalie and Kirsty were
petrified of him. Paul's ex partnerhad been emotionally abused and physic assaulted by
him too. He had been controllingand aggressive from the beginning, but began
to get physically violent around a yearinto their relationship. He spat in her
(09:09):
face in front of all of herfriends and said, the only way you'll
ever leave me is in your grave. He took her to a wooded area
and repeated the elbowed her in theface until he broke her nose, and
then drove her home before forcing herto have sex with him while she was
scared for her life. If hewas mad at her, he'd make her
(09:31):
sleep on the floor naked, andif she turned around to look at him,
he would kick her. Natalie toldher family that Paul had two faces,
the one he showed to everybody elseand the one that she saw at
home. In December twenty thirteen,Natalie decided she'd had enough and she moved
(09:54):
away from the home she shared withPaul in Milton Keynes to Yorkshire to live
closer to her sister Joanne. JoeAnne did everything she could to assist Natalie
in her move and was so proudthat Natalie was starting her life all over
again. But despite moving miles away, Paul would not leave Natalie alone.
He followed her to Yorkshire and wouldshow up randomly on weekends, claiming that
(10:18):
he just wanted to see his children. Eventually, he began showing up every
weekend or through the week until hemanaged to convince Natalie to move back in
with him under an array of falsepromises. Joe Anne was heartbroken upon finding
out that Natalie was going back againand had turned to her and said,
if you dance with the devil,you are going to get burned. Their
(10:45):
relationship continued over the years, butit didn't take long for Natalie to realize
that Paul was never going to change. She was completely fed up and extremely
unhappy. Finally, in April twentysixteen, she told her sisters that her
and Paul had agreed to separate.She said it was completely amicable and they
(11:07):
were both looking for somewhere to live, with the intention of renting out the
property that they shared together. Nataliewas looking forward to starting a new chapter
in her life, and her sisterssay that it was like a weight had
been lifted off her shoulders. Theycould finally see the old Natalie again.
Natalie and Paul continued to live togetherwhilst they were in the process of separating,
(11:30):
but as far as Natalie was aware, everything was over between her and
Paul. She had begun to talkto a colleague of hers named Simon,
who she was very fond of,and they were sit in the car on
their dinner breaks, cuddling and havinga coffee together. Her best friend,
Becky was extremely nervous about Natalie's newrelationship, and her text dad telling her
(11:52):
to be careful because she thought thatPaul would react negatively when he found out.
Natalie replied that it would be finebecause her and Paul were no longer
together. Who had no right toknow at that point who Natalie was seeing,
but Natalie told Paul anyway out oftransparency given that they were still living
together. On the thirtieth of Apriltwenty sixteen, Natalie dropped her kids off
(12:15):
at her mum's house for an overnightstay while she went on her first date
with Simon. Later that night.Her youngest daughter, aged three at the
time, was not settling, soMargaret ran Paul, who was home alone
to come and pick her up.When he arrived, he noticed that Natalie's
car was still parked outside of Margaret'shouse and asked Margaret what her car was
(12:35):
doing there. Margaret told him thatshe got picked up and had gone out
for a drink with her friends.On the morning of the first of May,
Natalie was seen on CCTV leaving thehotel with Simon hand in hand with
a huge smile across her face.The pair walked across the car park and
(12:56):
kiss before fading out of sight.Simon then dropped Nat back off at her
mum's house. Before leaving, Natalie'smum had told her about Paul seeing the
card the night before and told Natalienot to be frightened of telling him the
truth about where she had been.Natalie left shortly afterwards. At around one
thirty pm, she returned home toPaul. This was the last time she
(13:18):
was seen alive. Margaret tried tocall Natalie later that night and several more
times over the following days, butthere was no answer. On the third
of May, Margaret, overcome aworry, traveled with Natalie's cousin to the
home she shared with Paul to seewhat was going on. Margaret and Natalie's
cousin anxiously banged on the door,and they could see Paul, who they
(13:43):
expected to be at work, throughthe window, avoiding them. Eventually,
he opened the door but did notinvite them in until Natalie's cousin pushed his
way through, claiming he needed thetoilet. He looked around for Natalie quickly,
but she was nowhere to be seen. Margaret asked Paul where Natalie was,
and he told her that she decidedto go away with her friends for
(14:03):
a few days to clear her head. Her cousin asked what without her car,
but Paul dismissed it. Margaret leftthe home, panicking about Natalie's well
being and called Natalie's sister Juanne toask what she should do. She told
Joanne that she hadn't heard from Nataliein two days, and Joanne urged her
mother to fund the police, justto be on the safe side. At
(14:26):
four or six pm on the thirdof May, Margaret dialed nine nine nine
and reported her daughter missing. Joannewas also extremely worried about Natalie's well being.
Upon hearing this news, she knewthat Natalie would have never taken off
without telling any of her family,given how close they were, and she
certainly wouldn't have left her children inthe care of Paul. Joanne says that
(14:48):
her stomach to the Somersault and shehad known almost immediately that something terrible had
happened. She spent the whole eveningfeeling sick with worry and was extremely concerned
for the children's safety too. Policeofficers conducted a welfare check on Natalie a
few hours later, just after midnighton the fourth of May, and Paul's
strange behavior immediately began to arouse suspicion. The police officers asked Paul if they
(15:13):
could have a look around the houseto check that Natalie wasn't hiding anywhere,
and Paul aggressively responded, there arethree kids in bed. Once she wakes
up, I'm not going to beable to talk to you because she'll cry.
Can it not be done in themorning, to which the officer responded,
we're looking for Natalie now, asthe torch going to disturb her.
While one officer conducted a search ofthe property, another question Paul a bit
(15:35):
his relationship with Natalie, which Pauldescribed as all right. The officer then
asked Paul if he was able totake his phone so they could conduct a
data search, but Paul was unwillingto do this. He claimed that he'd
bring his phone to the station thenext morning because he was too worried that
he'd miss a call from Natalie.After being unable to locate Natalie in the
property and witnessing Paul's dismissive behavior followingthe disappearance of the mother of his children,
(15:58):
alarm bells began ringing both officers inattendance. They decided to arrest Paul
on suspicion of murder at his homethat morning. Upon being arrested and cautioned,
Paul turned to the officers and asked, have you found her? Then?
Following his arrest, Paul was ledinto an interview room, where he
began sobbing, asking for tissues,and could barely contain himself. Just minutes
(16:22):
later, he was fine and didn'tappear upset at all. He gave an
account of how Natalie returned home onSunday, May first with the children.
As he was making dinner, Hesaid Natalie did not seem herself, so
he began kissing her face and strokingher cheek in an attempt to be more
sensitive. He asked her what wasreally wrong, and she said, I
didn't enjoy last night. Something happened. When he asked her what, she
(16:45):
told him that she was pressured intosex by her colleague Simon. He stated
that he asked her, so,you've been raped, and she said yes.
The interviewer asked Paul how this madehim feel upon hearing that Natalie had
been raped, and he said,I felt I'd let her down, according
to him. She then told Paulshe needed to get away for a few
(17:06):
days to clear her head, andhe told her to take as much time
for herself as she needed. Followingthis conversation, he went upstairs with the
children at around six fifty pm,and when he got up the next morning,
Natalie was gone. The police askedPaul to confirmed that he definitely did
not leave the house that night,and he confirmed he had spent the whole
evening asleep. Natalie was listed asa high risk missing person given that this
(17:30):
behavior was completely out of character forher, and officers began to appeal for
information of her whereabouts. That sameday, they quickly discovered that Natalie had
not used her phone since four orforty six on May first, and her
phone was manually turned off on themorning of the second. Her bank account
had not been used and she hadn'tcontacted any of her family members, so
(17:51):
the police's initial inquiries were focused aroundfinding proof that she may still be alive.
Paul's phone was also turned off onthe evening of the first, so
location DADA could not be analyzed todetermine where he had been. The police
were given access to WhatsApp messages bySimon, who had spoken to Natalie and
(18:11):
had sent her messages that evening.Natalie to Simon first of May thirteen fifty
five PM, thank you so much, baby. That was the most amazing
night I've ever had. You weregentle, kind and caring and that meant
the world to me. Thirteen fiftyeight. I fell in love with you
(18:33):
even more last night fourteen twenty one, my mum said thank you for getting
me home in one piece. Theyspoke some more, and then Simon message
later that night twelve minutes past midnight. I'm guessing you fell asleep nice and
(18:56):
early. I'm missing you like crazy, got into bed and I'm wishing you
were in my arms. Keep thinkingabout last night and I just want to
kiss you more night babe. Thenon the second of May he said at
ten past ten, are you okay? I just need to know that then
I'll leave you be. The lasttwo messages were undelivered to Natalie's phone,
(19:22):
indicating to the police that Natalie hadbeen murdered prior to this, giving them
a more specific time frame to focuson. As the investigation continued, Joanne
and Kerry traveled to hem Or Hempstead, where Margaret, Natalie's mom was living,
to help look after the children whowere staying with her. They say
that those days were extremely long anddifficult, and that all they could do
(19:45):
was focus on keeping things as normalas possible for the sake of the children,
who were completely unaware of what wasgoing on. It didn't take long
for the police to poke holes inPaul's story because he, even though he
claimed to have been home and asleepall evening, his Ford Smax car had
hit two cameras with automatic number platerecognition, one in which Church in Aylesbury,
(20:08):
around eighteen miles from his home,on the first of May at ten
sixteen pm, and again at zerozero zero six in Aston Clinton around sixteen
miles away. Returning home, Paulhad intentionally avoided any other ANPR cameras,
which meant that he'd gone undetected foran hour and fifty minutes, leaving the
(20:32):
police clueless as to where he couldhave been. Natalie and Paul's six year
old son was then interviewed and unknowinglygave the police vital information. On the
evening of the first of May,he says he was asleep and heard a
noise that was really loud, likethunder, like three glasses smashing. He'd
(20:56):
gone downstairs to see what it wasand peeked through a gap in the door,
where he thought that he'd seen abowl or a pan of some sort
with what looked like sick inside.Daddy was cleaning a wet patch on the
floor, and Mummy was laying onthe couch asleep, wrapped in a blanket.
He then ran back upstairs to bedbecause he didn't want to be shouted
(21:17):
at. He says that a bigred rug on their living room floor was
now gone and had had to betaken to daddy's work for a wash because
it had a wet patch on it. He then said that he hadn't seen
his mum since and that his dadhad told him that she was sick.
They asked Natalie's six year old sonto draw a picture of the living room
and the big red rug and wherethe wet patches were that Paul was cleaning
(21:40):
up. By doing so, thecrime scene examiners were able to focus more
specific areas where they believed Natalie mayhave been killed. In the same area
where Natalie's son had drawn the wetpatches, forensic scientists found numerous airborne blood
droplets on the side of the coffeetable in the home. Paul's car was
(22:00):
also examined and spots of blood andred fibers from the rug were located inside.
It was clear to police at thispoint Natalie was no longer alive.
Maybell today to give an update onthe search for a missing lady, Natalie
Hemming. Natalie's been missing now sinceSunday, the first of May, when
(22:22):
she was last seen just before fourclock in hemil Hempstead. In relation to
that investigation, the man has nowbeen charged from Natalie's murder. However,
we are still searching for Natalie.It's important when we do everything we can
for her family in order to findher and return her to Gum. As
part of that, I have threeappeals today as well as some new information.
(22:44):
First part of my appeals again foranybody who has any information about Natalie
that hasn't come forward to the policeand spoken to us, to come forward
and speak to us as soon asthey can. The second part of the
appeal to day around a black vehicleto the black Forward Smax vehicle. We
have that vehicle, but we're interestedin where that vehicle was just before ten
(23:07):
pm on Sunday the first of Maythrough to the early hours of Monday,
the second of May, which wasthe bank holiday, just before one am.
Again, we know that vehicle tooka number of routes both around Hemmel
Hempstead into Aylesbury and the southern sideof Oxford. That vehicle is e J
(23:29):
one two UWG. So again,anybody's seen that vehicle, they seen it
pumped up and hasn't spoken to thepolice, to come forward and speak to
us. The third part of myappeal is for an item that's missing from
Natalie's house, and you'll see apicture of that on the screen. Now,
that's a large red rug is describedas being between twelve ft long ten
(23:53):
foot wide and it has a mediumdepth pile that is miss and I think
it's very very much connected to herexperience. So I'm looking for anybody who
has seen that rather a similar rugdiscarded, dumped or in an unusual place,
including anybody who's moved it, becauseif they have, that's fine,
(24:14):
we just need to know where itis now to come forward and contact the
police. And that's within this Carnegeographical area, so Alsbury and the top
end of Oxford up into Bedfordshire andNorthamptonshire to come forward and speak to us.
We are conducting a number of searchesin our bid defined Natalie. They
will be ongoing and anybody who hasany concerns about those searches can speak to
(24:37):
police officers who are present. There'stwo ways a way to people in contact
the police, but one is onone zero one a quoting reference number fourteen
seventy eight and the second the fourthof May, and the second is vere
Final Stoffice a pile information anonymously ifthey don't want to speak to a police
officer, that's on eight hundred TroubleFire Trouble On the sixth of May at
(25:06):
nine am the investigation changed from amissing person's investigation to a homicide investigation.
The police interviewed numerous family members andfriends of Natalie and Paul to build the
case on what kind of person Paultruly was. Paul didn't have any friends,
he was unsociable, and had controlledevery woman that he had ever been
(25:26):
with. Many described his personality asJacqueline Hyde. Paul had continued to be
cooperative with police and interviews and wouldhave an answer for everything they challenged him
with. On the sixth of May, hours before his custody clock was due
to run out, they presented himwith the blood evidence they'd found in his
(25:49):
living room. He claims that ifthey ever cut themselves, they flinch,
which may have caused the airborne droplets. As soon as he's shown the images
of his are being caught traveling onAMPR cameras, he stops corporating immediately and
continues the interview, stating no comment. The officer asked him where he believes
(26:12):
Natalie to be, and he says, I have no idea. Paul then
says he's also very concerned about Natalieand says he doesn't appear concerned because in
his heart he knows she's not deadand can't make miracles happen. The officers
(26:33):
then disclosed their final theory to Paul, suggesting that he'd flown into a jealous
rage and killed her after finding outabout her date with Simon. Again,
Paul denied any knowledge of Natalie's death, and the interview was drawn to a
close. Despite the location of Natalie'sbody being unknown, the Crown Prosecution Service
(26:55):
agreed to charge Paul Hemming with themurder of Natalie Hemming on the sixth of
May two sixteen. When the officersread Paul his charges, he simply replied,
I'm not guilty. The superintendent onthe case, Simon Steele, arranged
(27:15):
a meeting with Natalie's family the followingday. He advised them that it was
unlikely they may ever find Natalie's bodydue to the search area being so vast
around almost five hundred square miles,and he wanted to prepare them for the
chance of a no body conviction.Although no body convictions occur, they are
(27:36):
extremely rare and helped to strengthen thedefense in any murder trial. Joanne asked
if it would be productive to writePaul a letter asking him to disclose where
Natalie's body was for the sake ofthe children, but Simon advised her that
he didn't think it would make adifference. The family were devastated. They
knew that Natalie had been killed,but they were spirit for closure of finding
(28:00):
her body, to be certain thatshe wasn't still out there, and also
to give Natalie the dignity of aproper burial. Paul appears at the Crown
Court in the ninth of May twentysixteen to be formally charged with the murder
of Natalie Hemming. He did notmake an application for bail, and his
plea hearing was set for July eleventh. Over the following weeks, the police
(28:30):
increased their search efforts in an attemptto locate Natalie's body as quickly as possible
before Paul's trial was hue to goahead. They knew that the longer it
took to find her, the lessevidence they were likely to recover. On
May twelve, the police held apress conference and appealed from members of the
public to come forward if they hadany information about a large red rug.
(28:52):
It was described as being twelve ftby ten with three inch soft pile.
A woman in the area had witnesseda dark colored hatchback car similar to Paul's
car with a boot open, parkedon the side of a road. She
had seen a man walking around thedisused railway track next to the car.
The police searched the whole area onfoot with the assistance of a police helicopter.
(29:15):
They were unable to locate Natalie orany evidence to prove her or Paul
had been there. The search teamcontinued to draw multiple wooded and secluded areas,
in many areas where Paul could havedriven his car. On the twenty
second of May, a man fromCharler's Cross was mowing a hedge beside his
property when he encountered an awful smell. He glanced behind a cluster of trees,
(29:38):
thinking a deer or another large animalmay have died, and horrifyingly,
he discovered a naked body lying facedown in an overgrown ditch. In a
panic state, he called the policeand alerted them to his discovery. Joe
(29:59):
and Kerry were at home making Sundaylunch for the family when they both noticed
they had missed call from the familyliaison officers. They both looked at each
other at the same time and saidthey found her. Natalie's body was taken
for an autopsy immediately and identified viaDNA confirmation. Her body had been left
in an open wooded area for threeweeks and was in an advanced state of
(30:22):
decomposition. She was found to havea fractured right temple, a broken left
ulner, the bone in the forearm, and her left arm was bruised.
She also had many cuts to herhands and arms. Due to the level
of decomposition, the pathologist was unableto determine the exact injury that caused Natalie's
(30:42):
death. However, the injuries toNatalie's arms were determined to be defensive wounds
Natalie was protecting herself from multiple blowsto the head. Her funeral was arranged
to take place on the fourth ofJuly. The family say this date was
(31:03):
very important to them and they choseit specifically due to it being Independence Day.
They wanted Natalie to have her ownIndependence Day. The family asked people
to wear traditional black clothes, butto wear their favorite party shoes to celebrate
Natalie's life and her own love forshoes. Jo Anne says she barely slept
(31:23):
the night before Natalie's funeral, sheworried people wouldn't show up, but the
streets were lined with people paying theirrespects and the crematorium was filled with people
saying goodbye to Natalie. Joe Anneread the following passage from a poem named
feel no guilt in laughter, Feelno guilt in laughter. She would know
(31:48):
how much you care, Feel nosorrow in a smile that she's not here
to share. For if you keepthose moments, you will never be a
part, and she will live forever, blocked safely within your heart. Even
though the evidence was piled high againstPaul, on the eleventh of July,
(32:10):
he took to court in his secondhearing, still denying that he murdered Natalie.
However, months later, just beforehis trial was to begin, he
decided to change his plea. Hepleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Natalie,
claiming that he threw an ornamental eggat Natalie's head in anger, which had
(32:32):
killed her. The evidence and autosyof Natalie's body suggested that she'd been struck
multiple times, and so Paul's pleawas declined and the court continued to proceed
with a conviction of murder. Thisepisode was sponsored by Elvester. It's almost
(32:57):
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st e or Elster. The trialbegan on the twenty fourth of October at
(34:01):
Luton Crown Court. Prosecutor Simon RussellFlint told the court Natalie died at the
hands of this defendant. This evidencethat we gathered proves that she was struck
brutally to the head by mister Hemmingin the home that they shared. She
was killed on May first this year, and whether or not she died instantly
or immediately following that attack on her, what the defendant did was remove her
(34:22):
body from their home, taken inhis car, and dump her body in
the woods near Chandler's Cross in Hertfordshire. It was there that Miss Hemming's body
was much later found very clearly andundoubtedly dead. The defendants struck and killed
Natalie in the living room of theirhome. He did not contact emergency services,
telephoned nine nine nine to ask foran ambulance or paramedics to come to
(34:45):
the house or for the police toattend. Instead, he wrapped her up
naked as she was found in acarpet, the carpet she would have been
lying on, and was either carriedor dragged out of the house in which
their children were peacefully sleeping in theirbeds upstairs, and disposed of her body
in the boot of his car.He then drove thirty miles and disposed her
(35:06):
naked body and woodland. He thenreturned home and casually and glibly and convincingly
proceeded to lie and lie and lieto everyone who asked Natalie's family, Natalie's
friends, his own family and friendsas to Natalie's whereabouts, All the while
he pretended to be worried and concernedwhere she was and for her welfare.
(35:27):
The morning after he had killed theirmother and dumped her body in the woodland,
he took the three children off toWicksteed Sue for what must have been
a happy trip. He told policethat Natalie had gone away to clear her
head as she had been raped bya work colleague on Saturday following a night
out, and said to the policethat he believed she had gone to stay
with a friend in Hemel Hempstead.Despite the defendant's attempt to control her and
(35:50):
to have her for himself, shehad discovered that there was something beyond the
world of Paul Hemming. Paul hadthen tried to cover his tracks by sending
messages from Natalie's phone to himself andher family and friends. He also takes
Simon, the man Natalie had beenseeing, and said that they had decided
to stay together. He took itfurther by telling Natalie's work that Simon had
(36:10):
raped her. Paul Hemming testified inhis own defense. He said he had
threw a heavy ornamental egg, whichstruck Natalie and caused her to fall on
the corner of the coffee table.He claimed. He then panic when he
realized she was dead, saying Icouldn't believe I had done it. I
just saw shit. I'm in trouble. How am I going to explain to
the kids upstairs? So then Ithought I'm going to cover this up.
(36:35):
He wrapped Natalie's body up while hischildren were sleeping. He placed it into
the car and drove thirty miles toa secluded woodland area. He then stripped
her body nude and dragged her facedown and left her under some trees.
He claimed he was ashamed and confused. He said that he was panicked that
he would lose her after her datewith Simon Dennis, and when she said
that she'd had enough, he begangrappling her to stop her leaving and hid
(36:59):
her with a fabrish jade egg.Pathologist doctor Olaf Bedreski said that due to
the advanced level of decomposition on Natalie'sbody, it was impossible to determine her
exact cause of death. She hada skull fracture by her right temple,
and her right arm was broken.There may also have been fractures to her
larynx, which would indicate she hadbeen strangled. A statement written by Natalie's
(37:22):
mother was read by the prosecution.It said that Paul began accusing Natalie of
having an affair on April twenty fourth, and he would even press the issue
in front of their children. Natalietold him that she was finished, and
he agreed to help her rent somewhereto live, but then changed his mind.
Natalie's mother asked him to keep itamicable, but he said it would
(37:43):
never be amicable. Natalie's mother knewsomething was wrong when her daughter wasn't answering
her phone after April thirtieth, andwhen she went to the house a few
days later seeing Natalie's car parked infront of Paul's made her anxious. Paul
said it was because Natalie had aproblem with the clutch in her car,
a blatant lie, because Natalie drovean automatic. Rebecca Hornsby, Natalie's childhood
(38:06):
best friend, testified that Natlie wasplanning on leaving Paul and told her she
was sick of it. She toldRebecca that Paul was trying to change her
mind, begging her, threatening her, and he even went for her,
grabbing her arm and twisting it behindher back. Paul rang Rebecca following Natalie's
disappearance, and Rebecca recorded the calls. In the recordings, Paul said that
(38:27):
he has no idea where Natalie isand that she was annoyed at him for
not doing his fair share around thehouse and had left to clear her head.
He also told Rebecca that Natalie saidshe was raped by Simon Dennis.
Joanne, Natalie's sister, said thatseeing Paul for the first time in court
confirmed everything that Natalie used to sayabout Paul having two faces. He was
(38:50):
no longer the happy, care freeman he presented himself as to everybody else.
He now looked evil, cold andcalculating. The court heard a statement
from an employee at Apple who hadspoken to Natlie after she had taken her
phone into the store. The phonehad been locked out because somebody had attempted
to access it with the wrong passwordnumerous times, and the Apple employee also
(39:12):
alerted Natalie to find my iPhone,which had recently been enabled without her knowing.
Despite Paul's insistence that Natalie's death wasaccidental, on the fourth of November,
the jury came to the unanimous decisionthat Paul was guilty of her murder.
He was also charged with obstructing acoroner and preventing the burial of a
body. He was sentenced to lifein prison with a minimum of twenty years,
(39:34):
and will be eligible for parole onthe twenty ninth of October twenty thirty
six. Presiding Judge Richard Foster said, Natalie knew you were overbearing, controlling,
jealous and on occasion violent. Yousaid you would mend your ways,
and you did not. I haveno doubt. When she arrived home on
Sunday afternoon, you were in astate of high agitation and overcome by anger
(39:57):
and jealousy. Once the children inbed, a violent argument arose, in
the course of which you attacked herviciously to the head with some sort of
implement. She attempted in vain todefend herself. Having murdered your partner of
ten years and the mother of yourchildren, you proceeded in the most callous
way to cover up what you haddone. You stripped her naked and put
(40:17):
her body in the boot of yourcar. You drove to a remote location
and you dragged her through the undergrowth. It was not found for another three
weeks. You then went on totell lie after lie. The manner in
which you've conducted yourself since the murderindicates a complete lack of remorse. As
Paul's sentence was read out, Natalie'sbrother Shawn mouthed, you're going down to
(40:40):
Paul, and Paul mouthed back,I don't care. I enjoyed every minute
of it. Prosecutor Liz Scriven calledPaul Hemming an extremely cold, callous and
calculated man. Detective Chief Inspector SimonSealed from the Thames Valley Police Major Crime
Unit said that Paul Hemming had opportunityneeds to admit what he had done to
lessen the family's anguish, but heonly admitted to killing her on the first
(41:05):
day of his trial. Even then, he claimed it was manslaughter, which
meant her family had to go througha painful trial. I'm Detective Chief Inspector
Simon Steele, the senior investigating officerfor the murder of Natalie Hemming. Natalie
was murdered on the first of Maythis year at a home address in Newton
(41:25):
Lees, Milton Kings by her partnerPaul Hemming. Following the murder, on
the evening of Sunday, the firstof May, all drove the body of
Natalie to Woodland in Chandless Cross,Hartfordshire, where it disposed of Natalie for
almost three weeks. Natalie was leftthere until she was found the horror that
(41:47):
her family had to go through,whereas Paul continued throughout that period of time
to maintain his lies and that Nataliehad simply left, and that the following
day he even took the three childrento what they felt was a family treat
and they went to a zoo.Up until the first day of these court
proceedings, almost six months later,Paul has denied any involvement in her murder.
(42:15):
On the first day of the courtproceedings, Paul finally admitted to the
unlawful calm of Natalie and disposing ofher body in Woodland and Chimeless Cross,
Hartfordshire. He however, maintained hislies and would not fully admit his involvement
and stated he was only guilty ofher manslaughter. We welcome the decision of
(42:37):
the jury who saw through his liesand found him guilty of the murder of
Natalie. I appreciate that domestic abusecan be very hard to spot. However,
if you or you know of anyothers who are suffering mental, physical
or emotional abuse, please contact interms of our police on one on one.
(43:04):
After not least disappearance, the childrenwere forced to leave their homes with
a single carrier bag of possessions.They had to leave everything behind. Natalie's
eldest and youngest daughter moved in withJuan, who already had four children of
her own, and Natalie's son isnow in the care of Kerry. Joann
and Kerry fundraised in the local area, and many people generously donated money for
(43:25):
clothing and furniture and toys for thelittle ones to play with. The families
living on the estate were Natalie livedraised bundles of gifts to donate to the
children too. Joanne says on herown YouTube channel that she feels very fortunate
that her and Kerry received this supportbecause not every family will. She states
(43:45):
that there isn't anywhere for people intheir position to turn financially and is fighting
to change this. The family hopedthat the documentaries they have taken part in
Catching a Killer on Channel four whenMissing turns to murder and from the Eyes
of a Child on BBC two willraise awareness about the dangers many people face
when remaining within a domestically abusive relationship. They can't do anything to change what
(44:07):
happened to Natalie, but they hopeit changes the story of many other people.
Their aim is for people to nowbe able to recognize the pattern of
behaviors that occurred within Natalie and Paul'srelationship before she was brutally murdered, and
how dangerous course of control within arelationship is. Joanne talks about how many
people expect domestic abuse victims to becovered in bruises, when in reality,
(44:31):
it runs much deeper than that.Natalie was a victim of physical, emotional,
and financial abuse and was manipulated byPaul Daley to keep her under his
control. He was unknowingly stalking herand making her believe that everything was her
fault. Joanne regularly attends conferences tospeak openly about the effects and signs of
(44:52):
domestic abuse. She says, iftelling her story can help another woman walk
away from an abusive relationship, thenwe will know that my sister did not
die in vain. Juanne also publiclysupports the charity aa f DA Advocacy after
Fatal domestic Abuse. She states thatthey are essential to families in this position,
(45:15):
guiding them through all of the stepsfollowing the murder of a loved one
as a result of domestic abuse andmaking sure that grieving families are not left
in the dark through the entire process. Natalie's eldest daughter, Kirsty, who
is now seventeen, speaks openly aboutthe effect that domestic abuse had on her
as a child. She is apatron of Operation and Compass, which supports
(45:39):
children who suffer abuse or live withinan abusive household. She was also a
domestic abuse ambassador at her school.Over the course of their nine year relationship,
Natalie had called the police three times. She's spoken to a domestic abuse
he applying in twenty and thirteen themthat Paul had hit her in the back
(46:00):
of the head and had to spatin her face and demanded that he could
just kill her. In early twentytwenty, authorities admit that they had failed
to support Natalie and could have donemore with the information they had available to
prevent her death. Many times,people suffering abuse do not realize that they
(46:22):
are being abused, and by thetime they do, it's too late.
Domestic abuse isn't always physical. Itcan be displayed in many ways, psychologically,
financially, and sexually, as wellas general harassment, online abuse,
and coercive control. Coercive control isused as an intimidation tactic to change the
(46:45):
normal behavior and attitudes of somebody inan attempt to get them to behave how
you want them to. In Natalie'scase, Paul begged her to stay at
home and did not want her tohave the independence of getting a job.
She had to high text regularly becausehe would check her phone at ending given
time, and he would attempt toisolate her from people she loved. He
(47:07):
humiliated her by spitting in her faceand would obsess of her every move.
He also enabled spywear on her phonewithout her knowing, so he could stalk
her. Women's Aid provided a listof common examples of coercive control in their
website. Isolating you from friends andfamily, depriving you of basic needs such
(47:30):
as food, monitoring your time,monitoring U via online communication tools, or
spywear, taking control over aspects ofyour everyday life, such as where you
can go, who you can see, what you can wear and when you
can sleep, depriving you access tosupport services such as medical services, repeatedly
(47:53):
putting you down, such as sayingyou're worthless, humiliating, degrading or dehumanizing
you, controlling your finances, makingthreats, or intimidating you. To answer
the question of why didn't she leave, Research and statistics show that the risk
(48:15):
of homicide and abutive relationships increases significantlywhen the victim tries to leave, with
the perpetrator exerting their last attempt ofcontrol. In twenty nineteen, domestic homicide
figures were the highest they had beenin the UK in over five years.
(48:38):
Doctor Jane Monkton Smith, a criminologyexpert, examined over three hundred and seventy
two domestic homicides in the UK andnoticed that they all followed a similar pattern.
She created an eight stage model toraise awareness of the risk of homicide
and domestically abusive relationships and to preventfurther deaths. Number One a pre relationship
(49:04):
history of stalking or abused by theperpetrator. Two the romance developing quickly into
a serious relationship. Three the relationshipbecoming dominated by coercive control. Four a
trigger to threaten the perpetrator's control,for example, the relationship ends or the
perpetrator gets into financial difficulty. Fiveescalation an increase of the intensity or frequency
(49:29):
of the partner's control tactics, suchas by stalking or threatening suicide. Six,
The perpetrator has a change in thinking, choosing to move on, either
through revenge or by homicide. SevenPlanning. The perpetrator might buy weapons or
seek opportunities to get the victim alone. An eight homicide, the perpetrator kills
(49:51):
his or her partner and potentially hurtsother people, such as the victim's children.
Nat lease relationship with Paul followed allof these stages. Paul had been
abusive to previous partners, The relationshipdeveloped quickly, and Natalie was dominated by
cowersive control. The relationship ended,and Paul sought revenge. He waited until
(50:14):
the children went to bed and shewas on her own before killing her.
A domestic homicide review found that therewere signs of abuse in their relationship and
that there had been a failure toexplore and corroborate that information. Natalie had
contacted the police three times in nineyears and disclosed information which showed that she
(50:35):
was in an abusive relationship. Whenshe stopped engaging with the supports, they
did not follow up and check inon her. If you, or anyone
you know are in a domestically abusiverelationship, it is extremely important that you
let somebody know if you're safe andable to do so. Natalie's family are
(50:57):
hopeful that people will listen to Natalie'sstory and view it as an example of
what can happen when people, thepolice and services are unaware of the exact
position you are currently in. Natalie'sdeath will not be in vain. Her
story will save so many lives.Thank you for listening to this episode of
(51:24):
Crime Laps. Crimelops is an independentpodcast that is funded in part by our
generous Patreon supporters. If you enjoythe show and want to help us keep
it going, you can join uson Patreon dot com forward stot Crime Laps.
In exchange for your pledge, you'llget access to early release add free
episodes, bonus content, and exclusivemerchandise. You can also support the show
(51:46):
by subscribing and leaving us a fivestar review. You can keep up to
date with us on social media atcrime laps on Instagram, on Facebook and
at crimnops pot on Twitter. Staysafe. Crime Con is coming back to
(52:17):
London in twenty twenty two. Followingthe incredible reception to the first Crime Con
UK in September twenty twenty one,The event is back in the Leonardo Royal
Saint Paul's Hotel on June eleventh andtwelfth, twenty twenty two. We'll be
back on podcasts Row along with someincredible podcasts like They Walk among Us,
Men's Raya, Morbidology and more.There'll be some fantastic speakers and interactive exhibits
(52:40):
across the weekend too. The feedbackfrom the people who were there in September
has been great, so you donot want to miss the weekend. Most
of those in attendance went on theirown, but it didn't take long to
make friends with like minded people withan interest in true crime. Tickets are
on sale now on the Crime Condot code at UK website. Not only
(53:02):
are the tickets at their lowest priceat the moment, but you can get
an extra ten percent off when youuse our code window. You can split
the cost of the ticket into threeinstallments to make it easier to afford,
but the price includes two full daysof content, access to talks, exhibitions,
podcasts, ROW and more. Getyour tickets now for the world's number
(53:22):
one true crime event, crime ConUK twenty twenty two.
Welcome to Crime Naps. I amAileen and I'm Charlie. We just want
to start by thanking our patrons fortheir support, especially as we've been enactive
for the last couple of months.So thank you Tania, Angela, Jubilee,
Terry, Kelly, Ray, Sophie, Shannon, Emily, Dara,
(00:24):
Tom mac Gina, Emily, Alanand Adam. We appreciate your support more
than you'll know. This episode containsinformation which may be triggering for some listeners
relating to domestic abuse and coercive control. Listener discretion is advised. This episode
(00:46):
was written and researched in part byFern from evidence of a crime. All
sources will be on our website,as will helpline numbers if you need them.
If you were an immediate danger,please contact emergency services. On May
third, twenty sixteen, Margaret Hammondreported her daughter Natalie Hemming as a missing
person in a nine nine nine car. She was asked if there was anything
(01:08):
that made her concerned, and shesimply said him, this is danced with
the Devil. In two thousand andseven, Natalie went shopping at her local
supermarket and bumped into a man namedPaul Hemming. He was eleven years older
(01:32):
than her, but that didn't botherNatalie. She thought he was attractive and
charming. He had a good job, a nice house, and a nice
car, and their brief encounter rapidlyevolved into a relationship. Natalie began staying
over at Paul's house with her daughterwithin weeks of meeting him, and by
six months she decided to move in. Natalie was bestopped with Paul, but
(02:00):
her family weren't so sure about him. Her sister jo Anne had since spoken
in an interview about the first timethat she met Paul. She had expected
him to be respectful and polite,given that she was Natalie's sister and they
were meeting for the first time,but instead, Paul dismissed jo Anne completely
and announced that he had to goand get changed before disappearing upstairs. She
(02:22):
described him as stand off, fishand odd. Margaret, Natalie's mum,
also didn't have a good feeling aboutPaul, but she would be civil to
him for Natalie's sake because she knewhow much Natalie loved him. Natalie Debrah
Hammond was born on the fifteenth ofJuly nineteen eighty four. She had two
(02:43):
sisters and two brothers. Her sisterssay she would get away with everything.
As the baby of the family.Kerry was five when her sister Natalie was
born, and as sisters do,Kerry, Joanne and Natalie bickered endlessly,
but as the three of them grewup, they came extremely close and were
always there for each other. Atschool, Natalie's favorite subjects were history and
(03:07):
English, and she was regularly foundwith her head in a book. She
was outspoken and loud, but equallya really nice, funny, caring and
genuine person. She loved buying shoes, clothes, and handbags, and was
overall a fantastic mum, daughter,sister, and friend. After Natalie left
(03:30):
school, she joined the Navy,where she met her first partner and went
on to have a baby girl,who they named Kirsty. Natalie loved being
a mum, but like many newmothers, she struggled with postnatal depression.
Her partner was still in the navyand lived far away, so it couldn't
really help Natalie in those essential firstfew months. They both agreed that it
(03:52):
wasn't working and decided to separate,and Natalie went on to raise Kirsty alone.
That was until she met Paul Matthew. Kirsty's father said that he tried
sending gifts to his daughter and seeingher, but Paul wouldn't allow it.
Four years into their relationship, Nataliehad fallen pregnant with her and Paul's first
(04:13):
child together, a little boy,and three years after that, they went
on to have a little girl.From the outside, looking in the family
of five seemed perfect, the realitywas quite the opposite. Natalie's sister said
that they were a large and closefamily. Paul didn't mix with them at
(04:34):
family gatherings. He always sat apartfrom the group and stayed quiet. He
had even refused to attend his ownchildren's baptisms, which resulted in temporary splits
of their relationship. Natalie was verycareful about what she told her family members
about her relationship with Paul, andaccording to her sisters, they had no
idea what was really happening inside ofNatalie's home. They knew that Natalie and
(04:59):
Paul would argue and that Natalie wasn'thappy in the relationship, but the thought
of domestic violence had never crossed theirminds. In July of two thousand and
seven, six months into his andNatalie's relationship. Natalie had filed a statement
with the police detailing a violent incidentthat had occurred in their home. She
(05:21):
claimed that her phone beat and Paulgrabbed it in anger. It was a
message from her ex boyfriend saying happybirthday, honey, take care of yourself.
Paul read it and threw the phoneat Natalie was forth, where it
struck her in the head. Immediately, she began to pour with blood,
and she asked pauled phone and ambulanceor take her to A and E,
(05:43):
but he said no. He thenthrew her on the bed, put his
hand around her throat and had tightenedhis grip. Eventually he drove her to
A and E in hem l Hempstead, where he told Natalie that if she
told anybody the truth, he wouldkill her. She writes, I am
really scared of this man and signsthe statement at the bottom. A few
(06:06):
weeks later, in August, Natalieretracted her statement, claiming that she was
doing serve her own free will andwas working on her relationship with Paul.
Natalie decided to take back her lifeafter raising her two babies, and applied
for a job at the Mercedes dealership, but Paul begged her to stay at
home, even claiming that he wouldpay her to do so on her own
(06:30):
YouTube channel, Living with Murder.Her sister Joanne claims that Natalie never had
any money. She thought this wasodd because Natalie worked and had a good
income, but yet she was alwaysreliant on other people buying her things if
they went out. At one point, Natalie had gone away on holiday with
Kerry, her other sister, andhad taken barely anything to spend. Her
(06:50):
best friend, Becky, also claimsthat Paul constantly made Nattie feel as though
she'd done something bad, saying shedidn't have a nice life with him.
Natalie and Paul had agreed to getmarried, and Natalie had excitedly told all
of her friends and family she'd bookedthe venue and arranged the whole day.
He even bought Natalie a two thousand, five hundred pound engagement ring. Paul
(07:15):
later canceled the whole event without eventelling Natalie. He would continuously promise to
get married to her and use thisas a manipulative tactic to keep her around.
Whenever the relationship was crumbling, Paulwould reintroduce the idea of marriage.
Eventually, Natalie changed her surname tohis as a compromise. Natalie wasn't the
(07:42):
only person who had faced abuse atthe hands of Paul. During an interview
with Natalie's eldest daughter, Kirsty,who was twelve at the time, she
claimed that she had accidentally left anapple in her bag that had gone soggy.
Paul, her stepdad, demanded thatshe clean out her bag and made
her and in the corner of theliving room for thirteen hours overnight before having
(08:03):
to get dressed for school. Sheclaims he went up to bed and repeatedly
came down through the night to checkthat she was still stood upright in the
corner facing the wall. She wasso frightened of him that she didn't take
the chance of sitting down. Kirstyclaims that he was angry on a daily
(08:26):
basis, and that something as smallas not tidying up or forgetting a piece
of homework would result in her beingforced to stand in the many naughty corners
of the house or being sent tobed without food. Natalie tried to sneak
food up to her daughter, butif Paul found out, he'd become violent,
(08:46):
so she wasn't always able to doso. Both Natalie and Kirsty were
petrified of him. Paul's ex partnerhad been emotionally abused and physic assaulted by
him too. He had been controllingand aggressive from the beginning, but began
to get physically violent around a yearinto their relationship. He spat in her
(09:09):
face in front of all of herfriends and said, the only way you'll
ever leave me is in your grave. He took her to a wooded area
and repeated the elbowed her in theface until he broke her nose, and
then drove her home before forcing herto have sex with him while she was
scared for her life. If hewas mad at her, he'd make her
(09:31):
sleep on the floor naked, andif she turned around to look at him,
he would kick her. Natalie toldher family that Paul had two faces,
the one he showed to everybody elseand the one that she saw at
home. In December twenty thirteen,Natalie decided she'd had enough and she moved
(09:54):
away from the home she shared withPaul in Milton Keynes to Yorkshire to live
closer to her sister Joanne. JoeAnne did everything she could to assist Natalie
in her move and was so proudthat Natalie was starting her life all over
again. But despite moving miles away, Paul would not leave Natalie alone.
He followed her to Yorkshire and wouldshow up randomly on weekends, claiming that
(10:18):
he just wanted to see his children. Eventually, he began showing up every
weekend or through the week until hemanaged to convince Natalie to move back in
with him under an array of falsepromises. Joe Anne was heartbroken upon finding
out that Natalie was going back againand had turned to her and said,
if you dance with the devil,you are going to get burned. Their
(10:45):
relationship continued over the years, butit didn't take long for Natalie to realize
that Paul was never going to change. She was completely fed up and extremely
unhappy. Finally, in April twentysixteen, she told her sisters that her
and Paul had agreed to separate.She said it was completely amicable and they
(11:07):
were both looking for somewhere to live, with the intention of renting out the
property that they shared together. Nataliewas looking forward to starting a new chapter
in her life, and her sisterssay that it was like a weight had
been lifted off her shoulders. Theycould finally see the old Natalie again.
Natalie and Paul continued to live togetherwhilst they were in the process of separating,
(11:30):
but as far as Natalie was aware, everything was over between her and
Paul. She had begun to talkto a colleague of hers named Simon,
who she was very fond of,and they were sit in the car on
their dinner breaks, cuddling and havinga coffee together. Her best friend,
Becky was extremely nervous about Natalie's newrelationship, and her text dad telling her
(11:52):
to be careful because she thought thatPaul would react negatively when he found out.
Natalie replied that it would be finebecause her and Paul were no longer
together. Who had no right toknow at that point who Natalie was seeing,
but Natalie told Paul anyway out oftransparency given that they were still living
together. On the thirtieth of Apriltwenty sixteen, Natalie dropped her kids off
(12:15):
at her mum's house for an overnightstay while she went on her first date
with Simon. Later that night.Her youngest daughter, aged three at the
time, was not settling, soMargaret ran Paul, who was home alone
to come and pick her up.When he arrived, he noticed that Natalie's
car was still parked outside of Margaret'shouse and asked Margaret what her car was
(12:35):
doing there. Margaret told him thatshe got picked up and had gone out
for a drink with her friends.On the morning of the first of May,
Natalie was seen on CCTV leaving thehotel with Simon hand in hand with
a huge smile across her face.The pair walked across the car park and
(12:56):
kiss before fading out of sight.Simon then dropped Nat back off at her
mum's house. Before leaving, Natalie'smum had told her about Paul seeing the
card the night before and told Natalienot to be frightened of telling him the
truth about where she had been.Natalie left shortly afterwards. At around one
thirty pm, she returned home toPaul. This was the last time she
(13:18):
was seen alive. Margaret tried tocall Natalie later that night and several more
times over the following days, butthere was no answer. On the third
of May, Margaret, overcome aworry, traveled with Natalie's cousin to the
home she shared with Paul to seewhat was going on. Margaret and Natalie's
cousin anxiously banged on the door,and they could see Paul, who they
(13:43):
expected to be at work, throughthe window, avoiding them. Eventually,
he opened the door but did notinvite them in until Natalie's cousin pushed his
way through, claiming he needed thetoilet. He looked around for Natalie quickly,
but she was nowhere to be seen. Margaret asked Paul where Natalie was,
and he told her that she decidedto go away with her friends for
(14:03):
a few days to clear her head. Her cousin asked what without her car,
but Paul dismissed it. Margaret leftthe home, panicking about Natalie's well
being and called Natalie's sister Juanne toask what she should do. She told
Joanne that she hadn't heard from Nataliein two days, and Joanne urged her
mother to fund the police, justto be on the safe side. At
(14:26):
four or six pm on the thirdof May, Margaret dialed nine nine nine
and reported her daughter missing. Joannewas also extremely worried about Natalie's well being.
Upon hearing this news, she knewthat Natalie would have never taken off
without telling any of her family,given how close they were, and she
certainly wouldn't have left her children inthe care of Paul. Joanne says that
(14:48):
her stomach to the Somersault and shehad known almost immediately that something terrible had
happened. She spent the whole eveningfeeling sick with worry and was extremely concerned
for the children's safety too. Policeofficers conducted a welfare check on Natalie a
few hours later, just after midnighton the fourth of May, and Paul's
strange behavior immediately began to arouse suspicion. The police officers asked Paul if they
(15:13):
could have a look around the houseto check that Natalie wasn't hiding anywhere,
and Paul aggressively responded, there arethree kids in bed. Once she wakes
up, I'm not going to beable to talk to you because she'll cry.
Can it not be done in themorning, to which the officer responded,
we're looking for Natalie now, asthe torch going to disturb her.
While one officer conducted a search ofthe property, another question Paul a bit
(15:35):
his relationship with Natalie, which Pauldescribed as all right. The officer then
asked Paul if he was able totake his phone so they could conduct a
data search, but Paul was unwillingto do this. He claimed that he'd
bring his phone to the station thenext morning because he was too worried that
he'd miss a call from Natalie.After being unable to locate Natalie in the
property and witnessing Paul's dismissive behavior followingthe disappearance of the mother of his children,
(15:58):
alarm bells began ringing both officers inattendance. They decided to arrest Paul
on suspicion of murder at his homethat morning. Upon being arrested and cautioned,
Paul turned to the officers and asked, have you found her? Then?
Following his arrest, Paul was ledinto an interview room, where he
began sobbing, asking for tissues,and could barely contain himself. Just minutes
(16:22):
later, he was fine and didn'tappear upset at all. He gave an
account of how Natalie returned home onSunday, May first with the children.
As he was making dinner, Hesaid Natalie did not seem herself, so
he began kissing her face and strokingher cheek in an attempt to be more
sensitive. He asked her what wasreally wrong, and she said, I
didn't enjoy last night. Something happened. When he asked her what, she
(16:45):
told him that she was pressured intosex by her colleague Simon. He stated
that he asked her, so,you've been raped, and she said yes.
The interviewer asked Paul how this madehim feel upon hearing that Natalie had
been raped, and he said,I felt I'd let her down, according
to him. She then told Paulshe needed to get away for a few
(17:06):
days to clear her head, andhe told her to take as much time
for herself as she needed. Followingthis conversation, he went upstairs with the
children at around six fifty pm,and when he got up the next morning,
Natalie was gone. The police askedPaul to confirmed that he definitely did
not leave the house that night,and he confirmed he had spent the whole
evening asleep. Natalie was listed asa high risk missing person given that this
(17:30):
behavior was completely out of character forher, and officers began to appeal for
information of her whereabouts. That sameday, they quickly discovered that Natalie had
not used her phone since four orforty six on May first, and her
phone was manually turned off on themorning of the second. Her bank account
had not been used and she hadn'tcontacted any of her family members, so
(17:51):
the police's initial inquiries were focused aroundfinding proof that she may still be alive.
Paul's phone was also turned off onthe evening of the first, so
location DADA could not be analyzed todetermine where he had been. The police
were given access to WhatsApp messages bySimon, who had spoken to Natalie and
(18:11):
had sent her messages that evening.Natalie to Simon first of May thirteen fifty
five PM, thank you so much, baby. That was the most amazing
night I've ever had. You weregentle, kind and caring and that meant
the world to me. Thirteen fiftyeight. I fell in love with you
(18:33):
even more last night fourteen twenty one, my mum said thank you for getting
me home in one piece. Theyspoke some more, and then Simon message
later that night twelve minutes past midnight. I'm guessing you fell asleep nice and
(18:56):
early. I'm missing you like crazy, got into bed and I'm wishing you
were in my arms. Keep thinkingabout last night and I just want to
kiss you more night babe. Thenon the second of May he said at
ten past ten, are you okay? I just need to know that then
I'll leave you be. The lasttwo messages were undelivered to Natalie's phone,
(19:22):
indicating to the police that Natalie hadbeen murdered prior to this, giving them
a more specific time frame to focuson. As the investigation continued, Joanne
and Kerry traveled to hem Or Hempstead, where Margaret, Natalie's mom was living,
to help look after the children whowere staying with her. They say
that those days were extremely long anddifficult, and that all they could do
(19:45):
was focus on keeping things as normalas possible for the sake of the children,
who were completely unaware of what wasgoing on. It didn't take long
for the police to poke holes inPaul's story because he, even though he
claimed to have been home and asleepall evening, his Ford Smax car had
hit two cameras with automatic number platerecognition, one in which Church in Aylesbury,
(20:08):
around eighteen miles from his home,on the first of May at ten
sixteen pm, and again at zerozero zero six in Aston Clinton around sixteen
miles away. Returning home, Paulhad intentionally avoided any other ANPR cameras,
which meant that he'd gone undetected foran hour and fifty minutes, leaving the
(20:32):
police clueless as to where he couldhave been. Natalie and Paul's six year
old son was then interviewed and unknowinglygave the police vital information. On the
evening of the first of May,he says he was asleep and heard a
noise that was really loud, likethunder, like three glasses smashing. He'd
(20:56):
gone downstairs to see what it wasand peeked through a gap in the door,
where he thought that he'd seen abowl or a pan of some sort
with what looked like sick inside.Daddy was cleaning a wet patch on the
floor, and Mummy was laying onthe couch asleep, wrapped in a blanket.
He then ran back upstairs to bedbecause he didn't want to be shouted
(21:17):
at. He says that a bigred rug on their living room floor was
now gone and had had to betaken to daddy's work for a wash because
it had a wet patch on it. He then said that he hadn't seen
his mum since and that his dadhad told him that she was sick.
They asked Natalie's six year old sonto draw a picture of the living room
and the big red rug and wherethe wet patches were that Paul was cleaning
(21:40):
up. By doing so, thecrime scene examiners were able to focus more
specific areas where they believed Natalie mayhave been killed. In the same area
where Natalie's son had drawn the wetpatches, forensic scientists found numerous airborne blood
droplets on the side of the coffeetable in the home. Paul's car was
(22:00):
also examined and spots of blood andred fibers from the rug were located inside.
It was clear to police at thispoint Natalie was no longer alive.
Maybell today to give an update onthe search for a missing lady, Natalie
Hemming. Natalie's been missing now sinceSunday, the first of May, when
(22:22):
she was last seen just before fourclock in hemil Hempstead. In relation to
that investigation, the man has nowbeen charged from Natalie's murder. However,
we are still searching for Natalie.It's important when we do everything we can
for her family in order to findher and return her to Gum. As
part of that, I have threeappeals today as well as some new information.
(22:44):
First part of my appeals again foranybody who has any information about Natalie
that hasn't come forward to the policeand spoken to us, to come forward
and speak to us as soon asthey can. The second part of the
appeal to day around a black vehicleto the black Forward Smax vehicle. We
have that vehicle, but we're interestedin where that vehicle was just before ten
(23:07):
pm on Sunday the first of Maythrough to the early hours of Monday,
the second of May, which wasthe bank holiday, just before one am.
Again, we know that vehicle tooka number of routes both around Hemmel
Hempstead into Aylesbury and the southern sideof Oxford. That vehicle is e J
(23:29):
one two UWG. So again,anybody's seen that vehicle, they seen it
pumped up and hasn't spoken to thepolice, to come forward and speak to
us. The third part of myappeal is for an item that's missing from
Natalie's house, and you'll see apicture of that on the screen. Now,
that's a large red rug is describedas being between twelve ft long ten
(23:53):
foot wide and it has a mediumdepth pile that is miss and I think
it's very very much connected to herexperience. So I'm looking for anybody who
has seen that rather a similar rugdiscarded, dumped or in an unusual place,
including anybody who's moved it, becauseif they have, that's fine,
(24:14):
we just need to know where itis now to come forward and contact the
police. And that's within this Carnegeographical area, so Alsbury and the top
end of Oxford up into Bedfordshire andNorthamptonshire to come forward and speak to us.
We are conducting a number of searchesin our bid defined Natalie. They
will be ongoing and anybody who hasany concerns about those searches can speak to
(24:37):
police officers who are present. There'stwo ways a way to people in contact
the police, but one is onone zero one a quoting reference number fourteen
seventy eight and the second the fourthof May, and the second is vere
Final Stoffice a pile information anonymously ifthey don't want to speak to a police
officer, that's on eight hundred TroubleFire Trouble On the sixth of May at
(25:06):
nine am the investigation changed from amissing person's investigation to a homicide investigation.
The police interviewed numerous family members andfriends of Natalie and Paul to build the
case on what kind of person Paultruly was. Paul didn't have any friends,
he was unsociable, and had controlledevery woman that he had ever been
(25:26):
with. Many described his personality asJacqueline Hyde. Paul had continued to be
cooperative with police and interviews and wouldhave an answer for everything they challenged him
with. On the sixth of May, hours before his custody clock was due
to run out, they presented himwith the blood evidence they'd found in his
(25:49):
living room. He claims that ifthey ever cut themselves, they flinch,
which may have caused the airborne droplets. As soon as he's shown the images
of his are being caught traveling onAMPR cameras, he stops corporating immediately and
continues the interview, stating no comment. The officer asked him where he believes
(26:12):
Natalie to be, and he says, I have no idea. Paul then
says he's also very concerned about Natalieand says he doesn't appear concerned because in
his heart he knows she's not deadand can't make miracles happen. The officers
(26:33):
then disclosed their final theory to Paul, suggesting that he'd flown into a jealous
rage and killed her after finding outabout her date with Simon. Again,
Paul denied any knowledge of Natalie's death, and the interview was drawn to a
close. Despite the location of Natalie'sbody being unknown, the Crown Prosecution Service
(26:55):
agreed to charge Paul Hemming with themurder of Natalie Hemming on the sixth of
May two sixteen. When the officersread Paul his charges, he simply replied,
I'm not guilty. The superintendent onthe case, Simon Steele, arranged
(27:15):
a meeting with Natalie's family the followingday. He advised them that it was
unlikely they may ever find Natalie's bodydue to the search area being so vast
around almost five hundred square miles,and he wanted to prepare them for the
chance of a no body conviction.Although no body convictions occur, they are
(27:36):
extremely rare and helped to strengthen thedefense in any murder trial. Joanne asked
if it would be productive to writePaul a letter asking him to disclose where
Natalie's body was for the sake ofthe children, but Simon advised her that
he didn't think it would make adifference. The family were devastated. They
knew that Natalie had been killed,but they were spirit for closure of finding
(28:00):
her body, to be certain thatshe wasn't still out there, and also
to give Natalie the dignity of aproper burial. Paul appears at the Crown
Court in the ninth of May twentysixteen to be formally charged with the murder
of Natalie Hemming. He did notmake an application for bail, and his
plea hearing was set for July eleventh. Over the following weeks, the police
(28:30):
increased their search efforts in an attemptto locate Natalie's body as quickly as possible
before Paul's trial was hue to goahead. They knew that the longer it
took to find her, the lessevidence they were likely to recover. On
May twelve, the police held apress conference and appealed from members of the
public to come forward if they hadany information about a large red rug.
(28:52):
It was described as being twelve ftby ten with three inch soft pile.
A woman in the area had witnesseda dark colored hatchback car similar to Paul's
car with a boot open, parkedon the side of a road. She
had seen a man walking around thedisused railway track next to the car.
The police searched the whole area onfoot with the assistance of a police helicopter.
(29:15):
They were unable to locate Natalie orany evidence to prove her or Paul
had been there. The search teamcontinued to draw multiple wooded and secluded areas,
in many areas where Paul could havedriven his car. On the twenty
second of May, a man fromCharler's Cross was mowing a hedge beside his
property when he encountered an awful smell. He glanced behind a cluster of trees,
(29:38):
thinking a deer or another large animalmay have died, and horrifyingly,
he discovered a naked body lying facedown in an overgrown ditch. In a
panic state, he called the policeand alerted them to his discovery. Joe
(29:59):
and Kerry were at home making Sundaylunch for the family when they both noticed
they had missed call from the familyliaison officers. They both looked at each
other at the same time and saidthey found her. Natalie's body was taken
for an autopsy immediately and identified viaDNA confirmation. Her body had been left
in an open wooded area for threeweeks and was in an advanced state of
(30:22):
decomposition. She was found to havea fractured right temple, a broken left
ulner, the bone in the forearm, and her left arm was bruised.
She also had many cuts to herhands and arms. Due to the level
of decomposition, the pathologist was unableto determine the exact injury that caused Natalie's
(30:42):
death. However, the injuries toNatalie's arms were determined to be defensive wounds
Natalie was protecting herself from multiple blowsto the head. Her funeral was arranged
to take place on the fourth ofJuly. The family say this date was
(31:03):
very important to them and they choseit specifically due to it being Independence Day.
They wanted Natalie to have her ownIndependence Day. The family asked people
to wear traditional black clothes, butto wear their favorite party shoes to celebrate
Natalie's life and her own love forshoes. Jo Anne says she barely slept
(31:23):
the night before Natalie's funeral, sheworried people wouldn't show up, but the
streets were lined with people paying theirrespects and the crematorium was filled with people
saying goodbye to Natalie. Joe Anneread the following passage from a poem named
feel no guilt in laughter, Feelno guilt in laughter. She would know
(31:48):
how much you care, Feel nosorrow in a smile that she's not here
to share. For if you keepthose moments, you will never be a
part, and she will live forever, blocked safely within your heart. Even
though the evidence was piled high againstPaul, on the eleventh of July,
(32:10):
he took to court in his secondhearing, still denying that he murdered Natalie.
However, months later, just beforehis trial was to begin, he
decided to change his plea. Hepleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Natalie,
claiming that he threw an ornamental eggat Natalie's head in anger, which had
(32:32):
killed her. The evidence and autosyof Natalie's body suggested that she'd been struck
multiple times, and so Paul's pleawas declined and the court continued to proceed
with a conviction of murder. Thisepisode was sponsored by Elvester. It's almost
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st e or Elster. The trialbegan on the twenty fourth of October at
(34:01):
Luton Crown Court. Prosecutor Simon RussellFlint told the court Natalie died at the
hands of this defendant. This evidencethat we gathered proves that she was struck
brutally to the head by mister Hemmingin the home that they shared. She
was killed on May first this year, and whether or not she died instantly
or immediately following that attack on her, what the defendant did was remove her
(34:22):
body from their home, taken inhis car, and dump her body in
the woods near Chandler's Cross in Hertfordshire. It was there that Miss Hemming's body
was much later found very clearly andundoubtedly dead. The defendants struck and killed
Natalie in the living room of theirhome. He did not contact emergency services,
telephoned nine nine nine to ask foran ambulance or paramedics to come to
(34:45):
the house or for the police toattend. Instead, he wrapped her up
naked as she was found in acarpet, the carpet she would have been
lying on, and was either carriedor dragged out of the house in which
their children were peacefully sleeping in theirbeds upstairs, and disposed of her body
in the boot of his car.He then drove thirty miles and disposed her
(35:06):
naked body and woodland. He thenreturned home and casually and glibly and convincingly
proceeded to lie and lie and lieto everyone who asked Natalie's family, Natalie's
friends, his own family and friendsas to Natalie's whereabouts, All the while
he pretended to be worried and concernedwhere she was and for her welfare.
(35:27):
The morning after he had killed theirmother and dumped her body in the woodland,
he took the three children off toWicksteed Sue for what must have been
a happy trip. He told policethat Natalie had gone away to clear her
head as she had been raped bya work colleague on Saturday following a night
out, and said to the policethat he believed she had gone to stay
with a friend in Hemel Hempstead.Despite the defendant's attempt to control her and
(35:50):
to have her for himself, shehad discovered that there was something beyond the
world of Paul Hemming. Paul hadthen tried to cover his tracks by sending
messages from Natalie's phone to himself andher family and friends. He also takes
Simon, the man Natalie had beenseeing, and said that they had decided
to stay together. He took itfurther by telling Natalie's work that Simon had
(36:10):
raped her. Paul Hemming testified inhis own defense. He said he had
threw a heavy ornamental egg, whichstruck Natalie and caused her to fall on
the corner of the coffee table.He claimed. He then panic when he
realized she was dead, saying Icouldn't believe I had done it. I
just saw shit. I'm in trouble. How am I going to explain to
the kids upstairs? So then Ithought I'm going to cover this up.
(36:35):
He wrapped Natalie's body up while hischildren were sleeping. He placed it into
the car and drove thirty miles toa secluded woodland area. He then stripped
her body nude and dragged her facedown and left her under some trees.
He claimed he was ashamed and confused. He said that he was panicked that
he would lose her after her datewith Simon Dennis, and when she said
that she'd had enough, he begangrappling her to stop her leaving and hid
(36:59):
her with a fabrish jade egg.Pathologist doctor Olaf Bedreski said that due to
the advanced level of decomposition on Natalie'sbody, it was impossible to determine her
exact cause of death. She hada skull fracture by her right temple,
and her right arm was broken.There may also have been fractures to her
larynx, which would indicate she hadbeen strangled. A statement written by Natalie's
(37:22):
mother was read by the prosecution.It said that Paul began accusing Natalie of
having an affair on April twenty fourth, and he would even press the issue
in front of their children. Natalietold him that she was finished, and
he agreed to help her rent somewhereto live, but then changed his mind.
Natalie's mother asked him to keep itamicable, but he said it would
(37:43):
never be amicable. Natalie's mother knewsomething was wrong when her daughter wasn't answering
her phone after April thirtieth, andwhen she went to the house a few
days later seeing Natalie's car parked infront of Paul's made her anxious. Paul
said it was because Natalie had aproblem with the clutch in her car,
a blatant lie, because Natalie drovean automatic. Rebecca Hornsby, Natalie's childhood
(38:06):
best friend, testified that Natlie wasplanning on leaving Paul and told her she
was sick of it. She toldRebecca that Paul was trying to change her
mind, begging her, threatening her, and he even went for her,
grabbing her arm and twisting it behindher back. Paul rang Rebecca following Natalie's
disappearance, and Rebecca recorded the calls. In the recordings, Paul said that
(38:27):
he has no idea where Natalie isand that she was annoyed at him for
not doing his fair share around thehouse and had left to clear her head.
He also told Rebecca that Natalie saidshe was raped by Simon Dennis.
Joanne, Natalie's sister, said thatseeing Paul for the first time in court
confirmed everything that Natalie used to sayabout Paul having two faces. He was
(38:50):
no longer the happy, care freeman he presented himself as to everybody else.
He now looked evil, cold andcalculating. The court heard a statement
from an employee at Apple who hadspoken to Natlie after she had taken her
phone into the store. The phonehad been locked out because somebody had attempted
to access it with the wrong passwordnumerous times, and the Apple employee also
(39:12):
alerted Natalie to find my iPhone,which had recently been enabled without her knowing.
Despite Paul's insistence that Natalie's death wasaccidental, on the fourth of November,
the jury came to the unanimous decisionthat Paul was guilty of her murder.
He was also charged with obstructing acoroner and preventing the burial of a
body. He was sentenced to lifein prison with a minimum of twenty years,
(39:34):
and will be eligible for parole onthe twenty ninth of October twenty thirty
six. Presiding Judge Richard Foster said, Natalie knew you were overbearing, controlling,
jealous and on occasion violent. Yousaid you would mend your ways,
and you did not. I haveno doubt. When she arrived home on
Sunday afternoon, you were in astate of high agitation and overcome by anger
(39:57):
and jealousy. Once the children inbed, a violent argument arose, in
the course of which you attacked herviciously to the head with some sort of
implement. She attempted in vain todefend herself. Having murdered your partner of
ten years and the mother of yourchildren, you proceeded in the most callous
way to cover up what you haddone. You stripped her naked and put
(40:17):
her body in the boot of yourcar. You drove to a remote location
and you dragged her through the undergrowth. It was not found for another three
weeks. You then went on totell lie after lie. The manner in
which you've conducted yourself since the murderindicates a complete lack of remorse. As
Paul's sentence was read out, Natalie'sbrother Shawn mouthed, you're going down to
(40:40):
Paul, and Paul mouthed back,I don't care. I enjoyed every minute
of it. Prosecutor Liz Scriven calledPaul Hemming an extremely cold, callous and
calculated man. Detective Chief Inspector SimonSealed from the Thames Valley Police Major Crime
Unit said that Paul Hemming had opportunityneeds to admit what he had done to
lessen the family's anguish, but heonly admitted to killing her on the first
(41:05):
day of his trial. Even then, he claimed it was manslaughter, which
meant her family had to go througha painful trial. I'm Detective Chief Inspector
Simon Steele, the senior investigating officerfor the murder of Natalie Hemming. Natalie
was murdered on the first of Maythis year at a home address in Newton
(41:25):
Lees, Milton Kings by her partnerPaul Hemming. Following the murder, on
the evening of Sunday, the firstof May, all drove the body of
Natalie to Woodland in Chandless Cross,Hartfordshire, where it disposed of Natalie for
almost three weeks. Natalie was leftthere until she was found the horror that
(41:47):
her family had to go through,whereas Paul continued throughout that period of time
to maintain his lies and that Nataliehad simply left, and that the following
day he even took the three childrento what they felt was a family treat
and they went to a zoo.Up until the first day of these court
proceedings, almost six months later,Paul has denied any involvement in her murder.
(42:15):
On the first day of the courtproceedings, Paul finally admitted to the
unlawful calm of Natalie and disposing ofher body in Woodland and Chimeless Cross,
Hartfordshire. He however, maintained hislies and would not fully admit his involvement
and stated he was only guilty ofher manslaughter. We welcome the decision of
(42:37):
the jury who saw through his liesand found him guilty of the murder of
Natalie. I appreciate that domestic abusecan be very hard to spot. However,
if you or you know of anyothers who are suffering mental, physical
or emotional abuse, please contact interms of our police on one on one.
(43:04):
After not least disappearance, the childrenwere forced to leave their homes with
a single carrier bag of possessions.They had to leave everything behind. Natalie's
eldest and youngest daughter moved in withJuan, who already had four children of
her own, and Natalie's son isnow in the care of Kerry. Joann
and Kerry fundraised in the local area, and many people generously donated money for
(43:25):
clothing and furniture and toys for thelittle ones to play with. The families
living on the estate were Natalie livedraised bundles of gifts to donate to the
children too. Joanne says on herown YouTube channel that she feels very fortunate
that her and Kerry received this supportbecause not every family will. She states
(43:45):
that there isn't anywhere for people intheir position to turn financially and is fighting
to change this. The family hopedthat the documentaries they have taken part in
Catching a Killer on Channel four whenMissing turns to murder and from the Eyes
of a Child on BBC two willraise awareness about the dangers many people face
when remaining within a domestically abusive relationship. They can't do anything to change what
(44:07):
happened to Natalie, but they hopeit changes the story of many other people.
Their aim is for people to nowbe able to recognize the pattern of
behaviors that occurred within Natalie and Paul'srelationship before she was brutally murdered, and
how dangerous course of control within arelationship is. Joanne talks about how many
people expect domestic abuse victims to becovered in bruises, when in reality,
(44:31):
it runs much deeper than that.Natalie was a victim of physical, emotional,
and financial abuse and was manipulated byPaul Daley to keep her under his
control. He was unknowingly stalking herand making her believe that everything was her
fault. Joanne regularly attends conferences tospeak openly about the effects and signs of
(44:52):
domestic abuse. She says, iftelling her story can help another woman walk
away from an abusive relationship, thenwe will know that my sister did not
die in vain. Juanne also publiclysupports the charity aa f DA Advocacy after
Fatal domestic Abuse. She states thatthey are essential to families in this position,
(45:15):
guiding them through all of the stepsfollowing the murder of a loved one
as a result of domestic abuse andmaking sure that grieving families are not left
in the dark through the entire process. Natalie's eldest daughter, Kirsty, who
is now seventeen, speaks openly aboutthe effect that domestic abuse had on her
as a child. She is apatron of Operation and Compass, which supports
(45:39):
children who suffer abuse or live withinan abusive household. She was also a
domestic abuse ambassador at her school.Over the course of their nine year relationship,
Natalie had called the police three times. She's spoken to a domestic abuse
he applying in twenty and thirteen themthat Paul had hit her in the back
(46:00):
of the head and had to spatin her face and demanded that he could
just kill her. In early twentytwenty, authorities admit that they had failed
to support Natalie and could have donemore with the information they had available to
prevent her death. Many times,people suffering abuse do not realize that they
(46:22):
are being abused, and by thetime they do, it's too late.
Domestic abuse isn't always physical. Itcan be displayed in many ways, psychologically,
financially, and sexually, as wellas general harassment, online abuse,
and coercive control. Coercive control isused as an intimidation tactic to change the
(46:45):
normal behavior and attitudes of somebody inan attempt to get them to behave how
you want them to. In Natalie'scase, Paul begged her to stay at
home and did not want her tohave the independence of getting a job.
She had to high text regularly becausehe would check her phone at ending given
time, and he would attempt toisolate her from people she loved. He
(47:07):
humiliated her by spitting in her faceand would obsess of her every move.
He also enabled spywear on her phonewithout her knowing, so he could stalk
her. Women's Aid provided a listof common examples of coercive control in their
website. Isolating you from friends andfamily, depriving you of basic needs such
(47:30):
as food, monitoring your time,monitoring U via online communication tools, or
spywear, taking control over aspects ofyour everyday life, such as where you
can go, who you can see, what you can wear and when you
can sleep, depriving you access tosupport services such as medical services, repeatedly
(47:53):
putting you down, such as sayingyou're worthless, humiliating, degrading or dehumanizing
you, controlling your finances, makingthreats, or intimidating you. To answer
the question of why didn't she leave, Research and statistics show that the risk
(48:15):
of homicide and abutive relationships increases significantlywhen the victim tries to leave, with
the perpetrator exerting their last attempt ofcontrol. In twenty nineteen, domestic homicide
figures were the highest they had beenin the UK in over five years.
(48:38):
Doctor Jane Monkton Smith, a criminologyexpert, examined over three hundred and seventy
two domestic homicides in the UK andnoticed that they all followed a similar pattern.
She created an eight stage model toraise awareness of the risk of homicide
and domestically abusive relationships and to preventfurther deaths. Number One a pre relationship
(49:04):
history of stalking or abused by theperpetrator. Two the romance developing quickly into
a serious relationship. Three the relationshipbecoming dominated by coercive control. Four a
trigger to threaten the perpetrator's control,for example, the relationship ends or the
perpetrator gets into financial difficulty. Fiveescalation an increase of the intensity or frequency
(49:29):
of the partner's control tactics, suchas by stalking or threatening suicide. Six,
The perpetrator has a change in thinking, choosing to move on, either
through revenge or by homicide. SevenPlanning. The perpetrator might buy weapons or
seek opportunities to get the victim alone. An eight homicide, the perpetrator kills
(49:51):
his or her partner and potentially hurtsother people, such as the victim's children.
Nat lease relationship with Paul followed allof these stages. Paul had been
abusive to previous partners, The relationshipdeveloped quickly, and Natalie was dominated by
cowersive control. The relationship ended,and Paul sought revenge. He waited until
(50:14):
the children went to bed and shewas on her own before killing her.
A domestic homicide review found that therewere signs of abuse in their relationship and
that there had been a failure toexplore and corroborate that information. Natalie had
contacted the police three times in nineyears and disclosed information which showed that she
(50:35):
was in an abusive relationship. Whenshe stopped engaging with the supports, they
did not follow up and check inon her. If you, or anyone
you know are in a domestically abusiverelationship, it is extremely important that you
let somebody know if you're safe andable to do so. Natalie's family are
(50:57):
hopeful that people will listen to Natalie'sstory and view it as an example of
what can happen when people, thepolice and services are unaware of the exact
position you are currently in. Natalie'sdeath will not be in vain. Her
story will save so many lives.Thank you for listening to this episode of
(51:24):
Crime Laps. Crimelops is an independentpodcast that is funded in part by our
generous Patreon supporters. If you enjoythe show and want to help us keep
it going, you can join uson Patreon dot com forward stot Crime Laps.
In exchange for your pledge, you'llget access to early release add free
episodes, bonus content, and exclusivemerchandise. You can also support the show
(51:46):
by subscribing and leaving us a fivestar review. You can keep up to
date with us on social media atcrime laps on Instagram, on Facebook and
at crimnops pot on Twitter. Staysafe. Crime Con is coming back to
(52:17):
London in twenty twenty two. Followingthe incredible reception to the first Crime Con
UK in September twenty twenty one,The event is back in the Leonardo Royal
Saint Paul's Hotel on June eleventh andtwelfth, twenty twenty two. We'll be
back on podcasts Row along with someincredible podcasts like They Walk among Us,
Men's Raya, Morbidology and more.There'll be some fantastic speakers and interactive exhibits
(52:40):
across the weekend too. The feedbackfrom the people who were there in September
has been great, so you donot want to miss the weekend. Most
of those in attendance went on theirown, but it didn't take long to
make friends with like minded people withan interest in true crime. Tickets are
on sale now on the Crime Condot code at UK website. Not only
(53:02):
are the tickets at their lowest priceat the moment, but you can get
an extra ten percent off when youuse our code window. You can split
the cost of the ticket into threeinstallments to make it easier to afford,
but the price includes two full daysof content, access to talks, exhibitions,
podcasts, ROW and more. Getyour tickets now for the world's number
(53:22):
one true crime event, crime ConUK twenty twenty two.
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