Twisted Sister

In this episode, entitled “Twisted Sister”; the life of 26 year old Nicki Collingbourne was violently cut short by her own sister Yvonne Caylor. In a bid to cover up her involvement in the crime she had not only donned a disguise, but had staged the crime scene yet she would find herself facing trial later that year.
Lady Justice is a true crime podcast; therefore deals with incidents of violence, disturbing imagery and explicit content. Listener discretion is advised. The Lady Justice Podcast wishes to offer their deepest condolences to the victim's families and offers thanks to those who work in the emergency services.
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Small Act of Kindness:
Make the world a little better by doing some litter picking locally!
Sources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38053599
https://www.thecomet.net/news/police-name-murdered-letchworth-woman-nicola-collingbourne-and-release-image-5343724
https://www.thecomet.net/news/high-vis-jacket-large-build-police-ask-for-help-in-5343560
https://www.thecomet.net/news/bank-holiday-court-date-for-hitchin-woman-yvonne-caylor-now-5343568
https://www.thecomet.net/news/hitchin-woman-accused-of-murdering-nicola-collingbourne-in-letchworth-remanded-5342500
https://www.thecomet.net/news/hitchin-woman-accused-of-murdering-nicola-collingbourne-in-letchworth-set-5343148
https://www.thecomet.net/news/hitchin-woman-accused-of-murdering-nicola-collingbourne-in-letchworth-set-5347182
https://www.thecomet.net/news/prison-officers-strike-delays-trial-of-hitchin-woman-accused-of-5351248
https://www.thecomet.net/news/jury-sworn-in-as-hitchin-woman-stands-accused-of-murdering-5351192
https://www.thecomet.net/news/yvonne-caylor-killed-half-sister-nikki-collingbourne-in-letchworth-after-5351310
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38066952
https://www.iol.co.za/news/world/woman-killed-half-sister-with-casserole-dish-2092252
https://www.thecomet.net/news/nicki-had-turned-into-a-beautiful-young-woman-who-would-5353142
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38053599
https://www.bbc.co.u

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Lady Justice is a true crime podcasttherefore deals with incidence of violence, disturbing
imagery and explicit content. Listener discretionis advised. The Lady Justice podcast offers
their deepest condolences to victims' families andwas just to offer thanks to those who
work in emergency services. Hello,my lovely, and welcome to Lady Justice

(00:35):
True Crime and the episode Twisted Sister. My name is Chantelle and thank you
ever so much for joining me inthis episode. The life of twenty six
year old Niggy Collingbourne was violently cutshort by her own sister, Yvonne Taylor,
in a bid to cover up herinvolvement in the crime. She had

(00:57):
not only donned a disguise but stageda crime scene. Yet she would find
herself facing trial later that same year. So, without further ado, here
was in the background on the timeframeand location of this case. We are
looking backwards to twenty sixteen when QueenElizabeth was celebrating her ninetieth birthday. The

(01:22):
year saw the Conservative leadership changed fromDavid Cameron to Thereason me after the news
dominating Brexit referendum. The year alsosaw events such as tim Peak becoming the
first British astronaut to do a spacewalkthe High Court, allowing Lord lucoln to
finally be declared dead after forty twoyears, and the tragic murder of serving

(01:47):
MP Joe Cox. We are visitingthe first ever garden city in England this
week, Leechworth Garden City. Letchworthitself has been a settlement since prehistoric times,
yet it was redeveloped starting from nineteeno three into its more modern form.
Standing in North Hertfordshire, close tothe Bedfordshire border, it can proudly

(02:13):
say it was the home of thevery first roundabout and one of the first
purpose built cinemas in the UK.As always, sources are listed in the
show notes. Nicky Collingbourne had justbeen getting ready to have a shower on
the morning of May twenty third,twenty sixteen, when there was an unexpected

(02:37):
knock on the front door of herflat. Not being decent for company,
the twenty six year old grabbed athell and wrapped it around her body,
keeping the top tucked just by herarmpit CCTV outside the front door of the
property, located on the first floorof the high rise above a number of

(02:58):
shops in the Tracks area of thetown would show a visitor timestamp at eight
thirty am. The full color videoshowed someone of a bizarre appearance, which
when Nicky saw after opening her door, caused her to repel backwards. In
this four seconds, Nicki had attemptedwith all her strength to close the door

(03:23):
on the visitor, yet the brutestrength of the much larger intruder was too
much, and the images go onto show a broad figure dressed in an
orange high viz jacket disappear into theflat. For a split second, the
door appears to crack open, butthen they still for almost four hours.

(03:47):
Nicola Louise Collingbourne was born on Augustthirty first, nineteen eighty nine, and
first registered under her mother's surname asHibbert during She would later use Collingbourne,
which was the name of her father, lenn For Nicki, as she was

(04:08):
known by, her family was everythingto her, and she would spend a
lot of her time around her largefamily. Len her father, had children
from other relationships other than her mother, Rena, yet she was still close
to all of her siblings. Rena, her mother, was someone incredibly special

(04:28):
to the young woman. She wasdiagnosed with a respiratory disease and was introduced
health and Nikki had taken a veryactive role in the care of her mother,
making sure she was available to cometo her home, as well as
attending medical appointments when needed. Itwas this bond that she had shared with

(04:49):
her loved ones that alerted everyone tosomething being amiss. Nikki had previously arranged
to collect her mother from the endof her stay at Stevenage's Lister Hospital on
May twenty third, yet she wasnot to show up. This was very
out of the ordinary for the usuallyvery reliable Nikki, and after a conversation

(05:13):
with others, the family soon realizedthat no one had seen or heard from
Nikki. It would be eight pmon the twenty fourth that two of her
family members would make their way toNikki's place. They knocked on the door,
yet to receive no answer, somade their way inside. As they
came through the door, there wasa small hallway which led off to different

(05:36):
rooms. On the floor not toofar from the entrance, they a towel
and a bucket. They stepped insideand went towards the kitchen. Looking inside,
they then found Nikki in what wasdescribed later as a horrible and very
distressing scene. They had found nikkistsolely in her undergarments, in a pool

(06:02):
of blood that was concentrated towards theback of her head. It was clear
that she was already dead and theyinformed the emergency services. The entire flat
was sealed as a crime scene,the death of Nikki clearly not being of
natural causes. Though the concentration ofthe blood on the floor originated from the

(06:25):
rear of the head. There werealso evident wounds to both of the wrists
of the young woman. Trained officers, though, took one look at the
scene and felt that something was wrong, even though it did look like Niggi
had completed suicide in her right handclasped in the fingers still with a brush

(06:45):
from her dustband and brush set.If she had fallen after losing consciousness from
the blood loss, her grip wouldhave loosened on the handle of the brush,
causing it to drop on the floor, Yet there it was still clenched.
Another factor that made the detectives believethat this was not what it seemed
was that although clear attempts had beenmade to clean some broken terracotta colored ceramic

(07:13):
there were still fragments left behind,and on some of those there was bloodstains.
The bloodstains upon the glazed pieces madethem obviously suspicious. Finally, there
was another reason why this scene didnot feel right. The knife that would
have been used to inflict the insidewounds to Nikki's wrist had been found in

(07:38):
a bucket that contained bleach, andthe suspicions of the officers involved were later
to be confirmed by both forensics andthe postmortem, though as immediately as the
investigation began, this was not confirmed. So the investigators began where they always
do with the victim, to tryand determine if there were any factors that

(08:01):
put her at the risk of anotherAs I say, Nikki was a family
girl and shared a close bond withthose she loved. Her niece, Jody
Collingbourne would be in regular contact withNicki on WhatsApp and would later describe her
aunt. Nikki was the most loving, caring, trustworthy, beautiful person inside

(08:24):
out. She always made time forfamily and friends. Her family was so
important to her. She loved tomake people happy. Others that knew Nikki
would say that she was a kindhearted person. She had made friends wherever
she went during her teenage years atNorton School in the town onwards through her

(08:46):
years in employment in various jobs suchas a preschool assistant, bar staff and
retail. She was a pretty youngwoman who, though valued family, had
not yet met someone special enough tostart her her own. Her priorities at
the time of her death were herfamily, so no motive could be found
linking her to anything illegal or illicit. This said, the police were aware

(09:13):
of Nikola October fourth, the yearbefore, she had been taken into custody
after she allegedly assaulted a fifty twoyear old woman by the name of Yvonne
Caylor. However, on this occasion, after almost eight hours at the station,
police determined that no such assault hadhappened and that Yvonne had exaggerated a

(09:37):
disagreement between the pair. It wasexplained that the elder woman was in fact
Nikki's paternal half sister, who wouldrecently returned to the UK after living abroad
for more than two decades. Nikkihad offered her home to Yvonne, a
natural gesture to the family focused woman, with the order moving into Nikki's flat

(10:01):
at Ival Court after her arrival inJune twenty fifteen. The pair had previous
They lived together Abeit alongside Yvonne's secondhusband, Timothy, in America, where
Yvonne had been settled since the earlynineteen nineties. Nikki had only been between

(10:22):
two and three years of age whenYvonne had emigrated, so there was not
the same bond there that she sharedwith her other siblings. Even with the
time spent in Fayette, Texas withher during September twenty eleven to August twenty
twelve, their relationship just wasn't asstrong as they had hoped. The age

(10:43):
gap and differing personalities made them clashsomewhat. But family was family. They
were blood. Living together, theyhad found they got on each other's nerves.
During twenty twelve, Yvonne had suffereda serious back injury, leading to
her losing her job as a welder. She would undergo treatment, however,

(11:07):
would continue to walk with a slightlimp and at times needed the use of
a walking aid to be mobile.This injury, though was bad by twenty
fifteen, was something that Yvonne wasknown to milk somewhat. It had become
a regular frustration in the sister's livingarrangement, as Nicki felt she was doing

(11:33):
the lion's share of the housework,with the elder sister stating her back pain
as an excuse. Nikki had alot on her plate at this time.
Her mother was ill, and shewas also experienced the grief of losing another
close relative, her grandmother, withwhom she had shared a close relationship.

(11:54):
Nikki had spent much of her timehelping in the care of her now and
she was bequeathed a set of collectibledolls when she was to pass away.
Though the loss was very hard onNicky, the sentimental value of the dolls
helped her remember her grandmother. Theywere worth very little to anyone else,

(12:16):
being financially worth little. These dolls, though, were also something that personified
something that Yvonne wanted. When shehad first come back to her native uk
Yvonne had stayed a little time withNikki's grandmother and had witnessed them interact together.

(12:37):
The dolls was something that she hadadmired, and she felt jealous that
Nikki had been promised them in thewill. It seemed to Yvonne that Nicki
got everything. She was close toeveryone, and the absence when she was
living in the US, meant thatshe felt like an outsider. Then Collingbourne

(12:58):
had passed away in March twenty twelve. Nikki described herself as a daddy's girl,
and Yvonne felt bitter that Nikki hadbeen able to spend so much more
time with him in his later years. It had been this bubbling tension between
them, the bad moments in theirsibling relationship. That's on the late evening

(13:20):
on October third, twenty fifteen,an argument had erupted in Nikki's home,
in which she told Yvonne to stayout of her life and leave the property.
In a recorded interview with Hertfordshire Police, Nikki was to explain to an
officer what happened. I was tryingto keep calm. It became worse and

(13:41):
worse. She was just lashing outwith her fists. She was pinning me
up against the wall, saying I'mgoing to kill you. I took her
stuff to the front door. Shegot a mop. She said, I'm
going to ram this down your throat. It fell on the floor. She
picked up my iPad and threw iton the floor. She grabbed her laptop

(14:05):
and walked out. I got herout and slammed the door. She was
beating on the door trying to getback in. I had no intention to
hurt her. I never intended toPolice at this time decided to take no
further action against Nikki as it becameclear that this was some sort of revenge

(14:26):
on behalf of the elder sister andhave her taken into custody. There had
been no assault buying Nikki, soshe was released. When she arrived home
at eight pm, she came toher door to find there was damage on
the frame. The marks are notbeing created by the police, and when

(14:46):
she went inside the home, shefound that someone else had been inside.
They had taken the specially gifted collectionof priceless dolls. It was clear given
the offense that likely was and Nickyfelt extremely intimidated. Messages between Nikki and

(15:07):
her niece Jody proved to be evidenceof this. Later WhatsApp exchanges between the
pair showed that in the immediate aftermath, Nikki began to take extra measures to
secure her safety. One photo thatwas sent showed her front door taken from
the inside of the property, andunderneath the lock lay a stack of various

(15:31):
heavy items. The caption would readthis is how I have to live,
but hope it works if she doestry to break in. On October sixth,
Nicki formerly made a complaint against herhalf sister in relation to the stolen
items. As an officer was inattendance at her address, they spotted Yvonne

(15:56):
loitering in the car park near by. As she would be arrested immediately on
suspicion of burglary. An investigation waslaunched, with the officers looking at the
crucial time frame in which the dollscould have been taken. A checob Yvonne's
phone was made while she was arrested, and it would uncover a call that

(16:21):
intrigued the officers. The call hadbeen made to Barry Crosby, a local
locksmith. He would be interviewed andhe confirmed that he had attended the address
at Ival Court after receiving a callsating the lady customer had locked herself out.

(16:41):
He created the marks on the doorframe when he had gained access to
the property and left when he waspaid, thinking nothing of it as his
job regularly is to let people intotheir homes after they'd been locked out.
He would later identify Yvonne as theperson who idim in an identity parade held

(17:03):
on December thirtieth, twenty fifteen.Though the officers presented this evidence to Yvonne,
she still point blank refused to statethat she had taken the items from
Nicky's home, and she would beformally charged with burglary. Nicki felt awful,
yet she had other matters to attendto, and she tried to get

(17:25):
on the best she could with everydaytasks. In the days that followed,
however, Yvonne kept popping up inNicki's life. One such way was when
Rina, Nicky's mum, had beencalled on the telephone. Yvonne identified herself
and explained the situation with Nicki andthe dolls. She pleaded with Rina to

(17:48):
tell the police that the dolls werenever stolen and that Yvonne had ownership of
the dolls, not Nicki. Meally, the charges against her would be dropped.
Rena disclosed this to her daughter,and Nicky felt appalled that the drama
had impacted her mother. A fewdays later, another call was made by

(18:11):
Yvonne, this time to Nikki,in which the older sister managed to squeeze
out the words we should talk beforethe receiver was hung up. Really nervous
and unsure of what to do,Nicki would contact the police. The seriousness
of the allegations meant that Yvonne wasbrought up on charges of perverting the course

(18:34):
of justice for trying to have influenceda witness. In her case, it
was clear that she did not wishto go to trial, yet, even
so, she was committed to trialat Cambridge Crown Court during April of twenty
sixteen. It was just a monthbefore Nicky was found dead. Senior investigating

(18:59):
officer Detective Inspector Fraser Wiley from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit believed
that with the impressions given off thecrime scene, that something nasty may have
happened and maybe Yvonne had been responsible. Officers would test the theory by seeing

(19:21):
if evidence would point to Kaylare beingat the scene. The flat in which
Nicki Columbourne rented was under management ofthe local housing association. They had recently
installed an updated version of their videosecurity system. Detectives would refuse the footage

(19:41):
from the moment that Nicki's relatives hadentered the home, going backwards until they
came across activity at the door oncemore. It had been on the previous
day, Monday, May twenty third, as a list of before twelve noon,
that a heavy set figure wearing anorange high vis jacket and carrying a

(20:04):
bag exited the flat. Their gaitseemed to be offset slightly as they were
walking along the corridor to exit viathe lower levels. Reversing the video back
further gave the officers the time forwhich that person had entered, it being
eight thirty am. No one elsehad come or gone from the property,

(20:30):
ensuring that all their bases were covered. Extra footage was examined that confirmed when
Nikki had been in the flat,she had been a lane her any vista
before she had been discovered. Wasthe person in the bright jacket. Closer
analysis of the footage and I don'tmean extra close, which showed that the

(20:55):
figure did have an unusual appearance.Thet was later released after the trial and
I'll put up in the show's socialmedia in the next week so you can
see for yourself. The person seemedto be wearing a bad synthetic wig,
slightly reddish in color, and theface was hidden behind a large set of

(21:18):
glasses and a dark colored goatee beard. Police knew of the accident that had
caused Yvonne to walk with an aid, and had seen that her gait had
been inevitably affected. The person onthe video seemed to walk in a similar
fashion. Questions surrounding what Yvonne Calorwas like were answered quickly by those that

(21:44):
knew her. She was described asan unstable, childish character. She was
known to be rather quick tempered,easily frustrated by seemingly minor things, and
became violent when angry. The newsof the crime had quickly spread throughout Letchworth
and the surrounding areas, and thepublic were naturally shocked. Detective Inspector Frasier

(22:11):
widely spoke on behalf of the policeand said, our thoughts are with the
victim's family at this difficult time,and they are being supported by specially trained
officers. Understandably, the wider communitymay be concerned by what's happened, but
I would like to reassure people thatwe are fully investigating the circumstances and an

(22:34):
arrest has been made in connection withthe incident. With this in mind,
it is important for us not tospeculate to ensure the justice system can run
its course. According remains in placeto allow us specialist investigations to take place,
and local residents will see both uniformedand non uniformed officers making inquiries and

(22:59):
of hering reassurance. Our inquiries arecontinuing and I'm appealing for anyone with any
information to come forward. I amparticularly keen to hear from anyone who remembers
seeing a person of large build wearinga high faced jacket in the vicinity of
Ivil Court at around eight am andagain at twelve thirty. The area would

(23:23):
have been busy around these times,so I believe a number of people would
have seen this person. Now inhis statement he says somebody was arrested and
of course we can all guess thatwas your von Kaylor, who at this
point was residing at a property inGrove Road, Hitchen. On Saturday May

(23:45):
twenty eighth, police confirmed that yrVone Caylor had been charged with the murder
and was to appear before the hatField from a Round court on the following
Monday. She was to be remandedat this hearing before being seen at Luton
Crown Court. It would be atthe same court that a committal hearing was

(24:07):
to take place on August twelfth,in which Yvonne entered a not guilty plea.
Unfortunately, Nikki's mother was never tosee justice for her daughter, as
a day later, on August thirteenth, Weena Hibbert Jones passed away. The
trial had been set to begin onNovember fourteenth, yet was affected by the

(24:30):
strike by prison officers. This hada knock on effect on trials across the
UK as prisoners remanded were unable toattend court. The High Court ordered the
strike to end on November fifteenth,mainly they all needed to return to work
the following day. Although on Novemberfifteenth Yvonne was unable to attend in person.

(24:57):
The first day of her trial wasofficially called by Judge Michael K Queen's
Council at Looting Crown Court. Thejury, however, would not be sworn
in until the morning of November twentyfirst, when John Price QC opened the
case for the Crown. Mister Priceexplains the relationship between the siblings and the

(25:22):
escalating situation which on October third,the year before, came to Boyle.
He said, to put it bluntly, NICKI evicted the defendant from the flat.
The police became involved because this defendantcontacted the police that evening to complain
that she had been assaulted by NickiCollingbourne. We would suggest that this was

(25:45):
a bogus complaint based upon an exaggeratedaccount of what had taken place between them,
but the police were required to investigate, and Nicki was arrested at twelve
o seven am on Sunday morning,October fourth. She was interviewed by police
about this allegation of assault on theSunday afternoon, and at the end of

(26:10):
that process she was released on policebail. She got home that evening about
eight pm and discovered that while shehad been in custody, is appeared that
somebody had entered her flat and thatpropercy of hers had been removed. She
noticed signs of fresh damage the maindraw frame. Given what had just happened,

(26:33):
not unreasonably, she suspected that thisdependent might be responsible. He went
on then to tell of how Yvaughnetry to pressure the victim's mother into supporting
her false story to avoid going tocourt. He said, Miss Hibbott Jones
told officers that on the afternoon ofOctober sixth, the afternoon that Nikki complained

(26:59):
of the burglary, Yvonne Caylaw phonedand, according to Miss Hibbott Jones,
urged her to give a false accountabout the ownership of some of the property
taken from that plat. Investigations revealthat it was Yvonne Caylaw who made that
call. This was the Crown claimedto be the motive of the crime.

(27:22):
Yvonne cay Law did not want toface the court for her actions, and
when the victims of her crime remainedsteadfast in the face of her intimidation,
she took it a step further.She knew there would be a consequence to
her actions in contacting her sister onMay twenty third, and so tried to

(27:44):
mitigate herself by using a disguise.She had done this due to her knowledge
of the building layout and the cameralocations. She knew it all could be
used against her in her impending trialthat she had been committed to on April
late Planning in advance, she researchedwhere she could buy items to conceal her

(28:06):
identity. She looked at roots toleave the country and even stage the crime
scene. It was clear that Yvonnehad not just gone to Nikki's flat that
day to talk. It was thefirst day of the countdown to her trial.
Price whilst addressing the jury, saidthat she was murdered on that day.
Is we submit no coincidence? Addressingthe CCTV and the image of the

(28:34):
heavy set figure, he said itwas the person who had killed the victim.
To use a slang, phase thiscase, is that who done it?
Is how the prosecutor addressed this beforelaying into the images, which seemed
to be an allusion due to thedisguise. He continued, the images of
this person show very obviously that thehair and the beard are fake. And

(29:00):
if that is true, then thisperson is not obviously a man. And
if their hair and the beard offache, so might be the spectacles in the
sense that this person doesn't need them. He then claimed that the person on
said footage was the accused. TheCrown then explained the crime scene where the

(29:21):
killing of the full time Cara hadhappened. It is a gallery type kitchen.
Nicky was found on her back,her feet facing the door. She
was wearing only her underwear. Therewas a large amount of blood on the
floor on the floor were a numberof shattered or broken pieces of ceramic,

(29:42):
and they turned out to be oncethey were put together, the shattered fragments
of a ceramic kitchen pot that wasin the shape of a chicken. A
bizarre feature was the fact that inher right hand she was holding by the
handle a small and brush that comeswith a dustband and brush set. That

(30:03):
she was found holding the brush madeit seem that the scene had been staged
in some way, possibly to tryand assemble the suicide. If that was
the case, it was very incompetentlydone. The brush would have fallen from
the hand before she hit the ground. Wounds to her wrist indicated they had

(30:23):
been inflicted to her body on orshortly before her death. They were not
typical of self inflicted wrist wounds.She was unconscious but alive when the blade
that caused them was applied. Evidencefrom the post mortem would be given,
and though the exact cause of deathcould not be established, the injuries that

(30:48):
Nikki had sustained did tell some detailsof how she had come to receive them.
Nikki had been attacked with the casserolldish to the rear of their head
meaningly. The attack likely came frombehind, and it was done with such
force that the skull itself was crushedand a four centimeter of laceration was left

(31:11):
on the scalp. There were alsosuperficial cuts located parallel on her neck and
bruising to her face. Nikki's wristshad deep cuts inflicted. Forensic evidence from
the scene had also been testified towith it being said that blood had been

(31:32):
found not only in the kitchen,but the hallway and bathroom. In the
kitchen, blood smears on the floorindicated that the tastband brush that Nikki had
been discovered holding had been used inthe cleanup of the ceramic pot before being
placed in her hand in an apparentstaging attempt. Yvonne's DNA had been discovered

(31:55):
in the home, including on thehot tap in the bathroom, on some
shards of the broken pot, andon the main door handle, despite her
efforts to have clean traces of thehome used in bleach. That bleach discovered
in a bucket in the hallway ofthe property had also been used to clean
the knife. The bleach bucket isalso where the small knife was discovered,

(32:22):
along with a piece of flesh thesize of a fivepence piece. Testimony was
also given to the pieces of ceramicat the crime scene, some of which
were covered in blood. They hadbeen swept into a pile before the police
had arrived, and when put backtogether by technicians it formed a two piece

(32:43):
casroll dish in the shape of alarge chicken. Some pieces were missing and
I'll later post a picture of thedish on the social media too, and
those missing pieces were accounted for asitems in the carrier bag that the person
in the high phizz left with.On the CCTV, that person had not

(33:07):
entered with a bag. The bloodon the shattered dish had been tested and
five hits were to come back.One of those, unsurprisingly, was of
course Nicky's, yet the other fourhits belonged to another. Of course,
it was Yvonne's DNA. When shehad brought down the pot upon her sister's

(33:29):
head. The dish had also cutthe defendant's hand. Such force was used
it was described as splitting the skullto its full thickness. More damning evidence,
though circumstantial, was that after Yvonnehad been taken into custody, a
search of her devices had been madeand it appeared that she had begun to

(33:52):
make plans to plead the country.Internet sech as she conducted revealed that she
first wished to travel to Bane viaa car before taking a plane back to
the United States. The court wouldhear testimony from witnesses at the Harlequin Costume
higher shop, where Yvonne was tobuy items used as her disguise. The

(34:14):
witnesses could not remember the date ofthe visit. However, testimony was given
to how the date was ascertained thatevidence had been taken from Yvonne's telephone,
being April twenty second. Both SusanJones and Richard Rossendale of the costume shop
taught the court they had positively identifiedthe defendant on August twenty fifth as the

(34:37):
person who had been in their storetesting wigs. The jury would get more
of a feel for whom Nicki waswhen they saw video footage of her played
as part of the evidence. Theywatched an official interview conducted by officers of
Halfship Police after she was taken intocustody during early October. By the year

(35:00):
previous, other statements made by thenow deceased woman would state I have helped
Yvonne and she has done this tome. This was contrasted by the very
real appearance of the defendants with thehelp of her walking stick to give evidence.

(35:20):
She would be asked by her defensecounsel, Graham Trembath, QC.
Did you murder your half sister,Nikki Collingbourne. She replied, no,
sir. Asked again if she hadplayed any part in her sister's death,
she said yet again no, Sir. Yvonne would try to say that Nikki

(35:43):
was in the wrong and that onthe day she had been abruptly evicted from
Nikki's home, she had been thevictim. Statements were read from the previous
October when Yvonne had contacted the policeregarding Nikki and stated Nikki was banging and
crashing around because she could not findher medicine and grabbed her hair. She

(36:04):
pushed her against a wall and twistedher wrist. Yvonne would also say that
she often witnessed Nikki becoming aggressive ifshe did not get her own way.
Talking about the CCTV footage, saidthe allegation that the person on the video
was her was quote surreal and stated, course it ain't me. Why would

(36:28):
you think it's me? Regarding themotive, she stated that she had no
motive because she denied stealing from Nikkiin the first place. Yvonne would testify
to the jury that at no pointdid I call a locksmith and that she
never called the victim's mother, sayingI have never found her. She wouldn't

(36:51):
know what I sound like to Yvonne. Yvonne could do no wrong. Even
the witnesses who would early get testifiedto serving her at the fancy dress shop
were wrong when they had identified her. She said it couldn't have been her
because I would have to cut myhair off to put a wig on.

(37:13):
In the clothing speech by the prosecution, it was suggested how all of this
had come to be with it beingstated to the jury the Crown say the
burglary was a real grievance, theevidence was overwhelming and the consequences were a
real risk of significant punishment. Yvonnekay Law knew perfectly well there was not

(37:36):
going to be a burglary case atCambridge Crown Court. She had made quite
sure of that that was the motive. And if it wasn't clear even still
that Yvonne had an issue with heryounger half sister. The crown also referred
to her Facebook messenger conversation that shehad with her former American husband in which

(37:59):
she told him fraef for Nikki shehad sent that after she committed the killing.
The defense's remarks played on the prosecution'sopening statement, in which it was
claimed the case was a whodunnit.Graham Trembath would say, the fundamental question

(38:20):
in this case is who was thatintruder? Can we be sure Yvonne Kaylor
was that intruder? This is acase involving circumstantial evidence. It's a bit
like a chain that is only asstrong as its weakest think. He would
highlight evidence that had been given byimagery analyst who examined the CCTV from the

(38:45):
warning of the murder for iver eighteenhours. Trembath told the jury, I
asked him if it could have beena man, and he said yes.
It would take the jury of sevenmen and five women just seven hours to
you namously find Yvonne Calor guilty ofthe murder of her half sister Nikkola Collingbourne,

(39:12):
with their verdict being read to thecourt on December nineteenth. Sentencing had
been set in the days following andwas watched on by a full public gallery,
almost all of which were members ofa grieving family is hearing. Although
set to formally give sentence down upon, Yvonne also allowed the family of Nikki
to share the effect it had onthem. The shock waves resulting from the

(39:37):
events clear in victim impact statements submittedto the court. Susan Hibbert Jones,
Nikki's sister, said, I missmy little sister. She was just beginning
on life's journey and had an experiencedhalf of what she should and done,
like get married and have children.She would have made a wonderful mum in

(39:59):
my view. My mum was sodevastated by Nikki's murder that it affected her
health so much it cuts her lifeshort. Mom's last few months on this
earth were full of sadness and tormentover the loss of her daughter. My
whole family has naturally been affected bythe loss of Nikki and it is something
we will never ever get over.Leanne Collingbourne, Nikki's niece, told Yvonne

(40:25):
has taken Nikki from so many peopleand she's stolen her future. Nikki would
have made a great mom one day, and that is what she was looking
forward to in life. I watchedher turn to a beautiful young woman who
had a beautiful soul. Judge Michaelk QC would tell the convicted woman that

(40:47):
she was sentenced to a life imprisonmentwith a minimum term set at twenty years.
He would remark to the now fiftythree year old Yvonne, throughout the
entirety of this trial, you onlydisplayed emotion at your own incarceration. It
was chilling to hear you speak ofNikki's death without any emotion. When you

(41:10):
hit Niggla Collingbourne with a ceramic chicken, you did so to cause serious injuries.
When you saw what you had done, you made sure she had to
die. He described her finally asa selfish, heartless killer. Before she
was led away from the dock.One of her family was noted by the

(41:34):
press as mouthing the words goodbye asshe was leaving, whilst being flanked by
two officers. Yvonne wasn't calm.She left while swearing towards the public gallery.
The family would be spoken to youafter sentencing, and they told reports
they were completely devastated by Nikki's death. Paying a tribute to the family of

(42:00):
Nikki. Detective inspector of Phraser widelytold I have mixed emotions. Kay Laura
is going to prison for twenty years, but there is also still a family
that is dealing with a loss ofNikki. Nikki was a popular young woman
who was much loved by her familyand was a great help to her mother.

(42:20):
We know nothing can bring Nicki back, but we hope your vone Kaylaw's
sentence brings some comfort to her grievingfamily. Lisa Kiff, Senior Crown Prosecutor
for the Thames and Children Crown ProsecutionService, said kay Law is clearly an
extremely cold, calculated and callous womanand there is no doubt that when she

(42:43):
attacked Nikki she intended to kill herwill cause her really serious harm. This
case represents a tragedy for Nikki's familyand friends who have been devastated by her
death. I would like to paytribute to them and the dignity they have
displayed. Whilst hearing the horrific detailssurrounding Nicki's brutal murder, defense barrister Graham

(43:07):
Trembath said she's going to effectively spendthe rest of her life behind bars and
that brings us to the end ofthis week's case. Of course, we
take time to remember Nicki Collingbourne beforeI depart you lovely lots. I do
have a great announcement about Crime Contwenty twenty three in London. Of course,

(43:31):
the award winning weekend is back nextyear on June tenth and eleventh,
and you can get yourself an earlybird ticket right now. They are limited
though, so make sure you're quickif you want to get yourself a bit
of a bargain. Next year,Crime Con UK is again in partnership with
CBS Reality, the home of expertled True Crame television, and they have

(43:55):
a weekend planned that will appeal toall all true crime fans. There's talks,
activities, book signings, k nines, podcast row and so much more.
Even though the event has so muchgoing on, it's one of the
best displays of how victim focused andkind our community is. It's really respectful,

(44:17):
informative and friendly. Like I say, tickets for next year's on London
weekend are on sale now, butif you cannot wait until June, I
hear you, and I say,come along to Crime Con in Glasgow on
September tenth. That's just a fewmonths away. Glasgow is going to be

(44:38):
an intimate, one day event stillwith some of the biggest names in true
crime and all the talks and booksignings and interactive activities. There's a buffet
lunch planned and of course I'm sureyou're going to find us podcasts in the
bar afterwards if you fancy a tipple. Tickets for both events can be found

(45:00):
the chrome com website that's chrome condot co dot uk or in the show
notes. And if you want toget yourself an extra discount on those tickets,
use the code Lady when you reachthe checkouts. That's going to get
you an extra ten percent off eventhe early bird process. If you do

(45:20):
use my code for either events,please let me knowify social media or my
email and I'll make sure to havea little extra something for you on podcast
Row. Now we've just enough timeto try and balance out those scales somewhats
with a small act of kindness,and this week I suggest that you take
yourself to your local library and offerto pay a stranger's fine, even if

(45:45):
that said stranger never uses the libraryagain. The funds are recycled into your
community, so it's a win winMost fines are very small and would cost
less than a cup of coffee atyour favorite corporate chair. With that,
my lovelace, go be good people, Go be kind, Go be safe,

(46:06):
and most importantly, go be happy.