45 - Babes in the Woods - The True Crime Witch Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to my true crime podcast,Stolen from Me. Every week we will
cover a different case, from thenotorious Ian Huntley to the gruesome ed Game.
You can follow me for more episodesand news on my Twitter page at
Stolen from Me pod. I gotinto true crime from an early age.
I was around eight years old atthe time, and at school we had

(00:22):
to write to someone famous. Everybodydecided to write to the Queen, but
I didn't want to do that,so I decided I was going to write
to the Cratewins. This didn't godown well, but it did escalate in
my fascination of true crime. Thankyou for being a part of my podcast.
Please leave a five star review,like and subscribe and see you in

(00:44):
the next episode. Good evening,friends, I'm your host, Emma,

(01:07):
and you're listening to the True CrimeWhich podcast, the podcast that takes you
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(01:27):
full time job. I'm a certainlygrateful for you all, whether you support
me just by listening to my episodesor through my Patreon. This episode contains
graphic content, and listener discretion isadvised. With that in mind, let's
get into the episode. This isepisode forty five, The Babes in the

(01:48):
Woods. The lives of the Fellowsand had Aways families would be forever changed
on October ninth, nineteen eighty six, sending them on a thirty two year
hunt for justice. The fight forthe families was anything but easy, but

(02:10):
the tenacity of Susan Fellows and MichelleJohnson Hadaway paid off, and in two
thou eighteen, they would finally seejustice for their bright, beautiful nine year
old daughters, Karen Hadaway and NicolaFellows. Up until nineteen seventy seven,
the Fellows and Hadaway's families had livedvery separate lives. They knew of each

(02:32):
other, but were little more thanacquaintances. That was until Nicola Fellows and
Karen Hadaway were born. The twolittle girls lived just dollors away from each
other on the Mussel Calm estate inBrighton. Despite going to different schools,
the two became best friends playing outsidetogether, telling each other their deepest,

(02:53):
darkest secrets, and doing whatever elseit is. The little girls get up
too. The lives of the Fellowsand Hadaways families would become intertwined forever on
October ninth, nineteen eighty six.By this point, the families were relatively
close. After all, their childrenwere best friends and were practically inseparable.

(03:15):
However, October ninth, nineteen eightysix would bring the families together through his
Shad tragedy, a tragedy that wouldtake them on his thirty two year hunt
for justice. On October ninth,nineteen eighty six, Karen and Nikola returned
down from school, running through thefront doors of their respective homes, eager

(03:36):
to get changed and play outside.Nikola's mother, Sue, told the Mirror
newspaper quote, she came in,chucked her shoes off, pulled the other
ones on, and said she wasgoing out to play. Now, I
wish I'd said more end quote.According to Sue, the last time that
she saw Nicola and Karen was atfive PM when they were playing with a

(03:58):
roller boot on the estate. However, this is not the last confirmed sighting
of the two girls. The nextconfirmed sighting of Nikola and Karen was when
a fourteen year old girl saw thetwo at some shops on Lewis Road.
The fourteen year old told them togo home, scolding them saying that their
parents would be worried that they wereso far from home. Karen and Nicola

(04:21):
ignored the teenager, with Nicola turningto Karen saying, quote, come on,
let's go over to the park endquote. Karen and Nicola knew that
they were not allowed into Wild Park, which they just referred to as the
park. Nicola was told by herparents that the Boogeyman lived there, and
they told her that in the hopesof scaring away from her ever entering on

(04:44):
her own. Sadly, for unknownreasons, the two nine year olds entered
the park. Their intentions were innocent. All the little girls wanted to do
was play, but in the coverof darkness, a predator was lurking and
watching them. The last confirmed sightingof Karen and Nicola was when they were

(05:04):
seen near a police box on LewisRoad. It is then believed that the
two girls walked into Wild Park.Witnesses also remember seeing a man in a
lightly top lurking in the area,watching Karen and Nicola. This man was
later identified as Russell Bishop, whoalso lived on the musclecarm estate in Brighton.

(05:28):
Bishop was well known in the communityfor all of the wrong reasons.
He was known to lie and stealand considered himself somewhat of a ladies man.
He fancied himself a ladies man becausehe had multiple girlfriends at once,
and disgustingly, most of them wereunder the age of seventeen. Some of
his girlfriends were still at school,giving a small insight into his sick and

(05:54):
twisted mind. Bishop noticed that Karenand Nicola were alone with a no adult
insight, and Bishop took the opportunityto commit one of the most heinous crimes
in Brighton's history. Bishop spoke toNicola and Karen and forced them into a
concealed area. It would be herethat he would strike, taking the lives

(06:16):
of two innocent girls. Sadly,this wouldn't be the last time that Bishop
orchestrates such an attack, and itwould take thirty two years to bring him
to justice. According to court documents, Bishop approached the girls kidnapped them,
taking them further into wild Park.Once in a concealed area, he punched

(06:39):
Nicola in the face. He laterconfessed that he had done this as a
punishment for calling his sixteen year oldgirlfriend Mary and Stevenson a slag. Now
this is your content warning, asthe episode from here contains details about sexual
assault, assault, and the murderof two young children. In a sick

(07:03):
and twisted attack, Bishops sexually assaultedNicola and Karen before strangling them to death
with his bare hands. Those whoinitially discovered the crime scene said that either
Nicola or Karen had foam coming outof their mouths, and that Karen's head
had been resting on Nicola's arm,indicating that they had possibly been positioned like

(07:24):
that. By eight PM, theFellows and Hadaways began to worry. Eight
PM was Karen and Nikola's bedtimes,and both girls knew that they had to
be home way before then. Unableto wait any longer, Michelle, Karen
Hadaway's mother called nine nine nine andsounded the alarm that the nine year olds

(07:46):
Nicola and Karen were missing. Wherewere these children? Love thing, the
cold shot at the bottle, thecolding nine. I thought more than they've
gone up worth three by Winky didn'tcome back, but when it started getting
dark, I find her friends andher friend's mom said he hasn't been up
there, and what time was thatthey were last seen? So I do

(08:07):
what time? Were the largest screenat about half past five? It's not
non occur to go, you know, twofold when miss is going usually to
a friend hills and hoardm I'm speakingto now missus hadaway hadaway wa right,
I'm like, yeah, there's theother mother on a shoes, missus jeeter
sorry, missus fellows right, anda two nine year old two nine year

(08:31):
old And now I'll hear what theywere wearing. Yeah, my daughter was
wearing a gray pleated skirt and agreen cold Dean jumper. Was Caldeen school
written on it, you know what, a green sweater, green sweater and
the other girl trainers white socks.I haven't got the finest idea, so
what were you wearing? A peachybrown sweatshirt and a check skirt, bridge

(08:54):
shoes, no socks, sorry,peachie brown sweatshirts and the brown right skirt.
Text I'll get someone overcome and seeyou if I can return in the
meantime, if you can let usknow and feawn cheparentty various before walking a
real thrills of really collect Yeah,well, I'll get somebody to come up

(09:16):
and see you. The entire estaterallied behind the family is offering to help
in whichever way that they could.Police arrived and soon after they had sent
out a helicopter to see if theycould find the girls, but to no
avail. As darkness drew in,the Fellows and Hadaways became increasingly worried.

(09:37):
Disturbingly, on October tenth, nineteeneighty six, Russell Bishop joined the search
for the two little girls that hehad just murdered the night before in cold
blood. He proclaimed to the policethat his dog Misty was a tracking dog
and would be able to assist themin following the girl's sense. In reality,

(09:58):
Bishop just wanted to insert himself intothe investigation. Bishop was close by
when two eighteen year old volunteers madethe horrific discovery. Huddled together on the
floor were the bodies of Karen andNicola. As previously mentioned, they had
been sexually assaulted before being strangled andleft in the woods. The nis was

(10:24):
relayed to the Fellows and Hadaway's families, and Sue Fellows was in such a
state of shock that she just passedout. She was unable to come to
the terms with the fact that herbright, beautiful, nine year old daughter
was dead. It wouldn't be untildays later that Sue would visit the morgue
to see Nichola's body. Upon arrivingat the morgue, Sue broke down in

(10:48):
tears. She told them her anewspaper quote, she didn't look like her.
That was bruising all over her faceend quote. The search for the
two little girls was now over,but police had the task of finding their
killer. Their suspicions immediately turned toRussell Bishop. He had been acting very

(11:09):
suspiciously during the entire search, andother volunteers remembered that he had run towards
Nicola and Karen's bodies when they werediscovered. He also began telling them details
that the killer would only know beforeyou know he even arrived at the bodies,
such as the fact that one ofthe girls had a white foam coming
out of her mouth. A policeofficer who was at the scene recalled that

(11:33):
Bishop had run to where the girlswere found, but he didn't get close
enough to have a good look,and therefore would not have been able to
see these details. As soon asthe police discovered the bodies of Nicola and
Karen, they cordoned off the sceneand ordered everyone to stay back. Four

(11:54):
weeks after the case, police kepta very close eye on Bishop and noticed
that he was acting straight injured thanusual. They brought him in a question
in several times, and with eachvisit his story changed. Eventually, police
believed that they had enough evidence tocharge Russell Bishop with the murders of Karen
Hadaway and Nicola Fellows, and onOctober thirty first, he was arrested in

(12:18):
connection with the murders. He wouldn'tbe formally charged with the murder of Karen
and Nicola until December third, nineteeneighty six, and was ordered to remain
in custody until a child ate couldbe appointed. The residents of the most
Common State were in a state ofshock. They knew that Bishop had a

(12:41):
predilection for young girls and was apetty criminal, but they had no idea
that they lived right next door tosomeone who could be responsible for one of
the most horrific and depraved crimes inBritish history. The Hadaway and Fellows families
began their grieving process, with thewhole estate behind them, ready to help

(13:03):
the devastated families. However, theycould I could not imagine the pain of
losing a child, nevertheless, losinga child in a brutal act of violence
for the community. The arrest ofRussell Bishop was just the start of the
grieving process. However, the pathto justice would be filled with hardships and

(13:24):
tragedy. In nineteen eighty seven,Bishop took the stand at the Lewis Crown
Court where he was accused of therape and murder of Nicola Fellows and Karen
Hadaway, both just nine years oldat the time. Bishop testified that any
trace evidence found on the girl's bodieswas because he had checked their bodies for
a pulse when they were found,in the event that he would need to

(13:48):
administer CPR. This was quickly disputedby the prosecution. If you can remember
earlier, I spoke about how thepolice officer who was at the scene said
that Bishop had not even gotten anywherenear to the girl's bodies when they were
discovered. However, Bishop's defense putforward the notion that Bishop could not have

(14:09):
been responsible as he was seen outsideof a fish and chip shop at around
six thirty that evening. This timeis significant as this was the estimated time
of death for both Nicola and Karen. What the defense had failed to mention
when putting this forward was that thepathologist and forensic investigation teams failed to take

(14:31):
the temperatures of Karen and Nicola.Without this, they would have been unable
to state an accurate time of death, leaving them to create an estimate,
something that would later hurt the prosecution'scase. Forensic experts later estimated that Karen
and Nicola could have died anywhere betweenquarter past five and half past six on

(14:54):
October ninth. This wasn't the onlyfailure by police and forensic teams either.
Karen and Nikola had been manually strangledto death. However, the forensic photographer
had failed to use measurement indicators whenphotographing their wounds. They also failed to
accurately record the fingerprints i e.Not Using a fingerprint measure indicator, and

(15:20):
did not analyze a blood stain foundin Karen's underwear. It is unsure how
or why the crime scene investigation andforensic science teams failed to collect and test
evidence properly, but their failings wereinstrumental to the downfall of this case.
There was also another key piece ofevidence that was called into question very early

(15:43):
on in the case. In thedays after Karen and Nicola were discovered,
police found a blue Pinto brand sweatshirtdiscarded on the railway line at Musselkom station.
Can you guess what Russell Bishop waslast seen wearing gone October ninth,
nineteen eighty six. A blue sweatshirt. However, much like every other piece

(16:07):
of evidence in this case, Pleasehad yet again failed to properly process it,
rendering it all but useless in thecase against Bishop. As the sweatshirt
had not been processed correctly, Bishop'sdefense team were able to use this to
their advantage and convince the jury thatthis was not a reliable sort of evidence.

(16:27):
After just two hours of deliberating,Russell Bishop was acquitted of all charges
after being prompted by Justice Schumann,who said, quote unless the jury were
sure first that the girls were deadby six thirty pm, they should equit
end quote. Russell Bishop walked outof Lewis's court with his head held high,

(16:49):
firmly believing that he had gotten awaywith murder. Police were determined not
to give up on the case andwould spend the next thirty two years for
justice. In nineteen eighty nine,Bishop was captured by journalists in Brighton City
Center handing out leaflets pleading for informationin regards to the murders of Karen and

(17:12):
Nicola. Bishop brazenly paraded around Brighton, putting on the act of being the
good guy or whilst he knew deepdown inside that he was the one responsible.
Bishop went one step further and beganharassing Barry Fellows, who is Nicholas's
father. In a sick and twistedplot, Bishop claimed that Barry was the

(17:37):
one responsible and that Barry had watchedNicola be sexually abused, whilst a lodger
who lived at their home filmed it. Bishop would continue his torment by spreading
lies around the estate about Barry andspray paint ud quote Fellows out on the
Fellows home, Barry Fellows told SirTrevor McDonald in an ITV documentary, quote

(18:02):
Bishop knocks on my door and thefirst words out of his mouth is I
didn't talk the girls, not howare you end quote. The Fellow's family
were reeling from the death of theirnine year old daughter Nicola, and they
were now dealing with accusations and harassment. This naturally sent Sue and Barry into

(18:22):
a state of deep depression, and, as happens with most missing person or
cases like this, the two eventuallygot divorced. In nineteen ninety, Guess
who was back on the police roadhour again None other than Russell Bishop,
but this time he was wanted inconnection for a different crime. A seven

(18:45):
year old girl identified Bishop as theman who had kidnapped, raped her,
and attempted to murder her. Miraculously, the girl survived and was able to
tell the police everything. This timeBishop was guilty is sentenced to a minimum
of fourteen years in prison for kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder. Whilst

(19:07):
Bishop was inside serving his time forthe attempted murder of the seven year old
girl, UK lawmakers were working veryhard behind the scenes to make changes to
the law that would see Bishop putaway for the rest of his life.
In two thousand and five, thedouble jeopardy provisions of the two thousand and
three Criminal Justice Act were repealed,which meant if there were new substantial pieces

(19:30):
of evidence that Bishop could be triedagain for the murders of Nicola and Karen.
That's where forensic science stepped in.I Love Forensic Science and Roy Green
of Eurofins was asked to reanalyze theevidence recovered from the Hadaway Fellow's crime scene.

(19:51):
By two thousand and fifteen, Eurofinswere pleased to announce to the police
that they had recovered a billion toone DNA match. This match confirmed that
the blue Pinto sweatshirt had belonged toBishop. Europeans also found Bishop's DNA on
Karen's left arm. In October twentysixteen, Bishop was taken from his prison

(20:15):
cell where he was serving the sentencefor the kidnapping, rape, and attempted
murder of the seven year old innineteen ninety and brought to the police station
where he was once again arrested andformally charged with the nineteen eighty six murders
of Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway.Lawyers deliberated whether the police had enough evidence
to go forward with a second trial, and after many hours of deliberation,

(20:40):
they concluded that the nineteen eighty sevenacquittal was to be cashed and that Russell
Bishop would once again stand trial.Upon hearing the news Susan Fellows fainted and
had a panic attack, saw herhospitalized when speaking to the Mirror newspaper,
but Sue said, quote, itwas a build up of stress. I

(21:03):
thought that that was going to beit. I've been on antidepressants since Nicholas
murder and I have often considered jumpingoff Brighton Pier just to be with her.
End quote. The Fellows and Hadawayfamilies were elated at the news that
Bishop had finally been arrested, butthe arrest brought to the forefront the trauma
and the stress that they had triedto bury for so long. The whole

(21:27):
proceeding took nine weeks, with theprosecution and defense painstakingly presenting their evidence and
trying to prove why it was eitherreliable or unreliable, respectively. The prosecution
also brought up the false allegations againstBarry Fellows, as Bishop told the courts
that quote, the police has spentthe last thirty two years trying to convict

(21:52):
an innocent man, with him alludingto the fact that Barry Fellows was the
real killer. Prosecutor Brian altmcc said, quote, what you have seen unfolding
before your eyes is the creation bythe defendant of a smoke screen in the
hope that quite literally he gets awaywith murder for a second time. End

(22:15):
quote. The Corps callback witnesses fromthe original nineteen eighty seven trial and the
prosecution stated that the tapings of DNAfrom Karen's arm had been preserved exceptionally well
in nineteen eighty six. Of course, in eighty six DNA was in its
infancy, and it wouldn't be untilnineteen eighty seven that DNA was used for

(22:38):
the first time in courts in Englandand Wales to secure the conviction of Colin
Pitchfork. After presenting evidence, callingup witnesses, class examinations, and back
and forth arguments, both sides deliveredtheir closing statements and the jury was asked
to retire to reach a verdict.Amazingly, much like the first trial,

(23:00):
the jury only took two and ahalf hours to decide their verdict, and
when they returned to the courtroom theiranswer would shock everyone. Two Fellows did
not attend the two and eighteen trial, citing that it would be far too
stressful for her, although after thefact she did say that she regretted not

(23:21):
being there to watch Bishop's reaction.As the head Jura delivered their verdict,
those in the gallery road and burstinto tears. Russell Bishop had officially been
found guilty of the nineteen eighty sixmurders of Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway.
On December eleventh, two thousand andeight, Russell Bishop would appear in court

(23:44):
for the final time. The judgesentenced him to life imprisonment following the guilty
verdict from the jury. The judgerecommended that Bishop served at least thirty six
years in prison before he is eligiblefor parole. However, due to the
nature of his crimes and past offenses, it's very unlikely that he will ever

(24:04):
be released. Following bishops sentencing,the Fellows and Hadaway families made two statements.
The first reads, Nicola and Karenare beautiful girls. We will never
forget their smiles that would light upa room, their laughter, their cheekiness.
During the past eight weeks, wehave enjoyed reliving the horrific details of

(24:27):
their murder, and we have learnedan awful lot about the true meaning of
heartbreak. Over and over again,we stand here as two families, united
in our grief, united in ourfight for justice. And now united in
our relation. At today's guilty verdict, we're extremely relieved and grateful that our

(24:49):
thirty two years hard thought battle hasbeen a success, finally getting the rightful,
long awaited justice for both of ourgirls. We want to thank thee
please to Teams, Counsel and everyoneelse who have been fantastic during the past
couple of decades. If it wasn'tfor their efforts and dedication working with us,

(25:11):
we wouldn't be stood here today.Together we have changed history with this
double jeopardy ruling and we finally havethe correct outcome. Russell Bishop remains behind
bars where he belongs. The guiltyverdict doesn't bring Nicola and Karen back,
but we know that other children arenow safe from the hands of Russell Bishop.

(25:33):
He's a monster, a predatory,p defile. Russell Bishop is truly
evil personified. The second statement madeby Michelle hadaway Reid's quote, after thirty
two years of fighting, we finallyhave justice for Karen and Nicola. Time
stood still for us in nineteen eightysix. To us, then, beautiful

(25:57):
girls will always be nine years old. They will never grow up. We've
been deprived of a happy life towatch them grow into adults. What people
like Bishop inflict on the families oftheir victims is a living death. They
take the lies of children, butthey also take the lies of the families

(26:17):
left behind. Kaz and Nikki,as they were affectionately known, We're friends,
played out together, only to havetheir lives wiped out by a sexual
deviant, a monster. What's beenhard, horrendous, and heartbreaking is to
hear that they were murdered by adisgusting pedophile who we actually knew the two

(26:41):
girls, and they liked him andtrusted him. He abused that trust.
Bishop doesn't deserve to breathe the sameclean err as we do. After all,
he decided that day to strangle thelife out of our two angels,
leaving them nowhere to breathe. Whatmakes a man want to squeeze the life

(27:02):
out of two innocent children with hisbare hands unbelievable when he had a child
himself and another on the way.He is a coward without conscience, and
I don't believe that you can rehabilitateevil. I think Bishop was just born
that way. People thought to meof forgiveness, but I can never forgive

(27:23):
or forget what the evil monster didto my beautiful Chas and Nikki. I'm
trying so hard to get my headaround this, but i will because I'm
a fighter and I'll never stop beingstrong for my family. When the verdict
was made public, many newspapers andnews outlets chose to focus on Bishop,

(27:45):
dissecting his life and every aspect ofhis personality. However, we cannot forget
that this case is truly about thetwo innocent nine year old girls whose lives
he stole from them. This episodeis dedicated to Karen Nicola and their families.
You will forever live on in thehearts of the British people. That

(28:11):
was this week's episode. I hopeyou enjoyed. You can find me on
social media. Just search True CrimeWhich or True Crime Which Pod. I'm
on Patreon, Twitter, Facebook,Instagram, I'm everywhere. Just search and
if you have any k suggestions orwant to contact me, you can email
me True Crime Which outlook dot com. You can DM me on Twitter And

(28:33):
with that said, stay safe,but most importantly, stay spooky.

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45 - Babes in the Woods

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