← Park Predators
Park Predators
The Park
00:52:45
In May 2008 a woman's lifeless body is found in a mess of holly bushes in Queen's Park in Glasgow, Scotland. Law enforcement is left with a bizarre string of clues and a very elusive suspect until finally, justice is served.
Loading summary
Transcript26 lines
- [00:00]
Unknown Speaker 1
When living with cancer, it's important to be informed and know what to expect, but finding the right information can feel overwhelming. That's why understandcancertogether.com is here to help. We've gathered practical information and resources based on where you are in your cancer journey so that you can focus on the important conversations and decisions of today. UnderstandCancerTogether.com helping you navigate life with cancer one moment at a time.
- [00:31]
Delia D'Ambra
This woman is so adept at being a criminal, it's not funny.
- [00:36]
Unknown Speaker 1
I've never seen a show quite like the story of Sara King.
- [00:41]
Delia D'Ambra
She conned people out of $10 million.
- [00:44]
Unknown Speaker 1
But infamy comes with a price.
- [00:46]
Delia D'Ambra
If we don't have our money by tomorrow morning, you will be gutted like a fish in Newport.
- [00:50]
Unknown Speaker 1
Harper Lady Mafia available now on the bins. Search for Lady Mafia wherever you get your PODC to start listening today.
- [01:02]
Delia D'Ambra
Hi park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra, and the case I'm going to tell you about today is one that I'll never forget. I hadn't heard of it prior to researching this episode, and that's probably because it took place in Glasgow, Scotland, thousands of miles away from where I live in North America. It's the kind of senseless crime, though, that just leaves you repeatedly asking why? Why did this happen? The answer to that question is one few people can wrap their minds around. The murder took place inside Queen's park in Glasgow, a historic nature area that, according to a Scottish government website, bears its name in honor of Mary Queen of Scots. This acreage was once a battlefield, and there are even still rocks grouped together at the tallest point in the park, which many believe are ruins of an old military installation. Today, Queen's park is solely a recreation space. Visitors can stroll for hours if they want. There are plenty of great views, a nursery with subtropical plants, a Zen garden, a reptile exhibit, several ponds and a rose garden. A lot of foot traffic in and out of the park consists of people walking their pets or just trying to get from one place to the other. In May 2008, a 40 year old woman who lived near Queens park was doing something similar to the latter getting home after a night out with friends when someone took her into the recreation space against her will. That someone was initially a ghost to Scottish detectives until slowly but surely, clues began to surface that led them directly to the elusive ghost's front door. This is Park Predators around 9:45 in the morning on Thursday, May 29, 2008, a park ranger walking in Queen's park in Glasgow, Scotland, discovered something horrific. A woman's lifeless body was lying face down behind a hedge of bushes in the park. And from the looks of it, it appeared she'd been severely beaten because of the way some of her clothes were torn off her body, I imagine. The ranger naturally assumed that whoever had attacked her might have also sexually assaulted her. Not far away from the victim, in a grassy area along nearby Queens Drive, which is sort of an adjacent road to the park, were several personal items and loose pieces of what looked like business documents. They were all scattered on the ground, and along with the papers was a strap to a handbag that seemed to be damaged. The discovery of all those items indicated they might have belonged to the victim, and some kind of struggle had ensued prior to where. Where she'd ended up dead in the park. The park ranger who found the woman immediately called police investigators from the Strathclyde Police Department in Glasgow. Officers arrived on scene within a few minutes and labeled the woman's death as suspicious. They closed the park to all visitors while they investigated and made an important initial observation about the crime scene. You see, it had rained heavily the night before Wednesday night, which meant the killer, whoever they were, would likely have gotten soaked while in the park committing the crime. Investigators figured whoever they were, they most likely had to have left the crime scene dirty. And just to give you a better sense of where this park is in Glasgow, it's right in the heart of what officials and locals referred to as the south side of the city. Looking on a map, you can see that all around it, there are businesses, roads, and houses. There's even a hotel, some apartments, a hospital, a major highway, and a rail line. So I imagine that when police closed the park all day on the 29th, it was obvious to everyone living and working in that area that something really bad had happened. The park itself is 148 acres, so we're talking about a pretty large crime scene police had to keep contained. Naturally, law enforcement desperately wanted to speak with people who might have seen anything suspicious while walking in or around the park on. On Wednesday evening, May 28, or perhaps early in the morning on Thursday the 29th. That was the timeframe investigators believed the victim had been attacked and killed, in which, in my opinion, isn't that huge of a window. I mean, we're talking about a matter of 12 to 15 hours, most likely, give or take. But more than just wanting to talk with folks who'd possibly seen something suspicious, investigators also wanted to speak with everyone who'd been in or near the park during the late night, early morning hours because they knew that the slightest detail or clue, even if it seemed innocuous, might help them move the case forward. But here's the thing. There was a chance that some folks who were in the park during the critical timeframe weren't necessarily going to come running forward. And that's because, According to Paul O'Hare's reporting for the Daily Record, the victim's body was found in a location that was known to be a hangout or meetup spot for gay men, some of whom were more open about their sexuality and maybe others who weren't. Which meant that a witness, who, for example, might have preferred privacy when it came to their sexual activity, might not be willing to out themselves in order to help police. So you can see where that wouldn't be appealing to someone trying to avoid judgment or harassment. Meanwhile, as police waited for tips to come in, they brought in an incident response caravan and set that unit up at the gates of the park along Victoria Road and Queens Drive. The main headquarters for the investigation, though, was based out of a nearby police station about five minutes away. There, authorities started sifting through the paperwork they'd found scattered in the park near the woman's body. The documents appeared to be invoices that were dated recently. The name on the paperwork was Moira Jones, and she was a sales executive for a large beverage company called Britvic. Following that lead, investigators visited Moira's address at an apartment on Queens Drive, right near the park. And once they got inside, they saw photos sitting around and immediately knew that their victim was, without a doubt, Moira. Investigators learned that she was a local woman who was originally from England, but who'd been living in Glasgow for about five years. Investigators contacted authorities a few hours away in Staffordshire, England, to notify Moira's parents, Beatrice and Hugh Jones. BBC News reported that it took roughly 24 hours before they were told in person what had happened to their daughter. With a positive ID in hand, police began to try and piece together where Moira had been the previous night and what she'd been doing. That required detectives to start identifying her friends, co workers, checking for boyfriends, stuff like that. The authorities also began making a list of people who'd previously been arrested or picked up for crimes in Queen's Park. And they were looking at a lot of people, folks who'd done everything from serious felonies to engaging in something as small as drinking underage. Investigators also started compiling names of known sex offenders in the area and there were 22 of them in total who made that list. The next day, Friday, May 30, a forensic pathologist named Dr. Marjorie Black examined Moira's body. Dr. Black found that the 40 year old had endured a violent and vicious attack, and there were at least 65 noticeable injuries to her body, which included two black eyes, lots of bruising and a broken nose. Paul O'Hare reported for the Daily Record that Moira had also been beaten with a blunt object and there was semen found inside of her which seemed to suggest that she'd been sexually assaulted at some point during the attack. A forensic scientist for the police department got these semen swabs analyzed for DNA, but the results came back with no matches in Scotland's offender database as well as the United Kingdom's criminal database, meaning the offender, whoever he was, had never been convicted of a felony in the uk or else his DNA would have shown up when police looked for it. In the meantime, a promising clue detectives investigated was Moira's car, a black Toyota RAV4 SUV. Investigators found it parked on Queens Drive near her apartment, about 60 yards away from an entrance to the park. Nearby was the grassy area that officers had found Moira's documents and handbag strap scattered on the ground, which led investigators to suspect that Moira had most likely been ambushed near her car shortly after parking it. They learned from speaking with Moira's boyfriend, a guy named Paul Thompson, that she'd been hanging out at his place on Wednesday night in a part of town about 15 minutes away from her apartment. Paul and Moira's friends who were at that same gathering, remembered her leaving to go home around 10:30pm after she and Paul allegedly got into an argument. Doing the math, investigators estimated that Moira had likely made it home to her place around 10.45pm or 10.50pm and parked her car. What they couldn't figure out was how she'd ended up in the park some 400 meters or roughly a quarter mile away, dead. For a quick bit, police investigated whether Paul might have done something to Moira after their Tiffany. They even went as far as formally interviewing him and searching his home. But it became pretty evident that he had nothing to do with the crime. The source material doesn't go into a lot of detail about what exactly his alibi was or how authorities cleared him so quickly, but that's just what happened anyway. People who knew Moira well told police that it would have been very strange for her to go into the park after dark by herself. Most people's assumption, including the police's at that point, was that someone had forced Moira into Queen's park against her will. Authorities pleaded with citizens to come forward if they remembered seeing her exit her car or walk into the park with anyone on Wednesday night. Investigators were hopeful that eyewitnesses could help them determine when exactly she'd been approached by a stranger. Like I mentioned earlier, homicide detectives working theory was that Moira had likely been attacked near her car, then taken into the park by one person or possibly a group of people. But law enforcement just didn't have a ton of evidence to support that assumption 100% yet, which is why they wanted folks in her neighborhood to come forward. Now. Around this time is when Moira's parents, Hugh and Beatrice Jones, as Well as Moira's 37 year old younger brother Grant, first spoke to the media about the case. As you can imagine, they were all devastated by the loss. After learning about Moira's murder From police on May 30, it had taken Hugh and Beatrice about four hours to travel from where they lived in England up to Scotland. Grant had flown in the following day from where he lived in Perth, Australia. In a statement published by Business Live, Beatrice said, quote, our precious daughter Moira and Grant's big sister could not have been more loved. She could not have been more loving. She has been taken from us in the most vicious and senseless way. Nothing can ever change that. There is nothing any of you can do to make us feel better at this time. But we know you will want to help us. End quote. BBC News and the Daily Express reported that Beatrice also remarked, quote, you are Glasgow people and Moira loved Glasgow. You must stop the heart being torn out of another family. Please think hard. If you saw or heard anything, if you have the slightest suspicions, you must tell the police. It's pretty clear from those statements that losing Moira was extremely difficult for her whole family. They were close and they described her as a joyful, happy person who'd initially gone to school for graphic design, then switched gears to sales. A website dedicated to her memory states that she was a good friend with a very robust social life and loved traveling as much as she could. At some point, either before or after making their statements to reporters, Moira's family members left Lily's at Queen's park to mourn their loss. Beatrice and Hugh attached a message to their flowers that said, quote, night night, Moira darling. Love you forever, mom and dad, end quote. Citizens of Glasgow left notes and mementos as well. The next clue law enforcement got in the case came from folks who were close with Moira. These people, which I assume included her family, told police that she usually wore two gold rings on her hands. One had a green colored oval shaped stone in it and the other had rubies and diamonds alternating in the band. The ring with the rubies and diamonds in it was an older ring that had come from Moira's grandmother and was sort of a family heirloom, which is why I said I assumed her family was involved in talking to the police about this detail. However, when authorities reviewed the state in which Moira had been found, they realized that those two gold rings were missing from her body. The police's search of the park hadn't turned them up either, which meant detectives had to consider robbery as another motive in the attack, in addition to a potential sexual assault. By this point in the investigation, detectives were struck with a palpable sense of urgency. They felt the pressure more than ever to catch whoever had done this. I imagine looming in the back of their minds was the frightening reality that the killer might strike again. The lead investigator over the case told BBC News, quote, you can imagine with such an attack, a brutal attack on a young woman, that the quicker we identify the person responsible, the better, end quote. And that sense of urgency only got more intense the following weekend because just as they all feared, another young woman in Glasgow had fallen victim to a violent attack, this time in the West End of the city, just a few miles away from Queen's Park. If you ever worry about the safety of your home and family, there's no better time to act than now. You guys have probably heard me talk about sympathy Simplisafe before on this podcast, and truly it's because I've been using it now for the last five years. Right now, my listeners can get that same feeling and get 60% off today just by visiting simplisafe.com parks SimpliSafe is a new way to protect your home. Old school systems only take action once someone is already inside your home, which is when it's too late. Simplisafe's Active Guard Outdoor Protection changes the game by preventing crime before it even happens. So if someone's lurking around or acting suspiciously, those agents see them in real time, talk to them directly, set off your spotlights and all the things, and even call the police before they've had a chance to break in. SimpliSafe is offering my listeners exclusive early access to their Black Friday sale this week. Only you can get 60% off any new system with a select professional monitoring plan. This is their best offer of the year. Head to simplisafe.com parks that's simplisafe.com parks there's no safe like simplisafe.
- [17:04]
Unknown Speaker 1
When living with cancer, it's important to be informed and know what to expect. But finding the right information can feel overwhelming. That's why understandcancertogether.com is here to help. We've gathered practical information and resources based on where you are in your cancer journey so that you can focus on the important conversations and decisions of today. Understand CancerTogether.com helping you navigate life with cancer one moment at a time.
- [17:40]
Delia D'Ambra
According to an article by BBC News, around 8:20am on Friday, May 30, the day after Moira Jones body was discovered, a cleaner for a restaurant called DiMaggio's Pizzeria in the western part of the city came into the shop's kitchen and discovered the body of a young woman. It was clear from the blood on and around the victim, as well as the description the 999 caller had given to police, that the young woman had been dead for a few hours. And just for those of you wondering, 999 in Scotland is equivalent to 911 here in the United States. Anyway, officers from the Strathclyde Police Department responded to the scene and quickly determined that the victim was 25 year old Eleni Pichu. Her co workers informed police that she was a manager in training at the time and she'd been working in the store alone shortly before it was scheduled to close on Thursday night. From the looks of the crime scene, detectives surmised that she'd been stabbed multiple times and the attack had happened most likely while she'd been alone. Closing up the pizza shop sometime between 12:40am and 1:20am Investigators spoke with people who were nearby who told them they heard the shutters of the restaurant closing in that timeframe. Detectives described Eleni's murder to the press as a, quote, horrific crime and in earnest, they quickly sent her body off for an autopsy and began a homicide investigation. BBC News reported that the results of the forensic examination of her body showed that she'd been attacked with some kind of blade and had tried desperately to defend herself against her assailant. In that same article, BBC News also reported that authorities determined a sum of money totaling more than four figures was missing from the pizzeria. Law enforcement later confirmed that amount was roughly the shop's earnings for the day. The Daily Record reported that unfortunately for police, there was no sign of a murder weapon at the crime scene. And to make matters worse, a CCTV camera out in front of the pizzeria, which would have clearly showed the restaurant's front entrance, wasn't working at the time of the murder, which was super discouraging to investigators because they felt that it likely would have captured images of exactly who had murdered Eleni. When investigators questioned some of the pizza shop's employees who'd been working with her in the early evening before she was killed, they learned that at some point she'd gotten a call on her cell phone. None of these people could remember specifically what she talked about with the caller, just that it had something to do with her arranging to meet a person. Based on what I was able to find in the source material, it's not clear if she was going to meet this person or if they were going to come to the pizza shop to meet her or what. But in the wake of the murder, authorities tried to trace who the number that called Eleni belonged to and pleaded with that person to come forward, but no one immediately did. In the first few days of the investigation, police went on the record saying there was a possibility that Eleni's murderer might have been hiding in the pizzeria, waiting for her to close up the shop before he or she attacked her. Yeah, I know that's a super terrifying scenario to think about. But police were genuinely considering it. When news of her brutal murder made its way to her close friends and family members, it hit them hard. A spokesperson for DiMaggio's restaurant described the Greece native as a, quote, beautiful, sparkling young woman. Within days of the crime, Eleni's father, Yannis, and one of her brothers traveled to Scotland from where they lived in Athens, Greece, to be at the epicenter of the investigation. Once they arrived, they met up with another one of Eleni's brothers who was attending the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. BBC News reported that as part of police's investigation, detectives spoke with close to 2,000 people. Some of these folks, I imagine, included customers from the pizza shop as well as people who weren't even in the pizzeria, but who might have been nearby or operating taxis and, of course, private citizens. By the end of the day on Friday, police officials could feel the public pressure to provide some answers. And they had to address the fact that there had been two brutal murders in the city in less than 24 hours. And this is where things took an interesting turn. You see, even though Moira and Eleni's murders happened one right after the other. Strathclyde police wanted the public to know they did not think the two cases were connected in any way. I know. Kind of surprising, right? Well, according to reporting by BBC News, investigators specifically said that the two crime scenes were different and that all signs pointed to the killers in each scenario having completely different motives. In Eleni's case, homicide detectives believed robbery was the sole motive, mostly because that large sum of money had been taken from the store. But with Moira's case, authorities felt strongly that her killer's motives had been sexual in nature. Remember, she had been left partially naked, which indicated that whoever attacked her was sexually motivated. According to reporting by Helen Carter for the Guardian, investigators pressed forward, treating the two slayings as separate incidents. But the police force was sparing no resources to try and solve the murders. In total, the department had close to 200 officers working the cases. These officers were doing everything from going door to door, conducting interviews, to combing the areas around the crime scenes for clues, to going on extra patrols in the community just to try and put citizens at ease. Paul O'Hare reported for the Daily Record that criminal profilers from England arrived in Scotland shortly after the crimes to help local detectives narrow in on the type of suspects police should be looking for. In addition to those folks coming on board, geographical profilers also joined the investigations to help figure out if the killers might have worked or lived in the neighborhoods surrounding both crime scenes. According to an article by BBC News, on Wednesday, June 4, one week after Moira's murder and six days after Eleni's murder, Strathclyde police held a meeting with these outside experts to essentially regroup and refocus. This gathering was known by the acronym miag, or Major Incident Advisory Group. Together, everyone discussed what the next step should be in Moira's case. The next day, Thursday, June 5, the same group conferenced about Eleni's case. But no matter how many uniforms police threw at the investigations, the reality was a killer or killers were on the loose. And two innocent women had just been slain in cold blood, essentially back to back. So I'm not sure how comforting law enforcement's insistence that the cases weren't connected was to the public. I mean, the thought of two murderers on the loose isn't much better than knowing one killer is out there running around. Even for a city like Glasgow, which at the time had around 580,000 residents, that's still a frightening scenario. It's also important to mention that while officials were conferencing about how to move forward with the two cases. Queen's park was still closed to the public. Investigators in Moira's case were still on the ground, continuing to search for clues. In those first seven days or so, detectives had interviewed more than 1,000 people, and they had a ton of information to follow up on. But they still needed to find and preserve as much physical evidence as possible. And that meant keeping the public out of Queen's Park. The only people police let through were city staff workers who had to feed animals or coordinate floral arrangements. On Friday, June 6, a dozen officers wearing protective white suits literally crawled on the ground in the park near where Moira had been killed to try and find potential evidence, According to reporting by BBC News. The sight of the officers in what looked like hazmat suits really left an impression on citizens and onlookers. One woman told the publication, quote, it is a good area and I think that is why it's shaken everyone up so much, because this doesn't happen here at all. That's why everyone's taken aback, horrified. End quote. Around this time, a new lead emerged that got law enforcement's attention. It had to do with a violent sexual assault that had happened about six weeks before Moira's murder, just a few hundred yards away from where she lived, so essentially the same neighborhood. The Herald reported that the victim of that assault was a 43 year old woman who'd reported being forced off a street and taken into a vacant building. Once inside, her captor sexually assaulted her, beat her and left her for dead. The attack happened between 10:30pm and 11:00pm at night, the same exact timeframe that police investigating Moira's murder believed she was killed. Now, thankfully for this other victim, she somehow managed to survive her ordeal and after regaining consciousness, made it to a hospital directly across the street from where she'd been attacked. A source who spoke with the Herald stated that the victim told police her assailant had stolen her handbag, which included her house key's wallet and mail that had her home address printed on it. Thanks to this survivor, police got a suspect description. The guy was said to be a white man in his 20s with a slim build and was wearing dark clothes and a dark baseball hat. Though this information was more than detectives had been working with up until that point, it still wasn't enough to point them in a clear direction. And honestly, based on the source material I was able to find, it doesn't appear that this person was ever connected to Moira's case. It was just a lead that popped up at some point. But something that did steer homicide detectives in a fresh direction was surveillance footage, not of the stranger who'd struck weeks before Moira's murder, but rather video that captured Moira on the night she died. On June 10, almost two weeks after her death, police released two still images taken from surveillance cameras that had been mounted in the city. One was a picture of Moira walking inside a store on the Evening of Wednesday, May 28, a few hours before she was killed. In it, she's carrying her handbag and wearing the gray and black clothing she was last seen alive in. The second image was from a different CCTV camera that had been mounted to a bus driving in Moira's Queens Drive neighborhood near the entrance of the park on the night of Wednesday, May 28th. Unfortunately, the bus image didn't show a clear play by play of Moira or her car, but it did show a couple walking along the roadway around 11:30pm, the exact time police believed Moira was attacked. Unfortunately, the picture was a bit grainy, but detectives could make out two figures, one of which appeared to be a man with his arm draped across and over the back of a smaller figure who appeared to be a woman. At the time, police didn't say too much about who they thought this couple might be, but according to an article by BBC News, investigators definitely suspected it was Moira and her killer. One detective was later quoted as saying that the male figure in the video was, quote, monstrously bigger than the smaller figure and he is deciding where she is going, end quote. In addition to releasing the two surveillance photos, homicide detectives also revealed that they thought it was possible that Moira initially parked her car on the street around 10.45pm or 10.50pm Then she might have returned to move it a short time later due to the fact that parking was limited on her street, authorities learned in their investigation that she might have wanted to get it a bit closer to her apartment than where she'd first parked it when she came home from her boyfriend's house. If that was the case, investigators surmised that whoever killed her might have accosted her on the short walk between where she left the car and the front of her apartment building. That was just a guess, though police didn't have any solid proof yet to back up that theory. All they knew was that she likely didn't leave her street willingly. In a press briefing the next day, June 11, the chief inspector over Moira's case announced that so far his Officers had collected 600 statements and obtained 250 DNA samples from people to compare to evidence they'd gathered in the investigation. He told BBC news, quote, this will continue until we have all the pieces of the jigsaw. And I am confident it is only a matter of time before our inquiries will reveal who killed Moira, end quote. The day after this announcement, the police department reopened Queen's park to the public. Officials stated that the forensic search of the grounds had been completed, and homicide detectives were confident that nothing of investigative value was left to find. The following weekend, Moira's family members and more than 100 city residents held a memorial ceremony and commemorative walk in her honor inside the park. They trekked on the sidewalks that they believed Moira was chased down or taken on before her murder. The police department's chaplain offered up a prayer and comforting words, and several people pitched in to plant a tree for Moira. Meanwhile, detectives worked to understand who their victim was and tried to think of anyone who would have had a reason to want to harm her. I imagine something they discovered was that she'd been a strong voice in her neighborhood against a certain group of people living there. According to Helen Carter's reporting for the Guardian, after living in the Queen's park area for a few years, Moira had noticed more and more crimes happening there. Around 100 of these incidents had been traced back to citizens with substance use disorders who reportedly lived in a hostel in the neighborhood. Turns out Moira had been a vocal advocate of getting that hostel shut down, which in turn had helped drive out the people who were alleged to be committing crimes. So I imagine detectives had to at least consider whether or not Moira's involvement in getting that hostel closed down might have made her some enemies. But here's the thing I couldn't find any information about if authorities actually pursued that as a lead. The Guardian just has that one article about Moira's involvement in the hostel stuff, but then that's it. No other source material mentions that detail. So who knows, Maybe police did chase it down and nothing came from it. I just don't know. What I can tell you is that it would make sense for Moira to be on edge about the goings on in her neighborhood leading up to her murder. Because according to reporting by BBC News, there had been a break in in her apartment building prior to May 28. In fact, one of Moira's friends and neighbors told police that on the Wednesday afternoon before Moira went over to her boyfriend's house, she and Moira had been visiting together and discussed the topic. It's hard to know from the source material when or if police looked into that crime in relation to the murder. But what I do know is that after June 2008, interest in Moira's case, as well as Eleni Pichu's murder, tapered off significantly in the press. There weren't nearly as many daily articles published, and based on what I could find, it seemed like police just stopped holding press briefings altogether. But that changed just a few weeks later in July, because that's when homicide investigators made an arrest in Moira's case.
- [33:42]
Unknown Speaker 1
When living with cancer, it's important to be informed and know what to expect. But finding the right information can feel overwhelming. That's why understandcancertogether.com is here to help. We've gathered practical information and resources based on where you are in your cancer journey so that you can focus on the important conversations and decisions of today. UnderstandCancerTogether.com helping you navigate life with cancer one moment at a time.
- [34:13]
Keith Morrison
Out of nowhere, there it was. Sudden, shocking, terrifying.
- [34:17]
Delia D'Ambra
I have never in my life felt fear like that.
- [34:20]
Keith Morrison
Was this someone's idea of a sick prank or was it a horror movie come horribly alive?
- [34:26]
Delia D'Ambra
I'm thinking he killed him and he had filmed the murder.
- [34:29]
Keith Morrison
I'm Keith Morrison and this is dateline's newest podcast, the man in the Black Mask. Listen for free each week or unlock new episodes early and enjoy ad free listening by subscribing to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Dateline premium.com.
- [34:52]
Delia D'Ambra
The update that authorities had arrested someone for Moira's murder sort of came out of the blue and details were, for lack of a better term, fast and furious. According to reporting by BBC News, homicide detectives in Glasgow had been able to tie a 33 year old Slovakia native and ex con named Marek Harchar to Moira's murder. I'll get into the how in a little bit because most of that information didn't come out until his trial. But for now, what's important to know is that when Marek had his preliminary hearing in Glasgow's High Court a few months later in early December 2008, he immediately pleaded not guilty to the murder and sexual assault charges that Scottish authorities had leveled against him. Police wholeheartedly believed he'd abducted Moira while she'd been near her car on May 28 along Queens Drive, then forced her into Queen's park with the intent of sexually assaulting her and robbing her of her jewelry and belongings, which included a camera, laptop, and three phones that she kept in separate bags. Detectives believed that during the attack, he'd punched and kicked her multiple times, stomped on her head, and eventually pinned her neck and body to the ground while taking off her clothes after sexually assaulting her. Police believe he then made sure Moira was dead before taking off with her stuff. In addition to killing Moira, he was also charged with breach of peace for threatening to kill a woman he'd been staying with on Queens Drive the day after Moira's death. After that, authorities determined he'd fled to the Czech Republic and then Slovakia sometime between June 1 and June 18. Now, how criminal courts in Scotland work is a lot different than the United States. So after Marek had his initial hearing in front of Glasgow's High Court, which was a proceeding similar to an arraignment here in the US he was kept in jail to await another preliminary hearing in January 2009. His defense attorney contested the charges and claimed that his client had an alibi for the night of May 28th. The defense also claimed that three other men were responsible for the crime. The Daily Express reported that Marek said the real killers were three local men in Glasgow named Jason Mulherin, Mohammad Umar Karim and Mohammad Abubakar Karim. But it was going to be up to a trial court to determine if any of that was true. Marek's trial date was set for mid March of 2009. In that time, there was another preliminary hearing to discuss evidence, witnesses and other matters. But all the while, Glasgow authorities stayed busy building their case. I imagine Marek's defense attorney was working on his case too, which, according to news reports, included digging up as much information as possible about the three other men he claimed were responsible for Moira's murder. Now, I told you a second ago, I'd eventually go into how police linked him to the crime. And the answer is good old fashioned police work. Officers had canvassed neighborhoods around Queen's park in June 2008, shortly after the crime, and they'd quickly learned that Marek, a newcomer to Glasgow, had skipped town shortly after Moira was found dead. He'd reportedly been living at a friend's place before taking off on June 1 for his home country of Slovakia. His abrupt departure struck investigators because it was literally three days after Moira's body turned up in the park. After that, authorities had tracked his movements for 16 days until they had enough to issue a European arrest warrant for murder in mid June. Once that paperwork went through, Slovakian police detained him in the town of Nalepkovo, Slovakia, where he was staying with a friend. When police arrested him, he was wearing a black leather jacket that appeared to have blood stains on it. When authorities searched the house he'd been staying in, they discovered an ID card and a damaged cell phone. That's battery had to be held in place on the back with tape. Along with that stuff, police also found a watch, two metal chains, an earring, another bag that had a Nikon digital camera in it, and some of Mark's clothing. BBC News reported that upon closer examination, investigators determined that the digital camera was the missing camera that had belonged to Moira Jones. During the house search and his arrest, Marek was fairly calm and cooperative with police. One article by Paul O'Hare for the Daily Record even reported that he was drunk at the time. On July 4, he attended an extradition hearing with prosecutors in Scotland. During that, he agreed to return to the United Kingdom and face the charges against him. At the time, he was a convicted felon in Slovakia and had spent time in prison for committing property crimes. Still, he told the court, I agree to my extradition for criminal prosecution in Scotland because I want the entire matter to be explained for I am innocent. End quote. Twelve days later, in mid July, he was back in Scotland in custody. BBC News reported that since there was a language barrier for the defendant, his attorneys made sure that interpreters would be on hand if he needed them or any witnesses did. The trial got underway on March 12, 2009, as expected, with a jury of nine men and six women ready to hear both sides arguments. The Daily Express reported that on the first day of the trial, Moira's family was in the courtroom. They listened as prosecutors detailed how law enforcement had been on Marek's trail basically since day one of the murder investigation. The defense's argument to the Crown's accusations though, was simple. He didn't do it. Instead, they alleged that Jason Mulherin, a known sex offender who already held convictions for two sexual assaults in Glasgow in 1999 and April 2008, was responsible for Moira's murder. At the time of the crime, Jason's story to police was that he'd been at home alone, drinking and watching football. He claimed that the only time he'd left his house was to buy a drink. Now, in my book, that doesn't really count as a rock solid alibi, but just like many of the other sex offenders that homicide detectives interviewed as part of the murder investigation, Jason was looked into. However, he was eventually not pursued as a serious suspect. It seems like based on the available source, Material. Investigators just lost interest in him after they couldn't prove or disprove his alibi. At the trial, though, Jason's name kept popping up. He was asked by the defense to testify on the stand and under oath. He openly admitted to being a bad guy and a threat to women. He said he was guilty of committing sex crimes and robberies in the past, but he adamantly denied any involvement in Moira's murder. Unfortunately for him, his ex girlfriend also took the stand and claimed that at one point shortly after Moira's murder, Jason had made a comment to her, claiming that he was the person who'd attacked Moira. However, he later walked that statement back and told his ex that he wasn't actually the killer. Prosecutors agreed with the defense that Jason was a, quote, revolting man, end quote. But in the end, it seemed like the Crown just didn't think he was responsible for killing Moira. So instead of playing into the defense's strategy, which was to point blame toward Jason, prosecutors presented crime scene photos to jurors that showed some compelling evidence. One picture showed several buttons from a woman's blouse that were discovered beneath a bush in the park, as well as a shoe that was located on some grass not far away from where Moira's body was found. The jury also learned that investigators had recovered Moira's laptop tossed on the ground near one of the entrances to the park. Prosecutors then played those several clips of CCTV footage that investigators had collected from the buses, shops, and restaurants near Queen's Park. Some of these videos showed Marek wearing his black leather jacket, shopping for shoes or just walking around by himself. Thanks to these clips, authorities were able to pinpoint his movements between 11pm on Wednesday, May 28, and 2:30am on Thursday, May 29. During those hours, he was spotted at two bars along roads near the park and at a hotel called the Queen's Park Hotel. He was also later seen leaving the park around 2am on May 29, tossing a laptop in the same area where Moira's laptop was eventually discovered. Unfortunately, though, just as things were getting going at trial, it came to a screeching halt for three days because Mark suddenly decided to stop cooperating with the court. According to an article by BBC News, he decided he no longer wanted to wear the headphones that staff had given him so that he could listen in to the court proceedings in his native tongue. Following that decision, he told the judge he was going to skip coming to trial for a day. The judge gave him a few days to think about the ramifications of that decision before. Eventually, things got going again. After that, jurors heard testimony from Mohammad Umar Karim, one of the three men Marek claimed was actually responsible for killing Moira.
- [44:25]
Unknown Speaker 1
When living with cancer, it's important to be informed and know what to expect. But finding the right information can feel overwhelming. That's why understandcancertogether.com is here to help. We've gathered practical information and resources based on where you are in your cancer journey so that you can focus on the important conversations and decisions of today. Understand CancerTogether.com helping you navigate life with cancer one moment at a time.
- [44:56]
Keith Morrison
Out of nowhere, there it was. Sudden, shocking, terrifying.
- [45:00]
Delia D'Ambra
I have never in my life felt fear like that.
- [45:03]
Keith Morrison
Was this someone's idea of a sick prank or was it a horror movie come horribly alive?
- [45:10]
Delia D'Ambra
I'm thinking he killed him and he had filmed the murder.
- [45:12]
Keith Morrison
I'm Keith Morrison and this is dateline's newest podcast, the man in the Black Mask. Listen for free each week or unlock new episodes early and enjoy ad free listening by subscribing to Dateline Premium on Apple podcasts, Spotify or DatelinePremium.com.
- [45:36]
Delia D'Ambra
Muhammad said that he and his younger brother, who is also named Muhammad, had been dropped off in the Queens Drive area sometime around midnight on May 28, which would have technically made it early Thursday morning, May 29. He said he and his brother had found a woman's purse and car keys on a sidewalk near Queen's park, and without really thinking, they just took them. He said they attempted to use the debit card at an ATM but were unsuccessful. So they returned to the area where they'd found the stuff and unlocked a black Toyota SUV the key went to. Once inside, they looked for items to steal and eventually tried to buy a computer with one of the stolen credit cards. He testified that he didn't realize any of the stuff they'd found on the sidewalk belonged to Moira Jones until several days later. Once they did realize that she was the woman killed in the park, they willingly went to police and reported what they'd found. After he got off the stand, several witnesses who'd been living around or walking in the Queen's park area on Wednesday, May 28, testified that they heard a woman's terrified scream ring out around 11:30pm the night Moira was killed. One cab operator even told the court, quote, I actually said if we wake up in the morning and someone has been murdered, then we have just heard it, end quote. But probably the most compelling witness who testified was A guy who'd been walking his dog near the park's tennis courts. Around 11.20pm on the night Moira died, this guy told jurors that he heard a woman screaming, stop it. Followed by a man's voice that said something that he couldn't understand. The guy's voice was fairly loud and it sounded like he had an Eastern European accent. This witness said after hearing the verbal exchange, he rushed over in the direction of where the voices had come from. But when he got there, he only saw a man sitting alone, looking down into some holly bushes, which struck him as really odd and kind of unsettling. At the time, this witness didn't think the mystery man noticed him, so he kept watching the guy. He told the court that while he observed the stranger, he noticed the man's attention was especially trained on something sitting inside the bushes. A little while later, the witness said he thought he saw the same guy smoking a cigarette and shortly thereafter decided to leave the park. The witness said the next day, when he learned a woman had been killed, he went straight to the police and told them what he'd seen. From there, authorities were able to get a description of the strange man seen in the park, and they developed a few different composite sketches. Thanks to the park witness information, detectives learned that the potential killer was in his 20s or mid-30s, had high cheekbones, was clean shaven, might have had an Eastern European accent, and also had, quote, Mediterranean skin. Another witness who testified at the trial was a 28 year old woman named Lucy Petlova. She told jurors she'd been staying with Marek in a room on Queen's Drive in Glasgow the week of May 28, 2008. She said that before he left their place on the Evening of the 28th, he was noticeably intoxicated and mentioned that he was going to try and find sex workers that night. When he eventually returned in the early morning hours of the 29th, in somewhat of a panic, Lucy said he threatened to kill her. So it was this incident with Lucy that Marek's additional criminal charge for breach of peace was related to. Unfortunately, under cross examination, Lucy revealed that she'd gone back and forth about what date. She specifically remembered him leaving their room drunk and then coming back and threatening her. In her first interview with law enforcement, she'd said he may have left drunk and searching for sex workers a few days before Moira's murder. But on another occasion, she'd told the cops she couldn't remember any of the specific dates that. Well, because of her uncertainty, I imagine Lucy didn't come across as a very compelling or credible witness to jurors. Another witness that didn't help the defense's case was a guy named Marcel Carranco. Marcel was one of Mark's friends who lived with him in England. Just a few days after Moira was found, Marcel said that Marek texted him asking him to help him get out of Scotland. At the time, Marcel didn't know why Marek wanted to leave Glasgow so badly, but he figured it might have something to do with the fact that Mark had been going through a rough patch after losing his job earlier that month. So, ever the good friend, Marcel told jurors that he took Mark to Glasgow Airport on June 1. And surveillance footage investigators gathered from the airport confirmed Marcel's story. The video footage showed Marek at a check in counter for a flight to the Czech Republic. The real nail in the coffin for the 33 year old, though, was the fact that a forensic scientist from the Scottish Police Services Authority testified that she'd found traces of his DNA, including his semen, on Moira. The scientist was able to match swabs of DNA left inside Moira to a stain from Marek's bedspread in the room he'd been staying in in Glasgow in May 2008. The scientist told jurors, quote, the probability of this profile originating from another male unrelated to Marek Harchar is one in a more than a billion, end quote. This woman also testified that she'd found his DNA on a cigarette butt in the park and some of Moira's blood on the black leather jacket taken from him when he was first arrested. So with that concrete evidence against him, on April 8, 2009, less than a year after Moira's murder, jurors unanimously found him guilty of murder, abduction, sexual assault, and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by fleeing from Scotland. After the crime, he was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve at least 25 years before he could be considered for early release. After the verdict was read, Moira's family spoke to the press at the courthouse. And her mother, Beatrice, told reporters she felt that the man who'd killed her daughter was a, quote, evil, depraved monster. She went on to say, quote, moira knew how dearly she was loved. We had an exceptionally close relationship, and she would know the effect her death would have on us. As she battled in the dark with a monster, as she fought for her life, she would also have been fighting for ours. Moira, darling, darling Moira, we were so proud of you. We will always be so proud of you and we will do the best we can with our lives to make them worthy of you. You will live with us forever. End quote. Daily Record reporter Paul O'Hare also spoke with Marek's mother, Magdalena Harchar, after the verdict was announced. She seemed to be extremely distraught by the news of her son's conviction. She told O'Hare that she didn't believe her son was guilty. She revealed that she'd literally sold her home to fund his move to the United Kingdom in late 2007, but that he'd return just eight months later in June with a sorrowful tale of having no money and lamented about getting laid off from his employer. She said that her son had always been a cheerful young man and had had a good childhood alongside his three sisters. But she did admit that he'd been arrested for committing burglaries in the past. She also said he'd struggled with alcohol and he'd earned a reputation for wanting to start fights. BBC News reported that prior to killing Moira, Marek had been convicted of 13 crimes in his homeland, four of which were said to be violent in nature. Many people in the uk, including Moira's family members, were disturbed to learn that he'd been able to make his way into England and Scotland without getting flagged for his prior criminal history. Now, I know a question a lot of you probably have is was Marek ever connected to Eleni Patu's murder? And the answer is unequivocally no. According to reporting by Red Mills for the Daily Express, police detectives investigating her murder eventually determined that the cleaner who'd first found her body inside Dimaggio's pizza shop, was involved in her killing. Yeah, it's a pretty wild story in and of itself, but the short version is the cleaner, who was a woman named Marion Hinshelwood, had preplanned with her lover, a guy named Juan Crispin, who also worked for the pizzeria to rob Eleni of the key to the restaurant safe. According to the Daily Express, both of the suspects had significant deaths, and so they resorted to targeting Eleni, who they knew would be working alone on the night of Thursday, May 29. According to some reporting, there also might have been a bit of jealousy on Marion's part against Eleni because she believed at one point that Juan, who had a longtime partner, by the way, and two kids, was maybe cheating on her. Anyway, Juan and Marion were both convicted in Eleni's case. In May 2009, the Greek Reporter published that Juan got a sentence of life in prison, of which he was required to serve 20 years, and Marion pleaded guilty for being culpable to the homicide. She admitted to providing the knife used in the crime and spent four and a half years in jail before being released. After the conclusion of Moira's case, though, her parents and brother established a fund for other families who found themselves faced with the loss of losing a loved one to a violent crime. They called it the Moira Fund and to this day money for it is used to pay for things like funeral expenses, counseling costs and support services. In 2014, the Moira Fund established an annual 5K race in Queen's park to honor and celebrate Moira's legacy. That event has happened every year since 2014. In 2017, Beatrice Jones told the Herald reporter Katrina Stewart that she was incredibly grateful for how the Glasgow community cared for her family after her daughter's murder, as well as supported them throughout the re traumatizing experience of a criminal trial. In May 2018, a decade after Moira's murder, Marek Harchar was transferred from a Scottish prison to a Slovakian prison to continue serving his life sentence. The forensic scientist who helped collect and process his DNA from Moira's crime scene, which was essentially the linchpin that led to his conviction, became a trustee of the Moira Fund Foundation. That woman told BBC News that she often thought about Moira's case. She said, quote, it is just one of those real horror stories of a girl going home and being grabbed off the street. I always think of the family every year. I have tremendous empathy for them. One night in Glasgow changed their lives forever. End quote. I can't think of a statement that rings truer. It really does just take one moment for many people's lives to be changed or destroyed. I think that's something none of us should ever forget. Park Predators is an audio Chuck production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website parkpredators.com and you can also follow park predators on Instagram arcpredators. So what do you think Chuck? Do you approve?
- [57:34]
Unknown Speaker 1
When living with cancer, it's important to be informed and know what to expect. But finding the right information can feel overwhelming. That's why understandcancertogether.com is here to help. We've gathered practical information and resources based on where you are in your cancer journey so that you can focus on the important conversations and decisions of today. UnderstandCanceerTogether.com helping you navigate life with cancer one moment at a time.
- [58:05]
Ashley Flowers
Hi everyone, it's Ashley Flowers. If you can't get enough true crime, trust me, you're not alone. I recently had a chance to sit down with Anna Kendrick to talk about her directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, which is her new movie about the chilling true story of the Dating Game killer. We also go into how Anna went from being a casual true crime fan to someone who loves getting deep into the details and how personal experiences can shape our empathy for these real life cases. You can catch our full conversation in the Crime Junkie feed by listening to the episode Anna Kendrick is cjaf. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.