Law and Order: UK (2009) s05e05 Episode Script
Intent
In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups.
The police who investigate crime and the crown prosecutors who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Excuse me, what are you doing? Are you Mrs Lerner? No.
I work for Mrs Lerner.
I'm not fussed so long as you let me in.
She wants broadband upstairs.
Fetch.
Did you ring the bell? Do you know, it never occurred to me.
Wipe your feet.
Nice gaff.
It was not before.
Fitted carpets, easy to clean.
Much better.
Uh They want to put a computer in the office and one in the guest bedroom.
Job spec said only one extra outlet.
Haven't they got a wireless router? You have to talk to her.
Mrs Lerner! The man from the broadband is here! Mrs Lerner! Hello! Mrs Lerner! Victims are Elaine and David Lerner.
The cleaner found them.
Right.
Who's the young Elvis? He came to install broadband.
He was waiting outside.
Point of entry? Entry and exit, broken window in the kitchen.
With a blood trail leading back there from the bedroom.
Right.
Have we got anything missing, do you know? The cleaner is doing an inventory and the daughter is on her way.
She's driving down from Leeds.
What a homecoming.
A dozen stab wounds between them and still counting.
At a rough guess, I'd say they've been dead not more than 48 hours.
The wife is still tucked in.
Didn't actually know what hit her.
The husband not so lucky.
Defensive stab wounds on both hands.
Through andthrough.
So, what do you think? Husband wakes up, see's his wife being attacked, and tries to fight back.
"David and Elaine.
Here's to the next 20 years.
" Or not, as it turns out.
Law and Order UK Season 5, Episode 5 "Intent" Our murder weapon is a chisel taken from a tool bag on the landing.
So he entered the house unarmed? Maybe he thought no-one was home.
Heard a noise and grabbed the first thing that came to hand.
Why head upstairs? They didn't interrupt him.
They were still in bed.
Was anything taken? Apparently not.
Jewellery, cash, electrics all still present.
If you went there to kill them, why go unarmed? And if it's a burglary, why leave empty-handed? He had just butchered two people.
Maybe he wasn't thinking straight.
He was thinking straight enough to have a wash before he went.
And he wiped the chisel before he dropped it.
So no prints, then.
Not on the murder weapon, guv, but elsewhere we're spoiled for choice.
We've got 38 sets of unknown prints.
Popular couple.
They were renovating the house, it was crawling with workmen.
But this is what we're concentrating on.
It's a partial thumb print on the headboard.
Mrs Lerner's blood.
It's a good match to another partial found near the broken window.
Except it's not on the system.
Print everyone who's worked on that house.
Any word from the daughter? We're meeting her at the house.
I'd like to talk to forensics regarding the MO.
Although the prints haven't turned up on the system, anything this brutal might ring bells.
Get to it.
Ta.
What? I get the grieving daughter.
And you go down the lab to have a cup of tea with Eleanor? Andy, my boy, talk about delegation, it's an art.
It's a joke.
Female vic definitely went first.
The angle of the wound suggests he was on the bed straddling her.
So, what he pinned her down? Pretty much.
Not that he needed to.
The chisel went in seven times and never once missed the target.
He hit the heart, stomach, liver and kidneys.
She probably never woke up enough to move.
He wasn't messing around then? Oh, no.
He wanted her dead.
I'd say it was personal.
See this spatter pattern here? To get cast off like this, the weapon has to be moving hard and fast.
This guy was really angry.
And the husband? Same thing.
Another six hits, no hesitations.
I reckon they were dead after the first couple of wounds.
Can you think of a reason why anyone would want to harm your parents? No.
They are lovely people.
Everyone loves them.
Maybe they were having financial troubles? Doing up a place like this can spiral out of control.
Maybe they needed some cash.
Tried to borrow some from someone? No.
My dad budgets for everything.
Right down to the last penny.
This was their dream home.
They wanted to get it exactly right.
It was for their retirement.
When they finally sold the agency.
They were in business together? Sleepytime Sitters.
It's a baby-sitting agency.
Might there be somebody with a grudge? Maybe an employee that you had to let go? David always said treat people fairly and you'll see the best of them.
A lot of our ladies have been with us for years.
You've never had to sack anybody? If someone really wasn't working out, Elaine had such a gentle way of dealing with it.
It was like she was helping them find something they were better suited to.
Bob Mitchell will tell you a different story.
Who is Bob Mitchell? The partner in the early days.
Thought he was a real go-getter.
And that wasn't their way? Definitely not.
They dissolved the partnership.
Six months after he was ditched by the Lerners, Mitchell declared himself bankrupt.
Since then it looks like he's lurched from one failed business to the next.
This is his latest.
While his former partners are making a fortune? That could make a man bitter.
Did you get anything from Ellie? In her opinion, it was nasty and quite possibly personal.
I realised I was in the wrong sector and refocused my goals.
Haven't looked back.
So really they did you a favour? Yes, actually.
Where were you Saturday evening? Around midnight? About 150 miles away.
I was attending an entrepreneurial weekend in Stoke.
Can any of your fellow entrepreneurs confirm that? I wasn't sharing a room but they saw me leave the bar.
Mitchell checks out.
Several guests remember him being drunk and annoying around 11:30.
We have no other suspects? According to everyone, the Lerners are saints.
Not an enemy in the world.
What about the bloody thumb print? We've printed 26 of the workers, guv, but not one of them even comes close.
So if everyone who knew them loved them, what are we left with? An aborted burglary? Orrandom nutter.
Either way Let me guess, we go back to the beginning, and see if we missed anything? Elaine is asleep on the right-hand side, David asleep on the left.
Our man comes in, doesn't touch anything.
Makes his way to the right-hand side of the bed.
He braces himself against the headboard and then stabs her multiple times.
The partial print we have is off his right thumb.
Fine.
Then we've narrowed it down to a left-handed killer.
But then David wakes up, tries to stop him, they fight, he loses, and then he falls backwards over Elaine's body.
So now we have two dead bodies.
Where does he go? What does he do? He doesn't touch anything.
He doesn't steal anything.
No, instead, he goes downstairs and he has a wash.
In the kitchen sink.
Do you need me to move? No, no, you're fine, don't worry.
We won't be much longer.
Although you might prefer not to listen to this.
That's OK.
So he cleans up in the sink.
And then he goes out the way he came in.
Why not just go through the door? It's always double locked.
He wouldn't know that.
Unless he tried it.
But he didn't.
No prints inside or out and he wasn't wearing gloves.
Do you have the keys to the door, please, Elizabeth? The fence isn't very high.
But why didn't he try the door before the window? JAE Security Services.
Elizabeth Elizabeth, sorry.
There used to be another door here, yeah? Yeah.
A big metal security door.
My parents took it out when they did the kitchen.
The house was like Fort Knox.
Right.
And do you know the name of the people that lived here before? A woman called Camilla Mallon.
She was in the papers a couple of years ago after some big hedge fund collapsed.
Turned out it had all been a scam.
Her partners were all done for fraud but she got off.
A lot of people weren't very happy.
That's why she had to move.
Maybe she received some threats.
That's what my mum said.
That's why they got such a good price.
Oh, my god.
Yeah.
Maybe your parents weren't the intended victims.
Did she leave a forwarding address? The threats came from investors who lost money.
They were sent to the office, never my home.
The police didn't think I was in any real danger.
But it seemed sensible to move somewhere with more security.
Some people weren't too pleased that you got off? If it wasn't enough that I lost my marriage, my business and nearly took the fall for a fraud I knew nothing about, then no, apparently not.
What about your partners? They can't have been pleased when you gave evidence against them? They were going down with or without my evidence.
Anyway, they are both still in prison.
You're not suggesting they hired some kind of hitman? What would be the point? Mallon got off on a technicality.
Did a deal with the FSA, ratted out her partners.
That must have made you angry? They conned me out of nearly a quarter of a million pounds.
How do you think I felt? Angry enough to write a threatening letter.
I'd had a few whiskies too many.
Wanted to let off steam.
At the end of the day, she was small fry.
It was the other two who screwed me over and they're behind bars.
Justice was done.
And luckily I can afford to lose a few quid.
That is fortunate.
Our whole life savings gone just like that.
First risk I ever took in my life.
And the last.
Camilla Mallon gets off scot free.
She'll get what's coming to her.
Yeah? I hear you created quite a scene outside the court.
Sounded like you were ready to get violent.
What good would that do? No.
We're taking out a civil action against all three of them.
Me and about 50 other investors.
I'll tell you something for nothing.
That Mallon woman, real piece of work.
In what way? Husband stands by her right through the trial, then she gets off, dumps him and takes him to the cleaners in the divorce.
No-one screwed anyone over.
We just both took out what we put in.
Which wasn't a lot in my case, it's true.
University lecturers don't tend to rake in the cash.
But, hey, we're not in it for the money.
Much like police officers.
You're sure it was Camilla this person meant to kill? It's a definite possibility, yeah.
God.
I just can't get my head round it.
It was pretty frightening when people made threats.
But neither of us really believed them.
So you and your wife, you separated after the trial? And you both moved out of the house? Yeah, that's right.
There was no bad feeling? No row about who got what? No, nothing like that, why? You're kidding? You think I'm a suspect? These are just routine questions.
I was married to Camilla for five years.
I do know where she lives.
And I certainly know what she looks like.
I'm hardly going to mix her up with someone else, am I? We spoke to about a dozen investors who made explicit threats.
But so far none of them really jump out.
It's gonna take months to track down the rest.
The ex-husband couldn't narrow it? No.
He wasn't interested in his wife's business.
Typical healthy marriage.
This is interesting.
Half an hour before the Lerners were killed, a Ford Focus has an encounter with a lamp post two streets away.
The driver of the vehicle abandons it.
Thank you.
And the vehicle is towed away the following morning.
And this is relevant how? Well, it's relevant because said Ford Focus is registered to a Mr Lucas Boyd.
Our lady banker's ex.
Bet he didn't mention that, did he? I'm sorry.
I know I should have told you about the crash.
So why didn't you? I didn't think it was relevant.
And, well, to be honest, I'd had a few drinks.
But I just took the corner too fast.
No-one else was involved.
This isn't about the drink driving, Mr Boyd.
Just tell us what happened.
Sure.
Um I met up with a few colleagues in a bar in Putney.
AndI was driving home with Josh.
Josh Shelton.
He teaches sports science.
And it turns out we should have got a cab.
So you were a five-minute walk from your old house? I suppose so.
It's a bit odd that you were in the same area the same night.
Not really.
I live in Colliers Wood just up the road.
So after the crash, Josh and yourself just headed home, yeah? Yeah.
Well, Josh took a cab to his.
I I felt I needed some air, so I walked.
Lucas said he drove you home, Josh.
I was wasted.
I didn't realise how far gone Lucas was until we got in the car.
Two pint is his limit, he's the designated driver.
But Saturday was different.
He was a man on a mission.
About time, too.
How come? The bloke's been divorced almost 18 months.
We kept telling him to relax a bit, have some fun.
Tell me about the accident.
Not much to tell.
Lucas was driving too fast.
Lost control round a bend, wrapped us round a lamp post.
I banged my shoulder, but nothing too serious.
What about Lucas? He smacked his head against the steering wheel.
Might even have knocked himself out.
But he came round after a few minutes and said he'd walk it off.
Beer.
Natural anaesthetic.
The mate backs up Lucas's story about the crash.
But he couldn't be sure which direction he headed off in afterwards.
Back in the days when I was drinking, I once went on a bender for three days.
Aside from the train ticket to Hull, and a receipt for two hedge trimmers, it's still a complete blank.
Anyway, once I'd staggered home, it took me about half an hour to realise I was standing at the wrong house.
I lived two doors down.
You think Lucas went to his old house by mistake? I don't know but he was paralytic drunk, he'd had a bang on the head, it is a possibility.
But he was used to there being a security door so maybe that made him go through a window.
Why kill the Lerners? If he was still drunk enough to think he lived in that house Maybe it wasn't such an amicable divorce after all.
Obviously I can't go into details, but the fact is he never said a bad word about her.
In my experience, divorce normally brings out the worst in people.
Trust me, it does.
But Lucas, Mr Boyd, he couldn't have been nicer.
That must have made your job a lot easier.
To be honest, it was a bit frustrating.
Why's that? They'd been married five years, he was entitled to half the house.
But he didn't want to fight her for it.
Right.
And have you had any more dealings with him? Yeah, when he was buying his flat, he asked me to do the conveyancing.
But I only do family law so I passed him on to a colleague.
When was the last time you spoke to him? A few days ago.
He'd read about those people getting killed in his old house, said he'd been having these vivid nightmares about it.
When you say "vivid nightmares", he was dreaming that he'd been murdered in his old house? No.
In the dreams he isn't the one who gets killed.
He's the killer.
I keep telling you I was drunk.
I don't remember anything after the crash.
You had a blackout? I don't know.
I guess.
Just take a look at the photographs for me, please, Lucas, if you will.
Why would I do that to those people? I didn't even know them.
I'm not saying that you went there intending to kill them.
Maybe it was a mistake.
What kind of mistake? I know how it can be.
You have a little too much to drink.
You do things you regret.
I'm not an alcoholic.
This was a one-off.
Don't you think I'd remember doing something like that? Not necessarily.
This is crazy.
I didn't do this.
I couldn't.
OK, what about the next morning, then? Lucas, you had blood on your clothes, yes? Well, yes, I cut my head in the accident.
Of course there was blood.
Maybe there was more blood than there should have been.
No.
No, there wasn't.
What did you do with the clothes? I washed them.
I don't know anything about how these people died.
OK.
So, what is it that you see in your dreams? In my dreams? Yeah.
You're joking? Well, you have dreamed about killing them, haven't you? So you tell me in your dream how do you get into the house? You don't have a key.
What do you do? Do you look for a spare? Or .
.
try and get in through a window? You know what I think, Lucas? I think you started to walk home.
Without realising, you ended up at your old house.
I think he could be on the verge.
Then this should push him over.
Prints a match.
You certainly don't notice that your old security door has been taken away.
How would I know that? I haven't been there since we moved.
That's just it.
That's why we went, isn't it? He's our killer.
And he doesn't even remember doing it.
Given the seriousness of the crime and frenzied nature of the attack, we apply for a remand into custody.
My Lord, Mr Boyd has no history of violent behaviour.
He is a well-respected university lecturer with strong ties to the local community.
But with no immediate family nearby and a double murder charge hanging over him, neither of which provide much incentive to stick around.
Bail is refused.
Mr Boyd, you will be remanded into custody.
He's in a state of shock.
He's hardly a flight risk.
Another of your lost lambs? The man has been completely steam-rollered by the police.
There's still his thumbprint in the victims' blood.
Partial.
Which means it's only a partial match.
Close enough to satisfy an expert.
Assuming you can use it as evidence.
Why wouldn't we be? Because of the way it was obtained.
Lucas Boyd was arrested purely to allow the police to take his fingerprints.
Because they had reasonable suspicion based on a reliable witness statement.
A second-hand account of a dream.
An account that came from Lucas Boyd's own solicitor.
Are you claiming privilege? Of course.
It was a personal phone call.
It's a bit of a long shot.
We'll see.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Jacob.
Did you learn nothing from our time together? Mags was my mistress.
Pupil mistress.
And you thought you knew it all even then.
My Lord, the rules on legal professional privilege protect all communications between a solicitor and his or her client.
That may be so but the fact remains that the witness was not under instruction by the defendant.
Miss Byers had previously handled my client's divorce.
So it's reasonable to assume that if he required further legal advice, she would be the person that he would call.
As he in fact did.
He made a personal phone call during which he discussed the murders.
He disclosed personal information believing it would be treated as confidential.
To use it as grounds for arrest was unlawful, so the fingerprints the police subsequently obtained cannot be used as evidence.
I accept your logic, Ms Rumsfield, but issues of confidentiality aside, the print obtained from Mr Boyd proved to be a match.
As I'm sure you're aware, partial prints have been known to be misleading.
Less so, when combined with bloodstains, My Lord.
DNA from both victims has now been retrieved from the defendant's clothing which Miss Rumsfield appears to have conveniently forgotten.
That would certainly seem to reduce the margin for error.
Ms Rumsfield, your application is refused.
My client will be relying on a defence of non-insane automatism.
I don't understand! We know he killed them! He's not even denying it.
So why isn't he pleading guilty? It all comes down to intention.
To get a verdict of murder, we have to show that Lucas Boyd meant to kill your parents.
He stabbed them over a dozen times.
Of course he meant to kill them.
But because he didn't know them and had no obvious motive, the defence say he didn't know what he was doing.
So what? They're still dead.
My mum and dad are gone because of him whether he knew what he was doing or not.
Exactly.
And we're going to make sure the jury don't forget that.
I never met those people.
I've no idea why How does it make you feel? I have nightmares.
All the time.
It's like I'm there.
I can see them.
But I still don't know why.
And I don't even know if the nightmares are true.
I don't even know if I did it.
You still don't remember? So what do you remember? We'd been to a bar.
Josh and I left together.
I remember music playing in the car.
Then I must have swerved or something.
I hit a lamp post and I hit my head.
Then Josh hailed a cab.
And what did you do? I thought I walked home.
But you didn't.
I don't know.
An alcoholic blackout combined with the head injury could have set off his associative episode.
It's possible he didn't know what he was doing and genuinely doesn't remember it now.
Even if he had a blackout, he caused it by drinking.
So he's still guilty of manslaughter.
Except with multiple factors, we can't say which one triggered it.
If it's the head injury, that's a different story.
So he could walk? Never mind the dead couple he left lying in their own blood.
Are we missing the obvious here? The guy got drunk, got worked up, went looking for his ex, but ended up at the wrong house because he was pissed.
He knew exactly what he was doing, he just did it to the wrong people.
There's no conscious motive for wanting to kill the ex-wife.
Maybe he regretted he'd let her walk off with the money.
This was bloody and frenzied.
I'd say the motivation was more primal.
Well, money or passion, they both take us back to the ex.
No, not Lucas.
It's crazy.
Do you still see each other? Occasionally.
We'vetried to remain civilised through everything.
Just because we're no longer together doesn't mean I don't care about him.
You must have both been under a great deal of pressure with the trial? It wasn't like that.
I know what you're trying to do.
You think Lucas must be harbouring some kind of seething resentment against me.
But it's not true.
The marriage just wasn't working.
Yes, I instigated divorce proceedings but it was completely amicable.
According to his solicitor, Lucas only agreed to the divorce because it was Camilla's idea.
That was the basis of their relationship.
She said, "Jump", he said, "How high?" So 18 months later, he has to accept she's not coming back.
He thinks about those years being treated like dirt.
He cracks.
The husband scorned, that we can work with.
So in your professional opinion, Miss Byers, if anyone had grounds for divorce, it would have been your client Mr Boyd? That's correct.
There had been multiple examples of unreasonable behaviour.
They hadn't been on holiday for three years, because his wife hadn't wanted to take the time off work.
And their sexual relationship had ended some time before because of Ms Mallon's intimacy issues.
Yet in the end, he not only agreed to let her divorce him, but he also agreed to an 80/20 split of their assets.
Do you know why he chose this course of action? He told me he wanted to give his wife whatever she wanted.
Then perhaps she'd realise she was making a mistake.
So he didn't actually want the divorce to go through? No.
And yet the divorce did go through? And Mr Boyd was left with nothing but a burning sense of injustice My Lord, Mr Thorne is indulging in lurid speculation.
Save it for your closing speech, Mr Thorne.
Certainly, My Lord.
I'm merely pointing out that the defence of automatism implies that Mr Boyd experienced a total loss of control over his actions, whereas harbouring a grudge and deciding to kill your ex-wife is a very different matter whether you end up in the right house or not.
Have you ever had a drunken blackout? Lost a few hours here and there as a student.
I threw up in someone's garden.
Nice.
But your expert agrees it could have been a disassociative episode.
In theory.
But now we've shown Boyd had a motive for wanting his wife dead, the automatism defence seems too convenient.
So is this where you soften me up, try to get me to lower the charges? Nothing so gauche.
I'm simply buying you a drink to say thank you.
OK.
Thank you for what? Establishing my client's new defence.
We're changing to loss of control as a result of Battered Person Syndrome.
Right.
Who's supposed to have battered who? It appears Mr Boyd was subjected to sustained mental and emotional abuse throughout his marriage.
But like many victims, was unable to admit it, even to himself.
Fortunately, your witness was able to bring the situation to light.
Come off it, Mags.
Male spousal abuse is a serious issue, Jacob.
So it'd be highly unethical to use it as a cynical ploy.
Absolutely.
But what we have here is a genuine tragedy.
Lucas Boyd was as much a victim as the people he killed.
Try and tell that to their daughter.
Battered Person Syndrome? Hoist by your own petard.
She's taken your motive and turned it into a defence.
Why not stick with automatism? At least she had a chance of a complete acquittal.
Failing that, she could have pushed for manslaughter.
What it does is paint Boyd as a victim.
With an unsympathetic jury, he could be looking at murder.
But now instead of an angry bloke, he becomes a nice guy who knocked his head and finally snapped after years of mental cruelty.
It won't work.
He didn't kill his so-called abuser.
He killed the Lerners.
Battered Person Syndrome is no defence against killing strangers.
But so long as he believed he was killing his ex, Mags can argue that the history of abuse is relevant.
Then you'll have to redress the balance.
I want him put away for murder.
The sad truth is, in our society, male spousal abuse is still largely treated as a joke.
And would you say the defendant fits the profile of an abused spouse? Absolutely.
Lucas was repeatedly criticised and humiliated in front of friends and family.
His ex-wife controlled the finances and would frequently withhold money and sex as a means of control and punishment.
So he must have hated his wife? On the contrary, he loved her very much.
He was desperate for Camilla to become more affectionate and for them to forge a healthier relationship.
And yet he wanted her dead? There can come a point where the victim realises he must break free of his abuser.
By violent means if necessary.
And in your opinion, is that what happened on the night of the murders? Yes.
I believe so.
Dr Bligh, how common is it for victims of spousal abuse to ultimately kill his or her abuser? Not that common.
But in some cases People who've been through a painful divorce frequently get drunk and get angry about the past, do they not? Yes, of course.
But Nothing more, My Lord.
Lucas, is it true that your ex-wife abandoned you in the middle of your honeymoon because she decided to return to work early? She was negotiating a big deal.
She said it was bad timing.
And was it bad timing when you locked yourself out one night after a faculty party and Camilla refused to open the door? She had an early meeting so she'd asked me not to wake her.
So you were left out in the cold and rain and had to resort to forcing a window and climbing into your own home? Like a burglar? Despite the fact that your wife was inside? She She felt bad the next day.
And it only happened once.
How many times did she tell you you should get a better-paid job because she was sick of supporting you? Camilla had very high standards.
Something I loved about her.
And how often did she tell you she loved you? She did tell you she loved you? You were married after all.
You were meant to be sharing a life together.
Camilla found it hard to be affectionate.
And that could be hurtful sometimes.
But I knew that she cared about me.
And I loved her very much.
No further questions, My Lord.
Let's leave it there, Mr Thorne.
We'll resume at 10:00am on Monday with your cross-examination.
Of course, My Lord.
Court will rise! Camilla! Camilla! You can't let him upset you.
Did you hear what he said? The depressing thing is the jury seem to be buying it.
A lot of men feel emasculated by a woman being the main breadwinner.
Never understood it myself.
I'd like to be a kept man.
Sadly, Mrs Sharpe is not amenable.
So it all comes down to how many of the jury resent their wives? How many heart strings Mags pulls.
Sounds like she played a blinder.
Yep, the wronged husband intent on defending the abusive wife till the bitter end.
It's a clever choice.
What if he was wronged? What do you mean? I don't know.
I saw Camilla with Josh Shelton outside the court.
Was he offering her support in her hour of need? He wasn't snogging her outside the Old Bailey if that's what you mean.
Far from it.
From the way they were arguing, I got the impression Lovers' tiff? If Lucas thought Camilla had a lover It's a big "if".
Then it could explain why he killed David as well as Elaine.
Mags can hardly run loss of control based on him finding out his wife was having an affair.
The judge would throw it out of court.
OK, then we talk to Camilla.
But if I've got to poke around in the intimate details of the woman's love life, you're coming with me.
I know you must think I'm some kind of monster.
After all the things they've said about me.
But you have no idea.
I tried.
I really tried.
When we first met, Lucas seemed so gentle and sweet.
And then I started to see how needy he was.
He needed constant reassurance.
He wouldn't believe that I wanted to be with him.
He was convinced that I was going to leave him or that I must be sleeping with other men.
Yes, I know.
But he didn't even want me to see my friends.
Tell them about the night he broke in.
Lucas told you I locked him out.
But that's not what happened.
I managed to persuade him that we needed some time apart.
And he agreed to stay with a friend for a few days.
I went to bed and I put the dead bolt on the door.
I woke up at 2:00 in the morning to find him standing at the foot of the bed.
Sobbing.
He had broken through the kitchen window and he was holding a knife.
He told me that if .
.
if I didn't let him come home, then he'd kill himself.
And you believed him? Part of me thought it was an act.
But I could never be sure and that's why I stayed.
But then I met Josh and I knew I had to leave.
For my own sanity.
I just never knew how to tell Lucas about us.
You're sure he doesn't already know? No, there's no way.
We were very careful.
We'd never go out in London.
And if we go away for a weekend, we travel separately.
Even now after all this time? Camilla is still scared about what he might do to himself.
Maybe we're wrong.
If Lucas knew all this time why wait till now to do something? He can't keep his emotions in check.
What if we're looking at it backwards? What if it wasn't slow-burning resentment? What if something happened the night of the murders to trigger it? He got drunk and hit his head.
But why did he get drunk? He never usually drinks more than two pints.
What was different that night? He got drunk on purpose? Maybe he just found out something upsetting and needed to get hammered.
When he drove into a lamp post that could have been deliberate? You didn't have plans this weekend, did you? The police took statements from all the guys at the bar with Lucas and Josh.
And nobody spoke to Lucas about anything more personal than football and university league tables.
However, they all commented that Lucas started drinking heavily as soon as he got to the bar.
Josh was adamant that no-one at work knew about him and Camilla.
Then he must have found out earlier.
But how? Maybe Lucas saw them together.
Maybe Josh turned up for work smelling of Camilla's perfume? Let's stick to things we can prove, shall we? What did Josh say about the early part of the evening? Not much.
He was coaching a rugby match, was running late, so he came straight round to Lucas's, checked a few urgent e-mails, took a shower, drove to the bar.
Checked his e-mails? What, on his phone? I presume so, but I can check.
Great.
You hungry? I'm starving.
Listen to this.
Josh's phone was low on batteries so he borrowed Lucas's laptop.
I checked with the police tech guys who went over Lucas's computer.
You got hold of them on a Saturday? Technology never sleeps.
They called up Lucas's history and it showed Josh logged onto his web-based e-mail account at 6:20, sent a few e-mails, then closed it down.
Ten minutes later, someone went back online and bought a printer cartridge using Lucas Boyd's credit card details, then they called up and logged straight into Josh's e-mail account.
So Lucas went looking for incriminating e-mails? He probably just went to log on, but cos Josh hadn't logged out, just closed the window Lucas went straight into his account.
And saw an inbox full of e-mails from Miss Moneypenny.
When he opened one it would be obvious it was Camilla.
So much for discretion.
Yeah.
Miss Moneypenny and Scrummy Half, not to mention all the references to "L" coping since the divorce.
It's not exactly the Enigma Code.
Also Josh never clears his inbox.
So the e-mails go back three years.
Lucas would have realised everything.
Which gives us sexual jealousy and revenge.
We can get him for murder.
Mr Boyd, it's clear that despite the end of your marriage you still have very strong feelings about your ex-wife.
Yes, I do.
Even during the divorce proceedings, you were hoping to salvage the relationship? I hoped we might be able to work things out.
It must have come as a shock then to find out that she'd been unfaithful and was in fact sleeping with a colleague of yours behind your back? A terrible shock, in fact.
My Lord, this is pure conjecture on the part of Mr Thorne.
These allegations are in no way based on fact.
On the contrary.
I wish to enter into evidence a printout of the e-mail correspondence between Josh Shelton and Camilla Mallon.
A correspondence which clearly documents the couple's three-year-long relationship and which was seen by Mr Boyd on the night he murdered the Lerners.
Was it not, Mr Boyd? I don't Did you or did you not access Josh Shelton's e-mail account on that night? I'm not sure.
After you saw the e-mails you started drinking to work up courage to confront your so-called friend.
I was upset.
So you waited till you had Mr Shelton alone in the car, and then you attempted to drive him into a lamp post.
After that you went to find your ex-wife.
No.
No, it was a mistake.
I lost control of the car.
We've heard a great deal about loss of control during this trial.
The defence would have us believe that because of your loss of control you cannot be held accountable for your actions.
But let's just stop and look at those actions.
Shall we? David and Elaine Lerner were asleep in bed when you broke into their home.
You armed yourself with this chisel and then stabbed them both brutally, and repeatedly, until they were dead.
Of this there is no doubt.
Your clothes were covered in the victims' DNA and your thumb print was found in Elaine's blood on the wall above the bed.
But I didn't mean to.
We know you didn't mean to kill the Lerners because your intended victims were your supposed friend and ex-wife.
The trouble is you had to get drunk in order to go through with it.
And became so intoxicated that you mistakenly broke into your old house where, consumed with rage and jealousy, you brutally murdered two innocent strangers! David and Elaine Lerner! Believing them to be your ex-wife and her lover.
No.
No, that isn't what happened.
I was upset, yeah.
OK, but I had a right to be.
I'd have done anything for you.
You know that.
And all the time, you were with him.
I hadI had to show you how much you'd hurt me.
When I realised it wasn't you in the bed, I was so relieved.
I love you so much, Camilla.
If I'd killed you, I couldn't have lived with myself.
And yet you feel no such guilt about the Lerners? Would the defendant please stand? Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed? Yes.
On count one, the murder of Elaine Lerner.
Do you find the defendant Mr Boyd guilty .
.
or not guilty? Guilty.
And on count two, the murder of David Lerner, do you find the defendant Mr Boyd guilty or not guilty? Guilty.
'Talk about passive aggressive.
' The guy was still controlling his ex-wife two years after their divorce and he's allowed to accuse her of mental abuse.
Given how things ended up, aggressive definitely won over passive.
Do you think Lucas knew he'd done it all along? Maybe he only started remembering during the trial.
That's one hell of a flashback.
The police who investigate crime and the crown prosecutors who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Excuse me, what are you doing? Are you Mrs Lerner? No.
I work for Mrs Lerner.
I'm not fussed so long as you let me in.
She wants broadband upstairs.
Fetch.
Did you ring the bell? Do you know, it never occurred to me.
Wipe your feet.
Nice gaff.
It was not before.
Fitted carpets, easy to clean.
Much better.
Uh They want to put a computer in the office and one in the guest bedroom.
Job spec said only one extra outlet.
Haven't they got a wireless router? You have to talk to her.
Mrs Lerner! The man from the broadband is here! Mrs Lerner! Hello! Mrs Lerner! Victims are Elaine and David Lerner.
The cleaner found them.
Right.
Who's the young Elvis? He came to install broadband.
He was waiting outside.
Point of entry? Entry and exit, broken window in the kitchen.
With a blood trail leading back there from the bedroom.
Right.
Have we got anything missing, do you know? The cleaner is doing an inventory and the daughter is on her way.
She's driving down from Leeds.
What a homecoming.
A dozen stab wounds between them and still counting.
At a rough guess, I'd say they've been dead not more than 48 hours.
The wife is still tucked in.
Didn't actually know what hit her.
The husband not so lucky.
Defensive stab wounds on both hands.
Through andthrough.
So, what do you think? Husband wakes up, see's his wife being attacked, and tries to fight back.
"David and Elaine.
Here's to the next 20 years.
" Or not, as it turns out.
Law and Order UK Season 5, Episode 5 "Intent" Our murder weapon is a chisel taken from a tool bag on the landing.
So he entered the house unarmed? Maybe he thought no-one was home.
Heard a noise and grabbed the first thing that came to hand.
Why head upstairs? They didn't interrupt him.
They were still in bed.
Was anything taken? Apparently not.
Jewellery, cash, electrics all still present.
If you went there to kill them, why go unarmed? And if it's a burglary, why leave empty-handed? He had just butchered two people.
Maybe he wasn't thinking straight.
He was thinking straight enough to have a wash before he went.
And he wiped the chisel before he dropped it.
So no prints, then.
Not on the murder weapon, guv, but elsewhere we're spoiled for choice.
We've got 38 sets of unknown prints.
Popular couple.
They were renovating the house, it was crawling with workmen.
But this is what we're concentrating on.
It's a partial thumb print on the headboard.
Mrs Lerner's blood.
It's a good match to another partial found near the broken window.
Except it's not on the system.
Print everyone who's worked on that house.
Any word from the daughter? We're meeting her at the house.
I'd like to talk to forensics regarding the MO.
Although the prints haven't turned up on the system, anything this brutal might ring bells.
Get to it.
Ta.
What? I get the grieving daughter.
And you go down the lab to have a cup of tea with Eleanor? Andy, my boy, talk about delegation, it's an art.
It's a joke.
Female vic definitely went first.
The angle of the wound suggests he was on the bed straddling her.
So, what he pinned her down? Pretty much.
Not that he needed to.
The chisel went in seven times and never once missed the target.
He hit the heart, stomach, liver and kidneys.
She probably never woke up enough to move.
He wasn't messing around then? Oh, no.
He wanted her dead.
I'd say it was personal.
See this spatter pattern here? To get cast off like this, the weapon has to be moving hard and fast.
This guy was really angry.
And the husband? Same thing.
Another six hits, no hesitations.
I reckon they were dead after the first couple of wounds.
Can you think of a reason why anyone would want to harm your parents? No.
They are lovely people.
Everyone loves them.
Maybe they were having financial troubles? Doing up a place like this can spiral out of control.
Maybe they needed some cash.
Tried to borrow some from someone? No.
My dad budgets for everything.
Right down to the last penny.
This was their dream home.
They wanted to get it exactly right.
It was for their retirement.
When they finally sold the agency.
They were in business together? Sleepytime Sitters.
It's a baby-sitting agency.
Might there be somebody with a grudge? Maybe an employee that you had to let go? David always said treat people fairly and you'll see the best of them.
A lot of our ladies have been with us for years.
You've never had to sack anybody? If someone really wasn't working out, Elaine had such a gentle way of dealing with it.
It was like she was helping them find something they were better suited to.
Bob Mitchell will tell you a different story.
Who is Bob Mitchell? The partner in the early days.
Thought he was a real go-getter.
And that wasn't their way? Definitely not.
They dissolved the partnership.
Six months after he was ditched by the Lerners, Mitchell declared himself bankrupt.
Since then it looks like he's lurched from one failed business to the next.
This is his latest.
While his former partners are making a fortune? That could make a man bitter.
Did you get anything from Ellie? In her opinion, it was nasty and quite possibly personal.
I realised I was in the wrong sector and refocused my goals.
Haven't looked back.
So really they did you a favour? Yes, actually.
Where were you Saturday evening? Around midnight? About 150 miles away.
I was attending an entrepreneurial weekend in Stoke.
Can any of your fellow entrepreneurs confirm that? I wasn't sharing a room but they saw me leave the bar.
Mitchell checks out.
Several guests remember him being drunk and annoying around 11:30.
We have no other suspects? According to everyone, the Lerners are saints.
Not an enemy in the world.
What about the bloody thumb print? We've printed 26 of the workers, guv, but not one of them even comes close.
So if everyone who knew them loved them, what are we left with? An aborted burglary? Orrandom nutter.
Either way Let me guess, we go back to the beginning, and see if we missed anything? Elaine is asleep on the right-hand side, David asleep on the left.
Our man comes in, doesn't touch anything.
Makes his way to the right-hand side of the bed.
He braces himself against the headboard and then stabs her multiple times.
The partial print we have is off his right thumb.
Fine.
Then we've narrowed it down to a left-handed killer.
But then David wakes up, tries to stop him, they fight, he loses, and then he falls backwards over Elaine's body.
So now we have two dead bodies.
Where does he go? What does he do? He doesn't touch anything.
He doesn't steal anything.
No, instead, he goes downstairs and he has a wash.
In the kitchen sink.
Do you need me to move? No, no, you're fine, don't worry.
We won't be much longer.
Although you might prefer not to listen to this.
That's OK.
So he cleans up in the sink.
And then he goes out the way he came in.
Why not just go through the door? It's always double locked.
He wouldn't know that.
Unless he tried it.
But he didn't.
No prints inside or out and he wasn't wearing gloves.
Do you have the keys to the door, please, Elizabeth? The fence isn't very high.
But why didn't he try the door before the window? JAE Security Services.
Elizabeth Elizabeth, sorry.
There used to be another door here, yeah? Yeah.
A big metal security door.
My parents took it out when they did the kitchen.
The house was like Fort Knox.
Right.
And do you know the name of the people that lived here before? A woman called Camilla Mallon.
She was in the papers a couple of years ago after some big hedge fund collapsed.
Turned out it had all been a scam.
Her partners were all done for fraud but she got off.
A lot of people weren't very happy.
That's why she had to move.
Maybe she received some threats.
That's what my mum said.
That's why they got such a good price.
Oh, my god.
Yeah.
Maybe your parents weren't the intended victims.
Did she leave a forwarding address? The threats came from investors who lost money.
They were sent to the office, never my home.
The police didn't think I was in any real danger.
But it seemed sensible to move somewhere with more security.
Some people weren't too pleased that you got off? If it wasn't enough that I lost my marriage, my business and nearly took the fall for a fraud I knew nothing about, then no, apparently not.
What about your partners? They can't have been pleased when you gave evidence against them? They were going down with or without my evidence.
Anyway, they are both still in prison.
You're not suggesting they hired some kind of hitman? What would be the point? Mallon got off on a technicality.
Did a deal with the FSA, ratted out her partners.
That must have made you angry? They conned me out of nearly a quarter of a million pounds.
How do you think I felt? Angry enough to write a threatening letter.
I'd had a few whiskies too many.
Wanted to let off steam.
At the end of the day, she was small fry.
It was the other two who screwed me over and they're behind bars.
Justice was done.
And luckily I can afford to lose a few quid.
That is fortunate.
Our whole life savings gone just like that.
First risk I ever took in my life.
And the last.
Camilla Mallon gets off scot free.
She'll get what's coming to her.
Yeah? I hear you created quite a scene outside the court.
Sounded like you were ready to get violent.
What good would that do? No.
We're taking out a civil action against all three of them.
Me and about 50 other investors.
I'll tell you something for nothing.
That Mallon woman, real piece of work.
In what way? Husband stands by her right through the trial, then she gets off, dumps him and takes him to the cleaners in the divorce.
No-one screwed anyone over.
We just both took out what we put in.
Which wasn't a lot in my case, it's true.
University lecturers don't tend to rake in the cash.
But, hey, we're not in it for the money.
Much like police officers.
You're sure it was Camilla this person meant to kill? It's a definite possibility, yeah.
God.
I just can't get my head round it.
It was pretty frightening when people made threats.
But neither of us really believed them.
So you and your wife, you separated after the trial? And you both moved out of the house? Yeah, that's right.
There was no bad feeling? No row about who got what? No, nothing like that, why? You're kidding? You think I'm a suspect? These are just routine questions.
I was married to Camilla for five years.
I do know where she lives.
And I certainly know what she looks like.
I'm hardly going to mix her up with someone else, am I? We spoke to about a dozen investors who made explicit threats.
But so far none of them really jump out.
It's gonna take months to track down the rest.
The ex-husband couldn't narrow it? No.
He wasn't interested in his wife's business.
Typical healthy marriage.
This is interesting.
Half an hour before the Lerners were killed, a Ford Focus has an encounter with a lamp post two streets away.
The driver of the vehicle abandons it.
Thank you.
And the vehicle is towed away the following morning.
And this is relevant how? Well, it's relevant because said Ford Focus is registered to a Mr Lucas Boyd.
Our lady banker's ex.
Bet he didn't mention that, did he? I'm sorry.
I know I should have told you about the crash.
So why didn't you? I didn't think it was relevant.
And, well, to be honest, I'd had a few drinks.
But I just took the corner too fast.
No-one else was involved.
This isn't about the drink driving, Mr Boyd.
Just tell us what happened.
Sure.
Um I met up with a few colleagues in a bar in Putney.
AndI was driving home with Josh.
Josh Shelton.
He teaches sports science.
And it turns out we should have got a cab.
So you were a five-minute walk from your old house? I suppose so.
It's a bit odd that you were in the same area the same night.
Not really.
I live in Colliers Wood just up the road.
So after the crash, Josh and yourself just headed home, yeah? Yeah.
Well, Josh took a cab to his.
I I felt I needed some air, so I walked.
Lucas said he drove you home, Josh.
I was wasted.
I didn't realise how far gone Lucas was until we got in the car.
Two pint is his limit, he's the designated driver.
But Saturday was different.
He was a man on a mission.
About time, too.
How come? The bloke's been divorced almost 18 months.
We kept telling him to relax a bit, have some fun.
Tell me about the accident.
Not much to tell.
Lucas was driving too fast.
Lost control round a bend, wrapped us round a lamp post.
I banged my shoulder, but nothing too serious.
What about Lucas? He smacked his head against the steering wheel.
Might even have knocked himself out.
But he came round after a few minutes and said he'd walk it off.
Beer.
Natural anaesthetic.
The mate backs up Lucas's story about the crash.
But he couldn't be sure which direction he headed off in afterwards.
Back in the days when I was drinking, I once went on a bender for three days.
Aside from the train ticket to Hull, and a receipt for two hedge trimmers, it's still a complete blank.
Anyway, once I'd staggered home, it took me about half an hour to realise I was standing at the wrong house.
I lived two doors down.
You think Lucas went to his old house by mistake? I don't know but he was paralytic drunk, he'd had a bang on the head, it is a possibility.
But he was used to there being a security door so maybe that made him go through a window.
Why kill the Lerners? If he was still drunk enough to think he lived in that house Maybe it wasn't such an amicable divorce after all.
Obviously I can't go into details, but the fact is he never said a bad word about her.
In my experience, divorce normally brings out the worst in people.
Trust me, it does.
But Lucas, Mr Boyd, he couldn't have been nicer.
That must have made your job a lot easier.
To be honest, it was a bit frustrating.
Why's that? They'd been married five years, he was entitled to half the house.
But he didn't want to fight her for it.
Right.
And have you had any more dealings with him? Yeah, when he was buying his flat, he asked me to do the conveyancing.
But I only do family law so I passed him on to a colleague.
When was the last time you spoke to him? A few days ago.
He'd read about those people getting killed in his old house, said he'd been having these vivid nightmares about it.
When you say "vivid nightmares", he was dreaming that he'd been murdered in his old house? No.
In the dreams he isn't the one who gets killed.
He's the killer.
I keep telling you I was drunk.
I don't remember anything after the crash.
You had a blackout? I don't know.
I guess.
Just take a look at the photographs for me, please, Lucas, if you will.
Why would I do that to those people? I didn't even know them.
I'm not saying that you went there intending to kill them.
Maybe it was a mistake.
What kind of mistake? I know how it can be.
You have a little too much to drink.
You do things you regret.
I'm not an alcoholic.
This was a one-off.
Don't you think I'd remember doing something like that? Not necessarily.
This is crazy.
I didn't do this.
I couldn't.
OK, what about the next morning, then? Lucas, you had blood on your clothes, yes? Well, yes, I cut my head in the accident.
Of course there was blood.
Maybe there was more blood than there should have been.
No.
No, there wasn't.
What did you do with the clothes? I washed them.
I don't know anything about how these people died.
OK.
So, what is it that you see in your dreams? In my dreams? Yeah.
You're joking? Well, you have dreamed about killing them, haven't you? So you tell me in your dream how do you get into the house? You don't have a key.
What do you do? Do you look for a spare? Or .
.
try and get in through a window? You know what I think, Lucas? I think you started to walk home.
Without realising, you ended up at your old house.
I think he could be on the verge.
Then this should push him over.
Prints a match.
You certainly don't notice that your old security door has been taken away.
How would I know that? I haven't been there since we moved.
That's just it.
That's why we went, isn't it? He's our killer.
And he doesn't even remember doing it.
Given the seriousness of the crime and frenzied nature of the attack, we apply for a remand into custody.
My Lord, Mr Boyd has no history of violent behaviour.
He is a well-respected university lecturer with strong ties to the local community.
But with no immediate family nearby and a double murder charge hanging over him, neither of which provide much incentive to stick around.
Bail is refused.
Mr Boyd, you will be remanded into custody.
He's in a state of shock.
He's hardly a flight risk.
Another of your lost lambs? The man has been completely steam-rollered by the police.
There's still his thumbprint in the victims' blood.
Partial.
Which means it's only a partial match.
Close enough to satisfy an expert.
Assuming you can use it as evidence.
Why wouldn't we be? Because of the way it was obtained.
Lucas Boyd was arrested purely to allow the police to take his fingerprints.
Because they had reasonable suspicion based on a reliable witness statement.
A second-hand account of a dream.
An account that came from Lucas Boyd's own solicitor.
Are you claiming privilege? Of course.
It was a personal phone call.
It's a bit of a long shot.
We'll see.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Jacob.
Did you learn nothing from our time together? Mags was my mistress.
Pupil mistress.
And you thought you knew it all even then.
My Lord, the rules on legal professional privilege protect all communications between a solicitor and his or her client.
That may be so but the fact remains that the witness was not under instruction by the defendant.
Miss Byers had previously handled my client's divorce.
So it's reasonable to assume that if he required further legal advice, she would be the person that he would call.
As he in fact did.
He made a personal phone call during which he discussed the murders.
He disclosed personal information believing it would be treated as confidential.
To use it as grounds for arrest was unlawful, so the fingerprints the police subsequently obtained cannot be used as evidence.
I accept your logic, Ms Rumsfield, but issues of confidentiality aside, the print obtained from Mr Boyd proved to be a match.
As I'm sure you're aware, partial prints have been known to be misleading.
Less so, when combined with bloodstains, My Lord.
DNA from both victims has now been retrieved from the defendant's clothing which Miss Rumsfield appears to have conveniently forgotten.
That would certainly seem to reduce the margin for error.
Ms Rumsfield, your application is refused.
My client will be relying on a defence of non-insane automatism.
I don't understand! We know he killed them! He's not even denying it.
So why isn't he pleading guilty? It all comes down to intention.
To get a verdict of murder, we have to show that Lucas Boyd meant to kill your parents.
He stabbed them over a dozen times.
Of course he meant to kill them.
But because he didn't know them and had no obvious motive, the defence say he didn't know what he was doing.
So what? They're still dead.
My mum and dad are gone because of him whether he knew what he was doing or not.
Exactly.
And we're going to make sure the jury don't forget that.
I never met those people.
I've no idea why How does it make you feel? I have nightmares.
All the time.
It's like I'm there.
I can see them.
But I still don't know why.
And I don't even know if the nightmares are true.
I don't even know if I did it.
You still don't remember? So what do you remember? We'd been to a bar.
Josh and I left together.
I remember music playing in the car.
Then I must have swerved or something.
I hit a lamp post and I hit my head.
Then Josh hailed a cab.
And what did you do? I thought I walked home.
But you didn't.
I don't know.
An alcoholic blackout combined with the head injury could have set off his associative episode.
It's possible he didn't know what he was doing and genuinely doesn't remember it now.
Even if he had a blackout, he caused it by drinking.
So he's still guilty of manslaughter.
Except with multiple factors, we can't say which one triggered it.
If it's the head injury, that's a different story.
So he could walk? Never mind the dead couple he left lying in their own blood.
Are we missing the obvious here? The guy got drunk, got worked up, went looking for his ex, but ended up at the wrong house because he was pissed.
He knew exactly what he was doing, he just did it to the wrong people.
There's no conscious motive for wanting to kill the ex-wife.
Maybe he regretted he'd let her walk off with the money.
This was bloody and frenzied.
I'd say the motivation was more primal.
Well, money or passion, they both take us back to the ex.
No, not Lucas.
It's crazy.
Do you still see each other? Occasionally.
We'vetried to remain civilised through everything.
Just because we're no longer together doesn't mean I don't care about him.
You must have both been under a great deal of pressure with the trial? It wasn't like that.
I know what you're trying to do.
You think Lucas must be harbouring some kind of seething resentment against me.
But it's not true.
The marriage just wasn't working.
Yes, I instigated divorce proceedings but it was completely amicable.
According to his solicitor, Lucas only agreed to the divorce because it was Camilla's idea.
That was the basis of their relationship.
She said, "Jump", he said, "How high?" So 18 months later, he has to accept she's not coming back.
He thinks about those years being treated like dirt.
He cracks.
The husband scorned, that we can work with.
So in your professional opinion, Miss Byers, if anyone had grounds for divorce, it would have been your client Mr Boyd? That's correct.
There had been multiple examples of unreasonable behaviour.
They hadn't been on holiday for three years, because his wife hadn't wanted to take the time off work.
And their sexual relationship had ended some time before because of Ms Mallon's intimacy issues.
Yet in the end, he not only agreed to let her divorce him, but he also agreed to an 80/20 split of their assets.
Do you know why he chose this course of action? He told me he wanted to give his wife whatever she wanted.
Then perhaps she'd realise she was making a mistake.
So he didn't actually want the divorce to go through? No.
And yet the divorce did go through? And Mr Boyd was left with nothing but a burning sense of injustice My Lord, Mr Thorne is indulging in lurid speculation.
Save it for your closing speech, Mr Thorne.
Certainly, My Lord.
I'm merely pointing out that the defence of automatism implies that Mr Boyd experienced a total loss of control over his actions, whereas harbouring a grudge and deciding to kill your ex-wife is a very different matter whether you end up in the right house or not.
Have you ever had a drunken blackout? Lost a few hours here and there as a student.
I threw up in someone's garden.
Nice.
But your expert agrees it could have been a disassociative episode.
In theory.
But now we've shown Boyd had a motive for wanting his wife dead, the automatism defence seems too convenient.
So is this where you soften me up, try to get me to lower the charges? Nothing so gauche.
I'm simply buying you a drink to say thank you.
OK.
Thank you for what? Establishing my client's new defence.
We're changing to loss of control as a result of Battered Person Syndrome.
Right.
Who's supposed to have battered who? It appears Mr Boyd was subjected to sustained mental and emotional abuse throughout his marriage.
But like many victims, was unable to admit it, even to himself.
Fortunately, your witness was able to bring the situation to light.
Come off it, Mags.
Male spousal abuse is a serious issue, Jacob.
So it'd be highly unethical to use it as a cynical ploy.
Absolutely.
But what we have here is a genuine tragedy.
Lucas Boyd was as much a victim as the people he killed.
Try and tell that to their daughter.
Battered Person Syndrome? Hoist by your own petard.
She's taken your motive and turned it into a defence.
Why not stick with automatism? At least she had a chance of a complete acquittal.
Failing that, she could have pushed for manslaughter.
What it does is paint Boyd as a victim.
With an unsympathetic jury, he could be looking at murder.
But now instead of an angry bloke, he becomes a nice guy who knocked his head and finally snapped after years of mental cruelty.
It won't work.
He didn't kill his so-called abuser.
He killed the Lerners.
Battered Person Syndrome is no defence against killing strangers.
But so long as he believed he was killing his ex, Mags can argue that the history of abuse is relevant.
Then you'll have to redress the balance.
I want him put away for murder.
The sad truth is, in our society, male spousal abuse is still largely treated as a joke.
And would you say the defendant fits the profile of an abused spouse? Absolutely.
Lucas was repeatedly criticised and humiliated in front of friends and family.
His ex-wife controlled the finances and would frequently withhold money and sex as a means of control and punishment.
So he must have hated his wife? On the contrary, he loved her very much.
He was desperate for Camilla to become more affectionate and for them to forge a healthier relationship.
And yet he wanted her dead? There can come a point where the victim realises he must break free of his abuser.
By violent means if necessary.
And in your opinion, is that what happened on the night of the murders? Yes.
I believe so.
Dr Bligh, how common is it for victims of spousal abuse to ultimately kill his or her abuser? Not that common.
But in some cases People who've been through a painful divorce frequently get drunk and get angry about the past, do they not? Yes, of course.
But Nothing more, My Lord.
Lucas, is it true that your ex-wife abandoned you in the middle of your honeymoon because she decided to return to work early? She was negotiating a big deal.
She said it was bad timing.
And was it bad timing when you locked yourself out one night after a faculty party and Camilla refused to open the door? She had an early meeting so she'd asked me not to wake her.
So you were left out in the cold and rain and had to resort to forcing a window and climbing into your own home? Like a burglar? Despite the fact that your wife was inside? She She felt bad the next day.
And it only happened once.
How many times did she tell you you should get a better-paid job because she was sick of supporting you? Camilla had very high standards.
Something I loved about her.
And how often did she tell you she loved you? She did tell you she loved you? You were married after all.
You were meant to be sharing a life together.
Camilla found it hard to be affectionate.
And that could be hurtful sometimes.
But I knew that she cared about me.
And I loved her very much.
No further questions, My Lord.
Let's leave it there, Mr Thorne.
We'll resume at 10:00am on Monday with your cross-examination.
Of course, My Lord.
Court will rise! Camilla! Camilla! You can't let him upset you.
Did you hear what he said? The depressing thing is the jury seem to be buying it.
A lot of men feel emasculated by a woman being the main breadwinner.
Never understood it myself.
I'd like to be a kept man.
Sadly, Mrs Sharpe is not amenable.
So it all comes down to how many of the jury resent their wives? How many heart strings Mags pulls.
Sounds like she played a blinder.
Yep, the wronged husband intent on defending the abusive wife till the bitter end.
It's a clever choice.
What if he was wronged? What do you mean? I don't know.
I saw Camilla with Josh Shelton outside the court.
Was he offering her support in her hour of need? He wasn't snogging her outside the Old Bailey if that's what you mean.
Far from it.
From the way they were arguing, I got the impression Lovers' tiff? If Lucas thought Camilla had a lover It's a big "if".
Then it could explain why he killed David as well as Elaine.
Mags can hardly run loss of control based on him finding out his wife was having an affair.
The judge would throw it out of court.
OK, then we talk to Camilla.
But if I've got to poke around in the intimate details of the woman's love life, you're coming with me.
I know you must think I'm some kind of monster.
After all the things they've said about me.
But you have no idea.
I tried.
I really tried.
When we first met, Lucas seemed so gentle and sweet.
And then I started to see how needy he was.
He needed constant reassurance.
He wouldn't believe that I wanted to be with him.
He was convinced that I was going to leave him or that I must be sleeping with other men.
Yes, I know.
But he didn't even want me to see my friends.
Tell them about the night he broke in.
Lucas told you I locked him out.
But that's not what happened.
I managed to persuade him that we needed some time apart.
And he agreed to stay with a friend for a few days.
I went to bed and I put the dead bolt on the door.
I woke up at 2:00 in the morning to find him standing at the foot of the bed.
Sobbing.
He had broken through the kitchen window and he was holding a knife.
He told me that if .
.
if I didn't let him come home, then he'd kill himself.
And you believed him? Part of me thought it was an act.
But I could never be sure and that's why I stayed.
But then I met Josh and I knew I had to leave.
For my own sanity.
I just never knew how to tell Lucas about us.
You're sure he doesn't already know? No, there's no way.
We were very careful.
We'd never go out in London.
And if we go away for a weekend, we travel separately.
Even now after all this time? Camilla is still scared about what he might do to himself.
Maybe we're wrong.
If Lucas knew all this time why wait till now to do something? He can't keep his emotions in check.
What if we're looking at it backwards? What if it wasn't slow-burning resentment? What if something happened the night of the murders to trigger it? He got drunk and hit his head.
But why did he get drunk? He never usually drinks more than two pints.
What was different that night? He got drunk on purpose? Maybe he just found out something upsetting and needed to get hammered.
When he drove into a lamp post that could have been deliberate? You didn't have plans this weekend, did you? The police took statements from all the guys at the bar with Lucas and Josh.
And nobody spoke to Lucas about anything more personal than football and university league tables.
However, they all commented that Lucas started drinking heavily as soon as he got to the bar.
Josh was adamant that no-one at work knew about him and Camilla.
Then he must have found out earlier.
But how? Maybe Lucas saw them together.
Maybe Josh turned up for work smelling of Camilla's perfume? Let's stick to things we can prove, shall we? What did Josh say about the early part of the evening? Not much.
He was coaching a rugby match, was running late, so he came straight round to Lucas's, checked a few urgent e-mails, took a shower, drove to the bar.
Checked his e-mails? What, on his phone? I presume so, but I can check.
Great.
You hungry? I'm starving.
Listen to this.
Josh's phone was low on batteries so he borrowed Lucas's laptop.
I checked with the police tech guys who went over Lucas's computer.
You got hold of them on a Saturday? Technology never sleeps.
They called up Lucas's history and it showed Josh logged onto his web-based e-mail account at 6:20, sent a few e-mails, then closed it down.
Ten minutes later, someone went back online and bought a printer cartridge using Lucas Boyd's credit card details, then they called up and logged straight into Josh's e-mail account.
So Lucas went looking for incriminating e-mails? He probably just went to log on, but cos Josh hadn't logged out, just closed the window Lucas went straight into his account.
And saw an inbox full of e-mails from Miss Moneypenny.
When he opened one it would be obvious it was Camilla.
So much for discretion.
Yeah.
Miss Moneypenny and Scrummy Half, not to mention all the references to "L" coping since the divorce.
It's not exactly the Enigma Code.
Also Josh never clears his inbox.
So the e-mails go back three years.
Lucas would have realised everything.
Which gives us sexual jealousy and revenge.
We can get him for murder.
Mr Boyd, it's clear that despite the end of your marriage you still have very strong feelings about your ex-wife.
Yes, I do.
Even during the divorce proceedings, you were hoping to salvage the relationship? I hoped we might be able to work things out.
It must have come as a shock then to find out that she'd been unfaithful and was in fact sleeping with a colleague of yours behind your back? A terrible shock, in fact.
My Lord, this is pure conjecture on the part of Mr Thorne.
These allegations are in no way based on fact.
On the contrary.
I wish to enter into evidence a printout of the e-mail correspondence between Josh Shelton and Camilla Mallon.
A correspondence which clearly documents the couple's three-year-long relationship and which was seen by Mr Boyd on the night he murdered the Lerners.
Was it not, Mr Boyd? I don't Did you or did you not access Josh Shelton's e-mail account on that night? I'm not sure.
After you saw the e-mails you started drinking to work up courage to confront your so-called friend.
I was upset.
So you waited till you had Mr Shelton alone in the car, and then you attempted to drive him into a lamp post.
After that you went to find your ex-wife.
No.
No, it was a mistake.
I lost control of the car.
We've heard a great deal about loss of control during this trial.
The defence would have us believe that because of your loss of control you cannot be held accountable for your actions.
But let's just stop and look at those actions.
Shall we? David and Elaine Lerner were asleep in bed when you broke into their home.
You armed yourself with this chisel and then stabbed them both brutally, and repeatedly, until they were dead.
Of this there is no doubt.
Your clothes were covered in the victims' DNA and your thumb print was found in Elaine's blood on the wall above the bed.
But I didn't mean to.
We know you didn't mean to kill the Lerners because your intended victims were your supposed friend and ex-wife.
The trouble is you had to get drunk in order to go through with it.
And became so intoxicated that you mistakenly broke into your old house where, consumed with rage and jealousy, you brutally murdered two innocent strangers! David and Elaine Lerner! Believing them to be your ex-wife and her lover.
No.
No, that isn't what happened.
I was upset, yeah.
OK, but I had a right to be.
I'd have done anything for you.
You know that.
And all the time, you were with him.
I hadI had to show you how much you'd hurt me.
When I realised it wasn't you in the bed, I was so relieved.
I love you so much, Camilla.
If I'd killed you, I couldn't have lived with myself.
And yet you feel no such guilt about the Lerners? Would the defendant please stand? Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed? Yes.
On count one, the murder of Elaine Lerner.
Do you find the defendant Mr Boyd guilty .
.
or not guilty? Guilty.
And on count two, the murder of David Lerner, do you find the defendant Mr Boyd guilty or not guilty? Guilty.
'Talk about passive aggressive.
' The guy was still controlling his ex-wife two years after their divorce and he's allowed to accuse her of mental abuse.
Given how things ended up, aggressive definitely won over passive.
Do you think Lucas knew he'd done it all along? Maybe he only started remembering during the trial.
That's one hell of a flashback.