Silent Witness (1996) s24e02 Episode Script

1 Jay Selwyn, been in here nine years.
Victim's cellmate's keen to give a DNA sample.
- What's the name? - Scott Weston.
It's been ten years.
He went on a killing spree right here at the university.
Harry and I got caught up in it.
It's not enough to put him in the frame for murder.
And Jay died of hypothermia.
Jay had a significant amount of DNA on his clothes.
It isn't a match for any inmates.
Jay started having a panic attack.
Lewis was sending someone to kill him, so I hit him.
I'm Dr Lawson.
You're the one advocating for Scott Weston's appeal.
I will fight to my last breath to keep him behind bars.
Even though he's your son? Scott didn't kill him.
Well, no, not necessarily.
What did you say to them? You're a liar! I've got something to show you.
If Scott knew that Jay had an allergy, he could have Just stop.
Can't you see what you're doing? You're allowing yourself to lead the evidence where you want it to go? Testator silens Costestes e spiritu Silencium Testator silens.
♪ First impressions? Looks like the seat of the fire was here by the front door.
That's where the most damage is, suggests maybe a little burning package put through the letterbox by local Vigilantes.
Likely using an accelerant such as petrol or lighter fluid, judging by the speed of the spread.
If you look at the damage here, these have melted toward the left, that can indicate the direction the fire was spreading, in this case, away from the door.
And just looking up the stairs Yeah, the high V-shaped smoke pattern on the wall suggests the fire climbed higher toward the upstairs landing.
We'll know more when I've looked at the full picture, you know.
OK.
Nobody called the Fire Brigade until the fire was quite established.
Too late by then.
Neighbours must have seen it.
I mean, a fire this size would have created a fair amount of smoke.
They didn't care.
Did vigilantes really do this to Scott's mother? - Can we roll her? - Mm-hm.
- All right? - Yeah.
Thoughts? Well, usually in house fires, the victims die of smoke inhalation before the fire itself ever reaches them.
But I'll know more when I do the postmortem.
If you do the postmortem.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Scott.
I know your relationship with your mother was a difficult one.
You do understand what I'm saying to you, don't you, Scott? Your mother has passed away.
Yes, yes, yes, regardless of which, you should have told me you knew Scott Weston and that you were a witness at his trial.
It wasn't relevant, we were investigating the death of Jay Selwyn.
You should have told me as soon as Weston became implicated.
I presented the evidence as I interpreted it.
That's my job.
You are supposed to give impartial opinions.
The emphasis on Jay's injuries causing his death, accusing Scott Weston of his murder, you jumped the gun.
It was a reasonable conclusion that any pathologist might have made at that time, given the evidence.
You're not any pathologist, you were a key witness at his trial.
We should be concentrating on Pamela's death now.
She knew that her son Weston was in custody for the entire time.
You're not pinning this one on him.
It's not all about Scott Weston.
I'm really trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.
Look, I know you've had a tough year here and I know you're stretched, but I've raised my concerns with the coroner.
I won't allow anything to compromise my investigation.
Do you understand? That went well.
How dare you talk about me behind my back? Excuse me? You're the one who didn't disclose your connection to the suspect.
You had no right to tell him.
I told you those things in confidence, Jack.
I won't make the same mistake again.
All right.
Well, thank you for that.
And by the way, I didn't tell him a damn thing.
Maybe he, I don't know, read the case file.
If you're in a mess, it's not because of me.
There are full-thickness burns covering the majority of the body's surface.
The body has a pugilistic attitude due to the flexor muscles and tendons contracting due to the intense heat.
Debris collected from under the one remaining fingernail on her right hand, little finger.
I'll bag and label it for testing, in case it's relevant.
Hello there.
There are definite bilateral fractures of the thyroid horns.
It appears that an appreciable amount of force has been applied to the neck to cause fractures on both sides of the larynx.
Histology should confirm the presence of haemorrhage.
Levels of fire damage, smoke patterning and so on allows us to create a reconstruction and watch how the fire spreads.
So, fire slows down significantly at this point, through lack of combustibles.
Doesn't go over this side of the house at all.
But Pamela's bedroom was burned out.
Yes, this blaze had two seats set alight in two places, once in Pamela's bedroom, to hide the evidence, I suspect, and once by the front door, to make it look like arson.
But the two fires never met.
Right.
Well, look at this.
We lifted the CCTV on the bus stop on Pamela's street.
Look who was in the vicinity on the night she died.
- Ah, Scott Weston's girlfriend.
- Yep.
She came back to the crime scene the next day too, you know.
I have a photo of her.
Well, let's bring her in, and search her place.
So, Paisley, why did you go to Pamela Weston's house? Scott wanted me to talk to his mum.
We're getting married.
He wanted her to know.
Bet she wasn't very pleased to see you, though, was she? It must have been upsetting.
Funny thing about arsonists, they often return to the scene of the crime to admire their handiwork.
That's nothing to do with me.
I wouldn't do anything to hurt Scott.
Enough here to set a house on fire.
The trachea is clear of soot and a healthy colour, suggesting that no smoke was inhaled.
I'll need to check the carboxyhaemoglobin saturation, but first indications are that she was dead before the fire started.
Apparently, Pamela Weston was receiving some quite nasty emails, death threats even, someone using the email Bonnie1984 - "Leave or I'll slit your throat.
" That wasn't me.
Were you hoping to scare her enough that she might just pack up and move away? Scott wanted her around.
Now, that's not what you wanted, though, was it? You wanted her out of your lives.
She had no maternal instinct whatsoever.
She was determined to ruin Scott's appeal.
Is that why you killed her? You OK? Anything you want run past me? Well, we know from the CCTV footage that this is what Paisley was wearing the night Pamela died.
If she was anywhere near that fire, there'd be a trace of accelerant on here, but there's nothing, nothing.
This is the exact same material she was wearing on the night.
There's an instantaneous flash of heat in any accelerant-initiated fire, right, like ours? And that would cause the end of the synthetic fibres to hook over.
Uh-huh.
And it would have placed her at the fire at the point of initiation.
I can't find anything.
I think Pamela died as a result of manual strangulation.
This type of death in burned bodies can be a difficult diagnosis, given the degree of thermal damage from the fire.
But I'm satisfied that she was dead before the fire was started.
So, she was murdered, then.
We can be sure about that.
There was no forced entry into the house, windows and doors locked.
So she let her assailant in willingly.
Anything that might indicate who that could have been? Can we place Paisley Robertson inside the house? Not yet.
Paisley had motive, she had form.
What have we got to place someone inside the house? Pamela had a broken nail.
So it's possible that she tried to fight her attacker off.
I've collected material from under her fingernails, just to check.
Ill take a look, see if there's any DNA present.
That one's a weakling right there.
They're all weak.
Tomorrow? Yeah.
What are you doing? Managed to lift some footage from Pamela Weston's dash cam.
Well, that's Pamela, but who are they, anything to identify them? I think they're the parents of Scott's victims.
With all the interest in his potential appeal, maybe they got together and took things further.
Could this be another group who didn't want Pamela around? OK, thanks, I'll follow this up.
Anything more on Jay's case? No, nothing since the anaphylaxis discovery.
Are we any closer to working out what caused the allergic reaction? I need to do some more tests, but it's difficult.
There's nothing in his notes.
Allergies can happen at any age.
Could be a new thing.
Something he ate, maybe? What was in the stomach contents? Fish, fruit, nuts and seeds.
Didn't the inmates have shepherd's pie that day? So where did Jay get his food? He was off grid for the whole lunch hour, remember? Yeah.
If it was a nut allergy that killed him, I want to know who gave him that meal.
Paleo diet.
This is ridiculous, I wouldn't give my lunch to an inmate.
Well, where did Jay get it, then? I don't know, maybe he stole it from in here.
Seems unlikely.
Why would he be in your office without supervision? We met twice a week at lunchtime.
Why? I was helping him to improve his reading and writing.
No record of that.
Well, it wasn't official work, it was more a personal mission.
Come on, what was your interest in Jay, really? I liked Jay.
He was smart.
He could have turned it around.
I just want to do some good, before they close us down.
I mean, that's why I took the bloody job, to rehabilitate.
That's what's going to keep the public safe in the end.
If I take a swab from you, are you going to turn out to be Jay's sexual partner? Because you certainly had the opportunity.
It was harmless.
It turns out your food might have killed him.
Something gave him an anaphylactic shock.
That's what Jay died of.
Are you accusing me of something? You could clear this all up with a simple DNA test.
I've invested so much of my life, my health, into this place.
I just want to leave behind a legacy.
All right, look, just take your damn swab, I give it voluntarily.
Can you open your mouth, please? You won't find anyone with much sympathy for Pamela here, I'm afraid.
Did you know her well? Our group is made up of the parents of Scott Weston's victims.
Her son killed my boy.
We have footage of your group pushing Pamela around.
What did you hope to gain from that? Her guilt overshadowed our grief.
She wanted to make it all better, make it all go away, but she couldn't.
Said she wanted us all to pull together to protest against the appeal.
Like she was one of us.
Said she could make it all stop, said she had photos.
What photos? I don't listen to her rubbish! Just seeing it was like rubbing salt in the wounds.
Well, I can see why that would upset you.
Why you'd want to get rid of her.
She was receiving death threats from an account named Bonnie1984.
Bonnie was your late-wife's name, wasn't it? Ah, Mrs Selwyn.
We're ready now.
You sure you don't want to change your mind? Henry don't want to come.
- He's finding it hard.
- That's natural.
He looks tough, but he isn't.
Soft inside.
Jay was soft inside, too.
Even prison couldn't harden him.
My boy done wrong.
He did a terrible thing and he knew it.
But other people did bad things and they came and went.
- I ain't making no excuses - No, I know.
but Jay wasn't the only one there that night.
It easily could have been Jay dead and that other boy in prison.
It should be the same rules for everybody.
SHE SOBS My baby DISTANT CRYING You OK? That's my big brother in there.
Yeah.
A lot to take in.
Just give yourself some time.
Mum always made Jay take me everywhere with him.
She was always working and she told him I needed someone to look after me.
"Try to big him up, give him some responsibility," but in truth, I reckon she thought I might keep him out of trouble.
It didn't work.
Were you with him that night? I-I was 12.
He'd just turned 18.
I-I'd never seen anyone cut like that before.
Were you arrested with the other boys? I ran as fast as I could, like a coward.
Nah.
You were just a kid.
I should have waited for him.
You should give yourself a break.
I would've done the same.
You're not your brother.
You're your own man.
Hi.
I thought I might find you here.
You weren't picking up.
You going to go? Keep up, Hodgson.
Oh, God.
Really? I've not got the right gear on! Too quick for me.
So I managed to lift the DNA profile from the material you found under Pamela's fingernails.
Ran it against the Weston victim group.
- And? - Didn't find a match.
SHE EXHALES I'm glad.
They've been through enough.
Yeah.
I can't even imagine what that experience must have done to you.
One of those boys died in my arms.
And what did I do? I went into work and wrote up the report.
And that's what got those people justice, so you did a good thing.
Do you think I'm becoming desensitised to death? Otherwise, how could I do the job? How could I ever comfort Jay's mother, knowing I've held her son's heart in my hands? I think I think you're deeply affected by every single person you take care of.
That's what makes you a brilliant pathologist.
I still can't answer the question of why, though.
Why was it their loved one and not someone else's? Nobody can.
Sure, if it comes to that, why am I here and not Thomas? Thomas.
I don't know why it was him that day and not me or you.
I don't know why you survived the shootings at the university.
I just know that I'll always always be grateful that you did.
I'm sorry.
I shouldn't have spoken to you like that before.
That's all right.
PHONE CHIMES I'll be honest - I was not expecting to find pictures of naked men on here.
There's a bit of video, too.
I think these are men from the prison.
Could that be Jay with the self-harm scars? I'm pretty sure that's Scott, from the scars on his chest.
Well, Pamela told the support group there were photos.
Maybe she meant these.
Yeah, I'm not convinced this is Pamela's phone.
We found another phone in her property, registered in her name.
This one's a burner.
Not registered.
No calls or texts, not traceable.
And who's behind the camera, I wonder? Well, if that is Scott, then he might have told Paisley who it is.
All right, I'll send a car to bring him in.
I don't think any of this is consensual.
Well, if it's sexual exploitation, why didn't they speak out about it? Maybe they thought they'd get something in return.
Privileges? Freedom? What links Jay and Scott is they're both actively trying to secure their release.
How did Pamela end up with this phone? Well, it must be Paisley.
If Scott wanted Pamela to see the evidence, then he would have sent her.
She's his only link to the outside world.
Tell me again, why did you go to Pamela Weston's house? I told you - Scott wanted her to come to his case review.
And how were you going to persuade her to speak up for a son she hadn't seen for ten years? Years she'd spent actively trying to keep him locked up.
Appeal to her maternal instinct.
Right.
So did you take anything with you, to help her maternal instinct kick in? No.
Where'd you get this phone? - It's not mine.
- Did you steal it? Cos you know who this phone belongs to, don't you? No.
What did Pamela say when you showed her the pictures of Scott? When she saw the degrading things her son had been made to do? Did she feel sorry for him? Or maybe she didn't care? That would've been hard to hear.
Never seen it before.
It's nothing to do with me.
We want to help Scott.
We know he's suffering in prison.
You love him, you want to protect him, and we can help you do that.
There's nothing I can do unless you tell me where you got that phone.
I'm not going to make things worse for Scott.
You've no idea.
Charge me and lock me up if you want.
Not telling you anything.
Jack, come and look at this.
Jay Selwyn had an anaphylactic allergy to phospholipase A2.
Bee venom.
So he did not die as a result of the food he ate.
No.
I guess I guess he was stung.
There's nothing in his records about it, so we thought we'd ask you.
Yes, it's true.
He had a bad reaction to a bee sting when he was eight or nine years old.
I wasn't there, they were on the field playing games, I think.
Teacher called an ambulance.
It happened at school? Do you remember a time when Jay was rushed to hospital after a PE lesson? You'd have been about nine years old.
Yeah, of course.
So you knew he had a medical condition, then? He was stung by a bee.
Almost died.
You told me that Jay was having a panic attack on the day he died.
That Lewis was coming after him, so you hid him in the fridge.
Yeah.
Well, he wasn't having a panic attack, like you told me in the hospital.
He was having an anaphylactic reaction.
Oh I didn't know.
If I'd have known, I would've helped him.
I would have helped him.
No signs of a sting.
So how did he come into contact with bee venom if he wasn't stung? This is everything I took from Jay's cell.
I've already been through it once, but wasn't looking for allergens then.
This is fancy, isn't it? Looks expensive.
More your style.
You can't improve on perfection.
Ah.
Guess what the active ingredient is? Bee venom? This is pretty niche stuff.
There's no way this found its way into the prison by accident.
Definitely not into Jay's cell.
A cell he shared with Scott Weston.
Leon Tovey and Jay Selwyn grew up together.
I thought there were meant to be processes in place to stop inmates interacting with people they knew on the outside.
I'm not a mind-reader.
I only have the information they give me.
Fair play.
Oh, by the way, you'll be glad to hear your DNA was not a match, so thank you for your cooperation.
Apology accepted.
They call this the canteen.
The men can spend their credits.
They sometimes come here to order special items.
Toiletries, creams, that sort of thing? In some circumstances, yes.
Do you recognise this? Trying to find out if an inmate ordered it from here.
Jay Selwyn ordered it.
Ah.
Thank you.
Says it's imported.
That sounds expensive.
Said he'd borrowed the money off Lewis.
Right.
Thank you.
Letter after letter from Jay's mum, telling him everything they're doing to get him released.
Parole turned down, appeal turned down, Mm-hm.
"Wrote to our MP today.
Keep the faith.
Don't give up.
" Wait, listen to this.
"The cream you need for your scars is "called Hydrogenetics anti-ageing cream.
"Mum said it's the best one.
" - That's from Henry.
- Henry? Why would Henry want to harm his brother? Is it possible that Henry never intended Jay to die because if Jay hadn't become trapped in the fridge, then he would've needed hospital treatment.
So you're saying he wanted to harm him just enough to get him - into hospital - And break him out of prison.
Where's the nearest hospital to the prison? Marfield Memorial Hospital.
Didn't Mason say that Henry worked in a hospital? Marfield Memorial Hospital.
Bingo.
Henry.
And this, this is CCTV from the hospital car park.
We know that Henry's car number plate was logged entering just after four o'clock, OK? Mm-hm.
That's Henry's car.
I'm telling you, I wasn't working the day Jay died.
Then why did you run from us? I wasn't running away.
I just wanted to get somewhere there were witnesses.
I've been arrested for nothing before.
Looks like guilt, though.
If he hadn't died, Jay would have come to this hospital.
I'm telling you, I was on a graveyard shift.
Four days on, three days off.
Check with my supervisor.
Oh, I did.
We have your door fob being used four times that day.
Nah, that's It can't have been mine.
That's wrong.
I weren't there.
That's Dionne.
Hi, Dionne.
Detective Inspector Mason agreed to give me a moment to return Jay's things to you.
The police are holding Henry in custody.
Henry had nothing to do with it.
It was all my idea.
What happened? Jay was falling apart in there.
I felt sure he was going to kill himself and I I couldn't let that happen.
I tried everything else.
Everything.
So you decided to break him out? I knew Leon would help Jay if he was ill.
Leon's always looked after him.
I just thought if I could get him to hospital Leon did try to help Jay.
He just didn't know exactly what help Jay needed.
Er, Nikki.
Hi.
It took me a while to work out where I'd heard your name before.
I went back over my old notes and, erm well, this is where the tragedy unfolded.
Is there something I can do for you? My publishers are after a second book.
I mean, it's quite exciting, but I wondered if you might let me interview you about what took place here.
I will pay you for your time, of course.
No, definitely not.
I understand your reticence, but it can be therapeutic and it's an opportunity to get your side across, to put the record straight.
I think it's time to move on.
Here, erm Let me give you my card.
It's an old one, I'm afraid.
I had my briefcase stolen last week, but the number is the same.
You just won't be able to reach me at the prison any more.
Those marks on your neck, they look sore.
Would you like me to look at them for you? No, but, erm but thank you.
If you change your mind about that interview, please just give me a call.
He said he'd had his briefcase stolen.
Must have reported it.
- Did you request the police report? - Nothing on file.
Mm-hm.
How are you getting on identifying the men? Slowly.
WHIRRING AND SCREECHING What's that? What? Play it again.
WHIRRING AND SCREECHING I know that sound.
WHIRRING AND SCREECHING Thanks.
Let me take the lead, OK? We're here to get a DNA sample, that's all.
I know.
Well, they should be at the house by now.
KNOCK ON DOOR KNOCK ON DOOR INMATES SHOU KNOCK ON DOOR Hello.
Ah, so it's true.
We heard you were moving on.
Just tying up a few loose ends.
Surely you've got cleaners for that.
I like to leave everything in order.
I've been offered a clinical psychologist role at a young offenders institute.
I feel one can make a real impact on the young.
PHONE VIBRATES Look, what can I do for you? We've come to collect a DNA sample.
Why? We're investigating Pamela Weston's murder and your house is being searched right now.
Oh, I see.
Then, I'm afraid you're compromised on this inquiry, Dr Alexander, having given evidence against the Weston family before, so I'm afraid you don't have a choice, Dr Lawson.
You didn't file a police report on your stolen briefcase, did you? We've got the burner phone.
It's my guess that Paisley stole it and took it to Pamela, hoping that the photos on the phone would shock her into feeling sorry for Scott.
And you knew that Pamela could use those photos to discredit you and end Scott's appeal.
Discredit me for what? For helping him? For being there for him? Helping him? I care about Scott.
SHE SCOFFS - And what about Jay? It wasn't the same with Jay.
Here we go, boys! Come on, then! Come on! Get in there! Hold him back! ALARM BLARES I'm just going to see what's going on.
I'll be right back.
We need to get out of here.
Where to? Come with me.
Come on! BUZZING No! No! I'll l right back! No, you can't leave me here! - Get her out of here! - We'll get you some help! - Get her out! - Come with me.
What do we do? Follow me.
Taylor! Taylor! SHOUTING Here.
Taylor! Taylor! DOOR RATTLES Taylor! Get out here! BANGING ON DOOR You promised you'd get me out.
You promised me! Now you're leaving me behind.
You're the reason Jay killed himself.
I tried.
You'd be on your way to a low-security unit by now if it wasn't for her.
Scott think about this.
Your mum My mum what?! SHE WHIMPERS What?! She hated me! No! She was just trying to help the people you hurt! Think about what he was doing to you, Scott.
And to Jay.
He just didn't want anyone to find out.
That's why he strangled your mum.
And then he set fire to her body.
It's the truth, Scott.
We know she tried to fight back.
She had DNA under her nails from the person who attacked her.
The same DNA we found on Jay.
His DNA.
It's all lies, Scott.
They don't even have my DNA on file.
Show him the scratches on your neck, then.
The scratches your mum made when she was fighting for her life.
Taylor! Come on! He's down here! He's down here! HE GROANS This is what it feels like when you bleed to death.
You do have empathy.
I saw it.
It affected you when you heard how your mum died.
You know what that tells me? Whatever you've done, you did because you wanted to.
Do you know what that tells me? You started to feel sorry for me, didn't you? You won't let me die.
DISTANT SIREN As we deal with the science of the human body, we're searching for evidence, for facts to understand the last minutes of someone's life, the cause of their death.
But we also deal with the living.
Our search for the truth doesn't always turn out to be what we expect or what others want it to be.
It can lead to places that loved ones don't want to go to.
It can be painful and sometimes destroy what they know and love.
But let's not forget, it can also provide answers bring closure and in some cases redemption.
The last time I was here, you, Ollie, asked me a question, and I answered that a good pathologist shouldn't be affected by death.
And I've thought about that a lot because it's not actually true.
It is hard sometimes, when you see as much horror as we do, and sometimes we need help to process the things we see.
And that's OK.
So I'm sorry.
I made a mistake, but to err is human.
To forgive, divine.
It never ceases to amaze me what human beings are capable of doing to each other, and that's why our work is so necessary.
It's definitely not always pleasant and not many people would choose to do it.
But it is vitally important because someone needs to speak for the dead.
Testator silens Costestes e spiritu Silencium ♪