The jury in the Clydach murder retrial has been told they will never forget what were described as the worst murders Wales has ever seen. A preliminary hearing in her case was set for April 23, 2018. But he was in his late thirties, had not been in trouble for some years, and appeared to earn his living as a laborer. The alternative suspects came from within their own ranks officers (and twin brothers) Stuart and Stephen Lewis, and Stephen's wife Alison. "I became the devil," she tells a new documentary. In 2007, his whole-life sentence which means no possibility for parole was quashed with a minimum 32-year sentence put in its place. All four women had been beaten in the head with a piece of lead piping that had become somewhat of a toy to the young girls, who liked to twirl it around like a baton. You can read here how the shadow of the horrific crime has refused to life from the village. Former builder David "Dai" Morris - who claimed he had a fling with Mandy - was eventually convicted of the murders and spent 22 years in jail before his death in August last year. He described the sex in some detail. Ahead of the show's launch, here's what happened that night, as well as the arguments for and against David's conviction. Accounts made by two witnesses in a BBC documentary Beyond Reasonable Doubt? Is climate change killing Australian wine? Police have now said an examination of a sock, widely believed to have been used by Morris during the killings, identified the presence of a mixed Y-STR profile that links him or a male relative on his paternal side to the crime scene. A BBC Wales Investigates programme in 2020 spoke to two potential new witnesses and South Wales Police announced a review of elements of the case in January 2021. None of us know 100% that David Morris is innocent - the fact is, we will probably never know for certain what happened in Clydach that night. He died in prison in August, aged 59, having always protested his innocence. Assistant Chief Constable David Thorne, of South Wales Police, said: South Wales Police has shown a commitment to providing evidence-based answers to the issues which have been raised about this case over many years. However, she now believes this could have been the killer returning back to set fire to the house after murdering the family. However, Morris's sister Debra Morris said the announcement did not go far enough: "It's not independent for me. But the doubt surrounding the case means Stuart and his wife cant go out to a local restaurant without people pointing and sometimes verbally accusing him of involvement in the murders. However he was convicted again during a retrial in 2006 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Viewers can watch Murder in the Valleys when it premieres on Sunday February 06 2022. Murder In The Valleys follows the ensuing year of re-examination. Many will still believe there is no smoke without fire.. The man convicted of the Clydach murders has died in prison, it has been confirmed. Morris was convicted for the second time in 2006 and was initially given a whole-life sentence, which was reduced on appeal to 32 years. They had intercourse against the wall, on the other side of which Powers 80-year-old invalid mother was sleeping. The family had been bludgeoned to death with a pole in an "orgy of savagery", prosecutors said, before their house was set on fire in June 1999. After dozens of people were pictured queuing outside a Tenby pub on Easter Sunday, the question emerged - is Tenby equipped to deal with all the people desperate to go there and experience its delights in 2023 and beyond? As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, donations in support of MI and City Journal are fully tax-deductible as provided by law (EIN #13-2912529). I Am Madeleine McCann girl timeline update: McCanns break silence, financial gain claims and reaction to DNA results, Strictlys Giovanni Pernice admits hes so proud over huge achievement: Moments like this I will always treasure, New pictures of George and Charlotte with Grandpa King released, Michelle Keegan unveils very drastic makeover in Bank Holiday snap, Pregnant Strictly star Janette Manrara shares stunning pics from babymoon with Aljaz as she plans to return as family of three. Nothing should have been easier in a small community, where everyone knew everyone else (and not infrequently in the biblical sense). A forensic review of evidence linked to the brutal murders of a family of four more than 20 years ago has been agreed. Either it was true, in which case it suggested something about the morality of the eventual victim, as well as her attitude toward her elderly mother; or, if untrue, it suggested that Morris thought that it would have no effect on peoples view of him because, around here, everyone behaved like this. This was therefore to be their model. Not one of them has got one piece of evidence. Read about our approach to external linking. This case has been looked at and looked at and explored. It is also an account of what seems a miscarriage of justice. But South Wales Police have refused to release the report regarding the DNA to his defence team, which despite his death in August 2021, is continuing to fight for his exoneration. Can you imagine anybody saying I am the monster that did this? South Wales Police said in a statement: "The decision to carry out a forensic review does not constitute a reopening or reinvestigation of the murders, nor does it demonstrate any lack of confidence in the conviction of Morris and the subsequent case reviews. "Those sort of things don't really happen in those sort of communities - close-knit, industrial communities," he says. The only DNA evidence found was hers, in Mandy Powers vagina. Speaking on the biggest murder inquiry in South Wales' history, he said: "I was a serving . It was around midnight on Saturday . He said: It is too late to fully exonerate my name. This commitment resulted in a forensic link between the convicted killer David Morris and an item of great significance which was recovered from the murder scene. No forensic evidence or DNA connected . whether it's definitive proof or if it wouldn't stand up in court). Now a Sky Crime documentary re-examines the murders. Morris has from the first maintained his innocence. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. A blood-stained sock found at a crime scene links the man convicted of the Clydach murders from 22 years ago, South Wales Police have said. Morris knew Mandy Power: in fact, he was having a sexual relationship with her. 'I became the devil': Trauma of woman wrongly suspected of murdering an Speaking on the biggest murder inquiry in South Wales history, he said: I was a serving police officer 22 years ago, who was wrongfully arrested for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. A forensic review of evidence linked to the brutal murders of a family of four more than 20 years ago has been agreed. But on April 12, local police said they found Katie and her adoptive father shot to death in his pickup truck in New Milford, Conn . By some credible accounts, Alison was jealous and domineering of her newfound partner, Mandy: not that she was faithful to herfar from it. An examination of a sock identified the presence of a mixed Y-STR profile that links David Morris or a male relative to the crime scene. But the police were clearly reluctant to pin the blame on their ownnamely, one or both Lewis twins, or Alison, a former police officer. They claimed the original investigation was flawed. Morris, who died in August aged 59, was . It is tragic that all involved in this high profile investigation were let down by a litany of mistakes and unprofessionalism. Katie Pladl and the Father-Daughter Incest Case That Ended in Murder The true story of the Clydach murders - Wales' biggest police "HMP Long Lartin prisoner David Morris died on August 20," a Prison Service spokesman said. 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It took the jury less than a day to find 27-year-old Desmon Paul Rhea guilty o f shooting and killing . The Clydach Murders, by John Morris, a retired lawyer, is first-rate, as gripping an account of a crime as one is likely to read. They might have sought to protect their own, or those whom they thought were their own; and it was obvious from the outset that, with such a clear conflict of interest, the South Wales Police should have handed over the investigation to another force. An ex-police officer has claimed his own force botched a murder inquiry leading to unfounded rumours his family was involved in the killings of a mother, her two little girls and their grandmother. Queen Charlotte review: A Bridgerton triumph, Michelle Yeoh stars in trailer for new Poirot film, EastEnders announces eating disorder story for Ben, I'm a Celebrity airs trial twist for new campers. Firefighters found the bodies of Ms Power and the girls laid out on the landing when they came to tackle the blaze. Now, a new four-part series takes a forensic look at the biggest murder investigation in Welsh history - with Alison agreeing to a TV interview about the case for the first time in more than a decade. THE CASE: The worst mass murder in South Wales criminal history was also the most grotesquely savage. 2023 BBC. The prosecution successfully argued Morris 'flew into a fit of rage' after Mandy had rejected his sexual advances, but there was male DNA found at the crime scene, including on the murder weapon that again did not belong to Morris. Clydach murderer of three generations of the same family in the Swansea Valley village in 1999, Dai Morris' cause of death is still questionable after he died on Friday (August 20, 2021) in prison at the age of 59. Dai Morris' sister vows to clear his name as she speaks out for first Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Clydach murders: Killer David Morris dies in prison - BBC News Morriss first trial ended with his conviction, but it was quashed when it emerged that his solicitor (in England and Wales, the lawyer preparing the case instructs the advocate, who pleads it in court, the two functions being separated) was acting not only for Morris but for the three Lewises, the only other suspects in the case. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? It was later determined the house was set on fire twice in an attempt to conceal the attack the first around 12.30/1am and a second one a few hours later. His rapidly changing story put him in poor favour with the jury, who saw the discussion at the pub and the chain as evidence of his guilt. 2 years ago. 'I became the devil': Trauma of woman wrongly suspected of murdering an entire family in Clydach, Alison Lewis features in a new documentary about the Clydach murders. Copyright 2023 Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Inc. All rights reserved. It will be available on Sky Crime and streaming service NOW. Stuart Lewis was the first senior policeman on the scene after firefighters had brought the blaze at 9 Kelvin Road under control and it became clear that four people had been killed before it was set. Morris had no alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the murders, and frequently changed his story when questioned. Katie and Emily Power, who were murdered alongside their mother and grandmother in Clydach in 1999, Police Inspector Stuart Lewis has broken his 22-year-silence. But no one has ever said what evidence there is against me, Stephen and Stuart, apart from hearsay, gossip, rumours and lies. But they were possibly worse than incompetent. Morris had also previously attacked someone, hitting him with a blunt instrument around the head, but it was later dismissed as the jury was persuaded he acted in self-defence. It would not reflect well on him. Clydach murders: Five years working on a 'hopeless case' His twin brother Stuart, who was a police officer too, was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. Apart from the brutality of the killings, which hardly needs emphasizing (shown a video of the crime scene, one juror fainted, and felt unable to go on; later in the trial, another juror suffered a heart attack and also could not continue), the whole episode was disturbingly unedifying. He had a long string of criminal convictions and had served time in prison for acts of violence as well as of dishonesty. David Morris was jailed for the murder of Mandy Power . Another possible motive was that Power threatened to expose him to his girlfriend Jewell, supposedly a close friend of hers. How has this happened, and 22 years later Im still sat here, defending myself, telling people that Im not a murderer, when all I wanted to do was love her? so when it happened it was like an atom bomb for the whole community . Mandy Power, 34, Katie, 10, Emily, eight, and Doris Dawson, 80, died at their home near Swansea in June 1999. Morris appeared to have no motive to kill Mandy Power or the three others, but the prosecution got around this by alleging that he was drunk and psychotically high on amphetamines at the time and had reacted furiously to Powers refusal to have sex. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. ", Clydach murders: Blood-stained sock links David Morris to scene of killings, police say, David Morris was sentenced to life imprisonment for the Clydach murders. The damage has been done. Clydach murders police officer breaks 22-year silence The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The new evidence emerged after the force appointed an independent senior investigating officer and forensic laboratory to oversee a forensic review of the case material following a request from Morris's representatives last year. The man convicted of the Clydach murders in the Swansea Valley died of natural causes in prison, a coroner has concluded. Clydach murders: Forensic review agreed for evidence - BBC News Campaigners had spent years calling for his release. The Clydach murders investigation was the largest and most complex homicide probe ever undertaken by a Welsh police force. And one should remember that a man with a criminal record is not therefore a murderer, even when a murder takes place near to where he lives. "Due to the advancement of forensic technology we may now be in a position to answer some of the questions which have been raised about forensic issues in this case.". There was not enough evidence to connect them to the crime and the Lewises were never charged. She played the viola. The alibi could hardly be weaker: two suspects backing each other up. The case deeply divided the community for more than 20 years despite the conviction of a local builder. The Clydach murders investigation was the largest and most complex homicide probe ever undertaken by a Welsh police force. Just a month ago Stuart was kicked out of his local gym after a member complained about him being there. But after the documentary aired, South Wales Police said no information had been provided that undermined Morris's conviction. It was a sigh that had been building up for more than a year - and last Tuesday many months of tension came flooding out. Police arrested David Dai Morris for the murder of Mandy Power and her two daughters, Katie and Emily. He then changed his mind, returning to his own house by 4.30am. Murder in the Valleys Clydach - crime series looks at David Morris crime At the least, his guilt was not proved beyond reasonable doubt, and Morris lays bare a story of police corruption and incompetence, lawyerly dishonesty, and judicial unfairnessliberally assisted by local prejudice and a willingness to lie that is, as the outdated saying goes, un-British. The murderer either had a key, or was let in, to the house, suggesting that he was well-known at least to Mandy Power, who, it turned out, was well-known to many locals. A judge has ruled that an appeal on behalf of a man found guilty of murdering four members of the same family, should go ahead. However, this ruling was later overturned on appeal due to a conflict of interest by a defence solicitor. The police investigation was flawed from the outset, which resulted in [Stuart's] reputation and life being destroyed.. The presence of children made no difference to their behavior, and since everyone in that small community was au courant with almost everything, it is unlikely that the children were protected from knowledge of that behavior. Even the bloodied sock has been noted as a 'scientific link', with Steve Carey of Devon and Cornwall police stating in a video posted on Twitter that "the outcome of the forensic assessment has not established any information that undermines the conviction of David Morris". In January 2021, it was decided the police should re-examine the case. She carried on casual affairs with men, including one eventually found guilty of the murders: David Morris (no relation to author Morris). A bloody print on the carpet, made with a gloved hand, fit Lewiss hand better than Morriss. "There are so many unanswered questions in this case that need to be addressed. Monday, 14 February, 2005. "They completely believe he didn't do it and they'll say it's not a question of blind faith," Phillips says of Morris's family. A gold chain that he wore turned up at the murder sitein effect, the only evidence against him, other than his bad character and reputation for violence. In October 2021, after a new independent investigation into the murders was launched, the police ruled the bloodied sock contained 'a scientific link' with Morris. Indeed, the jealous are often jealous because they themselves are unfaithful and suppose that everyone is like them. Murder On 13 Reasons Why. As for the prosecution, it is incumbent upon it to produce a fair caseand not to obtain a conviction, as it appears here to have done, by hook or by crook. @luciabinding. What accounts for this collapse? He tells Sky News: "The headlines were obsessed with Alison because she was a black belt, she was a Welsh rugby international, she'd been a police officer - all those things were tantalising for journalists. South Wales Police said it hoped the review would help the family of the victims move on and "answer the questions posed by others once and for all". But retired Detective Supt Martin Lloyd Evans, who led the investigation, is 100% sure South Wales Police got the right man. David killed Mandy as she lay in her bed, and then waited for the others to return home. During his initial interview, he said the gold chain wasn't his, but was similar to one he had broken about two weeks later while working on a building site. He said: "The advancement of forensic technology has provided the opportunity for evidence-based answers to some of the questions which have been raised about forensic issues in this case, along with other matters raised by the BBC Wales documentary. My brother knew Katie (one of the girls murdered) and had attended her 10th birthday the weekend prior to the murders. 2023 BBC. David then sexually assaulted Mandys body. A judge convicted David of murder at Swansea Crown Court in 2002. As for Alison Lewis, she testified that she had first arrived at Kelvin Road at 9 AM, about five hours after the fire started. "It's torn the community apart. Mandy Power, 34, her bed-ridden mother Doris Dawson, 80, and her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, were found dead by firefighters at . Morris spent 22 years in prison for killing Mandy Power, 34, her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, and her 80-year-old mother Doris Dawson. A year before her arrest, Alison's lover Mandy Power had been found dead along with Mandy's mother Doris and daughters, Katie, 10, and Emily, aged eight. On this occasion, however, jealousy was in a sense justified, for Mandy Power was one for the boys, as a witness put it. Now for the first time in 22 years, Stuart Lewis has spoken about the ordeal that has ruined his life. "One of the difficult things is separating the fact and fiction, the gossip from the truth.". Certainly, the witnesses had axes to grind with him. He said the announcement was "hugely significant". An inquest into the death of the man convicted of the Clydach murders has been opened and adjourned. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, was convicted for the second time in 2006, there have been doubts cast over his conviction, Banana artwork in Seoul museum eaten by visitor, Explosion derails train in Russian border region, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool, JP Morgan snaps up troubled US bank First Republic, Indian 'killer' elephant relocated to tiger reserve, Trump says 'great to be home' on visit to Scotland, Ding becomes China's first male world chess champion, Father tells how gunman opened fire on Texas home. Alison Lewis, who along with her husband Steve was arrested on suspicion of the murders, said she understands his family fighting for justice for him. Read about our approach to external linking. Second, despite a large amount of searching, there was never any definitive DNA evidence that he was in Mandy's home. He had spent the rest of his life maintaining his innocence and appealing his conviction. They have also refused to state exactly how conclusive the DNA evidence actually is on the sock (ie. The blunt instruments that her martial-arts training enabled her expertly to wield can produce injury or death, and it is noteworthy that, in all the multiple blows that the killer inflicted on the victims, not a single one struck the walls, ceilings, floors, or furniture, as one might expect if the killer was an enraged but amateur bludgeoner. Former Inspector Stuart Lewis was held in a cell for four days, interviewed 26 times and suspended for four years after being arrested in connection with one of the worst crimes in British legal history. Even more astonishingly, at neither trial was he called as a witness to explain his behavior. They said: "The loss and grief our family went through and continue to go through is heart-breaking and affects so many aspects of lives. It took more than two years for South Wales Police to arrest Morris, with an 11-week court case securing him four life sentences. He spent 22 years in jail for killing Mandy Power, 34, her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, aged eight, and her 80-year-old mother Doris Dawson. The murders took place at 9 Kelvin Road, Clydach, in the early hours of June 27, 1999. The medical causes of death were given as ischaemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus. Following Morris's death this summer, his family gave permission for a blood sample to be taken from him so the tests could be carried out. What happened was absolutely horrendous - you can't begin to understand the [Power] family's pain and suffering. Morriss relationship with Jewell was volatilethe euphemistic expression for violence commonly employed when a couple exercises little self-controland he feared her reaction on discovering his infidelity. According to Morris, the element of danger, of getting caught in flagrante, excited Power. Alison herself had been in the police force but had been invalided out on disability after witnessing an upsetting suicide. Morris, 38 at the time of his arrest, lived in the nearby town of Craig Cefn Parc, about a mile away from the Powers' home. He also wanted a similar chain to evade suspicion that the one at the crime scene was his. Why would Morris, by now the accused, have made it up? The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. John Morris's new book is an investigation into the Clydach murders in South Wales in 1999 in which Mandy Power, her mother and two daughters were battered to death. His family dismissed the findings and vowed to clear his name. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? Recently, on a short trip to Tenby, the ancient walled town in southwest Wales, I bought a book about four gruesome murders that took place in the village of Clydach, not far away geographically, but very far socially, from Tenby. Mandy was always kind, loving, tried to do her best all the time, and enjoyed her life and her children. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. It would be intriguing to know what proportion of Britains serious housing shortage results from the increasingly kaleidoscopic, and constantly fracturing, nature of relationships in our society.). . It's added the incomplete mixed Y-STR result is "as expected as if Morris had contributed to it". Twenty Years on, the Clydach Killings Remain Horrificand Contested. He was taken in by police 18 months after the murders, when it was reported the gold chain found at the scene was his. They found a perfect substitute suspect in Morris, a man many believed capable of extreme violence. 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David Morris, 59, killed three generations of the same family in the Swansea Valley village in 1999. A scientific link between Morris and a sock, widely accepted as being used by the offender . This content is imported from Twitter. The man convicted of the Clydach murders in the Swansea Valley died of natural causes in prison, a coroner has concluded. #NEWS | A review of issues relating to the conviction of David Morris for the murders of four people in Clydach, in 1999, has identified a scientific link between Morris and a sock which is widely accepted as having been used by the killer. But perhaps the most significant feature of the story, at least to me, is what appears to be the total moral collapse of at least part of Welsh society. At the time of her affair with Mandy, Alison was married to Stephen Lewis, an officer with South Wales Police, who was also arrested on suspicion of the murders. ST. LOUIS COUNTY Two people are dead after an apparent murder-suicide in north St. Louis County.
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what happened in the clydach murders