Robbery, kidnap and murder: but is the grief-stricken husband faking it? Faking It: Tears of a Crime s2e3: Gordon Wardell
‘A man got hold of my wife and was threatening her with a knife.’ ibid.
Nuneaton, in Warwickshire, 1994: Scene of a headline-grabbing crime. The victim: Carole Wardell, 39-years-old, married and a building society branch manager. ibid.
Gordon Wardell had claimed an armed gang had knocked him out and then undressed him. He was found wearing only his underpants. ibid.
Gordon Wardell was doing more to arouse suspicion [frail and in wheelchair]. Wardell’s sense of theatre didn’t stop there. He spoke in hushed tones. And gave colourful descriptions of the attackers. ibid.
They discovered he’d served four years in jail for attacking a women with a knife when a teenager. ibid.
He has looked at it as a theatre-goer might look at a set. ibid. Kerry
* Cliff: He describes the killers as totally evil with a headshake no!
* Cliff: No blinks, has rehearsed
What was labelled the trial of the century: Olympic and Paralympic icon Oscar Pistorius accused of deliberately murdering his girlfriend – the model and TV reality star Reeva Steenkamp. The man who had everything except self control. The man who almost got away with murder. Faking It: Tears of a Crime s2e4: Oscar Pistorius
An overwhelming amount of implausibilities, impossibilities and things that just don’t make sense. ibid. Kerry
The perfect couple’s relationship was volatile from the start. ibid.
‘You do everything to throw tantrums in front of people. I have been upset by you for two days now … I’m scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and of how you will react to me’, ibid. Reeva’s text
Dramatic mood changes, an explosive temper and a fascination with guns. ibid.
Pistorius had fired a loaded gun in a crowded restaurant. No-one was hurt. ibid.
Are you telling me that he didn’t know that Reeva wasn’t asleep in that bed? … I think she took her phone because she was afraid of her safety. ibid. Kerry
Pistorius pleaded that it was a tragic accident and would weep, wail and pray when details of Reeva’s injuries was heard. ibid.
The verdict would be the most divisive of all. ibid.
A boyfriend’s tears but where is Joanne Nelson? A secret journey and the marks that pointed to murder. Faking It: Tears of a Crime s2e5: Paul Dyson
Hull, Humberside, February 14th 2005: Joanne Nelson aged 22. Reported missing from her home. ibid.
According to her boyfriend, he’s said goodbye to her the following morning. His name Paul Dyson. ibid.
He agreed to be interviewed on camera. ibid.
‘Behind close doors he was a violent bully who had a history of abuse against partners.’ ibid. reporter
Now I getting suspicious because the sadness is just being pulled off the face in the fraction of a second … We start to see a smile come on his face. ibid. Cliff
From the moment he contacted the police, Paul Dyson’s story started unravelling. ibid.
* Cliff: long-eye closure, second eye squeeze, attempts sadness to create tears
He marched in front of the cameras and told everyone his girlfriend had gone missing on Valentine’s Day. But was the boyfriend faking it? Faking It: Tears of a Crime s2e5: John Tanner
The 1989 [Oxford] intake included Rachel McLean, an 18-year-old English scholar from Blackpool, Lancashire. ibid.
Two years older, he was studying over a hundred miles away in Nottingham. ibid.
We see all the worrying signs of possession, obsession, of jealousy. ibid.
* Cliff: He said yes but with closed eyes = negates statement
* C: Rolling of lips a reliable indicator of anger
* C: Series of eye closures with positive statement = cancels out
* C: Positive statement with head shake no
A £1.5 million luxury home in Hertfordshire and a visit from the major crime unit. They have a warrant and a body camera. The murder victim one of Britain’s best loved and widely read authors, Helen Bailey. Faking It: Tears of a Crime s2e6: Ian Stewart
Sees the garage door open and he’s trying to work out, Have they recovered the body? ibid. Cliff
An extraordinary story of deception, greed and murder. ibid.
Helen’s health did soon start to deteriorate. According to her internet search history she was chronically fatigued. ibid.
Four weeks into the search her brother John makes a televised appeal. Noticeably, Ian Stewart, the finance who’d reported Helen was missing, does not take part in the appeal. ibid.
He is a cold, disengaged character. ibid. Kerry
He’s manipulating throughout with his spectacles. He’s working hard to try and say the right thing. ibid. Cliff
He was trying to cash in on Helen’s estate. ibid.
* Dawn: Semantic script mode: what someone always does rather than specific day & using past tense
2006: Death on the doorstep: A special police constable stabbed and a husband suspected. Were his television appeals genuine or was he faking it? Faking It: Tears of a Crime s2e7: Fadi Nasri
London, June 2006: Flowers are laid in honour of the young woman murdered in her own home. An intruder had stabbed her in the hallway. They left her bleeding to death on the doorstep. Her name: Nisha Patel-Nasri. ibid.
In 2003 she married Fadi Nasri, a businessman seven years her senior. ibid.
‘What’s wrong with this guy? He was trying to be convincing, and in doing so, that was the last thing he was.’ ibid. editor Crimewatch
He’d recently persuaded Nisha to sign a joint life insurance policy. ibid.
They were convinced he’d hired a hit squad to murder Nisha. ibid.
* Cliff: Single-sided shoulder shrug contradicts words, eyes closed, low volume
* C: A smiling muscle is pulling up his lips. And we call this Duping Delight (the pleasure of getting away with a lie)
* C: Mouth shrug (often with shoulder shrug) = contradicts
When a nine-year-old girl goes missing, a distraught mother appeals for her return. It’s then left to the child’s stepfather to face the cameras. But does his story stand up? Faking It: Tears of a Crime s2e7: Miles Evans
Warminster in Wiltshire, January 1997: One of the biggest police searches in history. The girl’s name was Zoe Evans. ibid.
‘Miles Evans was a private in the Royal Logistics Corps. He was a driver. He worked at the garrison in Warminster.’ ibid. reporter
But his words and actions drew a different response from those present. ibid.
His [Miles] appeal created a very different impression. But was that feeling of unease justified? ibid.
There’s a movement of the upper arm. This suggests that he’s manipulating on his knee. This is something we do to comfort ourselves when we’re under stress. ibid. Cliff
If we don’t see that facial display, you need to question whether the emotion is being felt. ibid. Cliff
The DNA results arrived: they pointed to one person. ibid.
* Cliff: Eye closures x2, movement of upper arm [& head shake no?]
One of Britain’s most notorious serial killers, Levi Bellfield. By day a wheel-clamper, by night a savage predator. Four different interrogations, four very different performances. And clues to his guilt every time. Faking It: Tears of a Crime s3e1: Levi Bellfield
Aged 13, days before she became one of the most famous missing persons in the world, her name: Milly Dowler. At this time few knew his name. Milly’s disappearance in 2002 remained unsolved for seven years, years when Bellfield attacked and murder murdered again and again. ibid.
Millie Dowler’s disappearance in March 2002 was the latest in a series of attacks that Bellfield had got away with. 21 months later in December 2003 Bellfield was arrested for violence against a female victim, a vicious attack on a women at a bus stop. ibid.