Man falsely accused of killing Rachel Nickell explains how undercover ‘honey trap’ investigation ‘ruined his life’
A man who was falsely accused of murdering a woman in broad daylight in front of her 2-year-old son has spoken out on how the ordeal ‘ruined his life’.
Colin Stagg was arrested and held in custody for the murder of Rachel Nickell, which took place in Wimbledon Common in July 1992.
Now, Stagg has opened up about how his ‘life was ruined’ in a new Netflix documentary, The Murder of Rachel Nickell.
During the heinous murder, Nickell was stabbed 49 times with her 2-year-old son, Alex, being the only witness.
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A police effort to hunt down the murderer involved 54 detectives, but had no other witness and no forensic evidence.
Leads came during a CrimeWatch episode, in which the police shared a likely profile of the killer, drawn up by a consultant clinical psychologist. After the BBC show aired, a large number of telephone calls came in, with two or more local people claiming the artists impression resembled Stagg, who had admitted to being on the common around the same time Nickell had been found.
Officers found knives in Stagg's ‘odd home’ which they said showed he ‘wasn’t a normal person’. He had also been charged with indecent exposure previously. He was arrested in September 1992, but police did not have enough evidence to charge him with Nickell’s murder in and he was let go.
However, one woman who had seen him on TV told police she had been sharing Lonely Hearts Club letters with Stagg, which she called ‘disturbing’ and ‘vulgar,' which sparked an undercover 'honey trap' police investigation.
The police gained insight to how Stagg was ‘thinking’ from the letters, and wanted see if Stagg’s ‘sexual fantasies’ would reveal information about the murder - that only the murderer would know.
Under the pseudonym Lizzie James, 'sexual' messages were exchanged, and Stagg was charged with the murder in August 1993, thirteen months after the murder.
Police decided there was enough evidence, but after being held in custody for over a year, Mr Justice Ognall ruled that the controversial undercover police 'honey-trap' evidence was inadmissible, and he was acquitted.
In November 2007, Robert Napper was officially caught and charged with Rachel Nickell's murder after advances in DNA profiling. Napper had also committed the murders of Samantha Bissett and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine in November 1993.
Speaking to the Netflix cameras around the time Napper was arrested, Stagg recalled watching the football on TV one evening, before being interrupted by a knock on his door.
When he opened the door, he was greeted by two journalists, who asked him if he had heard another man had been arrested for the Rachel Nickell murder - with DNA evidence to prove he was guilty.
However, Stagg, who said he ‘had become sick of the whole thing,’ which had ‘dragged on for 15 years,’ asked them to return in an hour, not wanting to be disturbed while watching the soccer match.
“From when I was arrested, there were articles in the newspapers stirring people’s emotions up against me,” Stagg said, as he recalled people shouting ‘guilty’ when they saw him on the street.
Many people believed he was still guilty and had ‘gotten off on technicality,’ although no one had heard the evidence for or against him.
As he held the letters written to him by the undercover police woman, Stagg said: “I’d never had a proper girlfriend up until the age of 29, so when I received a letter from Lizzie James, I just felt really happy that a woman had shown interest in me.
“I had very low self-esteem anyway, before this started. This knocked me back even further, deeper and deeper.”
He then revealed how the whole situation made him ‘extremely paranoid,’ and was afraid to even glance in a woman’s direction on the street, in case someone watching him accused him of stalking her.
“And I just thought, ‘Well this is your life now. You’ve just got to get on with it, you know. Don’t trust anybody.’”
In 2008, it was revealed that Stagg had recieved £706,000 in compensation for his wrongful arrest, his solicitor announced.
A timeline of the murder of Rachel Nickell
November 1989
The mother of Robert Napper, from south-east London, contacts the police to say her son has told her he's raped a woman on Plumstead Common in London. However, police can't trace a rape and Napper is never questioned about this alleged crime.
March 1992
Two 17-year-old girls survive rape attempts within an eight-day period on Green Chain Walk in Hither Green, south-east London.
May 1992
A mother is raped on Green Chain Walk. Her child is with her throughout the ordeal.
July, 1992
23-year-old Rachel Nickell is stabbed 49 times on Wimbledon Common on 15 July. She is found dead with her distraught two-year-old son by her side.
September 1992
Colin Stagg, who lives near the common, is arrested on suspicion of murdering Nickell after Crimewatch callers report him looking like a photofit of the killer.
October 1992
Napper is eliminated from the Green Chain rape enquiry for being 'too tall'. Later in the month, he is arrested for possession of a firearm and ammunition, and is sentenced to eight weeks in prison.
August 1993
Stagg is formally charged with Nickell's murder.
November 1993
Samantha Bissett and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine are found assaulted and murdered at their home in Plumstead, south-east London, on 3 November.
May 1994
Napper's fingerprints are found at the scene of the Bissett murders, and a sneaker footprint matches his. He is arrested for their murders, and DNA tests identify him as the Green Chain rapist.
September 1994
The case against Stagg is thrown out by Mr Justice Ognall.
October 1995
Napper pleads guilty to the manslaughters of the Bissetts, two attempted rapes, and one rape on the Green Chain walk. He is sent to the notorious high-security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor, though he later denies going to Wimbledon Common when asked about Nickell's murder.
December 2007
After intensive private investigating, Napper is charged with Nickell's murder.
August 2008
Stagg is awarded £706,000 ($949,640) in compensation by the Home Office for being wrongly accused of Nickell's murder.
December 2008
Napper pleads guilty to manslaughter of Nickell on the grounds of diminished responsibility after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and Asperger's syndrome.
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Film and TV, UK News
Kiesha Dosanjh