Every Town - Her Son Witnessed The Savage & Unsolved Murder of Rachel Nickell

Episode Date: August 18, 2023

In the shadowy recesses of a two-year-old's memory, there lurks a horrifying image that forever altered his life: his own mother, viciously attacked and left lifeless. Imagine the profound impact, the scar forever etched on the soul, when that which is most precious is ripped away, permanently erased from existence. This is the harrowing reality that confronted a toddler named Alexander "Alex" Hanscombe, three decades ago.💥 Watch On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/scarymysteries🎧 Our Other Podcast: https://scarymysteries.buzzsprout.com💥 Exclusive Podcasts: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1235579/subscribe 💀 Follow Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries 💀 Follow Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg👁 Follow Our TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald💥 Follow Our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial🗣 Business Inquiries: [e-mail] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Support yourself a piping hot cup of murder every single morning with Morning Cup of Murder. Find it on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every town has a dark side. The shadowy recesses of a two-year-old's memory and it lurks a horrifying image that forever altered his life. His own mother viciously attacked and left lifeless.

Imagine the profound impact, the scar forever etched on the soul, when now, which is the most precious, is ripped away, permanently erased from existence. This is the harrowing reality that confront it, a toddler named Alexander, or Alex, Hanscom, three decades to go. I'm in a vidgerald, and welcome to another episode of Everytown, where today we dive into a shocking story that rocked the heart of London, the tragic murder of a British woman, Rachel Jane Nickel, and the summer of 1992.

How have her son and his father grapple with the horrific event, and did she ever get justice? Let's go get the answers to get. as we step into the haunting echoes of a past, stained by a senseless murder. At the time of her killing in 1992, ex-model, Rachel Nicholl, was 23 years old and living in Bollum, South London. Her little pack, as she called it, living with her, was her partner, Andre Hanscombe, their two-year-old son, Alex, and their rescue dog Mully. Rachel was also close to her father, who said his daughter, radiated love, warmth, good humor,

and generosity wherever she went. He also praised her as straight, bright, and shining. Rachel was working as a lifeguard at a swimming pool when she was 19, and that's where she met Andre. At the time she was studying English literature at university while Andre was a semi-professional tennis player, Rachel was enamored by Andre right from the start. In fact, just after their first date, she called up her mom to let her know that she had found the man of her life. And things happened fast from there. Within months she had become pregnant

and quit her university course and moved into Andre's flat. In order to meet their financial needs, Andre started working as a motorcycle courier. Their future plan was to sell his flat, leave the UK and live in a serene place with a rural feel. France was at the top of their list. But these plans were never set into motion, unfortunately. Unfortunately, because of an incident that was about to take place. July 15th, 1992 will forever be etched into the minds of Andre and his son Alex because both lost the most important woman in their lives that summer. Three decades later, son Alex vividly remembers that fateful day.

He said, I remember waking up on that morning. What happened before leaving for the park, including having a cook breakfast and playfighter. with my dad. He would go on to wave goodbye to his father, watching him fire up his bike for work. Alex was walking with his mother, hand in hands, beneath the warm Wimbledon common sky. The sunshine was beautiful, and he remembered the sound of people having picnics in the grass and their dog Molly circling around them. And then, Alex clearly recall what he witnessed, like it just occurred yesterday. Everything happened so quickly. I remember a stranger, coming towards us out of the blue.

I was grabbed, dragged, roughed around, my mother being roughed around as well. Seconds later, my mother collapsed next to me. I picked myself up as fast as I could, and yeah, was there a knife? Was there blood? All the details that people have talked about over and over again, absolutely, but it doesn't happen like in movies.

Alex couldn't believe what was happening, and perhaps a natural defense mechanism. I was a second-uponism kicked in for this particularly shocking memory, but to him, his mom looked like she was lying there on the ground peacefully. I stepped towards her and I said, get up, Mommy, and she didn't respond. I said, get up, Mommy, once again, and she didn't respond. And I said it for the third time, get up, mummy. And in a split second, no matter how young I was, I knew that my mother was gone and she was never coming back. That's what I remember most.

particular moment I knew she was gone, that feeling of losing someone you love, how everything can change in a matter of seconds. This killer had stabbed Rachel 49 times in the frenzy and sexually assaulted her in front of Alex before fleeing. Her throat had been slashed with cuts in her hands proving she had put up a fight. Many of her injuries were inflicted after she had passed. The attacker had thrown Alex to the ground and by the time he had recovered, the man was already down at the stream, washing his hands before running away. The toddler then felt a guiding hand on his shoulder that led him out of the trees and back into the open spaces where families immediately saw him and came to his rescue.

They noticed his bloodied clothes and bruised face. Ron Turnbull, a first detective, to arrive on the scene, said, It's still foremost in my memory. At that time, I had 20-plus years as a Scotland Yard detective and I thought I had seen a at all. He also added that in Rachel's case, one could actually see some of the deeper stab wounds that had hilted through the body and the savagery of the attack itself. An ambulance arrived and Alex was sedated by doctors. He woke up in the hospital hours later. That's what he remembered about the incident. It was without a doubt the strongest memory he had as a child. The boy would

later describe the bad man, the police. His hurried walk. his strange, blank face, his black bag, white shirt. When Alex woke up, he immediately asked for daddy. Until that day, it had always been Mommy every single time. In the following weeks, Alex wouldn't let Andre out of his sight. Now Mr. Hanscom functioned deep in shock and grief, the target of media frenzy, becoming the sole protector of his traumatized child, who was the only witness to the murder and the best possible source for leads, completely flipped his world upside down. Andre said, it was mind-bending the whole time. There wasn't anybody I could go to for help because it was one of those extreme experiences

that very few people had encountered. Andre assumed the responsibilities Rachel had taken care of, and he had to learn the dynamics of being both the father and mother to their son. Alex, switching all his attention to Andre, was overwhelming, but also a big help for the dad who said that it was soothing and balm. That love and affection keeps you afloat. Normal life in the UK was seemingly unattainable after the incident. The press would follow Alex to his nursery. The police had wired their home in case Alex revealed a crucial detail.

They had to endure grueling sessions with a child psychologist, which, didn't feel right for Alex's protective dad, who said, All the time you see the headlines. You hear the whispers. Everyone's watching Alex saying he'll never recover. It just felt it was impossible for a child to grow up like that. Rachel and I were always going to leave the country. Again, it was being true to her values.

Five months later, the father and son and their dog Molly decided to leave. They initially headed to the south of France, where they rented her. remote farmhouse near Mount Pellier. Three years later, they crossed over to Spain, settling in the Catalan countryside, where Andre worked as a tennis coach. They kept their past a secret to the people they met, and Rachel's parents were devastated by their departure, which they likened to going through bereavement for the second time. Over their relationship with their grandson continued with Alex visiting until the age of eight,

when contact eventually stopped. According to Andre, this was never intended. Rachel's parents had already lost enough. For years, his life was just in a fog. He battled waves of grief, was often absorbed by the murder and all he had lost. There were many times when all he thought about was revenge, playing out the scenario over and over in his head.

The public was enraged and demanded the killer be caught, and fast. People of Britain were strongly behind, getting justice and the finger of blame was pointed at Colin Stagg, a man from Rohampton, who was known to walk his dog on the common. He was then relentlessly pursued by the police for two years and despite having no forensic evidence linking him to the case and interviewing 32 other men in connection with the murder, the police were somehow convinced Colin was Miss Nichols' killer. He was first arrested on suspicion of murder in September of 92. The police's theory was was fueled by the discovery of a knife and pornography at Mr. Stagg's flap, but they needed hard evidence.

And a bold move to establish, Colin as the killer, detectives used unconventional tactics, including a honey trap in which a false relationship is formed to elicit valuable information. The honey trap called Operation Edsel had a young police woman with the alias Lizzie James, posing as a friend of a woman called a been in contact with to help, make it feel like she was real. Over the course of several months, Lizzie tried to uncover information that would link Colin to Rachel's killing by pretending she was romantically interested in him. With physical therapy now?

Yes. Yeah, yes. I understand. Yeah, that's great. As a matter of fact. Lizzie and Colin's friendship developed through phone calls, letters, and meetings where they talked about his sexual fantasies. Eventually, Lizzie won Mr. Stagg's confidence, and he would admit to violent fantasies,

but he never confessed to Rachel's murder. Colin later said that he had only played along with the topic about Rachel's manslaughter whenever it was brought up because he wanted to pursue the romance with Lizzie. In a taped conversation released by police, Lizzie said, If only you had done the Wimbledon common murder. If only you had killed her, it would be all right. But Colin replied,

I'm terribly sorry, but I haven't. Authorities had gotten so desperate that they even seriously considered kidnapping Collins' dog Brandy so that he would confess in order to get his pet back, but it was never actually put into action. Nevertheless, Mr. Stagg was charged with Miss Nichols' murder in August of 93 and held in custody for 13 months. But in September of 1994, his case was thrown out at the old Bailey England Center of Criminal Court by Justice Harry Ognell, who excluded the entombed. evidence and refused to put it before a jury. Heavy criticism was hurled against the police,

especially the cases lead detective Keith Petter at the trial, and Justice Ognell ruled they had shown excessive zeal and tried to incriminate a suspect by deceptive conduct of the grossest kind. Mr. Ognell excluded all the entrapment evidence on the basis that Colin Stagg's description of the murder were not nearly as close to the reality as the police had maintained. But no other evidence to present, the prosecution withdrew its case and Mr. Stagg was acquitted. For more than a decade, the real perpetrator continued to obey justice.

In 2004, advancements and DNA evidence found a link between serial rapist and murderer Robert Knapper and Rachel's case. At the time of the discovery, 40-year-old Napper, was already serving more than 10 years in Broadmoor's high-security psychiatric hospital and Berkshire. for the 1993 double murder of Samantha Bissette and her four-year-old daughter, Jasmine. He had health issues for having been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and Asperger's. Robert was then charged on November 28, 2007 with Rachel's murder. A week later, he appeared at the city of Westminster's magistrate's court, where he was granted bail on the condition that he remained at Broadmoor Hospital until another hearing on December 20, 2007.

He pleaded not guilty to Rachel's murder on January 24th of 08, which signaled for his trial to begin that November. One month later, Robert will go on to plead guilty to the murder of Rachel Nicholl on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Justice Griffith Williams said that Robert would be detained indefinitely at Broadmoor because he was a very dangerous man, and that it was unlikely he would ever be released. Colin Stagg also merited a public apology from the Metropolitan Police

for involving and prosecuting him in regards to the murder investigation. In January of 07, the Home Office confirmed that Mr. Stagg will receive compensation for wrongful prosecution with the amount to be set by an independent assessor. On August 13th of 08 was announced that the compensation was just shy of 1.1. $1 million. When the dust had finally settled and the real killer of Rachel that received the punishment he deserved, the focus once again turned to Andre and Alex. They awaited 16 long years to get justice, and by that time, both Alex and Andre said they felt no anger towards Robert

Knapper, nor towards the police for their catastrophic focus on the wrong man, Colin Stagg, which devastated his life. Andre explained, I've been very angry for a long time, but reading the psychiatric report and seeing what Robert had been through, he'd had a violent home life, he'd been sexually abused. I'd always told Alex that nobody's better than anybody else. You have to try to understand why they'd do things. Forgiveness is a process, and over the years, almost without knowing it, I've been through mine and Alex have been through his, serving as a beacon of forgiveness.

for his son, Andre also wrote a letter of apology to Colin Stagg for publicly pointing his finger towards him. The single parent explained, As a parent, you have to set an example. I can't expect Alex to behave in a certain way if I wasn't prepared to do it myself. I made a mistake based on information from apparently reliable sources. I helped put a spotlight on Colin, which made his life worse. A few years later, Alex and Andre decided to go traveling together. It was a completely different dynamic by them between the two. Both were adults, no obligation. They closed everything down, gave away what they could, and they spent four years on the road in India, Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.

What is really amazing is that Alex can still find the positives from his mother's shocking murder, and he is full of gratitude for his father as well. He had noted that if his father hadn't been there for him, there's no telling where his life would have gone. Alex added that if his mother had not passed away in the way she had, he and his father probably wouldn't have the same depth of bond that they have today. Alex also admits that there are things that he and his dad may have missed out on, but there are also things they've done within their relationship. It's probably the most important relationship in their lives. and this is a 30-year journey that they've been on together. And it is a wonderful, an insightful journey of acceptance, healing, forgiveness,

moving on and looking forward to what life can still offer. Rachel may have left them earlier than expected, but her legacy will be ingrained in Andre and Alex for the rest of their lives. So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. If you guys enjoyed it, remember you can watch this episode on our YouTube channel called Scary Mysteries. Thank you so much for tuning in today. And remember, please come back next week for another episode

filled with scary, strange, and mysterious stories. Because you never know. Maybe your town will be next.