True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 1: Murder At The Mall - Stalked & Killed After 3 Dates | The Terrifying Case of Clare Bernal

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

In this chilling episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha unravels the terrifying case of Clare Bernal, a young woman whose ordinary workday ended in unthinkable tragedy. After just three dates, her ex became dangerously obsessed, stalking her despite multiple warnings and legal barriers. How did he get close enough to kill her in a crowded mall? And why weren’t the red flags enough to stop him? With compassionate analysis and thorough research, True Crime with Kimbyr explores the emotional weight and unanswered questions behind this heart breaking, preventable crime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine working in one of the biggest luxury department stores in the world. When you walk through the doors, you enter an oasis of perfume and makeup counters, shoes, clothing, handbags, home decor, food, wine, and jewelry on seven floors. For one young woman, this was her dream job. She was completely in her element until one summer evening when her life was stolen in the blink of an eye. this is her story. Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. I'm Kimberly Leia, and if you've never been here before, it's nice to finally meet you.

So today's case is one that has haunted me for a while, and I'm sure you're going to feel the same. It's one of those cases where it leaves you questioning so many things and asking why, but it also makes you ask yourself, what would I do? Like, what would you do if this was happening to you? And those to me are the most scariest cases

where you can't even imagine a way out. And today I am taking you to the United Kingdom. I think this is the first time I'm covering a case in the UK. And this was a suggestion from one of you. So thank you so very much. The young woman that I'm introducing you to today shares the exact same first name and the same spelling with my mom.

Her name is Claire. And they spell it C-L-A-R-E. And it's such a beautiful name. And today I'm introducing you to the lovely Claire Marie Bernal. She was born in a lot of, on July 25th of 1983 in Groom's Bridge, which is a village on the border of Kent

and East Sussex in England. Groom Bridge is straight out of a fairy tale. It has beautiful green pastures and rivers and a population of only about 1,600 people. It's a two-hour train ride from London, which means you're close enough to the city to take a day trip and go shopping, and I have still yet to visit England.

It's on my list. Let me know if you are from there. But Claire's mom, Patricia Adams, who went by Trisha was a chef and her dad, Martin, was an executive who worked in finance and did a lot of business in London. Claire was the oldest of three children. She had two brothers, James, who was only one year younger, and Philip, that was a baby. He was about five years younger than Claire. And as the oldest child, Claire was responsible and she was actually the glue that held her family together. Being the only daughter, she had a very close relationship and

friendship with her mother and her father. But unfortunately, when it came to the relationship between her parents, that one proved to be... Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th out of You in? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20.

Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Less solid as the years went by, and when Claire was only seven, her parents did get a divorce. However, Claire remained upbeat and positive through this entire process, and if she had been worried about the ways it might change their family dynamic,

she never showed it. But she was still fairly young at the time, and she maintained a close relationship with both her mom and her dad, even though they moved to separate homes, of course, and Martin went out to Orpington, and this was a 30-minute drive away, and her mom, Trisha, settled into Royal Tunbridge Wells,

and that was just five minutes away from where they were already living. It took a lot for Claire to open up as a child. And when she did, she was kind, loving, trusting, and self-spoken. She was also quite creative and artistic. Once they moved and they were on their own with Trisha raising the children, Claire started watching her mom do her makeup every morning. And by the time she was 12, Claire was experimenting with all kinds of different makeup looks herself. She even loved doing her mom's makeup and makeup on her friends when they had sleepovers together.

Claire attended St. Gregory's Catholic Comprehensive School and actually got a job working for a local store so that she could fund her love for her makeup. She would always love to purchase things when she had a little bit of extra money. And this is when she started to come out of her shell. She became best friends with a coworker of hers named Adam Ward. And every time they hung out, they would talk for hours, and there was no topic off limits. Claire was attentive, warm, and she never had anything bad to say about anyone, except maybe herself, because she did not recognize her own beauty. And she felt like she needed to rely on makeup to boost her confidence, just like many high schoolers when they're coming into their own.

but Claire was naturally beautiful on the inside, and it would shine outward. But if she didn't notice her beauty, other people certainly did. And by the time Claire was 18, she was a stunning young woman with long, wavy golden brown hair, flawless skin, thick, gorgeous lashes,

and a beautiful smile. Her eyes stood out to me. Sometimes they actually look gold in pictures. They're very beautiful. They're a very unique hazel color. And of course, being a self-taught makeup artist, and a very good one, Her makeup always looked perfect.

When she walked down the street with her friend Adam or her cousin Kristen, men's heads would literally turn to catch a glimpse of Claire as she passed by. However, Claire was still oblivious, which everyone thought was funny and endearing. Her focus was on others. She was dedicated to making sure everyone else felt comfortable and beautiful and loved, and that's why it was impossible not to like Claire. She went to West Kent College in Tumbridge where she studied beauty therapy for two years, and one of her professors, Angela Wheat, said that Claire was a pleasure to teach. She kept her head down and she worked hard. And Claire achieved her diploma through the Business and Technology Education Council in 2001.

In college is where she met her friend Amanda, who actually nicknamed her Claire Bear. And Amanda said Claire was sweet and good nature. They never had disagreements. And this was probably because Claire was a bit of a people pleaser. And she was a tad bit stubborn as well. because when she made up her mind, she put her foot down. There was no budging, especially when it came to her career goals. Claire wanted to do professional stage makeup. She wanted to work on movie sets or theater, and she practiced every day. She trained as a beauty consultant and theater makeup artist at Shepperton Studios. And in 2003,

she began actually sending out a bunch of emails and mail to various department stores, hoping to get more practice in consultation. These were those kind of cold emails, kind of like cold calls, where you just cross your fingers and you send out a bunch of messages to people that you don't know, but you want to connect with. Claire was fearless. She figured, sure, maybe these people don't know me yet, but maybe one of them will be so impressed. So she contacted the biggest department store pop-ups like Mac, Yves Saint Laurent, Esté Lauder, Laura Mercierge. And she actually landed an interview with Law Prairie in Harvey Nichols.

And this was everything. Because even though I wasn't familiar with La Prairie, it's a huge well-known brand. It's a luxury skincare brand. It's known for something called skin caviar. You might have seen it before. And I looked online and they have bundles of skincare that retail for over about 1,400 pounds.

And that is about $1,800. So we're talking expensive. Let me know if you've ever tried it. I have not. And Harvey Nichols itself is world famous. It's a big, big department store. It's a big mall shopping center. At the time, it was in the top three in London,

along with Selfridges and Herods. So Claire was understandably very nervous. It would be a dream come true to work in London for such prestigious companies. She convinced her friend Adam to ride with her on the train to the Charing Cross Station and then to La Prairie for her interview. On the ride, Claire was going through the pages

and pages of her resume and her notes, asking Adam to quiz her on her portfolio. She was so meticulous. She went through it again and again until Adam finally said, listen, you're going to nail it. You don't have to worry. Of course, she did.

She got the job, and her friends and family never doubted her for a second. In the fall, Claire made the big move to London from Tunbridge Wells, which is about an hour away. And soon she began to work at Harvey Nichols, which is located in Kingsbridge

in Westminster in central London, and I miss malls so much. This one is known for seven levels of shopping with food and wine markets, cafes, bars, and private dining. And I'm getting nostalgic. Malls were a staple in my childhood like many of yours. And on the ground floor of Harvey Nichols, there are dozens of display tables for skincare, cosmetics, perfume,

with brand-specific booths along the walls. And Claire and three other women were in charge of the Law Prairie booth, and it was common for well-to-do and wealthy women to come in and sit in the makeup chairs and get makeovers and get shade matches. That was one of Claire's jobs. She would shade match shoppers and then recommend the right products for them. And she was very proud of her work and always look the part, making sure that her makeup was flawless. She was a walking billboard. She was fashionable, her hair was always in place, her posture was immaculate, which I need to work on, and her voice was soft and even musical. She,

was made for this job. And it was the perfect job for a 21-year-old. She and her co-workers worked half days, and then they spent the evenings going to parties and exploring London. Claire also did some promotional work at Selfridges, and this is a rival department store, and that was so she could help pay her bills. She got really close with her Law Prairie colleagues, especially Susan Cantez and Natalia Sarah Panova. Susan was around Claire's age, and she worked part-time, and Natalia was a few years older than Claire, and she thought of both of them as her older sisters that she never had. She also looked up to some of the other La Prairie colleagues, including an older woman who had worked at Harvinicals for 13 years. Eventually, Claire, Susan, and Natalia got a flat

together or an apartment for those of us in the U.S., and it was located in Dulac Village, which is a safe neighborhood about a 40-minute train ride away from the mall. It's cute, it's a green area that feels like the countryside and Claire felt right at home. She still stayed very close with her mother, Trisha, who was now living with her boyfriend Peter Warburton, still in Tunbridge Wells, and she was also still close with her father. At this point, her two brothers were also living with their father. But Claire was so busy that sometimes though she was very close to and loved, were a little further away, so she wouldn't get that much time to talk to them or see them. But for example, she wouldn't talk to her friend Adam for months at a time.

But when they did see each other, it was like no time had passed at all. And I'm sure all of us have least one friend that's like that. Claire got used to the party scene in London as well. She enjoyed being single and hanging out with her girlfriends. She was definitely a girl's girl. And while she would give some men a chance, she was really picky with anything long term at this point because she was kind of having fun, casually dating. that state of mind at the time.

But then a handsome guy named Michael Pesh started working as a security guard for Harvey Nichols in 2004, and he caught Claire's eye. He had sparkling blue eyes and a kind of cute, crooked grin. And eventually Michael came up and started talking to Claire at her beauty counter.

In late January of 2005, he asked Claire out on a date. And she was honestly flattered. She called her mom right away and excitedly told her she met this handsome, handsome, shy, but very attentive man that was originally from Slovakia. He previously had been in the military for a while and then he moved to the UK on a student visa. And now he was a security guard at the front doors of Harvey Nichols. Claire told her mom that they'd already been on three dates

and she told her mom about them. They got coffee, they had these deep conversations walking in the park and Claire thought he was well-traveled and fun to talk to. But the only thing is she wasn't sure at this point, she wanted to get serious with anyone. Also, there was the fact that Michael was nine years older than Claire and he had recently gone through a divorce. What do you personally think about age gaps? I just like reading her thoughts. But in this case, as Claire got to know him, she discovered that Michael at 30 years old was serious about getting into a committed relationship. And sometimes you just know what you want. But to be fair, at this point, Claire thought he was much more into her than she was into him. And since she wasn't sure what she wanted and she didn't have

her mindset on a long-term relationship, she wasn't sure how to go about this. And sometimes that's really hard because you're enjoying someone's company. But then there's this feeling looming over you. Like you don't want to lead them on if you're not thinking there's more there, but you also have a good time and you're into that. So Claire respected her mother's opinion. And when she showed Trisha a picture of Michael, Trisha right off the bat, wasn't sure that. that he was right for her daughter. She thought he looked too old for her. And there was something about his eyes.

It looked like he had been through a lot, maybe seen some things when he was younger, and it's true. He was in the military, and they do say, don't judge a book by its cover, but it was fine because this little fling didn't last very long anyway. Just three weeks later on February 28th,

Claire broke things off. She had pretty high expectations when it came dating someone long term and she wanted to experience different men and have more casual connections to find out what it was she was actually looking for in the long run like most of us do before we settle down but in April of 2005 Claire Susan and Italia moved into another flat in Dillac and this was a multi-story brick building and life was really picking up in July Claire turned 22 and her mom took her on a five-day birthday trip to Florence Italy where they went to music festivals and they

got photos of the two of them drinking, dancing, laughing, and just having an overall great time together. Claire liked learning about new cultures, and she told her mom that she planned to learn Italian. Trisha was so proud of the woman that Claire had become. She wasn't just Trisha's daughter. She was Trisha's best friend, and it actually makes me sad knowing what's to come. Also that summer, Claire started seeing a new guy, and things were going pretty well. It was a whirlwind romance. She was getting coffee with him in Tundraudgeoned Wells when she ran into her friend Isabella from St. Gregory's. Claire and Isabella caught up and Claire told her she loved living in London and was also thriving in a new relationship. But she was clearly in the honeymoon phase and she even told Isabella that she could see herself marrying this one.

Isabella was happy to hear that Claire had found someone who suited her and was doing well. Now, Claire usually worked the morning shift at Harvey Nichols, but on Tuesday, September, 13th, she agreed to switch shifts with one of her roommates. It was your average closing shift. Claire stood at the Law Prairie counter across from Victoria Daniels, who was working behind a different makeup counter. They just watched as customers exited the store with their shopping bags. And around 7.45 p.m., Victoria waved at Claire, kind of pointing to her watch as if to say there's only 15 minutes left before they were free. Claire nodded. and beamed that the shift was finally coming to an end.

And at this time, a few customers were walking through the beauty section, heading for the door that led out to Sloan Street. Another coworker of Claire's Helen Quinn was packing up for the day as well. Victoria and Claire were just smiling at one another. But those smiles would quickly fade. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, the mall was in complete chaos. People were running.

there were loud noises and screaming, and several witnesses called 999 to report that there had been a shooting. A shooting at Harvey Nichols was unreal. It was very unexpected. The dispatcher assigned the case to Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton of the Metropolitan Police Department. And his first thought, when he heard there was a shooting, was to drive out to West London, since there had been recent shootings

in Hampson and Stonebridge Park Estates. But when Sutton found out that the shooting was actually at Harvey Nichols, he was in awe. He wasn't expecting that. And he knew right away that this case would be all over the news. He reached out to sergeants Dave and Mark Leach, they are actually brothers, and he asked them to please meet him at the scene. Sutton was the first to arrive, and he spoke to management, and he was informed that they believed there were two fatalities. Two people were deceased. Sutton relayed this to the station,

and the rest of the homicide department arrived not too long afterward. They were shocked that anyone could have gotten into Harvey Nichols armed. The victims were a male and a female, and the detectives walked over to where the female victim was laying right near the makeup counter, and they saw a young woman lying face up with a large amount of blood pulling on the ceramic tiles around her head. She appeared to have been shot multiple times,

in the face, which is just horrific. And the man was lying nearby, covered in blood on his face and arms which were outstretched. There was a pistol on the ground nearby and bullet shells around his body. It appeared he had taken his own life with a shot to his right temple. The Harvey Nichols team confirmed that this was Michael Pesh, who had worked as a security guard on the ground floor. If anyone knew how to sneak in a gun, it would be him. But why had Michael killed himself and possibly this young girl?

Was he jealous? Was he mentally unwell? Was he working alone? They wondered. And how did he have access to a gun? Sutton learned from management that this was a murder-suicide between two employees who had dated and previously had issues. That's when they were informed that the female victim was Claire Bernal. Not knowing the backstory, Sutton began his investigation with a post-incident debriefing

with all of his officers sitting at one of the makeup counters, and he asked everyone to treat Claire's case as a standard homicide investigation. So to start without any biases, as if they knew nothing, and they were going into this with a clean slate, pretty much do the police work and look for clues. But the head of security, Brian Lennahan,

offered to give the Metropolitan Police a file from when he did his own investigation of Michael's previous behaviors. But Sutton's, decided not to look at this file. He wanted to do his own investigation before he let any information cloud his perspective. I think that could be smart, but we will circle back to this. I can understand why they want to start from scratch, but I also think there's a lot of valuable information about what had already occurred between Michael and Claire. At that point, Sutton didn't know anything

about Claire or her family, but what he did know is they deserve justice. He spoke with the press and the store management while the other officers gathered forensic evidence. They found six bullet shells at the crime scene. But from what they could tell, Claire had been wounded four times and Michael only once. So there was a missing bullet. The CEO actually called Sutton and he asked if he could open up the mall the very next day. He said that every minute Harvey Nichols is closed, they lose out on thousands of pounds. and I understand business is business,

but that's also pretty insensitive. And Sutton insisted they need to stay closed, especially as long as they couldn't find that sixth bullet. But can you imagine walking into one of the nicest stores in the world and stumbling upon a bullet? That wouldn't fly. And the CEO agreed they could take as much time as they needed. His reputation was on the line,

and this investigation had to take presidents over business. Sutton was informed that Claire lived with two co-workers who worked part-time, Susan and Natalia, who was from Russia. Claire wasn't supposed to be at work that evening, and I have done a couple other cases where someone has changed shifts with someone and ended up dead. She was scheduled for Tuesday morning shifts, and the staff said that they knew Michael knew her schedule. She always had the same one. So Sutton wondered how he found out that Claire was working a different shift at Harvey Nichols that night. That's when Sutton realized, Michael might have figured out Claire's new address and checked her flat before going to Harvey Nichols. What if Natalia and Susan were at home in the middle of this murderous rampage?

So his stomach dropped and he jumped in his car with Officer Tony McEwen, and they raced over to see if Natalia and Susan were okay. When they arrived at Claire's new flat in East DeLick, it was quiet. The sun was just going down. People were finishing up dinner, watching TV in their homes. and Sutton and McEwen knocked on Claire's door, and they tried to open it, but it was locked. If Michael had gotten inside through the front door, he probably would have left it unlocked behind him, but there was a possibility that he might have climbed through a window.

So the officers went back to their car and debated what they should do. Should they break the door down, or should they just wait? And that is when they saw a woman walking by wearing a gym outfit and a defle bag, and she was talking on the phone. They were listening as she stopped on the phone. outside the apartment and sat on a short brick wall in front and Sutton got out of the car and that's when he overheard her speaking in Russian. So he figured that this was probably Natalia. He interrupted her and asked what she was doing outside and Natalia said she couldn't get inside

because she was waiting on one of her roommates that she shared a key with. Sutton asked her if she by chance was waiting for Claire Bernal. And Natalia said yes, she was and I'm sure she was confused as to how these officers knew that, that's when they said they needed to break some terrible news to her that Claire had been killed. And Natalia was, of course, upset and scared, but honestly, she wasn't shocked. She suspected Michael right away, and she let the officers know that Michael was constantly hanging around Claire's makeup counter back in January, and the two of them went on three dates around February, and that's it. However, this man was clingy.

He demanded that Claire spent time with him every day, and from what Natalia could tell, it was a very toxic relationship, mainly because of Michael. He was a toxic person that wouldn't take no for an answer. Natalia said she put her foot down, and she told Claire she didn't want Michael coming over. She didn't approve of him. But she told the officers that after that, one day he did come over again. And that's when him and Claire had a falling out, and Claire kicked him out of their house. After that, Natalia said that Michael showed even more of his true colors.

He texted and called Claire nonstop, followed her around, and he would even act like they were still in a relationship, and they clearly were not. He would profess his love to her. He would even tell her it was the anniversary of the day that they met. And that's pretty scary. Natalia told Sutton that Claire wasn't sure what to do, and Michael's stalking only got worse. They didn't understand why he would not leave her alone. Natalia said that he would follow Claire home from work and stand outside their flat, saying

he wanted to apologize. And he would tell Claire how much he loved her. Loved? This man had only been on three dates. That's it. Natalia explained how she and Susan defended Claire and told Michael to leave, and he yelled and cursed at them and caused a scene outside. They were so scared and so fed up with him.

The three of them actually moved flat. in April to get away from this man. She went on to explain that at that time, Michael was actually fired from Harvey Nichols and was under investigation by the Metropolitan Police. He stopped stalking Claire in the summer, and Natalia figured he was in jail. So how the hell had he gotten out?

Wow, so a lot had transpired between the time Claire met Michael and her lying lifeless on the floor of the mall. How could this have happened if he had already gotten to a point where he was possibly in jail. This is what detectives needed to understand, and of course they wanted to know who Michael Pesh was. Sutton and McEwen found Michael's address and headed there next. It was a large flat at the end of the street in South Tottenham. It was a good 40 minutes away from Clare's and a very different type of area, way more run down, and at this point it was completely dark outside. The street

wasn't well lit. From what they could see, it was a house in pretty bad shape. The grass alone, was three feet high. All the windows were either boarded up or broken, and the front door was left open. It looked like a drug house, and if this is where Michael was living, they thought he was probably mixed up with some dangerous people. It took Sutton and McEwen a moment to build up the courage to actually go inside. Now, they didn't have any probable cause to bring backup officers, but they did think someone or something inside had information on where Michael got his gun. For all they knew, this house could have been filled with guns. Sutton pulled out a mini maglight flashlight and didn't even knock.

He just walked right in to this creepy dark house after midnight. They found not one, not two, but seven men asleep in that house. That was a pretty wild confrontation. I can't imagine being the officers or the men in the situation, but luckily none of the men seemed to be armed, but all of them were from Eastern Europe and were not fluent in English. Only one, a six-foot-eight guy named York from Poland knew enough English to be able to translate what the officers were saying and what the men would say back.

He turned out to be a really nice guy and was super helpful. He explained that everyone living in that house was on a visa. They were doing building projects and trade work. And York said Michael used to be their eighth roommate. He was kind of the odd one out, though. he would sit alone in his bedroom writing in a notebook while the other guys went out for drinks. He said that Michael actually seemed really sensitive and kind until the beginning of March. Then he would randomly explode with anger.

So he moved out in late April and they weren't sure what happened to him. But York said he never thought that Michael would be a murderer. That was shocking to find out. But the detectives were still very early in this investigation. So it turned out, Michael would be a murderer. Michael's old roommates were pretty regular guys from what it seemed. Sutton and McEwen were convinced that Michael was working alone, but they didn't have the whole story.

While Sutton and McEwen investigated, two other officers visited Claire's dead Martin at his home in Kent to tell him and Claire's brothers that she was no longer alive. And I, every time I hear this, I can't imagine the heartbreak of finding out that kind of information. No one expects to hear that. and Martin felt blindsided. He had never even heard of Michael.

He didn't know Claire even had an ex-boyfriend. And in his grief, he was angry. He was angry that Trisha had kept this from him. But to be fair, Michael really wasn't Claire's boyfriend. There were a lot of wires being crossed right now and lots of emotions involved. Martin was, of course, devastated. His little girl, his only daughter,

who spent her life living for other people. had her murder put on display. It was made a spectacle done right in public, and he didn't think she deserved this. At 2.30 that morning, the officers visited Trisha's house. She had spent the evening celebrating one of her friends' birthdays. She got home around midnight, and she had already gone to bed with her boyfriend, Peter,

when they heard a loud banging at the front door. Peter got up and went downstairs, and Trisha was straining to listen to this conversation. She was able to catch the words, Metropolitan Police, and Claire. And that's when she knew that her worst nightmare had come true. She rushed downstairs and she asked, how did it happen? And the officers responded that Claire had been shot. And Tricia immediately said, it was Michael, wasn't it?

They seemed taken aback, but nodded. Why is it that no one was surprised, yet this wasn't prevented? It makes me so angry. And Trisha just felt like time had slowed down. There were an infinite number of emotions and questions running through her mind and her heart. She couldn't make sense of any of this. She spent the rest of the night in total shock.

She was too upset to talk to anyone. She was just buried in her grief and guilt. But by the next morning on Wednesday, September 14th, the Metropolitan PD found that sixth bullet in the mall. It was lodged up in the ceiling. And now it was time for frightened coworkers and staff to be interviewed about what they witnessed the night before. Everyone wanted to help. Everyone who knew Claire adored her, and they couldn't believe that this was happening. Police

talked with Claire's coworkers and learned the same thing they had heard from Natalia, that Claire and Michael went on just three dates before the relationship took a turn for the worse. According to one coworker named Malin, who worked in the jewelry department, Claire and Michael had an argument, and they They said that it was Michael that ended things, but that he regretted it, and when he tried to win Claire back, she didn't want to be with him. But Michael became persistent, and he was crossing many of Claire's boundaries, which led to mediation from the staff at Harvey Nichols. Michael was fired, and he was banned from coming back to work.

So obviously it was bad enough to warrant him not being able to work there anymore. And now it's time to talk to one of the last people to see Claire alive. Victoria Daniels, who was working right across from where Claire was the night she was shot. Based on Victoria's recollection, it seemed Michael had shot Claire before she even knew she was in danger. She explained it was an average closing shift. Victoria and Claire were smiling at each other as those last few patrons were finishing up their purchases and leaving the building. But then all of a sudden, while Victoria is looking into Claire's smiling face, she saw a shadow behind. in Claire's booth. She could tell it was a man and he was sneaking up behind the counter like he was a

spy. So Victoria was taken aback. She didn't have much time to process what was actually happening in that moment. She thought it was either a crazy customer trying to steal something or Claire's new boyfriend trying to surprise her. But Claire kept smiling as Victoria saw this man take out a black pistol, aim it at the back of Claire's head and pull the trigger. Victoria froze. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. She watched as Claire collapsed to the ground. Victoria wasn't even able to move.

She was in total shock, and she watched, as this man quickly approached Claire where she had fallen behind the counter and fired several more shots at the floor. Victoria didn't see what happened next because she ran, but she heard two more shots bring out behind her, and when she looked over her shoulder,

she didn't see the man anymore. The rest of the store was in a total panic. Helen Quinn said, she saw the first shot, but she immediately dove to the floor before she saw the rest, and she covered her head. One witness thought that the store was being robbed. Another witness who was eating dinner

on the lower level with her friends and future roommate were interviewed, and they said, we had finished our meal and were walking out of the beauty hall towards Sloan Street when I heard a crack that sounded like

a glass perfume bottle being dropped on the floor, about 10 feet behind me. I was startled. I looked around expecting to see people moving to clean it up. Then I heard what I think is three or four more bangs, and we realized it was a gun. People started screaming, and my friend and I ducked behind one of the makeup counters. I then heard another bang, and we ran across the floor to the door across the road and into Kingsbridge Tube Station. The whole time feeling so exposed and thinking there was a shooter taking shots at shoppers in the store. We were in shock. And it didn't even cross our minds to call the police. We just hugged each other. We could still see people walking into the store and a few minutes later the police turned up. So we crossed back over the road to give

statements and they told us that there was no longer a threat. Now that was because we know that Michael took his life. But from what detectives could gather from the scene and the interviews, It appeared as though Michael shot Claire three times in rapid succession and accidentally fired a shot into the ceiling as he attempted to take his own life. That is how that sixth bullet got lodged up there. On the same day, the 14th, detectives found the hotel where Michael had actually been camping out. Sutton, McEwen, and York headed to Earl's Court.

This was about a 40-minute drive from South Tottenham, where Michael had previously been staying with his seven roommates. but only a 20-minute drive from Claire's flat. In the hotel room, they didn't find any firearms indicating that Michael only had that one gun. They couldn't figure out how he got it, though. Yorg found Michael's 40-page notebook that he always saw him writing in.

He wrote in both English and Slovak. And on one page, Michael had written down Claire's new address. So now it's confirmed. He knew where she was living. And from what I have researched on, stalking. Unfortunately, moving doesn't usually work, especially with how easy it is that we can now use websites to find basically anyone's address. On another page in the notebook, there were paragraphs in Slovak with the headings, the meaning of life, ghosts, and prophets. Since York was

Polish, he could not really translate for police. Michael had copied down poetry and even written his own poems. In one said, quote, From our love, all that is left is a dried up spring. Yet all we had to do was push away the stone that was blocking it. I have as many memories of you as there are in a forest of trees. You're my only love. So ring me please, end quote. Interesting.

And Sutton was now realizing how obsessed Michael really was. I mean, if everything he knew was true and Michael only went on three outings with Claire, this was overboard. It wasn't love. It wasn't anything normal or close to love. If he loved her, why would he take her life? Instead, it seemed like Michael seemed to be living in a fantasy world where Claire was his one and only true love and that they had shared much more than what they truly had. If Claire didn't want him back, that gave him a motive. Did Michael find out maybe that she had a new boyfriend? Well, Claire and Michael's autopsies were being conducted, and they were were overseen by an officer Mark Leach.

And originally, Claire and Michael were lying on two tables in the same room. And this made Officer Leach feel sick to his stomach. He felt like it was unethical that Claire was still in this man's vicinity. And I agree. And if you ever wonder why I don't put killer's faces in my thumbnails next to their victims, that is why I don't even want to look at their faces. I don't even want to have to name the killers. But of course, I have to tell you what happened.

but I just don't want them to be remembered. I wish I didn't even have to use their names. Dr. Vezna Dejorevic conducted Claire's autopsy and discovered that she had been shot four times. The bullet to the back of her head would have ended her life immediately. Once on the title floor, Claire endured three bullets directly to her face,

which is, of course, overkill, and it is so clear that Michael wanted to take away her beauty. She had been struck below her eye, one on her left cheek, and once right near her chin. Michael's goal was to destroy Claire's face. He wanted to take away everything that made Claire Claire,

especially her beauty and her love for makeup. The shots were so precise that the doctor determined Michael had to have been trained and how to shoot a gun. And this made sense because we know he has a background in the military. As far as what Michael's autopsy showed,

he had an entrance wound to the right Temple. His pathology results revealed a cocaine blood level of 0.25 milligrams per liter, which is a pretty high dose of cocaine, especially for someone who doesn't take it regularly. Now, I don't know if this was a regular thing for Michael, if he was in fact an addict, or if he knew he was going to do this that night and needed some cocaine courage. But it's one of those drugs that I've come to despise. I mean, no drugs are good, especially with the rise in coke being laced with fentanyl. It's destroyed so many lives.

But cocaine is a drug with varying levels of toxicity, and the lowest dose associated with fatalities is 0.1 milligrams per liter. So the cocaine in Michael's system was probably not enough to kill him, but it accentuates the feelings of aggression. So it could have done that to Michael. So detectives wondered, did he take it to follow through? Or did he take the drugs and then decide? to hurt Claire. After a few days, Sutton talked to Claire's mom to get her version of the story.

And Tricia said, after three weeks of dating, Michael became possessive. He didn't want Claire going out anymore, or even being around her roommates. And he would even get upset if Claire was around her mother. He especially didn't like her talking to Natalia, because somehow he had gotten in his mind, then Natalia and Claire were just too close. He thought, Natalia was actually a lesbian trying to get in between him and Claire, which wasn't the case at all. Michael wanted to spend every waking hour with Claire. He told her he loved her and asked, do you love me back? He was trying to bait her to say yes.

And this made Claire very uncomfortable. She was like, Mom, what am I supposed to say to that? Claire was still trying not to hurt Michael's feelings, but it was all too much. He even talked about his future plans for them together, and Claire didn't realize. the extent of how toxic this man was being, but she knew she felt uncomfortable committing to a long-term relationship when they'd only been on three dates. She finally told her mom that she planned to distance herself from Michael. In February, he had actually pre-planned a trip back to his home in Slovakia to where his mom and his ex-wife, Michaela, lived. It was a three-week

vacation, and Claire was actually glad for the breather.