DR. JULIAN BOON, ‘THE REAL CRACKER', ON WORTHING BEACH

DR. BOON, FROM THE MILLS AND BOON DYNASTY—THE FAMOUS PUBLISHERS OF BODICE-RIPPING ROMANCES—AND FOND OF BLAZERS AND STRAW BOATERS, TEACHES PSYCHOLOGY AT LEICESTER UNIVERSITY

THE HOUSE OF THE VICTIM, MISS JEAN BARNES, WAS SO OVERGROWN THE POSTMAN HAD THREATENED TO STOP DELIVERING THE MAIL

ON A HOT JULY EVENING, WORTHING POLICE HAD TAKEN A CALL: THE TREMULOUS VOICE OF AN ELDERLY WOMAN WAS SAYING THAT HER FRIEND WASN'T ANSWERING HER PHONE

DCI STEVE SCOTT & DI MARTIN UNDERHILL, HEADING THE CASE, WITH DR. BOON

WHEN BOON ARRIVED THE POLICE WERE, IN DCI SCOTT'S WORDS, ‘DOWN IN THE DUMPS’.  THEY WERE DROWNING IN DETAIL AND THEIR MAIN SUSPECT WAS THE MILKMAN

‘CRACKER CALLED IN’

THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER PROCLAIMS BOON’S ARRIVAL ON THE CASE.  WHENEVER THERE IS A 'STICKER', AN OFFENDER PROFILER IS BROUGHT IN.  DR. BOON IS ONE OF BRITAIN'S TOP OFFENDER PROFILERS; THEY ADVISE ON THE KIND OF PERSON WHO MIGHT HAVE DONE THE CRIME AND HOW BEST TO ARREST AND INTERVIEW A SUSPECT

DR. BOON IS SHOWN MISS BARNES’ BEDROOM

IN THE GROUND FLOOR BEDROOM, THE POLICE HAD MADE A SHOCKING DISCOVERY.  UNDER A BLOODSTAINED BLANKET LAY THE DECOMPOSING BODY OF AN OLD LADY, HER PINK DRESSING GOWN PULLED OVER HER HEAD 

THE VICTIM’S BEDSIDE TABLE 

INVESTIGATING OFFICERS

THE TIME OF DEATH VARIED FROM BETWEEN TWO AND FOURTEEN DAYS BEFORE MISS BARNES WAS FOUND.  FURNITURE AND PICTURES WERE MISSING BUT VALUABLE SILVER REMAINED.  THE MILKMAN PRODUCED A NOTE ALLEGEDLY FROM MISS BARNES CANCELLING HER ORDER ON ACCOUNT OF MOVING TO A NURSING HOME, WHICH WAS UNTRUE.  THE MILKMAN WAS ARRESTED

COPIES OF A SUSPICIOUS CHEQUE, AND THE FAKE LETTER TO THE MILKMAN

THE POLICE CHECKED THEIR RECORDS.  MISS BARNES HAD BEEN BURGLED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR AND HAD ALSO REPORTED A PHONE CALL FROM A MAN WHO HAD SAID HE WAS FROM HER BANK AND WANTED HER PERSONAL DETAILS.  SHE THEN RECEIVED DETAILS OF A NEW ACCOUNT IN HER NAME.  SCOTT CONTACTED THE BANK, RECOVERED THE APPLICATION FORMS AND, ALONG WITH THE MILKMAN'S LETTER AND TWO SUSPICIOUS CHEQUES, SENT THEM TO HANDWRITING EXPERTS.  ALL SIX DOCUMENTS WERE FORGERIES.

DCI STEVE SCOTT

‘AS SOON AS WE REALISED THE DOCUMENTS WERE FORGERIES WE KNEW WE HAD A REAL WHODUNNIT; WE DECIDED TO GET THE PROFILER IN’

AFTER TWENTY-THREE YEARS IN THE SUSSEX POLICE, THIS WAS SCOTT'S MOST CHALLENGING CASE 

OPERATION SCHOOL INCIDENT ROOM

TWO HUNDRED OFFICERS HAD GRAPPLED WITH THE BAFFLING FACTS

DI SALLY SIMMONDS SHOWS DR. BOON THE POLICE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

BOON CONCLUDED THAT THE CRIMINAL WAS A PSYCHOPATH, MATURE AND INTELLIGENT BUT WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE, ADDING THAT THE MAN MAY HAVE CONVICTIONS FOR FRAUD AND DECEPTION RATHER THAN BURGLARY OR VIOLENCE

DCI SCOTT WITH THE PRESENTER NICK ROSS ON THE SET OF CRIMEWATCH

VIEWED BY SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE MONTHLY, CRIMEWATCH CLAIMS TO SECURE THE ARREST OF A SUSPECT IN ONE IN THREE CASES AIRED.  SCOTT WAS KEEN TO SHOW THE FORGED DOCUMENTS AND PRESENT MISS BARNES AS A REAL PERSON: SHE HAD BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST FEMALE GRADUATES OF CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, SPOKE SIX LANGUAGES, AND WORKED FOR THE FOREIGN OFFICE

THE CHIEF WITNESS

TELEVISION SPUN ITS MAGIC: OF THE TWO HUNDRED CALLS THAT CAME INTO CRIMEWATCHTHAT WEEK, ONE WAS FROM ANOTHER ELDERLY RESIDENT OF WORTHING.  SHE RECOGNISED THE HANDWRITING AS THAT OF DAVID MUNLEY WHO HAD DONE BUILDING JOBS FOR HER, AND HAD DEFRAUDED ONE OF HER NEIGHBOURS

THE CHIEF WITNESS’ STATEMENT

THE WITNESS' SISTER FOUND A 1996 INVOICE FOR BUILDING MATERIALS GIVEN TO THE WITNESS BY MUNLEY, ILLUSTRATING HIS HANDWRITING—THIS WAS COMPARED TO THE FORGED DOCUMENTS.  THE WITNESS HAD NOTED PAYING DAVID MUNLEY IN HER 1996 DIARY, WHICH SHE PRODUCED AS EVIDENCE.  MUNLEY, 55, AND WITH A FRAUD CONVICTION, CHARACTERISTICS THAT BOON HAD PREDICTED, BECAME THE PRIME SUSPECT.  SCOTT ASKS BOON'S ADVICE ON HOW BEST TO ARREST AND QUESTION MUNLEY

AT SIX AM ON A DARK DECEMBER MORNING, OFFICERS AWAIT THE GREEN LIGHT TO MAKE MUNLEY’S ARREST

MUNLEY IS TAKEN TO CRAWLEY POLICE STATION.  DI SIMMONDS' TEAM THEN SEARCHED MUNLEY'S FLAT, AND STRUCK GOLD.  WHILE MUNLEY WAS BEING QUESTIONED, MISS BARNES' CIVIL SERVICE IDENTITY CARD WAS FOUND UNDERNEATH HIS FLOORBOARDS.  TELEPHONE RECORDS ALSO SHOWED A CALL MADE FROM HIS FLAT TO MISS BARNES’ NUMBER, ON THE DAY SHE HAD REPORTED THE CALL ‘FROM THE BANK’

THE PAPERTRAIL TOWARDS CONVICTION

DURING THE FIFTEEN-MONTH CASE, OPERATION SCHOOL DEALT WITH SOME 2,300 DOCUMENTS

AFTER THE TRIAL, DAVID MUNLEY ARRIVES AT COURT TO HEAR THE VERDICT 

ONCE A PROMISING FOOTBALLER, MUNLEY HAD TOLD THE COURT HOW HE HAD BEEN MADE REDUNDANT AND THAT HIS FIREPROOFING BUSINESS HAD FAILED. HE PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO MURDER, EIGHT COUNTS OF BURGLARY, AND SIX COUNTS OF FORGERY.  AS THE JUDGE SENTENCED HIM TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT HE STARED AT THE FLOOR

BOON TAKES A DAY OFF, AND HAS A SPIN AROUND GOODWOOD RACE-TRACK

A STUDY HAS SHOWN THAT PROFILERS IDENTIFIED THE OFFENDER IN LESS THAN SIX PER CENT OF CASES, ALTHOUGH INVESTIGATORS FOUND THEM ‘OPERATIONALLY USEFUL’ IN EIGHTY-THREE PER CENT OF CASES.  FOR BOON THE MUNLEY CASE WAS A FEATHER IN HIS CAP, AND A WELCOME STEP AWAY FROM THE SHADOW OF THE FICTIONAL, TV CRACKER