Ive seen letters confirming his confession NGB, I’m not going to put them up out of respect of Steph and the victims family. Surprisingly I didn’t say it was a letter confession in my post, a confession could be orally if it was to the authorities.
I don't believe it is disrespectful to print such letters. They are in the public domain, by consent of the person who received them, and that person is directly involved. I don't like this idea of applying emotional pressure not to discuss things or look at things. Sometimes it's valid, but mostly it's not. The case is interesting and it is public, so we'll discuss it if we want and put the letters up, if we want to.
This probably deserves its own thread in 'Other cases', but just quickly, I'll summarise why I'm sceptical about this confession.
(i). First, I have looked through the extracts of the letters and I cannot find a confession in them. The nearest he comes to it is when he refers to his 'confession'. That is not a confession. You may find this a pedantic observation, and it could be pedantic if he really did confess, but the plain fact is that referring to a confession is not a confession. Of course, it may be that I have missed the part in his letters where he does confess. If I have, then by all means tell me where it is and I may change my opinion.
(ii). Still on the letters, are we sure they are from him? Do they match his handwriting taken from elsewhere? For the purposes of these discussions, and to avoid awkwardness, I am happy to assume they are his letters, just as long as we acknowledge that this is an assumption and that it relies on the honesty of the person claiming to have received the letters.
(iii). There was a phone call with his spouse in which it is said he confessed. But we can't rely on that alone, as it's a reported conversation, which can be open to misinterpretation and other issues.
(iv). I am not aware of him having given a signed statement of truth in which he confesses and provides details of his offending that only the perpetrator would know. Did he? Did the Ministry of Justice, or the prison, or the Prison Service, issue a statement of its own confirming this had occurred?
(v). I don't expect the police will have interviewed him again, and frankly I don't blame them, but as you will know, people who are disturbed or troubled do confess to things they haven't done. I think this is well-known in the police.
(vi). It's clear from reading the extracts of the letters that he was mentally-disturbed or very troubled. He may have been vulnerable to suggestion or influence, or he may have been 'institutionalised' by his experience of custody and seeking the attention he might lose if he became just another ex-lifer out of prison. This is only speculation of course.
(vii). There is the simple fact that he claims innocence right from the start and maintains this for 12 or so years, then suddenly confesses. There are no prior reports or rumours of him bragging to other prisoners about what he did and how he is conning miscarriage of justice campaigners, etc.
(viii). There is the additional fact that it seems he must have been a model prisoner. He has committed a murder, yet he is already in a low security establishment after maybe 10 years or so and is being prepared for release in quick order. This is not unusual in your fairy ordinary, humdrum murder cases, but this was, if I understand right, an habitual criminal with a prior violent criminal record who killed a vulnerable elderly lady. Would somebody with that background who has really done something like that be ready for a low security regime in 10 years? Maybe, in the best case. But in a very broad sense, it adds a tinge of doubt for me on the idea that he could have done something like that.
(ix). He hanged himself. That means he is no longer with us and so can't confirm that his confession was true. If he really did kill that elderly lady, then I have no sympathy for him, but he spent years protesting his innocence. For me, his behaviour doesn't follow the typical pattern. Normally if a violent offender graduates to murder, he will not be protesting his innocence and then suddenly confessing and hanging himself.
