[music playing]
NARRATOR: The date, July , .
The place, feet beneath the English Channel
off the coast of Devon, England.
A fisherman was about to haul in his nets.
His catch of the day would unearth of gruesome secret.
Buried among the sea bass and crabs
was a very large catch, a dead man
with no apparent identification.
The nets had disturbed a watery grave,
revealing a mystery that would cross an ocean.
[music playing]
NARRATOR: When John Copik, a fisherman of years,
pulled a dead body on board, he had a decision to make.
A floater is a bad omen.
JOHN COPIK: I can do one of two things here.
I can pull this, cut line, and he goes back over the side
and we go on fishing.
Or we take him in, in which case the fish is going
to be condemned, your going to lose a day's wages.
Brixham Coast Guard, this is a fishing vessel "Malcary."
I've just hauled my gear six miles east of Teignmouth,
and I've got a body in the [inaudible].
-This is Brixham Coastguard.
Could you please stay at your position
and we'll send somebody out.
NARRATOR: The victim was an unidentified male
between the ages of and .
From the amount of decomposition,
the pathologist determined that the body
had been in the water for less than a week.
The victim was wearing a blue and white checkered shirt,
leather belt, and green corduroy trousers with the pockets
pulled inside out.
GYAN FERNANDO: When I first examined the body,
I noticed a tattoo on the back of the hand.
I thought it was a cluster of stars,
and that's what I said in my original report.
And in any case I'd never seen a tattoo
like that, not in British subjects.
NARRATOR: There were several injuries noted on the body.
Bruises on his left hip and lower leg, and the four inch
gash on the back of the head.
Most likely the head injury caused unconsciousness,
but the actual cause of death was never in question.
GYAN FERNANDO: The lungs are the best organs
to look for drowning, and the lung
showed evidence of drowning.
So the cause of death was not difficult,
but why he got into the water and why he drowned
was the difficult part.
NARRATOR: The only item of note on the victim,
was an expensive wrist watch.
It was a Swiss made Rolex brand Oyster Perpetual Chronometer,
which had stopped on the nd of the month.
Every Rolex watch has a story.
BILL SCHILLER: Rolex keeps extraordinary records
on their watches worldwide.
Every Rolex watch comes with a serial number.
It's hidden on the watch.
But detailed records are kept for everyone
who owns that watch forever, and all the servicing records.
NARRATOR: The Rolex company identified
the watch owner as Ronald J Platt.
The victim's next of kin were contacted.
His brother positively identified Ronald Platt's body
by the tattoo on his hand, a Canadian maple leaf.
Ronald Platt was a -year-old television
repairman who was divorced.
He hadn't been in regular contact
with his family which is why he hadn't been reported missing.
Platt had been living in Essex County,
over miles from Devon where his body was discovered.
On his application for his last apartment rental,
he listed a man named David Davis as a reference.
CONSTABLE IAN CLENEHAN: I phoned David Davis up
on his mobile phone number and, unfortunately,
I told him about the fact that we'd recovered a body
from the sea which we believed to be his friend, Ronald Platt.
NARRATOR: Davis told police that he and Ronald Platt
had been friends, but he hadn't seen
Platt in over three months.
David Davis was a -year-old retired financial adviser
from Canada, who was living in England
with his -year-old wife Noel and their two daughters.
Davis and his family lived in the small village
of Woodham Walter in a cul-de-sac
at the end of Little London Lane.
When police went to interview Davis in person,
they made the mistake of knocking on the wrong door.
BILL SCHILLER: The elderly gentleman replies, no, no, no.
This isn't Little London farm.
That, he says, pointing next door.
That is Little London farm.
So Redmond then asks, well is that where David Davis lives?
And the elderly gentleman says no, no, no.
That's not where David Davis lives.
There's no David Davis, there.
That's where Ronald Platt lives.
That's where Ronald Platt lives with his lovely wife,
and their two little children.
CONSTABLE IAN CLENEHAN: I couldn't believe
what he was telling me, you know, it was bizarre.
The guy that I had thought was dead, and had been identified
as dead to me, was in fact alive and well and living
in Woodham Walter.
NARRATOR: But why was David Davis
now posing as Ronald Platt? DET.
PHIL SINCOCK: There's clearly something wrong here.
And we had to put David Davis under a microscope.
Find out who he was, why was he using this false identity.
Was there something more sinister involved?
NARRATOR: For reasons that were not at all clear,
David Davis, a Canadian citizen living in England,
had been posing as Ronald Platt, the name of the man found
at the bottom of the English Channel.
An investigation into Davis's background
revealed some troubling information.
For the last three years, all of Davis's bills
were paid for with checks and credit cards signed by Ronald
Platt, some signed after Platt's body was pulled from the sea.
Davis met the real Ronald Platt through Platt's girlfriend,
Elaine Boyes, who worked for David Davis
in a small investment company Davis ran in London.
Police also discovered that David Davis owned a sailboat
that was moored in Devin, only a few miles from where
Ronald Platt's body was discovered.
Police searched through David Davis' mobile telephone
records, which showed calls made from the same area
where Platt's body was found.
And the calls were made during the same time period in July
that the medical examiner said Ronald Platt drowned.
Davis claimed he hadn't seen his friend Ronald Platt in months,
but police found witnesses who saw them together in the Devin
area shortly before Platt's death.
DET.
PHIL SINCOCK: He was clearly lying to us
as well as using Ronald Platt's identity
and that changed the complexion of things.
So I contacted Essex and told them to change the charge
that they were going to arrest him
for from check fraud to m*rder.
NARRATOR: On Halloween morning, in ,
an armed English Response Team waited
to arrest Davis at his home at the end of Little London Lane.
A taxi unexpectedly drove down the lane
in the middle of the police raid.
Davis made a dash from the house to the taxi, which
quickly took off to get past police.
BILL SCHILLER: Finally the main police car catches up,
pushes the taxi cab drive-- driver over to the shoulder.
A policeman with a very big g*n drawn moves out of the car,
points it directly through the window at Davis's head.
NARRATOR: David Davis was arrested
on suspicion of the m*rder of Ronald Platt.
In the house was Davis's -year-old wife Noel
and the couple's two little girls,
three-year-old Emily, and Lillian,
who was just six months old.
Police allowed Noel to pack a diaper
bag with items for the children. DET.
PHIL SINCOCK: One of the officers
there was a little suspicious however, about its weight,
and searched the bag and inside found
that she'd slipped inside the baby clothes
, pounds in cash and five gold bars.
NARRATOR: At police headquarters,
Noel's purse contained a treasure trove of incriminating
evidence, documents in the name of Ronald Platt
and Platt's girlfriend, Elaine Boyes,
and the children's birth certificates which listed
Ronald Platt and Elaine Boyes as the parents.
DET.
PHIL SINCOCK: She gave no real explanation for that other
than to say that when she got pregnant,
she needed medical attention and had actually used Elaine
Boyes's identity cards to get that medical treatment.
BILL SCHILLER: The police are mystified by the gap in ages.
In fact, it seems like about a year gap.
She barely looks .
He looks to be about .
What's going on?
They decide that they're going to bear down
on her in questioning, see if they could make her crack.
And in fact they do.
And they find out something that surprises even
them, namely, she blurts out, he's my father.
NARRATOR: Noel refused to identify
the father of the children.
David Davis' home on Little London Lane
held a wealth of evidence.
Envelopes stuffed with Swiss francs, British pounds,
American dollars, keys to storage lockers,
gold bars, expensive paintings.
And in a mountain of documents a tiny scrap
of paper that would be a turning point in the investigation.
BILL SCHILLER: And they found a receipt with seven items listed
on it, bought from a shop called Sport Nautique in Dartmouth,
on the water.
And in those seven items, there was something that was noted,
it was a pound plow anchor.
NARRATOR: The police went back to question John Copik,
the fisherman who pulled Platt's body out of the sea
in his nets.
JOHN COPIK: I didn't notice the anchor till we actually got,
physically got the gear on board--
until we got the trawler on board.
And I didn't connect the two together
until the following day.
NARRATOR: The pound zinc galvanized plow anchor found
in the fishing nets with Ronald Platt's body,
may have been used to anchor Platt's body at the bottom
of the English Channel and came loose
when he was dragged to the surface by fishing nets.
When Dr. Fernando laid the anchor next to the injuries
on Platt's leg, he discovered the cause of the wounds.
GYAN FERNANDO: The bruise on the hip
was caused by the low end of the anchor
and the bruise on the thigh was caused
by the other the end of the anchor.
So the anchor had been hooked to his waist band or to his belt.
NARRATOR: It was becoming evident how Ron Platt died.
The anchor and Platt's belt were sent
to the forensics lab for analysis.
On Platt's leather belt was a translucent deposit.
Police asked a forensic metallurgist
to determine what made the mark.
ALEXANDER GRANT: I worked with a sample from the belt
in the area of the mark and a sample
from the surface of the anchor.
NARRATOR: The mark on Platt's belt
was analyzed with a scanning electron microscope,
and the material on the belt was identified.
ALEXANDER GRANT: Basically the mark on the belt
was predominantly zinc, as was the surface of the anchor.
NARRATOR: Still unanswered was how Ron Platt's body got six
miles out into the English Channel.
Dr. Bob Allen, a hydraulic engineer,
analyzed the location of the body
and studied the water currents during the week
Platt was in the English Channel.
BOB ALLEN: They told me where the body was recovered
and what they were concerned about
was where the body had entered the water.
We determined what the currents were in the area,
but what we weren't able to say was whether those currents were
strong enough to move the body without some further work.
NARRATOR: Dr. Alan conducted a unique experiment
to simulate a drowned man anchored
to the bottom of the English Channel.
He attached a pound anchor to his belt, expelled the air
from his lungs, and sank to the bottom of an artificial channel
which recreated the cold sea water and the same currents
that were present when Platt's body was dumped.
The anchor held the body firm, meaning
it was dumped in the same location where it was found.
BOB ALLEN: And we knew then that the body
had not moved anywhere.
That it was found where it was dumped.
NARRATOR: Davis's sailboat, the Lady Jane,
was brought into the forensics lab for an inspection.
Inside the cabin, a small hair sample
was discovered on the seat cushion
and there was a plastic Sports Nautique
bag from the same store where Davis purchased the anchor.
Both were sent for forensic testing.
To fingerprint smooth, non porous material, like the Sport
Nautique bag, forensic experts put
the bag in a sealed cabinet.
Inside, super glue is heated and fumes adhere to the finger oils
on the bag, which can be visualized when the bag is
dipped in a yellow fluorescent dye
which adheres to finger oils.
The fingerprint on the Sport Nautique bag
was that of Ronald Platt.
DNA testing of the hair found on the boat cushion
revealed the hair was also that of Ronald Platt.
Finally, police examined the ship's navigational device
called a GPS, Global Positioning System, which records signals
from three satellites triangulating
the boat's position on the earth.
A GPS stores the time and location
of the boat when it is last turned off.
The GPS from Davis's boat indicated that he shut off
the navigational device just . nautical miles
from the spot where the body resurfaced.
The date was July .
The Rolex watch found on Ronald Platt
was self winding, which means it runs for hours
after it stops moving.
The watch stopped on July .
hours earlier made the date July .
The same date recorded by the GPS on the Lady Jane.
Police knew that David Davis wasn't this man's real name.
But just who was he?
A man living with his daughter as husband and wife
with two small children whose paternity was unclear.
And what was his motive to m*rder Ronald Platt?
A retired businessman, David Davis
was a suspect in the m*rder of his friend Ronald Platt.
But investigators wanted to know his true identity.
When they compared Davis's fingerprints
to those of wanted fugitives from around the world,
the prints matched a man who had been on the run for six years.
DET. PHIL SINCOCK: We had a hit.
David Davis came back identified in Canada as being their most
wanted man, called Albert Johnson Walker.
So this was the first time that we
actually know who this guy was.
NARRATOR: Albert J Walker, from Ontario, Canada,
had been married for years and had four children.
He became one of the most wanted criminals in the world
after embezzling over $ million from investors in Canada.
BILL SCHILLER: He was on the verge of being caught
so he decided to flee to Canada and he
took his -year-old daughter Sheena with him
and disappeared, completely, or almost.
NARRATOR: Walker and his daughter,
Sheena, lived together in England
as David and Noel Davis, man and wife.
BILL SCHILLER: One of the Canadian police decided
to phone Walker's wife, Barbara.
And it was very simple, very straightforward.
We found Albert and we found your daughter Sheena.
And by the way congratulations, you're a grandmother.
NARRATOR: When Walker fled to England,
he began working the same investment scams
as he did in Canada and hired Elaine
Boyes as an executive assistant.
When Walker no longer needed Elaine Boyes's services
he paid for Elaine and her boyfriend, Ronald Platt,
to move to Canada to start a new life together.
With Platt gone, Walker assumed his identity.
But three years later, Elaine Boyes and Ronald Platt
returned to England, which threatened Walker's plans.
DET.
PHIL SINCOCK: And now we're two Ronald Platt's and was
one too many for Albert Walker.
He had to get rid of this friend.
NARRATOR: Albert Walker put his plan into motion
when he purchased a new pound anchor, not for his sailboat,
but for Ronald Platt.
On July , Walker invited Platt out
on the Lady Jane for a day of sailing.
With a blunt instrument, Walker knocked Platt unconscious
with a blow to the back of his head.
Blood and hair spattered onto the plastic bag.
Walker then pulled Platt to the upper deck
where he slipped the anchor under Platt's belt
and heaved him overboard.
Among the mistakes Walker made that day,
was failing to remove Platt's wrist watch
with the serial number and using his boats
global positioning system, which captured
the location, date, and time of the m*rder.
Albert Walker went on trial for m*rder.
In a rare courtroom occurrence, Walker's daughter
testified against her own father.
BILL SCHILLER: At this stage in the trial,
it came out in the courtroom that, obviously, Mr. Walker
and Sheena were father and daughter,
and yet two children were found on the premises
when the police made their raid.
Well the jury was just struck dumb.
NARRATOR: On July , it took the jury just two hours
to find Albert Walker guilty of first-degree m*rder.
He was sentenced to life in prison.
DET.
PHIL SINCOCK: He make one big mistake
and that was that he forgot to take off that Rolex watch.
And it was really that Rolex watch
that led us to the identity of Ronald Platt
and started the whole chain of events which ended up
with Walker getting a life sentence for m*rder.
Sheena Walker is now living quietly
with her children in Canada.
She would not agree to a paternity test
on her two little girls.
BILL SCHILLER: I think Mr. Walker is, without a doubt,
probably the most fascinating character
I've ever come across.
He was a consummate actor.
Even as we speak, this man is still plotting his way out
of prison and I think that's-- I think it's chilling really.
DET.
PHIL SINCOCK: Ronald Platt, the victim, is often forgotten.
It was Ronald Platt, the one in a million shot of him actually
returning from his watery grave six miles out at sea
when he was caught in those nets.
The injuries on his body showing us exactly how he was k*lled
and how the anchor was used to weigh him down.
The piece of paper he wrote out for his reference
where he put David Davis, the name of his k*ller.
And his cell phone number, which led us to Davis.
Everything really came from Ronald Platt.
His head hair that was found on the boat,
his fingerprints on the plastic bag.
He was showing us that he'd been on that boat,
and that that boat had been used to m*rder him.
It was really Ronald Platt who solved this case.
And when he emerged from his watery grave,
pointed his tattooed hand directly
at his m*rder*r, Albert Johnson Walker.
[music playing]
05x15 - Time Will Tell
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.