03x09 - Jessica Mitchell/Todd Gray and Andrew Darn

[bunniefuu]

[AUDIO LOGO]

NARRATOR: This time
on "K*llers Caught on Camera."

In the US, in Colorado,
a couple are found

shot dead in their own garage.

KRISTEN DONOHO: To put
them out of their misery,

he decided to unload
his entire magazine

into both of their bodies.

MATT TALMON: It was a horrific,
bloody, terribly violent scene.

BRYAN GRAY: I just
remember feeling

helpless because there's
nothing you can do.

NARRATOR: And in the UK,
a long running feud at work

ends in a lethal altercation.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON KC:
Willis made another threat

to k*ll Mr. Darn.

MICHAEL DARN: The knife
actually pierced his aorta

and he died from catastrophic
internal bleeding.

[THEME MUSIC]

MAN 1: It just
sounds like something

bad is happening to her.

WOMAN: We know what
happened because the video

tells us what happened.

MAN 2: I heard twp g*nshots.

OFFICER: Drop it.

Whatever it is, drop it.

MAN 3: That does not prove
that I k*lled my wife.

MAN 4: The camera doesn't lie.

NARRATOR: Colorado.

Between Denver and Colorado
Springs in Douglas County

is Franktown.

MATT TALMON: It is
extraordinarily low crime.

It's historically
one of the fastest,

if not the fastest growing
county in the United States.

In the North, it's
very suburban,

but in the South
county it's very rural.

KRISTEN DONOHO: Franktown
is a quiet area,

very family oriented.

NARRATOR: It was home
to 34-year-old Todd Gray.

LONNA GRAY: Todd was charming.

He was funny,
independent, never

had trouble making friends.

He was very outgoing.

His laugh was contagious.

He would laugh a lot.

You always knew he was
in the room when he was there.

NARRATOR: He had four siblings.

Todd was the middle child.

BRYAN GRAY: He wasn't
an inside child.

He was outdoors all the time.

They went out and either
did horses or dirt

bikes or chores or whatever.

But he was always
the most playful

one, always wanted to play.

NARRATOR: From
an early age, Todd

was keen to follow
in his father's footsteps

as a mechanic.

BRYAN GRAY: Before
he had his license,

he was buying and selling cars.

He'd buy something
and fix it up a little bit

and sell it when he's 15.

He was a fantastic welder.

He could weld anything.

He pretty much taught
himself how to do it.

NARRATOR: Todd and his
dad spent a lot of time

together fixing up cars.

- Todd was 12 when
we did this car.

We just enjoyed doing this.

We spent a lot
of time out here.

He had to know how
to do everything.

If there was a way
to do it, he wanted

to figure out how to do it.

NARRATOR: Todd married his
high school sweetheart,

and together they had a child.

- She was the light
of his life.

BRYAN GRAY: It calmed Todd
down to have his daughter.

It was a huge focus for him.

NARRATOR: But Todd
struggled with addiction.

LONNA GRAY: Right
out of high school,

Todd was having some
issues with alcohol.

That's probably why his first
marriage didn't work out.

And then his health
was going downhill.

His liver started failing
already at a very young age.

He knew he had to do
something, so he actually

showed up one day and told his
dad, you need to keep me busy.

NARRATOR: Todd
and his first wife

divorced and he was
sober for eight years.

He started a new
relationship, and

in 2016 they had a daughter,
a second child for Todd.

In 2019, the Gray family
took on a new employee,

Jessica Mitchell,
a single mother

with a love for animals
and the outdoors.

- Jessica came to work
for us for a couple of years,

always on time.

LONNA GRAY: She talked
about her kids all the time.

Jessica had a smile that
just lit up the room.

She was bubbly.

NARRATOR: But everything
changed when Jessica and

Todd started dating.

BRYAN GRAY: Jessica would
be more of a party person,

drink, have fun,
Todd couldn't drink.

Right there we could just
tell that, not a good match

because once he'd
start, he wouldn't stop.

And it wasn't long
for the drinking and partying

kind of got out of hand.

LONNA GRAY: It
went downhill fast.

They thought that Bryan
and I were controlling them.

Once we had to ask them to
leave the home they were living

in, we really didn't have much
contact with Jessica or Todd

at all.

But it was definitely
the drugs that tore us apart.

BRYAN GRAY: It was
kind of heartbreaking,

you got to kick
your child out of the home

that we built together,
but it had to be done.

LONNA GRAY: To be honest,
him and I had a pretty bad

falling out.

He lost custody of his kids.

NARRATOR: Jessica also lost
custody of her children

and had a difficult
relationship with her parents

and two younger brothers.

But by 2022, Todd was getting
his life back together.

He'd started his own
business, fixing cars.

BRYAN GRAY: He was
building some momentum,

getting his little business
going, so I was proud of that.

NARRATOR: In January 2022,
Bryan met Todd in the car shop

in town.

BRYAN GRAY: We
just sat and talked

for probably half an hour
and then just it's like, OK,

I gotta go, so he left.

And, I mean, you
never know that's

the last time you're ever going
to talk to him but that was it.

NARRATOR: Early afternoon
on Tuesday, February 8,


received an alarming call.

Investigators arrived
at a remote property

South of Franktown.

MATT TALMON: When
I went inside,

I saw an adult female
and an adult male

lying deceased
on the ground of the shop.

It was a horrific, bloody,
just terribly violent scene.

NARRATOR: A dog
had also been shot.

KRISTEN DONOHO: Whoever did
this has no regard for life,

leaves two people dead
and doesn't call for help.

And so our initial
thoughts is we

need to get this person
into custody as soon as we can.

They're very dangerous.

NARRATOR: Police
obtained a search

warrant for the property.

They started to look
for any evidence

to lead them to a suspect.

MATT TALMON: We discovered
in part, bloody thumbprint or

fingerprint within
close proximity

to the bodies on one
of the vehicles.

We discovered inside the home
that it had been ransacked.

NARRATOR: The bodies
in the garage

were confirmed to be Todd
Gray and Jessica Mitchell.

- Todd, I believe, had
suffered at least one wound

to the head that was fatal.

Jessica Mitchell had certainly
suffered g*nsh*t wounds

to her abdomen, chest, torso.

NARRATOR: News of Todd
and Jessica's death spread

amongst family and friends.

BRYAN GRAY: I just remember
it being very emotional

and feeling helpless
because there's

nothing you can do at all.

And it's like, what did
he get himself into?

- I was shocked when he told
me it was Todd and Jessica.

I said, Todd and Jessica?

And he's like, yes.

NARRATOR: Just three
hours after obtaining

the search warrant, police
got a major break in the case.

Exterior cameras on Todd
and Jessica's property

showed a vehicle arriving
at 12:51 AM on Tuesday,

February 8.

MATT TALMON: On the video
we captured, at that time,

an unknown suspect arriving
at Jessica and Todd's residence

in a flatbed Ford pickup.

The video didn't
capture the plate,

but it was a very
distinct vehicle.

NARRATOR: The driver
headed into the garage.

Todd was already inside.

Moments later,
Jessica was captured

on camera leaving the house
and appeared to hesitate.

MATT TALMON: At this
point in the video,

we can see Jessica Mitchell
and our unknown suspect

exit the garage together.

There doesn't appear to be
any sort of animosity.

And from the video, we
believe, at that time,

that they were known
to one another.

We see that Jessica is not
under any kind of distress

when she returns to the garage.

This is the last time we
see Jessica Mitchell alive.

NARRATOR: Just over
a minute later,

what appeared to be
a friendly visit would prove

fatal for Todd and Jessica.

MATT TALMON:
And at this point we

can clearly see that
he's armed with a shotgun

and that he enters
the garage with a shotgun.

NARRATOR: Over
the next few minutes,

the unidentified man
returned to his truck

multiple times
to get more g*ns.

MATT TALMON: We can
see that the male

is also armed with a handgun.

NARRATOR:
Investigators concluded

that Jessica and Todd
had been shot and

k*lled during this time frame.


was still on the scene.

He went inside the house
for over half an hour.

MATT TALMON: We see the male
turn off the rear porch light

and he exits the residence.

He's carrying a duffel
bag and another shotgun

that he's removed
from the house.

We know that he's
armed and dangerous.

NARRATOR: The unknown man then
roamed around the property

for another 25 minutes.

JULIA SHAW: Staying on scene
for such a long time

after the killings,
to me, suggests

that he didn't have
a real plan as to what

he was going to do next.

He, obviously, went
and got his g*ns,

and so he had a plan to k*ll
them at least in that moment,

but then afterwards,
usually what

you do is you'd start
covering up the crime scene

or you'd leave and you'd
make an escape.

But in this case, the fact that
he's just roaming around almost

feels like he's
still processing

what he's going to do now.

NARRATOR: After almost
two hours on the property,

the unidentified man
leaves, hitting a car and

then a dumpster as he exits.

KRISTEN DONOHO: He pulls
out and then he goes South,

and that's the last
we see on camera.

NARRATOR: The footage
gave the police

a clear image
of the prime suspect,

but he was unknown
and at large.

KRISTEN DONOHO: It's a white
male, bigger, stockier build,

and his hair is
very, very distinct.

We need to find this guy and we
need to find out who he is.

NARRATOR: The police decided
to release the image of the man

to the public,
and got a lucky break

when a woman recognized him.

The name she gave
was Casey Devol.

- We pull his dossier photo
from his driver's license,

compare it to the surveillance
footage, it's identical.

NATE MARSH: Casey Devol worked
for the town of Castle Rock,

which is in Douglas County.

But what's most important
here is he's the brother

of Jessica Mitchell.

What we're looking
at is potentially

a brother k*lling a sister.

It's especially heinous.

It's especially grave.

We don't know if any other
family members are potentially

at danger, this
is a axe to grind

or a grudge that was
against his sister.

We don't know if this
is a grudge against Todd

and potentially his family.

- Siblicide is when
somebody kills a sibling.

And it's one of the most
rare forms of m*rder.

When you hear
the term siblicide

or when you hear about someone
who's k*lled a sibling,

your mind jumps to kids.

But, actually, siblicide
is almost always

committed after the age of 25.

There's a couple of theories
as to why actually

the rate goes up with age.

And one of the theories is that
there's more access to g*ns,

and the other is
that resentments

that maybe started when you
were in your teenage years,

they build up and they
build up and they build up.

And you've basically
got this festering

of wounds,
psychological wounds,

over time that ends with
siblicide, with the worst

possible outcome.

BRYAN GRAY: So the first thing
that came to my mind is like,

who would k*ll
their own sister?

LONNA GRAY: When we
learned that Casey

was the prime suspect
and they posted his picture

and we're looking for him, it's
like, OK, we have a suspect.

Let's find him.

NARRATOR: The hunt was
on for Casey Devol.

KRISTEN DONOHO:
Within Douglas County,

we have a system called Flock.

Flock is a license
plate recognition

system that captures
pictures of license plates.

We did a workup on Casey,
and we discovered

that he had a green F250
Ford truck registered to him,

and we put his license
plate information

into our Flock system.

And comparing
those Flock images

to the surveillance footage,
it was an exact match.

At this point we have
enough to obtain an arrest

warrant for Casey Devol.

NARRATOR: Investigators
went to Casey's property

in Douglas County.

KRISTEN DONOHO: One
of our impact detectives,

he puts a drone up
over Casey's house,

and he does see that
Casey's truck is there.

We immediately author a search
warrant for Casey's home.

I find out that Casey ended up
taking his father's gold Ford

truck and he left his
green truck at the property

and he was not home.

Casey is in the wind,
Casey is on the run.

REPORTER: We start with
breaking news tonight.

If you live in Douglas
County, deputies

want you to be on the lookout
for a man considered dangerous.

This man here.

NARRATOR: Police spoke with
Casey's family and friends

for any information
about his whereabouts.

KRISTEN DONOHO: We knew he was
communicating with his mom and

his really good friend via text
message on his personal phone.

He told family via text message
and one of his good friends

that he was fleeing
to Nebraska.

NARRATOR: While
he was on the run,

Casey recorded
an unapologetic video.

Police gained access
to Casey Devol's phone data.

They discovered that he'd
driven 400 miles from the crime

scene to Salina in Kansas.

Salina police officers
immediately tracked him down.

Detectives Matt Talmon
and Kristen Donoho

drove through
the night to Kansas

so they could interview Casey

KRISTEN DONOHO:
He's very cordial.

He's very friendly in-person.

He's very affable.

You would never think that
he just committed a m*rder.

And he says at some
point he receives

this gift from Jessica.

And he says it's
this wooden crossbow

that has an inscription in it.

He says they have
this argument,

he basically calls him a liar.

He said to put them
out of their misery,

he decided to unload
his entire magazine

into both of their bodies.

And he said the dog
caught a stray round.

NARRATOR: Casey Devol
agreed to waive extradition.

The detectives drove
him back to Colorado.

On Thursday, February


were performed on Todd
Gray and Jessica Mitchell.

- Todd Gray had sustained
seven g*nsh*t wounds in total.

One to the head, several
were from a shotgun

and some were from nine
millimeter caliber.

Jessica Mitchell also sustained
multiple g*nsh*t wounds,

one being fatal through
her heart and lung.

The coroner has deemed
both deaths as homicide.

NARRATOR: The autopsies
revealed how Jessica and

Todd had died, but a critical
piece of evidence

was recovered during
Jessica's autopsy which would

break the case wide open.

- Jessica had hidden in her
bra a digital audio recorder.

It was an outstanding
piece of evidence

because it fills the gap
what the video footage was

unable to capture,
namely what actually

happened in the garage leading
up to and during the homicide.

- She put a recording
device into her bra,

and that raises
a lot of red flags.

Why would you put a recording
device in your bra?

That's not where
it normally lives.

That's not a place that people
just casually keep them, right?

And so you have to go out
of your way to put it there.

And you're doing
that because you

want to record a situation
that you think might escalate,

or where there might be
some conflict that you need

to have evidence of later.

And now that evidence
might be to hold it

against the person themselves,
to say, you said this

and to make them somehow
pay for whatever they said,

or it could be gathering
evidence because you're

afraid of somebody.

So the question in my head the
whole time is, given how casual

she sounds, is she
actually masking

that she's afraid because she
put this recording

device in her bra?

LONNA GRAY: We
know that she knew

her brother was coming over.

We knew that there
was some animosity

between her and her family.

The only thing I
can think of is

that she was just
wanting to record

everything so that nothing
was thrown in her face later.

MATT TALMON: What
we hear in the audio

is a very cordial,
friendly conversation

between Todd,
Jessica and Casey.

At no time are we going
to hear any kind of argument.

KRISTEN DONOHO: I'm
listening to the recording,

there is a mention
of a crossbow

but there's nothing mentioning
the inscription on it.

That's never talked about.

MATT TALMON: The conversation
is jovial, happy.

They're joking.

However, Jessica
doesn't realize this,

this is the last time she'll
speak with her brother Casey

before he murders her.

NARRATOR: Just one minute
later, Casey pulled a shotgun

on his sister and Todd.

The audio is
extremely distressing.

JULIA SHAW: Casey
walks into the garage

and immediately
starts to sh**t.

[g*n SHOT]

You can hear 10 or 15
seconds of just screaming.

It's chaos.

And there's so many g*nshots.

And you hear her screaming,
you hear him screaming,

you hear the dog barking.

And it's harrowing to hear
the actual last moments

of their life.

And at some point
it just goes quiet.

It's a shocking escalation from
the cordial, friendly banter

that we had just moments ago.

From the situation
alone, you wouldn't

be able to POINT
at a moment and say,

this is where it
all went wrong.

This is where it escalated.

KRISTEN DONOHO: Casey is
now in this room with them

and is mocking them.

And he's just making some very
just derogatory statements

towards them, just being very
disrespectful towards them now

that they have died.

Also in this recording,
the dog is still alive.

[DOG BARKING]

JULIA SHAW:
The weird comments he

makes at them,
at the dead bodies,

and says in this
mocking tone suggests

someone who has
finally won and is now

able to enjoy their victory.

And I think him walking around
the property for a while

and not leaving, not
immediately trying

to get out of there
points to me to someone

who went through
the motions of something

that maybe he'd thought
about for a while

and then enjoyed the moment.

NARRATOR: Crucially,
the audio recording

completely contradicted
Casey's interview testimony.

KRISTEN DONOHO: Todd never
threatened him with a g*n,

there was nothing.

It was a straight up ambush.

NARRATOR: Detectives
Kristen Donaho and

Matt Talmon confronted Casey
Devol with the new evidence.

JULIA SHAW: This is one of the
most interesting interviews

I've seen in a long time.

The fact that he
says that he believes

that there was
a heated argument, even

though at this point he
knows that that's not true,

and then he says,
well, maybe it's

because I fabricated
it in my own mind,

and so what he's saying is
that he has a false memory

of what happened.

And even when confronted
with the evidence,

he still feels
like this argument

happened because he's been
playing it in his mind

so many times.

NARRATOR: The night
before the murders, Casey

had been hanging out
with a female friend.

She told the police
that Casey said he

was going to collect a debt.

And the next morning,
he texted her.

But the police still
wanted to understand

why Casey shot and k*lled
Todd Gray and his own sister,

Jessica Mitchell.

JULIA SHAW: What we know
is that he had conflicts

with his sister for many
years, since he was a child,

and the family
also considered her

the black sheep of the family.

She had all these
substance use problems,

there were neglect issues
with her own children,

so there was a lot
of beef going

back years with his sister.

So the question, of course,
is why did he k*ll Todd?

Why did he k*ll his
sister's partner?

And it seems to me
that the answer

might be a really
sad one, which

is that simply he was there.

And that he probably wasn't
specifically a target,

he was effectively collateral
damage to this m*rder

that he'd been
fantasizing about.

It's possible that
he saw them as a pair

and that he always
sort of thought,

if I'm going to k*ll
my sister, I'm also

going to k*ll her partner,
but I think it's more likely

that he was there that night.

And if he hadn't been there,
he might still be alive.

NARRATOR: Casey
Devol was charged

with two counts of first degree
m*rder and animal cruelty.

Originally he
pleaded not guilty,

but later he decided
to change his plea.

NATE MARSH: The plea
that he ultimately

took, he pled
guilty to two counts

of m*rder and the second degree
as well as that animal cruelty.

And received a sentence
just shy of 100 years.

NARRATOR: The case
divided the community.

NATE MARSH: There
were certainly

people that said there was no
way that Devol could have done

this, and that's why it was
so important at the sentencing

to make sure that
we played just

a portion of that
audio recording

so that we could set the record
straight for any community

member that wanted to know.

This recording doesn't lie.

BRYAN GRAY: I just
thought, what a coward.

He just walked
up and shot them.

Nobody had a chance
there but him.

He had the g*ns, there
was no fair fight,

there was no nothing.

He just lost it.

NARRATOR: The audio recording
was vital to bringing

Casey Devol to justice.

NATE MARSH: Jessica's
final act was really

the instrumental and key
piece of evidence

that put her m*rder*r behind
bars for the next 100 years.

It was in that moment
that she practically

solved her own m*rder.

LONNA GRAY: I think
they could have together

got their life under control.

They both would
have been very happy

and they would have
impacted a lot of people.

BRYAN GRAY: He had
a really good heart.

I think he could have done
really well in life once he

figured out his struggles.

I'm still proud of what
he accomplished.

He was just a person that I
could talk to all the time.

He was my son, but he
was also a good friend.

[AUDIO LOGO]

NARRATOR: The m*rder of a
sibling is known as siblicide,

and it is an incredibly
rare occurrence.

JULIA SHAW: In the US,
about 150 people every year

k*ll a sibling.

And when it happens,
it's usually

an accumulation
of fights and arguments

and slights over a long period
of time, but within the family.

Long standing grudges don't
just fester inside the home,

they can also fester
in other contexts.

For example, in settings where
trivial issues, perceived

slights, and verbal threats
become physical manifestations

and can turn into violence.

NARRATOR: In 2024,
a combination

of these three factors
led to a brutal m*rder.

[AUDIO LOGO]

In the UK, eight miles
Northeast of Newcastle

Upon Tyne is the town
of North Shields.

AMBER HAQUE: North Shields
sits on the North bed

of the River Tyne.

North Shields has a really
interesting history.

It was a real epicenter
for the fishing industry

and for the shipbuilding
industry as well.

NARRATOR: It was home
to 35-year-old Andrew Darn.

MICHAEL DARN: Andrew
was larger than life.

He looked very intimidating
because of the size of him,

but he was as soft as anything.

He would do anything
for anybody.

NARRATOR: Andrew grew
up 200 miles South

in Northamptonshire.

He had an older brother and a
younger sister named Natalie.

- Andrew was funny.

He was always making
everyone laugh.

You couldn't help but laugh
at him, no matter what you did.

[LAUGHS] You are watching
the same video over and over.

NARRATOR: As a teenager, Andrew
fell in love with fishing.

MICHAEL DARN: Andrew
used to like cod fishing.

I think it was because it was
peaceful and relaxing for him,

and he could sit
and concentrate.

It's the only time he
ever had any patience.

NARRATOR: When Andrew
was 17, the family

moved to the Northeast
and Andrew

started working with his dad.

- He used to be
the boss at work.

He used to tell me what
to do and I used to do it.

At the end of the day, roles
were reversed, I was the dad

and he was the son.

And that's how we
got on so well.

NARRATOR: But the job meant
Andrew spent a lot of time

away from home, and it
started to take its toll.

MICHAEL DARN: He
turned and he said,

look, it's getting
too much, dad.

The children are missing us.

They don't want me
to go away on a Sunday.

He said, so I'm going
to have to get a job at home.

I says, fine.

If that's what
you've got to do,

then that's what
you've got to do.

NARRATOR: In spring


started working
at a garage door fitting

company on the Tyne
tunnel industrial estate

in North shields.

MICHAEL DARN: He
went up on the Monday

and he never looked back.

He loved the job.

NARRATOR: But Andrew's
boss had been

involved in a long running feud
with a man named Alder Willis.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON KC: Mr.
Willis ran the business

next door to where Andrew
worked, which was a cafe deli

business, which he'd been
running with his partner

for many years.

Andrew had walked into a long
standing antagonism

between the two neighboring
businesses, which

had started years before he
ever began working there,

in about 2010, over
a parking dispute about who

was entitled to park
in the parking

spots outside the businesses.

ROBERTA BABB: A debate about
a parking space on the surface

feels like a trivial
matter, but, really,

parking spaces are symbolic.

They're symbolic of territory.

So what looks like
a surface disagreement

actually if we look
deeper, is about space,

it's about territory,
it's about respect,

it's about power and control.

And they have to defend not
only their parking space,

but their honor at all costs.

NARRATOR: And the defense of
honor spiraled out of control.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON
KC: Over the years,

there had been a series
of microaggressions,

quite trivial
incidents where they

were winding each other up.

But it came to a bit
of a head in 2021.

NARRATOR: Mr. Willis
assaulted Andrew's boss.

He punched him
and knocked him over.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON KC:
It didn't go to court

but he was given
a caution by the police.

- Long running feuds are
really an interesting concept.

They're not necessarily common
in the general population,

but they do occur frequently in
specific contexts or instances

where there tends
to be interpersonal

or community tensions.

And these tensions
kind of bubble up.

The initial grievance gets
escalated because each party

retaliates against the other.

Ultimately, this
culminates in what's

known as a cycle
of revenge, which

is difficult for either
party to exit

because each party wants
to maintain and hold

on to the winning position.

NARRATOR: Alder Willis was
cautioned by the police

for assaulting
Andrew's boss, but

the antagonism between
the two businesses

continued, and Andrew
seemed to become the focus

of Alder Willis's aggression.

- It was completely unclear
why he became a target.

It seems that he just
took a dislike to him.

NARRATOR: Andrew's
boss started keeping

a record of any incidents
of conflict with Alder Willis.

In October 2022, it was
recorded that Willis

had threatened to stab Andrew.

AMBER HAQUE: On a number
of occasions,

Willis would threaten
to have Andrew stabbed.

He would be constantly
giving him dirty looks

and making these threats
that he would get someone

to come and stab
him, which obviously

are quite terrifying threats.

NARRATOR: March 26, 2024, there
was another incident involving

the female partners
of the warring businesses,

but, once again, Andrew
became the target.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON
KC: That was the point

at which Willis made another
threat to k*ll Mr. Darn.

NARRATOR: But Willis's
threatening behavior

didn't end there.

- 20 minutes after
the incident,

Andrew leaves work to run a few
errands, but he isn't alone.

Willis tails Andrew for a few
minutes, at this point,

Andrew notices him and pulls
over onto the curb.

- He was clearly very anxious
about what was going on.

He got out of the car
and shouted something

in Willis's direction.

After, Andrew went home
and he was anxious.

MICHAEL DARN: He'd spoke
to myself and the wife

on the phone.

He sounded very worried.

I think he wasn't
so much worried

for himself, if he was
worried for his partner and

the children.

ROBERTA BABB: Stalking involves
repeated unwanted attention,

harassment or contact,
or any sort of behavior

which aims to intimidate
someone and provoke

feelings of anxiety and fear.

And it can include
behaviors such as following.

If you look at what
Alder Willis did,

he decided to follow
Andrew down in his vehicle.

When a person is
a victim of stalking,

it's incredibly unsettling.

It's distressing.

There's a sense
that your space has

been intruded
upon in a way that

feels incredibly threatening.

NARRATOR: The next morning,
March 27, 2024, Andrew

set off for work as usual.

Less than an hour
later, paramedics

were called to the Tyne
tunnel industrial estate

and found a man with
severe injuries.

They tried to save
him, but the man was

pronounced dead at the scene.

He was confirmed
to be Andrew Darn.

Police went to Andrew's
parents' house

to tell them what had happened.

MICHAEL DARN: They said
that Andrew had been k*lled.

Just couldn't believe it.

You go numb.

You don't comprehend
what's happened.

You think it's a dream.

It just doesn't hit home.

NATALIE DARN: I had entered
the front door of my mom and

dad's house, and mom
just stood and told us

that Andrew had been m*rder*d.

And I just dropped
to the floor.

I was like, no, he's not.

He's not.

NARRATOR: Police searched the
area for surveillance footage

and found a crucial camera
inside the garage door company.

- We're seeing
on the main screen

the view directly from
the front of the office.

NARRATOR: As the police tracked
back through the footage,

they were able
to piece together

the events of that morning.

At 7:55 AM, Andrew Darn pulled
into the parking area outside

the garage door company.

- This car here is
Andrew Darn's car

parked on the right hand
side of the parking area.

And up here we see
Alder Willis's van.

You see the back
doors of the van

are open because he
is in the process

of unloading boxes with his
supplies for the cafe that day.

NARRATOR: Andrew's dash cam
recorded what he said to Alder.

At 7:59 AM, Andrew
got out of his car.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON KC:
Well, this is the beginnings

of a conversation, certainly.

And it looks as though
Andrew is quite animated.

He's gesturing quite a lot.

The important thing to notice,
as far as Willis is concerned,

is where his hands are.

His left hand is
out and gesturing,

but his right hand stays
firmly stuck in his pocket.

Andrew Darn then throws
a punch at Willis.

Willis reacts by taking his
right hand out of his pocket

and he strikes two blows
towards Andrew's torso.

NARRATOR: After
the altercation,

Andrew walked back to his car.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON
KC: Andrew appears

to be walking quite normally.

He is walking to his
car, turning away

from any additional violence.

NARRATOR: Andrew then remained
inside the parked vehicle.

- We see Willis heading
back towards his business.

He goes in for a bit,
he comes out.

You can see him looking in
the direction of Andrew's car,

and you can see
him moving his hand

across his throat,
which we took

to be a very hostile gesture.

This is about 20 minutes
after their confrontation.

And Willis goes over
to Andrew Darn's car--

he may have thought there
was something amiss--

and he reaches into the open
driver's door window.

Can't quite see what he's
doing, but he's peering in

and possibly shaking or trying
to rouse Andrew at that point.

And then he walks away again.

NARRATOR: Alder Willis
went back to his shop.

Then 30 seconds later he
returned again to Andrew's car.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON KC: He
opens the door this time

and he, again, he seems to be
looking or reaching inside.

Whatever he has seen, Alder
Willis does not call for help.

You can see how shocked his
partner looks because she

puts her hand across her face.

Alder Willis walks away from
Andrew's car, gets into his van

and drives off.

NARRATOR: Andrew remained
in his car for a further three

minutes before his boss's
partner found him severely

injured and unconscious.

Five minutes later, emergency
services arrived on the scene

and attended to Andrew.

Six miles away at his
home in Camperdown,

Alder Willis was recorded
on a doorbell camera.

- It shows him having
just reached his street,

speaking to his partner
who has traveled

separately from the cafe.

He says, and I'll
see you in 15 years

time, meaning he knows that
he's done something seriously

wrong and that he's
going to be going

away for a long, long time.

It's quite difficult to tell
what he was feeling or thinking

just by looking at this,
but on the face of it

he seems pretty calm.

AMBER HAQUE: A little later,
Willis had a conversation

with one of his
friends where he said,

I don't think I'm going
to be going to Benidormson.

I think I've k*lled someone.

Just after 10:00 AM,
Willis called a solicitor,

he handed himself in at a
police station and was arrested

on suspicion of m*rder.

NARRATOR: The autopsy
concluded that Andrew had

died from a single stab wound.

AMBER HAQUE: The knife
actually pierced

his aorta, a major
vessel in the body,

and he died from catastrophic
internal bleeding.

The police seized the knife
which Willis still

had in his pocket
at the time, and

there was blood on this knife.

They DNA tested it, and it
was a match for Andrew Darn.

NARRATOR: The footage
clearly captured

the moment Alder Willis
k*lled Andrew Darn.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON KC: Quite
often the critical moment

is not captured,
it's just off camera,

but here it was right
in front of our eyes.

MICHAEL DARN: It's
hard to comprehend

how it happened when it had
nothing to do with Andrew.

You look back and you
still say, why him?

He had so much going for him.

He loved his job.

He loved his partner.

He loved his children.

He loved his fishing.

And in the space of two
seconds, it's all gone.

NARRATOR: In court, Alder
Willis argued self-defense.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON KC: We had
to prove that the k*lling was

unlawful, which in this case
meant we had to prove it

wasn't done in self-defense.

Willis gave evidence
at the trial

and had to be asked
about what he'd done.

He did accept that using
a knife in response to a punch

was out of proportion.

The jury rejected his
defense of self-defense.

- After an almost two week
trial at Newcastle Crown Court,

Willis was found guilty
of m*rder and possession

of a bladed article.

He was sentenced
to life imprisonment

with a minimum
term of 18 years.

- He's going to be


but he's still
going to get out,

he's still going
to have a life.

There's no life for Andrew now.

FRANCIS FITZGIBBON
KC: The jury clearly

thought that whatever
had happened in the past

and whatever happened that
morning did not justify

what Willis did to Andrew.

He had done nothing
to deserve that.

He didn't deserve to die.

Not in that way, not
at the hands of Alder Willis.

MICHAEL DARN: I'd like
people to remember Andrew

for being here fishing, his
happy place where he was

most at home, he was relaxed.

It was just his
own little world.

He loved this place.

- For Andrew's birthday, we'd
gone down to his favorite place

where he liked
to fish, and would

set off balloons with family.

- Happy birthday, Andrew.

NATALIE DARN: It's
the worst situation

you could ever possibly imagine
going through but you just

have to try to look
on the brighter side

because that's what
he would have done.

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