Fitzharris: In their heyday,
the Rolling Stones
were real rebels.
Drug busts and jail time.
But 1969 took it
all to a new level.
Guitarist and band founder
Brian Jones
drowned in his swimming pool.
The police and the papers
said he was drunk and high.
But were they
telling us the truth?
Jones: Janet described her own
statement as a pack of lies.
Fitzharris: Who was really
there that night?
Hallett: He was having a party,
and midnight-ish we
heard some screaming.
Fitzharris: And what really
happened in his swimming pool?
This is a mystery so dark
it paints everything black,
the band, the police and
even the British government.
Jones: This wasn't a case
of accidental drowning,
but it was actually case of
manslaughter or possibly
m*rder.
[suspenseful music]
Fitzharris: I'm Dr.
Lindsey Fitzharris.
I'm a medical historian
and bestselling author,
with a PhD in the history
of science and medicine
from Oxford University.
I've written about the
pioneering days of surgery,
about syphilis,
plagues and pandemics,
and even books
made of human skin.
Some might say I'm
obsessed with the macabre
and with death.
But, I think the way people die
tells us a whole lot
about how they lived.
I'm going to explore some of
history's most famous lives
by looking at them through
their extremely curious deaths.
This is my investigation room,
and here is my science lab
where Dr. Raychelle Burks
will be doing tests
and experiments for me.
And here is where my
crime-solving partner
former Scotland Yard
detective Brian Hook
helps me piece together
my investigations.
Call it biography with a twist.
A biography from the morgue.
[dramatic music]
The Rolling Stones
were the epitome
of 1960s Rock and
Roll rebellion.
If you remember these
images, so the saying goes,
you weren't there.
The Stones had the
sound, the style,
the scandal and the sleaze.
From the front-page drug busts
to the glamorous girlfriends,
they were every parent's
nightmare.
They were badass.
In 1969, at the height
of their fame,
the Rolling Stones
were considered one of
the greatest Rock
and Roll bands ever.
In the summer of that year,
things go really genuinely bad.
The band hits the headlines
with a scandal no
one sees coming,
the death of
guitarist Brian Jones.
[suspenseful music]
From that fatal night on,
rumors start circulating
about a death that was,
well, more than
any other premature
Rock and Roll death,
wildly curious.
Is it an accident or
is someone responsible?
Is it a classic Rock and Roll
alcohol and drugs' overdose
or is there, as some
have alleged, foul play?
I'll start with the facts.
Brian Jones is found dead
in his swimming pool
at around midnight
on the night of the
second of July 1969,
at his country mansion,
Cotchford Farm.
A few days later,
the inquest swiftly declares it
an alcohol and drugs
related drowning.
I've been working with
former Scotland Yard
m*rder squad
detective Brian Hook
to start compiling a list
on his investigations board.
[gentle music]
So, Brian, what do we actually
know about that night?
Hook: We know a fair bit.
I've actually got the
coroner's inquest file here.
Cause of death, "drowning
whilst under the influence
of alcohol and
drugs, misadventure."
Fitzharris: And who else was
there that night?
Hook: Anna Wohlin,
Brian's girlfriend,
was there that evening,
and a man called
Frank Thorogood.
Now he was a builder.
Brian was having a lot of
refurbishment done on the
house,
and Frank was doing
that refurbishment.
But, he was actually
living in an apartment
above the garage attached
to Brian's house.
Fitzharris: So in
the guest house?
-Hook: Yes.
-Fitzharris: Okay.
Hook: And also we have
Janet, who was a nurse.
It was thought that at
the time that she was
having a relationship
with Frank the builder.
And then, lastly,
we have Tom Keylock,
who is employed by the Rolling
Stones as a tour manager
but also as a minder for Brian.
He says he didn't arrive
until the early
hours of the morning.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: I need to
think differently
from the way they were
thinking in the 1960s.
It's time to meet Brian.
[suspenseful music]
Under your 1960s finery Brian,
you're just the same as us.
[dramatic music]
You're just flesh and blood.
This model made of gel behaves
just like a human body.
With this, I'll be able to do
some tests and experiments.
To help me, I've
asked Dr. Judy Melinek
to take a close look
at Brian's autopsy.
[dramatic music]
She's pronounced
on over 2500 cases,
and was one of the medical team
who dealt with the
thousands who died in 9/11.
She's going to use our gel body
to recreate what happened
in Brian's post mortem.
So what are we looking at here?
Melinek: He did have quite a
bit of alcohol in his
bloodstream.
A blood alcohol level
of .14 grams percent
that's a little below
twice what we'd have
for the legal limit for
driving.
-Fitzharris: Okay. -Melinek:
The kind of equivalent
of three and a
half pints of beer.
Fitzharris: So it
doesn't sound like much.
Would it have made him drowsy?
Melinek: I think
that's unlikely.
Someone's who's got a
history of chronic alcoholism
and who drinks on
a regular basis,
no, I would not expect them
to become unconscious from it.
To give you a sense of it,
I can show you on the model.
[dramatic music]
So normally when
I do an autopsy,
I make a Y-incision on the
body.
I go from shoulder to shoulder
down to the breastbone,
and then down the abdomen.
[gentle music]
Fitzharris: I'm like a kid in a
science class right now.
Melinek: Peel back everything.
[gel squelching]
Fitzharris: Oh, that sound.
So really just open up
the body like a window.
[dramatic music]
Melinek: The next step is
to take loppers.
Fitzharris: Wow.
Melinek: And we use it
to clip the ribs.
[bones cracking]
And that allows us to
expose the chest cavity,
the lungs, the
heart and the liver.
A normal-sized liver,
is about this size.
But the pathologist found
that Brian Jones had a
markedly enlarged liver,
twice normal size and
indicates hard drinking.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: That tells us that
the three pints or so of beer
that Brian had taken
onboard that night,
would have had minimal
effect on his ability
to function normally.
But we also know from
the coroner's report
that Brian had been under
the influence of drugs...
Apparently.
I've asked analytical
chemist Dr. Raychelle Burks
to take a close look at
the toxicology report
from that night.
[dramatic music]
So Raychelle, Brian Jones,
big time Rock and Roll star,
but he wasn't partying
hard that night?
Burks: Well, they tested for
five drugs and didn't find any.
But, in the urine
"Amphetamine like
substance 1,720 micrograms.
In normal urine this never
exceeds 200 micrograms."
-Fitzharris: Wow.
-Burks: Continuing,
"these figures suggest
ingestion
of a fairly large
quantity of drug."
Fitzharris: So what
does all this mean?
Burks: If it's in the urine,
it means it's gone
through his system,
and he's metabolized it.
Now that takes some time.
It could have been
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: As is routinely the
case, for his autopsy
a sample of Brian Jones's
urine was examined.
We take this
practice for granted,
but way before stethoscopes,
blood tests and MRI scans,
a pot of pee was a
crucial diagnostic tool.
The influential Greco-Roman
physician, Galen,
believed that urine was
the best way to determine
whether a patient's four
humors,
blood, phlegm, yellow and
black bile, were in balance.
In medieval Europe,
something called a urine wheel
was used to diagnose disease
based on the color, smell,
and even the taste of the
urine.
[tense music]
These rather pretty
wheels had 20 colors
ranging from white as
well-water
to black as a very dark horn.
The urine wheel may
not have been useful
in diagnosing diseases as
we understand them today,
but it was standard practice
for hundreds of years.
Today, doctors no
longer taste our urine,
nor do they spend much time
contemplating its
smell or color.
But asking a patient to pee
into an impossibly tiny cup
is not an uncommon request,
as anyone entering a hospital
or medical office today knows.
Or, as it turns out, a morgue.
With modern chemical
analysis urine can tell us
more today than it has
ever told us in the past.
[dramatic music]
So what else is
interesting here?
Burks: Well, they did a thin
layer chromatography test,
and they didn't find the
five drugs they tested for.
"But, did show the presence
of two dense spots.
"one yellow orange, which
has not been identified,
and the other a purple spot."
Fitzharris: What's a thin
layer chromatography test?
Burks: It's a way to separate
out a complex mixture.
You drop the mixture on a
plate.
It would separate out,
and give you lots
of spots like this.
Now you've got to
identify each one.
Fitzharris: So could these
spots be related to the
Amphetamine
like substances
found in his urine?
Burks: They could.
Fitzharris: Brian's drug taking
was affecting more than
his own body.
Just before his death,
there's high drama in the
world of the Rolling Stones.
Drugs and alcohol were
contributing to an increase
in the strength and frequency
of Brian's mood swings.
He's not turning
up for rehearsals,
and when he is,
he's drunk or high.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
fire Brian from the band.
Film producer Stephen
Woolley became an expert
on relations within
the Rolling Stones
when he researched his
movie about Brian Jones
finding evidence that his death
might have been more
than pure accident.
[gentle music]
Woolley: Brian was the one who
formed the Rolling Stones.
He had got the band together.
He was the one that came up
with the name the
Rolling Stones.
[dramatic music]
Before Brian's death,
Keith Richards discovered that
having fired Brian
from the band,
Brian wanted to keep the
name the Rolling Stones.
Fitzharris: If Brian legally
kept the name Rolling Stones,
it could be a financial
disaster for the rest of the
band,
and, it seems,
things did turn ugly.
Woolley: I'm not sure this
is entirely true,
but, apparently, a
brouhaha developed.
Keith had pulled
a knife on Brian
and was held back by Mick.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: According
to an eyewitness,
there was a big fight
about the band's name.
But could the Rolling
Stones possibly
have been involved in
Brian's mysterious death?
[suspenseful music]
Shortly before his death sent
shockwaves to the Rock world
former Rolling Stone Brian
Jones is rumored to have been
seen
fighting with guitarist
Keith Richards.
Over rights to the band's name.
Can we trust this
eye witness' report?
This story about Keith Richards
pulling a knife on Brian
has been a rumor for years.
So I'd take that
with a grain of salt.
It's just a rumor.
But, what can we be sure of?
Hook: Well one thing
we're certain of,
Brian's split with the band
was definitely acrimonious.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: Despite being
fired, Brian doesn't go easy.
He strikes a tough deal,
whereby, the Stones pay him
a lump sum and a yearly fee.
If Brian Jones lives,
he can continue to make life
difficult for the Stones.
But is his death a coincidence
or something more sinister?
[suspenseful music]
So this is the
bombshell that's either
going to make or
break my career,
adding the Rolling Stones up
there on the suspect list.
I don't know, should
I call my lawyer?
Hook: Most certainly.
There's no way that they
are people of interest.
Their life got a lot easier
after Brian had left
the band and died,
but no evidence whatsoever.
So I'm sorry, not suspects.
[dramatic music]
-[lively music]
-[crowd cheering]
Fitzharris: Despite
the falling out,
Brian's death led to
a poignant tribute
at a Rolling Stones
concert two days later.
Now it's the time to
return to the night itself.
[chimes and beeps]
Fitzharris: Brian dies at his
beautiful house, Cotchford
Farm.
Here's what it looks like at
the time of Brian's death.
It's a quaint old farmhouse,
comfortable but not enormous.
Home of AA Milne,
who wrote the wonderful
Winnie The Pooh books.
It's thought that
with Brian that night
were Frank the builder,
Anna, Brian's girlfriend,
and Janet, a nurse and
friend of Frank's.
So these were all the
people there that night,
and presumably they gave
a statement to the police?
Hook: Yes, they all say that
they had a little bit of food,
and little bit of drink,
and then, eventually,
Frank, Anna, and Brian
go into the pool.
Fitzharris: Does anything
strike you as odd
from these statements?
Hook: Yeah, none of them match.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: Frank Thorogood
tells police
that he was the last one
in the pool with Brian.
Frank leaves for a cigarette.
And then, he says
that some time later.
He discovers the body with
Anna,
who screams that Brian is
on the bottom of the pool.
Anna Wohlin gives a completely
different account.
[beeps and chimes]
She went inside to the bedroom,
leaving the others by the pool.
At around midnight,
Anna says that she
hears Janet scream
that something has
happened to Brian.
So in Anna's version,
it's Janet who discovers
Brian in the pool not her.
[ominous music]
According to Janet's statement,
she heads inside the
house before Anna.
After speaking with
Frank in the kitchen,
she then finds Brian
face down in the water.
So, according to Janet,
Frank isn't at the poolside
when Brian is discovered.
She is.
How come none of these
witnesses heard Brian
struggling in the water
as he was drowning?
[suspenseful music]
[dramatic music]
Whatever else happened that
night at Cotchford Farm,
Brian Jones was found
dead in the swimming pool.
The autopsy may have
ruled it a drowning,
but what actually happens
to your body as you drown?
Most of us can hold our breath
for between 30 seconds
and two minutes.
Every second after that,
your chances of surviving
underneath the water
become slimmer.
The instinct not to breathe
while you're under
water is so strong,
that it overcomes the agony
of running out of air.
This is called the break point,
when you just have
to take a breath in.
Experiments have shown
this involuntary response
comes around about 87 seconds.
You might be
surprised to discover
that drowning doesn't
look like drowning.
According to Dr. Francesco Pia,
a lifeguard from
Long Island, New York,
who is an expert on
rescuing drowning victims,
the waving,
splashing, and yelling
that we see in the movies
simply doesn't happen.
The mouths of drowning people
are not above the surface
of the water long enough
for them to exhale, inhale,
and call out for help.
This is why drowning
children often go unnoticed.
Of the roughly 750 children
who will drown next
year in the U.S.,
many will do so within 25 yards
of their parents
or another adult.
The silent, undramatic
way that people drown
may go a long way to explaining
why no one saw Brian
Jones slip under
the water that summer
evening in 1969.
[tense music]
[dramatic music]
On that night the eye witnesses
give completely different
stories to the police.
If we've been able to
identify the contradictions
in their statements what
do they make of them?
Why don't they investigate
these discrepancies?
So Brian, you're a former cop,
whose job was it to
go to Cotchford Farm?
Hook: Initially, it was the
Sussex Constabulary.
They're a small rural force,
and, interestingly, there's
only
one statement from
a police officer,
and that's constable
Albert Evans.
He arrives at Cotchford
Farm at 10 past 12:00.
Sees a body.
Goes into the house.
But, it's extremely short.
Fitzharris: Yeah, I mean,
I'm no cop,
but this seems like a
very short statement.
It's about a page long.
Hook: Nothing about who
he spoke to,
what the events were, nothing.
Fitzharris: Really crucial
facts to the case are missing?
Hook: They're just not there.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: Albert refused to
revisit that night with us.
But Scott Jones, a journalist,
who has completed decades
of research on this case,
actually spoke to Albert Evans.
Jones: In the 1990s
Albert Evans,
who was now out of the police,
wrote to the chief constable
to say that he wasn't happy
with the police work
that had gone on.
Albert Evans told me
he interviewed more
than three witnesses.
Everybody had said to him
there'd been an altercation.
There'd been a fight.
The evidence he said
was incredibly clear.
It was obvious
what had happened.
Brian Jones had died in a
fight.
Yet, Albert Evans said
to me that Bob Marshal,
the most senior CID officer
on the case, stopped him,
and from that moment onwards,
that evidence was buried,
and it was ignored.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: There
definitely was a fight,
but the police aren't
investigating it.
It seems that the police
are a big factor here.
Hook: Well, the investigation
is gonna be the crux of this.
We need to find out who's
actually pulling the strings.
Fitzharris: So, you
have Albert Evans,
the first cop on the scene.
Hook: Yep, he spoke to
a lot of people,
and they're saying
that there was a fight.
Fitzharris: His evidence
is being ignored
by his superior Bob Marshall.
Plus, you have the police,
who represent the
establishment at this time.
You have the Rolling Stones,
who represent the
counterculture.
This is a dynamic that I think
is very interesting
to this case.
The long running struggle
between the police
and the counterculture
pivoted mostly on one thing:
Recreational drugs.
[dramatic music]
As a world-famous rock star,
it would have been easy
for Brian to get hold of
almost any recreational
drug available in the 1960s.
But mind-altering drugs
are as old as time.
Before the development
of language,
our ancestors were
seeking out highs.
Everything from the
ganja of Rastafarians,
to Tobacco of Native Americans,
and even wine in Christianity.
A survey of 488 modern
societies revealed
that 90% have fundamental
belief systems
influenced by the consumption
of mind-altering drugs.
[dramatic music]
Celebrity use and abuse of
mind-altering substances
are nothing new.
In the early 1800s,
world-renowned
chemist Humphry Davy
experimented with
inhaling nitrous oxide.
He thought it gave
him exclusive access
to the inner
workings of the brain
and the secrets of heaven.
He wrote poetry while
under its influence
and even held
laughing gas parties
for his celebrity friends.
Talking of mind-altering
substances,
cocaine was in common
and unregulated use
throughout the 19th Century.
In 1863, the French
chemist Angelo Mariani
marketed a wine treated
with coca leaves,
the active ingredient
of which is cocaine.
Vin Mariani
contained 11% alcohol
and 6.5 mg of cocaine
in every fluid ounce.
[gentle music]
It was an instant hit.
Novelist Robert Louis
Stephenson loved it.
He wrote "The Strange Case
of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
during a six-day cocaine binge.
So, if you think the
drug-fueled party lifestyle
began in the 1960s, look
back a few hundred years,
and think again.
[bright music]
[dramatic music]
Drugs were the
polarizing feature
of the political landscape
in the late '60s.
Hook: There'd been a lot of
tension between the band
and the police in
the previous years,
and, in particular,
the Sussex police,
who were investigating the
case.
They had a history with
the Rolling Stones.
On February 12, 1967,
there's a notorious drug bust
at Keith Richards's country
house, Redlands, in Sussex.
Keith and Mick reportedly in
the midst of a debauched party,
including the
legendary one involving
Mick's girlfriend
Marianne Faithfull.
And after a high-profile trial,
all they got were
a few days in jail.
So Sussex police I
would have imagined
would have been humiliated.
Now I'm not saying that's a
motivation for a cover up,
but it must have left the
Sussex police really smarting.
Fitzharris: We know that
Bob Marshall,
the senior cop leading
the investigation,
told Albert Evans, the
first cop on the scene,
to look away from the evidence
of an altercation
involving Brian.
But journalist
Scott Jones thinks
the police went
one step further.
Jones: There are notes at the
botTom of Albert's statement
in Bob Marshall's handwriting,
details about drugs.
Brian Jones he clearly was
under
a doctor in London we know
that,
and we know, obviously,
from the records
that these were the drugs that
the doctor was giving him.
But Bob Marshall's
hand-written notes
have been turned into evidence
that's attributed
to Albert Evans.
That isn't what you
would normally expect
from a proper full and
fair police investigation.
[suspenseful music]
Fitzharris: So Bob Marshall is
adding the presence
of drugs to Albert Evans'
original statement.
Hook: Maybe to push the
drugs overdose angle?
And if that was the case,
it certainly worked
because the tabloid press
jumped
on the anti-drugs bandwagon.
They assumed that Brian Jones
had got what he deserved.
Fitzharris: This
police investigation
into Brian Jones's death
is looking curiouser
and curiouser.
Brian Jones was one of Rock
and Roll's first casualties
drowned in his swimming pool in
the summer of 1969.
Its quickly decided to be an
alcohol and drugs related
death,
but we've discovered that the
police investigation at the
time
is full of inconsistencies.
retired detective
inspector stuart booth
from the sussex police had
to manage any new evidence
that emerged in this case
throughout the 1980s and 90s.
[gentle music]
Booth: If you look
at the contents
of these witness statements,
it says that the
statement was taken
in the presence of chief
inspector Marshall.
It is unusual for
a senior officer
to sit in for a statement.
It doesn't give an independent
view of what's being said.
He's only sitting
in for one purpose.
Control of the inquiry.
Fitzharris: In 2008,
chief inspector Bob Marshall
went on record to
say he was happy
with the result of the inquest.
But at the time,
could someone have been
putting pressure on him?
Jones: It's true to say that
the police investigation
on the ground everything
stopped with Bob Marshall.
But what's also true is that
CID officers would not
risk their own careers
and reputation by
carrying out cover ups
if they didn't think they
were gonna get away with it,
and the only way
they'd get away with it
is if they knew they had
the support from above them.
I think it's highly
likely that the pressure
that Sussex Constabulary
would have been under
would have come from
the home office.
Fitzharris: Well, that's an
interesting angle
from Scott Jones,
but tell me what's
the home office?
Hook: The home office is a
government department.
It supervises all the police
forces in the United Kingdom.
It's kind of like your
Department of Justice.
You gotta remember
this is the 1960s.
The government have effectively
declared w*r on drugs.
They're terrified
of the drug culture,
so anybody that falls
foul of that drug culture
and is high profile, as far as
they're concerned, is great.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: This w*r on drugs
is fascinating.
Scott Jones' investigation
took him deep into the links
between the government,
the police force,
and even coroners
in the late '60s.
Jones: We have a copy
of the letter here
from the home office
written by Peter Beedle,
a senior civil servant
to the coroner who
led the inquest
into Brian Jones's death.
He says, "You have kindly
agreed to let me have a copy
"of the post mortem
examination report.
I am very grateful for
your cooperation."
Now, if we're to believe
that Brian Jones
accidentally drowned
in his swimming pool,
why on Earth does a
senior civil servant
need to be kept informed?
It just doesn't go together.
Clearly, they were happy
to try and get the message
that they wanted out
there about drugs.
Fitzharris: Well, that's
certainly a cr*cker of a theory
from Scott Jones.
That the home office put
pressure on the police.
Hook: I mean, I don't think
that there was a direct order
from the home office,
but I just think
that some strings
were probably being pulled,
and I'm sure that
the Sussex police,
way down the bottom felt
those strings being tugged
and will be more than happy
to please their masters.
Fitzharris: Well, it's
certainly compelling,
the idea that the cover up goes
all the way to the
top, to the government.
[dramatic music]
According to the inquest,
there are only three witnesses
at Cotchford Farm that night,
and their statements
are problematic.
But Albert Evans, the
first cop to arrive,
claims he speaks
to several people,
who were still at Cotchford
Farm when he got there.
We've uncovered a fascinating
interview from the early 1990s
with Brian Jones' neighbor,
Mary Hallett.
She worked as his cleaner
and her house is a spitting
distance from his.
Surely, she would know
who was there that night?
Hallett: The day before
Brian died,
he was telling me that
he'd got people coming down
that evening because
he was having a party.
There was quite a
noise down there,
music and people's voices.
Later on, midnight-ish,
we came out and we saw
police with walkie talkies.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: If this is true,
there's a huge party
at Brian's mansion
on the night he dies.
But there aren't any
witness statements
from any of these
other party goers.
And even more curious,
there is a witness statement
from the Rolling Stones minder,
Tom Keylock, who says he wasn't
even there when Brian died.
But if there's this big party,
why do we only have
four witness statements?
And one of them is
from Tom Keylock,
who says that he
arrived at 3:30 a.m.?
He wasn't even there
when Brian died.
Hook: Yeah, but, if you look
at these photographs,
you can see Tom Keylock dealing
with the press the
following morning.
It certainly looks like
he's at the center of this.
He's commanding things.
He's orchestrating them.
Fitzharris: Yet, in the midst
of all this pandemonium,
while the press is
clamoring for answers,
Tom Keylock seems to
be very much in charge.
[suspenseful music]
He is having to deal
with a shocking event.
One of the world's most famous
Rock stars is suddenly dead.
[suspenseful music]
If the police in 1969
were reluctant to pursue
the full truth of what
happened that night
at Cotchford Farm, I'm not.
Tom Keylock died
a few years ago,
but film producer
Stephen Woolley
took a special interest in him.
Woolley: Tom Keylock was a
London c*ck who had glasses
and a demeanor like a
very rough Michael Caine.
He was a road manager
or security man for
the Rolling Stones.
Tough, didn't take
no nonsense guy.
Had a strange
relationship with Brian
because Tom would be sort
of taking these girls
who were throwing
themselves at Brian,
taking advantage
in order to live
the Rolling Stones
lifestyle himself.
Fitzharris: Keylock
says he arrives
at Cotchford Farm at 3:30 a.m.
But, what is he
doing before then?
Tom's account of that evening
is called into question
by Terry Rawlings,
an author who became obsessed
with the death of Brian Jones.
What's really cool is that
he managed to track
down Tom Keylock
and took him back
to Cotchford Farm.
And lucky for us, he
filmed the whole thing.
This is the first time
some of this extraordinary
and unique footage has been
shown to a TV audience.
[dramatic music]
Rawlings: I became
quite close with Tom,
and his guard went down
quite a lot with me.
The longer it
went on that day,
the less believable
Tom's account
of his whereabouts
for that night became.
Fitzharris: That sounds
really strange.
Step me through the timeline.
So Tom returns back to
Redlands,
and at some point on his
journey, he stops for dinner.
In 1969, 10.30 p.m. in the
middle of the countryside,
there will be nowhere open.
Fitzharris: Do we know the name
of the restaurant?
Did he, did he?
Hook: Nope, no details.
Never been disclosed.
After midnight,
Tom is stopped by
a police officer
and told that Brian is dead.
Fitzharris: Okay, so
a police officer
happens to come across his car
and stops it for the
purpose of telling him
that Brian is dead.
This seems really,
really unlikely.
Hook: Yes, I have to
agree with you there.
I really, really do.
He then drives to Cotchford
Farm
arriving there at 3:30 a.m.
Fitzharris: Tom's account of
his movements is hardly
convincing.
But I know that Terry Rawlings
manages to catch up with him
much later in life in 2009.
Rawlings: Tom would
give things away
over the course of an
evening's drinking,
and in the morning
he'd sober up,
and go, "I never said that."
you had to try and catch him
out
because he was so
well rehearsed.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: Forty years later
it seems like Tom Keylock
is admitting he was there at
the time of Brian's death.
[dramatic music]
It's pretty clear
now that Tom Keylock
must have been
lying back in 1969,
and so it seems
was everyone else.
None of the witnesses mention
that Tom was there
when Brian died.
Scott Jones managed to
interview Anna Wohlin in 2011.
Jones: I went over to
Stockholm to meet Anna.
She told me that her statement
had been effectively
dictated by Bob Marshall.
When I asked her
why she was willing
to have signed that statement,
it became clear that Anna
was very, very disorientated
on the night of
Brian Jones's death.
Clearly sort of drunk
and possibly high
and incapable of giving
a coherent statement.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: Anna's not
the only one.
One of the other witnesses
named
in the inquest file,
Janet Lawson,
also wanted to revise the
statement she gave at the time.
Jones: Janet described her
own statement to me
as a pack of lies,
lies that were set out
by Sussex Constabulary.
On a false promise
from the police.
That false promise
being you can come back
and give another full statement
when you're ready
in your own time.
She was never given
that opportunity.
Janet was absolutely certain
that there was a party going on
at Brian Jones's house
the night he died.
That explains why
when Albert Evans
turned up on the scene
just after midnight,
the first PC to arrive,
he interviewed lots of
people in the garden.
Fitzharris: Both Janet Lawson
& Anna Wohlin
go back on their
But these retractions
never make it
into the official police
report.
[gentle music]
So what are the key players
really doing that night?
Movie producer Stephen Woolley,
spoke to Janet about 40
years after Brian's death.
Woolley: She started to talk
about Tom Keylock in
the interview.
And it became
apparent to me that
that's why she was at
Cotchford Farm was to see Tom.
She was not there to
see Frank Thorogood.
Janet was actually
Tom Keylock's mistress
and would meet Tom at the
house to have their own tryst.
[suspenseful music]
Fitzharris: Tom was having
an affair with Janet.
That's why Tom is there,
to see Janet.
Now we know why he spins so
many lies about his
whereabouts.
He's married & covering up
this illicit relationship.
But there's one more
person who's movements
that night need
more investigation.
The builder, Frank Thorogood.
In the mysterious death
of Brian Jones
we've so far established that
key evidence is ignored
there are inconsistent
witness statements
and now, a cover up
elicit relationship.
Brian, help me summarize a bit.
Frank wasn't having an affair
with Janet, is that correct?
Hook: No, Tom was having
the affair with Janet.
That's why he says he
was miles and miles away.
He invents this
c*ck and bull story.
But I've found out a
bit more about Frank.
Woolley: What happened as well,
I mean, which wasn't
reported in the newspapers,
was Frank wasn't being
paid for the work
that he was engaged
in, in the house.
Frank was fired being told he
would be paid at a later date.
Fitzharris: So Frank Thorogood
had just found out
that his lifestyle at Brian's
party house might be ending.
Now that's interesting.
Hook: Yeah, because the Rolling
Stones office had decided,
that as Brian was no longer
a member of the band,
they were not gonna
pay his bills.
[gentle music]
Fitzharris: Frank Thorogood,
is a builder who's been living
and working at Brian's
house all summer.
He's also, crucially,
the last person
in the pool with Brian.
Even Frank himself admits this
in his statement to the police.
Stuart booth uncovered
some astonishing
and unexpected new evidence.
[dramatic music]
Booth: One day I walked
into my office
and found a statement of
detective Sergeant Mike Harvey.
I had never seen it before
in the coroner's report.
It was not in there.
Basically, he had been called
out to search the place,
and he had found
some drugs, durophet,
in the coat pocket
of Frank Thorogood.
On that statement it says
"cautioned" in handwriting.
But in those days,
they would seek to prosecute
anybody committing
an offense of drugs.
[dramatic music]
Fitzharris: Frank Thorogood
the last man to be in
the pool with Brian
they let him off with a
caution.
But he has a big packet of
Brian's drugs in his pocket.
And the police decide not
to let the coroner know
and remove the statement
about it from the file.
But remember the
mysterious spots
mentioned in the
pathology report
found on the
chromatography test?
Could these spots be
linked to the drugs
Frank was in possession of?
[dramatic music]
So I just found out that
Brian Jones's builder
had a drug called
Durophet in his pocket.
Does that mean anything to you?
Burks: It does.
I've got a note written
by Brian Jones's doctor.
It lists all of the
prescriptions he gave Jones.
One of them is Durophet,
active ingredient
is Amphetamine.
Fitzharris: Okay,
that's interesting.
Burks: Now it lists
other drugs as well.
Mandrex for sleeping,
Valium as a tranquilizer.
A medihaler for asthma,
and Piriton for hay fever.
Fitzharris: That sounds like
a lot of drugs.
Now could any of these drugs
be responsible for the spots
that we're seeing on the thin
layer chromatography test?
Burks: The only way
we'd know for sure
is to run the exact same test
using all of our new
drugs of interest.
And that's exactly what
I got my fellow chemist,
Dr. Agatha Grayler,
to do for us.
Fitzharris: All right, well,
let's see what her results are.
Burks: Let's give her a call.
Hi, Agatha, I'm
here with Lindsey.
Fitzharris: Hey.
Grayler: Hi, Lindsey
nice to meet you.
Fitzharris: Yeah, nice
to meet you.
I hear you've done
some tests for us.
Grayler: Yes, I ran all the
drugs that are on
Brian Jones's prescription
note from his doctor.
Fitzharris: We're looking
specifically for purple
and yellow orangey spots.
Did you find anything?
Grayler: Well, I did
find some spots,
and they are purple.
Fitzharris: Oh, great!
[women exclaiming]
Look at that.
Okay, so what does
that indicate?
Grayler: Well, these spots
were for Antihistamines,
which is anti-allergic tablets.
Fitzharris: That's interesting.
Burks: Well, one of
the well-known side effects
of most Antihistamines
is drowsiness.
Fitzharris: So that could have
been a contributing factor
to the reason why he drowned?
[dramatic music]
Our new test has resolved
one major question
about Brian Jones's death.
Antihistamines
combined with alcohol
could have been a
dangerous sedative.
However, the mysterious
spots weren't Durophet.
But we do know that Frank was
in possession of these drugs,
which belonged to Brian.
And when Frank was
questioned by the cops,
he said he was in charge
of giving them to Brian.
Everything is pointing
at Frank being involved
in some way in Brian's death
the drugs in the pocket,
which he could have been
using to spike him with.
Frank doesn't get paid that
day,
so he feels that Brian
owes him a lot of money.
And he's the last one
in the pool.
There's a lot of evidence
mounting against Frank,
but would this case
make it to court?
Hook: Good question.
There is a lot of evidence,
but it's all circumstantial.
Fitzharris: And Frank
sticks to his story.
He maintains that he
left Brian in the pool,
happily swimming away.
Hook: Yeah, in my
experience though,
people that have been
involved in a major incident
change as they get older,
and that's a burden on them.
And if you keep a secret
for too long,
that burden becomes
really heavy.
Fitzharris: Well, it's funny
that you should say that
because there were some people
that just couldn't
leave this story alone.
Terry Rawlings followed
this case for years
and he spoke to Frank and Tom
at length about it.
In 1993 he persuaded them both
back to Cotchford Farm
to relive that night,
hoping to get to the truth
and he filmed it all.
Fitzharris: Twenty-five years
after Brian Jones's death,
journalist Terry Rawlings
persuades key players
Tom Keylock and Frank Thorogood
to revisit the scene
of the death.
Rawlings: We was not the
greatest of film crews,
but we had microphones
dotted around.
We wanted them to slip up
and stray away from that story
they'd been sticking to
and get just that little bit
more of the jigsaw puzzle.
They was getting more
and more uncomfortable
about being there
the longer it went on.
I don't find anything
convincing about
how they're conversing
with each other
at all about the night.
[gentle music]
Fitzharris: So Terry didn't
catch them out that time.
Yet, like a lot of people
as the years went on,
Frank kept talking
to journalists,
to investigators, to friends.
And guess what?
Terry filmed one
of Frank's "chats".
[suspenseful music]
Fitzharris:
Decades after the fact,
Frank admits on camera
that on the night of Brian's
death he was the prime suspect.
[suspenseful music]
Frank died in 1993,
and I can't help wishing we got
a little bit more out of
him in that interview.
But I know that shortly
after Frank died,
Terry Rawlings filmed an
interview with Tom Keylock,
the Rolling Stones tour
manager,
who we now know was there
the night Brian Jones died.
It was back at Cotchford Farm.
And Tom makes a
sensational claim
about something Frank
said just before he died.
[suspenseful music]
So what do you make of
what Tom Keylock says?
Hook: I don't trust deathbed
confessions at all.
Fitzharris: Well, it seems
like this is a secret
that went to the grave
with Frank.
It's frustrating that so many
of the key players
have since died.
But I know scott jones
recorded one of his
final conversations
with Janet Lawson,
the nurse having an affair
with Stones minder Tom Keylock.
[dramatic music]
Jones: If you were asked
is there a chance
that Brian Jones
could have simply drowned
would your answer be,
"yes, there's a chance", or is
that "no, something happened?".
Lawson: I think because of
the state that Frank was in.
I came back out of the house
and Brian was lying at
the bottom of the pool.
Jones: Yeah.
Lawson: And Frank was in the
kitchen shaking like a leaf.
I mean why would Frank
have been standing
in the kitchen
absolutely terrified...
Jones: Mm.
Lawson: ...if something
hadn't happened?
[ominous music]
That's pretty condemning stuff
from the mouth of a key
witness.
She believes Frank did
something to Brian.
That's the strongest statement
yet that Frank is the k*ller.
I wish Frank Thorogood was
still alive to answer to that.
[gentle music]
The death of Brian Jones
seemed so simple at the time,
a Rock and Roll alcohol
and drugs drowning
in a swimming pool.
But it seemed it was
anything but simple.
And the people who
would have known
what happened have since died.
The death was ruled an
accident.
But, was it something
more disturbing?
We will never know for sure,
but this my theory on
the death of Brian Jones.
[dramatic music]
This is what I now
believe to be the truth.
Frank Thorogood is responsible
for Brian's death.
There's just too much evidence
pointing at him.
I think that Frank discovers
earlier that day
that he's not gonna
be paid for his work.
Resentment has been
mounting all summer.
Maybe he just snaps.
Maybe it's play fighting
that just goes wrong.
The first cop arrives
just after midnight.
He suspects foul play.
But when more senior officers
arrive around 3:00 a.m.,
they insist on it being an
alcohol and drugs related
death.
Why? Because they know
that the government
is keen to use high profile
drugs deaths
to discredit the counterculture
of the late '60s.
In a police investigation
that's riddled
with missing evidence
and unfollowed leads,
it's hard not to conclude
that Brian Jones
is a victim of a miscarriage
of justice,
and his death will remain
wildly curious.
[dramatic music]
Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
01x02 - A Rolling Stone
Watch/Buy Amazon
A team of experts analyze the deaths of notable people while examining their lives.
A team of experts analyze the deaths of notable people while examining their lives.