47: Dark Sexual Fantasies, Terrifying Family Secrets & a Case That SHOOK The UK | Becky Watts

(dramatic music) - Hey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. There's my door's got a message. - When you know somebody, you know that they, and you know they wouldn't do this, you know that there's something wrong. (dramatic music) - I don't know where she is, and we need to find her, and we need to find her fast. (dramatic music) - The reason I've come here is to make an arrest of yourself, okay? (dramatic music) - I've come to know I tell us about Becky's disappearance. - Eight days after 16-year-old Becky Watts vanished, police arrived at a small garden shed behind a home in Bristol, England. Now by then, her disappearance had gripped the entire country. Her face was everywhere. Thousands of people had also joined in on the search. The hashtag find Becky, it completely spread like wildfire across social media, reaching millions around the world. And despite growing fears for her safety, many still believed that Becky was alive. I mean, after all, she was a teenager, 16 years old. She had struggled with anxiety, she had run away before, and investigators were even making public appeals directly to Becky as though she might be watching from somewhere, just choosing by her own volition not to come home. Maybe she was staying with a friend, maybe she just needed space, maybe she was upset, and just wanted to be left the heck alone. But then, detectives opened the shed. And in an instant, every theory about Becky running away just vanished. And what investigators uncovered next was even more disturbing. Not because a stranger had targeted her, not because some unknown predator had been lurking in the shadows, but because the person that they would ultimately accuse of doing this to Becky. It was someone that Becky had known her entire life, someone who had been a part of her family for years. And then came the explanation, a kidnapping that was never supposed to be real, a prank, a scare tactic, a plan that apparently spiraled into something horrific, all in accident, it all just spiraled out of control. But was that the truth or was that just the cover story? Hey guys, I'm Annie Elise. Welcome back to an all new episode of 10 To Life. Do your thing, hit that like button, subscribe, follow on the podcast, all of the things, and let's jump right into it. (upbeat music) In 2015, Becky Watts was a 16 year old girl living in Bristol, England. She was a beautiful young girl with long, dark, reddish brown hair. Becky was petite, barely even reaching five feet tall. And like a lot of teenage girls, her favorite color was pink, which this became pretty obvious, the second that you walked into her bedroom, because the entire room, it was painted pink from top to bottom. And Becky really did seem like your average teenage girl. However, there were also things happening in her life that had not been easy on her. Becky was born in 1998 to Tanya Watts and to Darren Galsworthy. Her parents were together before she was born, but by the time that Becky arrived, they had already split up. So as a baby, Becky and her older brother Dan mostly lived with their mother. However, that arrangement, it didn't last long. When Becky was around three years old, she and Dan were removed from their mother's custody and then placed with their father, Darren. Apparently, there had been pretty clear signs of neglect, though those details were never released publicly. And while it was, yeah, a major change for these two young children who were still, you know, just incredibly young, it did ultimately seem like it was a decision that was for the best. Now, what we do know is that by the time Becky and Dan moved in with their father, Darren had fallen in love with a woman named Angie. And Angie had a son of her own named Nathan. And with Becky and Dan joining the household, they quickly became one big blended family. For Becky and her brother, it was now a home, a home where they felt comfortable and safe, something that they hadn't always experienced before. - Regardless of how me and Becky's mother were getting on, we always stayed in their life. I'd have them at least three nights a week, every week. And, but once things started to go a bit pear-shaped in that department, I mean, Angie stepped in, we'd already met and she stepped in, and just took over, and just made everything nice. - Becky was still a toddler when she met Nathan, who, by the way, was nine years older than she was, yet, despite that age gap, the two of them formed a very close bond. In fact, Becky's first word, it wasn't mommy or daddy, it was actually Nathan. And in Angie, Becky really found the mother figure who had been missing from her entire life. She still saw her biological mother, Tanya, every Sunday for lunch, but her day-to-day mother-daughter relationship, that really started and ended with Angie. So, for a while, everything in Becky's home life seemed really great, but as the years went on, Becky became incredibly attached to Angie, all the way to the point where it wasn't entirely healthy. And there's actually a name for it. Child psychologists refer to it as anxious attachment. And there are a lot of different things that can contribute to anxious attachment. Trauma, neglect, separation, instability. And we know that Becky had been removed from her mother's care at a very young age. So, whatever the reason, Becky became attached to Angie at the hip. She didn't want to do anything without her, and she hardly trusted anyone else. Which, because of that, starting elementary school, it was not easy. And I don't mean that Becky was sad on the drive to school, then maybe even cried a little bit when she was dropped off, but then became better after a few minutes or even a couple hours. It was a constant battle just to get her to go to school. Things got so difficult that Darren and Angie weren't even sure how to handle it. Now, Angie felt awful for Becky, and she wanted to do whatever she could do to help. She really cared for her. She ended up literally even getting a job at Becky's school just so Becky would know that she was nearby throughout the day. But eventually, for whatever reason, Becky and Angie's close relationship started creating tension between Angie and her son, Nathan. Now remember, Nathan was nine years older than Becky. So while he was entering young adulthood, his mom was essentially starting over with a young child all over again. Nathan felt like Angie was always focused on Becky too. In his mind, she was constantly taking care of Becky, spending time with Becky, worrying about Becky. And as a result, he felt like there really wasn't much time left for him. And to a certain extent, I think that those feelings were understandable and valid. Kids want and need attention from their parents, even if they are going into young adulthood. And Nathan felt like he wasn't getting enough of that from his mom. Now, because of how devoted Angie was to Becky, it's hard to picture her intentionally neglecting her son, Nathan. But I also can understand how he may have felt like his time with his mom was always being interrupted, or that everything just revolved around Becky. And you might think that eventually, as he got older, Nathan would mature. He would recognize that Becky was young, she was struggling, and he would move past those feelings. But that's not at all what happened. As the years went on, Nathan didn't just begin resenting his mother. He started taking that resentment out on Becky as well. Now, it sounds to me like in a very different way, Nathan also may have had some sort of attachment-related issues when it came to his relationship with his mom, maybe stemming from the detachment he felt because of her relationship with Becky. But the point is, it created quite a bit of tension within that blended family. And as Becky got older and entered her teenage years, her anxiety didn't improve. If anything, it got worse. She continued struggling to attend school and not because she was lazy or didn't care, but because going to school created a tremendous amount of fear and anxiety for her. And at the same time, she also began clashing more frequently with Darren and Angie. Arguments became more common. And there were even times when Darren would threaten to kick her out of the house if she couldn't behave, her own father threatening to kick her out. Which, look, as parents, none of us are perfect. I'm sure all of us at one point or another I know I have have said things in the heat of the moment that we don't really mean. So I'm not at all condoning Darren, telling his daughter to leave, but I'm also not trying to demonize him and call him the worst parent in the world for it. It may have just been a situation where he's like, look, if you can't figure out how to go to school, get along with the family, stop acting out. You might need to find somewhere else to live. I don't know, and I'm paraphrasing there. But anyway, by 2011, when Becky was 13 years old, Darren and Angie got to the point where they felt like they needed to bring in professional help. So they brought her to an organization called the Children and Young People Services. And for a place that specifically listed children. and mental health as one of their specialties, I have to say, they really failed her. For starters, they never even spoke to Becky alone. Nobody sat down with her privately to find out what was really going on with her or how she was feeling what was happening in her life, which if a child is dealing with abuse, neglect, bullying, fear, or simply, I don't know, feeling misunderstood, then they need an opportunity to speak freely without worrying about disappointing their parents or the fear of getting in trouble or being judged. I mean, without that, you're often not getting the full picture, you're only getting what they want the parents to see, right? Because you're having these conversations in front of your parents. Now, I'm not suggesting that Darren or Angie were doing anything wrong in all of this or that they were doing anything wrong at home. But the point is, Becky was never given the opportunity to speak for herself privately. And that is a significant oversight. So the initial report that this organization created, it described Becky as controlling and lacking aspirations. Which remember, we are talking about a 13 year old child here. To me, that feels pretty harsh. A lot of 13 year olds are misguided or don't have clear cut aspirations. The organization though also completely failed to put any plan in place for therapy, medication, or continued treatment. So they never even got to the root of why Becky was terrified of school, afraid to leave the house or constantly arguing with her parents. Instead, the conclusion seemed to be that she was just a difficult teenager. She simply needed to be forced to attend school regardless of how she felt and age would course correct everything itself. Which, that kind of response, it probably did not help Becky at all. If anything, it may have left her feeling like nobody even understood at all what she was going through. Thankfully though, Darren and Angie didn't give up. They knew that Becky needed help and they kept pushing her to find it. Eventually, they were able to get her another appointment, this time with a place called Family Intervention Support Services. And Becky's experience there, it was much more positive. During those sessions, Becky was finally able to open up about the fears that she had been carrying around with her. Specifically, her fears about leaving home and going to school. She talked about worrying over things that most kids her age just wouldn't even spend any sort of time thinking about. Things like sex trafficking, kidnapping, and other worst case scenarios that she truly believed could happen to her. Which that's a pretty unusual thing for someone so young to be so consumed by and concerned over. I mean, at least it stood out to me. Not many young teens are worried about those kinds of things or have even been exposed to those dangers as possibilities in life. Now Becky did have an explanation for this. She said that a lot of those fears probably stemmed from watching horror movies and from reading stories about abductions, that there was something maybe deeply planted and rooted inside of her because of that. Becky also opened up about some of the trauma that she had experienced growing up. She told the therapist that she had been teased for years for being the chubbier child. According to Becky, some of those comments even came from people close to her, including family members and friends. She also admitted that at certain points, she had become so self-conscious that she was carefully monitoring what she ate, just so that she would appear thinner in family photographs. Which is honestly so heartbreaking to hear, nobody should have to go through that. No less a 13-year-old who is coming into her own, going through adolescence and everything that is tough that comes along with that, but then feeling like you need to monitor what you're eating because you're scared you're going to look chubby in the family photo. The family is where you're supposed to feel the safest. Now as if that wasn't difficult enough, Becky also explained that she had been heavily bullied at school and when all of those experiences were piling on top of each other, one on top of the next, they eventually contributed to her fear and anxiety. So when all of those experiences piled on top of another, they eventually contributed to her being diagnosed with anorexia. Now here is her dad talking a little bit about what a difficult time that was for Becky. So what happened when she became anorexic? I was in a really difficult period for us. She lost so much weight so fast, she was thinned in, she had zero strength at all. So Becky was referred to an ED clinic and she began what would hopefully be the start of her healing journey. Now just because Becky was finally working with professionals who understood what she was going through, it doesn't mean that everything suddenly got better overnight. She still was refusing to go to school because of her anxiety and the fear is about something happening to her, also the bullying that she had endured for years. Then, when Becky was 14 years old, she left home and she enrolled in something called hospital education service. Now in the UK, it's a program that is designed for children and young people who can't attend regular school because of health-related issues. And at her new school, Becky was finally able to access more consistent mental health support, including cognitive behavioral therapy. And in March of 2013, for the first time in what felt like years, Becky seemed to be making real progress. In fact, she was doing so well that her doctors discharged her from treatment. And things weren't just improving medically. At her new school, Becky was also finally starting to make friends, including a girl named Courtney Bicker. Now I have to say, one friend might not sound like a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but attending a traditional school had completely disrupted Becky's social life, and she never had many close friendships growing up, so this was actually a really positive development. And on top of making friends, Becky just seemed healthier, both physically and emotionally. The tension and the chaos that had often existed behind the scenes at home, it appeared to settle down or at least fade into the background. Her family even took a vacation together to celebrate Becky's 16th birthday. This was in June of 2014. So at least from the outside looking in, things really did seem to be heading in a positive direction. And then in November of 2014, Becky had even more exciting news to share. She told her parents that she had met a boy named Luke. He was a year older, he was 17 years old. Becky had a huge crush on him, and as it turned out, Luke lived right next door to Becky's brother, Nathan, and Nathan's girlfriend, Shawna. Which remember, Nathan was 9 years older than Becky. So do the math, you know, 16 years old. That would go to, he's 25 years old, so he's living with his girlfriend. You have this crush on this guy who's your age, he lives right next door to your brother. That means every time you see your brother and go visit him, you get to see your teenage crush. You know, like you get the butterflies, you're excited, it's new, it's exciting, it's a young love, all of the things. So by the end of 2014, Darren and Angie were finally able to just exhale a little bit. Their 16 year old daughter seemed happy, finally genuinely happy. She seemed healthy, she was making friends, she had a boyfriend. After years of worrying about Becky, it probably felt like everything was finally coming together. But what they didn't realize was that there were still some very serious things happening in Becky's life. Things that she had never told anyone about, not even her therapists. And unfortunately, the worst was still ahead. Even though other parts of Becky's life seemed to be improving, her relationship with her brother Nathan never did. Now Darren and Angie had no idea just how bad things had become between the two of them. When Becky and Nathan were younger, they appeared to have a very close bond. Remember I told you, they got super close, Nathan was her first word, it was great. But apparently as Nathan got older, their relationship deteriorated. According to Becky, Nathan often made her feel worse about her ED. She said that he told her that he didn't believe that she was even actually sick and that she was only doing all of that for attention. She said that he would fat shame her, he would call her names. And this is where things seemed to have moved beyond just typical sibling arguments. And into more, I don't want to say dangerous but like cruel things, just very mean spirited. Becky also claimed that Nathan had threatened to physically hurt her. At one point she even said he bragged about attacking someone with a sledgehammer in the past. Now whether he intended it that way or not or was joking or not, one was serious, it certainly sounds like that's the kind of thing that could be interpreted as a threat. Absolutely. And just really quickly, let's do a quick call back here. Remember when Becky told her therapist that she was worried about all of those bad things happening to her, blame eat on the movies and the stories that she read? Well is it possible that maybe that was just to cover up? and maybe Nathan was the one. one she was scared of because of what he was saying to her? I mean, possibly, but if she did really truly believe she was in danger, would she tell someone? Then there was another troubling situation. Becky told a staff member at the school that a quote, young male peer had been threatening her, saying that he was going to post nude photographs of her online. Now when the staff asked why she hadn't gone to the police, Becky explained that she was terrified of what may happen if she did go to the police. And remember, we're talking about someone who had struggled with severe anxiety for years. So whether her fears were realistic or not, Becky was clearly frightened. And unfortunately, for whatever reason, the situation didn't appear to be taken that seriously at all. A referral was reportedly sent to a nonprofit organization that dealt with child sexual exploitation, but nothing ultimately came from it. Then as if the family hadn't already been through enough, another challenge came in early 2015. Angie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And as you can imagine, that diagnosis, it completely shifted the family's focus. Angie now had medical appointments, treatments, and her own health concerns to manage, which naturally meant that she had less time and energy to devote to Becky. Then came February 19th, 2015. At around 11.15 that morning, Angie had left home for a doctor's appointment and said goodbye to Becky before leaving. But later that day, Becky's boyfriend Luke started becoming concerned because Becky had stopped responding to his messages, just very abruptly, very suddenly. And then that night, Becky never came home. Now as it turns out, Luke was actually the first person to raise concerns about Becky's disappearance. Like a lot of teenage couples, Luke and Becky had been texting back and forth all throughout the morning. But then sometime that afternoon, the messages just stopped. At first, Luke figured Becky was probably just busy. One of her final texts had simply said, quote, jamming me, which apparently meant that she was listening to music. But then as the afternoon went on, Luke still hadn't heard from her. Now he happened to have a dentist appointment near Becky's house that afternoon. So he texted her saying that he planned to stop by afterward. But Becky never responded. So Luke decided to stop by anyway. I mean, the two had only been dating for a few months, but he knew her family. So it wasn't particularly strange for him to show up and check on her. Because in his mind, maybe she was just busy. Maybe she was also upset with him, worst case scenario, which if so, she would just tell him to go away and he would head back to school. But he was gonna stop by regardless. So when Luke arrived and knocked on the door, Shana answered, which Shana is the girlfriend of Nathan's. And by that point, Angie also had already returned home from her doctor's appointment. So Luke spoke with both Shana and Angie, presumably about Becky and the fact that nobody seemed to know where she was and just tried to let them know that he hadn't heard from her. And also, I have to say, it wasn't unusual for Angie and Shana to be home together. As I mentioned, Angie's MS, it was taking a toll on her. So Shana had actually become her registered caregiver. And according to Luke, neither one of them seemed particularly concerned. They appeared completely normal despite the fact that Becky was at home and wasn't responding to messages. But by the following day, on February 20th, at approximately four p.m., Becky was officially reported missing. And I have to say, that is a pretty significant gap of time, especially when we're talking about a 16 year old girl. Why didn't anyone report her missing sooner? So I did a little digging. And from everything that has been reported, it does seem like her parents believed that she was probably just staying with a friend and have left after an argument and that she would come back eventually. So they didn't seem overly concerned. Which if you remember, Becky and her parents did have a complicated relationship at times. There had been arguments in the past and Darren, her father had occasionally threatened to kick her out during those heated moments. So they may have just believed that this was another situation where Becky simply just needed some time away. So once Becky was reported missing, investigators initially considered whether or not she might have run away. Now given her age, her mental health struggles and the arguments that she had had with her parents over the years, the truth was, it was a reasonable possibility to examine. As detectives started interviewing the people who had last seen Becky, they learned that Angie had been the final confirmed person to see her. We also know that Shana was at the house that day, of course, and Nathan was there at 1.2. In fact, when Angie left for her doctor's appointment that day earlier in the morning, Becky, Nathan, and Shana were all at the home together. And according to their account, everyone was simply just doing their own thing. Then at some point, Nathan and Shana heard a door open and shut, well, slam, I should say, as though somebody had left the house. And here's Shana describing what happened. I went into the kitchen to get a cigarette and went to go outside to have a cigarette. My daughter started wondering if she wanted to come up with me. So I took her down to the garden to help feed the rabbit while I was cigarette. Probably, it was about 15, 20 minutes. Then we came back up. I went into the kitchen to get a drink. I think it was washing my hands. Then I heard the front door slam. Carried on washing my hands, went into the living room. And then I think it was a lot later on that. And she asked me if I could go now. And I said, yeah, I heard the door go. She must have gone out earlier. Well, she had my hands. I heard the door slam, front door. Again, I didn't look at the time or think anything of it. So I didn't really kind of like, oh, what was out? It was just the door. So I'd be like, you know, we've gone out. So based on what they told investigators, it seemed like Becky had left voluntarily. The problem with that, though, was she never came back. A quick search of the house revealed that Becky's phone, laptop, and tablet were missing, which also did initially seem to support the idea that she had left on her own. I mean, after all, those are the exact kinds of things that most teenagers would bring with them if they were planning to run away. But there were also certain things that she left behind. There was money sitting out in her room. It didn't appear that she had packed any additional clothes, which if you were planning to stay away overnight, wouldn't those be some of the first things that you would take, money for food, for gas, for whatever, and clothes so that you can, you know, change clothes? And there were also other things that didn't make sense, too. Becky hadn't told anyone where she was going. And yeah, while running away after an argument is one thing, completely disappearing without contacting your boyfriend, that seemed unusual. So then two full days passed without Becky returning home and without responding to any messages or contacting anyone. So on February 22nd, police made a public appeal for information. And during that press conference, investigators said that it is out of character for her to not contact someone if she is not returning home, which, to me, that statement alone, it suggests that they may have already been treating this as something more serious than a typical runaway case. The following day, on February 23rd, Becky's family made their own emotional public appeal. Darren told reporters, quote, "Becky, we just want you to come home. You are not in trouble at all. We just want to make sure that you're OK. If you can please give us a call or a text just to let us know you are safe. We all love you and we want you back home with us." And Becky's grandmother had a message, too. Becky, we love you so much. We all love you and want you back home with us. You are so loved. I don't think you realize just how much. You can come and stay at mine for as long as you need. If you are Becky's friend and you are sheltering her, you are not doing right by Becky. Just please get in touch. Now, if you'll notice by those statements, it does sound like the family thinks Becky left on her own, that it was her own doing, and that they are making these public pleas for her to come back home as if she's listening. Yet the police and their appeal, they made it sound like it was completely unlike her, and that she possibly didn't leave on her own. So the following day on February 24th, investigators held another press conference. Now, this one felt a little bit different. In fact, it almost seemed like they were starting to align more closely with what Becky's family was saying. They spoke as though Becky might be watching from somewhere and simply choosing not to come home. One detective was quoted as saying, "We are all just worried about you, and we want to make sure that you're OK. If you can just call home one of your friends or call us on 101, we can work with you to help work through any issues you are facing." So I mean, naturally, a lot of people in the community, they started to believe that Becky had run away. And to be fair, Becky had left home before. At one of the organized search efforts, Becky's uncle Joe and grandfather, John, Also spoke. with local media about continuing the search and doing whatever they could do to bring her home. These are very grateful obviously because people have taken the time out their own busy lives but yeah it's just the case now getting out there finding their way. Why are you guys going? We're going down to Kruzel, tackle that part of the other people's going down towards Sinai. We've got people taking King's World anywhere that's going to be busy, we're going to be loads of people. The police force has done all the practical and forensic work so we were as a family, we would hope that we could do some practical stuff but in our circles generally talking to people, stopping them. I'm surprised that even some people hadn't seen it on the media yet, you know, you'd obviously think it's been broadcasted quite a lot over the last few days but no they haven't so it's nice here and maybe talk to people on the street to give them a leave and it's awareness more than anything, you know, it's a sixth day now so there's a lot of anxiety with the family at the moment and particularly the parents who thought Darren's here this evening he's gone on a search so you know we're hoping to cope with hope, you know until we're going to be successful, bring this to a successful conclusion. We've each got flies over there, there's no certain areas and just wherever you think that they should be or that you think you should keep an eye out please deal. Try to, absolutely try to be an absolute devastating, what can you say? Do you know what I mean? So she's either a fan or a pain or a flip then, so what I mean. When it's a family thing, it's a community thing, obviously it's very noble. When somebody goes missing like four of life goes down the road from you it's obviously kind of a fate shoot. So it's really sad and obviously we're just trying to do what we can, where we can. Personally I'm really upset, really worried. It's very close to home, it's someone you know which always makes it a little bit more immediate I suppose, so yeah I don't want you to come. It's just a right worry, I feel for her dad, the family, what they're going through, what Becky could be feeling and I just think it should be my duty for me and my friends to help find her and get her home safely. Now I have to say, I think it's nice that everybody is making these public pleas, but also if you are the public hearing this, maybe you're not as frantic and concerned and looking every single possible place for her, maybe you're thinking that she's unharmed, safe and that it was just a matter of convincing her to come back. And the truth was if Becky was staying with someone, her family felt that either Luke or her best friend Courtney might know something because aside from them, Becky really didn't have a large social circle, but both Luke and Courtney insisted that they were just as confused as everyone else, they had no idea where she might be, so the search continued and investigators weren't limiting themselves to the immediate area around Becky's home. They wanted to cast as wide a net as possible, so they also turned to social media and launched the hashtag find Becky, hoping that it would gain traction. And I have to say, it absolutely did. That hashtag quickly reached more than two million people, not just in Bristol, but around the world. So if Becky really was moving from place to place or hiding someone voluntarily, the investigators hoped that someone would recognize her and come forward, but by February 27th, detectives still weren't any closer to finding her. So at that point, they began changing their search strategy. Instead of focusing primarily on places where Becky might be staying, they started searching nature reserves, ponds, and other outdoor areas. And whenever investigators start shifting resources in that direction, it's usually not a great sign. It usually means that they are looking for a recovery rather than a rescue. Now here's what one of the detectives had to say about this at the time. Yeah, we're extremely concerned for Becky, she's been missing now for almost six days away from the home address. She's not been in contact with any of her family and friends and she's not told anyone where she intended to go. So yeah, we're extremely concerned. Obviously, as time goes by, that concern is only increasing. I should expect. She's a 16-year-old missing girl, young lady that's been taken away from the home, taking herself away from the home address, so the family are very, very distressed by that, and we're trying to support them as best we can through that, but it's an extremely difficult period for them. Have this stage, do you believe that any third party in other persons been involved in Becky's disappearance? This is very much a missing person search. We're trying to look for Becky, and we'd ask for the public support in helping us. If there's any sightings, it doesn't matter how small the information is, I'd really ask those people to come forward and just tell us if they believe they've seen her or if they have information they believe it might be relevant to my inquiry. Are you checking CCTV for digital? Yes, yes. We are checking CCTV footage again around the home address with the purpose of trying to ascertain the direction of travel away from the address by Becky on the morning that she went missing. Then, on February 28, eight days after Becky had been reported missing, the entire case changed. Out of nowhere, news broke that the police had made arrests. That won't arrest, but two. Up until then, many people still believed that Becky was alive somewhere and simply choosing not to come home. The searches were ongoing, the appeals were continuing, there was of course still hope that she would just eventually walk through the door. But now these arrests, that completely changed the conversation. So, who had been arrested? Well, it was none other than her brother Nathan and his girlfriend, Shawna. This took both of them into custody on suspicion of kidnapping. Which this news, it shocked Becky's family, her friends, the entire community. Now, as surprising as it was for everyone who had been following the case, the investigators revealed that Nathan and Shawna had actually been on their radar pretty early, almost from the beginning. Because Nathan and Shawna were the last people known to be in the house with Becky before she vanished, detectives had questioned them very early on in the investigation. And given the history between Nathan and Becky, investigators were naturally interested in understanding their relationship and dynamic. Now what stood out was that Nathan wasn't shy about sharing his feelings. So much so, he reportedly told the police, quote, "I don't particularly like her. What annoys me is how she speaks to my mom." And he was not the only one expressing those opinions. Shawna also largely echoed the same sentiments, describing Becky as self-centered, claiming that she treated Angie poorly. During her initial interview, investigators also felt that Shawna was behaving somewhat strangely and admitted to a few things that raised additional questions. And the other thing was just a minor thing really, because I think some of our colleagues were trying to speak to Nathan, just in fact, in the part of those initial inquiries just a few days ago, all non-choose death, I think it was, and they sort of perceived a bit of reluctance, so yeah, do you have any knowledge of that? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Still though, despite openly admitting that they didn't like Becky, both Nathan and Shawna repeatedly insisted that they had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with her disappearance. Which obviously speaking negatively about a missing person, it's not a crime in and of itself. But it was enough to make investigators take a closer look at Nathan, and another detail caught their attention. On February 23rd, detectives attempted to visit Nathan and Shawna's home. They wanted to speak with them again and potentially have a look around the property. But when officers arrived, neither Nathan nor Shawna was there. The police eventually located them across town, and at that point Nathan and Shawna agreed that the investigators could search their home the following day. So it seemed like they were being relatively cooperative, but still kind of odd. So when February 24th arrived, the very next day, and the detectives went to the house, they started searching. And when they got inside, they were stunned by what they found. Because the home was in terrible condition. When we're not talking about a few dirty dishes that are left in the sink or trash that wasn't taken out, investigators described conditions that were much more in line with hoarding, belongings that were piled up everywhere, clutter filling every room, every single room, room after room, and simply just moving through parts of the house was incredibly difficult for them. It was so condensed and. filled with stuff. And it was so bad that Nathan and Shawna even kept a kettle and a toaster in their bedroom because they couldn't use their kitchen to eat. Which, those conditions, it made conducting a thorough search incredibly difficult. But even during those initial observations, investigators noticed something else that stood out. The bathroom in all of this was remarkably clean. In a house that was otherwise packed with clutter and mess, this one room appeared spotless. Which that immediately struck investigators as unusual. So while some detectives searched Nathan and Shawna's home, others continued examining Becky's house for evidence. And in Becky's bedroom, they discovered a small amount of blood on the outer door frame. And the blood was confirmed to belong to Becky. But that wasn't the only important detail in all of this. Investigators also found fingerprints within the blood. And these fingerprints, they positively matched to Nathan. So at that point, detectives felt like they were looking at something far more significant than a simple missing person's case. Still though, they needed to move carefully and continue building evidence before jumping to conclusions. Now I have to say, despite finding Becky's blood, investigators still hadn't given up hope that she might be alive. At the time, investigators believed that Nathan and Shawna may have kidnapped her and that they were holding her somewhere else, but not that they would have killed her. Which that meant that if that theory was correct, time was running out, they needed to find Becky. Detectives also suspected that the pair may have had help. I mean, after all, Becky clearly wasn't inside the house. So if Nathan and Shawna were involved in all of this, investigators believed that someone else could have also assisted in moving or hiding her. So that line of thinking ultimately led the detectives to another couple who were friends with Nathan and Shawna. Their names were Carl and J. Dean. And once investigators started looking into them, they uncovered another concerning detail. On February 23rd, Carl and J. Dean had borrowed a van from one of their jobs. And then at 2.19 in the morning, the following day, CCTV footage captured the same van traveling from Nathan and Shawna's address on Cotton Mill Lane to Carl and J. Dean's home on Barton Court. The footage showed the van pulling around to the rear of the property near a garden shed. Motion-activated lights switched on as it arrived. And this detail really mattered because investigators had already tried to contact Nathan and Shawna on February 23rd. They knew that the police wanted access to the home, but remember, they didn't allow the detectives inside the home until the following day. So the timing in all of this, it immediately raised questions. I mean, what are the odds that after learning that the police want to search your property, but before that search actually happens, a van appears in the middle of the night at your house and seems to transport something away from the home in the dead of night, right? Yet Nathan and Shawna continued maintaining their innocence. However, during the search, detectives found a receipt that had been tucked away inside one of their kitchen cabinets. And the receipt was dated the day after Becky disappeared. And it totaled to approximately $136. And let's just say that the items listed on this receipt, they were difficult to ignore. The purchase included a circular saw, gloves, a full face mask, and protective goggles. So as you can imagine, when investigators saw that receipt, the possibility of Becky being alive still, it became much more difficult to believe. Because those aren't exactly the kind of items that you would expect someone to buy if they were only planning on kidnapping someone and keeping another person hidden somewhere. So now detectives were increasingly concerned that Becky had been killed. And they were worried that finding her alive was becoming less and less likely. Nathan and Shawna though still weren't cooperating. But investigators did eventually gain access to the garden shed behind Carl and JD's home, the other couple, the friends. So with that, during the early morning hours of March 3rd, the news that everyone had been fearing finally arrived. As a result of new information received late last night, we attended at a house at Barton Court in the Barton Hill area of Bristol. The information suggested that Becky's body had been cut up and the search at the new location resulted in the discovery of body parts. Although formal identification procedures have not yet been completed, we have made Becky's family aware of this discovery. Becky had been found. This poor young girl had not only been kidnapped and murdered, but her body had been hidden inside a shed as though her life meant nothing. Becky's father later spoke out about the experience of seeing her body in the morgue, saying, "When we saw her in the morgue, that's when it really hit us. I mean, they did their best to cover up where he cut her up and things like that. I could still see where he had decapitated her. And no parent should ever have to see that." As for the rest of Becky's family, they were completely devastated, just shattered. And one detail that makes this tragedy even harder to process, if you can believe it, was that Becky was killed on her brother Dan's 20th birthday. So that kind of date becomes impossible to separate from the loss. On March 4th, Nathan was officially charged with Becky's murder. Shawna, his girlfriend, was initially charged with perverting the course of justice, although those charges would later change. Both were also charged with conspiracy to kidnap, preventing the lawful burial of a body and possession of an illegal weapon. Nathan and Shawna's friends were arrested as well, and even though it seemed like the investigators had a pretty straightforward case against everyone involved, Nathan and Shawna still refused to confess, which check out this clip of Shawna breaking down during a police interview. "Is there anything else in relation to Becky's body being found at your house?" "I think I found out my house in junior where, too, she was found to me." "Would you know that?" "It was more of a curiosity." Now what stood out to me is that she wanted to know where Becky's body had been found, not because she was devastated over what had happened to someone she had known for years, but because she was curious, which I mean, that's your question in all of this? Then when Nathan started learning more about all the evidence that the investigators had uncovered, he apparently instructed his lawyer to ask the detectives whether they had found any blood upstairs inside his home. And to his surprise, they said, "Yes." Which, the moment that he heard that, the innocent act, it pretty much evaporated. It seems like he realized the walls were closing in, and that's when he finally began admitting what actually happened. Nathan told investigators that on the day that Becky disappeared, he strangled her to death. He then stabbed her body 15 times. Which, why you have to stab someone after you've already killed them? That's beyond me, maybe it's to make sure that she's dead. Maybe it's because of the hatred he felt toward her, but that's not a common thing to have to happen in a case like that when somebody is already deceased. After that, he said that he transported her remains back to the home that he shared with Shana. There, he dismembered her in the bathroom using that circular saw that he had purchased. Now, one thing that really stood out about his confession was that he never really implicated Shana. Instead, he attempted to shoulder all the responsibility himself. And many people believe that's because he had recently learned that Shana was pregnant with his child. But investigators weren't buying it. They believed that Shana had been involved from the very beginning. They had evidence placing her at Becky's house, evidence showing her with Nathan on CCTV, and evidence tying her to the events after the murder. So in their minds, this wasn't the story of one person acting alone. But Shana, she was trying to protect Nathan too. She told investigators that she knew nothing about Becky's murder and knew nothing about what Nathan had supposedly confessed to. According to Shana, she was just simply a clueless girlfriend who had no idea what was happening around her. Imagine knowing that she was that. Again, I can understand. There's just no reason that you should or shouldn't believe me. I can just obviously tell you that I genuinely have no idea. I can't even look at him. I was sat in the courtroom today, and I just wanted to I say, "Kill him, that's a bad twist of words." I felt sick looking at him, knowing what he did, and yeah, I didn't always like Becky, but she was a nice enough girl. She was so young. Now, one question that investigators still couldn't fully answer was why, but they were about to answer that very question. And the answer, it wasn't what you might think. He knew that Nathan disliked Becky. He had made that crystal clear. But disliking someone, and then murdering your own step-sister, I mean, those are two very different things, unless you are Timothy Hudson and the Anna-Kempner situation. But why go to these lengths? Why not simply distance yourself from someone that you don't get along with? Why kidnapper? Why kill her? Why carry out such an elaborate cover-up after the fact, too? Not to mention, they weren't under the same household anymore. He lived on his own with his girlfriend. He was older. It's not like there was like this teenage battle between them for their mom's attention anymore. So Nathan's explanation, it didn't really clear things up at all, because his explanation, he claimed he never even meant to kill Becky at all. According to him, this entire thing started as a fake kidnapping that was designed to scare Becky into treating his mom Angie better. I know, it sounds insane, but take a listen to his confession. I also came up with the idea to scare her, because to try and make her more appreciative of life, so she'd be more appreciative for other people. She'd be grateful that she wasn't harmed or anything like that, because obviously she'd leave things on the floor of my mum to trip over. I obviously would talk to her, like she's saying nasty comments and talk to her like they're on the floor. And as I thought of hers, you know, able to scare her, and obviously her not be harmed, and obviously be released. Obviously when she got back, she also would have been scared and more appreciative of things as people are. Okay, so tell me what you thought you were going to do, what your plan was. Obviously sticking in the suitcase. Obviously you put tape right in my eyes so she wouldn't make any noise. I was thinking of like a wooded area, whatever. Obviously take her back out. Obviously still have the mask on. All right, I love to be like scaring, you know, say, some of our long lines of, you know, you've got to start treating people. Start treating people better, you know, not being a bitch or self-centered. I don't like to make a threat of, you know, or just get up and again or worse or something like that. I love to be. I hadn't figured out exactly how to obviously walk away after without obviously, but if she'd try and follow and assume she wouldn't have followed because I'm out of theory wouldn't want to follow someone who just obviously has done that. And obviously I would have come back. Well, I would have obviously trucked away of see everything first and then come back. And obviously would have acted as normal. That compact to me mums. Obviously. Now personally, I have a really hard time buying that explanation. According to Nathan, the plan was simply to put Becky in a suitcase, tape her mouth shut and frighten her. But that somehow that supposedly escalated and turned into strangulation, multiple stab wounds, decapitation and everything else that followed. So was this really a plan that spiraled out of control? Or was the fake kidnapping story just a half ass attempt to minimize what actually happened? And what makes it even more disturbing is that Nathan knew being kidnapped or murdered was one of Becky's biggest fears. He knew that he also couldn't really explain when this supposed plan had come together. So when did you think all of this up? I can't be certain no group of dates. I've said this repeatedly in days, mudlands, other days. I don't have a specific memory of coming up with it. But I remember thinking about it a couple of times. Just basically trying to get ways to get some stupidness and listen to me about leaving shit on the floor for my mum to trip up. Now, when I hear someone say that they had a plan, I assume that there was at least some level of preparation beforehand. Even if you don't remember an exact date, you should probably know whether the idea came to you a few days earlier, six months earlier, a year earlier. Unless, of course, this fake kidnapping explanation wasn't the truth and there was no plan. And what makes Nathan's confession even more interesting is that the blood that the detectives found in his house, the evidence that seemingly pushed him into confessing, it didn't even belong to Becky. Now, to be fair, the detectives never told Nathan that and never told him it belonged to her. At that point, they were still waiting on test results. All they said was that they had found blood. So in the end, it was Nathan's own guilty conscience that gave him away. Now, when it came to their friends, Carl and J. Dean, the friends whose shed was being used to hide Becky's remains, the van that had been used, they insisted that they had no idea that a body was inside. According to them, they knew that Nathan and Shawna were storing something there, but they didn't know exactly what it was. Allegedly, investigators found text messages proving that Carl and J. Dean knew that something had been placed inside the shed. However, in those messages, there was never any direct mention of a body. Although I got to say, the messages also showed discussions about receiving $15,000 for allowing Nathan and Shawna to use the shed, along with conversations about what they planned to spend the money on. Some of the exchanges included all done, not yet babes. Ah, okay, you gonna hide it for him? We could do a lot with the money, LOL. Cool, that's a deposit on a house, LOL. I mean, obviously, they're not getting paid $15 grand to store a vacuum and a couple U-Haul boxes in their shed, and saying, "You gonna hide it for him? Hide what, right? Hello." So, at this point, Carl and J. Dean maintained what they believed. Now, they knew when he was hiding that Nathan was hiding drugs in the shed. Now, that's obviously still illegal, but it is very different from knowingly helping someone conceal the remains of a murdered 16-year-old girl. But it seems like now they were finally caught a little bit and admitting to knowing something illegal was happening and that this was a big payoff for a reason. Now, was that drug story true? The open to interpretation. So, as investigators dug deeper into Nathan and Shawna's phones and social media accounts, they uncovered even more disturbing information. And it ultimately helped prosecutors develop a theory about why Becky had been targeted and why they did this to her. It wasn't simply that Nathan disliked Becky and that he wanted her out of his family, out of his life. I mean, sure, that may have been part of it, but investigators believed that there was something more going on. Messages recovered from Facebook showed conversations between Nathan and Shawna involving fantasies about kidnapping young girls, keeping victims hidden in a home, violent sexual scenarios, and hardcore explicit videos and images. So, those messages eventually helped shape the prosecution's theory that Becky's murder was sexually motivated and that the two of them had planned this crime as part of living out some sort of dark fantasy together. It was after those messages were discovered that Shawna's charges were then upgraded to murder. Now, of course, both Nathan and Shawna denied that interpretation. But remember how at the beginning of this case, they seemed completely united. They were protecting one another. They were covering for one another and presenting this very united front. Well, that didn't last long. Like we see in so many cases involving couples accused of serious crimes, that loyalty started disappearing once trial became a reality. When proceedings began later in 2015, they quickly turned against each other. Shauna claimed that she had been terrified of Nathan, and that he abused her, threatened her, you know, countless things throughout their relationship. And honestly, some of what she described, it certainly sounds possible given what we know about him. According to Shauna, Nathan would physically assault her, particularly during arguments. She also claimed that he frequently grabbed her by the hair and would sometimes briefly strangle her in order to intimidate her. She also said that he had isolated her from family and friends, and even pressured her to leave college after becoming jealous of different male friendships that she had formed there. Shauna further alleged that when she once tried to leave him, he got so upset that he grabbed a fork and he stabbed himself in the face. I mean, I'm glad he didn't stab her, but like what a freak to stab himself in the face. Now, as for the messages about kidnapping girls, the dark fantasies, all of those things, she argued that they were simply sarcastic and unfortunate. Her direct quote. Now, whether any or all of that was true investigators and prosecutors maintained that it didn't excuse any of her actions or her involvement in what happened to Becky or the extensive efforts that were made to cover it up after the fact. And as for Nathan, he suddenly had plenty to say about Shauna as well. Nathan and some of his relatives, including his grandmother, compared Shauna to Lady Macbeth. They argued that she had actually been the dominant one in the relationship and that she was responsible for encouraging the dismemberment and the cover up. When the trial finally concluded on November 11, 2015, the jury deliberated for just three hours and 27 minutes before reaching a verdict. Nathan was found guilty of murder. Shauna was found guilty of manslaughter. Both were also convicted of conspiracy to kidnap, perverting the course of justice, preventing the lawful burial of a body and the possession of two stun guns. Nathan was later sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 33 years. Shauna received a sentence of 17 years. And when handing down those sentences, the judge stated that he agreed with the prosecution's theory that Nathan had murdered Becky all in order to fulfill a sexual fantasy. She also said that he believed that Shauna had been "persuaded to participate in the fixation." Matthews and Haw have never shown any remorse for their grotesque actions. And today's sentences reflect their refusal to take full responsibility for their callous crimes. Our thoughts remain with Becky's family and friends who have suffered unimaginable pain and distress over the past nine months. Other friends, Carl and JD, they were both convicted of assisting an offender. Carl received a two-year prison sentence while JD was sentenced to 16 months. Years later, Nathan was attacked in prison, which I can't say I'm very upset by. Reports indicate that another inmate poured a jug of boiling butter over his face and neck. It was responsible that he had previously been in prison for killing a convicted sex offender back in 2008, so seemed like maybe there was a hatred. I mean, you know how offenders don't bode well in prison, anyone who hurts children, they don't bode well in prison, so it seemed like jailhouse justice. Nathan required medical treatment, but he was not seriously injured. And he remains incarcerated today. Now more recently, in 2023, Shauna was released after serving eight years in prison. Now as for Becky's family and the people who loved her, it's hard to imagine a world where this doesn't still affect them every single day. You don't just move on from something like this, especially when the people responsible are members of your own family. Becky's father, Darren, has publicly said more than once that he wishes the absolute worst for Nathan. He even stated that if Nathan had received the death penalty, he would have personally carried it out himself. Several other family members have also expressed similar feelings. He hates not a powerful enough word, not even despise. You'll never know the full damage of his actions. You'll never know the full damage of the actions which he took afterwards. He's devastated so many lives. Now as for Angie, this is what she had to say about her relationship with her son Nathan today. I still love him. I just find it hard looking at the monstries turned into. He's totally different from the child I brought up. It's unbearable for everybody involved, right? You don't want to believe that your own child is capable of such evil and such darkness. But then there of course as a parent is still the part of you that loves them which doesn't justify what they did or excuse it or condone it. But I would imagine you're conflicted. I just find it difficult for any of them involved to wrap their minds around what they once thought was this beautiful blended happy family. Despite some challenges along the way, became this. And that's why I think that the fantasy part of all this was so real and valid as well because again Nathan was living outside of the house. It wasn't just this hatred for Becky anymore because she was taking away Mommy's attention. There was something else I believe more deeply rooted there. And you know what it kind of is giving? It's kind of giving Carla homolka vibes a little bit at least to me. Which if you're not familiar with that case, that's the Canadian couple. They killed her sister. He like would sexually assault young girl and they covered up for each other and they kind of got off on the fantasy of it. She tried to play the victim later saying that she was scared of him just like Shauna saying, which I don't know maybe there's some validity in both of those stories who the hell really knows right. But it's kind of giving that like to have a couple come together and target a family member in such a devious brutal and disgusting way and then decapitate them a 16 year old girl. That is a whole new level of darkness. And I'm wondering too like what kind of resentment was there between Becky's dad and Angie. Obviously it's not her fault. But if you're married to someone and their child did this to your child, surely there's some sort of friction or resentment towards your partner a little bit because it's their child who did this to your child right. I don't know. I don't know how you would reconcile that. So my thoughts are with all the family members, all the friends, everyone who lost Becky and who was deeply affected by this because it is just unspeakable. And this is one of the major cases in the UK that has been requested. So if you live in the UK, because I know we got a lot of UK viewers here and listeners, let me know what you know about this case to being so close to it. And I'm curious to know your thoughts on it. And what does the community think about it? Thank you guys so much for tuning into another episode. Don't forget really quickly like the video, subscribe. If you're listening on the podcast, follow the podcast, all the things free way to support the show and I will be back with you next week with an all new episode. Until then, stay safe. Bye.