GUILTY UK - Robert Trigg and the deaths of sleeping women

[Alyce]

Lewes Crown Court 1

T20177023

robert henry trigg

Details: Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:26
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness Number 12 Sworn - 10:41
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness evidence concluded - 10:49


http://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/Lewes-Crown-Court.php

 

[Tortoise]

Ms Cooper said on the night that she died Ms Nicholson has been so drunk Mr Trigg had to help her walk to the shops to buy more vodka.
She told the court that he had phoned her on the morning of 17 April and told her that he thought Ms Nicholson was dead.
She asked him how he thought she had died and he replied: "She suffocated."

http://www.newslocker.com/en-in/new...-son-told-to-check-on-mothers-dead-body/view/

 

[Legally Bland]

Trigg, 52, of Park Crescent, Worthing, gave a statement to police after Ms Nicholson’s death in 2011. In it he said: “I was arrested four weeks ago for an assault on Sue while drunk. She had a bloody nose and bruising on her arms.”

[...]

He said: “I woke up about 8.15 on Sunday, I was lying face down on the sofa and also lying on Sue.

“I got up off the sofa. She was still and hadn’t stirred all night.

“I though ‘oh my God she’s dead’. I shook her but she didn’t wake up.

“I said ‘Sue, wake up, stop playing games’. I panicked, I didn’t know what to do. I left the flat, walked downstairs, outside, went to the shop and bought a packet of 20 Mayfair.

“In my mind I was hoping she would have woken up but inside I knew she was dead. I held her hand hoping she would wake up but I knew she was dead.”

Asked whether any other injuries would be found on Ms Nicholson’s body he added: “She does bruise easily.” When the deaths were reinvestigated and Trigg was arrested last November in connection with his two former girlfriend’s deaths, he told officers: “You know they both passed away? I’m shocked. I just thought this was all dealt with.

“Caroline had an aneurysm, Susan, there was an inquest which concluded there was no case to answer. Is it new medical evidence? It’s the only thing I can think of that has arisen.”

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/15365422.Man_left_body_to_buy_cigarettes__court_told/

ETA: The link says the court also heard the transcript of Trigg's evidence at the inquest, and the coroner queried inconsistencies in his account.

 

[Legally Bland]

Two days earlier 52-year-old Trigg had rowed with Susan over a debt of around £500 ex-boyfriend, Dan Barnaby, owed her.

Trigg was given a police caution for assault after she was left with a bloody nose and bruising to both her arms.

He told officers he threatened to leave her because of her 'excessive drinking' and she agreed to cut down.

The father-of-one told police: 'I thought it was not right he should owe her all that money, this caused an argument.

'She became very argumentative and abusive while in a state of drunkenness.'

After making up over a bottle of vodka, Trigg went out to buy more vodka the next day and came back at around 7pm.

The couple then watched TV and held hands 'saying how much we loved each other', according to Trigg.

Lewes Crown Court heard today how that night they slept on a three-seater with Susan on her back with her head in the middle of the sofa and legs over the arms of the chair.

The jury were told Trigg got up to go to the toilet at around 2am and noticed she was not moving or making a noise but he did not think there was anything wrong, he then went back to the sofa and got into the same position with her head on his chest.

He said he then got up at around 8.15am and found he was lying on top of the mother-of-two with his stomach covering her face.

Trigg told police: 'When I first got up I didn't think there was any great urgency, I just thought she was asleep. If I thought her life was in danger I would have done something.

'When I got up again I took one look at her and realised she had changed colour, I had moved from lying next to her to lying across her.

'Her face was purple, I thought 'oh my God she's dead'. She didn't wake up, I grabbed her leg and said 'stop playing games', her right hand was warm, I think because I had been lying on it but he left hand was cold. There was no sign of life.

'I thought she was pretending to be asleep and playing around, it's something she did sometimes.

'Initially I thought she had died through drinking, she drank a lot for a small person, easily a bottle of vodka a day, so I thought she could have died from heart failure or something.

'I panicked, I didn't know what to do, I went over to the newsagents to get some , I hoped that when I came back she would have been awake.

'I started holding her hand hoping she would wake up. I didn't call an ambulance because I couldn't accept she was dead. I needed someone to come to have a look to make sure I wasn't imagining it.'

Trigg then called his brother, Michael, and neighbour Hannah Cooper, who eventually called an ambulance.

The former chef met Susan in a rehab and homeless centre called St Clare's Community Hub in Worthing.

She bought the flat they then shared together in Worthing after both were living on the streets for a couple of months.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4629408/Mother-dead-sleeping-boyfriend.html#ixzz4kkHcHfKN
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[Alyce]

Snipped from Legally's post above................


He told officers he threatened to leave her because of her 'excessive drinking' and she agreed to cut down.
The father-of-one told police: 'I thought it was not right he should owe her all that money, this caused an argument.
'She became very argumentative and abusive while in a state of drunkenness.'
After making up over a bottle of vodka, Trigg went out to buy more vodka the next day and came back at around 7pm.

 

[jessie]

Snipped from Legally's post :

Trigg told police: 'When I first got up I didn't think there was any great urgency, I just thought she was asleep. If I thought her life was in danger I would have done something.

'When I got up again I took one look at her and realised she had changed colour, I had moved from lying next to her to lying across her.

'Her face was purple, I thought 'oh my God she's dead'. She didn't wake up, I grabbed her leg and said 'stop playing games', her right hand was warm, I think because I had been lying on it but he left hand was cold. There was no sign of life.


Can that be right about her face being purple? Happy to be corrected but in death blood pools at the lowest point. If her face was purple wouldn't that mean she was laying face down? His stomach couldn't be covering her face if she was laying face down. Did he get questioned on this statement?

 

[Alyce]

The Crown Court

at Lewes

Daily List for Friday 23 June 2017 at THE LAW COURTS, 182 HIGH STREET, LEWES


Court 1 - sitting at 10:00 am

THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE SIMLER DBE

Trial (Part Heard)

T20177023

TRIGG Robert H

47CC3012516

 

[Alyce]

Same theme with both deaths....

Trigg told officers Caroline said she wasn't scared of dying' when they were drinking in a pub the night she died.
'It's as if she was happy with life and had some sort of recognition there was nothing to be scared of in death.
'I thought it was a bit of an odd thing to say,



He described how Susan was not her 'normal self' the evening of her death, saying to officers:
'She wasn't her normal bubbly self, she was very quiet, but said some very unusual, strange, things.
It was almost like she knew she was going to die.




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4629408/Mother-dead-sleeping-boyfriend.html#ixzz4kocbLau5
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[ScotAng]

Deleted: wrong thread.

 

[Tortoise]

[FONT=&amp]Trigg’s trial over the two women’s deaths heard police investigators’ notebooks were no longer available and a video of Trigg’s first interview with police had also gone missing.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Police officer Julie Cox was a PC when she attended Ms Devlin’s home after her death but a detective at Worthing CID when Ms Nicholson died.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Now retired, Mrs Cox said she had sat with Trigg in Ms Devlin’s lounge on the morning of her death.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]The court was told she would have taken extensive notes of the meeting in her police notebook but that the notebook could no longer be found.

(More to read at link)

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1536..._accused__39_s_girlfriends_had_died_suddenly/

That's some detective there (NOT).[/FONT]

 

[Legally Bland]

I'm not sure they're going to get a guilty verdict here. The initial investigations are looking really shoddy.

And I'm really uncomfortable that Trigg only received cautions for his previous assaults on women, especially when one was hospitalised for 3 weeks. That really doesn't seem proportionate.

I also want to know why these cases were reviewed.

 

[Alyce]

I agree Legally re the verdicts and re Trigg only getting cautions for previous assaults. He was clearly an habitual abuser but this does not seem to have been taken into account.

Re the review - I had a trawl back through old news articles and it seems that it was Ms Nicholson's family who kept pushing for a review of her case - which they finally achieved after 5.5 years.

 

[Tortoise]

I think the pathologists evidence will be crucial. I don't think he's given evidence yet has he, am I right in thinking it was only summarised in the opening address? Because they didn't report on Dr Cary's cross examination if he has already given evidence.

What did he base his findings on, presumably he only went from photos? If they originally diagnosed an aneurysm for Caroline Devlin (unbelievably, without any physical evidence of one) but now say it was a blow to the head, hopefully they have scans or x-rays which yielded more information on closer inspection.

Judging by his statements, he's as guilty as hell.

 

[jessie]

I agree Legally re the verdicts and re Trigg only getting cautions for previous assaults. He was clearly an habitual abuser but this does not seem to have been taken into account.

Re the review - I had a trawl back through old news articles and it seems that it was Ms Nicholson's family who kept pushing for a review of her case - which they finally achieved after 5.5 years.

Thanks Alyce that is so interesting. Do you possibly have any links ? This seems a complete b***s-up from all services going back some time - and it has hardly made mainstream news so far. I am so angry for his past partners. :gaah:

 

[Squamous]

Gosh, this case is awful! He obviously thought he'd completely got away with it.

 

[Alyce]

Thanks Alyce that is so interesting. Do you possibly have any links ? This seems a complete b***s-up from all services going back some time - and it has hardly made mainstream news so far. I am so angry for his past partners. :gaah:

The father of a woman smothered to death on her sofa five years ago has revealed his painful fight for the truth.

Miss Nicholson's father Peter Nicholson has fought for five-and-a-half years to have the case reopened, revealing his family even hired their own investigators.

Their team - including a barrister and a pathologist - have now uncovered 'new evidence' which has led to police taking another look at the case.

Mr Nicholson said: 'We have been campaigning for more to be done since Susan died. We have had to fight and fight to get Susan's case reopened. We hired a barrister and a pathologist. Our investigators came up with evidence which they took to the police.
'I have spoken to Catherine's family too. They were told her death was natural causes.

'At least finally something is happening but it has taken all this time and a lot of hard work.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...zzed-suspicion-two-murders.html#ixzz4kqRnSav0
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[Alyce]

Early finish today



Lewes Combined Court

Court 1 T20177023

ROBERT HENRY TRIGG

Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 10:30 - 12:36

 

[Legally Bland]

Evidence from the pathologist, who I'm assuming is witness 17.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4640306/Mother-killed-blow-head.html



Lewes Crown Court 1 T20177023
Robert Henry Trigg
Details: Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:32
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 11:00 - 10:51
Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 11:25
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 11:00 - 10:51
Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 11:25
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness Number 16 Sworn - 11:47
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 12:10 - 12:01
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness Number 17 Sworn - 12:26
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 14:10 - 13:02
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness Number 17 Continues - 14:15
Trial (Part Heard) - No Event - 14:43
Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 15:46
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness Number 17 Continues - 15:51
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 10:30 - 16:06

http://www.thelawpages.com/court-hearings-lists/Lewes-Crown-Court.php

 

[Tortoise]

The DM report you linked to has been updated. I've a feeling they are confusing the two victims sometimes in the reports.

Caroline Devlin was found face down on her bed by her children.
Susan Nicholson was (I believe) found on her sofa lying on her back with her legs dangling from the knees over the arm end of the sofa.
Now the DM report states -

Dr Cary said: 'The pooling of blood suggests Caroline Devlin had been on her front and back after death for a period of time. It suggests having been face down some stage.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4640306/Mother-killed-blow-head.html#ixzz4l8QnisCB

 

[jessie]

http://www.littlehamptongazette.co....ies-similar-to-hillsborough-victims-1-8026836

Inquests at the time found both women died of natural causes – but today at Lewes Crown Court, pathologist Nathaniel Cary said it was ‘both possible and probable’ that they were deliberately killed.

He also cast doubt over Trigg’s claim of accidentally suffocating Miss Nicholson. He said: “I have never come across any previous death of an adult that has involved such a mechanism as an accident.”

Dr Cary conducted a review of the original post mortem examinations of both Miss Nicholson and Miss Devlin.

He said that Miss Nicholson’s injuries included small patches of bleeding in her face and eyes and a build up of blood in her face, neck and chest. Her lungs were also slightly hyperinflated, and had pockets of air where they should not be.

He said the signs were similar to victims of a ‘crowd crush’ situation like the Hillsborough disaster.

He believed Miss Nicholson died not from passive smothering, but by her chest being actively compressed so she could not breathe – like a ‘bear hug’, he said.

Although she was more than double the drink-drive limit when her body was found, Dr Cary said: “You would expect someone to be able to struggle or get themselves out of that position even if they are intoxicated”.