Louise labelled guilty in the court of public opinion lost before the trial started. The au pair agency that recruited Louise paid for a high-profile legal team to defend her. ibid.
With Sky’s live daily broadcasts, the British public were able to watch Matthew’s mother Deborah Eappen give her testimony as it happened. ibid.
Louise Woodward guilty to second-degree murder. ibid.
The trial was over but the media coverage remained unrelenting. And protests about Louise Woodward’s innocence sprang up immediately. ibid.
Manslaughter, and she walks. ibid. Boston Globe front page
The Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld Judge Zobel’s decision by a 4-3 majority. Louise Woodward was free to return home. ibid. caption
A case that divided two nations … What really happened to Matthew Eappen? The Killer Nanny: Did She Do It? I: The Case for the Prosecution, Channel 4 2022
They were adorable. Brendan was very advanced for his age. And you could hold a conversation with him. He was very talkative. And Maddy was a very sweet baby. He was smily, playful. And they were just beautiful children. ibid. Louise Woodward, Panorama, BBC 1998
4th February 1997 16.07: Matthew Eappen is admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital. It is decided 8-month-old Matthew needs emergency brain surgery. ibid. caption
The child received serious injuries … She told me that she tossed him on the bed … ‘Yeah, I was a bit frustrated’ … She took the child into the bathroom and she dropped him on the floor … ‘Maybe I was a little rough with him’ … She may have shaken the baby. ibid. Bill Byrne, lead detective Woodward case
9th February 1997: Matthew’s parents take the decision to turn off his life support machine. ibid. caption
6th October 1997: Louise Woodward stands trial for the murder of Matthew Eappen. ibid.
Many convictions for shaken baby syndrome are reversed. You just can’t rely on them. ibid. medical expert
The evidence in this case is going to show you that that never happened. The Killer Nanny: Did She Do It? II: The Case for the Defence, defence statement
If you assume the prosecution’s theory to be correct for the sake of argument, and that Louise Woodward, this tiny person, these tiny hands, had shaken the living daylights out of this 22 pound butterball of a baby, you’d expect some bruising. ibid. medical expert
What I saw was that the injury was not a fresh injury. So no matter what they say it could not have happened on that day … There was a fracture and evidence of bone healing which meant that it was an older fracture. ibid. doctor
She had a plus-12 which is definitely well above the amount necessary to indicate truthfulness. The confidence in that result is at least 90%. ibid. lie-detector expert
The defence want the jury to hear Louise’s side of the story. Controversially, Louise and her team decide that she will take the stand. ibid. caption
I was just scared and inhibited. ibid. Louise
31st October 1997: Louise returns to court to be sentenced. The Killer Nanny: Did She Do It? III
After trial I began to have some concern about my testimony. ibid. prosecution doctor
In the state of Massachusetts a judge has the power to re-assess the jury’s verdict. ibid.
I felt horror when Judge Zobel changed the verdict. ibid. juror
Susan and Gary Woodward had sold the story to the Daily Mail for £40,000. ibid. medical expert
The circumstances in which the defendant acted were characterized by confusion, inexperience, frustration, immaturity and some anger, but not malice (in the legal sense). ibid. Judge Zobel
Celebrities at war. Heard’s allegations of abuse have rocked Hollywood. Johnny Depp denies all her claims. With a witness list to rival any Hollywood movie, and tens of millions of dollars at stake, both are trying to clear their names and save their careers. Sex, lies, drugs and abuse, this is the the inside story of a trial that gripped the world. Depp vs Heard: The Winners and Losers, Channel 5 2022
After losing the earlier court case against The Sun newspaper which had alleged he was a wife-beater, Depp was dropped by both The Fantastic Beats and Pirates of the Caribbean film franchises. ibid.
Trial of Maxwell brothers begins at the Old Bailey … not guilty! House of Maxwell II, BBC 2022
It’s the opening day of Case #20CR33O United States of America vs Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell stands accused of recruiting and trafficking young girls to be sexually abused by her now dead partner Jeffrey Epstein. House of Maxwell III
After two weeks of evidence for the prosecution it is time for Maxwell’s evidence. ibid.
This is the story of one of Britain’s most dramatic trials. Told only by those inside the courtroom in 1993. Two of the youngest defendants ever. Charged with murdering a toddler. James Bulger: The Trial, Channel 5 2023
Two ten-year-old boys had been arrested over the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger. The nation was gripped with hatred for Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. ibid.
The trial was moved 35 miles away from Liverpool. ibid.
Thompson and Venables, now 11, pleaded not guilty to all charges. Instead, they accused each other. ibid.
The blood and paint had linked the boys to the scene of the crime. And the kick proved that Robert Thompson had attacked James. ibid.
Neither boy was to give evidence. ibid.
Who exactly is the victim in the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation trial? … Is it Amber who says she suffered physical, emotional, psychological and sexual violence at his hands or is it Johnny who claims she was the aggressor? True Crime Recaps: Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard: The Trial So Far, Youtube 22.35, 2022
In 2016 Police Scotland launched a missing person inquiry: 35-year-old Margaret Fleming had disappeared from the small coastal village of Inverkip. Margaret’s two carers are now accused of her murder. Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming I II, BBC 2020
Police receive a call from a social worker concerned about the welfare of Margaret Fleming. The address is given as ‘Seacroft’ Inverkip. ibid.
Before he died, Margaret’s father nominated his friends Edward Cairney and Avril Jones to be her carers. ibid.
They had train tickets to London and £3,000 in cash. ibid.
‘You’re simply being asked to take a guess.’ ibid. prosecution dude to jury
When the benefits system changed in 2016 Avril Jones resubmitted a claim for Margaret. ibid. caption
‘Had there not been a change in the benefit system there might have been nothing to prompt anyone’s interest in Margaret.’ ibid. prosecution dude
After receiving the application, it was discovered that nobody from Social Services had seen Margaret for over 17 years. Police were alerted and the investigation was launched. ibid. caption
Edward Cairney and Avril Jones were found guilty of both murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice. ibid.
The mysterious disappearance of a mother and her three-year-old son is one of Scotland’s longest unsolved murder cases. Today an 80-year-old man is on trial for their murders: MacDowell, William. Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Renee and Andrew MacRae I II, captions, BBC 2023
On 12th November 1976 Renee Macrae’s car was found abandoned and ablaze. ibid.
The investigation into Renee and Andrew’s disappearance reopened five years ago by Police Scotland. ibid.
‘William McDowell was company secretary to her husband’s firm.’ ibid.
‘This is the man in Renee’s life: William MacDowell, a married man, and company secretary to her husband’s firm.’ ibid. original documentary
‘The remains of Renee and Andrew have never been recovered.’ ibid. prosecution brief
‘William MacDowell had embarked on a massive deception on Renee MacRae by pretending he was going to set up a new life with her.’ ibid.
‘The conduct of the accused is highly suspicious.’ ibid.
Five days after Renee and Andrew disappeared, William MacDowell took his Volvo to the garage … ‘the floor was removed.’ ibid.
William MacDowell died in prison five months later. He never revealed where he had left the bodies of Reneee and Andrew. ibid.
A leading scientist at Aberdeen University has been brutally killed. Her ex-husband now stands trial for her murder. Murder Trial: The Killing of Dr Brenda Page I II, caption, BBC 2024
Brenda Page convinced a number of people that Christopher Harrisson was an abusive husband. ibid. brief
In 1976 Brenda Page moves into a flat on Allan Street. ibid. caption