In July of 1992, young mother Rachel Nickell was found sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in a park during her morning walk (Bruce and Pender). Her three year old son, Alexander, was with Rachel during her death. Alexander laid by her body also bloody and beaten, yet still alive. Another walker happened upon the crime scene finding Alexander clinging to his mother’s lifeless body and repeatedly asking her to wake up. The brutality of Rachel’s murder was a rare circumstance in southwest London. However, the uniqueness of the case was soon overlooked as the path to Rachel’s killer took a turn no one was expecting and lead many to question the validity and honesty of criminal profilers. Within hours, police began questioning a series of men, 32 to be exact, in connection to Rachel’s murder (Bruce and Pender). Investigators quickly narrowed down the suspect to a man named Colin …show more content…
Soon the conflicting descriptions of the case between investigators and Britton became apparent. Britton describes investigators calling him to create a criminal profile after Stagg’s first interview (Bruce and Pender). Yet, investigators describe calling Britton before interviewing Colin Stagg asking how to approach him during questioning. The investigators also indicate that after a series of interviews with Colin Stagg, they would contact Paul Britton who would state that “Stagg’s denials were indicative of his cunning and basic intelligence” (Bruce and Pender). Stagg’s lawyers happened to take notice of these conflicting stories and forced a court hearing describing the inconsistencies between Britton and investigators. The court later ruled that Britton and police officers indeed had worked together to frame Colin Stagg for the murder of Rachel Nickell and he was acquitted in 1994 (Bruce and Pender;