The Newall Brothers
Hello & Welcome to this week’s episode of Wives & Knives.
Yes Hello, I’m hoping the sound quality is better this week, I hope the quality in general will improve as we grow and get more experienced. That said this episode should be called Planes, Bees & Neighbours, due to all the sound effects going on in the background. For once I am louder than Dani at times, I promise I didn’t make her sit at the bottom of the Yarden. Also she doesn’t have a water feature in the Yarden and the local chavs aren’t peeing on the back wall – it’s the washing machine, and I’ve tried to edit out as much of the trickles as possible.
To business…this week It’s the case of The Newalls…
On the 10th of October 1987 Nicholas & Elizabeth Newall disappeared from their home in Clos de l’Atlantique in St Brelade, Jersey. Despite extensive searches it remained a missing persons case until 1988 when police discovered the remains of a bonfire, with burnt and blood splattered clothing belonging to the Newall’s, near to their family home. Even With plenty of suspicion & rumours it wouldn’t be until years later that the truth of what happened that night would eventually come to light.
Before we get into it though, let’s have a little catch up?
We’ve had some new followers on social media and new members to the Facebook group, welcome & Hello.
As we record this today, I have just returned from my second vaccination, arms a little tender but generally okay. And guess what? We’re reunited.
Yep, still social distanced, but having an impromptu True crime garden party. Putting me in the mood for you to transport me to Jersey. Have you ever been?
I haven’t but It looks gorgeous. Sharon one of our OG members visits when she can and it's one of her friends who suggested this case to us. So, hi there. Tracey.
you’ve set us up there mate, we’ve got new listeners in other places now too, we need to acknowledge also. We have now got listeners in Switzerland, Norway, Spain, and South Africa, as well as increased listenership in Australia and America as well as the UK so Hello out there.
Yes, Hello Everyone! It’s pretty cool, and you say set us up, but I say broadened our case umbrella ?! expanded our window of investigation? I prefer that.
So we’re going to do cases for those places?
that can be the name of the segment! Cases for your places? Anyway. Jersey! Jersey is an island and British Crown Dependency near the coast of Normandy, France. It is the second closest of the Channel Islands to France, after Alderney.
The climate there is said to be relatively mild, similar to the South of the UK, but sunnier and warmer.
Jersey was part of the Duchy of Normandy, whose dukes went on to become kings of England from 1066.
After Normandy was lost in the 13th century, and the ducal title surrendered to France, Jersey and the other Channel Islands remained attached to the English Crown.
There are twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands & Jersey is like its own little nation, it’s a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal, and judicial systems.
This is where a mobile incident room slash camper van would come in handy, we could drive there and also go on a ferry.
Like you said, Jersey is like its own nation and it has its own police force also,
The States of Jersey Police don’t have the greatest reputation however, when it comes to major crime, and I suppose it’s because as an island they are fortunate that bad stuff doesn’t happen that often, but when it does; the investigation is normally a documented shit show.
Some examples of those major crimes for you, Dani have you heard of the case of Young Finnish au pair Tuula Hoeoek who was found battered to death in a muddy field in December 1966. Her murderer has never been caught. And could still be on the island.
No I haven’t.
And then there’s the ‘Beast of Jersey’ Edward Paisnel who stalked the country lanes by night and assaulted and raped children for 11 years before he was apprehended in 1971 – for running a red light.
Bloody hell.
The Rzeszowski family homicides, Is another interesting case too.
Crikey, worth checking those out, I’ve never heard of them.
So, to the Newalls. This is such a big case that I’m going to try and streamline it as much as I can.
Elizabeth Nelson was born in Motherwell, Scotland into a loving family. they were from a successful farming background, and her and her sister attended the best schools in Scotland and had a pretty good life by all accounts.
Nicholas Park Newall and his twin brother Stephen were born in Bearsden, Scotland, into a wealthy ship building family.
Elizabeth & Nicholas’ childhoods were similar in terms of schooling, they went to the best boarding schools etc but very different when it came to parenting. And so, it’s probably a good time to talk about Nicholas Newalls childhood in terms of treatment.
His parents were obsessed with each other, so much so that they pretty much ignored him and his twin brother. So other members of the family looked after the children, mainly their grandad. Grandad Newall wasn’t a particularly nice man and he ignored and shunned Nicholas and his brother. The twins may not have had warm attentive parents or family members, but they much like Elizabeth, didn’t want for anything materially and as I said attended the best schools and then colleges in Scotland.
Both Nicholas & Elizabeth go on to do well in their respective educations, and both become teachers.
And that’s how they meet each other, they were both teaching at New Park Preparatory School in St Andrews, she was fresh out of her training and he was nine years her senior and an established teacher at the school.
Elizabeth was already engaged though to Mike Hill a junior doctor, who she’d met when they were students at St. Andrews University, where she was studying modern languages.
Once she meets Nicholas, she breaks off the engagement to Mike and declares Nicholas ‘The One!’ Her family, who had really liked Mike were a bit unenthusiastic about Elizabeth’s new Beau with her sister Nancy Clark saying that Elizabeth changed when she met Nicholas. she’d been independent before him and apparently became like a ‘stepford’ wife. Nan also says that the family thought Nicholas or Nic as he went by was an ‘odd one’ And was quite detached/ aloof.
Harsh, but I can see why they are concerned if she’s changing herself for a man.
Yeah, and his family weren’t happy with the union either, but for other reasons. his family were old money, they were connected and apparently senior members of the Scottish judiciary. They weren’t happy about the relationship and the potential marriage of Nicholas and Elizabeth. I read they thought she was beneath him in social standing. they were monied and were apparently well regarded with connections to the freemasons.
Rude.
Yep, they went as far as to try and sabotage the relationship.
I do think that if you generally have a good relationship with your parental figure and they don’t like your partner, you should hear them out at least.
But whatever Nic’s family did and no matter how much both families tried it was clear that these two were in love and were going to get married, which they eventually did in 1963. Living in Glasgow, Scotland.
Elizabeth wanted children, and by all accounts Nicholas didn’t, not sure if she knew that before she got married to him, but they do go on to have two children, both boys. Roderick in 1965 and Mark 1966.
So, when the boys are still very young in 1967 The family decide to move to Jersey.
There’s a story about their move to Jersey that I have to share, as you know Nicholas is a teacher, but Teaching isn’t his real passion - He was fascinated by boats and apparently was by all accounts never happier than when he was at sea. So, they both decide to resign, buy a yacht (the Chanson du Lecq). The plan was to Sail to the west indies, with the kids along for the ride. But during the crossing from England to France Mark got severe sea sickness and they had to stop at Jersey and take him to hospital, they fell in love with the island and decided to stay.
sounds like something out of a romance novel.
Doesn’t it – apart from the vomiting. The family settle in Jersey and they buy Martello cottage in st Brelade and it’s lovely.
They both got teaching jobs, Nicholas worked at a few of the schools on the island, St Michaels, Le rocquier & St. Georges.
I was going to ask actually, what’s the set up here? Like how they fund this lifestyle.
They had inherited the majority of their money from their parents, and that afforded them a level of wealth. At one point I think they had like a quarter of a million in shares. But…from my research I get the impression that whilst being ‘wealthy’ The couple weren’t great with money. When they had money, they would spend it and when the money would run out, they would take teaching jobs to generate cash. The couple come across as very blasé when it comes to contracted full time jobs and financial security, but I think it suits their lifestyle.
Yeah so, they can pick up and go on holiday without being tied to set hours etc.
exactly. Could you imagine them now? They’d be ‘gramming’ it up a storm. These guys would be influencers now - wealthy posho’s sunning themselves on a yacht one minute and in the classroom the next. That sort of sums them up, life is for living, spend the money, it’s come and go, we’ll be reet... It gets better too…
Nicholas also considered himself an accomplished author, despite none of his novels ever being published. He had a little success; having some articles published in History today and the countryman.
So, in this book, Nicholas is described as being generally not well liked by his colleagues and his family. He was said to be stern, a strong disciplinarian, emotionally distant, and remote.
“the coldest of cold fish” was one way he’s described, and this is apparently the opposite of his wife Elizabeth, her older sister Nan Clark said she was the type of person who was full of enthusiasm and a bright spark and Elizabeth’s friends, most people agree with that, ‘she had a zest for life’.
She does sound like top company, to be fair.
Elizabeth doesn’t get off completely unscathed either though as she is described as being stuck up and having quite the temper, with no shortage of witnessed occasions where it was apparent.
So you’d want to spend time with her you just wouldn’t want to get on her bad side? and he’s a miserable twat?
But together, a thriving and vibrant relationship, they loved each other.
But what about the kids… I mentioned earlier that apparently Nic didn’t want kids.
Just to pick up on something I read, it’s said that Nicholas would refer to the boys as ‘Elizabeth’s children’, They were her responsibility.
oh my god, that’s awful.
I’ve really struggled with this case because there’s a few things in here that make them come across as pretty unlikeable, obviously you make up your own mind.
Nicholas expected Elizabeth to take full responsibility for Roderick & Mark and one focussed parent might have been enough for the boys, but Nicholas also expected Elizabeth to give him her full attention too and she pandered to that. Elizabeth & Nicholas are as caught up with each other as their own bloody parents had been. It’s like history repeating itself.
One of her friends later said Elizabeth loved her husband more than she did her boys.
That’s so sad.
Can you imagine the judgement if they were poor and lived on a Council Estate?
who’s looking after the kids whilst these two just focus on each other? Does History repeat itself again?
Pretty much, they’re not running around feral, they have a nanny and from the age of six they went to boarding school in Britain and their Aunt Nancy (Nan) used to care for them on school holidays and when their parents were away on holiday; as did Nicholas’ brother Stephen too.
I get having help with the house and childcare but to not want to spend time with the kids at all, why have them?
It’s worth considering that these boys again weren’t starved in terms of food, toys, or expensive clothes, they have a good education into their late teens. They were starved of hugs and positive attention. Love.
and that still has an impact.
exactly, it’s something to bear in mind. The children did not understand their Parents' absence or lack of interest. the boys' resentment grew as they also grew. They felt abandoned, unloved, and neglected by those who should love them most.
So, after a few years at the house in St Brelade near to the prestigious hotel l’horizon, we should stay there it looks lovely. The Newalls moved into a new home called Crow’s nest – and it was called this because it was perched high above the prince of wales hotel at Greve de lecq on the north coast. It hosts views of Sark, and the sharp toothed rocks of the paternosters. (jutty up rock formation)
The house despite the stunning views wasn’t in the greatest of condition and needed a lot of work and repairs. They had to borrow from friends The Ellams, to do the renovations on crow’s nest because they were again struggling with some financial problems.
A lot of their issues were that their running expenses were far too high for their incomes and, as I touched on before they aren’t great with their money. By all accounts, its mainly Elizabeth to be fair, she was into making random big purchases & investments. I’m not talking a new computer for her husband, although she did that too, she once bought land that didn’t exist in Mexico and also lost 60,000 on shares alone in one single year.
Again, it’s relative, Jersey is home to wealthy peeps, gotta love those tax laws, and by those standards that’s not a lot of money, but to us it is.
They also have a house in Spain too, it’s not some sprawling mansion but a more modest holiday home but still. And they had this whole other life out there in the sunshine, they partied with people out there and loved the life by all accounts. He’s writing in the sun and she’s socialising with all the ex-pat community and Nicholas is, by all accounts an absolute delight in Spain, funny and friendly. Amazing what a bit of sunshine will do for you!
Despite the fortune spent on their education, their children had not managed to do as well as was expected, in fact they barely scraped through.
Can’t imagine that their parents would have been happy about that?
it was a bone of contention but despite the lack of qualifications, Mark had managed to get a seat at one of Jersey's most important international banks. He was smart and independent, and, despite his lack of higher education, he was a promising young man. Roderick, for his part, entered the military with a career in the Royal Green Jackets regiment. The brothers could not be more different. Mark was the composed, thoughtful Son, He was a shy and peaceful young man. Rod was the heartthrob. Vain, popular, liked to be the center of attention, and to challenge authority.
I listened to a podcast called Murder Dictionary – this episode was I for inheritance and one of the hosts said Roderick is the one you want to sleep with.
I quite enjoyed that episode, you should check them out.
At this point the Newalls are semi-retired, spending a lot of time on the sea. In their yacht. And the boys are focussing on their career.
Mark is a true workaholic; he is quickly successful in his financial career and quickly left Jersey for London. He arrived early and left work late. He was a bit of a whizz when it came to the stock market, which for his financial flighty parents was great news.
He finally got their attention I expect.
Yeah, and so did Roderick, unlike the Mark, Rod was bad at managing his money. Sometimes when he was on leave from the Army, Roderick would visit his parents to ask for financial help. On one occasion when Elizabeth declined, he lost his temper and punched his mother. She forgave him.
Shit. I feel like these boys have been failed by their parents throughout their childhood, they gave them everything they wanted/needed when they were kids in terms of top-notch sports gear and stuff. They are used to it, but as soon as they are adults, they’re on their own. I’m not condoning it, they had it easier than most despite that, but I understand why he reacted like that. The parent’s example is get get get but they won’t help their kid out.
I do also wonder if they couldn’t as well as wouldn’t help Roderick out, because Despite Mark giving them advice on what to do with their money, they chose not to listen, and the couple quickly found themselves in another financial pickle, unprepared to make any major changes to their lifestyle they had no choice but to sell their house on the top of the hill in Jersey. Mark arranged the whole sale for them, and they sold it to their close friends. They downsized and bought a bungalow, number 9 Clos de l'Atlantique in St Brelade.
What was left of their money was already invested in the Lloyds insurance company. I didn’t get this bit, so I’ve linked an article in the sources. I’ll do my best to explain it. Nicholas is a ‘name’ at Lloyds and that means he put money in – minimum around 100,000 when he joined a syndicate and by doing that him and the other members of the syndicate would then accept unlimited liability for its obligations. The Members then share in the profits and losses proportional to the amount they put in originally. You can increase the amount you invest and that’s something Nicholas apparently considered doing in the mid 80’s. this was a big part of their income; this was their financial security.
Mark advised his Parents to withdraw the money from that investment, he’s 19 at this point and a financial genius after all and he’d heard some worrying things. Turned out he was right. In 1985 his father’s syndicate, had been exposed to massive environmental and asbestos linked claims.
And In the late summer of 1987 the financial times started reporting that Nicholas’s syndicate, could be liable for as much as 250 million.
fuckin hell
it would have a massive impact on their life, they could be paying that off for the rest of their lives, 30,000 a year and then the debt would pass to the sons.
Shit.
On Saturday October 10th, 1987. The brothers Roderick (22) and Mark (21) arranged to meet their parents in Jersey to celebrate Elizabeth's 48th birthday.
They arrived at their parents' bungalow at 8:00 pm. An hour later, Nicholas and Elizabeth arrived home after having drinks with friends. The family then drove to the old Seacrest Hotel near Corbiere.
Whilst there they racked up a £130 bill which included champagne, plenty of wine and Expensive Seafood; The Lobster was comped because Elizabeth complained. But Mark picked up the bill.
Mark, who wasn’t a drinker anyway, drove them all back to the house. He later left for his apartment on the island and Elizabeth went up to bed. Leaving Nicholas and Roderick catching up over an eighteen-year-old malt whiskey.
The next morning shortly before nine, Elizabeth’s best friend Maureen Ellam, the one who had bought their old house dropped by with a bouquet of flowers for her friend.
Roderick answered the door telling her his parents were still in bed. They chit chatted for a bit, then she left not necessarily concerned. That is until later on when she returned home and there was no call from Elizabeth. She called every day for the next few days, but no one answered. The boys had left the island on Sunday afternoon, having taken separate flights within half an hour of each other. And the Newalls were often taking trips, they were due to go back to Spain on the 20th of October, they could have brought it forward.
But soon the couple began to miss appointments and friends began to worry. They had been due to visit Sark on Wednesday to see Uncle Kenneth but didn’t arrive. There was a really bad storm on Wednesday the 15th of October and the Ellams wondered if they had in fact made it but had become stranded there. By Friday they are really getting worried so they call the Newalls neighbour, Paul shearer and ask him if he would mind going round to see if they were in. he did so and along with a friend they decided to check the back of the house, they climbed a wall and found the veranda doors were open. Everything seemed normal, there was food in the fridge, condiments on the table and the ironing board was up. The only thing a little weird was that it was unusually hot in the house.
David Ellam Maureen’s husband, he wants to see for himself what’s going on, and he has a key. So off he pops and it’s like Paul said, its stifling. He sees that the thermostat has been overridden to keep the heating on high all the time. He also finds Marks ex directory number.
Maureen calls Mark, she’d dealt with him during the sale and knew him. She tells him what the crack is and asks if he knows what their plans for the week were. They run through the appointments they’re both aware of. And it’s obvious that more appointments have been missed and that something was very wrong.
Mark was concerned and started to contact the wider family and other friends, all over the world to check if they had heard from them or knew anything, but no one did. Both of the boys were expressing their concerns and made plans to return to the island. Roderick arrived first on the 18th, and was collected at the airport by the Ellams, Mark arrived shortly after and together with the Ellams they went first to the bungalow where they had been with their parents just over a week ago and then on to the states of jersey police headquarters at rouge bouillon.
They explained the situation, the last time they had seen their parents and then officially reported them missing.
At first the police didn’t really treat this as an emergency, there wasn’t any suspicious circumstances; just two adults who couldn’t be located. That storm I mentioned earlier had been quite the event on jersey, people had died, houses had been ruined; they had a lot going on that week.
The police had reacted straight away, they’d set up a major incident room which isn’t standard procedure, and they were speaking to the family, particularly Rod & Mark.
Other family members were also making their way to the island, Nicholas’ twin brother arrived, and they were like ‘oh your back!’ until he explained who he was. Nancy, and her husband Alistair also headed over and when they arrived went straight to the police headquarters. Pretty much the entire family, including Granny Nelson descended on the island and they all stayed at the Atlantic Hotel at La Moye, which is a few hundred yards from the bungalow.
Lets just take a moment to appreciate the surrealness of the situation okay, there’s the family in this 4* hotel, unofficial base of operations for them, there’s an art exhibition on in the hotel which friends are attending, and then there’s the film crew filming an episode of Bergerac in the bar.
I know what that is I googled it.
I used to watch that as a kid. John nettles, who played Bergerac actually later did a plea for help in the case too.
Detective inspector Graham Nimmo, was placed in charge of the case and organised a search of the nearby area, the coastlines, and the sand dunes specifically. He also engaged with the French coastguard cossma to see if they could help. Extensive house to house inquiries continued, posters were printed. Hundreds of people were interviewed and built up a good overall picture of the Newalls.
The boys were interviewed naturally, Graham Nimmo had spoken to them that first day back on the island at their parents’ house and then they were interviewed at police headquarters. Their stories are consistent. They had joined their parents the morning after the birthday meal for breakfast and later lunch before leaving at around 3pm
I get the impression that the family and friends of Nicholas & Elizabeth, made it hard for the police not to ignore this case. Particularly Maureen Ellam Elizabeth’s best friend & Nan Clark Elizabeth’s older sister.
Maureen Ellam had noticed a few things that she thought warranted a further look. The black rug from in front of the fire was missing. There had been a stain on the carpet in the master bedroom that she had pointed out to Rod which had now been cleaned. She was convinced something was up and that the house wasn’t ‘right.’
Forensic scientists spent four days in total checking the house over alongside police officers, including the acting chief inspector.
Bloodstains were found in the lounge and in the bedroom. Both areas revealed signs of having been washed. J-cloth fibres, identical to those stored in the kitchen, were found adhering to a floor rug. Specks of blood were analysed. The samples taken from the lounge were the same type as Nicholas’, while the bedroom samples matched Elizabeth’s blood. Officials concluded that Nicholas had been attacked in front of the fireplace in the lounge, while Elizabeth had been accosted in the bedroom. The disappearances were now being treated as murders.
Hundreds of volunteers joined police in searching for the bodies of the victims. Helicopters, dogs, and radar were used to no avail. Because Roderick and Mark were the last known individuals to have seen their parents alive, they were questioned extensively. They reiterated that they had left their parents alive and well.
It was in 1988 that police had their first breakthrough when they discovered the remains of a bonfire with burnt, blood splattered clothing and other belongings of the Newalls near the family home.
Despite extensive searches including help from the UK search dogs used in the Moors murders case, and a Guernsey medium, the bodies weren’t found.
The disappearance of the missing pair was the main topic of conversation on the island. The Ellams insisted the search continue, but as the months turned into years the hunt diminished. Roderick resigned from the army and spent much of his time aboard the family yacht on the Mediterranean. The intensive investigation brought to the fore the cold relationship which had existed between the Newall brothers and their parents. Both were suspected of involvement in the disappearance, but nothing concrete was uncovered to connect them to the crime. Detective Nimmo retired in 1990 without solving the case.
On Jan. 3, 1991, Elizabeth & Nicholas Newall were officially declared dead. Their sons inherited their entire estate. Mark became a huge success in the financial world. Roderick continued to roam the world in his yacht.
Something didn’t sit well with the family, they were.
In June 1992, Roderick visited relatives in England. He constantly brought up the subject of his missing parents and seemed to be on the verge of confessing. He planned to visit Stephen Newall, his father’s twin brother, in Scotland.
When a relative informed Maureen Ellam back in Jersey that Roderick seemed near the breaking point, she called police. They in turn notified Scottish authorities, who asked Stephen Newall to wear a wire during conversations with his nephew. Stephen agreed and arranged to have tea with his nephew in a private room at the Dunkeld House Hotel.
During the dramatic meeting Roderick broke down and described how he had unmercifully beaten his parents to death. He stated Mark wasn’t present during the killings but had assisted in the burial of the bodies.
Roderick confessed that after the birthday party they had returned to the bungalow and him and his father had argued once mark had left and old resentments had been brought up. he had killed his father and then when his mother had heard the commotion he had gone up to her bedroom and killed her.
At the end of the confession, Stephen asked his nephew the obvious question, “Why?”
Roderick replied, “You wouldn’t understand because I don’t understand.”
Because the confession had been procured in an unorthodox manner, police sought legal opinions as to its admissibility. The process took days. In the meantime, Roderick left in his yacht. On Aug. 7, 1992, the yacht was intercepted by a Royal Navy frigate. Roderick was arrested and incarcerated in Gibraltar . Although he fought extradition, he was eventually returned to Jersey. Mark was picked up in Paris in April.
The murder charges against Mark were dropped. Roderick stood trial in 1994 for the murders of his parents. Because there was proof that he had purchased tools, tarpaulins, and plastic sheets before the killings, he was convicted of premeditated murder. Roderick Newall was sentenced to two concurrent life terms in prison. Mark Newall was convicted of assisting his brother after the fact of murder. He was sentenced to two concurrent six-year terms.
Mark served less than 2 years of his sentence, a fact that many police at the time were disappointed with. Despite attempts to block the will by relatives, Newall was left about half of the estimated #900,000 estate of his dead parents, and it is assumed that he invested it wisely while in prison.
The older brother arrived in Jersey after being extradited from Gibraltar where he had been held since his arrest at sea off Morocco in August 1992.
Once back in Jersey, Roderick gave authorities a map indicating his parents’ grave. With the use of the map and his personal direction at the site, in October 2011 police recovered the bodies.
Roderick was released after serving around 12 years of his double life sentence La Moye prison in Jersey.
Roderick Newall, who uses the name Rod Nelson, is a prisoner on day release from Ford Open Prison, near Arundel, who is working as an IT lecturer at Chichester College.
"In Mr Newall's case he was directed to us for work experience. His work has been exemplary and resulted in the offer of employment as a technician.
"He is now focusing on reintegrating himself into society on his release and I would echo the reported comments made by his uncle that while what happened was an awful family tragedy he should now be allowed to get on with his life."
You can hear our thoughts on the case in the main episode.
Sources
Comments