I spoke to Roy Trent at his mother's house at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, 1970, and told him what I'd said to the police. I did this because I wanted him to know how angry the rape had made me. He told me I was a fool because Micky Hopkinson carried a knife and would cut me at the first opportunity. I said they should deny they were the boys involved because I hadn't named them and wouldn't identify them. I had also kept secret from the police that my brother, William, had been a witness. Roy said none of that mattered because Cill would identify them.
He asked me where Cill Trevelyan was, and I said she was at Grace Jefferies's house. He told me to go back to Grace's and persuade Cill to go to Howard Stamp's house in Colliton Way. I said she would never agree because she knew Trent, Hurst and Hopkinson also lived in Colliton Way. Roy accepted that. Instead, he told me to persuade her to go home by leaving the house via the alleyway at the back. He asked me to wait until it got dark at around 8:30 p.m.
I refused, saying I didn't care if Cill never went home again and, in any case, I wanted Mr. and Mrs. Trevelyan to suffer. The money ran out before the conversation ended. I did not understand what Roy Trent intended to do. I believed he wanted to threaten Cill to make her keep her mouth shut. If neither of us identified Trent, Hurst and Hopkinson as the boys who committed the rape, then the police would let the matter drop.
I had no intention at that time of doing what Roy Trent asked, but my mother had told my father that I'd described the incident to the police as a gang rape. He was angry with me because of what he'd said to David Trevelyan the night before. By way of punishment, he sent my mother and my brother shopping and anally raped me in front of the television. All I could think about was that it was worse than anything Cill had suffered. My bottom bled for days but I couldn't tell anyone. On Wednesday I started having fainting fits. My mother made my father call the doctor, and though I didn't tell the doctor what was really wrong, my father was frightened.
I became very upset in the wake of this incident on Saturday afternoon. I realize now that I was deeply confused and frightened, but I believed that I would be blamed for everything: the rape, the fight, Cill running away, my failure to tell the police that I'd seen her at Grace's. I was also afraid that Trent, Hurst and Hopkinson would take revenge on me if Cill identified them. I see now that I directed all my hate at Cill when I should have been directing it at my father, but I was too disturbed to understand this at the time.
At 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, I told my parents I was going to bed. They were watching television with my brother and weren't interested in me. I shut the sitting-room door and let myself out onto the street. I was absent for approximately half an hour, but I do not know if either of my parents was aware of this. They have never mentioned it.
I ran down Mullin Street to Bladen Street and turned into the alleyway at the back of Grace's house. Trent, Hurst and Hopkinson were waiting there, even though I'd told Trent I wasn't going to do what he'd asked. They said they planned to give Cill a fright so that she wouldn't name them to the police, and I believed them. They threatened me similarly if I changed my mind about identifying them. I said I wouldn't.
I had no trouble entering Grace's house because the kitchen door was open. She and Cill were watching television in the sitting room with the curtains closed. Cill wasn't pleased to see me, but Grace was. She was worried about news coverage of Cill's disappearance and had already told her that she must go home. I told Grace that I'd been questioned that morning, and that the police were saying that anyone found harboring Cill would be arrested. Grace was so concerned that she became angry with Cill and ordered her to leave. Cill burst into tears and refused, so I helped Grace drag her through the kitchen into the garden. Grace locked the door behind us.
I knew Cill would lash out at me so I ran straight to the fence. I saw Trent, Hurst and Hopkinson in the shadow of Grace's garden shed. I did not speak to them, nor did I hear them speak to Cill. I let myself out through the gate and ran home. I expected to hear the following morning that Cill had returned home.
I remember very little of the next few days because I was so frightened, by both my anal bleeding and Cill's continued disappearance. I attended school on the Monday and Tuesday but spent most of the time hiding or crying. I was shown no sympathy by the teachers or students because they held me responsible for Cill's suspension. On Tuesday afternoon I began to wonder if Cill was still in Grace Jefferies's house, so I sneaked into her garden on my way home from school.
I looked through the French windows into the sitting room. There was blood on one of the panes and the room had been vandalized. I was too scared to try the kitchen door and went straight home. From this point on, my fainting fits and convulsions became so serious that I was taken out of school and my family was eventually rehoused.
I had no contact with Trent, Hurst and Hopkinson until after Howard Stamp had confessed to Grace's murder. I was aware that they had been questioned and released about Cill's rape, but I wasn't confident enough to phone Roy Trent until it became clear that Stamp had killed his grandmother. Roy set my mind at rest immediately. He said they'd threatened Cill with a beating if she named them, then sent her home. He and his friends had no idea what had happened afterward, but they believed she'd gone looking for Howard Stamp and he'd lost his temper with her in the same way he'd lost it with Grace. He described Howard as behaving like a lunatic in the days between Cill's disappearance and his arrest. However, none of us could report it because of our own involvement.
This is the extent of my firsthand knowledge and involvement in the murder of Cill Trevelyan. Anything else I know was told to me by my first husband, Michael "Micky" Hopkinson, many years afterward.
Micky was always more troubled by his conscience than either Roy Trent or Colley Hurst. He stifled it with drugs and alcohol. He was chronically addicted to heroin by the time he was seventeen and he remained addicted until his death from overdose in 1986. We were married for twelve years and he was thirty when he died. During that time he persuaded me into drugs, forced me into prostitution to fund our habits and had several prison sentences for possession and theft. He also blackmailed my father to buy my silence about the abuse.
I realize now that my relationship with Micky was just another form of abuse. It's a pattern I repeated in my subsequent marriages to Roy Trent and Nicholas "Colley" Fletcher Hurst.
We were bound together by our knowledge of what happened on May 30, 1970, but I had no idea how dangerous my knowledge was to them until Micky confessed to Cill's murder shortly before he died.
The story he told me was as follows:
Trent, Hurst and Hopkinson had caught Cill as she was leaving Grace's garden and Colley Hurst put his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. Because she struggled, Micky showed her his knife and said he'd use it if she didn't do as she was told. She allowed Roy to put a handkerchief in her mouth and tie her hands behind her back, then they walked her to Colliton Way waste ground. Roy and Colley draped their arms over her shoulders, and Micky walked behind with his knife in her back. He said she cried the whole way there but, even though some pedestrians and cars passed them, no one noticed that anything was wrong.
They hadn't intended to kill her, but everything got out of hand when Roy and Colley decided to rape her again. Both boys had been drinking heavily since my phone call to Roy at lunchtime, and Micky thinks she died of suffocation because they didn't untie her or remove the handkerchief in case she started screaming. He said it was similar to the first rape and they only realized she was dead when she hadn't moved for several minutes. He never said whether he raped her, but I think he must have done.
He told me they put her body in one of the test pits that had been dug during the construction of the new Brackham & Wright factory. They shoveled rubble in on top of her, then went home to get some clean clothes. Roy had sobered up enough to realize that if the police took them in for the first rape, they'd find Cill's blood and hair on what they were
wearing that night. Micky said he made them change and then slog across town to dispose of the clothes in someone's dustbin.
They never expected to get away with it, but all the test pits were filled in a few weeks later without being examined. Micky told me that Cill's body is under the grassed area where the factory workers eat their lunch in the summer.
I have no knowledge of the murder of Grace Jefferies. Micky never spoke about it, and Roy has always denied any involvement in it. I can only assume that Howard learned from Grace that Cill had been in her house and became angry because she hadn't told him. His interest in Cill was perverted, which may explain why he never mentioned the connection at his trial.
My life has been regulated and controlled by Roy Trent since May 30, 1970. My dependence on him was fueled for many years by my addiction to heroin. While I was married to Micky, he was our main supplier. After Micky's death in 1986, Roy took over as my pimp in order to retain control. He had a stable of prostitutes, one of whom was his wife, Robyn Hapgood. Roy married me in 1992 when I was at a low ebb in my life and close to suicide. At the time I was grateful to him.
When Colley Hurst suffered brain damage because of his treatment at the hands of the Metropolitan Police in 1998, Roy recognized that the damages would be high. He invited Colley to stay with us at the Crown and Feathers in order to access the money when it came through. Colley's life expectancy was low and he had no surviving relatives. Roy's idea was to take power of attorney during Colley's lifetime and to construct a will that made him sole beneficiary.
I had been calling myself Priscilla for some time, although Roy always shortened it to Cill because it amused him. Colley is a very sick man with extensive amnesia, but he has a lasting memory of Cill Trevelyan. He has no recollection of killing her but he does remember that she was important to him. He believes I am Cill Trevelyan because Roy was calling me Cill when he first arrived at the Crown and Feathers, and he recognized me as someone he knew.
Since the assault, Colley finds contact with people frightening and it brings on his violence. During his stay with us, he and Roy came to blows regularly over Colley's fear of the customers. In the same disturbed way that he remembers Cill as someone he loved, he remembers Roy as someone to fear and distrust. Roy was the leader when they were a gang, and I'm sure part of Colley remembers that he led them into trouble. During these outbursts I was the only person who could control him, and Roy conceived the idea that I should marry Colley and move to a secluded house where contact with people would be minimal. In return, he promised to watch over me via webcams which would be connected twenty-four hours a day to a monitor in the Crown and Feathers kitchen.
I freely admit that I went along with this plan. As Colley's wife I would inherit everything automatically, and it is an indication of Roy's arrogance and controlling nature that he never questioned my willingness to return to him once Colley was dead. Colley and I moved into Palencia on Sandbanks in August 2001 (initially paid for by Roy) and we married in November 2001, subsequently calling ourselves Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Fletcher.
This was the first time in thirty years that I was truly free of Roy Trent's influence and I used the opportunity to kick my drug habit by going cold turkey. It was made easier because Colley's paranoias meant I had to keep him tied to me all the time. He may be a violent and dangerous man, but he understood the pain I was going through and helped me in a way that no one else has ever done. I also freely admit that I have planned for the last two years to "out" Roy Trent, Colley Hurst and Micky Hopkinson as Cill Trevelyan's murderers. I also admit that by doing this I will secure Nicholas "Colley" Fletcher Hurst's money for myself. It has been suggested to me that it is convenient that one witness to Cill's murder is dead (Micky) , and the other is an amnesiac (Nick/Colley) . I can only answer that I was afraid of being killed in the same way Cill was if I'd told my story earlier.
I believe Roy has been suspicious of me ever since I came off drugs. One of his reasons for placing webcams about Palencia was to monitor anyone who came to the house. He knew, for example, that my brother had visited me before I told him. He also knew that Ms. Sasha Spencer had left her card. I told him about both incidents in order to allay his suspicions, but I did not tell him that I'd agreed to an interview with Ms. Spencer.
I hoped that by turning off the computer at my end he would think it was a glitch, but it merely made him suspicious. He has had keys to the house since August 2001 when we first moved in and he entered via the back door because he was suspicious of WCH Investigations' van in the road. I heard him come in, which is why I gave Ms. Spencer the version of events involving Howard Stamp that Roy instructed me to tell after Councillor Gardener and Dr. Hughes discovered Cill's story. However, when he attempted to remove Ms. Spencer, I realized I would be severely punished for stepping out of line.
Had I known that Ms. Spencer's colleagues were monitoring our conversation, I might have found the courage to tell the true version. They believed my husband was in the house and were ready to intervene because of his violent nature. While I understand that I have certain rights in law relating to privacy and security of information, I do not wish anyone to be prosecuted as a result of this morning's intervention by Mr. Duncan Bartholomew and Mr. Trevor Paul. I am grateful for their assistance in calling the police and the ambulance service.
I am relieved to have finally cleared my conscience.
I confirm that everything I have said in this statement is true.
Priscilla Fletcher
POOLE POLICE STATION
CIVIC CENTER POOLE DORSET BH15 2SE
WITNESS STATEMENT
Date: 5/27/03
Time: 1700
Witness: Roy Trent
In the presence of: DS John Wyatt, DC Peter Hughes
Also present: n/a (Witness refused a lawyer)
Incident: The alleged murder of Priscilla "Cill" Trevelyan on the night of May 30/31, 1970.
Mr. Roy Trent presented himself voluntarily at Poole police station in order to answer allegations made against him by Priscilla Fletcher on May 26, 2003. This statement was written by him and he agrees that it is a true and complete record of what he said. He has signed it accordingly.
Priscilla Fletcher's story is a complete fabrication. I deny absolutely that I, Micky Hopkinson or Colley Hurst had any involvement in or knowledge of the alleged murder of Priscilla "Cill" Trevelyan on the night of May 30/31, 1970.
It is almost thirty-three years, to the day, that Cill Trevelyan went missing and it is impossible to prove or refute these allegations when so many witnesses are dead or, as in Nicholas "Colley" Hurst's case, severely brain damaged.
I do not deny that we raped Cill in early May 1970, nor that we bullied Howard Stamp mercilessly until he pulled out a knife and attacked us. I cannot recall precisely when this incident happened but I believe it was some time in late March or early April 1970.
Priscilla Fletcher is a deeply damaged woman who suffered appalling abuse at the hands of her father when she was a child. She has been a prostitute and a drug addict, although I deny that I ever pimped for her or supplied her with class-A narcotics.
I cite my reputation in Highdown for being anti-drugs and the attempts I made when Priscilla and I first married to put her into rehab. I would also ask for my son, Peter, to be interviewed, who will testify on my behalf re: Priscilla's corrupting influence. By the time he was seventeen years old she had ensnared him into the drug culture, with all that that entails.
We became inextricably linked with Louise Burton a.k.a. Priscilla Fletcher long before Cill Trevelyan's disappearance and Grace Jefferies's murder. Louise gravitated toward us because of her own unhappiness at home, and because she knew we had a similar ill feeling toward Howard Stamp as she had. In her case it was fueled by jealousy of Cill.
In the wake of the above two events, she became a natural ally because of her refusal to name us to the police. None of the secrets we shared were so bad that we couldn't have revealed them
at the time, but we weren't bright enough to understand that.
I have no explanation for why she is now accusing us of murdering Cill on the night of May 30/31, 1970 unless it is to rid herself of the nuisance of looking after Nicholas "Colley" Fletcher Hurst. She genuinely loved Micky Hopkinson and was married to him for twelve years. I allowed her to move in with me after my first wife died because I felt some responsibility for her as Micky's widow. I became fond of her and we married in 1992 on the understanding that she would kick her habit. She didn't.
We had been living apart for six months when I offered to take on the care of Nicholas "Colley" Hurst in 2000. Louise immediately saw an advantage in marrying him. I made no objection because he was difficult to manage at the pub. In exchange for a percentage of the inheritance, I agreed to monitor them via webcams in case he became violent. He carries a mobile telephone which I have trained him to answer. In this way I can defuse difficult situations before they happen. His "violent" episodes are rare.
Contrary to what Louise has told you, Colley readily responds to me, but is easily roused to anger when she becomes impatient with him. I cite yesterday's example at the hospital when he agreed to come home with me, as witnessed by two police officers.
I went to Palencia yesterday because the webcam link had failed and I wanted to check it. I deny that I ordered Ms. Sasha Spencer from the house to prevent Louise talking to her. I did it because I could see that Ms. Spencer's unwise remark about Cill Trevelyan's popularity had fired Louise into a temper. Cill Trevelyan is an obsession with her. I believe it comes from guilt. She needs to be told all the time that it wasn't her fault Cill vanished.
Disordered Minds Page 35