He Can’t Know I’m Alive
In October 1986, Russell Bishop murdered two young girls in a Brighton Park, what became known as the babes in the wood case, not the first time that phrase has been used. He stood trial the following year and was sensationally acquitted, partly by dint of his girlfriend’s perjury. Incredibly, in 1990, he reprised this sick crime by kidnapping an even younger girl off the street, sexually assaulting her, strangling her, and leaving her for dead. Even more incredibly, the girl survived, and this documentary opens with film of the 7 year old Rachael Watts being interviewed by a detective in the presence of her mother, having waived her anonymity decades on. Later, we see the identity parade in which from behind a one-way mirror she picked out her assailant.
Bishop’s conviction should have put him away for life, and did, although he was granted a parole hearing, which left Rachael fearing he would come after her if released. Fortunately, he wasn’t, and with advancements in DNA technology, the authorities were able to try him again for the murders of 9 year olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway. This was due to the abolition of double jeopardy in 2005, something referred to here as an 800 year old law. And the law of murder is how old?
We need not go into the machinations of how and why this law was abolished, and neither does this documentary. It will suffice to say that Bishop was retried in 2018 and duly convicted. He died in prison four years later at the relatively young age of 55, and will be missed by few.
This documentary is really about Rachael though and the effects this monster had on her life, as well as a tribute to the families of two beautiful young girls who unlike Rachael would never blossom into womanhood.
The above is a review of The Girl Who Caught A Killer; the title is taken from the YouTube upload. Below are two screengrabs from this. The first is of Rachael at the time of the outrage; the second is of her as a young mother with her own daughter. She is now a mother of four.
