An Entitled Man: Episode 429

[0] Have you heard the chilling story of Scottish serial killer Robert Black, convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of four young girls in the 1980s?

[1] Sentenced to life in prison, he may also be linked to several other unsolved child murders.

[2] Starting February the 7th, join me on the True Crime Enthusiast podcast as I unravel the full harrowing truth in this multi -part series.

[3] Follow and listen to the True Crime Enthusiast podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

[4] Hello and welcome to episode 429 of the UK True Crime podcast.

[5] I'm Adam.

[6] Thank you so much for joining me today.

[7] Today's story is from Bournemouth and it's another shocking story about one of our major themes of everything not being as it seems within all families.

[8] Today's episode was written by Tanita Matthews.

[9] Did you catch her interview here last week?

[10] And you can win a signed copy of her new book written with Chris Clark, The Murder of Judith Roberts, if you are a member of my community at Patreon.

[11] More of that after the episode, but first, let's set some context for today's story.

[12] with our guest a month and year game.

[13] You ready?

[14] At number two in the UK charts, it was Lazy Song from Bruno Mars.

[15] In the US, Adele was at number two with Rolling in the Deep and her album 21 topped the Australian album charts.

[16] In the news this month, Osama Bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's Most Wanted Man, was killed by US Special Forces in Pakistan.

[17] And well done to the comms team as apparently 74 people globally believe the official accounts of what happened.

[18] Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides starring Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp premiered this month.

[19] Man City beat Stoke in the FA Cup final.

[20] And this month saw the deaths of boxer and brute aftershave promoter for those of us of a certain age, Henry Cooper.

[21] And also snooker commentating legend.

[22] whispering Ted Lowe.

[23] Did you guess the month and year?

[24] It's a tricky one, I think.

[25] It was May 2011.

[26] Of course it was.

[27] Today's story is from Bournemouth on the south coast of England, just over 90 miles southwest of London.

[28] It's a popular seaside resort and has been home to many of the great good and the average over the years and legendary comedian Tony Hancock.

[29] lived for most of his early life in hotels in Bournemouth that were run by his parents.

[30] It was 9 .50am on the 7th of May 2011 that paramedics rushed to Queenswood Avenue in Bournemouth after a 999 call from 50 -year -old Anita Turner.

[31] In a calm tone, she told the call handler, My son's friend is staying with us this morning.

[32] I tried to wake both of them up, but the girl didn't wake up.

[33] I can't wake her.

[34] The friend she was referring to was her son's girlfriend of the past few months, 17 -year -old Emily Longley.

[35] The operator presses Anita for more information.

[36] Is this girl breathing?

[37] Is there anything obstructing her airwaves, her necklace perhaps?

[38] What colour are her lips?

[39] Anita fumbles over her words trying to give a response.

[40] The operator, of course skilled in dealing with people in different states of shock, instructs Anita to shake Emily, call her name, check her breathing.

[41] She is told that none of this produced a response.

[42] In one bizarre episode, maybe caused by the shock of the situation, Anita asks if she should wipe the young girl's makeup off while checking for signs of life.

[43] At times she defers questions to her husband, 54 -year -old Lee, who can be heard in the background of the call.

[44] Paramedics arrived at the home within minutes of the 999 call being made and found Emily unresponsive in a bedroom belonging to Anita's son, Elliot.

[45] The so -called bedroom is a separate enclosure from the rest of the house at the rear of the bungalow.

[46] When questioned by the first responders on the scene, Elliot told the paramedics that he and Emily had come back home after drinking at the club over in Canford Cliffs, west of Bournemouth, towards Paul.

[47] They'd argued when they arrived home, but he'd turned over and gone to sleep.

[48] Around 4 .30am, he'd heard Emily get up to get a glass of water, complaining of a headache, and then when he woke up a few hours later, she was unresponsive.

[49] Police arrived at the scene a short while later and spoke with Elliot.

[50] He'd told them that Emily had attacked him, and he'd had to fend her off, but he claimed that she was very much alive by the end of their fight.

[51] He once again reiterated she'd got up that night for a glass of water and Anita backed up her son's version of events and told officers that sometime around 5am she'd seen Emily wandering through the house in search of water.

[52] So just why had a seemingly fit and healthy Emily died?

[53] An investigation by Dorset police was launched and a post -mortem carried out that same day.

[54] The pathologist noted hemorrhages in Emily's eyes and on her lips, tiny bleeds connected to rising blood pressure in the head.

[55] Frustratingly though for Emily's family and the police, the results of the examination were inconclusive and death by natural causes cannot be ruled out.

[56] Dorset police arrested Elliot and brought him into the station for further questioning, where he chose to answer no comment to every question.

[57] He was then released on bail pending further inquiries.

[58] Elliot did his talking in the media where he denied killing Emily, telling the Sunday Star Times newspaper that he had no idea how she died.

[59] It is weird, he said.

[60] God works in mysterious ways.

[61] He told reporters he was living a nightmare and some of Elliot's friends even took to social media to defend him, staunching their friends' innocence.

[62] Police needed more information on the couple and started asking questions to try and establish what had happened prior to that terrible spring morning.

[63] Their enquiries tell us this much.

[64] The daughter of Mark and Caroline, Emily, was born in London in 1994.

[65] She had been living in New Zealand with her parents and sister Hannah since she was 10 years old.

[66] Her mum and dad had divorced just a few years after the move.

[67] but they remain close friends and very dedicated parents to their children.

[68] In the summer of 2009, Emily flew from Auckland to England to visit her paternal grandparents, who lived in Southbourne, which is a suburb of Bournemouth.

[69] For a young woman just starting out in the world, Emily felt that Bournemouth offered some real opportunities.

[70] Promises of sun -kissed summers?

[71] Well, kind of.

[72] and a continuously buzzing hive of clubs, bars and restaurants, a number of big department stores, trendy small businesses and boutiques and British fashion favourites.

[73] During Emily's visit to her grandparents, she decided she wanted to make the stay a more permanent one and attend Brockenhurst College, which is nestled in the neighbouring county of Hampshire in the New Forest, to study a business national diploma.

[74] Her parents remained living in New Zealand with their youngest daughter, whilst Emily began her studies in England and also working part -time at Topshop in Bournemouth Town Centre.

[75] Friends described Emily as a kind, generous person and a beautiful person inside and out.

[76] Her mum told the press that after her parents' divorce, Emily wasn't an angry teenager, just a teenager looking to push boundaries.

[77] A student, a much -loved daughter, sister and grandchild, a friend and fashion worker, Emily was also an aspiring model.

[78] She was certainly traditionally beautiful, platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.

[79] Emily smiles brightly and yet effortlessly in pictures.

[80] Detectives also look more closely at Elliot's background.

[81] Born in 1991, he grew up in Solihull in the West Midlands.

[82] His grandfather was a successful silversmith and so his family benefited from generational wealth.

[83] The Turner family relocated to Bournemouth in 2000 where Elliot attended one of the best schools in the area.

[84] From there he went to Bournemouth College for A -levels and then just spent a month at Southampton Solent University before dropping out.

[85] It's super easy to make judgements about Elliot's lifestyle.

[86] He and his friends called themselves The Firm, and they frequented nightclubs in Bournemouth several times a week, dropping hundreds of pounds on drinks in a single night.

[87] Their headquarters, as they called it, was the Belo Rosso nightclub in the affluent area of Canford Cliffs, which is on the outskirts of Sandbanks in Paul.

[88] When he crashed his first car at the age of 17, he was rewarded.

[89] with a brand new black Mini Cooper.

[90] His parents felt he could do no wrong.

[91] On his social media, Elliot described himself as a director stroke jewellery buyer, but he was in fact neither.

[92] His friends, familiar with his self -inflated ego, dubbed him All Talk Turner.

[93] He claimed to his friends that he'd done so many things, he'd select with celebrities, and at one stage was having to be sent to a...

[94] £30 ,000 rehab facility, the Priory, for cocaine addiction.

[95] There was no kind of evidence he did go to rehab, but Elliot, well, you know the sort of person, right?

[96] He was not one to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

[97] And it's so easy for us to mock him for this, but who are we to judge how anyone else chooses to live their life?

[98] With the exception of Piers Morgan, of course.

[99] The Turner family owned a fine jewellery shop in the centre of Bournemouth, named R .E. Porter.

[100] The shop had been bought by Elliot Silversmith Grandad and passed down to his son Lee.

[101] Its shop front was a glittering display of fine diamonds and flashy jewels, and it also sold antiques and silverware.

[102] Carriage clocks and tableware sat in the window.

[103] As a teenager, Elliot would work in the shop part -time one day a week, And the jewellery store was just a short walk down from the shop where Emily worked.

[104] Emily had only been studying at her college for three months when she first encountered Elliot.

[105] They met via mutual friends who had begun dating.

[106] Elliot would claim they clicked almost instantly and they got on like a house on fire.

[107] Emily's friends, however, said it was Elliot who pursued Emily relentlessly.

[108] Their relationship was intense.

[109] and it quickly became full of drama.

[110] Elliot was possessive, jealous, and quick to anger.

[111] Some of Emily's friends would later tell the press that Elliot bullied the free -spirited Emily into being his girlfriend, and it certainly appears that Elliot was obsessed with having Emily by his side.

[112] Whilst Emily was beautiful, slender, and polished, Elliot's look was, well...

[113] less classically attractive, shall we say.

[114] He was clearly insecure, and the attention that Emily received only seemed to anger him more.

[115] Despite this, in March 2011, Emily had agreed to take part in a photo shoot her friend was staging as part of Sandbank's Ladies' Day.

[116] Pictures from the shoot show Emily standing between two shirtless buff butlers in a stunning red dress.

[117] Another shows the shirtless male model ironing in an apron and some shorts, while Emily imitates swiping at his buttocks.

[118] She holds a cocktail glass with the other hand.

[119] A third photo shows Emily holding a full champagne flute, a flirtatious and cheeky smile spread across her lips as she interacts with the male model.

[120] She smiles brightly.

[121] The photos are cheeky, they're fun and they're playful.

[122] and they were posted on the internet for the website Cheeky Buff Butlers, a male model service based in Paul, whose clients tended to be hen do's and birthday parties.

[123] Emily was told the images could be used as part of her portfolio to help her with her modelling career.

[124] Around this time, their relationship with Elliot was heading beyond breaking point, and it seems as though Emily was doing her utmost to distance herself from him.

[125] Between the 5th of April and 29th of April, Emily travelled home to New Zealand to visit family.

[126] While away, she posted pictures to her social media accounts of her trip.

[127] And text messages between the pair show Elliot's outrage at her spending time with other men.

[128] He accused her, of course, of being unfaithful.

[129] It was also at this point that Elliot saw the images of Emily taken with the shirtless male models.

[130] They enraged Elliot.

[131] Venom dripped from his every word as he sent a text to the friend that Emily had agreed to help with the photo shoot.

[132] It read, Do you know who I am?

[133] A lad who's been arrested for everything.

[134] Six violent harassment charges, two restraining orders, deception, GBH.

[135] I'm involved with everything.

[136] The rest of the text I'll spare you.

[137] It's full of expletives.

[138] But the message is very clear.

[139] He was warning them of his temper and threatening violent repercussions for anyone who dared to mess with him or his relationship with Emily.

[140] Emily's dad told the media how she specifically told him when in New Zealand that she and Elliot were over and she wasn't interested in settling down.

[141] But the full truth about Elliot's temper wasn't known by Emily's family.

[142] How he would quickly become enraged by Emily's defiance of his bully boy tactics and demands, how we threaten to kill her every day.

[143] A deeply concerning letter written by Emily to Elliot prior to her trip to New Zealand speaks volumes of her mindset where Elliot was concerned.

[144] Writing her points down in numerical order, she said, 1.

[145] I love you.

[146] 2.

[147] Don't say you'll kill me. These two shocking sentences alone show you the dynamic of this relationship.

[148] Emily cared for Elliot deeply, but his anger, it was out of control.

[149] No comment.

[150] So grab your headphones and your carry -on and let's make your next trip unforgettable for the right reasons.

[151] Passports Please is available to listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[152] Back on English soil, Elliot's temper continued to swell.

[153] Just one day after Emily returned from New Zealand, CCTV cameras from inside Belarus and nightclub caught Elliot and Emily arguing.

[154] and in a flash, Elliot had grabbed Emily by the neck and held her up against the wall before he forced her head against the table and then stormed out.

[155] Two days later, Emily had told Elliot she no longer wanted to be with him.

[156] She tried to soften the blow by telling him they could remain friends, but Elliot, he wouldn't accept it, her friends recalled.

[157] He was enraged by her rebuttal, and his mood became dark and obsessive.

[158] When Elliot discovered that Emily had arranged to meet another boy on the 5th of May at Clute Nightclub, as well as chatting to other boys online, he was so enraged he went to the club, armed with a lump hammer which he concealed in his waistband.

[159] Surveillance video inside the dark club shows Elliot approaching Emily and a man she's speaking to.

[160] Elliot gestures to the waistband, where the hammer rests before storming out.

[161] What Elliot does after this encounter is nothing short of psychotic and a glaring red flag of his escalating anger and to some degree his confidence again in his ability to manipulate others.

[162] With tears in his eyes, he returned to a group of their shared friends and recalled to his captive audience how he had fatally hit Emily and her date over the head and dumped her body in a bush in Bournemouth Town Centre.

[163] He was very convincing.

[164] Emily's friends and Elliot were seriously concerned and disturbed by this revelation.

[165] But in a split second the tears were gone and a jovial smile spread across his lips.

[166] He claimed it was all a big joke and Emily was fine.

[167] Nobody was laughing except for Elliot.

[168] On what was to be Emily's last night in life, CCTV showed her sipping wine in bars with Elliot and their friends.

[169] A photo posted to Facebook just hours before she took her last breath shows Emily with her arm around Elliot's shoulder.

[170] He plants a kiss on her left temple.

[171] His right hand cradles her smiling face.

[172] His fingers press firmly into the side of her cheek, although he's trying to force her closer to him.

[173] A picture, of course, is worth a thousand words.

[174] Not ideal for podcasting.

[175] When you know what kind of a bully Elliot was, the subtleties of the image are not lost.

[176] Turner desperately wanted this beautiful woman at his side.

[177] Emily was supposed to go and stay with a close friend after the clubs closed, but Elliot convinced her he needed one more night with her.

[178] A few hours later, the couple were seen arguing outside his home, and they went inside just after 1am.

[179] This was the last time that Emily was seen alive.

[180] Learning all this in the aftermath of Emily's death, none of it explained to detectives how Emily had died and who, if anyone, had been responsible.

[181] Elliot was jealous, abusive, obsessive, but it didn't prove murder, especially when the post -mortem had so little else to offer by the way of an explanation.

[182] But Elliot was clearly a suspect.

[183] And he had a track record already.

[184] Arrest records show that in January 2008, the 16 -year -old Elliot received a harassment warning, telling him not to contact her next girlfriend after he bombarded her with texts and emails after she dumped him.

[185] Ten days after Emily's death, Dorset police made the decision to bug the Turner home and conduct surveillance on the family.

[186] Such a move is of course reserved for any of the most difficult and complex of cases.

[187] In total, they managed to gain approximately 300 hours of audio from inside the home, taking over a period of a few weeks.

[188] And it was dynamic.

[189] I say on this podcast all the time that we barely know what happens in our own lives most of the time, let alone the dynamics of other families.

[190] When detectives listened to the recordings from inside the Turner home, the decision to bug seemed to be the absolutely correct one as Elliot admitted to his mum and dad.

[191] I just flipped.

[192] I went absolutely nuts.

[193] Without even a whisper of remorse, he told his parents, that girl ruined my life.

[194] And what's just as shocking is to hear his mum agree without hesitation.

[195] Elliot told his mum, they can link like, let's say my hands are on her neck, they can link that, forensics.

[196] And Anita tells him, yes, that's why use self -defence.

[197] Elliot told his parents that he didn't mean to kill Emily.

[198] Lee Turner warned Anita and Elliot that the truth will come out.

[199] He just didn't realise that their collective words would be their downfall.

[200] Police had evidence now that Elliot was to blame, but Lee gave away a vital clue to detectives.

[201] Elliot had penned a confession to his parents, stating that he killed Emily but didn't mean to do it.

[202] Lee admitted he had destroyed the letter using bleach.

[203] Detectives listened as Lee and his wife discussed their next course of action.

[204] Lee asked his wife if she felt they were right to destroy the letter, to which Anita replied, Yes, because he's our son.

[205] We've done the right thing.

[206] Anita seemed to always be making excuses for her son.

[207] Lee, though, exploded at his wife.

[208] Stop denying it.

[209] He fucking strangled her.

[210] Just weeks after Emily's death, Elliot was back out on the town celebrating his 20th birthday.

[211] The same cameras that caught him assaulting Emily captured him chatting to a young blonde woman at the bar before exposing his crotch to her to show off his latest tattoo.

[212] To look at him, you'd never believe he was under investigation for murder or wrangling with internal guilt.

[213] And that's exactly what Elliot wanted everyone to believe.

[214] He was innocent of any wrongdoing.

[215] He'd proudly boasted how the toxicology report showed specifically that he had not drugged his girlfriend.

[216] Yet one friend who police spoke to confessed that just days before Emily's murder, he and Elliot had been practising chokeholds on one another, and Elliot had used a move by which he put his friend's head in the crook of his elbow and squeezed until he'd had to tap out.

[217] Inside the Turner home, the confessions just kept on rolling.

[218] Remember that 999 call that was made by Anita?

[219] What is chilling when you listen to it is the lack of urgency and concern on Anita's part given that she claims she's just found a young woman unresponsive in her home.

[220] Audio from inside the family home made it clear that Anita had held off from phoning the ambulance service in order to allow the family to get their story straight first.

[221] While the police were steadily gaining evidence against Elliot for Emily's murder and his parents for perverting the course of justice, Elliot was looking for a way to slip through the clutches of justice.

[222] On May 29th, he searched self -defence using his dad's computer.

[223] Two days later, he was looking up terms such as how to get off innocence and how to get away with serious crimes.

[224] These revelations were part of the reason, where the police were successful in recommending charges to the Crown Prosecution Service, Elliot for murder, and Anita and Lee for perverting the course of justice.

[225] All denied the charges against them.

[226] Eleven men and one woman were sworn in as the jury and the trial began in April 2013 at Winchester Crown Court.

[227] Emily's mum, dad and sister sat in the court supporting each other.

[228] through what was about to be an incredibly difficult ordeal.

[229] The prosecution argued that Emily had been strangled by Turner after an argument about their breakup.

[230] While there were no external or internal injuries on her body, a forensic expert confirmed that it was possible to exert sphere pressure to the neck without leaving any visible marks.

[231] A bruise that had been noted on Elliot's left bicep during his initial interrogation was consistent with the application of a sleeper hold.

[232] Nasal discharge was found on the sleeve of Elliot's jacket, which he wore the night Emily died.

[233] Small scratches had been noted on Elliot's arms and his DNA under Emily's fingernails, suggesting a struggle while her killer compressed her neck.

[234] Detectives had also collected a pillowcase from Elliot's room, and Emily's make -up stained one side of the case in the faint shape of a face.

[235] Like a kind of death mask imprinted on the pillow.

[236] DNA from the mouth area of the pillow did belong to Emily.

[237] On the 8th of May, almost exactly a year to the day that Emily had died, Elliot took the stand.

[238] He admitted he'd threatened to kill Emily, but he denied he'd meant it.

[239] His arrogance, his sheer arrogance, radiated from him as he stood in the witness box.

[240] You don't seem very sad that Emily's dead, the prosecutor remarked.

[241] Well, it was a year ago, he replied.

[242] There was an audible gasp at this callous remark in the courtroom.

[243] The prosecutor made a mentionable note of how Elliot hadn't expressed any sadness over Emily's death, despite claims that when she was alive that he loved her.

[244] Elliot's defence team tried to get the bugging evidence ruled inadmissible at the start of the trial.

[245] but they failed and then really the game was up.

[246] Instead, all three had to sit there as their damning words were played to jurors and it sealed their fates.

[247] Elliot was found guilty of Emily's murder and sentenced to a minimum term of 16 years.

[248] He was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice and sentenced to nine months to serve concurrently.

[249] Weeks later, it was the Turner's parents' turn to answer for their actions.

[250] at the same court.

[251] Lee denied actually reading the letter penned by Elliot, claiming they found it on the 11th of May, after police searched their home following Emily's death.

[252] Lee said before he could read past Dear Mum, he realised the letter could be a confession and tore the letter into pieces before putting some of them in the house bin and some into a bin at a petrol station.

[253] It was, of course, garbage.

[254] He and Anita...

[255] were found guilty on a majority verdict perverting the course of justice and given very mild custodial sentences of 27 months.

[256] Elliot's parents, Lee and Anita, have since been released, but Elliot remains behind bars.

[257] In 2013, he attempted to appeal, but the appeal was denied.

[258] Elliot simply smirked and shook his head at the decision.

[259] He is eligible for parole.

[260] in 2028.

[261] So what do you make of what we've heard today?

[262] It's another shocking story, isn't it?

[263] The amateur psychologists among you would of course have a lot to say about why Elliot turned into the bullying monster with no capacity for remorse.

[264] But you know, I don't want to talk about him anymore.

[265] I think we've heard more than enough about him, don't you?

[266] The store owned by the Turner family has long since vanished.

[267] It's now a well -known handmade cosmetic retailer.

[268] The top shop where Emily worked is also no longer there.

[269] The Arcadia Group, who owned the brand, went into administration in 2020.

[270] What does remain, however, is the memory of a beautiful and fun young woman and the message to other women experiencing abuse at the hands of their partners.

[271] You need not suffer in silence and help is available.

[272] Emily's dad, Mark, spoke at the Auckland vigil for the murdered British backpacker, Grace Mullane, in 2018.

[273] Since Emily's death, he has become a passionate advocate for White Ribbon, a worldwide charity that promotes the domestic violence message to men and boys to challenge cultures that perpetuate inequality and violence.

[274] He also hosts the podcast, Death.

[275] a podcast about love, grief and hope.

[276] Mark and his family are making a real positive difference to stop other families going through the horror that he's faced following the awful murder of Emily.

[277] Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the UK True Crime Podcast and to support the show and ensure you get every episode advert -free and immediate access to all 87 full -length bonus episodes plus loads of exclusive content, please just join us at Patreon.

[278] And if you join this week, you can be in the draw on Saturday to win a copy of Tanita Matthews and Chris Clark's new book about the murder of Judith Roberts.

[279] A huge thank you, as always, to all my supporters at Patreon, but especially the new members of our community.

[280] That is Whitney Barnard, Jeff, Tracy Sennett, Vegan Goff, Sarah Stewart and Daniel Fry.

[281] Thank you all so much for your support, which is just so much appreciated.

[282] Why not join us today at patreon .com slash UK True Crime.

[283] And to discuss this episode and any other aspect of UK True Crime, please join our Facebook group.

[284] Just last week, we passed a 94 ,000 barrier, which is great.

[285] And there's always loads to discuss.

[286] This week, I made probably an ill -considered post about the motives of a high -profile TV investigator, which certainly split opinion.

[287] See you there.

[288] Come and join the conversation.

[289] Okay, so that's all for me for another week.

[290] For those of you who made it through dry January, you're a better person than me. I failed miserably within hours.

[291] A huge thanks again to Tanita Matthews for bringing this story to us.

[292] And until we speak again next week, Please do take it easy and remember, despite all the others, stay classy.

[293] Cheerio for now.

[294] Have you heard the chilling story of Scottish serial killer Robert Black, convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of four young girls in the 1980s?

[295] Sentenced to life in prison, he may also be linked to several other unsolved child murders.

[296] Starting February the 7th, join me on the True Crime Enthusiast podcast as I unravel the full harrowing truth in this multi -part series.

[297] Follow and listen to the True Crime Enthusiast podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

[298] Don't miss Always True Crime recommendations every month by signing up to our newsletter for more great shows like this one.

[299] Head to always true crime dot com to find out more.