Merseyside Police Investigation

Suspicions

Obviously, Paulas family and friends were grief stricken when they learnt of Paulas death. As far as they knew, she was happy and looking forward to the birth of her baby. Despite the fact that Paula had written her own suicide letter, they could not accept that she would hang herself. They could not accept that she would commit suicide.

In the days following her death, they were told by Eddies father, Norman, that she had disclosed in her letters, namely the Nigel Letter and the Suicide Letter, that the reason she committed suicide was because she had been having an affair with a man called Nigel, that the baby she was carrying was Nigels and that she could not live with the guilt. Even though Paula had written graphically about her affair and her intention to leave the country without telling anyone and all about the details of her own relationship with Eddie himself and about the details of his relationship with Sandra Davies, her friends and family could not accept that she was capable of being unfaithful. They had never heard on any 'Nigel' and they said that if she had of been having an affair they would have known about it.

Despite the truth and proven facts contained in the Nigel Letter, an atmosphere of hysteria was growing, in which the police were told stories by Paulas friends who were unable to accept that she had committed suicide.

One story was about Paula saying that Eddie had cut the brake pipes on her car three times. This was proven to be completely untrue. Other strange comments Paula had made to people prior to her death were also completely untrue. A picture began to emerge that Paula, in the weeks and months leading up to her death, was saying bizarre and untrue things to her friends.

But was Paula in a dilemma? She was aware that Eddie had shown the Nigel Letter to a number of people in work including one of her own friends that worked with Eddie. If the detail that she had written in the Nigel Letter became public knowledge and a subject of gossip, how could she explain particularly to her family, but also to her friends, that she was intending to leave the country with Nigel without telling anyone.

Three of Paula's friends recounted to the police that a few months prior to her death and around the time the Nigel Letter was written, Paula had said that Eddie had her writing suicide letters for a course he was supposedly doing at work connected with suicide. There was no such course at Eddie's workplace but there was some talk relating to possible subjects for projects connected with the possible introduction of National Vocational Training Courses (NVQ Courses). Eddie has said that he mentioned this to Paula and some of their mutual friends. Eddie asserts that what he said regarding all this has been misconstrued and taken out of context. Apparently, according to her three friends, Eddie instructed Paula to write that she had been having an affair and that the baby she was carrying was not Eddie's. But this was of course the reason given to them by Norman for Paula committing suicide. One of the three women had even told the police that Paula had said that Eddie had taken her into the garage at home and showed her how to put up a rope to commit suicide. The police ordered a full forensic examination of the garage. The only rope fibres found by the Forensic Scientist were on the beam at the point from where Paula was found suspended. These fibres matched the fibres from the ligature. No other rope fibres were found on any of the other beams, roof timbers or other possible suspension points in the garage. What Paula had allegedly told her three friends was quite strange and bizarre.

But was Paula trying to create a story to conceal the truth of the Nigel Letter? Was she trying to head off any gossip that could interfere with her plans? It could be that what she told her three friends about Eddie getting her to write letters were her attempts to convince them that the Nigel Letter was just a piece of fiction. Maybe she did not want anyone to find out that she was planning to run away without telling anyone.

Although Paula had an apparent propensity to say strange things, the police decided that what she told these particular three friends was the truth. But, the truth, reliability and the testimony of these three friends cannot be proven without confirmation of the narrator, namely Paula herself. Paula is not here to explain why she did or did not say these things. More importantly, if Paula did say these things, what had she intended people to believe when she said them.

Nevertheless, and without considering any evidence to the contrary, the police decided that Paula was not having an affair. The police decided that Paulas death was suspicious and decided that this was an unlikely suicide. It was this conclusion driven approach to the case by the police that ultimately led to Eddies conviction.