Disappearance/Murder of Kate Prout

Did anyone watch Murder in Suburbia last night on CI channel? It was very interesting.

Kate Prout disappeared from her home one day and her husband was eventually charged with her murder. There was no body, and only a teeny bit of circumstantial evidence, ie her diaries and that he had been violent towards her in the past, and that she was going to divorce him and force him to sel the farm to get her half share.

The interesting bit was that Eddie the sniffer dog was brought in and signalled in the house behind the sofa and the patio door just like the MM case. The police had forensics go through the house but found nothing to incriminate him, and they suspected he must have strangled her as there was not blood etc. He was convicted of her murder on flimsy evidence. They also said his demenour was not right.



Here is some background info

Detective reveals 'frustrations' of Kate Prout murder investigation
3:50pm Friday 5th February 2010

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THE leading police officer investigating the disappearance of farmer's wife Kate Prout today revealed the "frustrating" nature of the case.

Hundreds of police combed the 270 acre farm they shared days after Kate Prout vanished following a divorce settlement row in November 2007.

Officers painstakingly searched Redhill Farm in Redmarley, Glos, for five weeks from November 14.

The search was the biggest ever mounted in Gloucestershire and involved underwater search teams, aerial surveillance and ground penetrating radar.

Officers even sifted through animal excrement in the belief she may have been fed to the pigs.

The search failed to unearth a body, but Prout was still charged with her murder on March 10, 2008. Today, after Prout was found guilty of her murder following a three week trial at Bristol Crown Court, the lead officer in the case revealed the difficulties with a 'no body' murder.

Acting Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly, from Gloucestershire Police, has led the investigation since Kate's disappearance over two years ago.

He said: "The fact that we never had a body meant we had to introduce far more circumstantial evidence to try and establish certain facts in a much more difficult way.

"It has been a very frustrating investigation in that respect. We had to prove that Kate was dead, without a body. We had to prove that someone killed her, and finally that Adrian Prout was the one who did it.

"The types of enquiries we had to undertake to prove these have been extremely challenging."

Det Supt Kelly revealed that Adrian was the number one suspect from the day Kate was reported missing, and that Prout's behaviour remained consistent after his arrest and throughout subsequent interviews.

"Adrian has always been a major suspect, the major suspect in fact," he added.

"There were some key facts that were obvious early on that could reasonably lead you to believe that Adrian Prout was the number one suspect.

"Not least is the fact he left it five days to report her missing.

"And he only did so after he was virtually persuaded to do so by a concerned relative.

"In terms of his demeanor and attitude, Adrian remained consistent throughout.

"He's been very calm, almost unconcerned throughout. In terms of what he's said, he has in part been been consistent, but in key areas, his account has changed to the extent we would say he's been lying. "One aspect is the discussion they had on the day before Kate went missing. Kate put to him her increased demand for a divorce settlement.

"He lied to us about that conversation in the beginning and when it became obvious he couldn't lie any more he gave up."

Det Supt Kelly said the row over the divorce settlement was enough to suspect Prout of his wife's murder, and his affair with housekeeper Diane Bellamy.

He added: "The fact that he was going to lose their farm was central to the whole thing.

"She upgraded her demand and it meant he would have to sell the farm and this was something he was desperate not to lose.

"Other factors included the Diane Bellamy situation. Adrian Prout was trying to minimise the significance of that relationship, but the level of contact between them was very significant."

But he added, unless Prout reveals the whereabouts of the body, it may never be known how she was killed or what happened to her since.

"The first thing we'd be keen to do is to appeal to Adrian to let us know where the body is because that would give closure for the family but in the absence of that we would only renew our search efforts given some meaningful intelligence."

What a shocking story, candyfloss.

The interesting bit was that Eddie the sniffer dog was brought in and signalled in the house behind the sofa and the patio door just like the MM case.

A shiver of deja vu there

Officers even sifted through animal excrement in the belief she may have been fed to the pigs.

Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly, from Gloucestershire Police sounds like a chap who would go the whole hog.

Tenacious and diligent, just like the PJ! None of the namby pamby business we saw going on in Canynge Road recently, after Ms Yeates was murdered. Eddie the dog wasn't invited there.

One has just been thinking that one must start a few threads for the unsing heroes in this case. All the maligned and denigrated need threads of their own where we can write our messages of thanks and send supportive messages.

Just as the townsfolk of Praia da Luz have not been given thanks from the McCanns, neither has Grime, Eddie and Keela; nor Paiva, Rainbow and Harrison. Perhaps we can send thanks and some good will in these directions, with little messages for them to treasure and remember the McCann case by.

For example: ''Dear Mr Rainbow, Thank you for your clear and concise wording in the police files. We have finally found one of the pots of gold we were looking for. You will have all our support when this case gets back on the road again. We know you cannot reply to us, because this is an ongoing case, but was Stuie OK with everything you came up with?''

Thank you so much for bringing us this story candyfloss. At least we know this deceased woman has justice now. But of course, the McCanns have not hogged this story by saying they know Eddie the cadaver dog was doing everything he could to find out what happened to their daughter Madeleine. They do not like Eddie and Keela at all.

Circumstantial evidence was something we always held very dear in court. There is a lot of myth perpetuated amongst criminals and wrongdoers with regard to circumstantial evidence. It is painful to one's ears to have somebody screeching that something is only cirumstantial. One could cite many cases where circumstantial evidence has successfully condemned many people to spending the rest of their miserable lives in prison.

Yes it was a bit deja vu I must say.  I positively shivered when Eddie barked behind the sofa.  
It will probably be repeated in the next couple of days, well worth a watch.

I would really like to watch this candyfloss, what is the CI channel please?, as I will look out for it.

Definitely. This is an excellent story which one hadn't seen.

candyfloss wrote:
Perhaps I should move this to the main forum for discussion?

I agree, I think it's also worth a little teaser in the library section, just to point out to everyone who says, no body, no conviction !!, we can stick this right up their where the sun don't shine.

Stella wrote:I would really like to watch this candyfloss, what is the CI channel please?, as I will look out for it.

Hi Stella,

CI is Crime and Investigation Network channels.

It was on the Crime channel Sky 553. I've quickly looked at the schedule but it doesn't seem to be on in next few days and a new episode is on on Thursday. But they always get repeated, if I see it I will let you know.

Thank you very much candyfloss, I would really appreciate that. I have Sky and don't know how I've missed that channel. I'm still looking out for the program called CSI The Body Farm, which was in about 5 episodes, which I'm sure Mitchell got pulled from air after only 2 episodes. I was so angry. I was discussing the first two episodes and was discussing how informative it was on a thread, as it showed you all about blood spatter directions in relation to the heights of walls and furniture and things and what it can tell you. I was comparing this to the wall in 5a and low and behold, the rest of the episodes got pulled from Channel 5. So I wonder if it might appear on that channel some time. Will have to see if it is an american channel or British? If it's American, I might be in luck !!

The Hosein brothers were convicted of the murder of Mrs McKay, even they had fed her body to the pigs. Long time ago, 1969.
There are several more recent cases involving no body being discovered.

[quote="candyfloss"]Yes it was a bit deja vu I must say.  I positively shivered when Eddie barked behind the sofa.  IIt will probably be repeated in the next couple of days, well worth a watch.
quote]

It's deja vu indeed.

Had Madeleine disappeared from UK, the mccanns would have been convicted by now.
Dont forget it was the UK crime profiler who said the mccanns should be focused on and hence the dogs.

Why do people think the mccanns didnt approach the UK police to search for Maddie when the PJ had given up?  Any normal parents of missing child would pushed any Police be it UK police (LP) or PJ to give them an answer why the search for Maddie was abandoned, but not the mccanns.  Why didnt they - after all they'd v strong support in the UK and a bit of pressure from the right quarters and the UK police will have to respond accordingly.

I also dont understand who helped mccanns to pull strings with the LP on the upper echeoleon that their paypal button is still on the police website.

It seems he has confessed. Look at first post of this thread for full story of how cadaver dogs alerted but there was no body, and he was found guilty.




Kate Prout murder: Ex-husband admits killing in prison cell confession


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Thursday, November 17, 2011

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The man convicted of murdering Kate Prout has confessed to killing her and has agreed to show detectives where she is buried.

Det Supt Simon Atkinson, of Gloucestershire Constabulary, said: “Yesterday morning we received some new and significant information in relation to the murder of Kate Prout.

Police head for woodland

“Yesterday afternoon two detectives paid a visit to the prison where Adrian Prout is being held.

“Adrian Prout has admitted to those detectives that he murdered Kate Prout – something which he had always denied – and has now suggested that he disposed of her body on Redhill Farm, in Redmarley.

“He has agreed to visit the farm to point out the exact location.

“A detailed search of that location will be conducted next week, however this will be a painstaking process so is likely to take some time. The scene will be guarded throughout the weekend.

“We are keeping Mrs Prout’s family updated and fully informed of developments.

“The investigation into Kate Prout’s death was challenging and complex, and ultimately led to Adrian Prout’s conviction. This latest piece of information does not change that.

“Our main priority now is to recover Mrs Prout’s body and enable her family to have some closure after the long ordeal they have been through.“

Prout, who has maintained his innocence since wife Kate vanished in 2007, was convicted for her murder in 2010.

Today around a dozen police vehicles arrived at Redhill farm and officers sealed off the wood to prepare for the search for the body of Kate Prout.

Detectives investigating the case have been told Prout admitted murdering Kate to his fiancee Debbie Garlick after he failed a lie detector test.

Debbie, who had pressed for him to be allowed to take the test and championed his case since he was jailed for life in January 2010, is understood to have subsequently spoken to Gloucestershire Constabulary.

Officers are considering a claim he strangled her after a row in a shooting lodge, and then buried her on their 276 acre farm.

Kate Prout was last seen on November 5, 2007. He husband contacted police five days later and officers mounted a massive search of Redhill Farm and the surrounding area.

But they drew a blank and no significant forensic evidence was ever found.

She vanished without taking clothes, valuables, money, or a car and her husband was convicted on a mass of circumstantial evidence, centred on her diary which detailed a violent marriage in meltdown.

Bristol Crown Court heard in January 2010 that amid a bitter divorce, Mrs Prout (nee Wakefield) upped her demand for half the farm’s then-valuation of £1.2million from £600,000 to £800,000 the day before she disappeared.

After a jury convicted Prout of murder by a majority of 10 to one Mr Justice Nigel Davis sentenced Prout to life in prison, with a minimum of 18 years – three years longer than he could otherwise have expected because he refused to say where the body was.

Mr Justice Davis agreed with the prosecution’s case that a “sudden row” blew up on November 5, a day after she withdrew £14,000 from a joint account to fund her divorce. “It seems it rankled with you that Kate would not accept the offer you made of £600,000 to settle the divorce,” he said in sentencing.

“In your own mind, that was a fair offer – an offer that meant you could hang on to the farm, as you so wanted to do. But she would not accept it. She had advice and was entitled to take that. On November 4, she thought she would hold out for £800,000. You knew she had taken out £14,000 to fund legal costs. You knew she would not back off. There must have been a violent row that night.”

Shortly before the trial Prout became a father for the second time, with his fiance. Mrs Garlick moved to Kempley in recent weeks after the farm was put on the market for £1.6million and sold for an

undisclosed sum.


http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Kate-Prout-murder-Ex-husband-admits-killing/story-13876025-detail/story.html

Here's the story about "Eddie" alerting



Cadaver dog sniffed death in Prout home


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Saturday, March 05, 2011

This is Gloucestershire
Follow.


EVIDENCE of a dead body inside murdered Kate Prout's home was discovered by a sniffer dog, it has emerged.

The "cadaver dog" homed in on an area in the living room of the Redmarley home she shared with her husband Adrian Prout, who was convicted of her killing last year.



An hour-long documentary on the murder case told how the dog, which was specially trained to seek out dead bodies and where deaths occurred, concentrated on a specific spot in the living room at Redhill Farm.

And for the first time another of Kate Prout's brothers, Ted Wakefield, spoke about the case.

Appearing on the Crime and Investigation network's The Perfect Murder?, he said he told his then-friend Prout that if he had done "something silly" he would "spend the rest of his life in jail, or always looking over his shoulder".

Prout was convicted in January 2010 of killing Kate amid an acrimonious divorce battle on Bonfire Night 2007. She wanted £800,000 from the sale of £1.2 million Redhill Farm but to keep it, Prout offered her £600,000. On November 5 she vanished, without taking clothes, money, valuables or her car. Prout reported her missing five days later, after another of her brothers, Richard Wakefield and her former partner David Edge persuaded him to contact police.

After a massive search of the farm and surrounding countryside Gloucestershire Constabulary found no evidence of Kate, 55, inside or outside the property.

There were no traces of blood, or signs of a struggle, but the cadaver dog indicated to police that a dead body had been in the living room.

Gloucestershire Constabulary drew together a mass of circumstantial evidence that pointed to Prout having strangled his wife with his bare hands and burying her body.

A jury of 11 men and women found him guilty by a majority of 10 to one and he was sentenced to life in prison. He must serve a minimum of 18 years.

His family continues to protest his innocence but her family has pleaded with Prout to reveal where his wife is so they can give her a decent burial.

The programme, part of the channel's Nightmare in Suburbia series, also featured Detective Chief Inspector Neil Kelly who led the investigation, Kate's brother Richard Wakefield and his wife Linda.

"I thought it was quite a good programme in how it put the case over," said Richard Wakefield, who lives in Far Oakridge, near Stroud.

"It was just the truth. At least everybody can see what really happened."

■ The Perfect Murder? will be screened on the Crime and Investigation channel again, tomorrow at 8pm and Monday at 3am.


http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Cadaver-dog-sniffed-death-Prout-home/story-11860269-detail/story.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062923/Adrian-Prout-confesses-I-buried-Kates-body-woods.html

"He had always sworn he had never harmed his spouse, but was found guilty of murder despite the absence of a corpse. He had claimed she disappeared of her own volition after a series of rows."
"Adrian Prout has admitted to those detectives that he murdered Kate Prout - something which he had always denied - and has now suggested that he disposed of her body on Redhill Farm in Redmarley."
Chilling similarities ?

I wonder if they will now repeat the programme A perfect Murder, Murder in Suburbia, it was indeed chilling to watch Peter Mac, especially when I think it was Eddie alerted behind the sofa IIRC. He continually denied he had murdered her and that she had just left. Wonder why he has decided to confess now.

Did you get to see Eddie and Martin Grime in the program Candyfloss?

At least some people have a conscience. I don't have access to the CI network and the original programme doesn't seem to be on YouTube but here's a clip of Adrian Prout's police interview in 2007.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIgAD_kfWsQ

Stella wrote:Did you get to see Eddie and Martin Grime in the program Candyfloss?

My memory is rubbish Stella, but when the dog alerted behind the sofa, by the patio door, I'm sure they said "Eddie" - don't think I saw Martin Grime. I'm sure it will now be shown again as it's back in the news.

I wonder what the pros made of this? Head buried in sands and stuck there no doubt.

Just goes to show the old adage is true "dogs don't lie" but criminals do.

The free Adrian Prout blog is closed for business now.

http://caseblog.wronglyaccusedperson.org.uk/justice4adrian/

Gillyspot wrote:The free Adrian Prout blog is closed for business now.
http://caseblog.wronglyaccusedperson.org.uk/justice4adrian/

I wonder if they now feel very stupid.
Probably not. Someone will now start saying that the confession was beaten out of him, or that it is unreliable. And that any remains found are Sea Bass.
Does anyone know if there is a list of famous alleged miscarriages of justice which on further investigation prove to have been correct all along ?
Hanratty and George Davis spring to mind.
And of course we all remember Aitken and Archer in the context of Libel trials, don't we !

It must be hell living with one's guilt ravishing inside you. It's better to confess, come clean, and start all over again. You pay one way or another anyway be it during your physical life or other life. A bad deed like that is embedded inside your conscious and sublime that wont go away no matter how.

The infamous pair will never confess bc it's too late for them to u-turn. Having gone way out to deceive and cheat the public they will be mobbed and lynched by all quarters and hail as the most evil pair when it comes to their conviction. No crime is left cold forever unless this 'review' is a white wash meant to put an end to future reopening, as in this is the be all and ends all.

aiyoyo wrote:It must be hell living with one's guilt ravishing inside you. It's better to confess, come clean, and start all over again. You pay one way or another anyway be it during your physical life or other life. A bad deed like that is embedded inside your conscious and sublime that wont go away no matter how.
The infamous pair will never confess bc it's too late for them to u-turn. Having gone way out to deceive and cheat the public they will be mobbed and lynched by all quarters and hail as the most evil pair when it comes to their conviction. No crime is left cold forever unless this 'review' is a white wash meant to put an end to future reopening, as in this is the be all and ends all.

The infamous pair will never confess - But perhaps they already have done. to the priest within the rules of secrecy of the confessional. Perhaps that is why, having said the 'Hail Marys' and whatever else they had to do, they could relax knowing their sins had been forgiven and enjoy themselves, as they clearly were doing coming out of the church that day.

aiyoyo wrote:It must be hell living with one's guilt ravishing inside you. It's better to confess, come clean, and start all over again. You pay one way or another anyway be it during your physical life or other life. A bad deed like that is embedded inside your conscious and sublime that wont go away no matter how.

This would be the case for mentally normal people. But I suspect a great many criminals don't feel guilt, or have any notion that what they have done is wrong in any way whatsoever. This would be the case particularly for the psychopathic type of personality. As one psychopath doing time for kidnapping,rape and extortion once said; "...how did you feel the last time you squashed a bug?"

I've just shared a link on twitter which says a lot about Gerry McCann I think

"The father of missing Madeleine McCann today issued an extraordinary plea to her abductor to end the family's 118-day nightmare - if only to assuage "torment" in his or her own soul.
Gerry McCann, 39, said Madeleine's captor may have taken her because of a sudden impulse or "act of madness" which they might not understand themselves.
Writing in his daily internet blog, Mr McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, urged the abductor: "It is not too late to do the right thing."
Madeleine, who should be having her first day at school tomorrow, was snatched from her bed in her family's rented holiday apartment in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, on May 3.
Mr McCann and his wife, Kate, have stayed on in the Algarve village ever since, desperate for news of the four-year-old's whereabouts.
"Sometimes people do things for reasons that even they cannot understand," Mr McCann, a devout Catholic, wrote.
"An act of madness, an accident or sudden impulse can lead to consequences that people may never have imagined or intended.
"Faced with such a situation we believe any human soul will ultimately suffer torment and feelings of guilt and fear."
In a direct plea, he continued: "If you have done something you regret, if you find yourself in a situation you never intended, it is not too late to do the right thing."

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/63858-maddys-dad-in-new-plea-to-kidnapper#ixzz1eGC5zoiu

An "accident"? How can entering an apartment illegally and abducting a child be describe as this?