Netflix’s The Witness premiered June 4 and chronicles the 1992 murder of Rachel Nickell and its aftermath through the eyes of her partner, André Hanscombe, and their son Alex, the only witness to his mother’s death. All three episodes are now streaming.
Who was Rachel Nickell?
On July 15, 1992, 23-year-old Rachel Nickell was stabbed to death on Wimbledon Common in southwest London while walking her dog with her 2-year-old son, Alex, per People. Alex was the only witness. He wandered through the trees until parkgoers found him and called emergency services. His father, André Hanscombe, met him at the police station, where he was told what happened to Rachel.
What happened with the investigation?
Thirty-two men were interrogated by police in connection with Nickell’s death, according to Time. It took more than a year before detectives charged the one they believed was responsible: Colin Stagg, an unemployed man who regularly walked his dog on Wimbledon Common. Stagg was charged in August 1993 without any forensic evidence tying him to the scene. He spent 13 months in custody before a judge cleared him in 1994, condemning a police “honey trap” operation in which a female undercover officer was instructed to feign a romantic interest in Stagg and extract a confession. The judge called it “deceptive conduct of the grossest kind.” He never gave one. Stagg was later awarded £706,000 in compensation. The real killer remained free.
Who actually killed Rachel Nickell?
Robert Napper, a violent serial offender with a documented history that police had repeatedly failed to act on. The Independent Police Complaints Commission found that Napper had been identified as a threat to women as far back as the mid-1980s, per BBC News, and concluded that the Metropolitan Police committed “bad errors” and “missed opportunities” that allowed him to keep offending. In November 1993, while Stagg was still in custody, Napper murdered 28-year-old Samantha Bissett and her 4-year-old daughter, Jazmine.
The case wasn’t cracked until 2002, when advanced DNA techniques allowed authorities to reexamine evidence collected from Nickell’s body in 1992. A sample that had been too small to analyze at the time was matched to Napper, according to Time. He was already indefinitely detained at Broadmoor Hospital for the Bissett killings. In December 2008, Napper pleaded guilty to Nickell’s manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and remains at Broadmoor under an indefinite hospital order.
What is ‘The Witness’ based on?
The series is adapted from Alex Hanscombe’s 2017 memoir, Letting Go, with both Alex and André serving as consultants on the production. André told Netflix’s Tudum that while the series is “not a home video,” the team “worked incredibly hard to make sure that everything felt true in spirit to us, as we lived it.”
“Over the years, I have tried to make sense of and come to terms with what happened,” Alex told Tudum. “Writing the book was part of that process, but it’s a complicated journey and, for me and my father, we never felt we’d got it quite right, nor that we’d stopped growing, and we both felt that there was still a part of the story to share to truly honor my mother’s memory.”
Jordan Bolger stars as André, with Max Fincham playing teenage Alex and Jahsaiah Williams as young Alex. Bolger spent time with the real André and Alex during production, going through family albums and home videos. “You can’t put it into words, but it’s this feeling of sadness as you think to yourself, this actually happened,” Bolger told Tudum.
Where are Alex and André now?
Alex is now 36. Both he and André work as public speakers and advocates for trauma healing. After the murder, the two spent time in France before eventually settling in Spain, per Tudum. Forgiveness has been central to Alex’s public message for years. “The first time I saw Napper’s picture, I felt nothing,” Alex told The Sun in 2017. “Putting him behind bars brings me no satisfaction. I’d forgiven my mum’s killer long before I knew it was Napper.”
Is there also a documentary?
Yes. Netflix released The Murder of Rachel Nickell alongside The Witness on June 4. Directed by BAFTA nominee Lucy Bowden, the documentary draws on exclusive archival footage and interviews with family members, police, and forensic experts, examining how the investigation led to the wrong man’s prosecution before DNA evidence broke the case open. Alex and André are contributors to both projects.
“People respond differently to drama and documentaries, so we really saw that as an opportunity to reach more people with our story and to hopefully make a difference,” Alex told Tudum.
Both The Witness and The Murder of Rachel Nickell are now streaming on Netflix.
Featured image photo credit: Netflix
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