chef lied about the murder of second girlfriend as he’s finally convicted of near-identical killings five years apart

 

• Two girlfriends of chef Robert Trigg died five years apart in 2006 and 2011
• He claimed both deaths were accidents and he initially escaped charges
• Killer later tried to claim drinking and sex could have led to death of one woman
• But his second victim’s father refused to give up and hired his own pathologists
• Case was reopened due to his work and double killer now faces a life sentence 
• Verdicts raise questions over why police didn’t investigate deaths more fully 

 

A 999 call reveals how double killer Robert Trigg lied from the first second about the murder he almost got away with.

Trigg was finally convicted of two killings today after a five-year campaign by his second victim’s father, who refused to believe his daughter died by accident.

Trigg, 52, claimed girlfriend Susan Nicholson accidentally died after he rolled on top of her as they slept on the sofa in 2011.

A 999 call made by a neighbour the morning after her death records Trigg claiming Miss Nicholson was suffocated during the night.

Miss Nicholson – who had suffered months of violence at Trigg’s hands – was officially found to have died accidentally as a result of asphyxiation.

But the case was dramatically reopened years later after Miss Nicholson’s father, Peter Skelton, refused to believe the official explanation that her death was an accident.

A 999 recording released by police today records neighbour Hannah Cooper’s frantic phone call, as Trigg calming spins the lies of her ‘accidental death’ which he would stick to for years.

In the 999 call, neighbour Miss Cooper tells the operator: ‘I was in bed asleep and he phoned me just now saying he think’s Sue’s dead so I came down.’

Trigg is then heard in the background telling her the story he would stick to for six years.

Miss Cooper told the operator: ‘He thinks it could be suffocation… they both crashed out on their sofa last night. Rob woke up with his head at one end but Sue’s face was where the cushions joined’.

Five years before Miss Nicholson’s murder, Trigg let the children of his first victim Caroline Devlin discover their 35-year-old mother’s body at their home in Worthing in 2006.

Ms Devlin’s death was put down to natural causes, but re-investigated after questions were raised by Miss Nicholson’s family.

Following a 10-day trial at Lewes Crown Court, Trigg was today convicted of Ms Nicholson’s murder and Ms Devlin’s manslaughter.

After Trigg was found guilty of murder today, Miss Nicholson’s parents Peter and Elizabeth Skelton slammed Sussex Police for failing to properly investigate their daughter’s death.

Mr Skelton said: ‘They should have done more. It wasn’t up to standard… my wife had a mild heart attack.

‘Their first investigation wasn’t very good, that’s why we had to get a barrister and path to back up our case because they would not listen to us.

‘We told them the facts, but the police still wouldn’t listen. But in the end they had to listen. It worked out right for us in the end.

Mr Skelton brought in his own lawyer, investigator and pathologist who discovered disturbing similarities between the two deaths.

Trigg has a history of attacking girlfriends and was convicted of assaulting one ex-partner as long ago as 2003, before he met mother-of-four Ms Devlin.

He allowed Ms Devlin’s children to find her dead after telling them ‘something’s wrong with your mum’ as he emerged from her bedroom in March 2006.

In harrowing evidence, Ms Devlin’s children told the trial how they ran to her room and found her lying naked, blue and cold on her bed.

A dispute over money between the coroner and Sussex police meant only a routine post-mortem was carried out, rather than a more thorough Home Office examination, Trigg’s trial heard.

Police interviewed Trigg at the time of Ms Devlin’s death, but she was deemed to have died of natural causes, most probably a brain aneurysm, meaning no inquest was held and Trigg walked free.

Four years later, he began a relationship with Susan Nicholson which quickly turned violent.

Police were called to the couple’s flat six times in four months and Trigg was given a caution for assaulting Miss Nicholson a month before she was found dead.

When her body was found at their home in April 2011, Trigg claimed he had fallen asleep on top of her on the couch after a night of drinking and believes he accidentally suffocated her.

Trigg was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter at the time but released without charge. A subsequent inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Trigg went on to attack subsequent girlfriends and was convicted of harassing one and assaulting another, but he was dramatically arrested over Ms Devlin and Miss Nicholson’s deaths in November 2016, more than 10 years after Ms Devlin’s died.

His arrest came after Miss Nicholson’s father, Peter, fought for five-and-a-half years to have the case reopened, bringing his own team of investigators, who put new evidence in front of the police.

Miss Nicholson’s father’s campaign saw Dr Nathaniel Cary, a pathologist who reviewed the deaths of the Hillborough disaster victims, brought in and he questioned how Ms Nicholson’s death could have been an accident.

Dr Cary told the trial: ‘It is very unlikely that someone asleep on a sofa with another could cause death in a manner proposed by simply rolling on to them’.

Miss Nicholson’s father has yet to comment on today’s verdicts.

However, speaking at the time of Trigg’s arrest, he said: ‘We hired a barrister and a pathologist. Our investigators came up with evidence which they took to the police.

‘It has taken all this time and a lot of hard work. We think about this all the time. It is mental torture we have been going through.’

Sussex Police Detective Supt Tanya Jones today defended the force’s handling of the cases outside court.

She said: ‘The forensic information available on each case at the times of the deaths did not provide any avenues for further investigation.

‘However, we were presented with new evidence by the parents of Susan Nicholson, after they commissioned the assessment of a third pathologist who in 2015 examined the findings in the case of Susan Nicholson.

‘On this fresh information we carried out a new thorough investigation including both deaths. We then put the facts to the CPS who authorised prosecution.’

Det Supt Jones added:  ‘The court heard evidence from two original pathologists plus the third pathologist, as well as evidence on behalf of the defence from a fourth pathologist, before reaching a verdict in this complex case.

‘I am confident that we have done everything we can to deliver justice for both women and their families.

‘Sussex Police are sorry that we had not presented all the facts before the CPS previously but we have now thoroughly investigated both cases.’