Bill McDonald
Appearances
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E2: When Ron Met Ron | Sea of Lies
And you then recall that there's been a conversation in the past about the deceased having some ex-partner.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E2: When Ron Met Ron | Sea of Lies
There's no playbook for this type of fraud.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E2: When Ron Met Ron | Sea of Lies
A woman called Elaine, Elaine Boyes.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E2: When Ron Met Ron | Sea of Lies
In suggesting Elaine Boyes, I think he was hoping that she might be able to answer more of the questions that would help us. And then it's right, okay, we need to find Elaine Boyes.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E2: When Ron Met Ron | Sea of Lies
We track Elaine down, and she tells us a fascinating and very interesting story.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E2: When Ron Met Ron | Sea of Lies
I guess it's at that point that you, I guess, a bit more switched on to, right, OK, we need to step this up a level.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
I'm Bill McDonald, Detective Sergeant in the Dublin Cornwall Police. So I was a team leader, effectively.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
We felt that in the next couple of days, there would be something that would get reported, which was an explanation. Sooner or later, somebody would get reported missing.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
We were doing stuff within the media.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
We'd released a photograph of the tattoo.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
Obviously, within our police computer systems and databases, you can also search on tattoos.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
We were talking to different shipping companies.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
Well, we got passenger manifests for different boats and stuff.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
I seem to recall there was a passenger reported missing from a cross-channel ferry. But over the coming days, sort of, actually, when you looked at the description, you looked at, you know, the person involved, none of it matched.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
You would think distinctive tattoo, circumstances, media coverage, press, something would come out somewhere. But it just didn't. It was just, it was just unexplained.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
An autopsy is looking at something which will give you more information. And you're looking for clues.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
One thing that was obvious, though... The cause of death was recorded as drowning because of sea water detected in the lungs. So clearly, when the body entered the water, that person was breathing and they drowned. And that you would expect if somebody had fallen into the sea or if somebody was taking their own life or there was an accident at sea, drowning would be the natural cause.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
And he said, look, Rolex keep records and you might be able to identify this person by contacting Rolex.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
But when the son of a fisherman says something... Each Rolex watch has a, and we're talking obviously there's fake and there's real Rolexes, but a real Rolex will have a serial number which is recorded by Rolex. That's unique to that watch.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
And just over a week later... Rolex were able to tell us that, yes, the watch had been serviced, it had a service history, and it had been serviced at a jeweler's called Fattorini's in Harrogate.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
And sure enough, they had a record, a card in a filing system, which had the serial number of the Rolex watch, and then underneath had a name. R.J. Platt. And the Platt was P-L-A-T-T. R.J. Platt. Of course, it doesn't mean to say that just because the watch has got a service history for a man called Platt, that the person wearing the watch is the person called Platt.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
But it certainly took us further forward than where we were at that particular time.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
They matched. And by searching his service record, it confirmed the fact that they had a record of this tattoo.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
So we're starting to get some real progress.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
My brother lived in Hay-on-Wye. He welcomed me into his studio. He was a cartoonist.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
And he confirmed that actually the stars were in the shape actually of a Canadian maple leaf. And he talked about his brother having dual nationality and holding a Canadian passport and the fact that he loved Canada.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
I explained obviously the circumstances. We had a difficult conversation. He was clearly obviously distressed and perplexed and concerned and had absolutely no idea why his brother would be in Brixham or on the south coast of Devon.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
Are we looking at somebody who's taken their own life? Potentially this man, Platt, had some form of mental health worries.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
And you would think at that point it would be obvious as to, right, what had happened. But actually it wasn't. And we were equally perplexed and left scratching our heads thinking, well, what's this man's connection with Devon? And we couldn't find one. And that in itself was just very odd.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
You can imagine you work in a busy office with lots of people. Everybody had a suggestion. And I remember being frustrated with, you know, I was saying to a lot of people, without any evidence, you need evidence to draw a conclusion.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
Everybody had a theory. I look back on it now and smile because we had some fairly imaginative suggestions, but actually none of them were anywhere near the true reality and the story that unfolded, which was the most incredible story with the most sensational ending, I guess you would say.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
And, you know, you're both looking at each other with some disbelief, I guess, as to, well, what's this all about?
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E1: Luck, Or Something Like It | Sea of Lies
There's too many unanswered questions. There's too many unknowns. Because it would seem that David Davis was probably, from what we could identify, one of the last people to see him alive.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And we knew that David Davis could be tied to a yacht of that name. And when we researched Coast Guard records and maritime records, There was a boat in the name of the Lady Jane at sea off the coast of South Devon around the time of what we believe to be the murder and recovery of the body.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
The general circumstances put forward a fairly strong but not conclusive case that actually David Davis could be responsible for this man's murder.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
We were literally running out of time. They were huddled in a room up on the top floor of the police station for literally hours, poring over documentation, representations from us and from other experts in relation to what we had and what we could actually prove.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And you're looking at the clock and thinking, we need a decision. And it was a question, you know, they're still considering it.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And he says, authorize a charge, charge him. And we charged him with murder.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
He came rushing into the inquiry room and ushered me outside.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And it was unusual to see him quite so agitated. And he dragged me down the corridor into an office next to the fax machine. And I'm kind of perplexed looking at him. He said, we're just about to get a fax.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
The fax machine sort of fires up and then lights are flashing and stuff and the pages are starting to come off the fax machine. And the first page that comes off is a mugshot of David Davis. And then the next thing that's coming off is an international arrest warrant in the name of Albert Walker.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
It turns out that our man David Davis was actually wanted in Canada for theft, fraud and the embezzlement of money. We're not talking small change, we're talking big money. And then off the fax machine next is this picture of Noelle. And the next thing that emerges is that actually it's Sheena Walker.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And the allegation is that she's been abducted from Canada and taken overseas by her father, who is in fact Albert Walker. So we're looking at father and daughter together.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And then we both stand there and we're looking at each other and it's like, oh my God, that's that moment, you know?
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And he said, well, there was the anchor in the net.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
But interestingly, the anchor wasn't in the net, in with the fish, down at what we called the cod end.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
We had a local scenes of crime sergeant and he'd been involved in investigation all the way through and he takes the anchor and I can remember coming back in a day or two later and he's very excited and he's clutching the anchor and he's got photographs that have come from the post-mortem and he has a photograph of the anchor laying on the bench next to the body
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And the anchor shaft perfectly fits the bruising on the thigh.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And it didn't just match. It was a really, really strong evidential match. It wasn't a question, well, it could be the anchor. It was almost, yes, that's the anchor.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
I said, don't touch it, don't switch it on, don't do anything with it, just box it up, bring it back here.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
Not only could they say that that was the date and time that it had been switched off, they could also say the location at which it had been switched off.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
five miles off the coast of Tynmouth, out to sea, virtually contemporaneous on the spot where John Coppock recovers the body.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
She was delicate. She was vulnerable. She was nervous. She was anxious.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
You need to understand that having arrested somebody, you only have a limited amount of time that you can hold that person in police detention.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
It's difficult at this point to explain to somebody listening the speed at which things start to happen.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
They're held in the custody suite at Torquay Police Station. It's myself and Ian Clenahan that are conducting the interviews. He's a tall, confident man.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
Very plausible. Immediately seeking to establish rapport.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
You have a sense that at every point, he feels superior.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
He did what we would call a no comment interview.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
She exercised her right to speak, and actually she ended up, as time went on, tying herself in knots, because more and more times she was, well, I can't remember.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
You start asking her about addresses that she lived at, she couldn't remember them. You started asking her about places that she went to, family, and she couldn't remember those either. And there were fundamental things like, well, you must remember where you lived. And then it was a question of, well, can you remember what school you went to?
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And she named an area that she'd gone to school, but she couldn't remember the name of the high school.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
Something from her that, concretely, we could go and say, right, OK, that proves you are who you are purporting to be.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
I had a sense that she'd been schooled and rehearsed on what she should say when she got into that situation. The cover story, although she was comfortable with it, as it turned out, was fairly limited. So she kept repeating it.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
We were kind of up against a brick wall and clearly we weren't going to be going any further.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And then there's breaks in the interview process where, you know, refreshment breaks, comfort breaks or whatever.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
And I remember in one comfort break in front of his solicitor, David Davis kind of joyed me by suggesting that I should try harder or in some way I was going to have to up my game. And I... I can remember at the time that really sticking. The arrogance of somebody to say that in that situation.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E5: Life on The Lam | Sea of Lies
But then when the tape is running during the formal interview, you're back to that, you know, no comment. I'm sure psychologists and people would have a field day.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
She couldn't recall the date specifically, but remembered that during the day, as she was sat with the kids, just waiting for her dad to return, she watched the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympics.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
And that, for us, to be able to tie that down, that was huge.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
We took a decision that to get her into the UK safely, we wouldn't put her on a commercial airline, and we approached the RAF, and they very kindly agreed to fly Sheena and a Nimrod with a whole complement of RAF personnel, who had no idea who she was, into Britain. That was a very, very unusual step. It was the right thing to do.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
paparazzi were actually at every airport near to Sheena's location in Canada, waiting for her to be spotted or seen for the scoop that she was leaving.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
She was delicate, she was vulnerable, she was nervous, she was anxious. She wanted to come over and do the right thing.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
I was so unprepared for the tidal wave of global interest that the inquiry would then take.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
In Canada, unbeknown to us, it was incredibly high profile and that kind of transferred over here.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
In English law, the prosecution bat first, so our witnesses are heard first.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
And that in itself was a, I know, a very emotional and hugely significant moment for Barbara Walker, Sheena's mother.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
As soon as we started to uncover what was happening on the ground here in July, the picture really started to... really crystallize in our minds.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
You're the first people I've worked with that have taken the trouble to come down and actually come and see it properly. Because I think you have to see it to really understand it and see how it all fits together.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
Could that have been an abortive attempt on that particular visit? Was it a dress rehearsal for what was to come? Was he just putting the final preparations to his final plan? We don't know. The only person really that could tell us that would be the two people involved.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
They wanted to extend the stay. Father was insistent they extended the stay. That property, Potter's Loft, they were unable to secure that. There was obviously other people coming in.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
They had to vacate. So Sheena had to move everything, all their, all their clothing and the kids and everything they brought with them down the hill into the old brew house.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
As we're stood here now, it's an idyllic setting. It's a beautiful stretch of river. And it's difficult to conceive that this is the backdrop to what eventually would be the day of the murder.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
So the sequence would have been able to come out of this accommodation as we're stood here now, walk down the pontoon.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
Kirk would have come over, picked him up, and they would have taken him the short distance upriver to the river mooring.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
As you look up through the trees, you'll see a large white house set back on the hillside.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
The yacht, the Lady Jane, would have been moored mid-river. He would have got on board. Kirk would have come back to his pontoon. And then Walker would have sailed the Lady Jane boat up the river, probably about half an hour, to the port of Dartmouth.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E6: Sheena | Sea of Lies
That holiday accommodation was called the Anchorage. And it's only hours later, having left that, that he's murdered at sea with an anchor.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
I'm Bill McDonald, Detective Sergeant in the Devon and Cornwall Police. So I was a team leader, effectively.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
We felt that in the next couple of days, there would be something that would get reported, which was an explanation. Sooner or later, somebody would get reported missing.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
We were doing stuff within the media.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
We'd released a photograph of the tattoo.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
Obviously, within our police computer systems and databases, you can also search on tattoos.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
We were talking to different shipping companies.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
We got passenger manifests for different boats and stuff.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
I seem to recall there was a passenger reported missing from a cross-channel ferry, but over the coming days, sort of, actually, when you looked at the description, you looked at, you know, the person involved, none of it matched.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
You would think distinctive tattoo, circumstances, media coverage, press, something would come out somewhere. But it just didn't. It was just, it was just unexplained.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
An autopsy is looking at something which will give you more information. And you're looking for clues.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
The cause of death was recorded as drowning because of sea water detected in the lungs. So clearly, when the body entered the water, that person was breathing and they drowned. And that you would expect if somebody had fallen into the sea or if somebody was taking their own life or there was an accident at sea. Drowning would be the natural cause.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
And he said, look, Rolex keep records and you might be able to identify this person by contacting Rolex, right?
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
But when the son of a fisherman says something... Each Rolex watch has a, and we're talking obviously there's fake and there's real Rolexes, but a real Rolex will have a serial number which is recorded by Rolex. That's unique to that watch.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
And just over a week later... Rolex were able to tell us that, yes, the watch had been serviced, it had a service history, and it had been serviced at a jeweler's called Fattorini's in Harrogate.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
And sure enough, they had a record, a card in a filing system, which had the serial number of the Rolex watch, and then underneath had a name. R.J. Platt. And the Platt was P-L-A-T-T. R.J. Platt. Of course, it doesn't mean to say that just because the watch has got a service history from a man called Platt, that the person wearing the watch is the person called Platt.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
But it certainly took us further forward than where we were at that particular time.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
They matched. And by searching his service record, it confirmed the fact that they had a record of this tattoo.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
So we're starting to get some real progress.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
The brother lived in Hay-on-Wye. He welcomed me into his studio. He was a cartoonist.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
And he confirmed that actually the stars were in the shape actually of a Canadian maple leaf. And he talked about his brother having dual nationality and holding a Canadian passport and the fact that he loved Canada.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
I explained obviously the circumstances. We had a difficult conversation. He was clearly obviously distressed and perplexed and concerned and had absolutely no idea why his brother would be in Brixham or on the south coast of Devon.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
Are we talking about somebody who's taken their own life? Potentially this man, Platt, had some form of mental health worries.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
And you would think at that point it would be obvious as to right what had happened, but actually it wasn't. And we were equally perplexed and left scratching our heads thinking, well... What's this man's connection with Devon? And we couldn't find one. And that in itself was just very odd.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
You can imagine you work in a busy office with lots of people. Everybody had a suggestion. And I remember being frustrated with, you know, I was saying to a lot of people, without any evidence, you need evidence to draw a conclusion.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
Everybody had a theory. I look back on it now and smile because we had some fairly imaginative suggestions, but actually none of them were anywhere near the true reality and the story that unfolded, which was the most incredible story with the most sensational ending, I guess you would say.
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
And, you know, you're both looking at each other with some disbelief, I guess, as to, well, what's this all about?
Someone Knows Something
Someone Knows Something Introduces | Uncover: Sea of Lies
There's too many unanswered questions. There's too many unknowns. Because it would seem that David Davis was probably, from what we could identify, one of the last people to see him alive.