One of the police officers who investigated the murder of Joanna Yeates has said she “never thought there was a motive” for Christopher Jefferies, who was wrongfully arrested for her death. Jefferies, then 65, was arrested on suspicion of murdering Yeates, 25, on December 30, 2010.
Officer recalls suspicions about Tabak
Over 15 years later, detective constable Karen Thomas, who was involved in the investigation, has described her thoughts at the time about Jefferies, the real killer Vincent Tabak, and how her superiors reacted when she raised her concerns. Speaking in Disney’s new docuseries Britain’s Most Notorious Crime Investigations, Thomas said she did not think Jefferies had a reason to kill Yeates, but could understand why her colleagues were convinced he was guilty.
“I never thought there was a motive for Christopher Jefferies to kill Jo,” she said. “Having said that, we’ve sat with many people in custody who we thought maybe were the wrong people and were the right people, so as long as there was a reason to keep him in custody, it was justified.”
Tabak's suspicious statement
Jefferies was arrested just five days after Yeates’ body was discovered in Failand, Somerset, and 13 days after she was first reported missing. The key evidence against him was a speck of blood on one of his trainers, which police later found did not match Yeates’ DNA. While Jefferies was in custody, Thomas was sent to the Netherlands to take a witness statement from Vincent Tabak, Yeates’ neighbour, who claimed Jefferies had moved his car around the time she went missing.
Thomas explained that Tabak’s statement troubled her. He said he had driven to an Asda in Bedminster for crisps and beer, even though there was a Tesco “down the road”. He asked questions about DNA and mentioned that he had knocked on Yeates’ door, despite never having offered that information before.
The detective said it seemed as though Tabak was trying to “stitch up” the man they had in custody. “Inside, my heart was going ten to the dozen. I was sitting there thinking this could be our guy, this could be our killer.”
Bringing concerns to superiors
After flying back to the UK, Thomas took the statement straight to her bosses. She said: “In fairness, there was a lot coming from a lot of different angles and he’s trying to keep everything going, so I said ‘Boss, if you do nothing else, please prioritise his DNA’.”
But she later implied that there was a problem with the investigation: “We took longer than we should have to catch Vincent Tabak. I think there’s always a danger that an officer can become fixated on a suspect and want the evidence to fit that.”
Tabak convicted
Tabak’s DNA matched samples found on Yeates’ body. Jefferies was released two days after his arrest, and Tabak was taken into custody on January 20. He eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter, claiming he strangled Yeates while trying to silence her when she screamed after he attempted to kiss her. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
20/20: Britain’s Most Notorious Crime Investigations is available on Disney+ now.
