Killing in the Close, Part 1

After receiving a 999 call, police and medics rush to a house in a quiet Worcester close. Arriving at the scene, they find two women, a mother and her daughter, who have both been stabbed, and the daughter’s partner, Damian Homer. As he’s led away, Homer shouts out that he acted in self-defence. Homer’s partner, Stacey, is taken to hospital, and her mum Wendy is given emergency treatment at the scene but can’t be saved. Detectives launch a murder investigation.

As Homer continues to protest his innocence, his partner Stacey is fighting for her life in hospital, unable to give her account of what happened. The senior investigating officer, DCI Leighton Harding, orders a forensic examination of the house to try to establish how the attack unfolded. A knife is removed for testing and blood pattern analysis is carried out. Door-to-door interviews in the neighbourhood suggest a family who were well-known and popular in the community.

Meanwhile, detectives want to piece together the couple’s activities in the hours before the attack. They pull in CCTV footage from the local area. And, critically, they also access phone data and text messages sent between Homer, Stacey and her family, as well as the family’s doorbell footage, which shows Stacey’s mother Wendy arriving at the house seconds before the attack.

As a timeline of the couple’s day is compiled, detectives interview Homer, who chooses to talk. The interview team drill into the minutes after Wendy arrived at the house. When Homer claims he saw his partner holding a knife and picked up a second knife to protect himself, DCI Harding pounces. He orders a further search of the house to find another knife that could corroborate his story.

The team turn their attention to profiling Homer. A picture emerges of a man who can be charming but also react with extreme aggression and anger. DCI Harding reviews the evidence so far. And Stacey’s condition improves. But will she be able to give her own account of what’s happened and why?