A Mountain Road Murder
A young woman appears to have died in a car crash on a remote mountain road, but evidence builds towards a different story of murder by the man who claimed he loved her.
In the early hours of 21 April 2007, on the dark and treacherous Bwlch Mountain Road in south Wales, a woman’s body is discovered on the carriageway. At first glance, it appears to be a tragic road traffic accident. The victim, 21-year-old Jenna Watkins, is lying near a crashed car, but as police and forensics experts begin their work, it emerges that Jenna did not die in a collision.
Former Home Office forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd brings his expertise to the case and, using a state-of-the-art digital autopsy table, explores how pathology helped investigators find the truth and deliver justice for Jenna and her family.
Jenna, from Neath, was known as a vibrant young woman with a close family. On the night that she died, she had been to a party with her boyfriend, Jason Shaddick, and friends. Just before 1am, Jenna made a frantic phone call to her mother Pauline from inside a moving car. Pauline sensed immediate danger and begged her daughter to put on her seat belt, but the call cut off moments later.
Pauline recounts how that last phone call with her daughter still haunts her. The family liaison officer assigned to the case, Inspector Emma White, recalls the devastation to the family when Jenna’s death was confirmed. She spent hours with Pauline, gathering information to paint a picture of her daughter, her life and relationships, which were all vital to the investigation.
Jason Shaddick, the driver of the crashed car and Jenna’s boyfriend, was missing. He later handed himself in but refused to talk, instead providing prepared statements claiming Jenna had attacked him in the car and that her death was a tragic accident caused during the struggle.
Forensic pathology would dismantle that account, as although Jenna’s body showed widespread bruising, she showed no fractures or internal injuries that would beexpected from a high-speed crash. Instead, examination revealed a severe injury to her neck that indicated extreme pressure had been applied to her throat. Other injuries revealed an even darker story, with evidence of harm caused in the weeks before and defensive injuries indicating she had fought desperately for her life the night she died.
At the trial, Shaddick maintained he had not intended to kill Jenna. Pauline would need to find the strength, supported by Inspector White, to testify in court. Inspector White reflects on the case that has stayed with her for almost two decades, and Jenna’s mother speaks of the lasting heartbreak of losing a daughter.
