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Murder of Kelly Anne Bates · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Kelly Ann Bates was a seventeen year old English girl
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  who tragically lost her life in Manchester, England, at the
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  hands of her abuser, James Patterson Smith. Over a harrowing
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  four week period, she endured severe torture, which included the
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  horrific act of having her eyes forcibly removed from their
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  sockets up to three weeks prior to her death, culminating
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  in her drowning in a bath tub. The investigation into
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  her murder was led by Detective Sergeant Joseph Monaghan of
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  Greater Manchester Police, who remarked, in my fifteen years of service,
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  I have never encountered a case as appalling as this.
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  William Lawler, the pathologist who conducted the examination of Bates's remains,
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  characterized her injuries as the most severe he had ever
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  observed in a murder victim. Despite having a documented history
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  of violence and abuse towards previous partners, Smith denied the
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  charges of murder, but was ultimately found guilty and sentenced
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  to life imprisonment on nineteen November nineteen ninety seven. Background
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  In nineteen ninety three, Smith initiated a grooming relationship with
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  Kelly Bates when she was just fourteen years old, having
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  encountered her while she was babysitting for acquaintances. Approximately two
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  years later, after leaving school, Bates moved into Smith's residence
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  on Fernoval Road in Gorton. She kept the significant age
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  disparity between them hidden from her parents, Tommy and Margaret Bates.
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  Bates's mother recounted her initial impression of Smith after the
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  couple began cohabiting. Upon seeing Smith, I felt an immediate
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  sense of alarm. I did everything within my power to
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  separate Kelly Ann from him. Despite having temporary left Smith
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  due to conflicts, Bates was once again residing with him
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  at Fernival Road. By late November nineteen ninety five, her
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  parents observed bruises on her body, which she attributed to accidents.
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  Over time, she became increasingly withdrawn, and in December nineteen
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  ninety five, she resigned from her part time employment. In
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  March nineteen ninety six, Bates's parents received cards that were
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  supposedly from her, intended for their anniversary and a birthday,
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  but they were solely inscribed by Smith. When her brother
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  attempted to visit her at the house, Smith informed him
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  that she was not present Additionally, when a concerned neighbour
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  inquired about her well being, she was briefly visible at
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  an upstairs window. Murder. On April sixteenth, nineteen ninety six,
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  Smith informed the authorities that he had unintentionally caused the
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  death of his girlfriend during a dispute in a bath tub,
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  asserting that she had inhaled water and subsequently died despite
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  his attempts to revive her. He further alleged that she
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  frequently feigned unconsciousness. Upon visiting Smith's residence, the police discovered
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  bates lifeless body in a bedroom. Blood was found scattered
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  throughout the house, and a post mortem examination indicated that
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  her body bore over one hundred fifty distinct injuries. In
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  the month leading up to her death, she had been restrained,
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  at times tied to a radiator or furniture by her
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  hair and at other times by her neck with a ligature.
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  William Lawler, the pathologist from the Home Office who conducted
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  the examination, stated, throughout my career, I have assessed nearly
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  six hundred homicide victims, yet I have never encountered injuries
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  of such severity. The pathologists concluded that the removal of
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  her eyes occurred between five days and three weeks prior
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  to her death. She had suffered from starvation, resulting in
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  a weight loss of approximately twenty kilograms, and had been
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  deprived of water for several days leading up to her demise.
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  Peter Openshaw, the prosecutor in Smith's trial, remarked it appeared
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  as though he intentionally disfigured her, inflicting the greatest pain, distress,
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  and humiliation. The injuries were not the consequence of a
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  singular outburst of violence. Rather, they must have been inflicted
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  over an extended duration and were so severe and horrific
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  that the defendant must have engaged in a calculated and
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  systematic torture of the girl. The cause of death was
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  determined to be drowning, which occurred immediately after she had
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  been struck on the head with a shower head trials,
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  Smith refuted the charges of murder, asserting that Bates had
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  subjected him to extreme emotional distress. He further alleged that
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  Bates had mocked him regarding his deceased mother and had
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  a troubling tendency to inflict self harm to exacerbate his situation.
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  When questioned about the reasons behind his actions of blinding,
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  stabbing and assaulting Bates. He claimed that she had provoked him,
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  issuing a challenge for him to inflict harm upon her.
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  The jury at Manchester Crown Court deliberated for one hour
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  before convicting the forty nine year old Smith of Bates's murder.
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  During sentencing, Mister Justice Sachs imposed a life sentence, recommending
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  a minimum incarceration period of twenty years. He remarked, this
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  has been a terrible case, a catalog of de pravity
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  by one human being upon another. You are a highly
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  dangerous person. You are an abuser of women and I intend,
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  to the best of my ability to ensure that you
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  will not abuse any one again.