"As well as it being an interesting case with extraordinary details, I think there is a legitimate reason for opening this up and looking at it again. Police officer breaks 22-year silence after false claims he covered up A BBC documentary in 2020 questioned the safety of the conviction after it featured interviews with two potential witnesses. David Morris, 59, killed three generations of the same family in the Swansea Valley village in . According to Morris, the element of danger, of getting caught in flagrante, excited Power. Accounts made by two witnesses in a BBC documentary Beyond Reasonable Doubt? No one thought that an outsider had committed the murderers. The killer lit fires around the house in an attempt to hide the crimes. A bloody print on the carpet, made with a gloved hand, fit Lewiss hand better than Morriss. This included the Newsagent Three of 1987, where three men were wrongfully convicted and spent 11 years in prison for the murder of a newsagent, and five Black men wrongfully convicted for the murder of a woman in 1988. Morris died after serving 22 years in HMP Long Lartin, Worcestershire on August 20, 2021. Ms Power and her daughters were battered with a fibreglass pole, which the children used to play with, and Ms Power's body was sexually assaulted. Clydach murders 'worst in Wales'. No doubt at all. And, despite a local labourer being later convicted of the murders, they still have to deal with the fact that some locals in Clydach, near Swansea, still believe they are responsible for wiping out three generations of the same family. The murders in Clydach 15 years ago were almost unimaginably brutal. We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. Morris was convicted of the murders in 2002 - but the verdict was quashed on appeal due to a conflict of interest by a defence solicitor. As someone trained in forensics, moreover, she would know better how to clean up a crime scene than would Morris, who, according to some, had neither the intelligence nor the knowledge to do a good job of it. The alibi could hardly be weaker: two suspects backing each other up. Police arrested David Dai Morris for the murder of Mandy Power and her two daughters, Katie and Emily. Nothing should have been easier in a small community, where everyone knew everyone else (and not infrequently in the biblical sense). Queen Charlotte review: A Bridgerton triumph, Michelle Yeoh stars in trailer for new Poirot film, EastEnders announces eating disorder story for Ben, I'm a Celebrity airs trial twist for new campers. Clydach murders: Forensic review agreed for evidence - BBC News Assistant Chief Constable David Thorne, of South Wales Police, said: South Wales Police has shown a commitment to providing evidence-based answers to the issues which have been raised about this case over many years. 'I became the devil': Trauma of woman wrongly suspected of murdering an Former builder David "Dai" Morris - who claimed he had a fling with Mandy - was eventually convicted of the murders and spent 22 years in jail before his death in August last year. He said: The evidence identified at the outset to exonerate myself was lost, unobtainable, or destroyed. 2 years ago. An examination of a sock identified the presence of a mixed Y-STR profile that links David Morris or a male relative to the crime scene. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. During this first trial, he explained his lies about the chain not by a desire to avoid a murder conviction, but to conceal his affair with Power from his sexual partner, Mandy Jewell, a divorce with a young child, with whom he had lived for four years. Morris spent 22 years in prison for killing Mandy Power, 34, her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, and her 80-year-old mother Doris Dawson. They might have sought to protect their own, or those whom they thought were their own; and it was obvious from the outset that, with such a clear conflict of interest, the South Wales Police should have handed over the investigation to another force. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Sky Crime's new true-crime series, Murder In The Valleys, takes a deep dive into a 22-year-old case which many believe resulted in a wrongful conviction. Murder in the Valleys takes a forensic look at the biggest murder investigation in Welsh history. "This case has been looked at and looked at and looked at and explored, and I'm puzzled that people can't see Morris for what he is," he said. Firefighters found the bodies of Ms Power and the girls laid out on the landing when they came to tackle the blaze. We tried the Indian curry house Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds said was the best in Europe, 'They are superb - a perfectly crisp outside gives way to a soft, golden inside, which is both fragrant and flavourful. We have asked for this for a long time and South Wales Police are choosing who looks at it. An inquest into the death of the man convicted of the Clydach murders has been opened and adjourned. There is an extensive and extremely interesting literature on this subject, which obsessed Welsh writers for much of the twentieth century. David 'Dai' Morris was convicted for the murder of a grandmother, mother and two young daughters in 1999. The Powers family maintain to this day, given the evidence they've seen in court, that Morris is the man responsible for the death of Dorris, Mandy, Katie and Emily. The drug dealer was awaiting a trial of his own, however, and it is not impossible that the police offered him a deal in exchange for his testimony. John Morris's new book is an investigation into the Clydach murders in South Wales in 1999 in which Mandy Power, her mother and two daughters were battered to death. Ex-police officer Alison said: These people arent interested in the truth, all they want to do is slam South Wales Police and say its a conspiracy. City Journal is a publication of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (MI), a leading free-market think tank. Assistant Chief Constable David Thorne, of South Wales Police, said the reinvestigation did not "demonstrate any lack of confidence in the conviction of Morris". Further, an eyewitness had seen him, or someone who looked like him, on the street near the crime scene, around the right time, and gave such a good description that the police artist composite resembled him, or his identical twin brother, strongly. Is climate change killing Australian wine? The former Welsh women's rugby international, and ex-policewoman, had been arrested over the brutal killings of three generations of the same family - and a "baying, screaming" crowd was waiting for her. But the police were clearly reluctant to pin the blame on their ownnamely, one or both Lewis twins, or Alison, a former police officer. Alison Lewis, who was arrested after the bodies of her lover Mandy Power and Ms Power's family were discovered, had earlier spoken of her intention to sue the force. He then killed 80-year-old grandmother Doris Dawson. Mandy Power and her daughters, Emily and Katie, were murdered in their home in 1999, David Morris faced two trials for the murders and was found guilty at both, A number of fires were lit in Mandy Power's house after the murders, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. According to Lewis, they had made love three times the day before, though if the victim had showered thoroughly, as she habitually did several times a day because of the psoriasis from which she suffered, the DNA would not have been present. Ms Power and her daughters were battered repeatedly with a fibreglass pole, which the children used to play with, and Ms Power's body was sexually assaulted. "I feel for Alison. The inquiry was the largest and most complex murder investigation ever undertaken by a Welsh police force. One, a chronic alcoholic, was angry because Morris had refused to have sex with her, which, given his typical conduct, must have been doubly wounding; and another, a man, was annoyed because Morris had boasted in the pub that he would be able to pullhave sex withthe witnesss girlfriend without difficulty. The police were, at minimum, grossly incompetent, gaining a doubtful final conviction after seven years, only after ignoring the obvious while pursuing mares nests. David Morris killed three generations of the same family in the village of Clydach in 1999. Apart from the brutality of the killings, which hardly needs emphasizing (shown a video of the crime scene, one juror fainted, and felt unable to go on; later in the trial, another juror suffered a heart attack and also could not continue), the whole episode was disturbingly unedifying. They might have been telling the truth, of course, but if so, given the definite recollections of the other witnesses, it is hard to resist concluding that, whoever was guilty, at least one criminal conspiracy was taking place in this so-called close-knit community. Indian officials wife distraught as his killer is freed. "I became the devil," she tells a new documentary. On Nov. 5, 2018, the 13-year-old disappeared from her mobile home park in Lumberton in a case that gripped her home of Robeson County . Mandy Power, 34, her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, and her mother Doris Dawson, 80, were found bludgeoned to death and their house set on fire in 1999. Now for the first time in 22 years, Stuart Lewis has spoken about the ordeal that has ruined his life. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. As for the prosecution, it is incumbent upon it to produce a fair caseand not to obtain a conviction, as it appears here to have done, by hook or by crook. Several witnesses, however, deposed that she had arrived at 6 AM, before the events were common knowledge. Man and woman shot dead after apparent murder-suicide in St. Louis County A forensic review of the Clydach murders has made "significant findings" linking convicted killer David Morris to the crime scene, police have said. It took more than two years for South Wales Police to arrest Morris, with an 11-week court case securing him four life sentences. A blood-stained sock found at a crime scene links the man convicted of the Clydach murders from 22 years ago, South Wales Police have said. He said: It is too late to fully exonerate my name. It took seven years before someone was convicted for the crimesand then, it was possibly the wrong man. 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Murder On 13 Reasons Why. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Monday, 14 February, 2005. Morris's trial in 2006 heard he had a sexual relationship with Ms Power and was fuelled by drink and drugs when he went on a killing spree in June 1999. Photo: It took seven years for Britains criminal-justice system to convict someone for the grisly murders of Mandy Power, her children, and her elderly mother. Clydach murders: Sock links David Morris to scene, say police It is also an account of what seems a miscarriage of justice. The force is also requesting material which has previously been forensically examined by the CCRC as part of the new process. Sky News talks to a maker of the series, Murder In The Valleys, which takes a forensic look at the biggest homicide investigation in Welsh history. A bid to again take his case to the Court of Appeal was rejected in 2018 by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The timing was important, given Morriss claim that he had left the chain in Powers house two days before the murders. I do not necessarily read them, though I always intend to do so: and good intentions are, of course, an important component of the moral life. A judge has ruled that an appeal on behalf of a man found guilty of murdering four members of the same family, should go ahead. These failures have resulted in constant speculation of the safety of the conviction.. In particular, those who lost three generations of the same family and have had to revisit those painful memories time and time again over the last two decades. What the unusual mass murder verdict means for a man who killed three women in Knoxville. Cat-and-mouse chase with China in hotly contested sea, Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Speaking on the biggest murder inquiry in South Wales' history, he said: "I was a serving . Just weeks after he died police released fresh forensic DNA evidence linking Morris to a bloodstained sock found at the murder scene. She carried on casual affairs with men, including one eventually found guilty of the murders: David Morris (no relation to author Morris). Morris was not a savory character. Murder In The Valleys true story: Case for and against David Morris A blood-stained gold chain found at the crime scene had led police to Morris, with paint found on the jewellery matching paint used on kitchen cabinets at his flat. There was not enough evidence to connect them to the crime and the Lewises were never charged. The man convicted of the Clydach murders has died in prison, it has been confirmed. David Morris | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers "Notwithstanding the fact that Morris has been convicted based on the overwhelming evidence against him, South Wales Police has shown a commitment to providing evidence-based answers to the issues which have been raised about this case over many years. It will be available on Sky Crime and streaming service NOW. Due to your consent preferences, youre not able to view this. Morriss relationship with Jewell was volatilethe euphemistic expression for violence commonly employed when a couple exercises little self-controland he feared her reaction on discovering his infidelity. Murder In The Valleys premieres on Sky Crime and NOW on Sunday 6 February. The finger of suspicion fell on Stuart Lewis, his police officer brother Steve and Steves wife Alison Lewis, who was having an affair with Mandy. were also investigated, but subsequently did not undermine the case against Morris, police said. The blunt instruments that her martial-arts training enabled her expertly to wield can produce injury or death, and it is noteworthy that, in all the multiple blows that the killer inflicted on the victims, not a single one struck the walls, ceilings, floors, or furniture, as one might expect if the killer was an enraged but amateur bludgeoner. "She had the trauma of the murder and then she was a suspect.". Indeed, the jealous are often jealous because they themselves are unfaithful and suppose that everyone is like them. Morris has always maintained his innocence, but a bid to take his case to the Court of Appeal was rejected as recently as 2018 by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Mandy was always kind, loving, tried to do her best all the time, and enjoyed her life and her children. Not one of them has got one piece of evidence. The South Wales Police have a reputation, not for making the punishment fit the crime, but for making the evidence fit the suspectin this case, perhaps without even believing the suspect guilty. "The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed.". In July the Crown Prosecution Service said no information had been provided by the potential new witnesses to undermine the conviction. Dietrich Weismann Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. However, in a 2021 review, DNA on a blood-stained sock confirmed Morris or at least a close family member on his paternal side was at the scene of the crime. Murder in the Valleys is a new true crime series looking at the horrifying Clydach murders. whether it's definitive proof or if it wouldn't stand up in court). His new story was that he had visited Power for sex two days before the murders, and it was then that the chain had come off. He remained to continue drinking. A blood-stained sock found at a crime scene links the man convicted of the Clydach murders from 22 years ago, South Wales Police have said.