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Hey everybody, welcome back to our podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. I swear every time we like stack up an episode and don't record on our normal schedule, it feels like it's been so long, even though it's only been a couple days. I don't know why. I know, it does feel like that. I guess it's been a week. Right, but even just not sitting down and recording for a week now feels weird. Yeah. All right, what do you got for your 10 seconds this week?
A couple of things. And actually, I was thinking ahead of time this week on my 10 seconds. He's prepared. The first thing actually we should talk about first is CrimeCon. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. We are going to CrimeCon this year. Murder With My Husband will be at CrimeCon. We're just going to be walking around, hanging out.
Seeing what everyone else is up to. Yeah. I mean, I mean, like, I think it would be really cool if some of you guys came because there's a ton of good speakers, too. Like I was looking through the list and like Nancy Grace is going to be there. I took a big thing. I didn't realize how big it was. And Lana Del Rey's boyfriend is going to be there. And I call him hot cop. I don't even know his name, but he's from the TV show Cops. And her boyfriend's going to be there. There's a there's a Dr. Phil's going to be there.
There's a bunch of other true crime podcasts, obviously, that are going to be there too. It is April 29th in Las Vegas. I'm sure if you just Google CrimeCon, you can get all of the information there. And I think it's like the 29th through the 1st or something like that. But we'll be there. And please come see us. Yeah, it's in April. It's coming up. So if you're interested, go check that out. You have a couple weeks to figure out how to get there and everything. But yeah, I mean, I think it's going to be really fun. Yeah. All right. So back into, I guess, my 10 seconds real quick. Mm-hmm.
If anyone has any other hat recommendations, let me know. I mean, I like my melon hats, but one, I don't know. That won't sponsor me. We've tried. No, but also, I don't know. I just want to try some new hats. So if anyone out there, any guys wear a bunch of hats, please let me know. I want to. Yeah, you've been wearing melon for a while. So I think you could. I want to do some. I'm going to change it up a bit. New brand. Something different. And also, we were in Arizona last week. So that was super fun. You're with Peyton's family. Yeah.
Yeah, we kind of just hung out, played some pickleball, of course. I know you guys are sick of hearing that, but we did that. But no, Arizona was fun and pickleball was fun. We actually got to watch some of the pros play, which was really cool. And it's really hard. Like you watch and you're just like, oh, my gosh. It looks easy. Prom is not easy. It was really cool to watch them play. Yeah, it was fun. Oh, my truck. I'm getting some things done next week.
So I'll post some pictures next week, but that's still kind of on hold as I'm still waiting for some stuff to show up. All right, before we hop into the episode, Peyton wants a quick five seconds. I don't know if I'll let... Two weeks in a row. I don't know if I'll let this be a normal thing for her. Probably not. But I'll let her take a couple more seconds before we jump in.
No, it's not that. It's just that last week I mentioned Bridgerton and I was talking to a bunch of people on YouTube about it. So I did just want to update everyone that I did watch season two and I am team season one is better. All right. That's it. End of story. That is it.
That's all the time you get, babe. Great. I tried to rush it so it wouldn't impede too much. All right. So our case sources for this week are Wikipedia, BBC News, Evening Standard, CNN, My London, The Guardian, inews.co.uk, a couple things on YouTube, The Independent, Conan
Get Surrey.co.uk, thetab.com, birminghammail.co.uk, and findagravememorial. Again, all of those are always listed in our episode notes if you want to check them out. So it goes without saying, but COVID-19 was devastating, dangerous, and heartbreaking.
It was felt throughout the world. And although we've seen progress lately, 2020 and 2021 was such a scary and unknown time here in the US and I'm assuming everywhere else as well.
But just because the world was going through a pandemic and unknown times does not mean that murderers stopped murdering or rapists stopped raping. In fact, crime does not stop for anything, not even a global pandemic. So today we will be covering a true crime case that not only happened during the pandemic, but also leaned on the new reality that COVID-19 brought all of our countries in order to lure the victim to their death.
Today we will be covering the murder of Sarah Everard. So our case this week begins in Red Hill, Surrey, United Kingdom. And sweet little Sarah Rosemary Everard was born on June 14th, 1987 in the UK to her parents, Jeremy and Sue.
Jeremy is a York University professor of electronics and Sue works in charity. Now, during her younger years, Sarah moved to York and actually attended Fulford School, which is equivalent to elementary school in the U.S. And after graduating, Sarah attended Durham University from 2005 to 2008, where she studied human geography and eventually moved to London to work as an adult.
In London, Sarah began her work for several marketing and PR agencies. And according to her LinkedIn profile, she was promoted from manager to group account director between the years 2009 and 2020. So it kind of goes without saying that she was very successful in her career throughout this whole time. And then in the year 2013, Sarah decided to take some time off and travel to South America from January to July.
But by January of 2021, 33-year-old Sarah actually starts a new job at Flipside Group, which is a digital media agency. And she continues to find success in her field because she's known to always show up to work and have a caring attitude to her work and for her team. And she was ultimately just a positive presence to have around. Everyone loved her at her office.
Sarah tells her friends, though, around this time that she is looking forward to this new position and continuing her career in the digital media field. And not only is Sarah's career going well, she also now has a boyfriend. His name is Josh, and he, too, is 33 years old and, according to his LinkedIn profile, works as a managing director in London.
And Josh, at this time, actually lives just a few streets over from Sarah in Brixton. And that made it easy for them to see each other during their busy schedules and just continue dating. On the evening of March 3rd, 2021, Sarah decides to visit a friend in Clapham Junction.
And Clapham, where Sarah's friend is living, and Brixton Hill, where Sarah is living, are actually just neighboring areas. They are close enough that Sarah is actually walking to her friend's house on this chilly March night. And she actually uses her debit card on the way home to purchase a bottle of wine at Sandsbury's in Brixton Hill, South London. She can be seen on surveillance video purchasing this wine and other random cameras the whole entire walk. I was just going to say, I...
I hope I'm not thoroughly disappointed this episode because it's 2019. Sorry, 2021. And there should be cameras everywhere. Everywhere. Yep. Sarah is actually wearing patterned pants, till shoes and a till jacket. Yep.
as well as a knitted beanie and well of course her mask because it's 2021 around 9 13 p.m on her way back home after a good night with her friend sarah actually calls her boyfriend on the phone josh and they talk for 14 to 15 minutes and make plans to meet the next day and she can actually be seen on the cameras on the phone talking to josh as she's making her way down the streets and whatnot
Sarah gives a see you later to her boyfriend, hangs up the phone, and continues her trek home. But the see you later never comes because Sarah was never seen alive again. All right, I'm just going to let you keep going because I want to get into the footage if there's footage. Right, we'll get there.
So the next day, March 4th, Josh, her boyfriend, tries calling Sarah after she doesn't show up when they had originally planned the night before. He tries finding her. He asks around. But by the end of the day at 8, 10 p.m., he has searched everywhere and decides that his only option is to contact the police.
Police are informed of the possible missing person and by the morning of March 5th, the specialist crime unit becomes involved with the case. The
The next day, March 6th, UK police announced that they have been scouring CCTV footage since being informed of the disappearance. And they release an image of Sarah at Sandsbury's buying the wine the evening she went missing. They're hoping that with the image of what she's wearing and what she looks like, the public will have seen her or, you know, have information that would be helpful in the case.
Sarah's family at this time also releases this statement to the public: "With every day that goes by, we are getting more worried about Sarah. She is always in regular contact with us and with her friends and it is totally out of character for her to disappear like this.
We long to see her and want nothing more than for her to be found safe and well. We are so grateful to the police and all of our friends for all they are doing. We are desperate for news, and if anyone knows anything about what has happened to her, we would urge you to please come forward and speak to police. No piece of information is too insignificant. Now, I can't believe people are still...
I mean, it happens every day, but like people still just people take people. Right. I don't have to explain it. You know what I'm saying? Kidnapping even adults. Right. Especially I feel like and it must not be true.
But that there's so many cameras, it should be impossible. But that's just not the truth, obviously. Otherwise, it wouldn't happen anymore. Right. Because it would just be too big of a risk. Yeah. But I do in this case, I do find it interesting because she's walking through a city. It's not like she's, you know, out in a pretty desolate area walking home in the dark. I mean, she's walking through a city with cameras and cameras.
cars driving by and people driving by so how was she like how is she just randomly missing now and no one saw anything yeah detective chief inspector ian kenward shares that they suspect sarah never made it home that evening after hanging up with her boyfriend so they're like we think she got taken on the walk home we don't think she ever made it home they believe that sarah disappeared somewhere between her friend's home and her home
Officers and volunteers from London Search and Rescue also begin searching the area between Clapham Common and Brixton, which is where her friend and her live. And police also ask people in the following areas to check their dash cam and ring doorbell footage. Okay, there we go. The A205 South Circular around Clapham Common, New Park Road, Brixton Hill, and Brixton Water Lane.
Now, I want to note here that this is such a newfound tactic we've seen in recent years that has proved helpful in missing person cases, which is what Garrett was just saying. If you can spread awareness enough, you
Yeah.
By March 7th, 2021, small things are being found behind the scenes from the police, but a large-scale operation has also begun to search for Sarah. Police search a pond with dogs but find nothing. Sarah's family travels 200 miles to join police in the search for their daughter.
And the family gets their hopes up when an alleged sighting of Sarah appears on social media, but it turns out to be nothing. But it is still good news because at this point, word is spread enough that people on social media are like, well, I might have seen her or we might know where she is. But then on March 9th, 2021, around 7 p.m., just days after she went missing, the
police arrest someone for her disappearance and murder. It's always so crazy when they just randomly arrest someone. Right. Everyone's like, what? Yeah, people are like, wait, where did this come from? How did they figure this out? What's going on? How did I not hear about this? I know, because it was, I actually knew. Well, yeah, I knew about this, obviously. Yeah, of course. But it was just in 2021. Like, we were already doing the podcast. I feel like I'm on social media. What am I doing with my life? I don't know. I don't know, dude. Playing pickleball. Apparently. Apparently.
So now I'm going to introduce who police arrested for Sarah's abduction and murder. Wayne Cousins was born in 1972 in Dover, Kent,
By 1990, he was employed as a light vehicle body repair technician at his family's garage business in Western Heights, Dover. By 2002, Wayne Cousins joins the Kent Special Constabulary Form, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. And this is actually an armed police force that's in charge of protecting civil nuclear sites and
and nuclear materials in England, Scotland, and Wales. In 2006, Wayne marries Elena, a young woman from Ukraine. With this marriage, Wayne actually started learning the language and visiting Ukraine often to see his mother-in-law, the family there, and everything. But by 2015, Wayne Cousins was accused of indecent exposure for driving around naked from the waist down in Kent.
And accused meaning he was never charged. He was just accused of this. In September of 2018, Wayne Cousins transferred to the Met Police.
By 2019, Wayne decides to join a response team covering the Bromley area of South London. He had previously been serving on the Safer Neighborhood Team. Also around this time, Wayne and his wife buy a small area of land in Ashford, Kent. By February 2020, Wayne moved to a Diplomatic Protection Command to patrol diplomatic premises, mainly embassies.
as an authorized firearm officer. By February 2021, Wayne Cousins has been linked to two different allegations of indecent exposure in London. - So it seems like a pattern, obviously. - Right. - This guy is driving around with no pants on. - Yeah, he doesn't like to wear clothes. - Apparently not. - But neither of these accusations were fully investigated by police because, I mean, he kind of is a policeman, right?
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Then on February 10th, 2021, Wayne Cousins orders a police standard issue handcuff key with a double locking pin as part of an array of equipment from Amazon. From Amazon? Yes. Well, we're in 2021. Isn't that just weird to hear? So I can get one of those? Yeah, I guess you can get... I mean, well, duh, baby, you can buy handcuffs on Amazon. Well, I just think it's weird he ordered them on Amazon. Well, I mean...
guess it's not that weird anything can be yeah that's not that weird okay on february 28th just a week before the murder wayne cousins books a white astra from a car rental place in dover kent for the future using all of his personal credentials meaning he used his name his address and everything else including his own debit card to book this rental car
This day, he also purchased a roll of self-adhesive film advertised as a carpet protector via Amazon again. This was also advertised using the words strong enough to hold carpets down. So we're talking like very strong, durable tape, basically. I feel like people just never think. Right.
Right. Like if this is going where you think it's going. I think it's going. Dude, you're ordering it on your Amazon account. Right. And then going through your mind. This is the same guy who was arrested for her murder. Yes. So, yeah, you're right. It's like we're OK, whatever. On March 2nd, 2021, around 7 p.m., Wayne began what he wouldn't know would be his last 12 hour shift at work in West Brompton, California.
The next day, March 3rd, 2021, is the day of the abduction. At 4.45 p.m., Wayne Cousins picks up the rental car that he booked back on February 28th. This is the same day that Sarah uses her debit card to purchase a bottle of wine while walking and goes missing.
Sarah goes and sees her friend and then at 9:13 p.m., like I said, she calls her boyfriend on the walk home back to Brixton Hill. Around 9:15 p.m., while on the phone, Sarah is seen alone on CCTV at the junction of Bowood Road and the South Circular. And all of this CCTV footage that we're going through right now is stuff that police found during that short investigation after she went missing.
Around 9.28 p.m., she is seen on a road still alone. And this is around the time that she gets off the phone with Josh. I'm just trying to picture like the road in the car. Like, is there cars coming? Is it just a road in the middle of nowhere? Like, what's going on? Right. There are cars coming. There are people driving by. She's walking past housing. She's walking past shops.
Like basically think that she's just walking in a city. There's just no tall, super tall buildings. Okay. It's very busy. When I saw the footage, I was surprised at how busy and alive it was around her. Got it. After this, she's then seen on a doorbell camera on Ponders Road. At 9.32 p.m., Sarah is caught on dash cam footage from a passing police car. Now, this would mean... I need to get a dash cam. I know. This would mean a real car
cop up past her minutes before she was taken. Okay. At 9 34 PM, Wayne cousins, white rental car is seen parked outside of Ponder's court on Ponder's road. Now I looked up what Ponder's court looks like because this is the suspected spot where Wayne stops Sarah.
She is walking on a brick and stone large sidewalk in front of Ponder's Court, which is basically just a brick building. And it looks rather safe. Like in the daytime pictures, there's lots of trees, walking space. In fact, it almost looks like a college campus. Like it's a really big sidewalk up to the building. It's large.
There's benches and then the road right off of it. While walking in front of the court, Wayne stops Sarah. He confronts her posing as an on-duty officer and tells her she is breaching COVID-19 guidelines. Oh my gosh. And this is all seen on camera? Well, on passing cameras. Like they don't see the whole interaction, but a car drives by and they return the footage and you can see them.
And Wayne tells Sarah that she's going to be arrested for breaching COVID guidelines. One minute later at 9.35 p.m., a bus camera captures two people standing on Ponders Road right next to the white Astra that Wayne rented. What are you supposed to do? I've always thought about that situation because if people impersonate a cop or an agent, whatever it may be,
And they say you're under arrest. How do you not get in my car? I mean, I know there's questions you can ask, right? You can ask to see their superior and all this other stuff. But that's just like, it's, I think it's scary, right? Right. And so I think a lot of the times your initial reaction isn't really to fight back. It's usually just to say, okay. Yes. And this is a hard question because coming from someone who I've never really had to worry about, you know, being around cops, they can say to me,
Oh, well just call 9-1-1 if you're getting pulled over and it's night and you're alone and it's dark and they will tell you if a real officer is pulling you over and they'll also radio into the officer and say hey she's on the phone with us just making sure that you're real and this is actually happening. But how long do you get before cops like oh they're running? You know what I mean? Like it's just a hard situation in here and
If she said, oh, I'm just going to call, you know, to make sure that this is real. What would he have done? Yeah. Right. Exactly. So it is a complicated situation. So after this bus sees two people standing outside of the Astra, you can see on the footage that it's parked on the pavement. So it's not on the road. It's pulled up onto the pavement. She was walking on with its hazard lights flashing on.
And there are two people standing next to the car and they are later identified as Wayne and Sarah. And we will show the footage on our YouTube as I'm talking about it if you want to check it out. At 9.38 p.m., three minutes later, a second bus drives by and again captures the white car. But this time, the driver's side and passenger side doors are wide open. There's no one in sight.
This footage is a bit more clear and it actually confirms the license plate number on the car is the rental car that Wayne Cousins rented. So this is how they're like, for sure, this is him because not only did they get a positive identification from them standing there, they also got the license plate number of the car that he rented and picked up that day. Why are people like this? Right.
I kind of already said this, but after watching the footage, I was extremely surprised how busy the roads were and how many people were nearby. I think it's pretty gutsy of him to attempt this kind of ruse in such a public place. But I guess if you're pretending to be a cop, I mean, she's not going to put up a fight. Yeah. This is the last footage ever seen of Sarah is that bus footage driving by.
Police were then able to track down the car using CCTV tracking and automatic number plate recognition software. So awesome. And they figured out that once Sarah was in the car handcuffed and supposedly under arrest, which is why he bought the handcuffs on Amazon, Wayne drove them back to Kent where he and his wife live.
And I need to clarify here for our listeners not from England. They live in Dover, which is a town and ferry port in Kent, southeast England. Got it. Sometimes these names can all be like, you know, coming from America, all I know is like a state and a city. So sometimes all of this can get a little confusing if you're not from there. Around 11.43 p.m., Wayne's cell phone pings at a remote location in Dover near Hodeswood. Okay.
Police assume that Wayne then transferred Sarah from the white rental to his personal car at this remote location. And that personal car can be seen driving away from Military Road Dover. And he left the white rental car behind. And they figure all of this out from tracking him on cameras. How crazy is that?
And a note for Garrett here, Wayne's personal car was called a seat. And apparently it's a Spanish car company that has been around since the 1950s. And its parent company is Volkswagen, who bought them in early 1980s. I did not know that. I'm surprised. I didn't know that. I got all the information just in case you asked. So I would know. Thanks, babe. Of course.
From 11.57 on March 3rd to 12.57 a.m. on March 4th, Wayne's cell phone continues to ping on cell phone towers in Dover. Is he like, is he moving around a lot? I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Yes, he's driving.
Okay. And this whole area is, Wayne is very familiar with because he's lived here for a while. And we will attach a map to YouTube and to social media for those interested that kind of marks all these points for you. During this hour, police believe that Wayne Cousins sexually assaulted Sarah. God.
gosh cctv footage does not capture wayne again until 2 34 a.m so he's missing for roughly two hours where he is personally seen purchasing two bottles of still water and apple juice and orange and a carrier bag from bp dover south service which is like a gas station i wonder if his wife during this was like what's my husband doing
Yeah, so I don't know if his wife was like, where is he in the middle of the night? Or if he just said if he did night shifts often, so maybe that's where she assumed he was. Police believe...
he just goes out often in the middle of the night. So it's not a rare occurrence. From 3:22 AM to 6:32 AM, Wayne drives back to Hodeswood where his car is seen on CCTV in the area. And then he switches back to the rental he originally left behind. So he's basically just driving around, drives back out to the remote area, drops his personal car back off and gets back in the rental car and drives away.
They lose him again and the next time he's picked up is at 8 14 a.m where he is seen at Costa Coffee in Biggin Street buying a hot chocolate with coconut milk and a bakewell tart. I actually looked up what he got the bakewell tart. I looked it up because we are foodies and
And a Bakewell tart is a pretty traditional English tart made with flaky almonds and jam with a crust. There are smaller versions and it's almost like getting a slice of pie or a piece of dessert. That's what it's similar to. And so as I look this up and I might be reading too much into this choice of food that he's making, but
It's almost like a celebratory food. You know what I mean? So, like, is this what he ate regularly? Or was this like... Like eating a cupcake almost or something? Right, yes. Or is this him going and being like, oh, I...
kidnapped my victim. I'm going to go eat a cupcake. I mean, I might be reading too much into that, but it just feels weird. And you can watch this footage. And once again, it is so eerie of him at this bakery. We know what he's basically just done is kidnap a girl. Um, but he's just waltzing about like he didn't. And I mean, he is kind of fidgety with his hands and he's shifting weight, but it makes you question who you are around and what they do in their private life. Like at all times, um,
At 8:26 AM, Wayne is captured again on CCTV returning the white rental car, which to me really confirms that he rented that thing for one thing and one thing only because he literally only used it over a night period.
And this was 100% premeditated that he had been planning to kidnap someone like this for a while. I think Sarah was just a victim of opportunity. But as police are like looking at all this footage, they're like, well, the last time we saw Sarah was yesterday.
standing outside of his car on the street. So where is she now? Like, is she still alive? Is she in the car? Is she dead? Like he's going around eating food, making trips, but where is Sarah? At some point after this, Wayne throws Sarah's cell phone out into one of the waterways in the city and
At 11.05 a.m., Wayne can be seen again at another BP patrol station, but this time it's in Whitfield, where he purchases roughly 1.5 gallons of gas and fills a jerry can with it. The problem with this, his car runs on diesel.
And at this point, he had already returned the rental car. Oh, so he obviously wasn't buying the gas for his car. Right. So what is the gas for? And this is what cops are seeing, like police are seeing as they're watching this. This is further proof of what it was used for.
After this, Wayne purchases a salted caramel latte and then drives through a McDonald's drive-thru for an extra large value meal and a bottle of orange juice, which might I add is probably the only thing of competence that he's done up to this point is choose McDonald's.
At 1240 p.m., Wayne Cousins' car is seen in Hodeswood again, and a fire is spotted later that day in the area. The next day, Wayne is not heading to work because he was supposed to be off until March 8th, so he doesn't even have work the next day. But for some reason, he calls in and reports that he's been suffering with stress.
He also calls a local vet to make an appointment for the family bulldog who he claims is suffering from separation anxiety. So my thoughts here is, is he using the dog as an excuse for his time off and for a possible explanation of odd behavior that people might have noticed from him?
At 1.43 p.m. that same day, March 5th, the day that Sarah's investigation is really getting underway, Wayne drives to a B&Q store, this one is similar to a Home Depot, and is seen on CCTV footage buying two 220-liter clear-away builder bags. This is about 60 gallons per bag in U.S. numbers.
Wayne's car is then seen near Hodeswood again, where the fire was, where it's believed that he then used these bags somehow. The next day, March 6, 2021, he tells his coworkers and emails his supervisor that because of the stress he's been feeling lately, he no longer wants to carry a gun.
Weird. So he's just all over the place at this point. He's not even making sense. But to me, I think the reason he's setting this up with them is because... To claim insanity or something like that? No, I think he's going to ditch his gun.
Like, I think he's going to get rid of his gun. And so he's going to tell them, oh, I don't want to carry it. So then people aren't like, hey, where's your work gun? Got it. He also orders a blue tarp and a bungee cargo net, which is basically like a net with bungee cords around it to connect like over a truck or to secure something. And he buys both of these on Amazon to be delivered to him the next day. And during this point, Sarah's investigation is already underway and
It was also the same day that police announced they know where she went missing from. And her parents released their statement and police began asking for everyone's help to check their cameras. This is all during that timeline. And it's quite fascinating to watch all of the footage and images in this case come together and make it possible to arrest Wayne. Because... Yeah, I was really hoping that...
This would be the case. I was really hoping there wasn't any loopholes, like there was a missing camera, missing footage. It really kind of gives me hope that cameras are working. Yes. And literally the only thing that led police to Wayne was that license plate on his car that they were then able to track back to him. And that's how they were able to arrest him so fast. It's that time of the year. Your vacation is coming up.
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The following day, March 7th, 2021, I'm assuming because of the vast coverage and large searches that were going on, Wayne decides to take his family on a trip to the same wooded area where the fire was started. Of course. And he's supposed to return to work the next day, but he actually calls in sick. On March 9th, 2021, at 7.11 p.m., Wayne attempts to wipe his phone of all data, but...
Little does he know, unless like you are Josh Powell, which somehow he managed to lock all of his stuff up and police can never find it. It is almost impossible for a basic Joe to truly delete or hide anything on a phone or computer. It is extremely hard. Just 40 minutes later at 7.50 p.m. and not even a week after Sarah went missing, Wayne Cousins is arrested by UK police in his home in Kent, California.
Wow.
And she doesn't even know how this happened. She has to keep asking herself how she missed the signs. How could have all this happened? How could he have kidnapped someone? And she had no idea. Once arrested, Wayne Cousins told police that he was being threatened by an Eastern European gang. Oh, get out of here. Who forced him to kidnap girls and hand them over or they would kill his family.
He's adamant that he handed over Sarah alive. He's like, I kidnapped her. You're right. That is me on the footage because they're like, hey, we have you on footage picking her. Like she's standing next to your car and then she goes missing. And he's like, okay, yes, I did abduct her, but I didn't kill her. I just handed her over to these people and she's alive. He states that he would do anything to help secure Sarah's safe release from the gang. It's just funny because then it's like, yeah, dude, but what about the gas you bought? And then what about the bags you bought? It's like, you're not escaping this one.
Which police... Like, what are you thinking? Right. And police know. They've searched the CC. They have a whole entire timeline set up. So they confront him with this. And by March 10th, the Met police search Hodeswood, which is where the fire was, which is where his phone kept pinging. And they find human remains in a large builder's bag approximately 100 yards from the place.
The plot of land that Wayne purchased with his wife in 2019. Got it. So he's been planning this for a while. Right. Which is crazy to me. Right. The remains were Sarah and she had been murdered by being strangled with Wayne's police belt. So he had taken off his belt and strangled her with it. And then he burned her body in a refrigerator and then took the remains out and dumped it.
Wayne Cousins was officially charged with kidnapping and murder, and two days later, the UK police confirmed that that body was Sarah's. They had to compare dental records because she had been burned. Oh, man.
Sarah's family issued a statement when her body was found, describing her as, quote, a shining example. They added that Sarah was bright and beautiful, a wonderful daughter and sister, that she was kind and thoughtful, caring and dependable. She always put others first and had the most amazing sense of humor. She was strong and principled and a shining example to us all. We are very proud of her and she brought so much joy to our lives, end quote.
On March 13th, a vigil was held for Sarah and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attended the vigil, which is apparently a very big deal. Several other vigils were actually held and planned.
But there's a whole nother part to this case because later they were canceled after tension between the citizens and police became heated. Several hundred people had gathered, most very frustrated with the fact that Wayne worked with police and was one of their own.
And then four individuals were arrested at these vigils for disorderly conduct and breaching the coronavirus act for 2020, because you couldn't have that many people gathering. Remember that UK law limited occupancy along with various other health measures in hopes of curbing the virus at this point, some images and coverage of these arrests actually led to international attention, basically saying like,
These people were trying to remember her and then, you know, they were frustrated because it was a cop who did this. And then people ended up getting arrested and then it was all over the news. And so then the Queen Her Majesty's one of her services actually ended up investigating the police that were handling the vigil's process.
for Sarah. So it was a whole thing. On March 16th, 2021, almost one year ago, as we are sitting here recording, Wayne Cousins was remanded to custody and appeared at the Old Bailey via video from Belmarsh Prison. And I looked it up and the Old Bailey is a
courthouse and the name Old Bailey is apparently taken from the name of the street and the building it sits on and Bailey means castle. So just a little old English history lesson for us. On June 8th, 2021, Wayne admitted to being responsible for Sarah's death and pled guilty to kidnapping and rape. I mean, the evidence against him. Yeah, how do you not plead guilty? And because he had already admitted that he kidnapped her and then they basically found her remains on his
property, there was no getting out of that. On September 30th, 2021, Wayne Cousins was sentenced to life imprisonment with a tariff of a whole life order. And this is a really, really big deal. The fact that he used his authority as a police officer was said to be the vital factor for this
harsh sentencing. I mean, life imprisonment happens all the time here, but it doesn't happen all the time there. I would have hoped that no matter what, this person would have gotten life in prison. Right. And he did. Like they said, we're making an exception. This is awful. As of October 2021, there has been a review task force created to look into the systemic failures that led to Sarah's murder by Wayne Cousins and how he
Yeah. Yeah.
In October 2021, Independent article said that it was a widely known fact amongst his peers that he was, quote, attracted to violent sexual pornography and that his nickname in all the officers was the rapist. Oh, my gosh. Yet nothing. He was never looked into. He was never charged for anything. So this is why people are saying he watched child pornography. Not child attracted to violent sexual pornography. Oh.
In court, the chief inspector said that other officers also knew about this nickname throughout his career. And he added that it was because he had a reputation in terms of drug abuse, extreme pornography, and other offenses of this kind, meaning the indecent exposure charges. So if even his comrades, his fellow co-workers said,
are like making jokes about him being creepy and calling him the rapist. He probably shouldn't be in the public service. No, probably not. And that's what people are saying. He was known to carry his handcuffs while off duty and was spotted by the public wearing his police uniform while just walking his dog. Much has been done systematically to hold people accountable, not just in how he was able to become a police officer, but also how the vigils were handled.
Wayne has filed an appeal against his whole life sentence, but remains in prison at the HM prison, Franklin and County Durham. I find it kind of just comedic that you'd even file an appeal. Like, dude, you just killed someone. Right. And what do you think you're getting out of prison, man? Like you were a cop. Yeah. Like you,
Even then you killed someone. Right. Like you're not going anywhere. Right. Sarah's alma mater, Durham University student paper, the tab said that Sarah was a beautiful, thoughtful and incredibly kind person. And that Sarah was an exceptional friend who would do anything to support her friends whenever they needed her. One year after her death, Sarah's parents said over the past year, we have been overwhelmed with the kindness shown to us, not just by family and friends, but the wider public.
We are immensely grateful to everyone for their support. It has meant such a lot to us and has comforted us through this terrible time. Sadly, Sarah is not the only woman to have lost her life recently in violent circumstances, and we would like to extend our deepest sympathy to other families who are also grieving.
Which to me, that statement says so much that not only are they saying thank you for remembering Sarah, but also we extend our hand to every other woman who has gone through violent stuff.
And they ended it with, we remember her today as every day with all of our love. Everything in this case to me was so clearly planned out besides maybe who the victim was. It was almost like he knew he wanted to do it. He bought all of this stuff. He rented the car. He planned ahead of time.
So it makes me wonder if anyone else had a close call with him while he was searching for his victim that night. Like what are the chances that Sarah was his first and only attempt that night when he knew that he had rented the car and that was the night that he was going to do it. He seemed a little too calm almost to, I don't know. Like cocky. Yeah, exactly. Like the crime doesn't make sense. And I know we always say this, but it's like,
He didn't even think about it. He just did it. The police have said that they think she was killed during that two hour period that he was missing right before he went to the bakery. And I have to say that if that is when she was murdered, he murdered her in his own car, not the rental car, because he had dropped the rental car off at the disposal site. So you rented this car.
And I would think in hopes of not tying her DNA. But then you killed her in your car. But then you killed her in your car. I don't think he was thinking. I don't think there was any logic behind it. I think he might have thought there was logic, but he obviously was not a very smart person. No, no. And that is the case of Sarah. It's kind of crazy because all I saw on the news was...
social media was covered for so long right i feel like i didn't see anything about this case which is kind of why i started out this episode saying that like just because we were going through a pandemic does not mean that awful people stopped existing and killing people and raping people and being awful 100 and then for him to use covid
saying you broke COVID guidelines as a way to arrest her. So manipulative. It's so manipulative and so awful. Like everyone was suffering through this time and then he just completely used it against her. Yes. It's so awful. Yeah. But you guys, that is our episode for this week. A reminder again, just about CrimeCon. If you want to attend, you can look it up. We're going to be there. We hope to see you there and we will see you guys next week with another episode. I love it. And I hate it. Goodbye.