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DAY 17: I would love to be a fly on the wall of Neil Entwistle jury chamber


Worksop Guardian Editor George Robinson gives his thoughts on the conclusion of the Neil Entwistle double murder trial

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"I may be accused, and not for the first time in these blogs, for taking the high-ground. I am not, I am just another guy on the outside looking in, trying to understand what has happened."
Worksop Guardian Editor George Robinson
Published Date:
24 June 2008
I WOULD love to be a fly on the wall in the jury chamber deliberating the fate of Worksop man Neil Entwistle.
I would hate to be one of those jurors. It is now in the hands of a dozen people as to whether Entwistle spends the rest of his days behind bars.

When I hear the man found his family in a blood-soaked 'mess', to use Entwistle's words, I am compelled to envisage how I would react.

If the defence's assertion that Rachel killed Lillian before killing herself is true, would I have then prised the murder weapon from the scene? Would I have risked incriminating myself in order to protect my wife's honour? Maybe. Maybe not.

I'd do anything to protect my wife and family, as any man would do, but if I thought that by calling 911 immediately I might be able to give the authorities a smidgen of a chance of bringing their killers to justice, I would do it.

I just cannot for the life of me reason that I would pick up the gun and take it back to my father-in-law's house.

As a reasoned and level-headed person, I do not think - no matter how much stress I was under - that upon finding my family dead I would determine that the best course of action would be to flee the country.

By the same token, I cannot guarantee I would remain level-headed and reasoned at the sight of such an atrocity.

Why wasn't Entwistle at the funeral? Well, he would probably have been given a frosty welcome, given his actions.

If Rachel and Lillian, as he said in a recorded telephone conversation, were a 'mess' then why didn't he do the decent thing and help clear up that mess? Surely that is more of an 'honour' to his wife than leaving that so called mess for someone else to clear up.

State Trooper Robert Manning told Entwistle, 'you could have a million reasons (to kill Rachel and Lillian], you could have none'.

And that is the problem facing the jury. They could well be sending an innocent man to jail. They could be about to release a killer onto the streets. It's an unenviable position to be in and we should spare a thought for them.

I may be accused, and not for the first time in these blogs, for taking the high-ground. I am not, I am just another guy on the outside looking in, trying to understand what has happened.

I have been accused of not understanding Americans. I have been accused of not understanding US gun laws. I have been accused of siding with the Entwistles.

I am here on this pedestal to be criticised and welcome that critique. I admit that I don't fully understand US gun laws. I know I don't want them here in the UK. I admit that any inkling I have of comprehending US ideology is skewed. Americans' grasp of UK ideology and culture suffers the same distortion. It's natural.

I do not agree that I have sided with the Entwistles. My newspaper, a small weekly which circulates around 18,000 copies a week, has worked tirelessly to bring objective reports of the trial - day and night.

My newspaper's coverage, and the dedication and commitment of my team has been exemplary. But because we have refused throughout to speculate, it looks to the layman like we are sympathetic to the accused.

We are not. We are hopeful that justice will be done, for the sake of Neil Entwistle, his family, but more importantly for Rachel and Lillian.

The full article contains 624 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 24 June 2008 11:37 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Worksop
 
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charley horse,

Humboldt, Tenn.--1400 miles SW of the Court House 24/06/2008 15:22:21
Mr. Editor,
I am at a loss as to why you invision yourself as being "on a pedestal".
I have only heard that term used by people who express an admiration for others. Never heard anyone suggest they consider themselves "on a pedestal".
That said, I think you definitely know that Neil murdered his wife and daughter.
Will not bore everyone reading this by rehashing all the evidence pointing to that conclusion.
Have you considered that there is only one living witness to the murders, the return of the murder weapon, etc. and the only living witness NEVER mentioned to anyone in the years since that he found a gun in the bedroom with his murdered wife and daughter. You only heard that from a lawyer giving a closing argument. No evidence supports that ridiculous claim. NONE.
ALL we have heard from Neil is that he found a bloody mess and NEVER entered his inlaws home after the murders. There was no visible bloody mess as he described. He had a key to his inlaws house. Neil told his friends that he spoke to the police and his inlaws before fleeing to England.
This jury will come back quickly with a guilty verdict unless there is one or more "conspiracy theorists" or juror infatuated with Neil that cause the jury not to reach a verdict.

His failure to better conceal the murder of his family afterwards is because he had no plan B.
Plan A was to be a murder/suicide.
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Lisa in Pensacola,

Pensacola, FL 24/06/2008 15:24:30
"We are hopeful that justice will be done, for the sake of Neil Entwistle, his family, but more importantly for Rachel and Lillian." --That was nicely put.

The whole gun laws issue you have mentioned is perplexing. Our Second Amendment right to bear arms has its direct antecedent in the English Bill of Rights which compressed the various reasons for owning a firearm into a right as a result of the government's efforts to disarm its citizens. Events in English history provided many of the seeds that would become the fruit that we know as our Constitutional rights, among them the right to bear arms.

I know America is thought to be full of gun nuts, and lord knows we have our share, but not all are of that ilk. I could certainly never imagine owning or carrying a gun. The very thought is repulsive, but at the same time I get why we have such rights. Of course, our forefathers probably never expected this amendment to get as out of hand as it has. Militias are no longer necessary in our country, although the NRA would have you think otherwise. Anyways, I am just playing devil's advocate.
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charley horse,

Humboldt, Tenn., 1400 miles SW of the Court House 24/06/2008 15:32:42
I meant to add to my first post what I consider the most important instructions the judge gave to the jurors.
QUOTE: "Use your common sense and life experiences"

Or as another famous jurist in this country often says,"Don't pee on my leg and tell me it is raining".
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fairbrit,

24/06/2008 15:40:43
I've been watching the live trial from London and am also perplexed by your "sitting on the fence" (somewhat) attitude. Surely the eleventh hour defence does not hold water? NE's attorneys came up with this as a last minute attempt to save the skin of their client. And how disgusting of NE to sully his wife's honour by allowing this suicide suggestion. The Med.Examiner clearly stated the angle of Rachel's wound was not consistent with suicide. How did she manage to shoot her baby through her breast and then hold the gun to her forehead in that strange position, even for gun suicides? And why did NE never mention one word of this suicide before? Is he that gallant that he would rather serve life than explain to 911 that he found the gun beside his wife? I feel so pained for Rachel's family that they have to endure this dishonourable slur of their daughter's/sister's name and it is shameful that Cliff & Yvonne & Russell Entwistle have seemingly gone along with this. OK, they want to save Neil, but are they so blinded by the DNA and expert witness evidence that they cannot see beyond his lies? What kind of man leaves his wife's and baby's corpses to rot, alone, for days? What kind of man seeks sex escorts just hours after their deaths? A Worksop lad, called Neil Entwistle, well, he's that kind of man...
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fernmcc,

24/06/2008 17:19:50
I feel very badly for the parents of not only Rachel and Lillian, but also for the Entwistle family. I think regardless of the outcome, they have been in denial about their son committing murder(s). It must be heartbreaking to know that you raised a young man who could turn around and do something like that and then lie about it. That is the crux of this whole case. He lied and continued to lie and then at the last minute..pulled a plum out of his A** in order to blame the victim. Neil is tainted goods. He is not of the human race. Worksop will recover from this, they have nothing to be ashamed of.
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fairbrit,

24/06/2008 20:10:47
To fernmcc: I agree with your balanced and measured comments. There's no doubt that the Entwistle family are in detail about their son's crimes. Witness their shrunken faces and body language as the days of the trial have gone on and taken its toll on them. And I think, at 23, Russell looks almost traumatised by these events. Perhaps the trial has revealed facts that were unknown to even Neil's family, e.g. did they realise Neil stayed in a hotel before he arrived at their place, even though he claimed to state police that he needed to be with his family; were they privy to his internet sex sites/murder/suicide sites? I don't blame Neil's paents. I don't blame Worksop. This guy had a devoted wife and baby, supportive in-laws and extended family in USA and, to all intents and purposes, a loving solid family in UK. We will probably never fathom what went wrong in his psychological makeup that transformed him into a narcissistic sociopath who could only truly love himself. Let's hope the verdict comes in soon. Anything less than 1st degree murder for poor Rachel and Lilly will be a travesty to their memory.
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Beck29,

Notts 24/06/2008 20:21:08
I definately think that hearing both sides of the story. It is an option and definately puts things in a whole new perspective. It is possible that Rachel, possibly in a fit of depression could have done this but would have had to have been pre-meditated somehow as the gun was in the house. She does appear so happy in pictures with Lillian but appearances are not always as they seem and many people put an 'act' on in public and pretend to the outside world that they are happy. Depression makes a person feel worthless and a failure with their own life. If Rachel was feeling depressed. It is so sad that she did not seek help. But did she feel that it would go against her in someway? She was a teacher, possibly feeling that a record of depression would affect her career, therefore the rest of her life would be affected. Possibly, that could be a reason she felt she had to hide how she was feeling. Who knows? ..its all just so sad and heartbreaking for everyone concerned. It's heartbreaking for us, as the public, let alone the families themselves. We shall just have to see what the jury decide.
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fairbrit,

24/06/2008 20:27:28
Beck29, with respect, have you been following any of the expert evidence in this case because your seriousness about the suicide theory affronts me! If the defence felt they had a real case, they would have offered up tons of evidence to support their eleventh-hour theory of Rachel's depression. Yet not one person gave evidence to support this. Plus the Medical examiner refuted suicide saying the angle of the bullet is NOT CONSISTENT WITH SUICIDE. However, what we DO know is Neil Entwistle's behaviour prior to the executions. We know he was unemployed, in debt, sexually obsessed, trapped in foreign country away from his support systems. These are facts. Rachel's alleged depression is not a fact, not even testimony. So pleeease do not treat the defense's story as factual. NE's DNA is on that gun, on the ammo, he is the one that fled the country, that lied to his friends, resisted arrest, thought he was above the law and that UK would protect him from extradition. We should focus on the perpetrator of these crimes, not on the victims. Next thing I'll hear is maybe Lillian did it, after all, gun residue was found on her, too. All this means is she was close to a gun when it was fired, just like Rachel was. Rachel had no prints on the gun. How can anyone support the sullying of Rachel's honour just to save the skin of this psychopath?
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Beck29,

Notts 24/06/2008 20:28:49
Reading the comments, it seems like others already have Neil guilty as do the american media.It is wrong to judge someone on what you have read on the front of papers. Headlines are headlines and only that. They are used as something to grab attention and increase sales. We have heard a completely different point of view now and if you think about averything carefully. It does all make sense and is absolutely possible. I am not saying it was or is Rachel. That decision will be left to the jury. But people are making their decisions on what they have heard already from american media. Neil has not been found guilty and his actions afterwards do make some sense in a way and are viable.
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Beck29,

Notts 24/06/2008 20:40:52
Fairbrit, sorry I did not see your comment. The doctors may not always have records of depression on file. It is possible that patients can hide depression. They do not tell anyone, not even closest people ie partners or parents as a fear of feeling that they have let everyone down. They do not want to feel a failure. They want people to believe that everything is perfect in life eg no money worries, no relationship problems, that they are coping with the child/children OK. Some people feel that if people think that one or more of these is not perfect than they have failed. Also, like i mentioned previously Rachel has a career where CRB checks are always performed and in a career such as teaching etc, medical records are checked as part of the process. I am not saying in anyway that this is what happened. But Rachel will have known that any history that involves mental illness can affect this. I am not saying it should, but it would come up in checks etc. Possibly, this could be a reason for someone even like a GP not to know. Also, there is the possibility that Social Services could have become involved, had she gone to the doctor saying she was suffering form severe depression. So, yes it is possible that she could have kept depression to herself for a number of reasons.
You only have to look at other cases of suicide and the reaction is always the same. 'They always seemed fine'. they were happy, they had everything in life etc etc, why would they have wanted to kill them selves? That is whay suicide is so sad because often people will have had no idea what was going to happen. Soemtimes people can plan suicide for months, sometimes its a spur of the moment thing. They feel like life has simply become too much and they cannot take any more.
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