WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Tarryn Trybus 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:51.960 School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.360 case murders in an effort to raise public awareness, invite 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.760 witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.960 be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:06.160 from family and community members, their statements should not be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.960 considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:14.000 inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 0:01:17.960 --> 0:01:20.840 Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.600 that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.120 is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening. 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:34.640 On November twenty eighth, twenty seventeen, thirty four year old 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:38.480 Tarren Baird, who lived in Swindon, a town in southwest 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:42.160 England about eighty miles from London, called the police non 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:47.720 emergency line. When she made that call, Terran was desperate. 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:51.360 She lived there with her husband, thirty six year old 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:57.000 Christopher Tribus, a successful software consultant. Christopher and Terran were 0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:00.960 both originally from South Africa. They had met in South 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.760 Africa and later moved to the UK together to set 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:07.360 up their dream life. On the surface, they appeared to 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:11.160 be a happily married couple, but behind the scenes things 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:15.640 had been deteriorating for a long time. Exactly what happened 0:02:15.640 --> 0:02:18.560 behind those closed doors is at the heart of this case, 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.080 and it's something we're going to be looking at in 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:26.440 exhaustive detail. When the police answered the phone, Taran told 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.000 them she needed them to come get rid of a body, 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:34.840 her body, because she was going to kill herself. I'm 0:02:34.920 --> 0:02:37.920 Catherine Townsend. Over the past eight years of making my 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:41.440 true crime podcast, Helen Gone, I've learned that there's no 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:44.920 such thing as a small town where murder never happens. 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.320 I have received hundreds of messages from people all around 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.720 the country asking for help with an unsolved murder that's 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:56.080 affected them, their families, and their communities. If you have 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.200 a case you'd like me and my team to look into, 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:00.640 you can reach out to us at our Helen Gone 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.120 Murder Line at six seven eight seven four four six 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.720 one four five. That's six seven eight seven four four 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:11.160 six one four five, or you can send us a 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:16.080 message on Instagram at Helen gonepod. This is Helen Gone 0:03:16.560 --> 0:04:04.240 Murder Line. When police got to the tribe As home, 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:08.200 the officer found Tarran hanging from the ceiling near a 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:12.880 ladder in the garage. After the officer cut her down. 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.760 Police investigated the scene and they found a note that 0:04:16.840 --> 0:04:20.440 Tarran had left. She wrote, quote to my family, I 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:23.440 am so sorry, but I just couldn't take it anymore 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:27.560 end quote. Terran said that a dark cloud had been 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:31.160 over her for a long time, so this seemed like 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:34.640 a fairly cut and dried case of suicide. But what 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.920 was the dark cloud she was talking about? Was it 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:43.120 depression or was it something else? According to police records 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.520 that were later ariston court, some of Terran's family and 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:50.320 friends told officers they believed the dark cloud Tarran was 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:55.960 referring to was alleged abuse by her husband, Christopher. Christopher 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.320 and Terran had been together for over a decade. They 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.960 met in South Africa, where they were both originally from. 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:04.840 They started dating and in two thousand and seven they 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:08.000 moved to the UK together. Two years later they got 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:12.000 married and eventually they moved to Swindon. Tarran did have 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.280 some mental health issues. One of the issues she struggled 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:20.080 with was PTSD. Sadly, in South Africa, carjacking is not 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.600 that rare crime and Tarran had witnessed two carjackings while 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.760 she was there, so understandably, Terran was traumatized by this. 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:31.520 According to court records, this led to her receiving a 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:36.360 diagnosis of PTSD post traumatic stress disorder. But even though 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:40.000 she was struggling with PTSD for a long time, Christopher 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:44.400 and Tarran seemed to be a happy, married couple. Christopher 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:46.920 was described by family and friends as being a mild 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:51.120 mannered guy. He worked as a software consultant. Tarren worked 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:54.160 at a local opticians office. She also did some work 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:58.480 in Chris's business. On the outside, everything looked great, but 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:03.040 in twenty fifteen, things between Tarran and Christopher started to 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.920 fall apart. Now exactly what happened between them is something 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:11.240 that is really hotly debated. Tarran described Christopher as a monster. 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.320 He would later describe her as a fantacist and a 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:19.600 pathological liar, but we do know a few facts for sure. 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:24.400 So both Christopher and Terren's families followed them from South 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.600 Africa and ended up settling in the UK as well, 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:32.200 so they saw both families quite a bit. At some point, 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:35.480 Terran's mother in law moved in with Tarran and Christopher 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:39.520 in late twenty fifteen, Tarran and her mother in law 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:43.520 got into an argument, and according to court testimony, that 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.320 fight ended with Teraren asking her mother in law to 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:51.880 move out, and this made Christopher furious. Terran began to 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.880 spiral after that. Now, the prosecution would later claim that's 0:06:55.920 --> 0:07:01.080 when a tsunami of alleged abuse by Christopher began. Terreen 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:03.480 started going to the doctor a lot to report this 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:07.960 alleged abuse. By May of twenty sixteen, Tarreen told her 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:11.200 GP that she sometimes felt life was not worth living. 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:17.720 She visited the GP over one hundred times. Also during 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.920 this time, Terreen's mother, Michelle Baird, later testified in court 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.720 Taren was telling her mom Christopher was controlling when Michelle 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:29.800 would come over. She claimed that Terran would act strangely. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:34.840 Christopher worked from home, and Michelle said Terren would insist 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:38.360 she had to have lunch ready at exactly twelve fifteen pm, 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:42.440 for example, and afternoon tea ready at exactly three fifteen pm. 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.480 Mischelle Belle said Tarran told her she did this because 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.800 Christopher demanded that was how it had to be. Later, 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:54.960 Christopher would completely deny that this was true. When Michelle 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:58.280 asked Christopher how Terreen got some bruises that she was noticing. 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.640 She testified in court. Christopher said it was because Terren 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.640 was an alcoholic and as a result of that and 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:11.000 of taking prescription medicine, Terreen kept falling. Whatever was going on, 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.400 it was clear Terren's mental health was getting worse. She 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:18.760 took several drug overdoses, and on one occasion, just weeks 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:22.680 before she hung herself, she called the police and told 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.960 them that she was going to hang herself. That time, 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.200 the officer arrived on scene and was able to talk 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:33.640 her down, but on November twenty eighth, twenty seventeen, sadly, 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.520 help arrived too late for Terran. She was pronounced dead 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:41.880 at the scene. Christopher Tribus was in Germany on a 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.800 work trip in Stuttgart when he got the call that 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:48.000 his wife was dead. He rushed to the airport and 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:52.360 flew home to Swindon in tears. According to the Guardian's 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:56.480 court report, Christopher said, quote, it's not something anyone can 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.440 prepare themselves for. It's a cliche, but you never think 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.000 it's going to happen to you. So worst day of 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.160 my life, just absolutely terrible. I don't know how else 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:09.680 to describe it end quote. When he got home. He 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.120 insisted that even though Terren had had some problems with 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.640 depression and mental health, he had had no idea how 0:09:16.680 --> 0:09:20.480 bad things really were, and Christopher insisted he had nothing 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:26.720 to do with her death. After conducting an investigation, the 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:31.560 Wiltshire Police determined no further action would be taken against 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:37.160 Christopher Tribus, and Terran's death was ruled a suicide. But then, 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:41.920 in twenty twenty, almost three years later, Terrean's mother, Michelle, 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.440 was going through her daughter's belongings when she found something 0:09:45.560 --> 0:09:50.520 that changed everything. It was an audio recording on Terran's phone. 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:54.920 It was four minutes and fifty seven seconds long. Michelle 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:58.640 listened to slaps and sounds of what she believed were 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:02.600 violence on the recording, and with horror, she believed she 0:10:02.680 --> 0:10:09.920 was listening to tapes of her daughter being raped. Michelle 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:13.320 also found some other things, including a secret file on 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:16.880 Terran's phone, where Terran had saved information about what she 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:22.000 claimed was Christopher's history of alleged violent abuse. There were 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.680 pictures of bruises that Terran had documented, and Tarreen also 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:29.760 kept a diary. Mischelle believed Tarran had been abused and 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:33.080 that this abuse had contributed to her suicide, a theory 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:37.560 that prosecutors later advanced in court and which Christopher Tribus 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.720 always denied. Michelle turned the audio she found over to 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:45.360 the police, and in twenty twenty one one, eventually the 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:49.520 Dorset Police took on the case. This time police stated 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:53.040 that they had found enough evidence to bring charges against Christopher. 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.800 They charged him with manslaughter in connection with Terren's death, 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.840 as well as with two counts of rape and coercive 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:05.680 and controlling behavior. Christopher continued to completely deny that he 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.600 had anything to do with Terren's death. This was a 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:12.960 groundbreaking case because Christopher was not in the country when 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:17.160 Tarran died, so if he was convicted, he would be 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.640 found responsible for her death even though he wasn't there. 0:11:22.680 --> 0:11:25.960 Authorities now had to look back over Christopher and Terran's 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:30.040 entire relationship and compile evidence. It was a case if 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:42.000 he said, she said, but the second person was dead. 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.600 I want to make clear Christopher denied all of the 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:52.800 allegations against him, and he was ultimately acquitted of every charge. 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.400 So the allegations we're talking about here are claims that 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.360 were made in court in medical records and diary entries 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.480 or by witnesses. They are not findings of guilt. I 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:05.760 want to also let you know there is an awesome 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.640 podcast out there if you want to go into the 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:11.880 weeds and really listen to the entire trial. It's called 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.040 The Trial and it was produced by the Daily Mail. 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:19.440 They have actors reading the court testimony and it's fascinating 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:22.840 to see how this case played out. I wanted to 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:26.280 cover this case because there doesn't seem to be a 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:29.800 real US equivalent to the Christopher Tribe's case, at least 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:32.720 not one that I can find where domestic abuse or 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.720 coercive control allegedly led to a suicide and the abuser 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:40.320 was then charged with manslaughter based on that. So let's 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:42.880 back up and talk about coercive control for a minute. 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.480 In the USA, the law is still catching up to 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.920 the concept of coercive control. Domestic violence is still easier 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:53.280 to prove here when there is a documented assault, a 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:57.880 police report, a hospital visit, or something concrete like a 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:05.000 threatening text. But coercive control is about patterns, patterns of isolation, surveillance, 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:10.880 financial pressure, threats, humiliation, and fear. Some US states are 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:15.000 beginning to recognize coerceive control in domestic violence law, but 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:18.800 we do not have a unified national approach like they 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:22.760 do in the UK. This is a super controversial topic 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:26.000 because it raises some tough questions, like the idea that 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.560 someone's behavior can be responsible for someone else's death even 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:35.040 if they're not directly involved. In the US, the closest 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:38.560 comparison that comes to mind to the Tribe's case is 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.280 probably the Michelle Carter case out of Massachusetts, the so 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:46.880 called texting suicide case. In that case, prosecutors argued that 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:51.320 Michelle's pressure caused Conrad Roy's death, and she was convicted 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:56.600 of involuntary manslaughter. But with Christopher and Tarran, prosecutors were 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:00.160 not saying there was one exact text or instruction. Instead, 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:02.920 they were asking a jury to look at an entire 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:07.320 relationship dynamic and decide whether a pattern of alleged abuse 0:14:07.680 --> 0:14:11.000 could legally become a cause of death. But the legal 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.960 landscape does seem to be shifting. The US is beginning 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:18.520 to recognize the idea of coercive suicide in certain context. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.800 In my opinion, in the social media era, where everything 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:27.320 is documented, including people's thought processes, in real time, it's 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.680 easy to imagine more and more cases testing this boundary, 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.000 and that is the question at the center of this case. 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:39.080 When does abuse become a cause of death? The prosecution 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:43.080 called Terrance doctor doctor Tessa Jones. They also talked to 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:47.840 Terren's friend, Taren. Baird's best friend was a woman named 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.960 Carina Silva. She testified in court. Tarreen told her that 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:54.840 Christopher had raped her twice and gotten violent with her 0:14:54.880 --> 0:15:00.080 on several occasions. Karina said Terreen withdrew and eventually became 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:04.440 a shell of her former self. According to the trial podcast, 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:08.680 Tarreen told Karina that during this alleged rape in twenty sixteen, 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:13.040 Chris had strangled her. Terreen had shown Karina photos of 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:16.360 injuries to her neck. Karina begged Teren to get out 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.480 of the relationship. Karina told Terreen she could stay with 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:23.440 her if she needed to. Karina said Teraren would sometimes 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.920 talk about leaving Christopher, but that she never did, and 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:30.040 Karina said this became a pattern. Terreen would come to 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:33.440 her with these graphic details of abuse. Karina would offer 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:36.920 a shoulder to crown and a place to stay, and 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.840 then Terreen would later backtrack and say it hadn't been 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:44.320 that serious. Karina testified Tarreen had told her her that 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:49.520 Christopher hit her around twenty five times now. During this time, 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:53.480 between twenty fifteen and twenty seventeen, Karina and Taren were 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:58.040 also texting. Taren texted Karina photos of what she claimed 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:02.040 were injuries that Christopher had inflicted on her face, neck, 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:07.800 and stomach. In February of twenty seventeen, Taren texted Karina. 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:11.400 She said Christopher had lost his shit and that she 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:15.680 could not take it again again. Karina testified she said 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:19.480 to come over, but Terran never showed up. During this time, 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:23.960 Karina said Terreen started drinking more and more. Taren was 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.080 also writing her thoughts about what was going on at 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:29.800 home in her diary. The diary was presented as evidence, 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.880 and portions of it were read at trial. In an 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:37.200 entry on June twenty third, twenty sixteen, Tarren wrote, quote, 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.720 it started slowly over the years without me even knowing it, 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.560 then progressed into more serious things. He spoke to me, 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:49.040 started getting more condescending. End quote. She also wrote quote 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.960 the second standout moment was one night during sex, I 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.640 felt his hands around my neck. Something in him was 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.760 unleashed that night. Progressively, sex got rougher, and the more 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.840 I fight back, the more he enjoys it. It's like 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.280 there was this side of him hidden all these years. 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:11.800 End quote. So the trial started on February twenty six, 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:15.800 twenty twenty six, at Winchester Crown Court. It went on 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:20.320 for two months. Karina took the stand and testified about 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.240 what Arran had told her regarding the alleged abuse, but 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.720 the defense grilled her. They asked Karina why, if she 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:29.440 really believed Tarn was being abused, why she didn't go 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.880 to the police. Karina said she tried to get Taren 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:35.640 to report the abuse, but she said Tarren didn't want to. 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:39.040 I feel for Karina here because a lot of people 0:17:39.120 --> 0:17:42.400 out there who've experienced domestic violence themselves or had a 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:45.800 friend or a family member dealing with this, have faced 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:49.000 this exact issue. Sometimes it's very hard to know what 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.360 to do when the victim doesn't want to press charges, 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:53.800 because you want to help them get out of the situation, 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:55.920 but at the same time, you don't want to make 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:58.760 things worse, and you also don't want them to stop 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.200 talking to you altogether if they end up going back 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:05.440 to their abuser. The defense attorney pointed out something else, 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:09.680 that Karina's story had evolved since she first spoke to police. 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.760 The defense claim the huge amount of press coverage this 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:18.520 case got had impacted Karina's testimony. They believed that Karina, 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:21.960 when she said that Terreen had been hit twenty five 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.440 times by Christopher, got the number twenty five from a 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:29.600 Daily Mail article that mentioned Terran taking twenty five selfies 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:34.360 of the injuries she allegedly received from Christopher. Karina denied 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.760 getting the number twenty five from the media coverage. Terreen's 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:42.000 GP doctor Tessa Jones, was also testifying that Terran came 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.800 to her over one hundred times over a two year period. 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:51.240 Terarrean was complaining about symptoms she was experiencing, including panic, insomnia, injuries, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:55.440 and PTSD. Doctor Jones said at trial that beginning in 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:58.680 the fall of twenty sixteen, Terren said she was terrified. 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.120 She said Christopher had raped her, strangled her, and beaten 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:05.440 her with objects, including a metal bar. She also said 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.400 he had stalked her and held her head under the 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:12.800 water while she was taking a bath. Doctor Jones testified 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:15.520 Terran had told her she didn't want to contact law 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:18.680 enforcement because Terren believed this would make things worse, and 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:22.160 doctor Jones said she believed Terarren had the capacity to 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:25.800 make her own decisions. The doctor said she was trying 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:27.920 to figure out how to help Teren without putting her 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:32.280 in danger. During this time, Terran was also suffering with 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:37.520 suicidal thoughts, according to doctor Jones's notes, including buying pills 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.120 online and thinking about jumping in front of a train 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:44.120 or off a building. On November twenty seven, seven, the 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:47.320 day before she killed herself, Tarren went in to see 0:19:47.360 --> 0:19:51.640 doctor Jones. On that occasion, according to the notes that 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.920 doctor Jones read from a trial, Tarren told doctor Jones 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.360 that over the past few days Chris had held her 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:02.800 head under the water and beaten her. The next day, 0:20:03.120 --> 0:20:07.920 November twenty eighth, Tarren called her doctor's office again. A 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:13.280 few hours later, she was dead. Doctor Jones's testimony was 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:17.320 crucial for the prosecution because they claimed doctor Jones's notes 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:21.480 showed a pattern of Tarran reporting abuse. They believed this 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:25.560 pointed to Christopher's coercion, But the defense believed the notes 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:29.280 were good for them, especially because during the time when 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:32.280 Tarren was telling her doctor, Christopher was beating her with 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:35.040 a metal pull and holding her head under water. He 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:38.520 was out of the country on a work trip. Several 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:41.280 of Christopher's colleagues testified he was in Germany and the 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:44.760 Netherlands during that time working on a software project, and 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:49.160 there were questions raised by the prosecution about whether Christopher 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:51.480 could have gone back home to the UK during that 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:55.840 time period, but the defense had tons of receipts, flight records, 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:59.600 meal records, and people who worked with Christopher during that 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:04.480 time period and saw him. Doctor Jones testified there did 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:07.440 appear to be a disconnect between what Tarrean said and 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:12.240 what the record showed, and there were other inconsistencies, like 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.760 the fact that Tarrean told one of her cousins she 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:18.760 had fractured ribs and a cheekbone. Meanwhile, doctor Jones said 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:23.080 there were no medical records of fractures. Just like everything 0:21:23.120 --> 0:21:26.080 else in this case, most of the evidence can be 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:31.600 interpreted in two ways, he said versus she said. Do 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.480 the doctor's notes show a woman trapped in a cycle 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:38.000 of violent abuse or someone going through a mental health 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:42.000 crisis and making up stories. Was Taran a victim of 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:47.040 coerci of control or suffering from mental health issues, or 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:50.080 lying or all of the above, or none of the above. 0:21:51.360 --> 0:21:54.680 Christopher took the stand, and not surprisingly, he had a 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:59.240 completely different take on his relationship with Terreen. Christopher said 0:21:59.360 --> 0:22:02.920 not only was he not controlling like the prosecutors claimed, 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:06.480 he said that Terran was the controlling one in their relationship. 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:09.560 He said he was mild mannered and kind of went 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:12.680 with the flow. He said he tended to go along 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:16.120 with what she wanted. Christopher said over the years he 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:18.600 did try to help Terrean with what he called her 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:22.640 mental health issues. He said they thought about how many 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:25.800 work trips he took, but he said he was torn. 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:27.840 He wanted to help her, but he had his own 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:31.160 company and he believed that showing up at these meetings 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:35.640 in person was crucial to continuing to build his business. 0:22:36.280 --> 0:22:40.000 Of course, one can never really know what's going on 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:44.160 inside someone else's marriage, but Christopher brought witnesses who said 0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:48.120 they never saw any abuse, including Terrean's former sister in law, 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:51.760 who testified Terren had sent her photos of injuries over 0:22:51.760 --> 0:22:56.920 the years, but explained them as accidents or feigning. So 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.800 the defense's position was they could prove some of what 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:03.160 Terren said was not true, so if some of it 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:05.640 was not true, it was reasonable to believe all of 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:09.360 it was not true. But if Terran was lying, why 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:12.600 why would she lie over such a long period of 0:23:12.640 --> 0:23:16.040 time and to so many people? And if Christopher wasn't 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:20.560 abusing her, how did she get those injuries? Christopher set 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:23.520 in court some of the injuries were caused by Terren 0:23:23.560 --> 0:23:27.360 falling downstairs or in the bathtub, and that some of 0:23:27.400 --> 0:23:30.840 the bruising had been caused by her using foam rollers, 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:35.400 but the defense also claimed Terran may have injured herself 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:39.680 to get attention. According to expert evidence summarized by Channel four, 0:23:40.320 --> 0:23:43.640 the abdominal bruising became one of the most contested parts 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:47.600 the case. A forensic physician testified the type of bruising 0:23:47.600 --> 0:23:50.720 that Tarren had on her abdomen and neck were similar 0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:54.000 to ones they had seen in cases involving car crashes 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:59.000 or fatal strangulation. These were serious injuries. The doctors said 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:02.120 that in their opinion, it was unlikely that Terran had 0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:05.840 done this to herself, but the defense pointed out all 0:24:05.880 --> 0:24:09.160 of the bruises on Terran were in places Terran could 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:13.240 reach herself, and that Terran had no apparent defensive wounds. 0:24:14.240 --> 0:24:17.400 Doctor Philip Joseph A. Psychiatrist who testified for the defense, 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:21.160 said that in his opinion, Terren's PTSD could have played 0:24:21.200 --> 0:24:24.720 a crucial role in her suicide. We talked before about 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:27.760 the carjackings in South Africa. It turned out that in 0:24:27.760 --> 0:24:31.240 twenty fifteen, Chris and Terren's house in Swindon had a 0:24:31.240 --> 0:24:36.960 home invasion. Doctor Joseph testified he believed that this retriggered 0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:42.400 Terren's PTSD. The doctor explained, this is how PTSD sometimes works. 0:24:42.960 --> 0:24:45.680 After the tram event that triggers the PTSD in the 0:24:45.680 --> 0:24:49.720 first place happens, sometimes subsequent incidents, even if they aren't 0:24:49.720 --> 0:24:53.080 that serious, can retrigger it. He stated that, in his 0:24:53.120 --> 0:24:56.640 medical opinion, Terran should have been taken in for an 0:24:56.680 --> 0:25:01.520 involuntary mental health hold. The doctor also said, in his opinion, 0:25:01.880 --> 0:25:05.360 if Tarran was abused, it could have made her PTSD worse, 0:25:05.880 --> 0:25:09.160 but that it was impossible to say whether domestic abuse 0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:14.480 alone could cause her to take her own life. And then, 0:25:14.640 --> 0:25:18.080 near the end of the trial, Christopher's defense team introduced 0:25:18.120 --> 0:25:21.240 a new and very dramatic piece of evidence, one that 0:25:21.280 --> 0:25:24.000 they claimed could have caused some of Teren's neck injuries. 0:25:24.760 --> 0:25:29.960 A bondage caller. Christopher stated that the caller, which was 0:25:30.000 --> 0:25:32.720 described as a leather like collar with a thin leash, 0:25:33.040 --> 0:25:35.440 was part of a black bunny sex kit that he 0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:38.440 bought online. He said Terarren was the one who encouraged 0:25:38.520 --> 0:25:41.320 him to buy this type of stuff. Christopher said the 0:25:41.360 --> 0:25:45.600 caller might have caused some bruises on her neck. He said, 0:25:45.640 --> 0:25:48.560 after he saw those marks on Arran's neck, he didn't 0:25:48.600 --> 0:25:52.600 want to use that caller again. So were the marks 0:25:52.640 --> 0:25:56.400 on Terran's neck caused by strangulation or could they have 0:25:56.440 --> 0:26:11.120 gotten there through consensual sex. In court, Christopher held up 0:26:11.120 --> 0:26:14.400 the collar and demonstrated how the caller caused the red marks. 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:18.720 And this was a dramatic moment because the prosecutor stated 0:26:18.760 --> 0:26:20.960 the caller was a red herring and that Christopher was 0:26:20.960 --> 0:26:24.640 trying to cover up the fact that he strangled Terran. Meanwhile, 0:26:24.880 --> 0:26:27.360 Christopher said they were just a normal couple who watched 0:26:27.400 --> 0:26:30.800 fifty Shades of Gray and got some ideas. He said 0:26:30.960 --> 0:26:35.680 he never raped or hit his wife. Side note here, 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:38.480 this wasn't like some other cases I've seen where you 0:26:38.520 --> 0:26:42.080 have an accusation of rough sex and the defense claims, well, 0:26:42.560 --> 0:26:46.520 we were having rough sex. Something went wrong. Christopher was 0:26:46.560 --> 0:26:49.440 saying straight up, none of the abuse allegations were true 0:26:49.560 --> 0:26:53.400 at all, that Terran's wild claims were a cry for help, 0:26:54.040 --> 0:26:57.560 that all of it was a lie. The defense attorney, 0:26:57.640 --> 0:27:01.120 Katie Thorne, argued Terran may have become addicted to the 0:27:01.160 --> 0:27:05.320 attention she received after making some of these allegations. Was 0:27:05.400 --> 0:27:08.640 the tape a sexual assault or just a couple having 0:27:08.680 --> 0:27:13.320 a kinky sex life. The prosecution tried to paint Christopher 0:27:13.400 --> 0:27:16.480 as having a nice guy facade. At one point, they 0:27:16.520 --> 0:27:18.600 asked him if he was angry with Terran. He said 0:27:18.640 --> 0:27:21.160 he wasn't. Then they said, well, if none of this 0:27:21.280 --> 0:27:23.880 was true, if she was making all this up, why 0:27:23.920 --> 0:27:27.240