Tonight’s episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody takes a dark turn after the discovery of a woman who had been missing for 12 years.
Natalia Doherty was found in her brother-in-law, Daniel Doherty’s garden. She was face-down in a shallow grave, amongst a pile of rubbish.
Her body had been attacked by animals, with one of her arms missing.
It’s a dramatic twist in a missing persons cold case, reviewed on the latest episode of the Channel 4 crime series.
In it, we see Luton police re-investigate the crime, which soon becomes a murder enquiry.
Speaking at the start of the show, Detective Graham McMillan said: “There is a grieving family who haven’t seen or heard from their mother for over twelve years now, so it’s really important that we find out what has happened and put those pieces together for the family, whatever that may be.”
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The police begin the show by reviewing the evidence.
The prime suspect at the time of her disappearance was Natalia’s husband Gerald Doherty, but he has since committed suicide.
Without a suspect, police instead follow up on claims from Gerald’s brother, Joe, who says Gerald killed his wife, cut up her body and disposed of the pieces in Tesco carrier bags and bins around Bedfordshire.
The inspectors then visit Gerald’s other brother, Daniel, as he was the last person to see Natalia alive.
And when they check his garden, they notice suspicious mounds of earth.
A police operation to dig up Daniel’s garden finds the remains of Natalia, as a forensic archaeologist confirms to the camera: “It’s an elbow… that’s a finger.”
Detective Sergeant McMillan explains: “When the digger pulled back the rubble and then they saw a bone, my first reaction then was joy. But to see Natalia’s skeleton face-down, that was a shock to me.
“She’s just been discarded, she’s just been dumped and rubbish piled on top of her. Nobody deserves that, nobody.”
After the gruesome discovery, police interview Joe and Daniel, but without much success.
Police officer Rachel Weeks shows Daniel pictures of the body, telling him: “I’m going to show you some photos now. This is Natalia.
“What I can tell you is, she’s been thrown down there, face-down. It’s quite disrespectful. And she’s not been covered by mud, she’s had rubbish thrown on top of her.
“What I can also tell you, just about here, there’s an animal tunnel, nest. Possibly a badger or a fox, something that size. And they’ve actually taken some of her limbs.
“At the moment, part of her right arm’s missing. So she’d just been left to be scavenged on by animals.”
Daniel refused to comment and shockingly, when the case came to court in 2016, he was formally cleared of all charges.
His brother, Joseph Doherty pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for 12 months.
Meanwhile, Natalia was finally laid to rest properly after 13 years, with a funeral attended by her family.
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* 24 Hours In Police Custody is on tonight at 9pm on Channel 4
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