THE KILLER AND THE MISTRESS A new documentary probes how a bizarre love triangle led to the murder of a British wife and mother.

A new documentary probes how a bizarre love triangle led to the murder of a British wife and mother

The shockingly weird murder case of British mum Carole Packman was just what Mark WilliamsThomas had been looking for. In 2015, the former detective had been on the hunt for an intriguing case for a truecrime documentary to be produced by music mogul and TV producer Simon Cowell, and this one grabbed him: a woman, fed up with her cheating husband, disappears, and despite her body never being found her husband is convicted of her murder. But did he do it? Or was someone else involved? Or is she still alive? It would be the UK’S answer to Making a Murderer, the hit Netflix series that threw doubt on the murder conviction of Wisconsin man Steven Avery. “We wanted to choose a case that wasn’t particularly high-profile, but had lots of dimensions,” WilliamsThomas, 47, tells WHO. “And one that I genuinely felt, if we gave it a thorough investigation, we were going to find something else out.”

Mission accomplished. The Investigator: A British Crime Story, which screened in the UK last year and premieres on the Seven Network from Feb. 16, gleaned enough fresh information about Carole’s suspected murder that the case has now been reopened in England, with investigators reportedly homing in on a person of interest. Says Williams-thomas: “We are moving in the right direction.”

It’s good news for Carole and Russell’s daughter, Samantha, who was 16 when her mother disappeared in a crime that had all the hallmarks of a Hollywood thriller: a mistress, jealousy, greed and deception (see box). Now a 47year-old wife and mother of one, Samantha is desperate to know the whereabouts of her mum’s body. “Samantha approached

“I thought, ‘I’ve got to help this woman’ ” —Mark Williams-thomas

me and said, ‘You know what, Mark? This is my last shot,’ ” recalls Williams-thomas of Samantha’s hopes for answers about her mother’s vanishing. “She had approached just about everyone and got nowhere. And I thought, ‘I’ve got to do something to help this woman.’ ”

He did, but regrets being unable to determine Carole’s final resting place. “I wish I could have given her that answer,” he says. “One day, those who know, and that could be one or two people, will give it up.”

The Investigator: A British Crime Story begins Thursday, Feb. 16, at 9.30 PM on Seven.