VICTIMS FORGOTTEN
Campaigners demand action to protect women from the violence of men
Iain Packer denied being responsible for Emma Caldwell’s death in television interviews recorded more than two years ago.
In a BBC Scotland documentary, Disclosure: Who Killed Emma?, reporter Sam Poling told how Packer contacted her to tell his story after being revealed as the forgotten suspect.
In two on-screen interviews, she questions him over Emma’s death and asks if he was responsible. He replies: “I never killed her. I knew Emma, yes. I had seen Emma before. Did I see her the night she was killed? No, I never.
“I can look you in the eye and say I had nothing to do with it whatsoever. I’m not a violent person. I can assure you it wasn’t me that done it. I came to you because I was innocent.
“Why would I contact you to make a programme if I had done this? It doesn’t make sense. Why would I put myself out there?”
He repeatedly denies being a violent man in the interview but, soon after, was charged with throttling his former partner. In February 2020, he was sentenced to two years – he was freed in February – and it emerged in court he had three previous convictions for domestic violence.
Yesterday, one of his victims said: “Emma’s death must be thoroughly
investigated and, for everyone’s sake, I would urge the police to follow every line of inquiry.”
And, having watched the 2018 documentary, body language expert Adrienne Carter, a specialist in facial expressions, emotions and behaviour, said the interviews were revealing.
She said: “Facial expressions and body language are a rich source of information regardless of what is spoken by a person.
“When there is a mismatch between what is said and what is shown on the face or by the body, the words become noise and the truth is what is shown.”
Carter said Packer, who formerly worked maintaining neon signs, exhibits “duper’s delight” during the TV interviews, suggesting he believes he is manipulating and controlling the conversation.
She said his smiling at apparently inappropriate moments is one indicator while putting his tongue in his cheek when Poling is speaking is another: “People do it when they think they are getting one over on someone.”
Carter said: “When he is answering without deception there’s lots of movement in his head and body but when it gets to points that are more contentious his head and body become still. He may be holding in the truth and regulating himself to exhibit what he thinks is truthful behaviour.” Carter said that when denying killing Emma, Packer’s body language – a slight shrug of the shoulder – suggests he does not have confidence in what he is saying. And when he says “I never touched her”, Carter says: “There’s a pronounced one-sided shoulder shrug. That is commonly an indicator of an untruth.”
Criminologist and former police officer, Jane Monckton-Smith, also believes Packer’s willingness to be interviewed on camera could, in itself, be significant and suggestive of controlling personality traits.
The professor of public protection at the University of Gloucester said Packer’s apparent determination to tell his story publicly could be viewed as a narcissistic attempt to portray himself as victim.
She said his demeanour seemed both unsettling and controlling on-screen but added: “The fact he volunteered to do these interviews is of as much significance as what he actually said.
“We owe it to Emma and her mother and family to ensure whoever did murder her is brought to justice. I’ve spent a lifetime working with victims of violent crimes and they never recover from the loss of a loved one.
“Justice won’t ever heal their pain, but it can help.”