I caught a murderer with tarot cards
As Jayne Braiden, 56, shuffled the cards and began the reading, she suddenly realised just who was sitting opposite…
My first job as a teenager changed my life. Working in a snack bar on the Brighton seafront I got talking to a palmist, known as Madam Julia.
I’d watch her in awe as she’d study the lines of strangers’ hands, revealing their destinies. Having grown up with a sixth sense, I felt I’d found where I belonged.
I learnt to interpret the premonitions in my dreams and, as the months passed, I was drawn to tarot cards. As I flicked through a pack I instantly knew each of the cards’ characters and how they reacted to the other. ‘It’s like a family wedding,’ I thought. ‘Fine individually, but sit the wrong ones together and there’s trouble.’
While I would have loved to make my living from tarot readings, I reckoned I needed to get some life experience first. So, I made a living doing various jobs, including catering, to pay the bills.
Then, in February 1991, when I was 31, my daughter Chileeka was born. Becoming a single mum, I needed to find a permanent job. And on Boxing Day, while pushing Chileeka, then 10 months, in her buggy, I spotted an empty shop on Brighton seafront. It seemed the perfect place to open my own tarot card reading shop.
A new beginning
Of course, it was a gamble, but something told me it was meant to be. The next day I called the number on the sign and within three months JJ Tarot had opened.
Soon I was seeing all sorts of people. One young woman had four children but seemed incredibly naive. ‘Why do I keep having babies?’ she asked. I realised this wasn’t one for the cards and I ended up giving her a chat about the facts of life. Others wanted help with their weight. I’d encourage them to join a diet club – they found it easier to hear it from me than their own doctor.
Then there were the married women whose cards revealed they were having an affair. ‘I see two men,’ I’d say and they would blush and deny everything before eventually confirming it.
Charging £20 for a 20-minute reading, I had a lot of regular customers. I’d never reveal anyone’s identity, but they included city businessmen, senior politicians and famous actresses. They could talk to me better than anyone else. I was like a counsellor, except I had my cards alongside a box of tissues and, over the years, I reckoned I’d heard it all.
Then, in September 2014, a smart, clean-shaven man came into the shop who I hadn't seen before. He was a mature student and said he was having trouble at college. He felt his tutor was being mean to him. I read the cards and advised him to talk to his tutor’s boss and he left feeling happy.
Eight months later, on May bank holiday 2015, he came in again. I recognised him immediately, only this time he seemed more anxious. Handing over £40 he asked for a double reading. I shuffled the cards and asked him to pick out 10. The first was The Blasted Tower. It symbolised a serious row. Then The Emperor, the dominant
‘He broke down in tears’
male, and The Devil. I stared at them in shock – in themselves they were a terrifying combination. Only then I saw the final three cards he’d selected – Judgement, Justice and Imprisonment. It seemed the man understood what he’d picked because he started to cry. ‘I can see it’s really bad,’ I said, trying to keep calm. He nodded. ‘It’s terrible, I killed him,’ he sobbed.
Grisly details
I swallowed, in shock. My senses told me this wasn't accidental, but murder. ‘You need to tell me everything,’ I said, trying to sound calm.
‘I stabbed Derick, my room-mate,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to. It was awful.’
I began to see images, a picture of a body lying on the floor. ‘I need to call the police,’ I said. ‘Is that OK?’
While my tarot readings were supposed to be confidential, I couldn’t keep this secret. The man nodded, giving me the address of the flat where the body could be found. Outside I dialled 999. ‘I’m a tarot card reader and a man has come into my shop and confessed to murder,’ I began.
I knew it probably sounded far-fetched and clearly the operator didn’t believe me either. ‘You need to ring another number,’ the operator said, giving me the one for non-emergencies. But I insisted. Then he told me I’d have to wait up to an hour for officers to get to me.
I couldn’t believe it. How was I meant to keep hold of a killer for that long? Putting down the phone, I went back in and saw the man looking pale and shaky. He told me his name was Star. I gave him some water and asked him what had happened. ‘It was 10 days ago,’ he said. ‘Me and him got into an argument and I stabbed him in the kitchen.’ I asked Star if I could take notes as he talked and he nodded. He said he’d initially tried to stop the bleeding but had then left Derick for dead on the kitchen floor. Worse still, he’d been living with the body for 10 days.
‘I couldn’t keep this secret’
Agonising wait
By now Star looked agitated and I felt myself panicking too. What if he left? What if he turned violent? It had been 45 minutes since I’d called the police. ‘If you’d dropped your chewing gum on the street outside, the police would’ve been here sooner,’ I joked, nervously. He laughed too. But I knew our fragile relationship couldn’t last forever…
Then, finally, I heard a car pull up outside. It was the police and, as two officers took Star away, I handed him a small clay medallion, which symbolised strength. ‘Whatever happens, just tell the truth,’ I said, and I also gave the police the notes I’d taken of his confession.
Half an hour later, a CID officer arrived to tell me the body had been found. I was so shocked and officers apologised for the delay in getting help to me. A member of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team also commended me, calling my actions courageous.
Five months later, in October, Star Randel-hanson appeared at Lewes Crown Court, pleading not guilty to murder. I was called to give evidence and heard how during a row, Derick Marney, 70, had been stabbed twice with an 8in knife, piercing all his vital organs and leaving a 6in wound in his side. But days later I was told Star had sacked his legal team, meaning there would now have to be a retrial.
That was held in May at Croydon Crown Court and Star, 50, was finally convicted of murder and jailed for life to serve a minimum of 15 years in prison.
Looking back, I have no regrets about what I did. People say I’m brave for keeping a murderer in my shop for so long. But as far as I see it, it was my duty.
Judgement, Justice and Imprisonment were spelled out in the cards. Who was I to argue with a reading like that?