HOW POLICE CAUGHT UP WITH KILLER HIDING BEHIND SOFA
IT WAS meant to be a fun weekend away with friends for teenager Conner Marshall.
But while staying at Trecco Bay Caravan Park in Porthcawl in March 2015, 18-year-old Conner was beaten to death in a brutal attack by a known criminal.
After an evening at an amusement park and sports bar, Conner was killed in an unprovoked attack in a case of mistaken identity.
Attacker David Braddon, from Caerphilly, had mistaken the popular teenager for his estranged partner’s former boyfriend.
At the time, Braddon was under supervision for previous offences, as part of a system which aims to rehabilitate criminals in the community.
He had previously been convicted of assaulting a police officer and had also been involved in domestic abuse and an animal welfare offence.
Braddon was also on curfew and ordered to attend anti-drugs and alcohol meetings, but had missed eight appointments.
High on Valium and alcohol, he battered Conner with a pole and kicked him in the face and ribs, before leaving him for dead.
Braddon only realised he had got the wrong man when he used his phone light to check out his face and saw it was a “young boy”.
The next morning, Conner was found by another holidaymaker, who had been woken up by groaning sounds, under a caravan.
The teenager was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in a coma, suffering from hypothermia after Braddon had stripped off his clothes, hoping to humiliate him.
Conner was admitted to the intensive care unit with swelling of the brain, a haemorrhage in his eyes, and a cut to his forehead. He died four days later.
Braddon was eventually jailed for life for the horrific attack after he fled to Scotland and was caught by police hiding behind a sofa.
Police have now revealed how they caught the killer in a new ITV show, Crime Files.
South Wales Police visited more than 200 caravans looking for witnesses as part of Operation Kenya, as well as speaking to his friends about what had happened that night.
CCTV showed Conner buying beer in a shop with friends, before leaving a bar on site and heading to a sports bar.
It then showed them leaving the bar before heading back to the caravan at about 2am.
Half an hour later, Conner was captured on CCTV walking around outside, heading towards his caravan.
When police arrived at the scene of the attack, they found a metal pole under a caravan with blood on it.
On it, was a fingerprint which led them to David Braddon.
The 26-year-old had a string of convictions – from drug offences to assaulting a police officer. But when officers went to pay him a visit, he wasn’t there.
CCTV had caught Braddon leaving Trecco Bay by car early on Sunday morning, before being dropped at Caerphilly station the next day. He travelled to the north of England via London.
But while police interviewed his mother, he rang her. She told him to hand himself in, but he refused.
Police managed to track him down in Glasgow. Braddon was found hiding behind a sofa and he was arrested five days after the attack.
When questioned, Braddon admitted he made a mistake.
“He was walking ahead of me the first time I recall him,” Braddon said during a police interview.
“He just turned around, there was like no-one else about, it was darkness. Started saying ... I don’t know ... Started arguing, swearing and that. He started swearing back so I just assumed it was him...”
He added: “We started fighting and it just got out of control. I smacked his legs once or twice. I didn’t want to cause him serious damage.
“I wanted to humiliate him. So I stripped his clothes, chucked his clothes on top of the cara- vans. Punched him one more time and that was it.
“Got my phone out and checked his face. He start- ed speaking. I thought he’d get up and I panicked and went.
“I just want to say I’m sorry for his family,” he said.
“His friends and his ****ing sister and that to ****ing see him like that. I didn’t mean to ****ing kill him.”
The ordeal left Conner’s mum Nadine stunned. She had answered the door on her birthday, thinking Conner had come to visit for lunch.
Instead, police were there. Nadine was told her son was in intensive care.
“On the Sunday, it was my birthday,” she said. “Conner loved a Sunday dinner and we’d arranged to get all the family together for a meal to celebrate and catch up, before he went on to work.
“I was expecting him back early. But there was a knock on the door earlier than I expected. It was eight o’clock and I expected to see Conner, but it was the police.
“A bed came through from one part of the hospital to the other. I remember seeing Conner and not even recognising him.
“He was just a mess. I remember praying, shouting at Conner, shaking him, pleading with him. I could deal with any situation as long as he woke up. As long as he was OK. But that moment never came.”
Since then, his parents have tried to find out more about their son’s death, including asking the coroner for a full inquest to take place. No date has yet been announced.
You can watch Crime Files at itv.com