Police ‘too busy’ to hear family’s murder fears
‘Devastated that Trigg went free’
A FAMILY who insisted their daughter and sister had been murdered have condemned police who were ‘too busy’ to hear their suspicions.
Caroline Devlin died in 2006 of what pathologists said was a brain haemorrhage.
Five years later the new partner of the 35-year-old’s boyfriend died in almost identical circumstances, and Miss Devlin’s mother Jean became convinced it was not due to natural causes.
It was only after a successful campaign to carry out more thorough post-mortem examinations that killer Robert Trigg, 52, was convicted of Miss Devlin’s manslaughter, and the murder of Susan Nicholson. He was jailed for 25 years in July.
Trigg had told Caroline Devlin’s children there was ‘something wrong’ with their mother and sent them up to the bedroom, where they found her lifeless body.
Miss Devlin’s sister Anne, 51, of Cumnock, Ayrshire, said: ‘When we heard that another of his girlfriends had died in the exact same way, we just knew. How could the police have failed to see what they were dealing with?
‘We are devastated that Trigg had been allowed to go free after killing my sister.’
At the time of her daughter’s death Jean Devlin, from Auchinleck, Ayrshire, reported her suspicions to police in Caroline’s adopted home town of Worthing, West Sussex. But she said: ‘Instead of being taken seriously, I was told they were too busy to talk to me. My daughter had been killed and police refused to listen to me.
‘It was when I read of Susan’s death I knew I had to tell police. I refused to believe two of Trigg’s girlfriends had died of natural causes. The chances were remote.
‘It later emerged that Trigg had a track record of violence against women going back two decades. Long before killing my Caroline.’
Miss Devlin, a mother of four who was raised in Auchinleck, met Trigg in Worthing. She lived with her children Gemma, then 16, Jordan, 13, Cody, ten, and Brandon, nine. But the the relationship was marred by Trigg’s violent outbursts and neighbours reported he would lash out while drunk.
Miss Devlin was found dead in bed by Jordan as he went to make her a Mother’s Day breakfast.
A post mortem examination concluded she had died from a brain haemorrhage. Mrs Devlin said: ‘When I heard another of Trigg’s partners, Susan Nicholson, had died, I knew Caroline had been killed. I contacted her parents, Peter and Elizabeth Skelton. They, too, refused to believe their daughter had not been murdered.’
Trigg told police he accidentally smothered Miss Nicholson as they slept on a sofa. Despite the Skeltons’ protests an inquest ruled she had died accidentally.
Both families were distraught that Trigg was not being investigated. Justice for the victims only came about when the Skeltons hired top pathologist Dr Nat Cary to look into the deaths.
He examined Miss Devlin’s post mortem results and decided she had died from asphyxiation and that Miss Nicholson did not die from accidental suffocation.
Mrs Devlin said: ‘Trigg had been battering women since the age of 17, going back to his first partner. If he had been locked up, Caroline and Susan would be alive today. It defies belief that police allowed him to continue to kill women.’
A Sussex Police spokesman said: ‘Reviews are being conducted into how the case was handled and the complaints prior to the police investigation.’