Kirsty was failed by probe into her death, says expert
‘All sorts of potential evidence’
THE death of a woman who fell from a hotel balcony was not investigated properly, a leading forensic expert has said.
Kirsty Maxwell died in mysterious circumstances in April 2017 while on a hen party weekend.
The 27-year-old, from Livingston, West Lothian, fell from the balcony of a room occupied by five British men on the tenth floor of the Apartamentos Payma in Benidorm.
Professor Jim Fraser, who has more than 40 years of experience in forensic science, reviewed the case on behalf of her family. He said the judge-led Spanish police probe into the death was ‘inadequate’ and vital opportunities to find out what happened were missed.
The academic, a professor of forensic science at Strathclyde University, said the hotel room should have been treated as a crime scene until foul play could be ruled out.
No DNA samples were taken from Mrs Maxwell’s clothes and it later emerged they had been destroyed the day after a postmortem examination.
A Spanish judge ruled in September 2019 there was ‘no evidence’ the room’s occupants, a group of friends from Nottingham, were involved in the tragedy but Kirsty’s family have pressed for further investigations into what happened.
Professor Fraser said: ‘The thing about the Kirsty Maxwell case is it just wasn’t investigated adequately, that’s the bottom line. You had a crime scene there that wasn’t managed as a crime scene, you had a death, things might have happened that were potentially criminal and led to a death.
‘There was the very odd situation where Kirsty ended up in this flat further up. There was all sorts of potential evidence.
‘There were cigarette ends and then you had the destruction of the clothing within 24 hours. That doesn’t mean to say it was a suspicious death or a murder but you don’t know until you investigate it properly.’
He said right at the beginning ‘somebody should have taken a deep breath and said, ‘‘We need some criminal investigators here’’, adding: ‘In my view the judge-led investigation was simply inadequate.’
Professor Fraser was speaking on Swindle’s Search for The Truth, a podcast by former detective David Swindle.
The forensic specialist’s report on the case was presented to the Spanish courts by the lawyer for Kirsty’s family but the findings were not accepted.
He said: ‘I am a bit surprised it went so wrong because we know there is a history of deaths abroad... and they have happened in Spain before.
‘I would have thought the Spanish police would have got to the point where they would think, “Balcony deaths – red flag. Be a bit careful.”’ Mrs Maxwell, who married husband Adam only months before the tragedy, fell from the balcony less than 12 hours after arriving in Benidorm.
She had returned to her apartment on the ninth floor in the early hours and was filmed asleep shortly before 7am on the morning she died. About an hour later, it is thought she mistakenly entered a room on the floor above, which was occupied by the five British men.
The legal team for Mrs Maxwell’s parents, Brian and Denise Curry, say the judge mistakenly made the amount of alcohol Mrs Maxwell drank the night before her death a defining factor in what happened to her.
‘Investigation was inadequate’