It was a crime that shocked the nation when young mum Rachel Nickell was brutally stabbed to death and sexually assaulted after taking her dog Molly for a walk on Wimbledon Common. Her two-year-old son Alex was the sole witness to the frenzied attack in broad daylight, and was later found clinging to his mum’s body by a passerby.
A high profile police investigation followed, but went after the wrong man, Colin Stagg. The case against him was dismissed following an undercover honeytrap operation but it would take 16 years before the real killer was convicted.
Now the subject of a Netflix three-part drama, The Witness reveals how Rachel’s partner André Hanscombe and their son Alex coped following the immediate aftermath of her death and in the years that followed.
Netflix are also set to release a documentary on the subject entitled The Murder of Rachel Nickell.
Rachel Nickell with partner André Hanscombe and son Alex ©Netflix
Courtesy of André Hanscombe © 2026
What are the controversies surrounding the Rachel Nickell case?
Despite a police investigation involving 54 detectives and three incident rooms, there was no forensic evidence.
Eventually an artist’s impression of the suspect was shown on Crimewatch and some viewers called in to say it looked like Colin Stagg, who also walked his dog on Wimbledon Common. He also matched a psychological profile of the killer. But with no direct evidence, detectives launched an undercover operation with a female police officer to see if his sexual fantasies would reveal any information that only the attacker would know. Eventually Colin Stagg was charged with Rachel Nickell’s murder and he spent 13 months in custody.
At his trial in 1994 the judge excluded the police’s entrapment evidence and with nothing else linking him to the case, Colin Stagg was acquitted.
How was Rachel Nickell’s killer caught?
In November 1993 mum Samantha Bissett was brutally killed in her Plumstead home, along with her four-year-old daughter Jazmine. Samantha’s death bore similarities with Rachel Nickell’s.
‘The forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd, commented on them, because he did the post mortem for Rachel Nickell,’ retired DS Roger Boydell-Smith – who worked on the Bissett investigation – tells TVChoice.
However, detectives investigating Rachel Nickell’s killing were fixated on Colin Stagg and refused to consider a connection between the two.
Robert Napper’s finger prints were found in Samantha Bissett’s home and he was charged with murder.
Ten years after Rachel Nickell’s death, her murder was sent for a cold case review to a company run by Professor Angela Gallop. A new profiling technique was developed that was able to identify the killer’s DNA – something the original investigation hadn’t been able to do. After running the profile through the database, it ruled out Colin Stagg, but identified a new suspect: Robert Napper.
‘It was extremely rewarding,’ Professor Angela Gallop tells TVChoice. ‘It gave the police a name to go and investigate. And it told them that it wasn’t the chap that they’d been investigating for so many years.’
Rachel Nickell with her son Alex ©Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
What was Robert Napper convicted of?
Paranoid schizophrenic Robert Napper was charged with the murders of Samantha and Jazimine Bissett, and pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility in 1995. He also admitted two rapes and two attempted rapes.
He was ordered to be detained indefinitely at Broadmoor Hospital.
In December 2008, Robert Napper also pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Rachel Nickell on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Could Robert Napper have been caught sooner?
Yes. Robert Napper had been named as a suspect in the Green Chain Walk rapes in south east London during the 1980s and his mum even called the police and told them that her son had admitted to raping a woman in Plumstead Common. But detectives failed to investigate properly, leaving him free to carry out the later killings.
What happened to Colin Stagg?
Colin Stagg was cleared of Rachel Nickell’s murder at the Old Bailey in 1994, after spending 13 months on remand, although he remained in the media spotlight for years.
He was subsequently awarded £706,000 in compensation from the Home Office in 2008 for wrongful arrest and gave most of it to family, friends and charity. He says he’s been almost unemployable because of the notoriety, and now lives alone with his dog.
Where are André Hanscombe and Alex Hanscombe now?
André Hanscombe took his son Alex abroad following the death of Rachel Nickell so that he could have a normal upbringing, settling first in France and then Spain, away from the spotlight. Alex later wrote a memoir Letting Go, and The Witness is based on that book.
Both André and Alex were consultants on the drama and are also contributors to the documentary The Murder Of Rachel Nickell.
André Hanscombe now ©Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
When and where does The Witness air?
Three-part true-crime drama The Witness airs on Netflix on 4 June 2026.
When and where does The Murder Of Rachel Nickell air?
The accompanying documentary The Murder Of Rachel Nickell will also air on Netflix on 4 June 2026.
A big fan of comedy, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and W1A are guaranteed to have Nick Fiaca chuckling. He also loves a good detective drama with California PI Jim Rockford from the iconic The Rockford Files topping his list of favourite sleuths. He also boldly dips into the Star Trek universe when he feels like a new enterprise, and loves a good history series.
