The most recent installment of the “Redhanded Podcast” is on the double homicide of Nicholas and Elizabeth Newall inside their home in October 1987 on the island of Jersey. Before one of the murderers admitted to the crime to a relative who had been set up by the police, the deaths had remained a mystery for more than half a decade. If you’re interested in the case, including the specifics and whereabouts of the culprits, we’ve got you covered. So let’s get started, shall we?
How Did Nicholas and Elizabeth Newall Die?
While working at New Park School in St. Andrews, a seaside community on Scotland’s east coast northeast of Edinburgh, Nicholas and Elizabeth Newall became friends. Their eldest son, Roderick, was born while they lived in Newton Mearns after being married in the early 1960s. Mark, their younger son, was born there. Nicholas came from an affluent family since his father, prominent Scottish industrialist Archibald Newall, was. Also, the pair enjoyed sailing and owned a yacht.
The Newalls made the decision to depart Scotland and set sail for the West Indies in 1968 while the boys were still infants. In order to pick up a babysitter for the kids, they made a detour in Jersey. But when she fell ill on the trip, the family went back and eventually lived on the island. Elizabeth worked as a substitute teacher, and Nicholas taught in a number of the island’s schools. He gave up teaching at the age of 52 due to a persistent viral ailment. Despite this, sources claimed Nicholas didn’t need a job because he was a Lloyd’s underwriter with a £250,000 spare income.
The Newall pair were content and extroverted on the show, with Nicholas coming across as a little pretentious yet endearing. They were described as a close-knit, sometimes “self-absorbed” couple who did everything together, including playing tennis, swimming, and strolling. Elizabeth and Nicholas seemed to love one other more than anything or anyone else, possibly even their boys. After attending school in Jersey for about a year, Roderick and Mark’s parents sent them off to boarding school when they were seven and six years old, respectively.
The Newall lads attended Radley College in Oxfordshire after attending Lockers Park Preparatory School in Hemel Hempstead. Before selling it and purchasing a humble bungalow in 1987, their parents lived in a lavish property set on a hill overlooking the beach at Greve de Lecq. With their children leaving home and establishing themselves, they were no longer in need of the enormous mansion. At the former Seacrest Hotel close to Corbiere, the Newall family honoured Elizabeth’s 48th birthday on October 10, 1987.
According to sources, their home in Clos de L’Antique’s sitting room saw the murder of 56-year-old Nicholas and the bludgeoning of their wife, Elizabeth, with a rice flail, in the sitting room. Yet, it was not until the great storm and worried friends pushed them to return to Jersey from the United Kingdom and formally declare their parents missing that they were reported as missing by their sons. Although there were many rumours and conspiracy theories on the island, there were no bodies or other physical remains, so the case was still one of missing persons.
Who Killed Nicholas and Elizabeth Newall?
Roderick and Mark were self-sufficient from a very young age. The former joined the Royal Green Jackets’ third battalion in October 1983. At Sandhurst, he completed his officer training, and he was given a commission. Mark joined investors Barclaytrust in 1984, and by 1986, he was undergoing training at an Arab bank to become a dealer in Eurobonds. Afterwards, he was moved to the company’s Paris office from its London location. He quickly accumulated his modest wealth and was given the majority of his father’s investment holdings.
The Newalls’ financial condition appeared to be going in a much better direction in 1987. Nicholas and his twin brother Stephen, an engineer and businessman in Glasgow, were the recipients of a pre-death gift from an elderly Scottish uncle, Kenneth, who lived on the island of Sark. It is uncertain if the amount, which is believed to have been £500,000, was paid before the couple passed away. In 1988, when the Newalls’ burned-out, blood-spattered clothing and other items were found in the ashes of a bonfire, the police made their first significant progress.
The family home is not far from the bonfire. Authorities sent a forensics team to the bungalow out of suspicion, and they found cleaned-up blood streaks in the bedroom and sitting room. The police became certain that the couple had been murdered as a result. The bodies were never discovered despite significant search efforts. The brothers received their parents’ home and money, totaling over a million pounds, three years after Nicholas and Elizabeth were fatally shot. The main reason for the murder, according to the episode, was not only money but also the claimed disregard their parents showed to them as children.
Even though the sons were suspected, the authorities lacked the proof necessary to place them under custody until Roderick Newall was duped into making a tape-recorded confession by his father’s twin brother some five years later. Nonetheless, he eluded capture and made his way to Mexico before being abruptly apprehended on international waters by a Royal Navy ship. Roderick was returned to Jersey after 18 months of battling extradition from Gibraltar. He led the authorities to the location in the Greve de Lecq forests where he and his brother had interred the remains of their parents. The brothers had been able to conceal and cover the burial place thanks to the storm that week.
Where is Roderick Newall Now?
In 1994, Roderick, then 41, was found guilty of murdering his parents by beating them to death in their Jersey home and was sentenced to life in prison. His brother, Mark, was only charged with planning to cover up the deaths even though he was sentenced after confessing to the crimes. He completed his sentence in a little more than three years and received their parents’ wealth. In the end, Mark leveraged his knowledge to boost the revenue within ten years to approximately £3 million.
Roderick was released in 2006 after serving his 12-year sentence. The former Royal Greenjackets officer was a prisoner at West Sussex’s Ford Open facility. While inside, he was already assisting teenagers with computer issues as an IT professor at Chichester College. According to what he allegedly told his coworkers, Roderick went back to Jersey after being freed and reconnected with Mark.
The Newalls made the decision to depart Scotland and set sail for the West Indies in 1968 while the boys were still infants. In order to pick up a babysitter for the kids, they made a detour in Jersey. But when she fell ill on the trip, the family went back and eventually lived on the island. Elizabeth worked as a substitute teacher, and Nicholas taught in a number of the island’s schools. He gave up teaching at the age of 52 due to a persistent viral ailment. Despite this, sources claimed Nicholas didn’t need a job because he was a Lloyd’s underwriter with a £250,000 spare income.
The Newalls’ financial condition appeared to be going in a much better direction in 1987. Nicholas and his twin brother Stephen, an engineer and businessman in Glasgow, were the recipients of a pre-death gift from an elderly Scottish uncle, Kenneth, who lived on the island of Sark. It is uncertain if the amount, which is believed to have been £500,000, was paid before the couple passed away. In 1988, when the Newalls’ burned-out, blood-spattered clothing and other items were found in the ashes of a bonfire, the police made their first significant progress.