Shaun Armstrong
Shaun Armstrong brutally murdered four-year-old Rosie Palmer, after luring her into his apartment and raping her. He shoved her body into a rubbish bag, which he then threw into an airing cupboard. Later that night, he was spotted running in and out of the sea with his dog, and what appeared to just be drunken stumbling, was actually him attempting to wash off Rosie's blood.
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When police investigated the following two days, Armstrong was apparently friendly and cooperative, a huge contrast to the third day where he was described as 'shifty, on edge, and looking very worried.' This and his incestuous past was enough for them to arrest him and search his flat, where Rosie's body was found.
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Bernard decided that he needed to write to Armstrong - maybe he could accomplish the same thing that he did with Blenkey and save a family from a long and painful trial. So, he initially decided to write as Patrick King, a man who wanted to help Armstrong in any way he saw fit; a real 'Mr Nice', as Bernard put it.
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However, this soon descended into requests from Armstrong for things like cigarettes and financial assistance, so Bernard invented another character: Laurna Jane Stephens. Bernard said from Laurna's first correspondence with Shaun, he was 'smitten', and he rarely received letters for 'Patrick' again.
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Armstrong began to share false traumas about his life, possibly in the hopes of gaining some sympathy, even claiming he had cancer at one stage. But, Laurna made it clear that she hoped to assist him with his case, but he was unresponsive and said that he wouldn't hurt her with gruesome details.
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Then, using Shaun's declarations of love against him, 'Laurna' said that she couldn't enter into a relationship with him if there were any secrets between them, so she needed the truth.
A few letters later he came close to admitting guilt, but it wasn't yet enough to put him behind bars for good. Bernard needed a bargaining chip, so sent Shaun a photo of 'Laurna', which he had been requesting for a while, along with a phone number.
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In the phone call that followed, Armstrong admitted he 'did it', but didn't confirm that 'it' was the murder of Rosie. This wasn't enough, so in a following letter, 'Laurna' said that she deserved to know the truth about the murder, to which Armstrong said 'Yes, love, I am responsible for the crime I am accused of', and then revealed details about the events that took place before the murder.
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The letters were handed over to officers, and then to Armstrong's defense team, when Armstrong realised what had happened and confessed all to his psychiatrist.
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However, even after realising that the he had been tricked, he wrote to Laurna one last time. On 6 July 1995 he wrote, 'I really believed the things you said in your letters. I’ll give credit where it’s due. You were very good at it. Write soon, heartbreaker.'
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On the 27th July, the trial commenced and lasted just 30 minutes. Armstrong pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to a minimum term of 16 years, before he could be considered for parole. However, because Armstrong (like Blenkey) was only charged for the murder, not the sex offences, he wasn't obliged to sign on the Sex Offenders Register if he is released.
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In 2001, Armstrong tried to sue Bernard for 'breaching his right to confidentiality and violating his right to respect for his private life' for £15,000. Bernard didn't want to pay even 15p. This dropped on June 28th 2002.
The phonecall between Armstrong and 'Laurna':
Reporter: “Your lawyer said about temporary insanity? Would that work, do you think?”
Armstrong: “I hope it does. If I plead guilty I get off with less time, because you haven’t wasted the court’s time, you see. If I went in and pleaded not guilty, and got guilty. I’ll get at least ten years more.”
Reporter: “So what are you going to plead?”
Armstrong: “Well, I don’t know that, you see, they haven’t got a case against us yet. The only thing they’re going to build the case on is forensic evidence if they can get any. I’ve been in here seven months and they haven’t got a damn bit of evidence yet.”
Reporter: “Earlier on you said you did it.”
Armstrong: “Oh yes, but they don’t know that, they can’t prove it because I haven’t told them so.”
Reporter: “Do you remember anything about it?”
Armstrong: “I remember going out in the morning (here he laughs). I don’t remember going home.”
Reporter: “But you know you did it?”
Armstrong: “Oh yeah.”
Reporter: “Doesn’t it haunt you or anything, doesn’t it bother you?”
Armstrong: “Oh it does, of course it does.”
Reporter: “So what are the chances of getting away with it then?”
Armstrong: “I can’t go into great detail, because it might upset you too much.”
Shaun Armstrong
Shaun's life had never really been normal - his father was also his mothers' father, and throughout his life, he was subject to sexual abuse from his mother.
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He spent much of his childhood isolated with no real friends or healthy relationships. Most romantic relationships he had were with women older than him who had children of their own, with some alleging that he abused those children.
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Later in life, he was continuously in and out of prison, he struggled with alcoholism, and he even attempted to take his own life on multiple occasions - a cry for help.
Bernard describes him as a ticking bomb, with the explosion of all his trauma and rage resulting in the murder of Rosie Palmer on June 30th, 1994.
