Channel 4 have got the nation talking this week with their landmark series, The Trial: A Murder in the Family. Presenting a fake case to a jury of 12 random jurors, the case is put forward that Simon Davis (played by actor Michael Gould) murdered his semi-estranged wife Carla, with real-life lawyers and a now-retired judge presiding over the proceedings.
Will Simon Davis be found guilty or not guilty?
As we saw in last night’s (May 24) episode of the five-part show, closing statements were made and the jury were sent to deliberate on whether they would be finding the defendant guilty or not guilty for the murder of his wife. It’s fair to say that they were incredibly split as to whether or not the evidence presented was enough to convict him on.
Defence barrister John Ryder introduced uncertainty for the first time when he introduced the jury to a second man in Carla’s wife – the one she was having an affair with and eventually left Simon for – Lewis Skinner. As her new boyfriend, Skinner was for all those who saw him the perfect man. This didn’t stop Carla from going back to Simon behind Skinner’s back however, with the estranged wife eventually falling pregnant with Simon’s baby.
So is Simon Davis guilty or not guilty? Like the jury members, we’re undecided. After all, we’ve only seen a couple of hours of actual testimony and evidence presented, whereas in reality, this fake case will have been going on for many hours over a period of many days. What we’re going to do however is look at some of the biggest pieces of evidence that have been presented, and hopefully they can help you come to a decision from the comfort of your own home…
Simon’s DNA on Carla’s neck
We saw in last night’s (May 24) episode that there was a substantial amount of DNA evidence found on Carla’s neck from Simon, as well as from Carla herself. Whilst this seems like it could be huge, the two were continuing to enjoy a sexual relationship behind Lewis’ back, and so the DNA could simply be from a night of passion. We also know that Carla and Lewis hadn’t had sex for some time, so the same cannot be said for those two.
The pair’s history of violence
Simon has a history of being violent to his partners when he snaps or is pushed into territory out of his control. He slapped an ex-wife of his and grabbed Carla around the mouth when she shouted at him, claiming it was out of annoyance that she could wake up their child.
Lewis meanwhile was expelled from the police force for excessively harming somebody he had in custody whilst serving as an officer. He plead not guilty during the trial against him but was found guilty and dismissed from the force. If the jury are to take violent history into account, they’ll have to do so for both of the men.
Lewis’ phone being in airplane mode to “save battery”
Right around the time of the murder, when police would have loved to have known exactly what Lewis Skinner was up to and where he was, he decided to put his phone on airplane mode to save battery. He even admitted to knowing that when you put your mobile phone in airplane mode, your GPS tracker is disabled, so he could not be tracked. But what about some testimony he made earlier in the series? “I was playing a game on my phone,” he said, talking about his time in the park after he allegedly went to pick up his car from a garage, after a lengthy walk. Bit of an odd thing to do for somebody who’s looking to save battery on their mobile device, no? What the jury must remember is they’re not there to put Lewis on trial, however, simply to see if there’s any doubt at all that Simon killed his estranged wife.
Simon cannot recall eight minutes in-between phone calls to the authorities
When Simon first found Carla’s body, he rang the police but hung up before they could answer the phone. He then waited eight minutes before calling once more to report he had found her on the kitchen floor, lifeless and not breathing. What exactly was he doing in that time? He says he cannot remember. His neighbour however reports seeing him stood in the doorway to an outside area, even going as far to say that he appeared out of breath. Could he have been having a panic attack because of what he’d discovered, or be recovering from murdering Carla? These are questions the jury has to consider, but without any considerable proof, could they ever possibly convict?
So what do you think? Is Simon Davis guilty? Find out tonight when The Trial concludes at 9pm on Channel 4.