Two men were driving along a remote mountain road in the middle of the night looking for their brother after his car had been involved in an accident. When they found the car, the body of a young woman was lying on the ground next to it. Their brother was nowhere to be found.
The woman – 21-year-old Jenna Watkins – had apparently been thrown from her car and killed by the impact on the dark mountain road of Bulwch in the valleys of south Wales. It looked like a tragic accident.
But when Jenna’s body was sent for examination, it told a very different story.
Only shortly before this fateful scene played out on 21 April 2007, Jenna’s mother, Pauline, received a disturbing – and final – phone call from her daughter.
About ten minutes later, she called me, screaming and crying. I asked: Are you wearing your seatbelt? “She’s legs and head, but Dr Sheppard noticed there was no abrasion (tanned skin) on the body, which usually occurs when a person falls on the road.
“The original version of the car crash just didn’t check out.”
Author photo, Yeti Television/BBC Cymru Wales
An examination of the scene in the afternoon also raised questions – Jenna was found face down and her jewellery and belongings were strewn around.
Inspector Emma White, family liaison officer, noted:
“From the condition of the windows and other details, it didn’t look as though she had been thrown from the car.”
As the sun came up, police came to Pauline’s door with the news that would ruin her life forever.
I didn’t let him know. I kept interrupting him. He said: Please sit down. I said: No, I don’t want to. I don’t want to know. His words, love.
Photo by Yeti Television/BBC Cymru Wales
As Sheddick refused to answer questions, police reached out to others to find out more about Jenna and the couple’s relationship.
Pauline said Jenna nearly died of meningitis as a child, and it made the mother take special care of her youngest child. Jenna often brought gifts and treats to her mother in an effort to “pamper” her.
Sheddick and Jenna, 28, were known around the area as a fun-loving couple who loved company – he worked in a car parts factory and she worked in a call centre, both in Swansea. Pauline mentioned that they were known as “the Hollywood couple” because they always dressed very sophisticated.
But there was a dark side to their relationship.
They had violent arguments during which they had
During the autopsy, Dr Sheppard found old bruises on Jenna’s body, “most likely caused by severe blows with a clenched fist”.
The marks on Jenna’s cheeks and chin proved that Sheddick was lying when he claimed he was the victim of her aggression.
“There were bite marks that looked like they had been inflicted with extreme violence,” Dr Sheppard noted.
“These wounds were much more consistent with the condition of the person who was attacked than the person who was attacked.”
He claimed they continued to argue in the car, Jenna used each other and he did not praise. He also claimed he only bit her because she la the day she died.
“In this room, I always feel her around me. She is precious to me. I like to have pictures of her everywhere I go so I can see her face.”
“Eighteen years is like a moment for me. Like all mothers who long for children, you just can’t go on.”