Nico Bento
England (Luton CC)
Date of Alleged Crime: December 13, 2005
Amilton Nicolas Bento (aka Nico), a Portuguese immigrant, was
convicted of the murder of his 26-year-old Polish girlfriend, Kamila
Garsztka. The alleged crime occurred in Bedford, England in or near
the River Great Ouse. A CCTV security camera caught Garsztka walking
alone on the embankment of the river toward Priory Lake which adjoined the
river. Garsztka's coat, scarf, and shoes were found by the river bank
about an hour later. Bento reported Garsztka missing and pestered
police to step up their search for her and keep him informed. He told
police Garsztka had left her handbag in his apartment, which police later
retrieved. Seven weeks after she went missing, canoeists found her
body floating in Priory Lake.
Garsztka had talked of suicide to various individuals. There was no direct evidence that she was murdered as no marks were found on
her body. Nevertheless she could not have drowned herself as no water
was found in her lungs. It is possible she could have been strangled
with a soft ligature that did not leave marks. It is also possible
that she could have died of hypothermia in the frigid water.
During Bento's trial a prosecution expert testified that the
security video of Garsztka taken on the night of her murder showed she was
walking with a handbag over her shoulder. This alleged handbag could
not clearly be seen in the video, but allegedly there was a line of
discoloration on the video due to the strap of the handbag. Since the
handbag was later found in Bento's apartment, the prosecution argued that
Bento killed Garsztka then returned with the handbag to his apartment. The defence team did not present any evidence to refute the prosecution
expert. Bento was sentenced to life in prison.
Evidence later emerged that the police were told by a
succession of British experts that no handbag could be found in the security
video. They subsequently found an American expert named Casey Caudle
who was willing to tell police what they wanted to hear. Caudle
testified against Bento. After photos from the security video,
provided by Caudle, were shown by the American news media, an American video
expert began to question Caudle's work. Caudle ended up being
discredited and thrown out of LEVA, the professional video analysts
association to which he belonged. He subsequently committed suicide in
Aug. 2008.
In Dec. 2008, a reconstruction of the security video was made
with the same camera under the same conditions as the original video. Further analysis of the reconstruction video and the original video produced
no consensus among experts that Garsztka was or was not carrying a handbag. There is also some doubt that the woman in the original video was Garsztka.
In Feb 2009, Bento's conviction was overturned and a retrial was scheduled
for the following July. However, the prosecution subsequently decided
against a retrial as there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.
[8/09]
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References:
BBC
News Video,
News Archives
Posted in:
Victims of the State,
United Kingdom Cases,
Miscellaneous Forensics, Homicides That Are
Possible Suicides
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