As the finale of Deceit begins, DI Keith Pedder (Harry Treadaway) questions Colin Stagg (Sion Daniel Young) about the picture he showed him previously. Sadie Byrne (Niamh Algar) and the others listen from another room as Colin continues saying no comment to the questions. Keith asks how he knew about Rachel’s injuries and how her hands were positioned, but Colin says no comment. As Sadie walks away from Paul Britton (Eddie Marsan) and the others, Colin is asked about Lizzie James. Again, he says no comment. Sadie steps into the room with Colin and Keith and that leaves Colin distraught. Sadie sits down with Colin and asks about the envelope he gave her when they first met. Despite Sadie asking the questions, Colin cries and says no comment. Next, we see the killer staring through the woman’s window in the middle of the night.

Sadie continues pressuring Colin to confess while Samantha Bisset (Anna Tierney) moves through her house. Sadie insists there are many similarities between his fantasy and what happened to Rachel. He says no comment before being asked if he stabbed Rachel. When Samantha turns around, she sees the silhouette of Robert Napper (Jack Riddiford) in front of her. Sadie asks about the way Colin laid his body when imitating Rachel. He says no comment. She asks if there is anything he wants to say to her at all before we see Napper standing over Samantha with a knife in his hand. He looks in on Samantha’s daughter and his split personalities argue whether he should leave her. He enters the girl’s room and shuts the door while Colin is officially charged.

Sadie goes to the bathroom and seems ecstatic about everything that has happened. In the morning, she gets the newspaper with the heading, “WPC ‘traps’ Rachel man”. Next, detectives look through the Samantha Bisset crime scene and find the young girl’s body still in bed. Colin is led through the prison and harassed by some of the other inmates. At home, Sadie can’t stop thinking about her Lizzie James persona or Colin Stagg. Paul Britton and DI Pedder meet Detective Micky Banks so Britton can work on the new murder. Pedder looks at pictures of the victim before another man tells him she looks a lot like Rachel Nickell. He learns they’re not getting the same press because Samantha doesn’t sell papers. Then, we see Napper drawing some odd symbol on his window. Later, Sadie meets with Baz (Nathaniel Martello-White) and admits she can’t stop seeing Colin. Baz explains they’ve asked a lot of her, and they’ll want more during the trial since it’ll be huge.

He thinks having to see Stagg during the trial is why she can’t get him out of her head. Paul Britton looks through the new crime scene before telling Pedder it was like the Jack the Ripper victim, Mary Jane Kelly. Pedder asks if there is anything that links the killer with Rachel’s murder. Britton says no so Pedder asks again. Paul explains they’re entirely different locations and injuries. He says Rachel was stabbed, but Samantha was eviscerated. Then, he explains Rachel’s killer decided to spare her child, but Samantha’s killer did not, and Jazmine was sexually assaulted. He says that is the biggest difference between the two crimes. Later one night, Sadie hears a report on television about Samantha and Jazmine being killed in Plumstead in South London. She learns that Samantha was killed with one knife wound before her body was moved and systematically cut.

Jazmine was suffocated in her bed. The clinical psychologist believes the killer might’ve killed before and will kill again. She learns that the suspect is likely 25 and used contact ads. He was unlikely to sustain stable relationships. Paul says they think they know quite well what was going through his mind while Sadie looks through her files. She turns off the television and reads Colin’s letters. Several times, he asked if this was what she wanted. She remembers him questioning whether she wanted that stuff now. She quickly begins second-guessing Colin’s guilt. At the prison, a few inmates burn Colin’s hand with scalding coffee and say it is for Rachel. Sadie is hesitant to sign her witness statement. When Pedder enters with more things to sign, Sadie asks if he watched Crimewatch last night.

She insists the profile of Samantha’s killer is very similar to Rachel’s killer. Pedder says Stagg was locked up at the time, so he wasn’t responsible for Samantha’s murder. She says it is odd for a man to attack women when they’re with their kids and Pedder asked Britton the same thing. He repeats what Britton said about the demons driving the killers being entirely different. Alex was spared, but Jazmine was killed. Sadie wonders if the FBI profilers will have something to say about the boy being spared and the girl being killed. He goes over the evidence against Stagg and insists they have the right man. He believes the jury will agree too before pushing the witness statement in Sadie’s direction. She signs the paperwork. Micky learns the prints he had rechecked led to a match. He is handed an envelope with Robert Napper’s name on it.

We see the flashback of the young boy. An adult man approaches him, grabs his hand, and leads him into the tent nearby. Then, we see Napper writing on his wall and a bunch of newspapers hanging around it. Heavily armed officers burst through the door and quickly subdue him. A psychologist meets Colin and explains it is his duty to write a report about his mental state. Colin says he has nothing to hide and has never had treatment for depression or other mental health issues. Napper says the therapy referred to other areas. He says they used to have a father but they’re experiencing other problems now and the government repeated certain years. When Colin is asked how he is coping, he admits he has been down and lonely. He is adamant that he isn’t mental. Napper leans forward and says the spirits are attracted to the steroids they put in solutions like Optrex.

He admits it is possible that the haunted potentials have controlled him in the past, but the Official Secrets Act means he can’t talk about that. As for Colin, he complains he misses his dog, and it isn’t doing well without him. He worries he’ll never see his dog again. Meanwhile, Sadie hangs out with Baz and drinks to Stagg getting life. Baz insists it’ll be easier to move forward once the trial is over before Sadie tells him to talk about anything else tonight. He comforts her while she complains not everything is okay. She remembers Colin looking at her like she was his entire world and she used to think he was a monster. Now, she questions whether he is. Colin’s trial begins and Sadie must evade the press when she arrives at the courthouse. Colin’s attorney says the police sting was a sophisticated trick with the sole purpose of getting a confession from Colin. He says they took advantage of a young man who wants to form a relationship with a woman and Lizzie called the shots.

She presented herself as ready and willing while knowing Stagg was desperate to lose his virginity. He goes on to say that Colin was bribed into incriminating himself to fit Britton’s profile. The prosecutor brings up the fact that Colin knew how Rachel’s body was lying and only the killer could’ve known that. Colin’s solicitor tells the judge that Lizzie sent Colin a letter containing the most hardcore pornography imaginable, and he calls that a disgrace. He argues Colin was deliberately manipulated to get him to confess. He insists none of it should be put before a jury. Pedder tells Sadie later that they’re only going to take snippets of it from here and there. He reveals Justice Ognall (Simon Kunz) isn’t swearing in a jury until he has decided whether Sadie’s evidence is admissible. Sadie doesn’t like it being her evidence because that puts it all on her now. He tells her she is their star witnesses, and she should go home since the justice won’t rule until Wednesday.

Once she makes it home, she calls her mother and apologizes for missing her birthday. They briefly talk about Sadie’s work, but she admits she can’t go into details. She insists she is happy although her mother doesn’t believe it. She pretends someone is at the door so she can quickly end the call. She breaks down while remembering Colin telling her he did it just to please her. Justice Ognall finally returns and says it was a skillful and sustained enterprise to manipulate the accused. He understands the pressure officers have on them to solve crimes. However, he argues that this behavior betrays an excess of zeal and a substantial attempt to incriminate a suspect by positive and deceptive conduct of the grossest kind.

He brings up the fact that Lizzie put her hands together as if praying during the second police interview. Then, he mentions photograph KP15 in which a discrepancy emerges. He explains that her hands are not palm to palm at all. Instead, the arms are crossed at the wrist and the hands barely touch. He believes the police entrapped Colin Stagg in a honey trap using deceptive conduct of the grossest kind. He upholds the defense submissions that the Lizzie James material will not go before a jury. As a result, he says Colin Stagg is not guilty and is free to go. At the station, the detectives listen to Colin’s statement to the press insisting his life had been ruined by a mixture of half-baked psychological theories and some stories written to satisfy the strange sexual requests of an undercover police officer. He reveals he intends to take proceedings against the police and Professor Paul Britton due to the suffering he experienced during his last 19 months in prison.

Sadie enters and tells them not to turn it off on her account. Lucy (Rochenda Sandall) approaches her and asks if what the judge said was true. Baz interrupts to tell Sadie the DCI is waiting for him. Before she goes, she tells Lucy she followed the orders she was given and every one of them at the Yard signed off on it. Lucy asks what she isn’t telling her. Sadie tells everyone she isn’t afraid to face whatever mistake she made, but she isn’t the only one who must answer to this. Pedder learns Wickerson is wanted at the Yard before he complains Colin is out there free to kill again. The top brass arrives, and they know they’ll want their case files. They believe they’ll get a hold of the files and erase the name of every senior officer who signed off on the Lizzie operation. Pedder is adamant they’ll all go down. The higher-ups enter before Paul Britton gets a call from the press. His building is surrounded by journalists. After that, we jump ahead 14 years.

Sadie returns home and learns that a man with a history of violent attacks has pleaded guilty to killing Rachel Nickell 16 years ago. Schizophrenic Robert Napper was convicted of manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility. Sadie leaves and goes to Colin’s residence where he is out walking his dogs. She follows him as we learn that Colin was vilified for 16 years. In 2008, he finally received a public apology from the Metropolitan Police and a 700,000 in compensation for his wrongful arrest and prosecution. The promising career of Lizzie James was over by the age of 33. She retired from the police because of the damaging psychological impact the investigation had on her. DI Pedder took early retirement soon after the collapse of Colin’s case and suffered from stress and depression. Britton later claimed he had told police the murders of Rachel Nickell and Samantha and Jazmine Bisset were linked.

Keith Pedder and Micky Banks refuted that claim. Robert Napper is believed to have committed more than 100 brutal rapes and sex attacks on women dating back t0 1989. The Metropolitan Police made numerous mistakes and missed many opportunities to identify and arrest him. Due to their failures, Napper was free to kill Samantha and Jazmine Bisset. Colin finally found happiness with his long-term partner who he met as a teenager.

 

Deceit Review

Although satisfying for viewers, the story of Deceit ultimately unveils the cruel torture perpetrated against Colin Stagg and the incompetence that allowed a killer to remain free for many more years. The whole ordeal is ultimately very sad, frustrating, and infuriating. I can’t imagine how much worse it could’ve been had Justice Ognall turned a blind eye to the overzealous police department. Colin Stagg would’ve been locked away for many, many years and the investigation could’ve easily been closed and ignored.

It was already bad enough considering Robert Napper was given several more years to terrorize the women of London, but it is terrifying to imagine how much worse it could’ve been. It is nice to know Colin has managed to live a relatively normal life despite blowing through the settlement money, but one must wonder what kind of toll the investigation, trial, and everything else took on him.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Deceit or My Name Is Lizzie and am glad I got a chance to relive the story in such a meaningful way. The series was incredibly well done although some of the blatantly unbelievable bits could’ve been removed. I enjoyed it and gave the finale a 7.5 out of 10. All recaps of Deceit can be found on Reel Mockery here.