The chilling story of British Airways pilot Robert Brown and his wife Joanna Simpson has been explored by new documentary The British Airways Killer.
Brown had prepped a grave for his wife ahead of a horror killing, which occurred after Joanna confessed to friends that she feared the pilot following a knife incident. Joanna asked for a separation, which sparked a costly divorce battle.
The battle was marked by domestic abuse, including coercive control and severe violence, leading to Brown brutally killing Joanna with a claw hammer at their family home. He then buried her body in a pre-dug prepared grave.
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Brown, a former British Airways captain, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to mental illness and was cleared of murder. He has now served 13 years of a 26-year sentence.
On Halloween night in 2010, Brown raged over a money agreement with Joanna, insisting he was given the £3.5million valued home rather than the £573,000 Joanna had offered in court proceedings. Brown then struck Joanna several times over the head with a hammer while the kids were in the house.
He said: “I just lost it. I blew up and the next thing I was standing over Jo and blood was all over the place.” He wrapped Joanna’s body in plastic and put her in his car boot and left her in a pre-dug grave in Windsor Great Park.
Brown called 999 the next morning to say there was trouble at home. He gave himself up to the police but wouldn’t help them find out what happened, though he later admitted to killing her and revealed where the body was.
Joanna’s close friend, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, said: “She [Joanna] said to me, and I’ve heard it from so many victims subsequently, that ‘His eyes went dark, almost black, cold, dark, black eyes.’ And he said, ‘I’m going to do it’. So she was saying, you know, ‘What will happen to the children?’ He didn’t care about what would happen to the children.”
When Joanna decided to end their marriage, according to Ms Barkworth-Nanton, Joanna firmly believed that Brown intended to take her life. Remembering the chilling call about Joanna’s disappearance, her mum Diana tearfully stated: “A friend rang and said, ‘Have you spoken to Jo this morning?’ And I said ‘no’, and he said, ‘I’ve had a worrying call…’ I was told there’s police tape around the house, and I just said, ‘He’s killed her.’ I just said that straight away, ‘He’s killed her.'”
In the end, Brown confessed to manslaughter but was acquitted of murder as he claimed to struggle with adjustment disorder due to the divorce. But, Judge Mr Justice Cooke delivered one of the stiffest sentences for manslaughter available to him.
The judge seemed unsure about the jury’s choice when he spoke to the pilot in May 2011. He said: “Your responsibility, though diminished, remains substantial. You intended to kill, you intended to conceal the body and to hide the evidence of the killing.”
After the trial, Joanna’s mum said the result was really unfair. She also said: “Robert Brown got away with murder in name only.” Brown could have been let out after 13 years of his 26-year sentence, but Justice Secretary Alex Chalk didn’t let him. The Ministry of Justice’s lawyers told the court that the minister sent the case to the Parole Board because he was worried Brown might hurt someone again.
Iain Steele, a lawyer for the Justice Secretary, told the Daily Mail: “The Secretary of State can decide not to release a prisoner on licence if he has reasons to believe he will be dangerous if released.” He also said: “His [Brown’s] risk is not manageable … We are dealing with a very dangerous individual.” What happens next will be decided later this year.
The British Airways killer aired tonight (Monday, February 26) on ITV. It can be watched on ITVX.
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