New evidence in the case of a man who spent 23 years in prison for murder suggests that police framed him, the BBC has revealed.
According to the media outlet, they learned that the police knew that the testimony of the main prosecution witness in the trial of Omar Benguit for the murder of South Korean student Jong-Ok Shin was in direct contradiction to surveillance camera (CCTV) footage.
A total of 13 other witnesses, who were used to support the prosecution's case, have now told the BBC that they were pressured by police to exaggerate their statements or lie in court.
Dorset Police did not directly respond to claims that officers framed Benguito, but said their investigation was "thorough, detailed and highly complex".
Jong-Ok Shin, known as Oki, was stabbed to death while walking home from a nightclub in Bournemouth in 2002. Benguit, an addict with a history of drug and knife offences, was convicted in a third trial in 2005 after two previous juries failed to reach a verdict.
The BBC has been investigating the case for nine years, previously reporting that some witnesses said they had given false statements under pressure from the police. However, the latest investigation by BBC Panorama reveals:
• Phone records suggest Benguit had an alibi that contradicted the main witness's account and was covered up by the police • Police built their case on the testimony of a proven liar, even though they knew CCTV footage contradicted her story • Two additional witnesses claim they lied in court after being pressured by the police • Four more people have told the BBC that officers tried to get them to give false statements but they refused • The evidence of all key prosecution witnesses has now been questioned or discredited
The testimonies were crucial to the prosecution as there was no CCTV or forensic evidence linking Benguito to the crime.
After reviewing the Panorama evidence, retired homicide detective Brian Murphy called on the Independent Office for Police Conduct to investigate the way Dorset Police handled the case.
The former chief inspector, who was involved in more than 200 murder investigations, said that, in his opinion, Benguito's verdict was not certain.
"This undoubtedly requires revision," he said.
Des Jenson, Benguit's lawyer, said that if the police forced witnesses to lie, "it would mean they fabricated evidence and perverted the course of justice."
Proven liar
The murder has put intense pressure on Dorset Police, as Bournemouth's economy relies heavily on international students, and the South Korean government has demanded that the killer be caught.
Police based their case against Omar Benguit on the testimony of a drug addict, referred to by the BBC as "BB" for legal reasons. She claimed that she had driven three men that night, including Benguit.
BB said she stopped the car after they passed Oki and all three got out to talk to her. They tried to persuade the student to come to the party, and when she refused, Benguit stabbed her, she said.
BB had a history of false accusations, and her testimony contradicted Okia's statements before her death - that she had been attacked by a masked assailant.
During the investigation, BB changed her story – first accusing two other men, and only in her third statement to the police did she name Benguito.
Panorama has now revealed that police reviewed CCTV footage during their investigation that disputed BB's story.
In her third and final statement she claimed she stopped at a BP petrol station on Charminster Road in Bournemouth before picking up Benguito and the others.
However, Panorama determined that police found no trace of BB or the men on surveillance camera footage.
The same goes for her description of the events following the murder. She claimed that she drove the three men to what was then a "crack house" about a mile away to get clean.
There was a CCTV camera across the street and the police could see footage of addicts coming in and out. But they found no evidence of BB, the three men or the car.
Witnesses claim they were forced
BB's testimony was the only evidence that placed Benguito at the scene of the crime, but it was supported in court by witnesses who testified about his actions before and after the murder. Most of them were also drug addicts.
Linaje is one of the witnesses who previously admitted to lying in court. She was only 17 years old and says she was forced to sign a false statement in the back seat of a police car.
"I was a child and they threw me in the back seat of the car. I was terrified. The statement had already been written," she said.
"When they started asking me questions, they started crossing things out and inserting others. It was as if they were starting from a template. That statement was their words, 95 percent."
Panorama has come across additional evidence suggesting that some officers may have been deliberately trying to frame Benguita.
Police questioned five addicts who were at the crack house that night and they all initially denied seeing him there.
However, when questioned again a few months later, all five changed their stories in the same way – they said they had seen Omar Benguito that night and that he was covered in blood.
It was their testimony that helped get him convicted.
One of the witnesses from the crack house previously told the BBC that he lied in court.
Panorama has now found two more. One person, who wished to remain anonymous, said police pressured her to change key details.
Another witness, Andi Miller, said that BB told police about dozens of thefts they committed together, and that the police used that to get him to lie.
"They had me completely in their hands because of those jobs, you understand?" he said.
"And I was never charged with any of them. I felt like the police pressured me to say something that wasn't true."
The BBC has also spoken to the family and friends of the last two witnesses from the crack house. They say the couple admitted to lying in court.
Together with 13 people who told the BBC they were pressured to exaggerate or give false evidence, this means that the testimony of 15 key prosecution witnesses has now been discredited or seriously questioned.
New evidence for alibi
The Criminal Convictions Review Commission (CCRC) is currently reviewing the case of Omar Benguito, after CCTV evidence was uncovered by the BBC in 2021.
It is a blurry video of a man who resembles Benguito using a phone booth on Charminster Road about 25 minutes after the murder.
If it's him, then he couldn't have been in the crack house and "cleansing," as BB claimed.
The CCRC found that 135 CCTV tapes from the original police investigation were missing.
The commission concluded that it was possible that the man in the video was Benguit, but that it could not confirm this with certainty.
Now Panorama has uncovered new evidence that strengthens a possible alibi.
At the time, Benguit and other addicts regularly used a phone booth on Charminster Road to arrange drug purchases with their dealer.
Documents obtained by Panorama show that a call was made from a pay phone to Benguit's dealer at the exact time a man resembling him was captured on CCTV.
The combination of the recording and phone records strongly suggests that Omar Benguit was in the phone booth that night and has an alibi that refutes the claims of being in the crack house.
The show also revealed that the police were aware of this potential alibi at the time.
They knew the man in the booth looked like Benguito and that the call to his dealer was made at the same time. Instead of thoroughly investigating the alibi, it seems they covered it up.
Criminologist Barry Loveday, who has been investigating the case for 20 years, said Dorset Police had serious questions to answer.
"The police were very selective in gathering evidence. In my opinion, Omar was framed. This was a fairly elaborate frame-up," he said.
The suspect who was missed by the police
There is a possible motive for the police trying to frame Benguita – their failure to prevent the suspected killer from killing again.
Danilo Restivo was suspected of murdering a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Italy before moving to England in 2002.
He lived just three blocks from where Oki was killed and was one of the first suspects in her murder.
A woman reported to the police that she heard Restiv talking about details of the murder that had not been made public.
Italian police then alerted Dorset police to their suspicions, but detectives stopped investigating Restivo after his girlfriend gave him an alibi.
Four months later, Restivo brutally murdered his neighbor Heather Barnett. It would be another nine years before he was convicted of her murder and the earlier murder of 16-year-old Elise Claps in Italy.
The Court of Appeals dismissed Restivo as a suspect in 2014 because the Oki murder was different from the other two crimes.
However, Panorama has now found blurry CCTV footage that could show him. It shows a man on a bicycle not far from the crime scene, taken around 10 minutes before Oki was killed.
Panorama wrote to Restiv about the Oki murder, but he did not respond. BB did not respond either.
Omar Benguit is now clean of drugs. After 23 years behind bars, he could be eligible for parole if he confesses to killing Oki. However, the 53-year-old told Panorama that he cannot confess to something he did not do.
"I would rather die in prison saying I didn't do it than come out now and say I did. That's not going to happen. I'm an innocent man. Why would I lie just to get out?" he said.
A spokesman for Dorset Police said Omar Benguit had appealed against his sentence twice and the Court of Appeal had rejected his claims of wrongful conviction.
"This case has gone through a series of reviews and any issues relating to concerns surrounding this ruling are ultimately a matter for the CCRC and the Court of Appeal," the spokesperson stated.
The police added that they would "launch investigations if ordered by the courts and relevant authorities," and said: "As always, our thoughts are with Okia's family and friends who continue to be heartbroken by her loss."
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