Accused Of Murdering Our Son

[DinosaurDiana]

Have any of you watched it, and what do you think ?

You can't backward chain an alibi very easily. If you never left the house with Stephen, you can't say you did leave the house with Stephen. There would be a risk that a neighbour would say that they were observing, and Stephen and his mum had never left the house together and walked down the street that afternoon. Which leaves the possibility that they did actually leave the house together, but the rest of the tale happened differently.

If you have to make up a story and want it to be believable, then make up a believable one. When the police asked "Didn't you call his name through the entrance?" , she could have recognised the weakness in her 'account' and said: " Well, not really. I just called 'Stephen' once." If the take is fabricated, you can make up any darn thing. Nobody will contradict you or say they watched what you did - as it didn't actually really happen.

Were there witness validations of the walk along the front and using the loos?

I live close to Saltburn and visit most weekends. The pier is right in front of the toilets and a notorious suicide/accident spot is a short walk away, however I think they said his body would have washed up if he had gone into the sea.
There are a lot of shrubs and undergrowth along the cliff between Marske and Saltburn, I was there a few months ago when they were searching the shrubs for Stephen (at least the press said that is what they were doing).
I think about him whenever I walk past the toilets. Saltburn is such a beautiful place but has been the scene of some tragic events.

It would be hard for anyone to hide a body, under any circumstances.

The whole thing doesn't make a lot of sense.

I thought both parents were a bit strange. Being strange doesn't mean you are a murderer though.

I'm leaning towards them not having done it but think the incident where he was injured when a toddler was also a bit weird.

The parents did appear odd but that doesn't mean they did it. Some of their behaviour must reflect the strain of living with his loss for so long, the repeated telling of the events and being under suspicion.

I thought Stephen was involved in an accident when he was a young child, he rushed out into the street to follow one of his parents and was hit by a lorry. He sustained serious injuries and was in hospital for weeks.

I remember thinking this story was a bit odd, too.

People make up outrageous alibis all the time. They just put them out there and hope for the best. Even if a neighbour came forward to say they hadn't seen Stephen walking with his Mum that day so what? That's their story and they are sticking to it.

They seemed more invested in clearing their name than finding Stephen.

They seemed more invested in clearing their name than finding Stephen

Indeed.

If I was facing prison I'd be pretty invested in clearing my name too tbh.

I would have thought that after all this time it is probably quite normal to have reached a conclusion that enables you to endure the uncertainty, such as he must have died or run away. Therefore, the priority would naturally be not going to prison for murder.

If they really were just out for a walk then assuming he'd gone home makes sense t me. The timeline of the events around his disappeance seemed muddled to me, as though the show couldn't piece it all together to really highlight the evidence.

It's a shame the pub friend St4N is no longer alive.

I thought it sounded sinister when he told the wife "did you see who I was talking to then, young steven"...made me wonder if he had anything to do with his disappearance and was paving the way for a story to tell the wife, to throw the police off the scent.
Maybe they were having an affair and he met Steven in the toilets (the mum having already left by this point) and then they rowed and steven either took his own life, or was given money to leave by St4n?

Maybe St4n made up the sighting as a sign of hope, rather than admitting to your pub friend that you're sleeping with his Son.

All very strange.

I haven’t seen the tv show but have read interviews in the past.

People can and do vanish….look at Andrew Gosden, obviously he got on a train of his own free will but then he vanished in London. If Stephen had decided to go off somewhere by himself for whatever reason it’s plausible something then happened to him. Either an accident, or he came across the path of a stranger. The pp makes a valid point about possible modern slavery. I think it’s more common than people realise. A local family were imprisoned recently for this, they had vulnerable adult men working for them and kept in horrible condition.

I believe them. I’ve been aware if this story for years and have never doubted the events of that day. I imagine his sister didn’t want to be identified, maybe she has a family and children of her own to think about now. No doubt there were reporters all over the place after this was aired.