Alleged Miscarriages of Justice > Mark Alexander was in September 2010 convicted of the murder of his elderly reclusive father Samuel (70), an Egyptian-born former University lecturer.
Why did Mark lie claiming his father was living with friends in London?
Daisy:
Here is the answer to the first question
Why did Mark lie when he claimed that his father was living with friends in London?
?
I still hadn’t heard from dad when I came home in the New Year only to find the house empty, and I wasn’t getting any answer to my calls or texts. I had no real notion of where my father actually was by this point and when the neighbours told me they hadn’t seen him either I came to my own, albeit naive conclusions. It all stemmed from ideas dad had been toying with as far back as the summer about what he might do once I’d moved out. One of his plans involved staying with Egyptian friends from a church we used to go to. Given that this was the only place he’d specifically mentioned to me before, and knowing that he’d stayed there in the past, the only logical explanation seemed to be that he’d followed through with it. This was the assumption I conveyed to the neighbours I bumped into on 15th and 22nd January 2010.
I wasn’t able to provide any proof of these conversations with dad at my trial but we’ve just stumbled upon evidence for it amongst dad’s paperwork, literally about a month ago. On 23rd March 2009, dad visited the websites of two Coptic churches he hadn’t been to or had any contact with for at least 8 years. He printed out 2 pages for safekeeping, and this is what we found. They contain contact details for the church and maps with directions as to how to get there. One of them is in London. We’ve also gathered evidence as to previous occasions when dad stayed with friends from these Churches, and times when I was left with them as a child while he was away on business.
Although then this wasn’t a lie, it’s fair to say that I hadn’t been completely open or honest with the neighbours on previous encounters. The main reason is that I really didn’t know them that well. We’d lived in the same street for 20 years or more but this was the first year I’d actually spoken to any of them:
• “I do not know much about Sami. He was reclusive and kept himself to himself, he didn’t really integrate. In 22 years I spoke to him once or twice a year” JRM
• “As the years passed Sami became more insular and didn’t really interact with the neighbours. He was intensely private; the curtains were always closed regardless of the time of day. I’ve never been invited to his house in all the years we have lived here” CSC
• “Sami informed me that he wouldn’t be coming back. He was very reserved and private. After a while he cut us dead” JPI
• “As a young child, Mark was told and bullied in what to do every day. He was not allowed to talk to us (neighbours)” MAR
Daisy:
All my friends lived outside the area, so I never hung out in the village at all. I’d grown up against a backdrop of bitter disputes between my father and the neighbours and we were only just starting to mend relations:
• “Sami came out and started shouting abuse at him. I confronted him but he told my son to ‘piss off’. Subsequently he threatened us with a knife” SSP
• “It didn’t take long for him to become notorious for shouting viciously at neighbours’ children if they went onto his grass or property”WP
• “He just reversed at speed out of his driveway, followed me, and pulled up alongside me blocking oncoming traffic. He got out of his car and started banging on my window and having a real go at me”.WP
• “Sami was on my lawn shouting at me ‘silly bitch’. He was very aggressive and nothing I could do or say would calm him down. From that day on I never had another conversation with him”SEP
Dad’s sisters gave some insight into his unpredictable behaviour after my trial:
• “Sami left Egypt in 1968. He suddenly resigned from his job…and got a passport to England to search for work there, without informing us”
• “Sami used to disappear and stop writing to us from time to time, then return again saying he was ‘busy’ or ‘ill’. He never spoke or wrote to us about his personal life or problems and we never interfered. We knew nothing about his marriage or separation, or even where he was working as a teacher. He did not tell us that he was going to undergo surgery, or when he was ill. We tried to telephone him several times (2008) and no one was home. After that he changed the phone number and we did not know why”.
At the time, I felt the neighbours just didn’t know or understand dad the way I did, and I dismissed their concerns –quite stupidly as it turned out. I lacked the mature outlook and experience that they had and only wish I’d taken what they were saying more seriously
John:
Thank you for posting the first of the responses Daisy. It would be sense to give each response its own thread so that they are easier for readers to follow and we don't end up with one long thread relating to every issue.
John:
--- Quote from: Daisy on January 19, 2017, 08:15:00 PM ---Here is the answer to the first question
Why did Mark lie when he claimed that his father was living with friends in London?
?
I still hadn’t heard from dad when I came home in the New Year only to find the house empty, and I wasn’t getting any answer to my calls or texts. I had no real notion of where my father actually was by this point and when the neighbours told me they hadn’t seen him either I came to my own, albeit naive conclusions. It all stemmed from ideas dad had been toying with as far back as the summer about what he might do once I’d moved out. One of his plans involved staying with Egyptian friends from a church we used to go to. Given that this was the only place he’d specifically mentioned to me before, and knowing that he’d stayed there in the past, the only logical explanation seemed to be that he’d followed through with it. This was the assumption I conveyed to the neighbours I bumped into on 15th and 22nd January 2010.
I wasn’t able to provide any proof of these conversations with dad at my trial but we’ve just stumbled upon evidence for it amongst dad’s paperwork, literally about a month ago. On 23rd March 2009, dad visited the websites of two Coptic churches he hadn’t been to or had any contact with for at least 8 years. He printed out 2 pages for safekeeping, and this is what we found. They contain contact details for the church and maps with directions as to how to get there. One of them is in London. We’ve also gathered evidence as to previous occasions when dad stayed with friends from these Churches, and times when I was left with them as a child while he was away on business.
Although then this wasn’t a lie, it’s fair to say that I hadn’t been completely open or honest with the neighbours on previous encounters. The main reason is that I really didn’t know them that well. We’d lived in the same street for 20 years or more but this was the first year I’d actually spoken to any of them:
--- End quote ---
It seems to be beyond doubt that Mark's father was an eccentric if not a total oddball and that his (Mark's) upbringing was really regimented bordering on the bizarre but that still doesn't get to the crux of the question. Sami disappeared back in August yet by New Year Mark appears to have made no serious attempt to contact him in person in London. Sami's idiocentricity aside, if Sami was supposed to be in London I fail to see how Mark couldn't have tracked him down given the clues he admits to having in his possession.
In support I also point to the fact that son Mark had access to his fathers bank account and the funds therein which he allegedly misappropriated. My point is this, had Sami gone off to stay with friends in London as Mark suggests, he would have spent money from his bank account but this didn't happen. Mark accessed the account into which Sami's care allowance and benefits were being paid, he knew no funds were being withdrawn by his father because he himself withdrew them.
Out of interest, who was paying the service charges applicable to the family home if it was empty for six months?
Daisy:
--- Quote from: John on January 22, 2017, 12:47:06 PM ---It seems to be beyond doubt that Mark's father was an eccentric if not a total oddball and that his (Mark's) upbringing was really regimented bordering on the bizarre but that still doesn't get to the crux of the question. Sami disappeared back in August yet by New Year Mark appears to have made no serious attempt to contact him in person in London. Sami's idiocentricity aside, if Sami was supposed to be in London I fail to see how Mark couldn't have tracked him down given the clues he admits to having in his possession.
In support I also point to the fact that son Mark had access to his fathers bank account and the funds therein which he allegedly misappropriated. My point is this, had Sami gone off to stay with friends in London as Mark suggests, he would have spent money from his bank account but this didn't happen. Mark accessed the account into which Sami's care allowance and benefits were being paid, he knew no funds were being withdrawn by his father because he himself withdrew them.
Out of interest, who was paying the service charges applicable to the family home if it was empty for six months?
--- End quote ---
I hate to keep repeating myself but Mark last saw his dad in October and the neighbours saw the car leaving the property after October. As the curtains were closed all the time then no one would have paid much attention as Sami often went away for long periods.
As for the bank account, again I have to repeat that this the only one Mark had access to. The care allowance was paid into it and Mark also paid several thousand of his own money into it as his father couldn't afford to pay the mortgage.
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