Indian Family Was Murdered for £5 Million | Real Crime

[Music] eighteen-month-old Davinder and his baby brother Ravinder were the sons of successful businessman neil cohen with a loving marriage to his wife Nancy neele had everything a man could want but in February 2003 just two days after this film was shot all five members of this happy family simply disappeared vanished without a trace this is the story of a man who made an entire family disappear detectives later found evidence of the macabre journey a story of an extraordinary deception by a ruthless criminal who wanted to get rich at any cost absolutely no moral conscience whatsoever a man who almost succeeded in outwitting the police by committing a crime so unique and horrific no one dare to believe it had taken place times as beyond belief in 2003 businessman Neil Cohen was the owner of a successful fruit importation firm based at Heathrow called Ciba Freight with a wife and two children chowin was known to his staff as a contented family man and an easygoing boss Neil was why everybody in the company was a relaxed sub like happy-go-lucky attitude we were mocked in whenever it was busy here get pizzas get drinks they want to soar like one big happy family but owning a freight company that made Neil Cohen a target [Music] in January 2003 a recently released convict arrived at Ciba Freight looking for work his name was Kenneth Regan you must be kept that's me yo mr. cherry Neil chowin had spent time in prison for tax evasion and was sympathetic to the ex-con who said he wanted to go straight it was a very fair person he'd he'd always give people not a second chance but a tenth chance he'd been in prison himself and obviously he'd had a second chance so why shouldn't anybody else ken came on as a year driver not frightened again his hands dirty in as a worker I thought he was he was good but Kenneth Regan was no ordinary delivery driver five years earlier Regan had been a successful drug smuggler known to his friends as captain cash in the late 90s Ken Regan was a career criminal Regan set up freight companies in around the Heathrow area and he'd used those as a front to bring drugs into the country he knew most of the major criminals in London and criminal families and him very much living the high life it was in a fashionable London bar that Regan first met celebrity agent and socialite Belinda Bruin he was a bit rough I think not it's not well educated quite charming dressed well nice watch spent a lot of money he was kind of like a rich white boy [Music] Regan's nickname was captain cash he always had a lot of money and I mean high denomination notes he had a briefcase and I seen that twice and it was just full of money and I think he thought it bought in class when he had none whatsoever [Music] Belinda would eventually be drawn unwittingly into Regan's world of crime and deceit it started when the gangster became obsessed with her he used to phone me quite a lot and email saying I've never hadn't felt like this in 30 years you're like a drug I can't I mean just bizarre considering that he didn't really know me at all and then one day a friend of mine said to me um why are you going out with someone like Rican and I said to him I not and he said well he told me that you're his girlfriend and I said you've got to be kidding and he said no I'm not which I found slightly worrying and then literally I think a few days later he got arrested June the 17th 1998 Regan was caught with 25 kilograms of heroin facing 18 years in prison he decided to become a grass Regan's testimony helped convict 12 major criminals while his own sentence was reduced by the time he was released from prison four years later captain cash had few friends and little money when Regan was released from his prison sentence very much gone back to having nothing all his assets have been stripped from him it's part of the confiscation order and here he was back living in one bedroom of a very small bungalow with his father Regan I think very much wanted to get back in the driving seat as a drug importer mr. Chow Hans business was was the perfect framework to hang his drug-dealing activities on [Music] Regan came up with a plan to steal Neal Jones company a plan so ruthless but no one would realize it had taken place he began by setting a trap soon after starting work at Seba Regan approached chowon and said he knew some investors who wanted to buy the company the bait was a cash offer of three million pounds a large enough sum to tempt the businessman whose wife Nancy wanted him to retire I got investors I knew that Nancy wanted to go back to India she'd made it clear she she missed India and we talked about it a coupla times because he he did say that that the level of education india was higher than the UK and Nancy was desperate to go back there while chowon considered his offer Regan began working on the next phase of his plan Ciba Freight was not the only thing he wanted to acquire by this time Belinda Bruin had given up her house in Chelsea for a new life in Devon Regan's obsessive calls and letters had stopped during his four years in prison but now free he began to pursue Belinda once more a few weeks after he got out of prison he left me a few messages on my mobile he said that he had a business deal he wished to discuss with me and at the time I had this huge house a huge mortgage and two kids at private school when I'd given up my job and then my boyfriend left me so I was it was how can I put it yes sir I'm so Wrangham regan told belinda he was planning to take over Ciba Freight and needed a new managing director although she had no relevant experience regan offered her a huge salary for a two-day week at first he offered me fifty four thousand pounds which is a lot of money but I thought you know I've got two kids at private school and a huge mortgage that's not gonna cover everything and so he said fine I'll pay you seventy two thousand and I thought well that's great the job offer gave Regan an excuse to visit Belinda at her isolated Devon home he'd come up with bizarre reasons like he'd want me to sign a letter or a form or he'd want me to help him fill in a form and he drive all the way from Salisbury or from London to my house for 20 minutes Regan seemed to become strangely fixated on the land Belinda's farm he used to moan about the mud a lot the mud in the lane you know I couldn't live here it's so disgusting he wanted to cut down some of the trees and build a nice wall and electric gates I mean this was an old farmhouse not a footballer's pad in essex he kept saying I could make this place really really nice for you what you need is a drainage ditch by February chowin had made up his mind he would meet the investors that Regan said wanted to buy his company on the Thursday morning before Valentine's Day he left his office telling staff he had a meeting at Stonehenge he said that I'm going off to do a deal and sell the company he said then I'll I'll let you know and that was the last time I saw him on Monday morning the employees at Sieber were greeted with a shock announcement I came here on shift on Monday we all gathered around and Belinda was introduced as a new owner of the company by Ken shocked everyone here is something we were expecting yeah everyone was thinking what happened to Neil where he had gone is it real that he sold company or about jobs and so many things happening at the same time regan produced a letter which explained that chowon had sold the company and was retiring abroad with Nancy due to ill health it bore the signature of Neil Cohen because of it being a busy company you couldn't sort of sit down and stop whinging about it or do anything about it he just had to go and get on with work cause it was a busy company you would have to get on with the work and get the work done Belinda was given a desk and a computer and began examining the books as regan had asked her to but on her second day she felt ill instead of going to see beware regan was expecting her she drove home to Devon [Music] well I pulled into the drive I couldn't believe it there was this old beaten up junkyard and I thought what another's going on here and I saw these two guys in my field with a digger the two men were William Halsey and Peter Reis both friends of Ken Regan I went absolutely mad and I I swore a lot and I said you know what and after that then they were doing and he said well were building you a drainage ditch you know there's this bloody great big ditch in the middle of my field for running along the side of the hedge I just couldn't believe it Rican arrived I said you know it's not the fact that I might not need a drainage ditch it was my land you never asked my permission you just don't go digging up people's land he said well I thought you would appreciate it I mean it just looked like a car park you know I just hated it but I was going to have it taken up and they said wait till the summer but has it happened the Metropolitan Police dug it up for me in 2003 convicted drug smuggler Kenneth Regan was on the verge of regaining his former millionaires lifestyle Neal Cohen the previous owner of Ciba Freight had disappeared now Regan was in control of his bonded warehouse an ideal front for importing drugs for five years Regan had been obsessed by socialite Belinda Bruin from afar but now she was on his payroll it seemed as if ricans dreams had all come true but the secret behind his success was about to be exposed 12,000 miles away Onkar Verma was working as a journalist in New Zealand his sister Nancy was raising a family in England with her husband Neil Cohen and Anka was planning to visit the family for the very first time I was very excited because I was going to see Nancy after nine years and it was like a family reunion after a long time umka used to speak to his sister and mother almost everyday but on the 15th of February the phone calls simply stopped when I was trying to get hold of Nancy I was trying to get a lock mom and he'll nobody was here so you know I thought something's not right concern for his family's safety Ponca contacted the Metropolitan Police a routine missing-persons inquiry established at the family home was empty but neighbors and colleagues seem to think that Owens had all gone to India you have to remember that if people wish to leave a country and relocate to somewhere else then it's their right to do so in this particular inquiry the friends and family in the UK were very much of a belief that mr. Chauhan had decided to do that banca decided that if the police couldn't find his family he would fly to Britain to investigate the disappearances himself alone in a country he'd never been to before uncle went to the family home in Hounslow and was shocked by what he discovered as I entered the house I could see the kids twice on the floor baby feed bottoms all the baby feed and the clothes they were still in the house they opened up afraid there was a cooked food inside uncle became even more suspicious when he discovered his mother's most treasured possession my mom's prayer book was there inside the house that was something strange because my mom used to carry it with her all the time one thing I can't figure out that [ __ ] would a family disappear we're talking about two three adults and two kids you know two babies and how can they just disappear without telling me with compelling evidence that his family had left the house against their will uncle went to the police and convinced them to launch a full investigation DCI Andy Rowell began his inquiry by interviewing the last person who was known to have seen chowon on the day he disappeared Kenneth Regan mr. Regan told us that mr. Chauhan was trying to sell his business and he was very much trying to steer it down the lines of that mr. Chauhan was an unsavory businessman who had worked who had got himself into deep water financially and that had no other choice really but to disappear but detectives were unconvinced by Regan's story using new forensic technology they were able to track the movements of both Regan and Joanne's mobile phones on the day of the disappearance initially we could see mr. Chow Hans telephone was in the hands lo area we then tracked the phone down to the stonehenge area and of course mr. regan lived not far from stonehenge in a in a village called Wilton in Salisbury what we could see is that Regan's telephone met up with mr. Cho Harry's telephone and then the two telephones traveled from that meeting point further down into the West Country towards Exeter the only lead the detectives had in Devin was that it was home to the new Managing Director of Seba Belinda Bruin they decided to pay her a visit when Regan found out that the police were coming to my house he was furious and he said to me you know you mustn't allow the police to come to your house they'll just cause you aggravation you know once they get a foot in your house you mustn't let them count you guys I want you to phone them back and go and meet them somewhere else and I thought well why would I want to do that later that day DCI and Iran received a phone call from Regan's associate William Halsey claimed he'd recently spoken to Neil Cohen and that the missing businessman was still in the UK mr. Hornsea had told me that he was going to meet with mr. Chauhan in Newport in Wales by the passport office to supply in the stolen passports so what he was saying to us was is that he was happy to deliver mr. Chauhan into our hands and then what happened was that got a phone call from DRL Singh listen thank you very much Belinda but we won't be coming to see you today we have other information and in fact we probably won't need to come and see you at all Regan then rang me up obviously to check to make sure that the police had cancelled their meeting and he seemed to know that they had and I said yes they're not coming he said yes I know they're going to go to Wales an arrest Neil Chauhan so that was the end of that the meeting with chowon was due to take place on Easter Monday but over the weekend belinda received an unexpected visit from regan horsie and Rhys Regan's that I'm going to do the lane by your stables which actually didn't need graveling and that would have been a great place for the gravel so I thought well okay so when a digger arrived I wasn't it didn't surprise me because I thought oh they're going to come and grade the lane and it was a Saturday and I took the kids into town and I let them get on with it two days later detectives travel to the spot where horns he said he was planning to meet chowon in Newport where the passport office is there's quite an iconic bronze statue of a pig and that's where he was he said that he would bring mr. Chow Han to notice on the day in question he in fact turned up with mr. Regan as well and the pair of them stood there for some moments they then enacted receiving a phone call and a text and then made it plainly obvious through their body language that something had gone wrong with the the arrangement they explained they received a phone call from someone saying we know you've told the police we're friends of Neal's or I know Joe hands the deal's off police traced the calls but only to an unregistered phone they were no closer to finding Neal chowon and all they knew for certain was that they had been led on a wild goose chase I don't think personally he was having a swipe at the police and the sort of subtle joke about pigs I hope not anyway while Regan returned to work at Sieber the police reverted to their original plan and called in Belinda Bruin for questioning di ralla said to me I want to have a full and frank discussion with you and as I was leaving readings it to me listen Belinda if the police ask you what I was doing on your land he said you're too tough he said just tell them that I was helping you with your water system I thought that was very odd I mean he'd said he'd look at it but no work had been done on it and I just thought it was odd well I went to meet the police they said to me what do you think's happened and I said well I don't really know I said I've told you everything that I know and he said is there anything else that you think is odd and I said well when I was leaving today Regan asked me not it said that if you were to ask what he was doing on my land I was to say that he had been working on my water system and they said well what was he doing and I said he dug a drainage ditch and the to earth and looked at each other and said he did what detectives rush to Tiverton convinced that a gruesome discovery of waited them on Belinda's farm [Music] we exhumed the dig site painstaking fingertip forensic examination using highly trained forensic archaeologists and pathologists the Murder Squad spent the next five days digging in Belinda's field but the bodies they had expected to find were nowhere to be seen in April 2003 police have been searching for the Chowan family for over two months but they'd been looking in the wrong place we planned to go out for and even this canoe in Nice quite a day nice calm sea pleasantly warm time of year yeah it was an enjoyable evening that we decided to venture out further and what we know we would do after short while I noticed something floating in the sea it appeared to be three floating objects which a distance was unusual you know as we were sort of just clearing around looking about I hadn't noticed something but I just totally discarded it it wasn't until piece of showered body at me I was like what as I approached them I realized that he was obviously our body a large body because it was oversized somewhat inflated but the feet were floating out the water and the torso the head was face downwards in the water he got me to go in and call up 999 [Music] I determine estate with the body come what may but ideas but the rescue service would have been there sooner rather than later waving the water canoeing in the dark for nearly three hours he does get beyond nervous you can't ignore about it once you find the body say it's there [Music] it's awful I can still see that buddy [Music] the body was taken to a mortuary in Bournemouth but it would be almost a week before it was identified as that of missing businessman Neal Schon I went aboard Moulton saw the body the first time I had a look on Neal's face I could I could see that he suffered a tragic death here was he suffered a violent that he had perceived a blunt trauma injury to the back of his head he had had a packing tape wound round his mouth but the main blow to the head followed by subsequent suffocation is the likely cause of death for mr. chow while Neal Cohen's clothes were removed for forensic analysis a hundred miles away police was still searching for evidence that his body had been buried in Belinda Bruins field the site of the dig obviously became extremely important and we recovered some substantial evidence from that dig site namely hairs from their burnt clothing jewelry which suggested that it had been in fact been a burial site those hairs were subsequently identified as mr. Jones he had been murdered at some stage he had been placed in the grave down in Devon that he had been exhumed from that grave at a later date put into a boat the boat had gone out into the middle of the bay at Bournemouth and dumped it into the sea until his body was found we all hoped that he would be back one day even if he had sold the company or not he would still be back one day just to to visit us or whatever but when his body was found you had just lost all hope and that was there was the end of end of him but then our concern sort of we knew what happened to Anil but then our concerns drifted towards Nancy and the kids and their mother the fact that the dig site was so big and that if if you had wanted just to hide one body you wouldn't needed to have gone to the extent of digging such a huge site cup with the fact the entire family had gone missing couple with the fact there had been a bonfire there that we had recovered some items of jewelry which we believed to belong to you Nancy and also there was some small poppers found the type that one would find on baby grow suits so we believed that the family had all been put into the ground at that point [Music] from that moment on the entire investigation changed focus and became a category a which is the highest category of of murder inquiry kenneth regan obviously from that point on became prime suspect at that stage Regan's whereabouts are unknown as were hauled seized they were very much on the loose so to speak I was a bit overcome by the whole thing really and I don't really know what I thought but it never sort of maybe I just didn't want to think that somebody had been buried in my field so I tried to make myself busy and I noticed that my horse had ripped its horse blanket so I took it off the horse put it in the car and I drove up the lane and lo and behold I bumped into Regan and Hornsea who were in a car [Music] I was really shocked to see them and Regan wound the window down and I said to him what are you doing here and he said we need to have a little chat and Hornsea then said why didn't you get in the car we'll go and have a coffee and I thought well I don't get in the car with them so I had the horse blanket next to me and there was a little cottage just so and I said I've got to take this back I've borrowed this from you no points I've got to take it back then they were expecting it back I'll be back in two minutes I said so we said okay so I drove off and I drove round the corner and I phoned di route and he said whatever you do don't get in the car with them so I said okay he said I'm gonna send two police officers back two police officers arrived but Regan and Hans he had gone Regan and horsey had escaped to Europe leaving Peter Reese behind but alone and on the run Reese developed a guilty conscience I think he was cornered he didn't know me from Adam he just came in sat down and more or less started pouring his heart eight at the time Wendy powell's was staying at a boarding house when a new lodger moved in within hours Reese made a startling confession I just took him as any you know new launcher that came in there until he started saying how I seen him on TV and I said no should I have done and he said I just wondered he said because I have been on TV that's all he's not celebrity or anything you know he didn't look that way and he just said that he was involved with an Asian family that it disappeared they could put me at the scene of where the bodies were buried but at it I think I didn't kill anybody was going on you know they can't do that they can't pin that on me and I say to him you know what he's going on you know he just said that Reagan was crazy because he killed two children at how odd gasp and I said how did you think it really killed he said that Regan had shot them it was Regan he's a psycho he said he killed them all I knew what I had to do because only people come to your home every day and say they've killed five people and two babies about three adults and two babies Wendy Powell's alerted the police and after just 12 days on the run Peter Reese was arrested at a nearby pub despite his confession - Wendy Powell's Rees refused to answer any questions and the whereabouts of the Chowan family remained a mystery but three weeks later a fisherman discovered another body floating in the Solent I was told that Nancy's body was decomposed but I insisted on seeing the body because for me it was not a skeleton for me it was my baby sister for me she was she was still alive and I was talking to her and there was it a tearful goodbye that's what I said but I felt sorry that I can't say well I did say that Nancy I tried my best but I can't save you Kenneth Regan was tracked down by police in Belgium after two months on the run and just six weeks later William Hornsea gave himself up the three prime suspects were now in custody but they refuse to answer any questions with three family members still missing and no witnesses to the murders police needed hard evidence to link their suspects to the crime little did they realize that the vital clue they needed had been left by Neal Cho in himself April 2005 saw the start of the longest criminal trial in the history of the Old Bailey police were trying to prove that Kenneth Regan William Halsey and Peter Reese had abducted and murdered all five members of the Chowan family the nine-month trial saw almost four and a half thousand different exhibits from financial transactions for petrol receipts but it was telephone tracking evidence which provided the foundation for the whole case we got ourselves into position where we've pretty much knew exactly what had gone on and could give a very clear indication to the trial the enormity of the crime and who'd committed it initially police had established Regan and Cho ins movements by tracking their mobiles once they gained access to Hornsea and Reese's phones they had compelling evidence for an abduction our telephone intelligence had suggested that mr. Chauhan had been with mr. Regan Hornsea and Reese then the telephones traveled down to wilted in Salisbury namely three Forge clothes which was Ken Regan's home address over the critical period when mr. Chauhan had initially been had gone missing there was never a time that one of those telephones wasn't in that area leading us to believe he was being guarded at number three forged closed [Music] all the men could now be placed at the scene but detectives still needed further clues as to what really happened at 3:00 Forge close in the run-up to the trial they unexpectedly received some vital new evidence from one of the suspects own relatives mr. horn sees son approached police and produced to us a Lexmark color printer and also this gray suitcase which contained a number of pieces of a4 paper with mr. Chauhan signature on the printer and documents from horns his suitcase explained how Regan had managed to convince the staff at Seba that Neal Cohen had sold the company and left the country police argued that Neal Cohen was held at 3 Forge clothes so Regan could force him to sign the documents under duress what are you what are you doing just sign it [Music] [Applause] [Music] the suitcase contained 10 blank sheets with Joanne's signature spares which Regan could have used to produce other forgeries if they were needed [Music] Regan's initial plan was to get rid of Arnold Chauhan I think once he'd gone down that road he was left in a position where he had to murder the entire family because he knew that had he not done so that Nancy would have raised the alarm we could see clearly from the telephone intelligence that while mr. Reese remained in Salisbury Regan and horns he traveled to - Sutton Road Hounslow where they spent several hours I can only guess but it's possible that that is when the family met their deaths in that address I don't know that to date what I can say is that Regan and haunts you were in their area when I can say the family disappeared on that day for mr. Regan these murders was something he had to do to get what he wanted and it was almost has meant little to him as as changing his shirt the police were unable to establish precisely where or when the family were murdered but they were convinced that Neal Cohen had been killed at Regan's bungalow the problem was proving it we carried out a full forensic examination of the premises over many days there was nothing significantly found there the reasons for this was that the room had been recently decorated and certainly the furniture from that room was certainly removed and mr. Regan had replaced it immediately with new furniture the fact that the premises had been redecorated the carpet had been removed the sofa had been removed really was clearly indicative of someone trying to conceal evidence and clean up a crime scene but despite the suspicious activity at the house it was not proof that Joann had been murdered by Regan it was only a single extraordinary piece of evidence that would convince the jury beyond reasonable doubt a clue which had been initially overlooked by the scientists and left in storage for almost eight months a clue left by Neil chowon himself we have two exhibits here one is a the right sock of mr. Chauhan which was taken from him at the post-mortem down in dorset most of the clothes were submitted immediately to the forensic science service for examination but socks normal is very little evidential value in socks but for completeness we decided to send the remaining items our clothing to the scientists who had requested them when the scientists unpackaged the sock and examined it inside was found a folded piece of paper as you can see it's in a very delicate State it has been dried but it's obviously been in the seawater I think the way it's been folded so many times as has protected it it's a letter from the Cheltenham Gloucester Building Society and it's addressed to mr. Regan of number three Forge clothes and it's dated to 12th for February 2003 which clearly meant it arrived the day we believe mr. Chauhan was being held captive at Forge clothes [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you can only imagine the fear that mr. Chauhan would have been in to secret this in his person and certainly to put it into his sock he must have realized that he faced imminent death of course is overwhelming evidence of the message that mr. Chauhan was trying to send from beyond the grave as to who it who had actually murdered him after a nine-month trial the jury reached a unanimous verdict Peter Reese was sentenced to 23 years for the murder of Neal Chauhan Hornsea and Regan each received five consecutive life sentences for murdering the chowon family they will never be released from prison the remains of challenge at core Neal Jones mother-in-law were eventually found off the coast of the art of white but the bodies of the two babies 18 month-old Davinder an 8 week old Ravinder have never been found I think that the the killing of any child is extremely tragic and I think as a police officer having investigated such crimes you can normally see a reason why that happened someone snapped someone was depressed someone was mentally ill and there's normally a variety of motivations for a child being murdered in these circumstances the motivation was purely self gain and greed and for me I found that particularly horrific I still have nightmares about other killers might have killed NTR who was killed first was Nancy killed in front of my mom or my mom killed in front of Nancy or the kid killed in front of mom and Aunty and it's just very hard you know and I don't think I'll ever be able to come to terms with it uncle returned to New Zealand he would never meet his sister's children the only time he saw them all together was on a family video he found in their empty home when I horn and his video was filmed just two days before the disappearance [Music] and I could see in the video the family celebrating life and the kids playing in the house eldest son he took his first steps in the video and my mom she was very happy in the video when I look at the video I was very happy you know because I had never actually saw an island and she living together very nice but through that video I came to know that Nancy was very happy with Leila and she was you know she was very lucky to have a guy like Anil every time I close my eyes I can contain and he's smiling again as if nothing has happened she is still there and she is waiting for me to come over [Music] [Music]

Channel: Real Crime

Views: 2,511,516

Rating: 4.7652521 out of 5

Keywords: real crime, crime documentary, true crime, The Plot To Make A Family Vanish, british documentary, murder documentary, dispatches documentary 2019, channel 4 documentary dispatches, dispatches documentary, Chameleon TV, Espresso Media, A Whole Family Was Murdered for £5 Million, Indian Family Was Murdered for £5 Million

Id: Ds8T90opIQI

Length: 47min 13sec (2833 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 19 2019