'CSI' Fan Commits Murder

Criminals watch CSI too.

Andrew Scanlan disappeared in November of 2006 from his home in Hampshire, England. He was found strangled and buried, beheaded and with his hands removed, among some trees. Authorities suspected James Baigent and his brother Mark of committing the crime.

The two brothers allegedly hated Scanlan for calling the police in 1998 and getting Mark put in jail for four years for attempted robbery and possession of a gun. Prosecutors told the court that the Baigent brothers worked with a tree surgeon named Jeff Woods to plan Scanlan's death and cover up the evidence. One of the three men sent a text message after murdering Scanlan to make it appear that he'd gone to London.

James and his wife Charlotte "were very keen on watching the television programme CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," according to the prosecutor, Timothy Spencer. He went on to say that the pair gleaned knowledge about forensic science from CSI and similar programmes. "It was knowledge they were to use in due course," Spencer said, "particularly in relation to the cover-up."

The original article is from the Telegraph.

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