William George Jasper ‘Billy’ was arrested on the 15th January 1996, at Forest Gate police station for other matters.
Jasper was a well known and prolific violent criminal who had ready access to firearms and had been arrested for their use.
Immediately upon arrest he spoke to police stating that he feared for his life and was ‘next’.
He was taken for a cigarette in the back yard by a locally based detective. He told the Met detective a detailed account of the Murders of Tate, Tucker and Rolfe, claiming he had driven the assassin to the scene.
The Met detective (identified and spoken to by TM Eye), immediately called the Essex police Murder squad.
A DS Sandford and PC Chapple attended from Essex.
Jasper agreed to take the officers out in a police car and show them where he had taken the assassin and the route.
Sandford and Chapple and two Met detectives went out in two police cars in convoy.
Jasper directed them to The Palms Motel on the A127, where he claimed to have picked up the assassin, then to a taxi company at the rear of Upminster Station. There he said the assassin got out and met with Billy Gale. Jasper alleges that a 14 shot Browning pistol was given to the assassin, as a back up.
The taxi office was owned by Paul Fisher and Fisher also ran the door at The Palms Motel.
Fisher had himself fallen out with Tucker. Fisher was a close associate of Mad Mick Bowman.
Jasper claimed that the assassin had left Palms Motel with a black / gold HEAD bag containing a pump action shotgun, which he had with him in the car.
Jasper showed the officers the route he had taken to a pub car park in Battlesbridge, where he claimed he was told to wait with the assassin until about midnight.
Jasper then directed the officers to Rectory Lane near Rettendon.
Importantly he did not take the officers to Workhouse Lane, where the Range Rover and bodies of Tate, Tucker and Rolfe had been found. He had directed the officers past it on his route, not realising it’s significance.
Instead he directed them to Woodham Road which is a completely different route and exit from The Rettendon Turnpike (roundabout).
From the street furniture and buildings he was able to identify a small unmade road between commercial green houses where he said he had been told to drive on the night if the Murders. That lane was Rectory Lane.
He took the officers down it ‘towards’ the end where he claimed he was told by the assassin to stop.
The assassin got out and after a short while climbed over a gate and disappeared into the darkness through a field carrying the HEAD bag containing the two guns.
Jasper stated he had turned around and waited in the car. He heard no shots but then Rectory Lane sits on the other side of the hill. It is unknown if he had a radio on or even that he was not telling the entire truth about this.
Jasper then claimed the assassin returned after 30-40 minutes, carrying two bags. The other a ruck sack had 4 kilos of cocaine in it.
Jasper and the assassin then left. The assassin called Gale.
Jasper showed officers his route back from Rettendon, a different route. He was again very detailed.
Jasper described to the officers how he had taken the assassin back to South Woodford and met Gale. The cocaine was given to Gale outside Moretons Wine bar (likely Mortimers). Gale was driving a green Rover car.
The assassin left and Jasper returned the car to Canning Town. The shotgun was still in the car and the assassin had taken the Browning pistol with him. He believed the car and shotgun had been crushed.
During the car journey the officers had kept detailed notes of what Jasper said and the route (to be disclosed in due course).
On arrival back at Forest Gate police station Jasper was interviewed by Sandford and Chapple. The attached interview is that first interview.
Jasper was remanded in Essex police custody the following day and taken to Rayleigh police station.
Over two days he was interviewed two more times on tape. Unusually the tape machine broke during one interview.
Jasper also wrote a detailed 12 page statement overnight 16th – 17th January 1996 (to follow).
He took the officers back to Rectory Lane on 17th January 1996, where again he made some startling admissions.
Jasper gave a very detailed account of the Murders of Tate, Tucker and Rolfe and also if the Murder of Nick Whiting (now corroborated by TM Eye).
Despite his detailed account and claims, Essex police failed to do any enquiries about Jaspers background or those he was talking about.
They were still spelling the name of the assassin incorrectly after three days !
Had the Essex officers made any enquiries with the Met or done an INFOS pool check, they would have immediately known that Jasper was credible and that his account could be corroborated.
Incredibly Jasper was released back to the Met with no further enquiries.
The SIO Det Supt Ivan Dibley signed off the decision in his Decision log in a couple of lines.
Dibley denies ever having heard of Jasper or his account as evidenced on the recent SKY documentary and to an earlier Panorama reporter.
Likewise the DI who wrote that entry DI Sue Harrison has also stated she has never heard of Jasper or his evidence.
Bizarrely not one of the Essex officers involved in the Murder enquiry or linked corruption enquiry, spoken to by TM Eye, have ever heard of Jasper.
Jasper was a very credible source. A man who had ready access to firearms and had used them. A prolific armed robber who had been targeted by the Met’s Flying Squad and a former member of the ICF and ‘Snipers’, from Canning Town.
He was later shot three times, twice in the head, including the mouth and once in the back in a revenge attack for talking about the Murder of Nick Whiting. This is highlighted in the secret 2002 Operation Tiberius report.
It is clear that Jasper did not tell the entire truth. He also recounts what he has heard from third parties and gets the detail incorrect.
But his account should have been investigated to prove or disprove whether he was telling the truth or any part of it.
By failing to do those absolutely vital enquiries we can never know if the Jasper evidence is correct.
Importantly Jasper describes the assassin wearing trainers. The only footprint recovered at the scene was a trainer print by the rear offside door, where the assassin had fired from.
How could Jasper or anyone have known the route and Rectory Lane unless he had been there before.
How could he know that it is only a short walk across fields from the end of Rectory Lane to the Murder scene.
Why would Jasper name some of the UK’s most dangerous and violent criminals as involved, putting his life at real risk.
Essex police have a lot of questions to answer.
Author: Hydroponify
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