In clips released for the first time since the April Jones investigation, the five-year-old’s killer, Mark Bridger, can be heard lying to the police during an interview.
April Jones, five, was killed by Bridger in October 2012 after he abducted her in his car in Machynlleth, Powys, Wales.
Never-before-heard recording of the child killer’s interviews with the police will b e broadcast in tonight’s April Jones: The Interrogation Tapes at 9pm on Channel 5.
Mark Bridger was interviewed by police following April’s disappearance, and initially claimed he had run the child over while she was riding her bicycle with a friend, and that he did not remember disposing of her body because he was drunk.
In a chilling recording aired on tonight’s show, Bridger can be heard crying as he blatantly lies to the police about April’s fate.
April Jones, five, was killed by Mark Bridger on 1 October 2012 after he abducted her in his car in Machynlleth, Powys, Wales (pictured: April). Recordings of the killer’s interview with the police are released for the first time ever in Channel 5’s April Jones: The Interrogation tapes tonight at 9pm
DC Alice Thomas, one of the police investigators that conducted the interview can be heard saying in one clip: ‘It’s been a tough day,’ to which the suspected killer agreed.
‘Obviously she hasn’t been found yet,’ he said, his voice breaking. ‘If I really, honestly knew where she was, I would tell you.’
In his first statement to the police, Bridger claimed he ran April over while she was riding her bike.
‘I don’t know where she is,’ Bridger said. ‘Yesterday I came down to see my daughter’s teacher.
‘She had a parents evening and I parked up opposite my girlfriend’s house, which I believe is not far away from April’s parents house.
‘Stupid, I had a few to drink and there were two girls on their bikes.’
‘I remember the dark-headed girl came behind the car. I looked to see where the other girl was and couldn’t see this other little girl, and the next minute the bike was there.’
Mark Bridger, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 after he was found guilty of abducting and killing April, lied to police, telling them he had accidentally hit her with his car
Going on with his story, Bridger became increasingly emotional as he continued with the lie.
‘I started the car up. As I went to pull away… There wasn’t a thud, I cant understand,’ he said.
‘The car rose up, I walked around and underneath the front of the car is how I noticed April.’
‘She was only little, so I picked her up put her across my seat and put on on the passenger seat, tried to feel her pulse and there was nothing.’
The search for April (pictured) was the largest search for a missing person in the UK, and lasted until April 22 2013
He then explained how he tried to give the youngster before driving away, in search for medical assistance.
‘I’d obviously crushed her little body,’ he said, crying.
We only have your version of events, we only have your word that you run her over and you killed her,’ DC Thomas said.
‘I can promise you that she’s not alive,’ he answered. ‘I can’t change my story, it’s what happened that night.
‘Mark, we don’t want her to suffer anymore,’ DC Thomas then said.
Bridger went on to say he’d been thinking about April’s mother and father for ‘hours’ in his cell.
He could later be heard saying, ‘I killed their daughter,’ therefore admitting responsibility for April’s death.
But police officers in the interrogation room admitted they grew suspicious of Bridger early on during his interview.
DS Andy John, who was senior investigating officer at the time, said: ‘There was these tear-drops that were dropping onto the paper, almost the size of a 10p piece, and then he’d look up at you, and there was nothing, no indication that he had been crying at all.’
Blood splatter that was confirmed to belong to April was found in Bridger’s bathroom during the police investigation (pictured: Bridger’s house)
As the investigation into April’s disappearance progressed, police started to doubt Bridger’s version, due to the fact his car showed no sign of having experienced a collision, and the absence of blood in the car.
Crucially, Bridger’s version differed from April’s seven year old friend, who had been out playing with her, and saw the five-year-old girl willingly hop into a car.
‘What you’re telling us didn’t quite happen,’ DC Alice Thomas, who was in the interview room, can be heard telling Bridger in the recording.
‘It happened exactly as I’m telling you,’ a defensive Bridger answered.
Bridger claimed he saw no blood on him nor April at the time of the suspected collision. But search of Bridger’s house also finds that splatters of blood could be seen in his bathroom, which later prove to be April’s, further raising suspicion.
The show reveals how forensic psychologist Dr Joe Sullivan, who worked on the Madeleine McCann case, was asked to join the investigation a day after April’s abduction.
‘My role is to give officers insight into how offenders of this nature think and how they process information and how they respond to certain types of questions,’ he explained on the show, discussing the case for the first time ever.
After drawing a psychological profile of Bridger, Dr Sullivan concluded he showed several psychopathic traits, and was unlikely to show empathy or guilt.
‘This is a man who’s not going to respond to an appeal to his better nature,’ he said.
Eventually, police found violent images of child abuse on Bridger’s computer, which raised suspicions that he might have abducted April for a sexual motive.
Further into the episode, DC Thomas and DS John confront Bridger about the child pornography found on his computer, and ask him whether he has sexually assault April.
But Bridger still wouldn’t admit he assaulted and killed the five-year-old, saying: ‘I did not sexually assault April.’
Bridger initially told police he ran April (pictured) over with his car and drove away with the unconscious child in his vehicle
‘I have stuck by my story, and I’m still sticking to my story that April was crushed under the wheel of my car,’ he added.
April’s disappearance, on Monday 1 October 2012, led to the largest missing person search in UK police history, which even had then Prime Minister David Cameron pleading for witness to come forward.
Police forces, rescue teams and volunteers search relentlessly for the young child, and the search officially stopped on April 22 2013.
Bridger was initially suspected by police because he and his vehicle matched a witness’ description.
He was charged with child abduction, murder, and attempting to pervert the course of justice on October 6 2012, five days after April’s disappearance.
After a five-week trial it took the jury just four hours to decide father of six Bridger was a fantasist, obsessed with child murder and child pornography, who had lured disabled April into his car, before killing her.
He has always refused to reveal what he did with her body, but it is believed he burned her in his fire and dumped some of her remains in a river close to his home.
Bridger was sentenced on 30 May 2013, to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released.
April Jones: The Interrogation Tapes airs tonight atr 9pm on Channel 5.