The Murder of Rebecca ‘Becky’ Middleton
Warning, this case discusses the topics of sexual assault, torture and murder.
For this case, I watched an episode of Murder in Paradise. It’s season 2 episode 6, titled ‘Stranger Danger.’
A 17-year-old girl from Canada goes on a summer trip with a friend to Bermuda.
Background
Rebecca Jane Middleton was born on June 27, 1979, to parents Cindy and Dave. Rebecca, or Becky as she was often called, was the youngest of 3 children. Becky and her siblings lived with her mom after her parents divorced when she was 13.
Becky grew up in the small Canadian town of Belleville, just off the shore of Lake Ontario. Becky was described as sociable and fun to be around.
Rebecca ‘Becky’ Middleton
The Trip of a Lifetime
On June 19, 1996, Becky, and her friend, Jasmine Meens, arrived in Bermuda. Jasmine’s dad, Rick, had just gotten remarried, and had moved to Bermuda.
On July 2, Becky and Jasmine had plans to go out with some boys they had met. They went to the White Horse Pub, had some drinks, and went to one of their new friend’s houses to hangout.
Around 1am, Jasmine realized she hadn’t checked in with her dad. Around 2am, Jasmine called a cab to pick them up. They waited outside, but by 2:30am, the cab hadn’t arrived.
Around 2:30am, Jasmine called the cab company again. The dispatcher claimed that the cab had driven by and didn’t see them. Jasmine said no one had driven by, and tried to order another cab. Jasmine and Becky waited outside again.
A local man named Dean Lottimore rode by while the girls were waiting outside. Dean said another bike pulled up, and one of the men took a liking to Becky.
Jasmine and Becky didn’t want to accept rides from a stranger, but they needed to get home. Jasmine got on the bike with Dean, and Becky got one the bike with the other two men. The two bikes were near each other for awhile, until the bike that Becky was on sped off.
Jasmine lost Becky, but was dropped off at her dad’s house safely by Dean. Becky would never make it home.
The Discovery
Jasmine said she woke her dad up, and said Becky was missing. Rick asked Jasmine where she had last seen Becky. Jasmine said she had last seen Becky near the bridge, but she didn’t tell her dad that they had gotten on bikes with strangers.
About 8 miles on Ferry Road, a local DJ named Dana Rawlings was traveling home from a gig. Dana and some friends saw something lying in the road. Dana said he thought it was an animal, but realized it was a young girl.
Dana was interviewed in this episode. He said the young girl was still alive, but couldn’t speak because her throat had been cut. Dana told his friends to call for help while he applied pressure to her wound.
Dana said time passed and the girl started going cold. He felt her wrist for a pulse, but there wasn’t one. The ambulance arrived, but it was too late.
The Autopsy
By July 3, Jasmine and Rick had searched around for Becky for about 2 hours, and didn’t find her. When they arrived back at the house, Rick called the Bermuda police. Rick said he had been put on hold, and then told to go to Ferry Reach. Rick asked if they had found Becky, but he was just told to go to Ferry Reach.
When they arrived at Ferry Reach, Rick told Jasmine to wait in the car. Rick spoke to the police. The police unzipped the body bag, and Rick saw that Becky was dead.
Rick said he started screaming, yelling, and punching anything around him. Jasmine said she just heard her dad yelling. She said he dry heaved the whole way back to his house.
Jasmine was interviewed by the police. She told them that Becky had gotten on a bike with two young black males. Rick said that was the first time he had learned of what had happened. Jasmine said she didn’t want to get in trouble.
At Ferry Reach, the police found Becky’s bloody bra and skirt. The clothes had been cut off of her. Becky’s autopsy revealed that she had been sexually assaulted, tortured, stabbed and her throat had been cut.
Becky had about 16 stab wounds. The wounds had cut her jugular vain and vital organs. She had about 19 superficial wounds to her neck area. On her head, a serrated knife had been used to scrape and peck her. These wounds had been referred to as Jamaican torture. The torture was done when Becky refused to do what her killer or killers wanted her to do.
The Eyewitnesses
The police rounded up all local men that were known to have criminal records. Dean Lottimore was brought in to try to identify the local men he had seen on the bike. Dean said the men were lined up, but there was no barrier between him and the men.
Dean recognized one of the men, but he wouldn’t name him until July 9. Dean said he was very afraid about what would happen to him, his son and family, but knew he needed to help Becky.
Dean identified the two men that he had seen on the bike as Kirk Mundy, 21, and Justis Smith, 19.
Another eyewitness told the police that he had seen Mundy and Smith on the bridge. The witness’s car had broken down. They had stopped their bike to chat to him, and he could see that Mundy had blood on his sleeve.
Another eyewitness, who had been at work at the time also saw Mundy and Smith around 3:20am. The witness said there had been a white piece of cloth covering the bike’s license plate. Becky’s white t-shirt that she had been wearing was missing from the crime scene.
On July 10, Mundy and Smith were arrested. Mundy had been out on bail for an armed robbery at the time. Both men denied being involved, but had different stories about where they had been on the night of the murder.
Mundy and Smith’s DNA samples were sent to the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) for testing.
A Deal with the Devil
Mundy had claimed that he had been at home with his pregnant girlfriend on the night of the murder.
On July 12, after a meeting with his lawyer, he admitted that he had consensual sex with Becky. He then said Smith was the one who had raped and killed her.
Mundy told the police that Smith tossed the murder weapon, a knife, off the bridge. The knife was recovered. It matched a set of knives found in a knife block in Smith’s home.
A deal was cut for Mundy in exchange for his testimony against Smith. On October 16, 1996, Mundy pled guilty to being an accessory. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Two days after Mundy’s sentencing, the DNA from the RCMP came back. Smith’s DNA wasn’t found on Becky, but Mundy’s was. Everyone was shocked as to why the Bermuda police hadn’t waited until the DNA came back.
The police tried to get Mundy’s deal revoked, but it was too late. Due to the double jeopardy rule in Bermuda, Mundy couldn’t be tried again.
Kirk Mundy
A Botched Investigation
On November 23, 1998, Justis Smith went on trial for murder.
Justis Smith
The strongest evidence seemed to be the knife that had been found from a knife block in his home. One of the knives from the set had been missing.
An American pathologist examined the knife and the wounds on Becky. The pathologist said the wounds were consistent as being from the serrated knife from Smith’s home.
The defense claimed that Smith was not there at all on the night of the murder, and that Mundy acted alone. He asked for the case to be dismissed.
The judge threw out the case and claimed that there was no evidence presented that Smith was even at the crime scene. Smith walked free.
Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist, reexamined the autopsy. He learned that Becky’s body had been washed before the autopsy was done, and fingernail scrapings hadn’t been taken.
Dr. Baden’s findings revealed that Becky had to have been killed by two people. Becky had been raped as soon as Mundy and Smith took her to Ferry Reach. Becky had tried to get away, and was able to crawl a few feet away. Becky had been held down by one of the men, and tortured. She was then carried to the road when she later found by Dana. Dr. Baden found grab marks and smears on her ankles.
Other
Two years after walking free, Smith stabbed another woman outside a bar.
No one spent anytime in prison, and Becky’s case is listed as unsolved.
Dana Rawlings named his daughter Rebecca.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s clear that everyone is haunted by this case. Becky's family, Rick, Jasmine, Dana and Dean. It’s complete bullshit that the Bermuda police didn’t do more to make sure that these animals could be locked away forever. Becky deserves justice, and so does her family. I hope Smith and Mundy are rotting away somewhere because they don’t deserve to be walking free. It seems as if Mundy has gotten in trouble over the last few years, and I’m sure he’ll continue being a piece of shit.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Rebecca_Middleton
https://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/7662753-middleton-murder-accused-deported-from-bermuda/
https://www.royalgazette.com/other/news/article/20160703/bermuda-remembers-rebecca-middleton/
