The Murders of Derrick and Eileen Severs
For this case, I watched an episode of Forensic Files. It’s season 2 episode 2, titled ‘The Dirty Deed.’
A loving older couple disappears from their home.
**Some reports had also spelled Derrick as Derek.
Background
Derrick and Eileen Severs were a wealthy retired couple. They were very well known and well liked. Derrick and Eileen had lived in the small English town of Hambleton for about 20 years. They nicknamed their house ‘the bungalow.’
Derrick loved horse racing and enjoyed a pint of beer. Eileen worked for several charities around town. They had one son, Roger, who was known for being a con man, was unemployed, and recently moved back in with his parents.
Derrick and Eileen
The Disappearances
On November 13, 1993, Derrick was last seen by his friends at a local pub. His friends said they saw him leave around 3:30pm, and that he said he was heading home.
Eileen was last seen leaving a charity event at a local church. She also said she was heading home for the day.
Just 5 days after Derrick and Eileen were last seen, their friends called the police. The couple had missed several appointments, which wasn’t like them at all.
The police drove out to the bungalow, and were greeted by Roger, who was 37 at the time. Roger told the police that his parents had gone on holiday in London. Roger allowed the police to look around the house, but there didn’t appear to be any forced entry or a struggle.
Derrick and Eileen’s friends just knew something was wrong. Their neighbor, Doug, said they wouldn’t have left Roger in charge of their house. The friends insisted that Derrick and Eileen would’ve cancelled their appointments if they were actually going to leave for a trip.
The Search
The police went back to the Severs’ house to search. They noticed that the backyard had recently been excavated, and there had been a recent fire in the garden.
Roger told the police that his parents had left for London from the train station. The police went to speak to the train station employees, and were shown photos of the couple. No one had seen Derrick or Eileen.
The police now suspected that Roger was most likely involved in whatever happened to his parents. The police tested for signs of blood in the Severs’ home. There were suspicious dark stains on the bathtub, on the garage door, and in the backseat of Derrick’s car. Some carpet was missing from the kitchen.
The police found green fibers in the hallway of the home and on some pants believed to be Roger’s. The green fibers didn’t match anything in the home, which meant Roger had discarded whatever the fibers came from.
The police knew Roger was involved, but they didn’t have proof.
Ah, Nature
The backyard had recently been excavated, but there was no sign of human remains. The police did find small amounts of carpet and clothing in the ashes.
The police learned that a man matching Roger’s description had recently been seen by another police officer shortly before his parents were reported missing. Roger was seen in an area called the Exton Avenue Woods, and that he was acting odd.
The police went to the woods. Derrick and Eileen weren’t found, but a bloody towel was.
Several photos of Derrick’s car were examined. One investigator noticed that the mud that was caked on the wheels of the car was very light. The mud was much lighter than the mud usually found on the roadways.
Dr. Tony Brown, a geologist, collected the mud from the wheels of Derrick’s car. In the samples, he found tiny bits of vegetation, which contained moss, leaves, and grass. In the vegetation, there were also small amounts of fishing line.
In the samples, Dr. Brown also found about 2o kinds of pollen. The pollen came from oak, alder, and a very unusual kind of pollen from a horse chestnut tree. The horse chestnut pollen is very heavy, and is known to float near the ground. Dr. Brown said that Derrick’s car would’ve had to have been parked near this type of tree. The horse chestnut tree pollen was found on all 4 tires of the car.
The Arrest and Conviction
Dr. Brown was able to locate 5 possible areas where the horse chestnut trees were. During the search of the 2nd area, known as Armley Wood, a discovery was made.
Derrick and Eileen’s bodies were found next to each other wrapped in green blankets. The blanket fibers matched the fibers found in the hallway of the bungalow and on Roger’s pants. A horse chestnut tree was found just a few feet away.
The soil found on the bodies were consistent with the soil that Dr. Brown had examined, as well as the soil from the Severs’ backyard. Derrick and Eileen had been covered with this soil, leaves, and roofing tiles from their home.
Roger’s motive seemed to be money. He was the beneficiary of their life insurance policies. It’s believed that Roger had asked his parents for money on November 13, 1993, but they said no. Roger killed his mom first while his dad was at the pub. He then dragged her out to the kitchen leaving behind the green fibers.
When Derrick arrived home, Roger was waiting, and hit his dad in the head. He had left behind the blood on the garage door, and put both of his parents in the backseat of the car.
He drove his parents out the woods. Instead of digging a grave, he covered them with soil, leaves and roofing tiles. The pollen and mud stuck to the tires of the car, which would eventually be what led to the arrest.
Roger was charged with the murders, and admitted to killing them at his trial. On December 6, 1994, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Roger Severs
FINAL THOUGHTS
I definitely learned a lot about trees during the 21 minute episode and other research I did on this case. It’s obvious that Roger thought he would get away with killing his parents. Derrick and Eileen had amazing friends, who just knew that something had happened. Derrick and Eileen had issues with Roger for a long time, but tried to help him. When Roger didn’t get his way, he decided to kill them instead of getting a job and trying to get back on his feet.
Sources
https://www.truecrimelibrary.com/crimearticle/the-son-from-hell/
https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/severs-roger.htm
https://aboutforensics.co.uk/roger-severs/
