An ex-detective has spoken openly about his professional life, detailing some of the most harrowing cases he encountered during his tenure with the Metropolitan Police.
Former New Scotland Yard homicide detective Steve Keogh discussed his involvement in some of the most disturbing investigations of his career, including what he termed the cases that impacted him the most profoundly.
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Among these was the disappearance and subsequent murder of 43-year-old EastEnders actress Sian Blake, who, along with her two sons Zachary, aged eight, and Amon, aged four, was slain by her partner Arthur Simpson-Kent.
Simpson-Kent fatally stabbed Ms Blake, who suffered from motor neurone disease, and her two children before interring their bodies in the garden adjacent to the family’s bungalow in southeast London in December 2015.
Following the homicides, he attempted to disguise the crime by painting over bloodstains before absconding to Ghana in January 2016. He was subsequently apprehended at Heathrow Airport after his extradition back to the United Kingdom, as reported by the Mirror.
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After a trial at the Old Bailey, he was found guilty and sentenced to a whole life order.
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Steve was among the officers assigned to the case after initial reports of Blake’s vanishing, and he recalled how it rapidly became evident that this was not a typical missing persons investigation.
Speaking to Ladbible, he stated that Simpson-Kent had asserted Blake had left with the boys — a claim that immediately raised suspicions due to her health condition.
He commented: “It just didn’t feel right; she was unable to care for herself, so how could she manage herself and these two young boys? Consequently, we determined that we would treat it as a homicide unless proven otherwise.
“So we returned to her residence, and a colleague of mine entered, and one of the initial observations was, in the kitchen, there were evident signs of violence, but it had been painted over as if someone had been attempting to conceal the crime scene.”
Steve mentioned that investigators later employed UV lighting to expose indications of trauma in the kitchen that had been obscured by fresh paint. Law enforcement then commenced the search for the boys, with Steve admitting he still harbored hope they might be discovered alive.
The focus eventually shifted to the garden, where cadaver dogs were utilized to search for human remains.
Four days into the inquiry, Steve received a communication from the site confirming a grim discovery — Blake and her sons had been located interred together.
Reflecting on the case, he characterized it as one of the lowest points of his career, particularly once it became apparent that the children had also been murdered.
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He stated: “I believe for me it was perhaps one of the nadir moments of my career. To have that optimism that. You hold onto the hope that something has happened to Sian.
“But you retain the hope that, not the boys, why would he harm the boys? When we received that telephone call, it was devastating to learn that he had done that to them.
“And then, upon the post-mortems, when you observe the manner in which they were killed, and that the final sight they would have witnessed was their father brutally assaulting them in the way he did was truly awful.”