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Alex Hanscombe's life was forever changed on July 15, 1992.
The then-2-year-old witnessed the brutal murder of his mom Rachel Nickell during a trip to the park at Wimbledon Common in London, where she was stabbed 49 times. The toddler was found clinging to the 23-year-old's bloodied body, later telling his dad André Hanscombe how he saw a "bad man" with a knife approach them from behind, according to Netflix's new documentary The Murder of Rachel Nickell.
It took over a decade for police to solve the case, with serial rapist Robert Napper pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2008.
Now 36, Alex is speaking out about how the tragedy affected him for the rest of his life.
"If you witnessed that degree of evil as a small child, the illusion that you have now that your parents—no matter how good a job they do—can really protect you from harm," he said in the documentary, "I think that collapses."
"My father knew that I understood what had happened, that my mother loved me, and that she wouldn't have wanted to leave me," Alex shared. "So, my father and me, we didn't talk about my mother. We didn't talk about the past, but still I felt an anger that this had happened, that no matter what I did, I couldn't stop it from happening."
Alex explained that he was also upset about having to sit for interviews with a child psychologist and police officers—supervised by his dad—to try to help remember details of the crime to solve the case.
"I was very angry about a lot of the things we'd lived through, the sessions that went on for weeks and months," he said. "The thing that was most distressing for me was to be taken back to that day repeatedly, and suggestions given about how I should feel about it. I carried that with me somewhat."
In fact, Alex lost respect and trust for his father during the process.
"The fundamental point was that he was the protector of the family as the father, and unfortunately had allowed this to happen to us," he said. "So, in my teenage years, we had a lot of conflict."
Netflix
Indeed, André admitted in The Murder of Rachel Nickell that Alex had a troubled upbringing. "The anger was quite rightly directed towards me," he said. "I had a huge sense of guilt that I hadn't protected my family."
André was at work when Rachel was attacked, later moving to France with Alex to navigate their grief as the case remained unsolved for years—until a DNA breakthrough in 2004.
Courtesy of Netflix
And in the years since Rachel's horrific murder, Alex has come to accept his relationships with his parents and the trauma he experienced.
"We were ultimately forced to find our own closure, which I think is actually a good thing, and that was ultimately the realization that you have no choice but to make peace with it," he said in the doc. "My parents believed in the infinity of the spirit, thar my mother would be with me always, wherever I went."
Alex added, "My father sacrificed everything for me and for what he believed in, without any guarantees of how it would turn out. He was brave enough to do what he felt was right in his heart. I'm forever indebted to him for that."
Courtesy of Netflix
For a look at other true crime cases, read on.
Splash News
JonBenét Ramsey
The 6-year-old pageant star was brutally murdered at her Colorado home on Christmas 1996. Her parents, brother and more have all been suspects, but to this day no one really knows who killed JonBenét.
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Nicole Brown Simpson & Ron Goldman
O.J. Simpson, who died in April 2024 after a battle with cancer, was found guilty in a civil trial of both 1994 murders, but in the criminal trial, the jury acquitted him. Technically, in the eyes of the law, the famous NFL player didn't do it, so their murderer remains unknown (and perhaps at large).
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Tupac Shakur
Depending on whom you ask, someone might say Tupac is still alive. But the "Changes" rapper was murdered in 1996, and the investigation is still unsolved.
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Notorious B.I.G.
About a year and a half after Tupac, Biggie Smalls was shot four times in a drive-by shooting. His killer still remains unknown.
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Caylee Anthony
Casey Anthony, Caylee's mother, went through a highly publicized trial only to be found not guilty of her daughter's murder. As a result, it's still unknown who murdered this little girl.
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Elizabeth Short a.k.a. The Black Dahlia
Short, who was murdered in 1947, and the mystery surrounding her death became an instant media sensation. She received "The Black Dahlia" moniker posthumously, but to this day, her killer remains unknown.
Bettmann/Getty Images
Andrew Borden & Abby Borden
This couple was brutally murdered with an axe in 1892, but it was their daughter, Lizzie Borden, who was tried and acquitted for the crime. The deaths of Andrew Borden and Abby Borden were never solved.
PytyCzech/Getty Images
Jack the Ripper
In 1888, an unknown serial killer hit the streets of London. More than 100 years later, the identity of Jack the Ripper remains unknown.
Carl Hugare/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The Chicago Tylenol Murders
These murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in Chicago in 1982. The victims, who included children, had all taken Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. A total of seven people died in the original poisonings, with several more deaths in subsequent copycat crimes. The person responsible is still unknown.
AP
The Zodiac Killer
He was a serial killer who acted in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but his identity still remains unknown. The killer originated the name "Zodiac" in a series of taunting letters sent to the local Bay Area press. These letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers). Of the four cryptograms sent, only one has been definitively solved.
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