Q: Miss Chappel, could you tell us how and when you first met Mr. Pierce?
A: Yes. In class. He was my teacher. I was his student.
Q: How old were you at the time?
A: Seventeen.
Q: Was this at Eastvale College of Further Education?
A: Yes.
Q: How old was Owen Pierce when you met?
A: Thirty-two, thirty-three. I’m not exactly sure.
Q: So he was almost old enough to be your father?
A: Technically. I suppose a sixteen-year-old could be a father.
Q: Did you live at home?
A: Yes. Until I was eighteen.
Q: Where did you go then?
A: I moved in with Owen.
Q: How long did you live with him?
A: Five years.
Q: How did Mr. Pierce approach you?
A: He suggested a coffee after class, one day, then he asked me out to dinner.
Q: Were your marks good?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you start seeing one another regularly?
A: Yes. We went out together a few times for dinner, to the pictures or for a drink. Sometimes he took me out for a ride in the country in his car, and we’d find a little village pub somewhere.
Q: How soon did you become lovers?
A: Very soon after we first went out.
Q: Weeks? Days?
A: Days.
Q: And the relationship went well after you moved in with him?
A: At first it did, yes. Look, I mean, you have to realize, I was very young. A bit of a misfit, too, I suppose. I wasn’t very happy at home, and I didn’t really have any close friends. I found most people my own age immature. I was also very shy and Owen was nice to me. I suppose I was flattered, too, by the attention. When I talked about leaving home, he asked if I’d like to move in with him, and it seemed like a good idea. I felt safe with him.
Q: Were you still his student when you moved in with him?
A: I was in his business communications class, yes.
Q: Did you continue to do well in that course?
A: Very well.
Q: Deservedly?
A: I think so. Look, I’m not stupid, but I also admit it may have helped, sleeping with my teacher.
Q: Do you think there was a price to pay for your success?
A: What do you mean?
Q: Did Owen ever suggest or attempt to commit any unnatural acts?
A: Do you mean was he kinky?
Q: Something like that.
A: No, I wouldn’t say that. I mean, he liked me to wear certain underclothes. You know, black silky things, thigh stockings, skimpy things. He liked me to keep them on when we…you know.
Q: During intercourse?
A: Yes.
Q: Was that all?
A: All? Was what all?
Q: The skimpy clothes. Did he ever make you do anything you didn’t want to?
A: He wanted to do it to me from behind, like dogs. I didn’t like that.
Q: But did you do as he wished?
A: Well, I…yes, at first I did. I wanted to please him.
Q: Because you were worried about your marks?
A: A bit, I suppose.
Q: Did he show any interest in pornography?
A: We watched a dirty video once. You know the sort of thing. I didn’t really enjoy it. In fact, I thought it was dead gross, but it seemed to turn him on.
Q: How did he behave when you were watching the video?
A: Well, he was, you know, maybe a bit more ardent than usual. He wanted to try out things they were doing, you know, on the video.
Q: Against your will?
A: No, but I thought it was a bit weird.
Q: Did he ever resort to violence for the purpose of sexual stimulation?
A: He used to like to tie me up sometimes.
Q: How did you react to this?
A: What could I do? He was stronger than me. I wanted to please him. It was uncomfortable and it frightened me a bit, but it didn’t really hurt. It was just a game, really. It was something he’d seen in that silly film and it turned him on.
Q: Did he beat you at all? Flagellation?
A: No.
Q: So apart from the tying up he wasn’t violent?
A: No…not until the end. Then living with him became sort of like being in prison. Every time I went out I had to account for my movements. Some nights he wouldn’t even let me go out.
Q: How did he keep you in?
A: He just made such a fuss it wasn’t worth it. I felt shut in, always under observation. I couldn’t breathe. I was frightened of his temper. I started rebelling in small ways, like seeing other friends and stuff, and it made him more and more possessive.
Q: Is that why you left him? Fear of violence?
A: Partly…it was frightening, especially the last night, but…
Q: Can you tell us about that last night, Michelle?
Michelle went on to tell about the night she claimed Owen had raped and tried to strangle her. Pale, Owen shoved the papers aside and looked at Shirley Castle.
“Well?” she asked. “What do you think of it?”
Owen shook his head slowly. “I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s not true, then?”
“Some of it, maybe. But she even makes the truth sound different, sound bad for me, the way she slants it.”
“In what way?”
“Every way. The sex, for example. She makes me sound like a pervert, but most of it was her idea. She loved it, the tying up, the talking dirty. It really got her going. And she liked the video.”
“Did you hit her that last night?”
“I pushed her. I was protecting myself. She was berserk, out of control. She’d have killed me if I hadn’t pushed her away.”
“And she hit her head as she fell?”
“Yes.”
“Knocking her unconscious?”
