A British woman has been convicted of killing her 5-year-old stepdaughter nearly five decades after the child's death was ruled an accident. (Credit: Metropolitan Police)
LONDON - A United Kingdom woman has been convicted of killing her stepdaughter in 1978 after new evidence prompted detectives to reopen the case more than 40 years after the child’s death.
Dig deeper:
Janice Nix, 67, of London, England, was found guilty of manslaughter in connection with the death of five-year-old Andrea Bernard following a trial at Isleworth Crown Court.
Nix was also found guilty of assaulting and ill-treating Andrea’s older brother, Desmond, between 1975 and 1978.
Andrea died nearly six weeks after arriving at a hospital with severe burns covering 50% of her body. Prosecutors said the injuries were caused by immersion in a scalding bath at the family’s home in Thornton Heath, south London.
At the time, a coroner concluded that Andrea’s death was caused by sepsis resulting from the burns and ruled it an accident.
The case remained closed for more than four decades until 2022, when Desmond Bernard, who was eight years old when his sister died, came forward to police and said he believed Nix was responsible for Andrea’s death.
His allegations led detectives to launch a new criminal investigation.
Investigators reviewed thousands of documents from local authority archives and hospital records and attempted to trace former residents who may have remembered the incident.
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Woman convicted of the manslaughter of her stepdaughter in 1978
The moment Janice Nix is arrested for the killing her five-year-old stepdaughter, Andrea Bernard. (Credit: Metropolitan Police)
What they're saying:
Detective Inspector Louise Caveen of the Metropolitan Police's Cold Case Homicide Team described the case as "particularly tragic" and said her thoughts remain with Andrea Bernard's family.
"This is a particularly tragic case and my thoughts ultimately remain with Andrea’s family, whose lives were changed irrevocably back in 1978," Caveen said in a news release.
She also praised Andrea's brother, Desmond Bernard, whose decision to come forward in 2022 led to the case being reopened.
"In particular, I want to pay tribute to Desmond, who bravely made the decision to come forward and speak to us, as well as giving evidence at trial. It is thanks to his courage that Nix has now been found guilty and will finally be held responsible for her actions," she said.
Caveen said the investigation demonstrates the force's commitment to reviewing new evidence regardless of how much time has passed.
"I hope this case demonstrates that the Met will always review any new evidence that is brought to us, no matter the length of time that has passed. We will use all of the resources we have available to seek out the truth and pursue new opportunities to get justice for all victims who have been unlawfully killed," she said.
Janice Nix, 67, of London, was found guilty of manslaughter in the 1978 death of Andrea Bernard, who died weeks after suffering severe burns from a scalding bath. (Credit: Metropolitan Police)
The backstory:
The investigation began in September 2022 when Andrea Bernard's brother, Desmond, contacted police and said he believed his stepmother, Janice Nix, was responsible for the burns that led to his sister's death in 1978.
Andrea's death had been recorded as an accident at the time. Desmond told investigators he had remained silent for decades because Nix, who he said routinely physically abused him, promised she would stop hitting him if he kept what happened a secret.
According to a statement read in court, Desmond only began sharing his account of the events with those closest to him as an adult.
He said Nix regularly beat both him and Andrea when she believed they had misbehaved. On the day Andrea suffered her fatal injuries, Nix had reportedly kept the 5-year-old home from school as punishment.
Desmond said Andrea later managed to leave the house and met up with him, but when they returned home, Nix immediately began shouting at and hitting her before running a bath and ordering her to get in.
Desmond told investigators he went to his bedroom, which was next to the bathroom. Although he could not see inside, he said he heard Andrea repeatedly scream, "It's hot, it's hot," while Nix shouted at her to get into the water. The screaming suddenly stopped, and Nix called him into the bathroom, where he found Andrea unresponsive.
Local officers initially reopened the case before it was taken over by detectives from the Metropolitan Police's Cold Case Homicide Team.
Investigators faced significant challenges because of the passage of time. Most records had been destroyed or lost, and many people connected to the case or the family had died.
However, detectives recovered a 16-page coroner's report that became a key piece of evidence. The report detailed Andrea's injuries, her medical treatment and a statement Nix gave shortly after the child's death.
When interviewed during the 2022 investigation, Nix was not initially told detectives had obtained her original statement. Police said the account she gave differed significantly from the one she provided in 1978.
Investigators also said Nix claimed Andrea's death had been attributed to a boiler malfunction that overheated the bath water. However, detectives found no reference to such a malfunction in the coroner's report.
When asked to explain the discrepancies, Nix declined to comment and said the period had been traumatic, prosecutors said.
During the trial, expert witnesses testified about the severity of Andrea's injuries and how they were likely sustained.
A burns specialist told jurors that a child immersed in water hot enough to cause Andrea's injuries would be expected to immediately try to stand up and escape. The expert said it would be unlikely for a child to voluntarily remain seated in such water. Prosecutors argued the evidence showed parts of Andrea's body must have been forcibly submerged.
The other side:
Throughout the investigation and trial, Nix denied abusing Desmond or playing any role in Andrea's death. She maintained that Desmond's account of the events was inaccurate.
What's next:
Nix is scheduled to be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on a date to be determined.
The Source: The information in this story comes primarily from the Metropolitan Police Service (Met Police), including details released by its Cold Case Homicide Team following Janice Nix's conviction at Isleworth Crown Court. This story was reported from Los Angeles.