WHEN a neighbour realised she hadn’t seen Judith Rhead for months, and noticed her bedroom window was wide open throughout the winter, alarm bells began to ring.

Michelle, who lived next door to the 68-year-old in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, raised her concerns with Judith’s son and live-in carer Dale Morgan, who explained that his mum’s asthma had become severe and the fresh air was good for her.

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Dale became a carer for his mum as her health deterioratedCredit: BBC
 

Judith Rhead, a woman with short brown hair and black-rimmed glasses, smiles at the camera while wearing a black and white striped shirt.
Judith Rhead was a much-loved member of the communityCredit: WNS
 

Dale Morgan and Judith Rhead smiling.
Judith doted on her sonCredit: BBC
After persistent questioning, she was eventually told Judith was in hospital but, finding no record of her admission, Michelle called the police.

What they discovered shocked the small-town community of Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.

Judith had been brutally bludgeoned to death with a hammer and her head was covered with a plastic bag, tied with electrical cord.

Dale, who everyone thought had a loving relationship with his mother, was missing. And for good reason.

It turned out that her “blue-eyed” son, had a darker side as a drug abuser who had stolen her medication and money before battering her to death.

With the population isolating during the covid pandemic, it provided Dale with the perfect opportunity to commit murder. The tragic and shocking story is told in the BBC documentary The Truth About My Murder: A Killing in Lockdown.

Judith, who had been twice married and divorced, had spent most of her life looking after others as a carer and as an assistant social worker in hospitals. She had been particularly vulnerable when Covid-19 hit.

“She was asthmatic as a young girl which later in life developed into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” says her niece, Gemma.

“Sometimes it would be really bad and she would have to take some oxygen. She had arthritis too, so she was on quite high levels of steroid-based drugs.”

Lockdown restrictions meant everyone had limited social interaction. Just a few close relatives or friends were allowed in each person’s “bubble.” Dale had moved in with her after she had an operation on her foot in October 2020 and became her primary carer.

Judith Rhead from "Killing in Lockdown" sitting in a room.
Neighbour Michelle raised the alarm after not seeing her friend for monthsCredit: BBC
 

Dale Morgan, wearing sunglasses and a beard, looks directly at the camera.
Dale Morgan lied to neighbours about his mum’s whereaboutsCredit: WNS
 

A police officer in a face mask stands in a doorway of the market street Pembroke, where Judith Rhead was murdered.
The body was left for over a month in the flatCredit: BBC
As cousins, Dale and Gemma had grown up together.

“We got on really well,” says Gemma. “Back then, if you were going on a night out, he was somebody that you definitely wanted to come because he was the life and soul of the party.”

‘Blue-eyed boy’

Judith and Dale had a particularly close relationship. She doted on him.

“They laughed and joked together and were very close,” recalls Gemma. “They were very musical and both played guitar. She idolised him. He was her blue-eyed boy.”

“Judith used to love going into the garden and when I came home from work, I would talk to her over the wall,” says Michelle. “She was a lovely lady to talk to.”

Gemma smiles warmly when she remembers the nickname she had for her aunt, taken from the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances starring Patricia Routledge as the intensely house-proud Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet).

“She didn’t really know this but sometimes we would refer to her as Mrs Bucket because her house was always immaculate.”

So too was her appearance.

“She was always so well kept,” says Michelle. “Her make-up, hair and nails were always done. She took great pride in herself.

“She used to go to choir practice and regularly went to church and she really missed that during covid. She missed meeting friends, socialising, because that was a big part of her life. She used to say it got her out of the flat.”

Gemma adds: “Nothing really held her back. She loved singing. She was quite the karaoke queen! If there was ever an opportunity for her to get hold of that microphone, she was doing it.”

After Christmas passed and all of January without having seen her friend, a concerned Michelle contacted the police who rang the house and spoke to Dale, telling him that friends and neighbours were worried about Judith.

They laughed and joked together and were very close.They were very musical and both played guitar. She idolised him. He was her blue-eyed boy.

Gemma

Dale said she was fine was isolating because of covid and would be seeing her friends again, soon.

It seemed there was no cause for concern but a few days later, Dale told Michelle his mother had taken a turn for the worst and was in hospital.

When she rang various hospitals and found no record of her admission, Michelle again called the police, who this time turned up in person and peered through the bedroom window when they got no answer.

Alarmed by the sight of a lifeless body, they broke in on Saturday 20 February, 2021 and found Judith dead.

The community was rattled by so many police arriving and news of the incident quickly spread. Gemma read about it initially on Facebook and recognised the flat in the pictures as that of her aunt. She got in her car and headed there.

Rather than asking Gemma and her family to identify the body, police asked whether Gemma’s aunt had any distinguishing features.

“I knew what tattoos she had,” says Gemma. “One of them was a drawing I had done when I was younger of a dragonfly, which she liked, and had it tattooed on her ankle. And that’s when it was confirmed that it was Judith. I couldn’t really speak much at that point. I was completely shocked.”

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The pair liked to party togetherCredit: BBC
 

Judith Rhead, a woman with short gray hair and glasses, looking directly at the camera.
Judith was bludgeoned to death by DaleCredit: PA
 

Market Street in Pembroke, Judith Rhead's murder location.
The quiet street in Pembrokeshire was rocked by the murderCredit: Supplied

Chilling diaries

At first, the family thought it was a freak accident – she had fallen and hit her head. But her body revealed the truth, along with a blooded hammer on the floor in her bedroom. She had been struck on the head with it at least 14 times.

“We were all numb when told that,” says Gemma. “It was so brutal. Judith’s sisters were hysterically crying.”

Dale became prime suspect after Judith’s diary revealed some dark truths about her son.

“Judith had a diary for as long as I can remember and wrote down what she did and her thoughts every night for decades,” says Gemma.

It revealed Dale’s serious problem – substance abuse. He had been taking his mother’s drugs, intended to treat her nerve pain.

One diary entry on 20 November 2020, said, “I discovered my gabapentin box only had one card and not six. I really told Dale off. I need those tablets.’”

In another, she described how she felt “betrayed” after finding that £150 had gone missing from her savings and £142.95 from her account.

Because of the cold air coming through the open window, keeping the body effectively refrigerated and slowing decay, the pathologist said it was possible her body had been there a month or even longer, meaning that Dale had been living in the one bedroom flat the entire time his mother was dead.

Dale handed himself in to the police as they were searching for him, saying, “I believe you are looking for me.” But he said little else other than “no comment” to their questions.

Open notebook with a pen on a dresser with various items.
A mock up of the diary where Judith shared her innermost thoughtsCredit: BBC
In a brief hearing in Swansea Crown Court in August 2021, he confirmed his name and finally admitted to killing his mother. He was given a life sentence in October with a minimum of 21 years and six months.

“We were only allowed a limited amount of people at a local church for her funeral but the crowds outside and along the roadside were phenomenal,” says Gemma.

“There were people lined on the Cleddau Bridge. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to sing because of covid, so we played choir songs that meant something to her. We definitely did her proud on her funeral. I think she would have loved it.”

Michelle will always cherish a heart embroidery that Judith did for her, that she had framed.

“It’s beautiful,” she says. “Just to think that she took the time to do it for me. It means the world to me.”

The Truth About My Murder: A Killing in Lockdown airs tonight on BBC Wales and is available on BBC iPlayer