WHEN 18-year-old Alex Davies arranged to meet a Grindr date in a discreet spot he had no clue that that decision would cost him his life.

Evil Brian Healless stabbed trusting Alex 128 times, inflicting 146 different injuries to his body, before leaving him under a pile of conifers at a local beauty spot in Lancashire.

11
Shop assistant Alex was popular and lived life to the fullestCredit: supplied
 

11
His life was brutally cut short by Brian HeallessCredit: PA
And just hours after he had brutally murdered Alex, sadistic Healless was back on the dating app trying to arrange meetings with other men.

Police found incriminating evidence on his phone that suggested he could have been planning to kill again.

Speaking in a new ITV documentary, which airs tonight, local journalist Rachel Smith says: “Was he going to do it again? We could have been looking at a serial killer here.”

Shop assistant Alex was a popular, openly gay teenager who had a good circle of friends and lived his life to the full.

His mum Bev was aware that he used dating apps – and she had even spoken to him about the dangers of sexual predators online – but Alex had assured her that nothing bad would ever happen to him.

But on Monday 29 April 2019, Bev returned home from work to find the house empty.

Retired detective Inspector Steve Keogh says: “The kind of relationship Alex had with his mum, they were really close and it would have been really unusual for him not to be in contact with her.

“When she came home at 9pm and she hadn’t heard from him all day, she had those mother’s instincts, ‘this isn’t normal, I would have heard from him’.”

As it drew closer to midnight, she was getting increasingly worried and started to phone around his friends. None of them had heard from him.

When Alex still wasn’t home by the next morning, Bev phoned police. Alex’s friends took to social media to try to raise awareness that he was missing, asking for information about his whereabouts.

11
Alex was last seen walking off towards a rural areaCredit: PA
Meanwhile Bev downloaded the CCTV from her doorbell camera and discovered that Alex had taken a taxi from outside the house.

So she called the cab firm and found out Alex had been dropped at Parbold train station about 10 miles away.

CCTV footage in Parbold showed Alex, carrying a rucksack, getting out of the taxi before popping into a shop to buy snacks. Alex set off walking towards a rural area – where the CCTV trail stopped.

But on May 1, police got a call that a body had been found. The body had been so badly mutilated that at first officers could not tell if it was a man or a woman.

Senior investigating officer Geoff Hurst says: “I was looking at a picture of Alex and I was looking at the body in front of me, and I’m thinking they don’t look the same.”

In my career I can only think of a couple of cases where I have seen injuries that have come anywhere close to that

Steve Keogh

But then the police search team found the contents of a wallet close by – bank cards in the name of Alex Davies.

“Alex had a little tiny birthmark on his cheek, like a little beauty spot if you will,” explains Geoff Hurst. “And in his photograph he was wearing a silver chain.

“I examined the body in front of me and I thought I could just see a little beauty spot, and the body did have a silver chain on. At that point I made the call, I wanted someone to go round to his mum who had reported him missing to tell her I think we’ve found him.”

11
Police found a knife covered in Alex’s bloodCredit: PA
As well as the stab wounds, Alex had injuries to his face, he had a broken nose, he looked like he had been badly beaten. He had mud up his nostrils and in his mouth which showed he had probably been dragged face down.

Steve Keogh says: “In my career I can only think of a couple of cases where I have seen injuries that have come anywhere close to that. This is indicating a horrific, sustained violent attack on him.”

The hunt was now on for Alex’s murderer. Geoff Hurst says: “I wanted to get him in the cells as quickly as possible. I needed to protect the public from this monster. I have got someone who has just brutalised an 18-year-old boy and was still at large. My sense of duty to protect the public was immense.”

Rucksack clue

At the crime scene police found a small knife that had been shoved into the ground – and forensics found Alex’s blood on the blade.

And Alex’s mobile phone logs showed a number that had called him on the day of his murder that had never called him before.

This led them straight to 18-year-old Brian Healless.

Geoff Hurst says: “He was absolutely unremarkable in every way, shape and form. Physically he had no presence. You would never notice him in a quiet street, never mind a busy one.”

But a search of his house uncovered crucial evidence – the contents of Alex’s rucksack including his headphones, wallet and spare phone.

The knife block in his home also had a knife missing. The police knew they had their man.

Healless was arrested but refused to talk when interviewed.

But CCTV on the route between Healless’s home in Chorley showed that he had cycled from there to Parbold on the day of the murder. And on his return journey he had a rucksack on matching Alex’s bag.

11
Alex was found with multiple severe injuriesCredit: PA
 

11
Police discovered that Brian Healless pushed Alex to meet him somewhere secludedCredit: supplied
 

11
Alex’s phones and headphones were also recovered in his houseCredit: PA
And police discovered that Alex and Healless had started chatting on a dating app before moving their conversations to WhatsApp.

Steve Keogh says: “What became clear was that Healless was pushing for a meet, pushing to meet Alex. But he was being what I would describe as manipulative.

“He was saying I haven’t come out yet as gay, so people don’t know. Meaning that when we meet it has to be somewhere secluded, somewhere we won’t be seen. And now we know, looking back, why that was. But for Alex himself, he probably wanted to see the best in the person he was speaking to.”

And crucially the messages revealed their first meeting was scheduled for April 29 – the day Alex went missing – and Healless had picked the time and location.

Steve Keogh says: “It was Healless that was pushing for the meet, then he was pushing for it in a secluded area. He took a knife with him. These were indications that this in actual  fact wasn’t a spontaneous event, it was a planned and premeditated murder.”

More potential victims

But Brian Healless’s phone revealed even more disturbing information from the days after Alex had been murdered. Healless was back on the dating apps.

“He was speaking to multiple other young men, he was trying to arrange meet ups,” says Rachel Smith. “Was he going to do it again? There is every chance that they could have been looking at a serial killer here.”

He had made contact with a man in Bolton and just like with Alex had asked if there was somewhere discreet they could meet. They had arranged to meet on the Saturday – but police arrested him on Friday.

Steve Keogh says: “We will never know if that was for the same purpose, but it is not exactly a leap is it to go from I’ve just killed one person on this route, and now I am going to meet another. There is a very good chance police prevented him from carrying out a second murder.”

Healless went on trial for the murder of Alex Davies at Preston Crown Court in March 2020.

11
CCTV captured the moment his killer was scene riding awayCredit: PA
 

11
Alex used to work as a shop assistant in the town of SkelmersdaleCredit: Alamy
 

11
Blood spots can be seen in luminescent light on Healless’ trainerCredit: PA
Rachel Smith says: “When Healless walked in the dock he looked like you might see him outside the local sixth form college. He was very emotionless, barely moved, there was no sign of any remorse or anything. He was an odd character in that respect.”

Healless’s defence was diminished responsibility. Reports from psychiatrists said he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Healless said he thought that people were after him and that is why he was carrying a knife that day.

The jury took only an hour to find Healless guilty of murder and he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years.

But he has yet to see the inside of a prison. Because of his mental health conditions, he was detained at a secure psychiatric unit.

Steve Keogh says: “I have no doubt Healless is and probably always will be a dangerous individual. To go from no offending history to an attack of this verocity, really suggests someone, and I don’t use this word lightly, is evil. 24 years means he will be roughly in his early 40s before he can be released. So still a relatively young person, young enough to start his own family, to start a life, something that Alex will never have.”

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Ruth Tully says: “Loads of people use dating websites perfectly safe, but the difficulty with that is we can be lulled into a false sense of security.

“We need to remember that we are messaging someone who you have no idea in reality who they are or what they are like. The truth could be something else completely.”

Murderer Unmasked is on ITV1 at 9pm on Thursday.