Let’s rewind to 1998. David King was a wealthy, philandering businessman in his 50s with a taste for younger women. He’d married Anne King, a former nurse, but was openly having an affair with Lydia Davey, a woman half his age. Anne knew about the affair—she even tolerated it—because she was in love with David. Classic, right?
But Lydia wanted more. She pushed David to leave Anne, and when he wouldn’t, she started seeing another man behind his back. That man? Robert St George, a charming but cash-strapped grifter. Lydia and Robert cooked up a plan: murder David, collect his life insurance, and live off the money. Greed is a hell of a drug.
The Night Everything Fell Apart
On July 23, 2002, David told Anne he was going for a walk on Hampstead Heath to clear his head. He never came home. His body was found the next morning near a bench by the oak tree I mentioned earlier—shot twice in the head. The police initially thought it was a botched mugging. Suuuure, a mugging in a pricey London suburb at 10 PM?
But here’s where it gets unhinged. Detectives found a discarded Nokia phone near the body, with a text message from Lydia that read: “Call me when you’re ready for bed.” She claimed it was just a lover’s note, but the timing was suspicious. And then they discovered Robert had rented a car—a white Vauxhall Astra—that was spotted near the heath that same night. Oops.
Is Channel 4's Murder on the Heath a true story? - Leeds Live
